THE DAN ALLEN TRAIL ( Part 4 )

                                                                  THE TRAIL

The haste and exhaustion of that late night courtroom session created a lucky break or at least a delay of Dan’s demise.  He was once again moved swiftly to another safer location after this unforeseen continuance of the case.  The threat of a lynch mob from Loyal and the surrounding area storming the jail house still remained.

The matter was described as a complication and no one was certain what the outcome would be in the case.  This undoubtedly gave Dan Allen more time to ponder and squirm while he nervously awaited his fate - the chance for a new trial or a life sentence in the state prison.  Allen was returned to the Clark County Jail in Neillsville as the date of the decision neared.

On a Friday morning near the end of May in 1887, ten days before the motion was to be argued, he executed a perfect escape.  Reports circulated that he may have been aided by Maggie Wright in his planned exit although there is no evidence to show that she assisted him.  It is probably more likely that his son, Frank, may have been waiting outside the jail house door with horses, a carriage, and a plan.

Authorities in Greenwood and Loyal were on the lookout for Daniel Allen, the escapee.  Sarcastic reports circulated that angry Loyal residents were preparing to burn down the jail and take the steel cages home to make hencoops out of them, leaving Maggie to watch over the chickens.  It was learned that Allen had not been locked in an individual cell at the time of his escape but had liberty of the hall in the jail.  There were two doors leading to the courthouse yard from the hallway and both of those doors were open.  It was clear that the doors were opened from the inside because the lock on the outside of one of the doors had an old spider web in it which remained intact.  The current sheriff only possessed one set of keys to the doors but originally there were two sets.  It was unknown as to what had become of that second set of keys or how Dan Allen obtained them if he indeed did.  Those doors were only used to haul in firewood for the jail and as a fire exit for the prisoners if the jailor’s residence should ever catch on fire.  They hadn’t been entered or exited for a month prior to Dan’s escape.  It was suspected that Allen left about midnight.  He may have unlocked the doors days beforehand leaving them with the appearance of being closed.  He most likely made a quiet departure in the darkness when the time was right.  The jailor may have trusted Allen more than he should have, falling prey to the charming personality he often exhibited.  The new sheriff also admitted he did not know there was a combination to the lock of the cage door until Allen showed him how it worked one day.

The press made a mockery out of Dan Allen’s escape.  A song of the jailor’s lament was printed, “He’s gone, he’s gone, the Lord knows where, He’s gone to the devil entirely?  He only left me a lock of his hair, when he skipped out so slyly.”  Reference was made in jest that Dan’s footsteps should lengthen until he reached Canada, the “Land of the Free, Home of the Knave”.  When another prisoner escaped from a local jail, an editor of the press joked that he “must have taken the Dan Allen trail.”

Although it is assumed that Dan and Maggie could have escaped together they did not.  Maggie remained a prisoner at the Clark County Jail at Neillsville when Dan made his escape.  The Sheriff had given her liberties to work around the house and it is possible that she may have also had access to the keys.  Reports in early June stated that Maggie was also desirous to know the whereabouts of Dan Allen.  The principle topic of conversation in the community focused on the missing prisoner and his unknown whereabouts for several weeks.

In the Fall when circuit court again convened in Clark County a decision was made on the fate of Maggie Wright.  She had been incarcerated for nearly one and a half years.  In November of 1887, a nolle was entered in her case that in essence set Maggie free.  A nolle meant that the case would no longer be prosecuted, that it was dropped.  She had become the state’s evidence against Allen, and with there now being no evidence against her but her own confession which could not be used against her, it was pointless to keep her incarcerated.  Maggie left Clark County to start a new life, without a husband, and without her children.  Her whereabouts became largely unknown to the community and she drifted on very alone.  Mathias Wright, Maggie’s brother-in-law from Marshfield, had taken her daughter, Rosa, into his home to live with his wife and younger children.

The story did not end here for Daniel Allen.  The committee that was appointed to look for him persevered.  Those appointed were J. C. Marsh, A. C. Vaughan, and Fred Klopf.  They traced Allen through Oregon to the state of Washington, where they guessed he was operating in the lumber industry under an assumed name.  In January of 1889, a new sheriff was elected, Sheriff J. W. Page, and he began his own independent investigation promptly after taking office.  Sheriff Page also traced Allen along the same route as the committee had through Oregon and into Washington.

G. W. Brennan (also spelled Brenner), a resident of Washington, had become acquainted with the man assumed to be Allen for more than a year prior to his capture and greatly aided the case.  Brennan first met Allen when they were both living in Kitsap County, Washington.  Dan had asked Brennan to do some writing for him and Brennan agreed.  From time to time Brennan assisted with a large amount of correspondence and something led him to grow suspicious of Allen.  Perhaps the correspondence dealt with Allen’s attempt to obtain a Civil War pension.  When Brennan’s hunches were confirmed, he contacted the sheriff of Kitsap County and together they studied the case.  Sheriff Page of Clark County corresponded with Kitsap’s Sheriff and Mr. Brennan and it soon became apparent the missing Allen had been found.  District Attorney O’Neill, from Clark County, went to Madison in April of 1890, to secure a requisition from Governor Hoard for presentation to the Governor of Washington State so that Allen could be retrieved.  With this legal matter taken care of, Sheriff Page began the long trek west by train to attempt to capture the escapee.

After nearly three years of hiding from the law Dan Allen was able to accumulate a small amount of property.  Beginning in the fall of 1889 he started up a fruit and confectionary business in Lynden, Whatcom County, Washington.  Allen had leased a lot and erected a small building with the help of a Mr. Alexander where he operated a candy store.  Dan had assumed the alias of James Henry, and became well known to residents of the area.

Sheriff Page accompanied by City Marshall Lawrence, of Bellingham, Whatcom County, entered Dan Allen’s store in Lynden on Wednesday, April 23, 1890.  Page casually asked Allen the price of oranges that were in stock and replied that he would take a quarters worth of the fruit.  Allen first hesitated as he thought he recognized Page, but then he turned toward the window to gather the fruit with his back to the men. Quickly Sheriff Page grabbed him, tripped him, and threw him to the floor.  Allen struggled desperately but with the assistance of City Marshall Lawrence he was soon handcuffed and a prisoner once again.  The citizens of Lynden were very startled at all the commotion and certainly surprised to learn of the terrible crime that the man they knew as James Henry had been arrested for.  Allen did acknowledge his identity soon after the arrest.   The premises were then searched and Allen was allowed to pack a trunk with his desired belongings.  A loaded gun was found under his bed.  A Bellingham Bay Express Newspaper reporter had this to say, “The prisoner is a tall, stout, dark complexioned man of iron nerve and collected as though he was going home to be married instead of to be hung for murder.”

