FRANKLIN E. DARTT ( Part 1 )

                                 The Bear Hunter of Clark County, WI

Franklin E. Dartt was born in the state of Vermont in about 1842 to parents Josiah H. Dartt and Mary A. (Ayers) Dartt.  Frank Dartt's parents were New England natives and according to 1860 Green Lake County, WI, Census records, J. H. was born in Connecticut and his wife Mary was born in Vermont.  Frank had an older sister, Amanda, and two older brothers, Edward and Alfred.  Alfred died at about age sixteen of an unknown cause.  Frank also had a sister ten years younger named Minerva Dartt.

In about 1849 the Dartt family uprooted itself from Vermont and moved to Marquette County, Wisconsin, and located near the Kingston and Montello areas.  There were at least four Dartt families who arrived in this area at approximately the same time, probably brothers or cousins; the Josiah H. Dartt family; Justin N. Dartt; George H. Dartt; and Joseph R. Dartt families.  Along with other settlers they built log homes and created a settlement.  J.H. Dartt made improvements on waterpower by constructing a dam and bulkheads on the Montello River.  J. N. Dartt held the first religious services of the community at his home.  The city of Montello, WI, still has a subdivision named Dart's Addition, which was first settled by the Dartt family.

At this time, Franklin was about ten years old and the countryside he had moved to was entirely wild.  Perhaps what he saw formed a basis for his future lifestyle.  Montello and Fox River were nearby as well as Buffalo Lake.  The land on the south side of the lake was known as the "Indian Lands".  As late as 1855 there was a large camp of Winnebago and Menomonee Indians on the north bank of Buffalo Lake.

On the 1860 Federal Census Frank lived with his parents, older sister Amanda, and younger sister, Minerva, in the Town of Kingston, Green Lake County, WI.  His given age was 19.  He engaged in farming and had attended school within the year.  Frank's father was a farmer also and owned real estate valued at $400. while his personal estate was valued at $1,000.  Frank's older brother, Edward A., was on his own at this time and he had relocated on a farm in Monroe County, WI, in the town of Wilton with his wife Martha and their five children.

No records could be found of Frank entering the Civil War and by 1870 he had also settled in Monroe County, Wilton Township, WI, on his own farm as a single man.   His real estate was valued at $2,000. and his personal estate at $260.  He was 28 years old according to the 1870 census taker.

In the next 15 years something provoked Frank to take up a most unusual occupation and leave his farm behind.  Some have suggested he was distraught over a lost love, but this is uncertain.  Dartt's new interest caused him to move about 40 miles north to Jackson County, WI, into a remotely wooded area near Spaulding in the pursuit of trapping live bears. In 1885, state census records report him living in the town of Sullivan in Jackson County.  Sullivan was the former name of City Point Township.  "An interesting story is told about Spaulding, five miles east of Pray, toward City Point.  An eccentric Englishman by the name of Frank Dart lived there, and his business was to catch wild animals such as bears, wildcats, and wolves, and sell them to zoos.  But he was a true hermit, and wished to be alone, so when P. T. Graves put a sawmill at Spaulding, Dart moved 10 miles north (to Sherwood Forest)." - Fred J. Rogers, Forester, circa 1936.

WISCONSIN LEADER - Sept. 30, 1887 - SPAULDING, "Frank Dart caught a large bear last Monday, weight 350 pounds.  He has a large log bear house, where he intends keeping them for a time, killing them when the hides are prime.  The one caught Monday was hurt so it had to be killed."

In 1893 there is record of Frank Dartt's purchase of 40 acres in Clark County.  This wooded land was in Section 21 of Sherwood Township, one half mile from the nearest town road.  Frank bought the land for $25.00 from C. S. Stockwell, a prominent businessman and surveyor in Clark County.

There is reason to believe that Dartt lived in or near this parcel prior to 1893.  In 1889, Frank Dartt hired a Sherwood lad of about 16 named Myron Pickering to help him trap bears for a month during that fall. 

Following are transcriptions from Myron's memoirs that he penned not long before his death at the age of 93 in 1966 at his home in Montana.
  "I suppose there are more memories grouped in the month of September 1889 than any other month of my life.
  At that time we had just finished building a ten-room house and were moved in and as my folks had the post office, people from the whole neighborhood came to our home for their mail.  Among them was Frank Dartt, the bear trapper.
  On the first of September, 1889, Mr. Dartt came for his mail and asked if I would work for him through September.  To me this was like a great adventure and I took him up on the deal and got ready to go, and as I loved hunting, was taking my gun along.  But Mr. Dartt said I would not need it, which spoiled some of my hopes of a good time.  But still there would be the adventure of catching bears.
  When I came to experience a trapper's life, I found it was not all play, for we had a trail six miles in one direction from camp and three in the other that had to be patrolled every day, looking after 45 traps.  Mr. Dartt went with me over the line and then made it my job to patrol the six mile line, and he the three mile.  In the month I was with him I think we caught 13 bears, so you see we had a bear to take care of about every two or three days.
  Of course the first bear caught gave me by far the greatest excitement, for it was so new and wonderful to think of handling, caging and hauling home a real wild bear.
  I quickly found that it was not only a very important experience for me, but for Mr. Dartt also for before dropping the cage over the bear he had to take many precautions.  One of these was to tie the 15' long trap clog to a tree tying the trap with the bear up so to speak.  He then set the bear cage with open bottom toward the bear, so that when close enough the cage would drop over the bear.  A board for the bottom could be pushed in; then the foot with the trap had to be taken care of.  It was here I got one of my most important lessons, for before starting to cage the bear Mr. Dartt gave me the clamps for removing the trap when the bear was in the cage.
  Well, he yelled to me, "Give me the clamps!"  In all the excitement I had laid the clamps down somewhere and I had forgotten where, and what was I to do?  I'm sure my heart cried out, "God, help me!"  I don't think it took a minute to find them, but it seemed like an hour.
  The fact that Mr. Dartt had given me the responsibility of those clamps and that for the moment was my only job, and I so utterly failed, was driven home so the lesson had a permanent affect on my life.
  I don't remember how we learned of it, but we somehow knew a forest fire was moving in our direction and it meant fast and energetic action if we were to save our traps and building from destruction.  A forest fire of this kind without wind to drive it creeps rather slowly, giving time to prepare for its arrival, such as picking up things that fire would damage and laying out lines of defense for stopping it when it arrived.
  The job given me was to go over the trap line and take up all the traps and hang them up on trees which I did.  Starting in the evening I went the six miles and took up the traps, but when it came my usual bedtime I became so sleepy I laid down on the ground and slept, actually only a few minutes, but that was the total sleep for me for that night and also the night following, for we laid out a large piece of ground on which the buildings were located.  By utilizing trails, roads, and a stream surrounding the same, and constantly patrolling day and night for two nights and two days we saved the home ground and all the buildings.  It did not take the fire that long to pass by, but there were many fires that lingered after, in stumps and dead trees from which the wind sometimes blew sparks quite a distance and started new fires which had to be attended quickly to prevent them from getting out of control.  Hence, after the main fire had passed, there was a watch job for a time.
  As time went on, caging and hauling in bears became routine and the log enclosure became quite crowded.  We fed the bears in shallow feeding containers like cupboard drawers that we could pull out to put in the corn which was the diet, about the same as hogs.  But the bears showed better intelligence for each had his own trough and he would wait until he heard the feed poured into his trough, which was pulled out to fill.  He would take hold of his end with the claws of his front paw and pull it in with a bang.
  When I finished my month, Mr. Dartt figured two extra days for the fire fighting and I would not take it, for I wanted to share his misfortune; and so to show his appreciation, at Christmas time when he butchered his bears for the Chicago market, he brought us a nice shoulder of bear meat."

