WYLLIS DICKINSON, the Decatur County Hermit, Found Frozen to Death.
                        - - - - - - - - - - - -

In a rudely constructed hut, situated in a picturesque, and yet one of
the loneliest spots in southern Iowa, nestled between the hills in a
wooded section of Decatur County, has lived for fifty-three years a
hermit, whose recluse manners has furnished an interesting bit of
history.

WYLLIS DICKINSON's eccentric ways and exile life has been the subject of
much discussion among the older settlers of his vicinity.  His lifeless
form, found lying on his cabin floor just in front of the old fireplace
on last Saturday by a neighbor, ANDREW SCOTT, who had called to attend
to his wants, as was his custom of doing, marks the life and sad death
of the hermit with a shroud of mystery, which will probably never be
solved.

As soon as the dead body was discovered, Coroner BROWN was summoned, who
immediately drove to the scene and proceeded to hold an inquest.  A jury
was impannelled and witnesses examined as to the cause of his death.
The jury, after Dr. BROWN's examination of the body and hearing the
evidence, came to the conclusion that the old gentleman had frozen to
death, and such is their verdict.

The body was placed in a casket and taken to the Davis City Cemetery and
deposited in the vault to await the arrival of a nephew, a MR. S.U.
LIART, living in Kensington, Connecticut, who is expected to arrive this
week.

With the exception of a few months the old gentleman had lived a
solitary life since l840, his only companions being a dog and two cats,
which are now the only occupants of the lonely hermitage.

Why the old gentleman should seek a home in the wilderness, remote from
all relatives and pleasures of this world, is a matter of much
speculation and beyond all human comprehension.  Those who indulge in
the doctrines of mysticism assign many reasons for his queer actions.  A
gentleman who lived in the neighborhood a number of years and in whom
the old gentleman confided says that several years ago he nursed him
during a spell of fever, and when delirious he would frequently refer to
a young lady who had died several years before in Connecticut.  Since
his death a photograph of a young lady, apparently l9 or 20 years old,
has been found, together with a package of letters in which it is said
she refers to their wedding day.  The supposition now is that after her
death, which occurred before the day set for their marriage, the
disappointment caused him to come west and take a home in the wilds at
that time and live the life of a recluse.

He came to Iowa in l840 from Kensington, Connecticut, and has lived
almost entirely alone since that date.  He rarely ever went to town and
for the past twenty years he has not been off his own land, although he
lived within two and one-half miles of Davis City.  He was a cousin of
the poet, James Gates Percival and was a highly educated man.  The house
in which he lived was the old fashioned log cabin, with clapboard roof
and puncheon floor and the primitive fireplace and spider.  There is
only one room, which was filled with curious relics of by-gone days that
are very interesting to the present generation.  He was very well posted
on the leading events and conversed pleasantly with all who chanced to
call on him.  He was very liberal in donating toward the church and
distributed considerable literature among the poor.  He was the
possessor of 320 acres of land and had quite a good deal of money on
deposit.  In an old fashioned hair trunk was found money and notes to
the amount of several hundred dollars.  It is said that he never saw a
train of cars or a stove, but this is evidently a mistake, since the
narrow gauge runs through his land and stoves were very common at the
time he made his last visit to town.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copied by Nancee(McMurtrey)Seifert