After giving power of attorney to a lawyer to take care of his business, Daniel Allen was escorted back to Neillsville, Wisconsin by Sheriff J. W. Page.  They began their voyage back to the Midwest on the steamer, “The State of Washington”.  Perhaps they first headed south to Seattle where they boarded a train.  Word had leaked out of the capture back home in Clark County and it was assumed a few days later that the sheriff and his prisoner would stay overnight at St. Paul and arrive in Neillsville later on a Wednesday afternoon.  Rather then encounter a curious and rowdy crowd of onlookers, Page decided to press on in the night and arrived at the Neillsville depot early Wednesday morning, April 30th, hours ahead of schedule.  Only a handful of people were present when they got in.  A carriage arrived on the scene in a flash and the shackled prisoner was quickly driven to the Clark County Jail once again.

Accounts state that a copious amount of money was spent in the recapture.  Ex-Sheriff John Dwyer, in office when Allen escaped, came to visit him at the jail.  He questioned Allen on how the escape was executed but Dan did not shed any light on the details of his exit.

Daniel Allen’s verdict of “guilty of murder in the 1st degree” in the trial that took place three years ago hovered over him in the form of a very dark cloud.  The court denied a new trial and he was finally sentenced to life in prison in 1890.  Allen was removed to the state penitentiary at Waupun, Wisconsin by Sheriff Page.  “That’s what a man gets for trusting a woman, and I was a damn fool for writing those letters!” spouted Dan on the way to Waupun.  But once again, this was not the end of Allen’s story.

WHERE I’M SUPPOSED TO BE

I walk out my driveway with blue sky overhead

And feel the northwest wind touch my face,

Then head east down the dead end road,

Toward the East Fork and away from the world.

I look for critter tracks in the snow in wintertime.

In spring I pick pussy willows by Lindsay Creek,

And watch butterflies sit on milkweed in the summer,

When autumn comes I gaze in awe at the red and golden leaves.

I stop at the driveway of the Honorable Mrs. Redman

And gaze at the old barn and oak trees in the yard,

But she is no longer there, only the memory of her

And Grandpa with grub-ax in hand digging out stumps.

I turn and walk back to the west toward home

And feel nostalgic, but refreshed and renewed

As I connect with nature, the past, and feel contentment

Knowing in my heart that I am where I’m supposed to be.

THE DAN ALLEN TRAIL ( Part 3 )

DAN ALLEN’S TRIAL

Ten months after the murder of Henry Wright, the case against Daniel Allen finally came to trial in March of 1887.  It took three days to select the jury and those chosen were:  Geo. Krackenberger, Henry Nelson, J. J. Lansworth, Wm. Glidden, Barney Rather, A. W. Loy, Chas. Wilcox, William Presher, G. W. Crandall, Chester Crandall, Abe Fradenburg, and Andrew Heath.

Judge A. W. Newman presided over the trial.  The state was represented by J. E. Campbell, district attorney, B. F. French, Esquire, of Neillsville, and Samuel N. Dickinson, of Sparta, Wisconsin.  Those in defense of Allen were Messrs. Ring and Youmans, and R. J. MacBride of Neillsville, and J. M. Morrow of Sparta.  These lawyers were all locally prominent and much respected in their professions.

The case opened on a Saturday, with the district attorney and Mr. French claiming they could prove that Henry Wright came to his death from poison administered by Allen, that the poison was obtained by Allen, and that he procured the dead man’s wife to give it to Wright.  They stated that if Allen was not the real murderer he was at the least an accessory before and after the fact.  Deliberation carried on with testimony from Ernest Derby, a neighbor, and continued with statements from the doctors who attended Wright, carried on his post mortem exams, and conducted testing of the liver and stomach.  

Maggie Wright was called by the state as a witness.  The defense tried to stop her from testifying, stating that she was an accomplice and if allowed to testify would do so in an attempt to strike a deal or gain a pardon.  However the court decided to allow her testimony.  Maggie began by admitting that she and Dan Allen had been having an affair for a year prior to her husband’s death.  She then told of Allen’s procuring the arsenic at Milwaukee and his persuading to her to bake those deadly cookies.  Maggie also said that she did not give her husband any additional poison, nor did she consent to giving him more.  Maggie stated that Allen wanted her to flee to Chicago shortly after the murder.  If she did he told her that they would not suspect him.  She said she talked with Allen once or twice in jail and the day after she was incarcerated Allen told her that he was sorry she owned up.  Later she said Allen told her to deny all that she had said and if she didn’t he would do everything he could against her.  

Maggie also mentioned the correspondence she and Allen had in writing.  She told how they passed notes that she let down on a string from her jail cell above his.  The letters were shown in court and even though the defense objected to the contents being read the court overruled.  Although the letters did give convincing proof of criminal intimacy between Dan and Maggie, they did not give definite proof that Dan was guilty of murdering Wright.  The penned words became a source of amusement to the crowded courtroom causing a comical atmosphere in what should have been a more somber one.

After several other witnesses, with court in session late into the evening hours at times, on Wednesday the defense began building their case for Allen.  They tried to depict Dan’s sound character and addressed the fact that he had been a good citizen of Clark County for 20 years prior to his relationship with the Wright family.  There was no denial of his affair with Maggie Wright.  But he did deny all knowledge of the crime as charged by Mrs. Wright.  The defense attempted to portray Allen as the victim of a scheming woman who had tempted him, a woman so infatuated by her lawless love that murder became her only way out.  And when doing so she became determined to drag Allen into the crime although he was innocent of any such deed.  The counsel for the defense offered this early statement from Maggie to the jury.  

NEILLSVILLE, March 15th, 1887 – “I have made a statement to the district attorney and sheriff and other officials in charge of me in relation to the death of my deceased husband, Henry Wright, in which I stated in substance that his death was caused by poison administered by me and one Daniel Allen, and many other statements of a similar character.