OLD BOWLS

Old stoneware bowls, shiny and smooth

Creamy colored with hairline cracks.

Stripes of blue, white, and blue again

Or sponge patterns in blue and orange.

Why do I love old stoneware bowls?

I think I know the reason I do.

Because when I was little my aunt

Mixed biscuit dough in bowls like that.

PERKINS FAMILY HISTORY (part 3 )

MINER S. PERKINS STORY

(Probable Brother of Hugh Perkins)

Miner S. Perkins was listed on the Federal 1880 Census living in Sherwood Township, Clark County, WI, not far from Hugh Perkins.  His wife was named Lottie and they had two sons, Guy – 2 years, and James – 7 months.  Miner S. is believed to be a younger brother of Hugh Perkins.  (Miner’s middle initial “S” possibly stood for “Sedate”, a younger sibling of Hugh on the 1850 Census mentioned earlier in Hugh’s account.)  It appeared to be a common practice for the family to interchange first and middle names.

In December of 1887, Miner Perkins was employed with one of the J. W. Knapp logging camps as a camp cook.  This particular camp was located about six miles west of Pittsville, WI, near the Rocky Run Creek.  This would be about five miles east of Sherwood Township, Clark County.

On December 19. 1887, Miner shot and killed his wife, Lottie, with his 34 caliber revolver.  The incident occurred during a jealous rage at their residence in the logging camp, prompted by the discovery of a letter Mr. Perkins’ wife had written to a male friend.  Immediately after the incident, Minor told the logging crew he worked with that his wife had committed suicide.  Deluged with conflicting stories and mistrust by others, Miner was arrested, and later confessed to the murder.  He feared lynching by a mob while awaiting his trial, so made a full confession to the murder before the Wood County Circuit Judge C. M. Webb.  Minor was given a life term in the Waupun, WI, State Prison.  Lottie (Lamb) Perkins was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Pittsville, WI, area.

Mr. Perkins was released from the state prison, on parole, thirty-two years later.  He would have been about 64 years old at the time of his release.

One son, Guy Perkins, survived his mother.  He was about nine years old at the time of the murder.  J. W. Cochran, a Wood County resident, was appointed as Guy’s legal guardian and the administrator of Mrs. Perkins’ estate.  No more information has been found concerning Guy Perkins upbringing or his father’s 

eventual release from prison.  Lottie (Lamb) Perkins had friends and perhaps family in the Plainfield, WI, area.  

This concludes the Perkins family saga.

(When researching past events, I have found that a story is never quite complete.  There is often new information that may surface later, corrections and additions that will need to be made.  At some point one must halt the quest and take time to record the facts in hopes of preserving what has been uncovered as accurately as possible with the purpose of sharing it with those precious few that have an interest.  Any corrections or additions would be much appreciated.)

 SOURCES-

Wisconsin State Census – 1875

Federal Census – 1850,1860,1870,1880

         

Sherwood Township, Clark County, WI – 1880, 1893, 1906 Plat Maps

       

Sherwood Township Town Records

        

Newspapers – Republican and Press, Neillsville; Badger State Banner, Black River Falls, WI;       

                        St. Cloud Tribune, St. Cloud, Florida; Marshfield Times, Marshfield, WI; Centralia

         Enterprise, Centralia, WI;

History of Wood County, WI - Frank Stahl Biography

Voter Registration Records, St. Cloud, Osceola County, FL – 1922-25, 1930, 1944

 

1939-40 Kissimmee, St. Cloud, Florida Directory

 

Hugh Perkins Death Certificate

Civil War Regimental Histories – Internet website

 (Special thanks to Lowell Freedlund, Pittsville, WI, Jean Meddaugh, Bancroft, WI, and Ann Bergelt, St. Cloud, FL for their assistance.)

Written and completed September 16, 1998, by Kay Scholtz, W755 Todd Road, Granton, WI  54436,

Revised Oct. 10, 1998

MILK CHOCOLATE

I don’t care what the latest fashions are.

I don’t worry about the length of my hair,

Or the color of my cheeks,

Or how dainty my shoes look.

I don’t think about fingernail polish.

I don’t listen when others tell me

How to wear my hair or my clothes.

And just because they tell me to eat dark chocolate,

I’m not going to, I’ll eat milk chocolate.

PERKINS FAMILY HISTORY (part 2 )

DANIEL CHAPMAN PERKINS

(Father of Hugh Perkins)

As stated above, D. C. Perkins was born in Vermont and came west with his wife to settle in Wisconsin in 1836.  His occupation was that of a farmer.  Earliest mention found in Wisconsin of his presence is that he purchased a land grant here in 1843.  This land grant was located in Waukesha County in the Township of Ottawa.  In the Wisconsin State Genealogical Society Newsletter Vol. 42, No. 1, from June 1995, it states that a Daniel C. Perkins purchased the W1/2 SW1/4 of Section 33, Ottawa Township on July 3, 1843.  This area was just west of the city of Milwaukee, WI.  

Mr. Perkins was also a Civil War Veteran who enlisted in the 3^rd Wisconsin Battery in 1861.  He, with his wife Margaret, moved to Clark County in about 1873.  On an 1880 Sherwood Forest plat map, D. C. Perkins owned land and presumably lived at the site of what is now the Sherwood County Park.  The Hay Creek flowed next to his place, which was later dammed up in the 1940’s to form Sherwood Lake.  After Perkins ownership of this land in Section 34, it was purchased by the Island Mill Lumber Company which operated a logging camp there; later this parcel was sold to Bright and Withee (another logging company).

