Carrollton Rotary hears update on 1884 county treasury theft

The Carrollton Rotary Club met Feb. 17 at the Villa Restaurant, where County Commissioner Bob Wirkner presented a program on the unresolved theft of money from the Carroll County treasury dating to 1884.

At the time, the old courthouse was being replaced by the current courthouse, and $14,000, about $477,000 in today’s dollars, was stored in the old courthouse vault. The funds were primarily intended to pay for construction of the new courthouse, which was completed that year. The theft is believed to have occurred around the time the money was transferred from the old courthouse vault to the new courthouse vault in early January 1884.

The loss was discovered later, and the bonding company responsible for covering such losses was notified. Instead of immediately paying the claim, the company hired a Pinkerton agent to investigate. After arriving, the agent searched the old courthouse vault again and found $12,700 still there. The bonding company later agreed to cover the remaining $1,300, and it did not pursue further investigation.

It does not appear additional local investigation occurred until 1887, when more than 180 pages of documents, primarily depositions from those closely involved, were generated. No charges were filed, and no individual or group was ever identified as responsible. Newspaper articles from 1884 and again in 1887 referenced the theft, but few other records mention it.

Wirkner said he first became aware of the case after Judge Sean Smith discovered the more than 180-page document in 2021 while reviewing files in his office shortly after taking the bench. Smith later turned the file over to Wirkner, who was president of the county commissioners at the time. The record is now available for public review.