What You Need To Know About Travelers and Gypsies
Photos
It’s Traveler season. I’m not talking about snowbirds. I’m talking about the hundreds of shiny new pickup trucks that fan out every spring from Murphy Village, South Carolina to all parts of the country, crewed by fast-talking men wearing expensive gold rings and knocking on the doors of the elderly, offering to repair roofs and driveways. Most of the time those repairs are shoddy. All of the time the repairmen are unlicensed. And a shoddy repair job is often the prelude to a more elaborate, and costly rip-off of one sort or another. Murphy Village’s Travelers are Irish, but around the country there are also Scottish and English Travelers.
Murphy Village is a hodgepodge of massive homes and house trailers, with far fewer surnames than you’ll find in most communities and most of them Irish, including Gallagher, Daley, Sherlock, Burke, Caroll, Jennings, McNalley, Reilly, Gorman and McDonald. The residents avoid strangers, and it’s the same in walled trailer parks in Texas and other Traveler enclaves around the country.
Travelers arrived in the U.S. in the 19th century, continuing to ply the trades they had pursued back home: tinkers and horse traders. Some say their way of life goes back thousands of years, perhaps even linking them to the lost tribes of Israel. They speak their own language, called “cant” when they don’t want to be understood by non-Travelers. In time they changed their line of business to more closely match what the modern world demanded, moving into home repair instead of mending kettles. But they have also become walking Swiss Army knives of various grifts and scams.
Some are shoplifters, working in teams to have one create a distraction while another Traveler flees with the goods. Others will tell a McDonalds manager of a wedding ring lost in a trash can, then when it isn’t found there shake him down for a few hundred dollars instead of calling the police and making an insurance claim. One had her own brother duct tape her to a bed and beat her in a Disney World hotel and almost succeeded in suing for $3 million dollars. She went to prison.
Back in Murphy Village, their toddlers wear makeup and sequined gowns and are often married off before they reach their teens. Parents of girls at times pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to wed their daughters to the sons of particularly successful fathers. Of course “success” is defined on the Travelers’ terms, and often includes a string of charges and convictions in just as many different jurisdictions. Education is typically over by the sixth grade, and boys are often driving on phony drivers’ licenses when they are fourteen.
If you or a loved one is elderly, it’s important to know that legitimate contractors will have their contractor license numbers readily available, and that the numbers can be verified on the internet or with a phone call to the applicable state agency. That unmarked rig that pulls up, no matter how shiny, is simply a warning sign that the Traveler driving in it is very good at what he does for himself, and not so good at what he will do for a roof or a driveway.
Mark S. Hankins
2:59 pm on Sunday, August 19, 2012
Here is more detail. Also, "Travellers" with two "l"s is the preferred spelling. http://patrickmead.net/?p=108
pete sherlock
9:48 am on Sunday, November 25, 2012
If the feds really wanted to do something about their "ongoing criminal enterprise" all they have to do is monitor western union activity. And they can set up video cams at the food lion because they have big windows and can capture evidence of them using ebt and jumping in to their brand new luxury cars. The public needs to watch out for trucks with south carolina plates.. some have been fitted with a big black tank in the bed to house their shady drive way sealer.
Joe black
8:23 am on Sunday, May 5, 2013
Here goes,,,,, as a working traveller man I can tell you that about 90 percent of traveller men's work comes from repeat business. Usually if we do business with a person once I can almost guarantee you that we have made a customer for a very long time. Whether it's painting a building, selling carpet, sealing a driveway, or selling shop equipment. In this day in age with all the negative information floating around about traveller, commonsense ought to tell you that there is no way that so many working traveller men could go door to door doing crime and not get arrested. If I didn't have repeat business then I couldn't make s living. I am not saying that ours is the best, but it is convenient for people to not have to go to town to buy carpet, tools, find a barn painter, or someone to seal there driveway. In order to make a living , as a sales person you have to have repeat business. I have been working over 30 years and have hundreds of people that wait on me to come back and work for them again. They know my son also, if I am sick and not able to go they like doing business with him. Now then in the traveller community we have a very few that don't do the right thing. And that's what the media thrives on, the negativity of every story, because that's what the public wants to hear, thats what sells.
Regular_Guy
2:56 pm on Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Joe, what's your contractor number? Who carries your liability insurance? Can we see your tax return?
Joe black
9:08 am on Sunday, May 5, 2013
one more thing that's gets me and hits me the hardest,,,,,, If a black man , or an Indian, or Eskimo, or mexican , or chinese , or any other race or creed does a crime or anything of that nature. The media never calls on the entire population of that nationality to take the blame they are never put in the one body. However in the travellers man case the same rule does apply, how about our individual rights. Should I be held accountable for what some other traveller does. it appears to me that my individual rights are being violated but who give a crap after all a just a traveller man. NOW THAT SHOULD BE YOUR STORY ! !!THAT THE REAL CRIME?
Racer X
11:32 am on Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Joe, Your line of thinking is what makes travellers so successful. Political correctness is a standard for the naive.
Jennifer
9:57 am on Monday, May 6, 2013
I don't mind the travelers. I think their lifestyle is fascinating and I would love to learn more about them. I went to visit family in Aiken and they took me to Murphy village and the houses were beautiful. But the people (if you see them) are not very nice. I said hello to a lady in her driveway and she just turned and walked back to her home. Maybe she was just having a bad day :) I think people just don't give the travelers a chance and that is why they have a bad rep. If they ever come knocking on my door I would definitely do business with them. Why not...
Mark S. Hankins
2:35 pm on Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Joe Black, collective guilt is nothing out of the ordinary. The Nazis blamed the Jews collectively for Germany's troubles, and the world blamed the Germans collectively for the Holocaust.
Christy Fricks
2:29 pm on Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Joe Black, Thank you for replying to this message. This article is particularly racist. This story isn't about watching out for scams, its an excuse to villanize a culture. It's one thing to say watch out for scam artists and shobby builders, it is a another thing to blame it on an entire culture. This isn't journalism, it's crap.
Joe B
5:59 pm on Thursday, May 16, 2013
Test
Joe B
6:49 pm on Thursday, May 16, 2013
Due to the fact I couldn't remember my pass word and was having a lot of problems responding I signed in again. Now then I wish to thank Christy Fricks , and all the other for there support and understanding. At my age I have already lived the majority of my life. I have learned to deal with narrow minded people that are racist my entire life from name calling from my childhood to articles such as this in my adulthood. That's not to say it still doesent bother me it does. I find myself going on the defensive more often when my people are being slandered. most people that condemn the travellers don't know any travellers personally. I have two grand children that i love very much,,,,,one is too young for school the other in elementary school. What narrow minded people don't stop and think is the harm articles like this can do. When you put all the travellers in one body, the bad apples with the decent and most are decent, you are putting my grand children in the same category as the law breakers. They will have to grow up with people whispering and staring when go
into a public place. So please think twice when you call out a whole race of people. There are so many positive things about being a traveller, that I wouldn't ever wish
anything different for myself I am content.
Bobby W
5:58 pm on Saturday, May 18, 2013
I have dealt with many travelers in the kissimmee area and they for most part have been very loyal and honest customers and thank god I trusted the 1st few because they have referred lots and lots of business to me from other members of there clans and I find this story as wrong in so many ways , love my traveler friends.