That statement was obtained from me by said officers upon their statements to me but they sympathized with me and my children; that they had evidence which was sufficient to convict me of the murder of my husband, and that I would have to go to state prison for life unless I confessed and admitted that what they claimed was true and that if I would make such a statement, confession and admission I would be cleared, and it would be better for me if I would make it.

I here state that such statements made by me to said officers was not true, and that I made the same for the purpose of escaping punishment and without having any chance to consult with any lawyer or friend and while in jail in the custody of the sheriff of Clark County the next day after I was arrested; that I was informed by said officers that if I would sign said statement I would be allowed to go down stairs and eat with the sheriff’s family and that my treatment would be better than if I refused to make the statement.  

I was told also that there was no use in denying the poisoning, as they would surely convict me and it would be worse for me if they did.

I make this statement for the purpose of correcting said former statement.” 

–  MAGGIE WRIGHT

Witnesses were called to testify to both the previous good and bad character of Dan Allen.  The case was presented to the jury on a Thursday evening at about 10 p.m., and after only one half hour of deliberation they returned to the courtroom with a verdict of “guilty”.  In what proved to be a costly mistake on the court’s behalf, the jury was discharged from duty immediately and dismissed.  After being cooped up for several stressful days the jurors again were “free men”.  The verdict was recorded and court was adjourned.  The next morning it was learned that the verdict was not complete because the jury did not designate a degree to the murder charge.  As a result of this laxness all jurors had to be alerted to return to the courthouse as soon as possible and did so that morning.  When all were reassembled they completed their verdict as “guilty of murder in the 1st degree”.  After the full verdict was rendered the counsel for the defense moved for a new trial because the charge of “first degree” should have been given at the same time as the guilty verdict. Jurors could have been influenced in their decision on the degree charge during those several hours after their dismissal before they were returned to the courtroom.  The court was adjourned until a later date to hear the argument on the motion to arrest the judgment.

“I almost think that you have changed your mind but I hope not / this letter makes me feal bad / I am afraid that you are going to go back on me if you are Maggy all right / I will have to stand it / you said you wanted that letter back again / why do you want it / are you afraid I will take it into coart / I think you are but you need not be afraid unless you keep the ones I right and take them into coart / I never will take them you rote / that is why I think you intend to stick to your first statement and by this last note it seemed to chill me through when I red it / it was not mutch like the one before the way it comenct and the way it ended / oh I hope I am mistaken about it but I feal aful bad today and did all night”

“Maggy you will find me true to you every time / Sue has gone home sometime ago / I did not see her Maggy / I don’t never expect to see her again nor I don’t never expect to go onto that farm again / I will make another somewhere if I get clear and I want you to help me make it / Maggy will you do it tell me the truth now / Maggy if not I want to know it / 

I don’t want to be fooled….. please answer soon”

Susan Allen, Dan’s wife, was not well before the murder took place and one can imagine the grief she bore with the unfaithfulness of her husband and the shame and lack of self esteem she must have felt.  

“do you know that sue is here in town being docterd / I hear that she is going home next weak / she has had a pretty hard time”   

Susan died March 23, 1887.  She was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Clark County, Wisc. in an unmarked grave.  Cemetery records show a lot purchased by Frank Allen in March, 1887, that is most likely her resting place.

BLUE SKY

Bright blue without a cloud, clear as a bell,

Sometimes the sky is that way, the way you want it to be.

Whispy clouds, feather like, slowly moving along

From west to east with a bright blue background lead to

Variations of white, gray, and then darker grays

Gathering, swirling, obstructing your view

Rain, sleet, snow, appear from an even shade of gray,

But above the clouds the bright blue sky is there waiting to reappear,

And soon it will.

THE DAN ALLEN TRAIL ( Part 2 )

THE LETTERS – IN PART

“You say you felt bad when I was taken to the Falls / how do you think I felt to have the hand cuffs put onto me taken away in that way / do you think I felt bad / oh oh oh Maggy I am the same Dan that I always was / I think I have ritten you a good long letter this time / please excuse poor righting and poor spelling and answer when you can”

“Oh Maggy I wish I could come up and talk with you a little while but I am afraid I cant / Maggy we ought to have sertain nights to exchange notes / I will say Monday night and Thursday night or once a week often enough if you think it is then say Monday night providing there is no one else brought in this / it might be I could not get a chance / I don’t know but this fellow that is in here will leave pretty soon and then it will be all right / we have gotta be carefull and not get caught at this / I don’t want to be caught /  if the night we set to exchange notes if their should anything hapen that we could not exchange on that night we will the next night or the next or till we can”

“You think I talk about you and run you down and maid fun of you oh Maggy you ought to know better than that / I never said a word against you yet all I ever said I said to Cap  [referring to Captain J. W. Tolford, current sheriff] /  I told him you must of ben craisy or out of your hed to tell such things as you did and that was all / I now [know] you have been lied to more than once since you have been here / you wanted to know [know] if I thought it would clear both of us if you deny it all/ Maggy I don’t know but I think it would although I don’t know / what did your sister think of me / I saw you and her when you came up”

“I guess you live better than I do / you got lots of apples / we had grean apples sent in here once ‘r twice and you got them every day”

“You want me to excuse your righting and spelling / you right good enough better than I do yes I wish I could talk german and right it / I would give a good deal /
you say you wish that the trial was over / I do to but I think we will be allright”

”Maggie I am about selling out my interist in my farm / Frank and his woman have come back and are going to go onto the farm and take care of me they are going the weak / saw Frank yesterday / I was down town / I haven’t seen sue nor don’t expect to Maggy / the team I had is sold and all the stock / when I get my money for the place I will be free from it / now then Maggy it depends on you our future…..oh Maggy that we was both clear”

“I tell you I lookt at that dress a good many times and thought of other days / I will send my shirt up it needs patching / Maggy what does that girl say about me / please tell me wont you / they don’t think mutch of me I guess /[Attorney] Ring will be up before long / I expected him up today“

“Oh Maggy dear Maggy dear how I would like to open that door and come in if only darst to set a kiss through the door to you did you get it / I guess not / I will right some more and will try and send you some paper……oh Maggy what word did you send her [Sue] by Derby [Ernest Derby, neighbor of Wrights] last spring / she rote me all about it / tell me Maggy if you sent such word to her / I think you must have been pretty mad at me then if you told Durbey what sue said you did and Maggy I was told that when their was tak [talk] of my being linched that you said you did not care if they did / is that so / Maggy oh Maggy Maggy could you say such a thing / now Maggy I never have said a word against you to no one / no not a word”