On June 5^th, 1880, Daniel Perkins started out on foot from his home in Sherwood, never to be seen alive again.  His destination was Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he planned to attend a soldier’s reunion.  He intended to walk as far as Scranton (a now extinct saw mill town located just east of City Point in Wood County, Wisconsin.)  This distance would be about 6 miles cross-country.  Scranton was located along the G.B. & W. R.R. (Green Bay and Western Railroad) where he planned to catch a train ride to Milwaukee

Apparently, a rain storm came up part way into Mr. Perkins journey and he could neither cross the East Fork of the Black River to get to Scranton nor cross the Hay Creek to return home.  The crude bridges at both crossings had washed out so he sought high ground, and using his satchel for a pillow, laid down to rest.  This was the way his remains were found by friends.  (One can only guess that hypothermia may have contributed to his demise.)  Daniel Chapman Perkins was about 68 at the time of his death that summer of 1880.

On April 5, 1910, a motion was made at the Sherwood annual town meeting to raise $25.00.  This money was to be used to hire someone to move the body of D. C. Perkins, “the old soldier”, from his grave in the woods to the Sherwood Cemetery.  (Located in Sherwood Township, Clark County, Wisconsin)  Dan Hill, a resident, was hired to do the job and paid on April 8, 1910.  At the same meeting, Dan was also hired to move an infant buried at a homestead in Sherwood Township into the same cemetery.

Now I will mention my “Unknown Soldier “ theory.  Possibly, several years after Daniel Perkins burial without a marker, town people were aware of his gravesite and that he had been a soldier but forgot his name.  Perhaps they placed the “Unknown Soldier” stone on Daniel’s grave.  Seeing the stone may have sparked some old-timer’s memory – enough to recall that the soldier’s name was Perkins and that he served in the Civil War.  In requesting a stone with this name from the Veteran’s Administration (not recalling his first name) they perhaps mistakenly were given a stone for Hugh Perkins (Daniel’s son) who was also a Wisconsin Civil War veteran.  Instead of removing the “Unknown Soldier” marker, they may have simply placed Hugh Perkins’ stone beside it.  Once again, this is only a theory of mine as to the reason of Hugh Perkins having a stone in the Sherwood Cemetery.  No one in the township appears to recall when the “Unknown Soldier” or Perkins stones were placed there but it was most certainly prior to 1948.

NOTHING COMING TO ME

I can’t write a poem tonight

Because my head’s not on quite right.

It starts a thought and then it ends

It can’t focus or make sense.

So I’ll quit and go to bed

Maybe tomorrow, is what it said.

PERKINS FAMILY HISTORY (part 1 )

HUGH PERKINS STORY

My fascination with the life of Hugh Perkins began when I learned that the township I live in, in central Wisconsin, was originally named Perkins.  The township was created in 1874.  Hugh, an early settler, had been involved in a local murder in this township in the 1880’s.  In 1876 the township name was changed from Perkins to Sherwood Forest, then shortened to Sherwood in 1900.  Sherwood is located in the southeastern corner of Clark County in central Wisconsin.

Hugh Perkins was born July 27, 1843, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Daniel Chapman Perkins and Margaret (Corbit) Perkins.  Mr. Daniel Perkins was born in Chittenden County, Vermont, and Mrs. Margaret Perkins immigrated from Scotland or Ireland.  They were married in 1831 and moved to Wisconsin in 1836.  The 1850 Federal Census lists the Perkins family living in Marquette County, Wisconsin, Indian Sands Township.  In 1860 Chapman (as he was often called) and Margaret, along with their children Jane, Hugh, Martha, Sedate, and Della, were living in Waushara County, WI, Town of Leon.  They were a farm family with real estate valued at $1,000.  In 1870, Chapman and Margaret were still living in the Town of Leon with their younger children and Hugh was no longer with them.

Hugh served out his term in the Civil War as a Private with Company I, of the 7^th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry.  The 7^th Wisconsin, dubbed  “Huckleberries”, was ordered into Camp Randall during the last week of August 1861.  They joined forces in battle with the 2^nd and the 6^th Wisconsin Infantry, the 19^th Indiana, the 24^th Michigan and Battery B of the 4^th U.S. Artillery, later nicknamed the famous Iron Brigade.  The 7^th Wisconsin fought at Antietam, Gettysburg, and many other battles.  Perkins was discharged as a Private on July 21^st, 1865.  He served 3 years 11 months with the same infantry until the close of the war.   It is not known if Hugh Perkins suffered injuries or disease during his service, but he did apply for a pension many years after his discharge.

The 1875 Wisconsin State Census lists two Perkins men as “Heads of Families” for the Perkins (Sherwood) Township in Clark County, WI, and Hugh was one of them.  He had a wife named Matilda and two daughters at this time.

Mr. Perkins operated a sawmill in Sections 27 and or 26 and resided in Section 26 with his family.  He obviously must have had a hand in the town’s creation in 1874 giving it his surname.  Only two years later, in August of 1876, a petition was presented to the Clark County Board signed by citizens of the Town of Perkins “praying” that the town’s name be changed to Sherwood Forest.  The petition was granted.  It is not known why the name was changed.  The story is that Elizabeth LaFlesh, wife of resident lumberman Thomas J. LaFlesh, suggested the name as the area reminded her of her homeland in England.

Farming was the occupation of Hugh Perkins, as it was for most of the early settlers here.  On the 1879 Personal Property Assessment Roll for School District #2, Town of Sherwood Forest, he owned four neat* cattle, two sheep and one swine, with a total value of $72.00.  (This was an average amount of livestock owned by farmers in the township.)  Also listed on this assessment were Minor S. Perkins (believed to be Hugh’s younger brother) and D. C. Perkins (believed to be Hugh’s father).  Interesting accounts of each of these men will be told at the conclusion of this article.

In June of 1880, Hugh and his wife, Matilda, sold 1 acre of land from Section 26 for $5.00 to School District #2 in Sherwood Forest Township.  This one room country school built on this property was known as Dewhurst and operated until the spring of 1945.  The school building was then sold, moved, and used for a residence.

The 1880 Federal Census for Sherwood Forest Township, Clark County, lists Hugh Perkins as a 37-year-old farmer with his wife Matilda, age 27.  Their children were Clara, 8, Alice, 6, and Maggie, aged 2.

