Sturdivant Gang
A blockhouse similar to the ones that were attached to the four corners of the log house within "Sturdivant's Fort" by the third generation of the Sturdivant Gang in their late 1810s-early 1820s counterfeiting operation overlooking the bluff of the Ohio River at Rosiclare, Illinois | |
| Founded by | Sturdivant Family |
|---|---|
| Founding location | Connecticut, Massachusetts, Ohio, Tennessee, Illinois? |
| Years active | 1780s-1820s (three generations of family counterfeiters) |
| Territory | Connecticut, Massachusetts, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Manville Ferry, New Athens, St. Clair County, Illinois and Sturdivant's Fort, Pope County, Illinois, present-day Rosiclare, Hardin County, Illinois |
| Ethnicity | European-American |
| Membership (est.) | 13 or as high as 50-100 |
| Criminal activities | counterfeiting |
Roswell S. Sturdivant | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1700s–1800s |
| Died | after 1831 (aged ?) |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Roswell Sturdivant, Roswell Sturdevant, John Sturdivant, Jack Sturdivant, Bloody Jack Sturdivant, Sturdivant the Counterfeiter |
| Occupation(s) | counterfeiter, gambler |
| Known for | Being the co-leader, with Merrick Sturdivant, of the 3rd-generation Sturdivant Gang, and having survived a knife duel, with the legendary Jim Bowie |
| Spouse | 1 |
| Parent | Azor Sturdivant (father) |
| Relatives | Merrick Sturdivant (brother), Stephen Sturdivant (brother), James Sturdivant (grandfather), Ruby Sturdevant Loveland (daughter), Merriness Loveland (son-in-law) |
Merrick Sturdivant | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1700s–1800s |
| Died | after 1831 (aged ?) |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Merrick Sturdevant |
| Occupation | counterfeiter |
| Known for | For being the co-leader, with Roswell S. Sturdivant, of the 3rd-generation Sturdivant Gang |
| Parent | Azor Sturdivant (father) |
| Relatives | Roswell S. Sturdivant (brother), Stephen Sturdivant (brother), James Sturdivant (grandfather), Ruby Sturdevant Loveland (niece), Merriness Loveland (nephew-in-law) |
The U.S. half dollar was also highly desirable for the Sturdivant Gang to copy as it was readily available, easy to carry, and commonly used on the American frontier.
The Sturdivant Gang was a multi-generational, family gang of counterfeiters, whose criminal activities took place over a fifty-year period, from the 1780s, in Connecticut and Massachusetts, with one branch of the family going to Tennessee via Virginia and a second family branch going to Ohio and finally settled on the Illinois frontier, between the 1810s to 1830s.