“It would be to bad if you would fool me Maggy dear / don’t do that / ask Cap if he will let you see me and see what he will say / good by”

“Maggy if they catch us passing them notes over the door I tell you what we can do /  if I am in here alone I can get your notes from out of the window in the nite / you can have a long string and let it down (and I will) and swing it out by the corner of the house and I will have a long stick and get it and then you let up on the string and I will get it / do you understand / now be careful of these notes and don’t go back on me and we will be all right”

“….. tell me Maggy now what you intend to do / I will do as I have told you if we can get clear now don’t let Cap have any of these notes nor anyone else / I don’t think that other sheriff will be quite as sharp as Cap and his wife are /Maggy you are in the kitchen now while I am riting I can see you under the door / I can tell you by your slippers and red stockings / be careful about letting down that string / be shure that there is no one around and be shure and have it long enough to reach to me / you can tell when to let it down I will put out the light / be shure and have the note fast to the end of the string and swing it by the corner of the house and be shure and let it down low enough so I can reach it / I will tell yo some time how I get hold of the string / if we can make it work and we can if there is no more [other prisoners] in here / the old Dutchman wont know anything about it”

“Maggy I will get you some yarn for some stockings / I wish you would tell me what kind to get and how much it will take for two pair and I will try and get it for you / I [k]now you need some”

“I have got some hickernuts / I got a boxe from my sister Sally Loop [Sally Allen, Dan’s older sister, married David W. Loop, they lived near Omro, WI.] the one that was their visiting / I wish you was here to help me crack them / I will send you some meats tomorrow night……have a lovely evening”

 “We will try and exchange notes again tomorrow night and then wait til Cap gets moved / it wont answer to over do it / it may be we can get them over the door if the old lady don’t tell that woman / I will answer yours tomorrow and you answer mine”

Exhibit #2/E – written preChristmas 1886 – “Did you get them apples I sent up their the other day / I sent up six red ones / Maggy I would like to send you a nice Cristmas presant but it will not do / I don’t expect any this year / I will come see you if I can and give you well yes you know what I mean / does that woman know that you right to me / do you show her the notes / I hope not you can right on the other side if you want to / I  will send you paper if I could and some money to get teath but I dasent / right when you can …..good by / thanks for that lock” [lock of hair?]

 [New Years Day 1887] – “Magg this has been an affen [awful] lonely day to me / I am glad you have had a good time / I saw you go away and say you come back / oh I feal worse today than I have since I left home / it seams as tho my hopes are all gon if you go back on me / I don’t care to live / many is the tears I have shed today / good by / I can’t write / this is new years”

“Ring was in here to see me / he wants to see you / he is away at present / you say you can hear me cracking nuts / I did not think you could hear up their so plain / can you hear us talk and laugh / Sometimes I useto hear you women up their sometimes but I don’t any more / you say you was glad to get that yarn / did it pay you for fixing my socks and shirts and pants / if it was not enough I will get you something else if there is any thing you want / I expect I shall want some more work done / them woven shirts are getting thin on the elbows and will have to be patcht / it may be I can do it tho / I don’t know as these folks would take them up their now / as to what that was that you spoke of that was in the paper Maggy it depends on you about that if we get clear you will be if you wanto”

“I don’t want you to fool me along until we come to trial and then do and say all you can against me / I hope Maggy you wont do that for I intend to do as I have told you / I hear you are going to have a lawyer from Chicago go to plead your case and he intends to send me to Wapun / now Maggy it all depends on you and I want you to do as you think best / I only want to know what you intend to do and not fool me / you say you worry all the time / I don’t sleep but little / I ly for hours and think Maggy of you and what is to come”

( Poem in Picture Frame)

Things to Think

                                                                       by Robert Bly

                                                          Think in ways you’ve never thought before
                                                          If the phone rings, think of it as carrying a message
                                                          Larger than anything you’ve ever heard,
                                                          Vaster than a hundred lines of Yeats.

                                                         Think that someone may bring a bear to your door,
                                                         Maybe wounded and deranged: or think that a moose
                                                         Has risen out of the lake, and he’s carrying on his antlers
                                                         A child of your own whom you’ve never seen.

                                                        When someone knocks on the door, think that he’s about
                                                        To give you something large: tell you you’re forgiven,
                                                        Or that it’s not necessary to work all the time, or that it’s
                                                        Been decided that if you lie down no one will die.

CONNECTIONS

For some it never happens;

Many think they don’t need it.

But for people like me

Who are sentimental old souls,

It means the world to have a connection.

To share a thought from the past

A photograph or song

A similar belief or interest

Warms my heart and mind.

It means the world to have a connection.

A connection with a friend

Or a relative or a stranger

With a chat or a smile

Just to know we think alike

Gives me a feeling that we are connected.

If everyone could think this way,

And find a common bond,

The world would be a better place,

If we could all find a connection.

THE DAN ALLEN TRAIL The Story of a Wisconsin Civil War Veteran Who Looked Into the Heart of Darkness ( Part 1 )

Written & Compiled 

    By Kay Scholtz

INTRODUCTION

As an amateur historian, I take great pleasure sifting through dusty papers in dark corners of musty storerooms and attics trying to unfold the past and study the lives of those who came here before me.  

One day several years ago a true tale of murder literally fell at my feet.  I was gathering information on lumbering history in my rural community by sorting through old lien documents in a storage area at the local courthouse.  When I slid open a small black file drawer, several yellow pages of notebook paper dropped to the floor in front of me.   I carefully picked them up, wondering about the bright yellow color of the paper and I quickly skimmed the handwritten letters with great curiosity.  The author had penned his messages to a lady friend and it was clear that the notes had been kept as evidence in a court trial that took place more than one hundred years ago.  

It was not just any trial but involved one of the most notorious crimes in early Clark County, Wisconsin, history.  I didn’t believe anyone had handled those letters since the 1890’s, and I was sure the murder and the lives of those involved had long been forgotten.  The time had come to uncover the story and let it be retold and it seemed as though I had been elected.