On a Saturday morning, May 31, 1884, an incident occurred in Sherwood Forest that would change the course of Hugh Perkins’ life forever.  At Hugh’s steam sawmill, a neighbor who was employed there named Isaac Meddaugh, came with his brother Robert to load up a wagon with lumber.  When Isaac went into the mill to fetch Hugh to measure the load, Hugh told him to get out and that he didn’t want to get into another argument.  At the same time Hugh pulled a revolver and shot Isaac in the chest, also firing another shot at Robert but missing him.  Isaac fell to the ground and died within ten or fifteen minutes.  Apparently Hugh and Isaac got into a verbal disagreement the previous day about some neighborhood gossip.  The talk was that Isaac had hired a neighbor boy to watch Perkins.  It is thought that Hugh had a fancy for Isaac’s wife or vice versa.  Isaac’s wife, Jane, and two small children survived him.  Later, Jane Meddaugh married Isaac’s brother Mark.  In her later years she went to live in the Bancroft area with her son John, from her marriage with Isaac.  Jane is buried in the Pine Grove Cemetery in Bancroft, WI.

Hugh gave himself up to the Town Constable, C. S. Stockwell, not long after the incident.  Stockwell brought him in to Neillsville, Wis., to the Clark County Jail.  Perkins was charged with murder, but claimed self-defense.  He was to be incarcerated until the next circuit court date the following December.  Several months later, in November of 1884 on Election Day in Neillsville, the town was bustling with excitement.  Three prisoners took advantage of the distraction and broke free from the jail after clubbing the turnkey*.  Hugh Perkins was among the escapees, the others being a fellow named Martin and George Morrison.  Martin was being held for murder also, while Morrison was being held for horse stealing.  Here is the description given for Perkins in the local newspaper –“about 40 years old, about 5 feet and 8 inches tall, light complexion, black hair and blue eyes.”

Hugh was able to maintain his freedom for almost four years.  In October of 1888 he was apprehended at Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and returned to the Clark County Jail in Neillsville by Sheriff Dwyer.  The reason for Hugh’s capture was that a year previous to this he had applied for a Civil War pension.  The pension application gave his whereabouts and led detectives onto his trail.  With Hugh’s return, all the escapees from Neillsville that day in 1884 had been recaptured.  The other two men were already serving their time at the Waupun State Prison in Wisconsin.  

On January 30, 1889, Hugh, while awaiting trial, was released under a bail of $6,000.  It is unclear how Hugh could have raised this sum of cash.  (Circuit court was held twice per year, generally June and December.)

Shortly before the trial finally occurred in June of 1889, both a captain and a lieutenant of Hugh’s old company were interviewed at Neillsville concerning the case.  On June 22, 1889, Perkins was found guilty of manslaughter in the first degree.  Within one week Hugh was granted a new trial on grounds that one of the jurors, prior to the trial, had expressed his opinion.  The juror stated that he felt Hugh was guilty and that he wished to be on the jury.   This allowed Hugh to continue to remain at large until a new trial came up at the next regular term of circuit court in December of 1889.

Mention was made in a local newspaper that in September of 1889; Perkins killed a black bear and brought it to town. (Perhaps to sell the meat.)  It was a small bear weighing a little over 100 pounds.

In December when Circuit Court reoccurred, Hugh was retried and his charge was reduced from manslaughter in the first degree to manslaughter in the second degree.  A motion for a new trial was overruled, but a leave was granted to renew the motion at any time.  He was sentenced to five years in  the state prison where he was taken and locked up for about one year.  During this year the case was taken to the Supreme Court on appeal and the conviction was reversed with a third trial ordered on grounds of error in the ruling of the court on the admission of certain testimony.  Hugh was released on bail from the state prison and on June 12, 1891, he became a free man.  The judge recommended a nolle prosequi.  The prosecution was discontinued because it was felt that the law as interpreted by the Supreme Court would not uphold a conviction.  The Neillsville Republican Press editor at the time felt that Mr. Perkins year of imprisonment, agony of awaiting trials, and fear of being caught during his four years as a fugitive were probably sufficient punishment to fit the crime committed.  The entire expense to Clark County during the duration of Hugh’s case was estimated to be greater than $3,500.  

The date at which Hugh left Clark County, Wisconsin is unclear.  It is also unknown what became of his wife, Matilda, and four daughters.  (A fourth daughter was born between the 1880 Census and the time that the murder occurred in 1884.)

Perkins ended up many miles from home, perhaps to make a new start in life.  Records show he was residing in Osceola County, Florida, at St. Cloud, with a wife named Josephine in 1924.  In March of 1924, according to the G.A.R. roster, Hugh joined the L. Mitchell Post in St. Cloud.  In the voter registration book for District #4 of St. Cloud, in October of 1924, Hugh was listed as 82 years old and retired.   His wife, Josephine, was 65 years old at this time.

Hugh Perkins died at St. Cloud, Florida on April 27, 1930.  He was 86 years old and was survived by his wife Josephine (Josie).  The whereabouts of the children from his former marriage at the time of his death are unknown.  Hugh was buried in Section A, Lot 54, Block A, at the Mt. Peace Cemetery in St. Cloud, Florida.  A veteran’s stone marks his gravesite today, which reads, “HUGH C. PERKINS – CO.I – 7 WIS. INF”.  A true mystery remains in that Hugh Perkins also has a gravestone in Sherwood Township Cemetery in Clark County, Wisconsin.  It simply reads, “HUGH PERKINS – PVT. 7 WIS. INF.” and appears to be a veteran type stone.  Next to it, directly ahead of the stone, is a similar flat stone inscribed,  “UNKNOWN U.S. SOLDIER”.  The stones seem to be of the same vintage and no one in the township as of yet can recall the story of why these stones were placed there.  My theory will be given in the Daniel Chapman Perkins story to follow.  

In conclusion it appears that Hugh’s life, in its latter stages, wasn’t so out of the ordinary.  He was an active member of the G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) Post in St. Cloud for several years prior to his death.  His wife, Josephine, submitted a “Card of Thanks” to the St. Cloud Tribune following Hugh’s death.  She thanked everyone for the beautiful flowers, the singers, the G.A.R. boys, the W.R.C. and the Daughters for attending the funeral.  Mrs., Josephine Perkins was still listed in the 1939-40 St. Cloud, Florida, City Directory.  It is not known when she died.  

*neat- (as in cattle) – pertaining to cattle, such as oxen or cows, distinguishing them from horses, sheep, and goats.

*turnkey – a warder or jailer of a prison.

JUST A DREAM

In my bed I’m asleep and awake and asleep

And envision myself as a child all alone

Trying to find my way down the street

Afraid and so far away from my home.

Under a stairway outside a brick house

Lays a cat sound asleep on the sand.