After some procrastination, and second thoughts, I began to assemble all the data I could gather from local newspapers on microfilm, court notes, and more to piece together a full account of the case.  I wanted to learn how the justice system operated in the late 1800’s.  And I also wanted to know what became of the victims and the accused and what could be learned from the entire affair.  What took place not only personally affected the lives of Daniel Allen, the author of the notes, and Maggie Wright, his lover, but undoubtedly forever changed the lives of their children, immediate family, and community indefinitely.  

Here is the true story, as I have pieced it together, intertwined with excerpts (in italics) from Dan’s dusty old letters written secretly to Maggie while they were both occupants in the Clark County Jail at Neillsville, Wisconsin, in 1886 and 1887.  A good share of the content of the five surviving letters included repeated begging on Dan’s part as he tried to convince Maggie not to implicate him.  The letters give a unique and small personal glimpse into their lives.  Dan neglected to use any form of punctuation and his grammar and spelling were quite poor.  I’ve transcribed his words just as he penned them in order to preserve their context and his simple manner of expression.  None of the letters were dated so the excerpts are not necessarily in chronological order.  Together with information that I have gathered on the case, the community, and the family, I hope that I can retell the story in an interesting, understandable, and inoffensive way.

“You say you will be true to me / oh I hope you will / you say you mean it / I hope you do  There is no use of being scard / I dont think either of us will have to go to states prison for life if at all / I don’t think either of us will go there if it is managed right Maggy”

DANIEL ALLEN’S STORY – RETOLD

THE MURDER

Henry Wright, 33 years of age, was a struggling farmer who lived with his wife, Margaretta (Maggie) nee Zurn/Zirn, about 30 years of age.  Henry was born near Milwaukee and Maggie was born in Hartford, Wisconsin.  Their parents were of German descent.  The Wright’s farm home in 1886 was located in a rural setting between the small city of Greenwood and the village of Loyal in Clark County, Wisconsin.  Rosa, aged 12, was their oldest child and the couple had three sons; Antone, 8; Henry, 6; and a younger son whose name is unknown.  Henry Wright was ill and may have had trouble with his vision.  Prior to farming in Clark County, Henry lived and worked at a saw mill near Marshfield, Wood County, Wisconsin.  His brother, Mathias Wright, resided in Marshfield for many years and was well known there.  

Not far down the road from the Wright farm lived a Civil War veteran named Daniel Allen, aged 48.  Daniel was a prosperous farmer who lived with his wife, Susan (nee Patterson), aged 49, on their farm in Section 18, Town of Loyal.  Dan had brown hair, charming blue eyes, and stood nearly six feet tall.  He and Susan had one son, Frank, aged 26.  Daniel became a helper to the struggling Wright family, often stopping over to aid with chores and visit in what began as mere friendship.  However, through time Dan stole the love of Henry’s wife, Maggie, and the life of Henry himself.

In the winter of 1886, Daniel Allen cooked up an idea of how he and Maggie could be together.  They would kill Henry by poisoning him and then do away with Dan’s wife, Susan, in the same manner.  They would grieve for the proper time, then marry one another, and live happily ever after.   Dan traveled to nearby Neillsville one winter day and purchased some strychnine.   Dan and Maggie tried to get Henry to drink water with the strychnine slipped into it, but it tasted so badly Henry threw the water out.

In April of 1886, Dan Allen went to Milwaukee on a pleasure trip to attend a Civil War veterans’ reunion.  Allen had enlisted in August of 1862 with Company K of the 1st Wisconsin Cavalry in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. He served for three years and was mustered out July 19, 1865 as a Sergeant with Company K.  While in Milwaukee, Allen purchased arsenic, a second weapon of murder, in powder form.  When he returned home he instructed Maggie to bake a batch of cookies, putting some arsenic in just two of them.  The laced cookies were nicely browned and the untainted cookies were left in the oven to burn a bit at Dan’s request.  When the task was finished Maggie placed all the cookies on the kitchen table for Henry to eat.  Allen was at the Wrights’ house that day, supposedly to assist with chores, but wanted to witness firsthand the effects of the dose.  Henry ate both of the unburned, arsenic ridden cookies and within five minutes he became so violently ill that he ran outside and vomited.  He asked his wife to make a cup of lobelia tea to settle his stomach.   Allen later scolded Maggie, telling her she had given her husband too much poison at once.  

Henry remained very ill and a doctor was called to attend to him, perhaps because of Maggie’s feelings of guilt and remorse.  Medicine was left at the home for him to take.  Henry may have also visited his family doctor a time or two on his own, seeking relief from the recurrent stomach pains and ill health he suffered even prior to the poisoning.  Dan Allen stayed on at the Wright home to aid in Henry’s “recuperation” giving Henry medicine along with drinking water he continued to taint with additional arsenic.   Dan was even said to have sat at Henry’s bedside occasionally reading Bible verses to him while he kept a vigil  posing as an untiring, concerned caretaker and friend.  Henry died at his home in Loyal Township on May 9th, 1886, after about two weeks of daily poisoning.   Although Maggie only gave Henry that first dose of arsenic in the cookies, she did not stop Dan Allen from slowly finishing the deed while she and her young children looked on, and her love affair with Dan continued.  

The suspicions of the physician who treated Henry Wright were aroused by the symptoms, which indicated that he may have been poisoned.  A post mortem examination was called for and conducted by three doctors from Loyal and Greenwood.  With fear of flight and not enough evidence yet to make an arrest on murder, a complaint was filed on May 12, 1886, by neighbor, Harry Philpott, and a warrant was issued to Clark County Sheriff J. W. Tolford.  Although not for murder just yet, there was enough evidence to arrest Daniel Allen and Maggie Wright, both married, for committing adultery on May 7th (just two days before the death of Henry).  On May 10th, 1886, the day after Henry Wright’s death, a post mortem examination was conducted by Dr. H. J. Thomas and Dr. Buland of Greenwood, Dr. Mulvey of Loyal, and a neighbor, Ernest Derby.  The doctors noted that there were discolored spots on Wright’s stomach and intestines but his heart was found to be healthy.   The stomach was removed and sent to Chicago for analysis.  Upon the report of the physicians an inquest was held, a jury summoned, and after much deliberation the conclusion was made that Henry Wright came to his death through taking poison.  Maggie Wright was arrested for adultery and murder on May 14th, and committed to the Clark County Jail in Neillsville.  She confessed to the deed and Dan Allen was also quickly arrested for murder.  They were both held for trial at the next term of circuit court in jail cells one above the other (Maggie on the second floor, Dan on the lower floor).

Susan Allen, wife of Daniel Allen, realized the seriousness of her husband’s offense and seemingly tried to take control of her affairs to protect herself.  On May 27, 1886, Susan filed a lis pen dens on the real estate owned by she and Dan, described as the SW quarter of Section 18, located in the Town of Loyal, Clark County, Wisc.  (A lis pen dens tells the public there may be a pending lawsuit in progress that could affect the sale of the property; in essence it puts a sort of cloud over the title.)  Susan wanted to prevent Dan from selling the property without her or their son Frank’s knowledge.  

“My son was here yesterday to see me / he says Sue [his son’s mother - Dan’s wife, Susan Allen] don’t get mutch better / you say you get better grub than you did before / we do to and more of it / you always got better grub than we did down here”  

As one can imagine, the entire community was in uproar and shocked at the crime that took place that spring of 1886.  It was on the minds and in the hearts of most and in the press quite frequently.    Initially a local newspaper editor joked that it was another case of a man and woman loving not wisely, but too well.  Neighbors were filled with wrath and talked of organizing a lynch mob to storm the jail house at Neillsville and string up Daniel Allen.  The threat became so prevalent that in July of 1886, Allen was taken by the sheriff for his own safety to a jail in neighboring Jackson County, Wisconsin, at Black River Falls.  The press, at this time siding with Allen, advised anyone with the desire to come to Neillsville to lynch him to let the law take its course first, “else the pale air may be streaked with blood and other hearts made to ache because a husband or father has been sent to judgment without a trial by jury.”

It was a still Sunday night in July that a second post mortem examination of Henry Wright took place at his gravesite.  Attending were Dr. Mulvey from Greenwood, one of the doctors from the first post mortem exam, the district attorney, and Mr. Derby (the Wrights’ neighbor) who dug open the grave.  Upon distinctly recognizing the body as that of Henry Wright, one third of his right liver was removed.  The specimen was brought in a jar by L. M. Sturdevant to Dr. Walter Stanley Haines, a Professor of Chemistry in Rush Medical College.  Dr. Haines later testified in court that he found arsenic in the liver and in the stomach that was previously removed, some of it still undissolved.  He felt that the amount discovered would prove fatal in most cases and that it probably was administered over a period of time rather than all at once.  Dr. Haines said that after one takes a fatal dose of arsenic death usually occurs from 12 to 36 hours afterward, but it could take as much as several days.  He also said that pain grows in intensity until a person’s whole insides feel as if they are on fire.  The victim at last becomes delirious and there may be paralysis of the nerves.  Imagine the agony and suffering that Henry Wright endured those last days of his life.

While Dan Allen remained at his new location in Black River Falls awaiting trial, Maggie Wright was held in custody at Neillsville in the county jail.  Circuit court convened biannually in Clark County.  In September of 1886 the murder charges brought against both Maggie and Dan were listed as “continued” which meant the trial was postponed until a later date.  Allen was returned to the Clark County Jail in the fall of 1886 and much of the letter writing took place at this time in the jail at Neillsville.  Court did not come into session again until March of 1887.

On February 27th, 1887, a deed was granted to Frank Allen by his parents, Daniel Allen and his wife, Susan for the Allen home farm in Loyal Township in Section 18.  The deed stated the price of the property was $2,000.    This note was written on the back of the instrument register, “Personally came before me on the 8th day of March A.D. 1887 at 11 o’clock a.m. the within named Daniel Allen to me known to be the person who executed the within deed and acknowledged the same to be his free act and deed for the uses and purposes therein mentioned.  Geo. L. Jacques, Justice of the Peace, Clark County.”  

CABIN FEVER

Wisconsin winters, firewood splinters,

Starry nights, Christmas lights.

Smokey stoves, birchwood groves.

Wood pile shrinking, outhouse stinking,

Drippy nose, itchy toes,

Chapped lips, frozen fingertips.

Mittens and caps, afternoon naps,

Frizzy hair, thermal underwear.

Fogged up glasses, cold as molasses.

Animal tracks, snowmen when it packs.

Fishing on ice, shacks are nice,

Skis on snow, go Pack go.

Shorter days, lazier ways,

Winter’s long, like a boring song.

Nobody’s friend, when will it end

Cabin fever, love it or leave her.

LURE OF A COUNTRY AUCTION (part 15 )