He jolts as he wakes and meows out at me

And I reach for him with my right hand.

He comes to my side with his tail in the air

Smells my coat, rubs his face against mine.

I stroke his neck and the top of his head

And he flops down in the sunshine.

I’m alone, all alone in my dream as I sleep

And the sun sets and leaves me in darkness

Just me by myself in my dream in the dark

'Til I wake in my bed feeling helpless.

Once again I’m awake then asleep then awake

And I dream of that cat in the street

He is there with his tail and his purr and his eyes

But he scats and we ne’er again meet.

Me and the cat, me all alone

Me in my bed, awake then asleep

Time to get up and forget about my dream

Time to return to the real world again.

WINTER BARK

Winter Bark

Although I grew up in the 1960’s and 70’s, my early days were somewhat like a 1930’s childhood.  My home was in central Wisconsin, in the sticks.  I grew up poor, partly due to my Dad’s love of beer, and also because of his lack of ambition.  We lived in a tar paper shack, built without a foundation.   Our little home had no insulation, cardboard walls on the inside, tar paper on the roof, and ghetto brick siding.  I was the youngest of six and we tried our dangdest to stay warm in the wintertime.

A Monarch wood cook stove (manufactured by the Malleable Iron Range Company from Beaver Dam, Wisconsin) was our main source of heat in the kitchen.  We also had a small airtight wood heater in the “living room” made of thin sheet metal.  When the tin stove had a good fire roaring in it, the stove along with the straight stove pipes going up through the roof, turned bright red.  It was a miracle that no one ever burned the house down.  

Neither of our stoves gave off much heat unless you stood beside them.  I compared them to a bonfire.  You stood close and warmed your front side, then turned around to warm your backside, then turned around and started over again.  We wore boots in the house and many layers to stay warm, and yet we were still cold.  

Some days my mother would open the wood cook stove oven door and we’d take turns sitting on a chair and putting our feet up on the door to soak up the heat.  Mom also took flat irons and warmed them on the stove top, then wrapped them in newspapers, and put them under the covers at the foot of our beds at night.

I don’t remember my father cutting much firewood but I do remember my young brothers always working at the task.  They used a bucksaw and an axe to cut wood off our eighty acres and hauled it up to the house on a sled.  They’d carry in armloads of firewood daily to keep the wood box next to the stove filled up.  

My mother and I would take a cardboard box outside with a piece of twine attached to it and drag it around the edge of the woods on the snow.  We’d fill the box with broken twigs (kindling) to use for starting fires in the stoves.

At bedtime we’d sleep under several blankets to keep snug.  I stuck my nose out from under the covers so I could breathe and my nose was cold to the touch.  I could often see my breath while in bed and I dreaded getting up in the mornings to get dressed in the cold.   The kerosene lamp kept a soft glow all night on the kitchen table.  Many mornings I changed from my flannel pajamas into my school clothes underneath the covers.

The house was even colder in the winters after my mother passed away from breast cancer.  No one bothered to fire up the stoves at night anymore.  On the coldest days of winter when I got up in the morning for school the water buckets in the kitchen were frozen solid.  The drinking dipper was stuck in a circle of ice.  On those mornings when there was no water to drink or wash up with, I couldn’t wait to get to school because I knew it would at least be warm there.

When the daylight grew longer and spring was on the horizon we gave a big sigh of relief.  God was good; we had survived another winter.  We welcomed the return of the robins, bits of green grass poking up through the melting snow, and the spring peepers.  It wouldn’t be long until we could take a dip in the nearby swimming hole, and scrub off our “winter bark”.

Reflecting on my childhood and the poor lifestyle that I grew up in makes me a much stronger person today.  I am filled with unbelievable appreciation for a warm home in wintertime and all that goes with it.  And that appreciation never leaves me.  

MOSS

A carpet of green, in a shady old woods…

Adorned with wet, shiny drops of dew,

Covering stumps and north sides of trees,

Nooks, crannies, humps, and low places.

Wet tiny mushrooms here and there,

Near last year’s acorns, missing their caps,

And smooth, wet stones cold to the touch,

All scattered among the green moss.

THE DAN ALLEN TRAIL ( Part 6 )

WHAT BECAME OF DAN & MAGGIE

After the trial Allen was said to have been seen lingering in the stores at Loyal.  As before, he was not welcome and he did not remain in Clark County for long because he simply couldn’t; there was no future for him there.

Maggie Wright never did live happily ever after with Daniel Allen.  It could be presumed that with her recent widowhood in the death of William Belt, and with Dan’s new found freedom they could have exited the scene together in 1894.  But they did not.  Two weeks before the retrial of Dan Allen, Maggie had been escorted to Eau Claire, WI, by Sheriff Page and District Attorney Barkhill to await the court’s opening.  When it was over she returned to Chicago where she had resided prior to the trial.  On November 12, 1895, the widow Maggie Belt died in Chicago.  She was only in her late 30’s.  The cause of Maggie’s death on the physician’s certificate was given as peritonitis complicated by septicemia or blood poisoning.  Her occupation at the time of death was listed as housework.  Maggie’s death received no mention in the press back at Neillsville but did in Marshfield.  MARSHFIELD TIMES, Nov. 22, 1895 – “Mrs. Arza Sheriff [Rosa Wright, Maggie’s daughter] was in Chicago the most of the week in attendance at the funeral of her mother, Mrs. Belt, nee Wright, which occurred at that place some time last week.  Mrs. Belt was quite well known here, her first husband being a brother of our fellow townsman, Mr. Matt. Wright.”

In July of 1895 Dan Allen hung his hat in Frankford, Spink County, South Dakota.  He found refuge at the Soldier’s Home in Hot Springs, South Dakota.  Many Civil War veterans came to Hot Springs to try and alleviate aches and illnesses incurred during the war.  He resided at Hot Springs at least two years, perhaps longer.  Shortly after the turn of the century, Daniel came back to Wisconsin where he lived at a residence on Logan Street in La Crosse.

In the winter of 1908-9, twenty-two years after the crime, Judge O’Neill from Neillsville traveled to La Crosse to interview the aging Daniel Allen.  It may have been an interview of curiosity, as there should have been no legal issues that needed to be addressed.

On April 27, 1909, Allen remarried in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, to a divorcee and mother of eleven children named Margaret Van Vleet.  Daniel was a 71 year old widower according to his marriage record and was employed as a carpenter.  Word spread in Clark County and people who recalled the famous trials wondered if Dan’s new bride could have been Maggie Wright herself.  The theory was dismissed in a Loyal newspaper when it was learned that Margaret Van Vleet was nee Schneller and had never resided in Clark County.