MY FANTASY AUCTION

I’ve been dreaming in my mind what the ultimate auction would be like.  I would have to say the ultimate auction to me would have to be an estate sale.  That would be a sale necessary to settle an estate.  But I’d have to add that it would be an estate with no immediate heirs.  Family members often pick over the contents of an estate before it ever is made available to the public, and rightly so.  I always hope that a family will value and keep personal items like Grandma and Grandpa’s wedding portrait out of a sale.
I’d like my ultimate auction to be a hoarder’s estate where the owner who passed never threw a thing away but had valuable treasurers tucked in along with the usual household items.  And I’d like it to have a lot of volume, the more wagon loads the better.  I’d like there to be numerous sheds full, and I’d like it to start early and end late.  If the auctioneer said, “Bring a chair and plan to spend the whole day,” that would be a bonus.  And if the advertisement for the sale said, “Hundreds of boxes yet to be unpacked, too many items to list,” I’d like that too.
I love ephemera.  My definition of “ephemera” would be paper items that have been saved but would normally be thrown away.  I can conjure up all kinds of warm fuzzy thoughts about ephemera and the kinds that I would like to bid on.  I have a passion for handwritten letters, diaries, journals, and old postcards with written messages on the backsides.  I don’t care for unused postcards.  To me the messages on them are more valuable than the images on the front side, especially if they are from the early 1900’s.  I like old catalogues (a perfect example of ephemera) and advertising items and calendars from the past.  And I love a good old hard cover book, a novel about the old west, pioneers, or an old nonfiction book filled with American history.
I’d pick one of those felt fedora hatted little elderly men to auction at the sale.  He wouldn’t be greedy and he’d start all the bidding at a quarter dollar.  And he’d smile real often and have a great sense of humor and maybe even sing a tune now and then.  But he wouldn’t waste time and he’d say because of the volume of this sale, “I’m going to be quick, let’s have some good peppy bidding, and if you hesitate too long it’s your loss because I have a lot to go through here and I’m not going to waste time.”  Yes, that is just what he would say!
Then I’d like to pick the weather for that ultimate auction.  I’d schedule it on a Saturday, with mild temps and steady cloud cover without any precipitation.  That way the sun wouldn’t make it hot and miserable and I wouldn’t have to stand in the shade away from the auction and the fun.
And lastly I’d like to pick the crowd.  An even number of thirty people would be just right.  There’d be plenty of room for all to see what was happening, there’s be no pushing and shoving, no elbows in the ribs, and no tall people standing in front of me.  And if body odor was an issue from the guy next to me, I could move to another spot and still view the sale just fine.  With a small crowd I’d be able to park close to the auction site and not have to carry my merchandise very far.  Yes, thirty or even just twenty people would be perfect.
All these suggestions would definitely add up to an ultimate auction for me.  Many bargains, lots of material to read when I got home, that would be my dream.  And I’d have no feelings of guilt, that I had outbid a family member on something precious to them, and I’d be leaving with the attitude that I was giving the merchandise I bought a good home.
And when the bidding with through the little old auctioneer sporting the fedora hat would say “Pull the pin and shut the gate … ‘cause the boat done left.”
TODAY’S SALE
It was an estate sale on a cloudy day with rain threatening on the not so distant horizon, an estate of a well know couple in the community who owned a business for many years and loved politics and had many friends.  Their sale happened not because they wanted it to, but because their children knew it was time…  Auctions like this can be full of nostalgia and mixed emotions for family members and friends as well.
I was surprised at the familiar faces in the crowd attending today, so many people I’ve seen only at auctions through the years.  I could name a few and relate to them by what their collecting passions are… Patty who loves jewelry, Leon who loves fishing reels and flashlights, Patz who collects tools and cleaning supplies, the antique dealers who love a bargain they can resell, and the lady without a name who today eyed up a cobalt blue pie pan and said she’d never seen one before in her life and thought she could fill that pan if it were hers with a lovely pie.  I don’t know if she won the bid on it but I hope so.

OVER YOUR SHOULDER

You keep looking over your shoulder,

Thinking it’s near, it’ll soon be here.

Your heart beats faster and you keep looking

Over your shoulder.

Wondering when the day will arrive,

When you’ll hear the news, win or lose,

When the darkness will come, so you keep looking

Over your shoulder.

Time keeps ticking as you keep looking,

Wondering then, thinking when,

So much time wasted, as you keep looking

Over your shoulder.

If you’d look ahead and not behind

Quit collecting, stop reflecting,

But fear rules your emotions, so you keep looking

Over your shoulder.

(Likening myself with my fear of cancer returning, to my outside cat, Freddie, as he eats from his dish and keeps looking over his shoulder, thinking something is coming to catch him off guard, steal his food, hurt him, while he is intent on eating.  And because he keeps looking over his shoulder, he can’t enjoy his meal, because he is always afraid.  Afraid of something that is probably not going to happen.   But yet he has good reason to fear, because he was injured in the past, bitten twice.  I think my cat and I suffer from PTSD – Ah, I always knew me and Freddie had a lot in common.)

LURE OF A COUNTRY AUCTION (part 14 )

MOST MEMORABLE AUCTIONS

One of my most memorable auctions was one I attended myself in Neillsville at the Fairgrounds.  It was a Sheriff’s Sale.  That meant that the sheriff of our county was the acting auctioneer and the items had been seized by the county for failure to pay property taxes.  The home was located in town and was put up for sale but all the personal items were removed from it and brought to the fairgrounds to be auctioned off.  This meant the sale itself was actually someone’s hard luck story and sure enough when I arrived at the auction and began exiting my car, there she was.  A worn out looking middle aged lady approached me and said, “You’re not going to buy any of my stuff are you?”   I just looked back at her and said I don’t know.  I didn’t know what to make of the situation.
There were very few people in the crowd that day and there were a few antiques and some furniture up for bids.  I remember the sheriff trying so hard to get a bid on a beautiful antique player piano.  It still worked and had many rolls of music that went with it.  He was not a pro at auctioning but was easy to understand and kept calling over and over for one hundred dollars to start the bidding on that piano.  No one bid and finally he said if no one wants it then I’ll bid the one hundred dollars and it was his.
I took a liking to a box of antique dresses made of velvet and silk in many colors, some black and many earth tones.  Along with the dresses in this box were umpteen strands of embroidery floss of all different colors and other sewing paraphenilia.  I had some ideas that I could use the material to make a quilt and I also loved to embroidery.  The box was cardboard and square but it measured about 3 feet tall and 3 feet wide, deep enough to possibly have some treasures in the bottom of it.  Well I won the bid on that box as I was the only bidder and I got the whole thing for 50 cents.  Immediately after I’d won the bid three neatly dressed women approached me with a pen and paper.  They said they were related to the owner of this merchandise and had looked high and low for a purple heart medal that belonged to their grandfather or someone in the family and couldn’t find it.  They wanted to know that if I found the purple heart in the box I just bought if I would mail it to them.  I said yes, of course I could do that, so they gave me their name and address.  When I got home I checked and there wasn’t anything close to a purple heart in the box.  But I used the beautiful velvets and silks and threads to make two crazy quilts that I still treasure.  I often felt bad for the lady who lost all her possessions, but I also believed that I had put what little I purchased to good use, something that she would have been pleased with.