Just a bit over two weeks after his marriage, Daniel Allen died of acute lung congestion at his residence in La Crosse, Wisconsin.   A full account of his obituary that appeared in the La Crosse Tribune on May 12, 1909, follows:  DIES AFTER TWO WEEKS OF BLISS – ‘Uncle Dan” Allen Expires Suddenly From Heart Trouble This Morning – WAS WEDDED AT 71 YEARS – Aged Bridegroom Was Preparing His Garden for Spring Seeding When the End Came: After two weeks of married life, Daniel Allen expired suddenly at his home at 1216 Logan Street this morning of heart failure.  Yesterday the old veteran was apparently hale and hearty and was preparing his garden for the annual spring seeding.  His death came suddenly and was not expected by his friends.  He is survived by his widow, formerly Mrs. Margaret Van Vleet, of this city.  Funeral arrangements will be announced later, as they have not up to the present time, been fully prepared.
Mr. Allen and Mrs. Margaret Van Vleet were married two weeks ago, April 27, by Rev. (G. W.) Fogg.  This was one of the strangest cases on record in the county, Mr. Allen being 71 years old and his wife 67 years of age.  Mr. Allen was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, living there until eight years of age, when his father removed to Dodge County, Wis.  When the Civil war broke out, Mr. Allen was 23 years old.  He was one of the first to answer the call for volunteers, enlisting at Beaver Dam, and seeing extensive service throughout the war.  He fought in the Missouri campaign and the memorable battles of Pea Ridge and Lookout Mountain. After being mustered out of the service, Mr. Allen drifted out to South Dakota, where he entered the home for old soldiers.  He had been a resident of the North side for past eight years and had many friends among the veterans of the city.”

Daniel Allen was buried at Campbell Cemetery on the north side of La Crosse, Wisconsin.  His military gravestone reads – “Daniel Allen, Co. K, 1st Wisconsin Cavalry, Civil War, Sgt.”.  There is no gravestone nearby for his last wife.  He was remembered by the citizens of La Crosse and the press as a Civil War hero and warmly referred to as “Uncle Dan” with no mention of his clouded past or of his prior family in his obituary.

Dan’s son, Frank Allen, settled in King County, Washington by 1910 where he and his wife, Rosa (nee Kottinger) raised their family.  Frank was employed as a dairy and poultry farmer in King County in Meridian Precinct.  Rosa and Frank had at least three children in Wisconsin before they moved to Washington: Edward Daniel Allen, born 1892; Eva A. Allen, born 1889; and Susan M. Allen 1887-1903.  Frank died in 1932 at Kent, King County, Washington, and Rosa died in 1937 at the same location.

What became of Henry and Maggie Wright’s son whom she mentioned as last heard from in Minnesota in the second trial, is unknown.

Their daughter Rosa Wright’s life continued with more tragedy.  Rosa and her husband Arza Sheriff, lived in Marshfield, Wisc., at the start of their marriage in 1895.  Arza was employed as a book keeper in the Marshfield Chair Factory.  He later worked in the post office and in 1900 for the R. Connor Company at Auburndale, Wood County, where the family relocated.  Three children were born to the couple; Agnes in 1896, Richard in 1899, and Arza E. Jr. in 1901.  On the evening of July 4, 1902, Arza Sheriff Sr. was passing through a holiday crowd in Auburndale on his way uptown when he was struck in the side by a “sky rocket”.  The rocket was discharged prematurely along with several other fireworks when they were accidentally lit after being placed across a bench, pointing at the crowd.  Arza was taken to the Marshfield hospital for surgery where he died the next day after much suffering.  Rosa remarried Howard Rozell in 1906.  Theirs was a blended family with Rosa’s three children and Howard’s son Fred, from his prior marriage.  The couple left Marshfield and farmed in the Town of Hancock, Waushara County, Wisconsin by 1910.  In 1920 Rosa and Howard lived in Kittitas County, Washington, where Howard worked as a watchman for a railroad company.  Rosa and Howard had two daughters together; Margaret A., born in 1908, and Marie R. born in 1911.  Arza Sheriff Jr., at the age of 18, was a student at Great Lakes U. S. Naval Training in Lake County, Illinois.  In 1930 he lived in Spokane County, Washington, with a wife and young son.

It is interesting to note that Dan Allen’s only child, Frank, and Maggie Wright’s daughter, Rosa, both lived out their lives in Washington State, so far away from their tragic earlier days in Wisconsin.  Let us hope the children of Dan & Susan Allen and Henry & Maggie Wright found at best a small sense of peace in their adult lives.  They were the truest victims of the crime that shook Clark County in 1886.

What did Daniel and Maggie gain from the crime they most certainly committed?

What started out as lust or love most likely turned into bitter hate for one another.  Nothing was gained; everything was lost.


“I know you would do all you could for me and it all depends on you whether you get that chance or not…..you will if we get clear…..I don’t want the time to come that I have to bid you good by for ever….. no never….. no Maggy”





SOURCES:

Clark County Clerk of Courts archives
- Court documents
- Letters written by Daniel Allen, labeled as exhibits, from Circuit Court, Clark Co., Wis,
  and filed March 16, 1887, signed by R. W. Balch, County Clerk
  (These letters are in italics throughout)
Federal Census records from 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930
Roster of Rebellion, Wisconsin Civil War Records, 1865
Republican & Press, Neillsville, Wisc., Marshfield Times, Marshfield Wisc. and
La Crosse Tribune, La Crosse, Wisc. newspapers filmed by Wisconsin Historical Society (various issues from 1886 – 1909)
Maggie Belt’s Death Certificate from Cook County, IL
Readings from:
- Loyal Public Cemetery, Loyal, Wisc.
- Campbell’s Cemetery at La Crosse, Wisc.
Greenwood Cemetery Records, Greenwood, Wisc.
Dan Allen’s Civil War Pension File from NARA


CREDITS:

Kevin Struensee:  Clark County, Wisc., Historian & Genealogist
Kathy Wegner:  Neillsville Public Library, Interlibrary loan assistant
Lisa Peterson & Rick Hagen:   Genealogists, Historians & Journalists from Maryland
Lorraine Markee: Wood County, Wisc. Genealogist


Thanks to Kevin, Lisa, Rick, Paul, and Lorraine for helping me to tell the story!

I FORGOT

There was supposed to be a poem here,

But I forgot to write it.

I forgot to jot down a witty thought,

An idea about how this was like that.

It left my mind, it escaped me.

And so this spot is without a poem

Because I forgot to write one.