One auction that we attended was what I would call an all-dayer and an all-nighter.  The auctioneer must not have realized how many items he had to sell that day because when the sun had set he was still busy calling for bids with tons of merchandise yet to go through.  Boxes of household items were strung out in rows all over the yard.  When darkness came the auctioneer pulled out a flashlight and shined it on each item as he sold it.  We luckily grabbed a flashlight out of our truck so we were able to find our way around the yard and check out the items before they were sold.  It was a grand but crazy sale as we filled up the back of our pickup truck in the dark.  When we left the auction it was still going strong and the night was pitch dark.  I never attended any other auction outside that went on into the darkness of the night like that one did.
At wintertime auction at a farm just a mile from my home was memorable for me.  Inside a pole shed barn were several wagons loaded with small items to be auctioned off.  I located a large old galvanized mail box on top of a wagon and inside of it were dozens of very old catalogues, some from the early 1900’s.  They were catalogues for farmers that featured everything from farm implements to barb wire.  I thought they were a quite rare form of ephemera.  Luckily I won the bid on the mail box, they didn’t bother to open it up when they sold it, and I paid just $11.00. for it.  The mailbox was so heavy we put it on a plastic sled we brought from home and pulled it up the long snowy driveway at that farm back to our car.
I was at an antique auction once where an antique dealer was going out of business.  She was a lady who attended many auctions in years past.  Sometimes auctions like this are opportunities for great deals as I’ve found that antique dealers do not want to attend auctions of other antique dealers who have been their competitors at sales in the past.  They seem to have the attitude that they are not going to pad their rival’s pockets.  The auctioneer was selling an old shotgun and couldn’t quite read the inscription on it.  He said it was a Winchester, and I thought it was going awfully cheap so I bid and won it at under $30.00.  Why others didn’t bid me up I’m still not quite sure, but everyone in the crowd was commenting how great of a deal I just made.  When I got home I realized that it was not a Winchester but was built in Worchester, Massachusetts.  Nonetheless, my husband was quite pleased with the gun and the price I paid as it functioned well and he didn’t care what make it was.
Near the end of summer the town of Loyal, Wisconsin, has what they call a corn festival.  It’s kind of a celebration of the growing season and sweet corn is boiled on the cob in a large kettle downtown.  There is enough sweet corn for everyone to fill their faces with.  It’s a big deal and an annual event.  One year an auction was held at a nearby farm about a mile east of Loyal and we attended it.  What is most memorable about this auction was how few people attended.  When you go to an auction you have to give the clerk your name and phone number and sometimes show your driver’s license.  Then you are given a paper with your bidding number on it and when you bid you show your number and it is recorded along with the name of the item and the price it sold for.  Well at this auction we were number 6, and that was the highest number for the day.  With only six bidders you’d think they would have cancelled the sale but they didn’t.  The auctioneer was one of those elderly men with a felt fedora hat on.  We got some great deals that day, it was a crazy sale to be sure.  One special purchase that I remember was an antique three gallon stoneware crock in mint condition for $6.00.  It is unique because the number 3 was printed on it upside down.  A lesson learned might be that you shouldn’t schedule an auction on the same day as the Loyal Corn Festival.
One time my husband’s aunt and I struck off on our own toward Black River Falls to a household auction.  We had a great day.  It was a sit down auction outside, a sale where the auction company provided chairs for almost everyone to sit on.  What stands out with me is the huge oval braided rug I purchased that day.  It was a mighty chore carrying that heavy rug from the auction and loading it on the top of our car.  With she at one end, and I at the other, we struggled and laughed as we kept dropping that big old slippery rug on the ground.   But we got it tied up there o.k. and it graced my living room floor for many years.
Just because an auction is memorable doesn’t mean it was a good one.  One time we drove up to Washburn, Wisconsin, to attend a realty auction.  It was sponsored by the county and included parcels of land that the county had obtained from delinquent property taxes.  We decided to make a mini vacation out of the event and had mailed to us a list of all the properties coming up on the sale.  We investigated several of them beforehand and decided to bid on a little lot near Cable, Wisconsin, in a small subdivision.  We set the max amount we’d be bidding, our reserve, and when the parcel came up we won the bid on it.  Or at least we thought we did.  When it came time to call out the number of the winning bid we raised our card high and no attention was made to us despite the fact that our hand was in the air and “sold” was shouted our way.  Turns out it was an inside deal, someone from the auction company ended up with that parcel.  We tried to fight it but we had no luck.  The parcel only went for just over $400.00.
My husband remembers being at a farm auction in the fall where the crowd was quite small.  We bought a few items and after the sale was about half over the crowd was so small the auctioneer stopped the sale.  He said it wasn’t fair to the owners to carry on because things weren’t going as high as they should have been.  That was the only sale I ever remember attending that was halted because of poor attendance.

TAKE A HIKE

Some days I find the best thing to do,

To clear my mind and feel alright,

Is to lace up my boots, camera in hand,

Hit the woods and take a hike.

LURE OF A COUNTRY AUCTION (part 13 )

CRAZIEST AUCTIONS

Just last summer I attended what I think will be the craziest auction of my lifetime in Marshfield, Wisconsin.  The contents of the entire household were being sold by the city because the owner, still living in town at a different residence, had stopped mowing her lawn for the past five years.  The city ended up doing the mowing and billing the owner who neglected  to pay the bills which totaled just over $1,000.00, so they took possession of her home.  How the city was able to do this is beyond me, as the property taxes were paid up in full on the home by the owner.

The only thing that I could think of to make sense of the matter, was that the home must have been filled with bad memories.  It was as if the owner had just walked away, everything was still inside if the house and the refrigerator even had food in that was now five years old!  All of the rooms upstairs and down were full, and amongst the usual household items were some antiques and many handmade quilts, everything imaginable, and it all was being auctioned off.

After the house was beginning to clear out someone asked if they could bid on a picture that was still hanging on a wall inside the living room.  An auction employee took the picture off the wall and there was a hole behind it.  Several berry pickers were still inside the house browsing at items that were left yet to be sold and witnessed the picture removal.  Inside the whole in the wall was a box full of money.  There were rolls and rolls of hundred dollar bills with rubber bands around them.  Too many to count.  The auction continued and the staff put the money aside to count it after the sale was finished.  I later heard the bills totaled up to more than $40,000.

The city planned to raze the house and it was thought that there would most likely still be money left over from the 40 grand and the sale of the contents.  I don’t know if the owner wasn’t aware of the money being hidden in the wall, or if she ever was given any of it back.  How could someone just walk away from a house full, just abandon it like that?  Many questions are still unanswered in my book.
I bought a few items that day, but nothing memorable.  I am still puzzled whenever I think about that auction.

                                                                 Grandpa's Jar Shed

MOODS

What makes me change from happy to sad?

Sometimes I don’t know the reasons.

I go from sappy to chatty to happy,

Always changing like the seasons.

It doesn’t take much to make me flip

A book, a phone call, a picture of you

And me together back when we were younger

                                                            Can leaving me feeling so blue.

                                               And then again the same things that make me
                                                       Feel sad, might make me feel high
                                                 Especially when putting them all together
                                                          And eating a slice of pie.

                                                      If I could find a way to paste
                                                  That smile on my face, so sublime,
                                      And remember that others are worse off than me
                                                 I’d have the right mood all the time.