THE DAN ALLEN TRAIL ( Part 5 )

THE SECOND TRIAL

“Now Maggy it depends on you whether we get clear or not/ oh Maggy I hope we will both get clear and then we can go where we please and do as we please/ now Maggy I want you to do as you think best but Maggy if you will try and get us both clear I will do as I have told you and I will do it to”

After nearly three years of incarceration at Waupun, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin did grant Daniel Allen a new trial in April of 1893.  Allen’s attorney claimed that there were irregularities in the trial and that the verdict of the jury was defective.  Regardless of the reason for the new trial, Clark County again braced itself to spend another $3,000 to $5,000 on legal fees.  Allen was returned to the Clark County jail from Waupun in late May of 1893.  Most residents of the county felt strongly that Allen was indeed guilty, and if he was acquitted it would be on the grounds of technicality, sentimentality, and/or a very tired prosecution.

Anger and frustration resurfaced when Allen was allowed to go free after posting bail of $6,000 with the aid of several bondsmen.  He returned to the Loyal area in Clark County and was not welcomed.  Ill feelings re-emerged and among them was a lack of confidence in the justice system.  Lynching no longer seemed to be on the minds of Loyal area citizens but was replaced with feelings of disgust for a man who took the life of another, not in a heat of passion or during a disagreement, but inch by inch in a slow, premeditated manner.  Daniel Allen was no longer welcome in Clark County.  He was shunned by the people and no one cared to associate with him.  Perhaps, many wished that Clark County soil would have never again clung to his soles.

Judge William F. Bailey, elected to serve as judge for Clark County one year earlier, opened circuit court that October of 1893.  There were 45 cases on the calendar, the first being Dan Allen’s retrial.  The case was continued (trial postponed) and since two of Allen’s bondsmen had withdrawn he was returned to the Clark County Jail at Neillsville.

Sheriff J. W. Page remained in office from 1893 through 1894 and there was much preparation to be done by Clark County officials.  It was more than a year after the Supreme Court’s decision when the second trial of the State versus Daniel Allen began in Neillsville on June 22nd, 1894.  Sheriff Page spent several months locating Maggie Wright, as her testimony was most crucial.  Judge Bailey presided over the case.    Letters were sent to town chairmen of various townships throughout the county.  Chairmen were asked what the opinions were in regards to residents being impartial and capable of serving as fair jurors.  A jury was selected after summoning 136 residents; 36 the first day, 50 the second day, and an additional 50 on the third.  From the original 36 men that were summoned on the first day, only one juror was chosen.

Allen was noticeably worn when he appeared in the courtroom; years of confinement and stress had begun to take their toll on his once youthful but rugged looks.  It had been over eight years since the actual crime took place.  The trial began with a witness who had been working near the Allen farm at the time of the murder.  It then proceeded with testimony again from the doctors who attended Henry Wright before his death and conducted his post mortem examinations.

Sheriff Page succeeded in locating Maggie, the widow of Henry Wright.  There was much argument in the courtroom as to whether or not her testimony should be allowed.  After hearing all points from both sides Judge Bailey decided to admit Mrs. Wright as state’s evidence.  The lawyers were instructed that the jurors were to take the witnesses testimony only as it was collaborated by other evidence and the law, if the court found that a verdict was returned against the defendant, and this verdict was not rendered according to law and evidence, the court would set it aside as being unfair to the accused.  The jury did not hear these instructions as they were kept in an adjoining room at the time.

Many doubted whether Maggie Wright would actually come to Neillsville for the trial.  When she was escorted into the courtroom by Sheriff Page the audience became silent, all eyes were focused on Maggie and the air became as still as a gravestone.  Curiosity as to what she had done with her life since her dismissal in November of 1887 caused all ears to lean toward her testimony.  Answers to those questions came forth as she spoke with straight forwardness and honesty.  She did not break down or waiver until questioned by Mr. O’Neill concerning her placement of arsenic in cookies she left on the kitchen table for her husband.  Maggie then bowed her head and burst into tears and the court recessed.

The life of Maggie Wright began to unfold as she told of her continued tragedies after leaving Clark County.  She had moved to Chicago not long after her release and found work as a servant in the home of a single family for about three years.  In Milwaukee in September of 1891, she remarried a man named William Belt who was employed at the time as a clerk in an electric light company.  The couple resided in Chicago, where William Belt took employment with the Chicago Fire Department.  Mr. Belt had recently died on May 12, 1894, from injuries received while fighting a fire.  The subject of Maggie’s children was also clearly a sad one for her to discuss as she told of the loss of her loved ones.  At the time of the murder, Henry and Maggie had four children but two sons had since died.  Maggie’s oldest daughter, Rosa, now 19, was currently living in Marshfield with a relative of her father.  The surviving son, whom she had not heard from for several years, was last known to be living in Minnesota.  Maggie was again at this point in her life very alone.

Professor Haines, the expert chemist from Chicago, testified once again on his analysis of the stomach and liver of Henry Wright.  He went into great detail on arsenic poisoning, the amount needed to kill a human being, and the grisly affects that followed until death overcame the victim.  He stated that the probable amount of arsenic found in Mr. Wright’s liver was from 2.5 to 4 or 5 grains and that 2 grains or less would be enough to kill.

Maggie Wright Belt was asked to testify several additional times during cross examination.  Discussion took place on the confession she stated she signed without knowing its contents.  The letters she had received in jail from Allen were again shown and Maggie said she had received five of them.  When cross examined it was revealed that Maggie had written the first letter but her letters were not to be found.  Apparently Dan was true to his word and destroyed them, only she revealed his.

The judge excluded several witnesses’ testimonies.  One of the exclusions was that of Dr. Mulvey who had been the family physician of Allen.  On one occasion when Allen visited Dr. Mulvey he asked if there would be any hurt in the doctor giving something to his wife to end her suffering.  The jury was not allowed to retain this information.

Former Sheriffs, J. W. Tolford and John Dwyer, both testified.  Sheriff Tolford was in office when the arrest of Dan Allen and Maggie Wright took place and Sheriff Dwyer was present at the time of Allen’s escape.

Daniel Allen was then put on the stand for the first time and gave a brief review of his life.  He stated that he was born in Ohio in 1837 and came to Dodge County, Wisconsin, with his parents when he was seven years old.  From there he moved to Loyal and resided there about twenty years prior to the murder.  Dan had held the offices of supervisor and treasurer in the Town of Loyal and had known Henry Wright two or three years prior to his death.  For the most part he denied Maggie Wright’s testimony and appeared non-cooperative.

The son of Daniel and Susan Allen, Frank Allen, also appeared as did Dan’s niece, Lillie F. (Allen) Walls.  Several others testified as to the good character of Daniel Allen until shortly before the time of the murder.

The trial itself took about eight days to complete; it proved to be a long drawn out affair that led to much exhaustion on the part of the jurors due to late evening testimonies and a full Saturday in court.  After both sides ended their arguments, Judge Bailey gave his charge to the jury in a seemingly prejudicial and damaging manner.  The judge spoke skillfully with much power and authority, more forcefully than either of the lawyers had spoken.  His words virtually dissolved all the evidence on the prosecutions side.   His statement contained twenty-four handwritten pages.  Judge Bailey hinted that Henry Wright could have taken the arsenic himself in fact inducing his own death.  The judge stressed that if any doubts prevailed as to the cause of Wright’s death or how the victim obtained the poison then the verdict must be “not guilty”.  The jury was instructed to strictly, honestly, and fearlessly observe four rules of law here quoted.  “1) The burden of proving everything essential to the establishment of this charge against accused lies on the state.  2) The law presumes the defendant innocent of the crime charged.  3) In order to overcome this presumption of innocence the evidence must be such as to preclude to a moral certainty every reasonable doubt of the guilt of the accused.  4) In matters of doubt it is safer to acquit than condemn.”

It was suggested that Dan Allen had no motive and that his affection or lust for Maggie Wright was hardly sufficient to constitute a motive.  Dan’s good reputation and unblemished character prior to meeting Maggie Wright were mentioned.  Also the fact that Allen testified on his own behalf was implied as a further indication of his innocence. The charge also suggested that Maggie Wright was not a stable person, nor a credible witness.  A brief quote from Judge Bailey summarizing the basic jest of the entire charge follows.  “Persons accused of so great a crime as the taking of human life should never be convicted upon probabilities, conjectures, surmises, or suspicions, but only upon proof of the most convincing character.”

With this lengthy charge from the judge on their minds the jurors removed from the courtroom to decide the fate of Daniel Allen.  In a mere ten minutes they returned with a unanimous decision of “not guilty”.

Neillsville Republican & Press, July 5, 1894 –  “What a sensation; what a surprise to everyone who had listened to the trial from beginning to end – after sizing up the jury, and the manly qualities they were supposed to possess – to hear them return a verdict of “not guilty,” after being out but ten minutes.  Oh what a farce!
There is not a question of doubt in minds of nearly every man and woman in Clark County that both Allen and Mrs. Wright are guilty of the murder of Henry Wright by poisoning, and probably for the death of Mrs. Allen, so that the two, who were unduly intimate, could get married. ….The prosecution had carefully prepared every detail on their side of the case, and had spared no pains or money in having everything right to convict, and would have convicted Allen had they not been handicapped by the judge’s rulings.
The evidence offered by the State and received by Judge Newman on the first trial, and which was not received on the last trial, was taken in connection with the other evidence, amply sufficient to have convicted the defendant.  The evidence excluded by Judge Bailey was principally the testimony of James Hill, W. F. Woodward, L. M. Sturdevant and Dr. Mulvey.  The three first overheard conversation of Allen and Mrs. Wright, which conclusively proved Allen’s guilt.  It will be interesting to the public to know what this evidence was.
When James Hill was offered as a witness on the first trial the attorneys for the defense objected on the ground that the officers of the law had procured the evidence by deception.  Judge Newman’s ruling was in these words:  “What Allen said, he said voluntarily, as far as is disclosed now.  There was no apparent necessity for him to say anything, only he didn’t know that there was a witness to it.  I don’t recall any principle or any case which would exclude this testimony.  I think it is competent.”  The testimony of Mr. Hill was that he overheard a conversation between Allen and Mrs. Wright in the jail.  She asked him where he got the arsenic.  He refused to tell.  She then said that he told her last night that he got it in Milwaukee.  He replied “yes.”  She asked him if he was sure he burned all the arsenic in the box and didn’t leave any on the pantry shelves, or where Derby’s folks would find it.  He said “yes.”  She asked him if he was not sorry he poisoned Hank.  He said, “Mag, I don’t say I poisoned Hank, Maggie, don’t ask me, I am sorry for everything.”
Mrs. Wright testified that in February, 1886, and within about three months before the death of Wright, Allen told her he intended to get arsenic of Dr. Mulvey to poison Wright with.  On the former trial the doctor testified that in January or February 1886, the exact date he could not fix, Allen applied to him to purchase some arsenic and wanted it in the powdered form.  It will be remembered that the arsenic in Wright’s stomach had been given in powder.  This evidence of Dr. Mulvey’s was rejected on the last trial.
The State at the last trial offered L. M. Sturdevant, who was district attorney when Allen was arrested, as a witness.  He overheard a conversation between Allen and Mrs. Wright within a day or two after Allen was lodged in jail and after Mrs. Wright’s confession.  Mr. Sturdevant had written down a memorandum of the conversation immediately, but he did not disclose it at the former trial as he did not wish to be a witness.  He had wished to satisfy himself whether Allen was guilty and remembered the conversation for that purpose only.  The attorneys for the State learning that he could give important evidence pressed him, in the interest of justice to be a witness, and he reluctantly consented.
He could have testified to this:  Allen and Mrs. Wright being alone in a room in the jail, and supposing no one was listening, began to talk about the poisoning.  Allen first kidded Mrs. Wright, then he said: “Maggie, Maggie, what trouble you have got us into.  Why did you give me away?”  Mrs. Wright then said: “They knew it already.”  Allen said:  “Who knew it?”  Mrs. Wright: “Capt. Tolford and Sturdevant knew it.”  Allen: “Did you tell them where I got the poison?”  Mrs. Wright: “Yes, I told them you got it in Milwaukee.”  Allen then said again: “Oh Maggie, Maggie, what trouble you have got us into.”
The attorneys for the prosecution insist that all this evidence should have been received.  If received, it would have so corroborated Mrs. Wright, that no reasonable doubt of the guilt of the accused could be entertained by any fair man.”

Many questions were voiced to the press and public after this unbelievable verdict was given.  “What about our justice system and why was the judge so biased?”  “Who killed Henry Wright if Dan Allen didn’t?”  “And where was that lynch mob?”  And lastly the thoughts of many were how much of a farce this had all become.

THE RABBIT

Fluffy, brown fur with white tail and feet,

He hops around the yard and woods

Looking for food, something to eat,

Always cautious, eyes big and alert.

His ears jut out high above his head

Turning from side to side, listening hard

For danger, for enemies, creeping upon him.

‘Till he finds himself wedged in the woven wire fence.