Iowa
Old Press
Northwood Anchor
Northwood, Worth co. Iowa
July 25, 1895
Lucky John Witmer
Des Moines, July 18 - John E. Witmer, a deputy sheriff, has secured 160 acres of land in Allamakee county under an original homestead entry made at the land office, and all the place cost him was $18, the usual fee for filing on the land. The land is under cultivation and has been for twenty years. It is on the Mississippi river bottoms, not more than four miles distant from the river and about the same distance from two railroad towns, and is worth at least $8,000. A man who has been interested in the contest for a piece of land in the west part of the city in looking over the records found that two certificates had been issued for the same tract to the same man, and told Witmer of it. He investigated and found that in 1847 the land was entered by an original settler under the old homestead laws, but that the entry was an error on the part of the clerks in the office, as he had taken and was living on another piece of land. In 1861 the settler discovered the mistake and was permitted to correct his entry. This left the title to the piece originally entered with the government, and no one seems to have discovered it until recently. The land has been occupied all the time and it is presumed that some one bought it at a tax sale and thought they had a good title. On April 10, Witmer called at the land office and made a demand to be permitted to enter the land and tendered the fees of $18. The register and receiver doubted his right to enter it and refused to permit the entry to be made until they could look up the records. An inspection of the records seemed to satisfy them that the land was subject to entry, but they preferred to have the department officials at Washington look into the matter and forwarded the papers to them. They have just been returned with a decision to the effect that the land was subject to entry and Witmer made his original homestead entry.
Was She Murdered? Sensational Exhumation of Mrs. Conklin's Body.
Oskaloosa, July 19 - There have been numerous rumors of foul play in the sudden and unexpected death of Mrs. Phil Conklin, which was shrouded in mystery. On July 10 the coroner's jury at the inquest returned a verdict of suicide by burning. The body was buried the next day. From the hour that the burned and charred body was found, rumor has sought to implicate Phil Conklin, the husband, as a party to the awful tragedy. Mr. Conklin has demanded a post mortem examination, and the microscopical test is now being made.
Condensed Items
- In the federal court at Keokuk recently Judge Woolson sentenced ex-Senator E.R. Cassatt, the Pella bank wrecker, to nine years in the Anamosa penitentiary.
- James Clinton, section foreman at Carlisle, was killed at the north end of the bridge at Levi by a train going south on the C.B. & Q. A bottle of whisky was found in his pocket.
- Leonard Blann, 19, the son of Capt. L. Blann, of Toledo, was shot and fatally wounded by the discharge of a shot gun in the hands of Fred Graham, his companion, and died a few hours later. The boys were camping along the Iowa river near Longpoint. Blann was a popular young man and was a graduate of the Toledo high school and a member of the sophomore class in the State University.
Cassatt is No 3121
Anamosa, July 19 - E.R. Cassatt has been received at Anamosa penitentiary. After passing through the usual rigid examination by the deputy warden as to any scars he might have on his body, he went to the prison barber, and from there to the bath tub. He was soon dressed in a new suit of prison clothing throughout, the front of his shirt bearing the number 3121. This is what he will be known by during his residence at the "big hotel". If he makes a good prisioner and loses none of his good time he will have to serve six years and three months actual time, getting three years and nine months good time on the nine years sentence.
Iowa Patent Office Report
Des Moines, July 15 - Four thousand nine hundred and twenty-seven applications for patents are awaiting action in the United States patent office at Washington, D.C. Six patents were issued to Iowa inventors last week, as follows: A.H. Gilman, Aurelia, hinge; F.C. Jones, Lewis, stock watering trough; T.E. Miller, Leando, knife handle; C.S. Mosely and Dubuque Specialty Machine Works, endless chain cutter mortising machine; Thomas Oliver, Epworth, type writing machine; C.E.P. Hobert, Cherokee, planter.
Local
-Gilbert Neystrum of Lake Mills, was in town Sunday visiting friends
-L. and A.J. Dwelle are having a cement walk put down in front of their Main street brick block occupied by True & True and Geo. M. Emery.
-A number of shade trees in town were blown down or broken off and the roof of Jos. Pixley's barn was crushed in by the wind Thursday.
-N.J. Nelson of Kensett township, announces himself as a candidate for supervisor.
-Cal. Cooper spent Sunday at the home of his step-father, W.B. Hildreth, and was somewhat surprised to meet a cousin, Frank Simmons, of Brookings, S.D., whom he had not met for several years.
-Misses Minnie Hanson and Laura Lowe left yesterday for Mayfield, N.D., where they will spend a month visiting friends. Miss Marie Hanson will assist in the postoffice during the absence of her sister.
-Herbert Guidinger will take part in three of the bicycle events at Greene thursday. He will start in the half-mile open, mile open and five mile handicap.
-The Graphic says Ed Henderson of Lake Mills has commenced the erection of a 24X40 ft. addition to his brick block.
-Hans Madson, D.O. Stam and O.J. Lucken have recently invested in patent tire heaters, a contrivance that uses kerosene oil for fuel and heats tires ready to put on in about six or seven minutes.
-Hon G.N. Haugen, Geo. M. Emery and Knudt Tuff went to Murray county, Minn, last Wednesday evening to look over the country and nvest in some land if they found any to suit, at reasonable prices.
-Chas Hull, the butcher, had another bad attack the first of last week and confined to the house until Friday, when he managed to get down to the shop again.
-Stephen Gullickson has been quite poorly for several days past. He has been suffering from bronchittis and pleurisy, caused by a severe cold. Dr. Hewitt has been in attendance and hopes to have his patient up and around in a few days.
-Mrs. Cal. Cooper expects to start today for Plainfield, New Jersey, where she will remain for some time visiting numerous felatives and friends.
Last Friday night a pair of horses, a set of double harness and a top buggy were taken from the barn of Chas. Medin, at Kensett, and sheriff Heiny and several other men have been searching for the property ever since. Descriptions of the team and the supposed thief have been sent all over the country and it would seem that they ought to be captured. A reward of $50 is offered for the recovery of the property, and $25 for the arrest and detention of the party who stole it. A large number of horses have been stolen in this section within the past six months and with one exception, the Schuddar team recovered by Sheriff Heiny, all have been run out of the country and the thieves escaped capture. It begins to look as though there was a regularly organized band of horse thieves not far from here, and that they have their plans so well laid and stopping places so carefully concealed that detection seems almost impossible.
Caught in Mexico
Chicago, July 22- Chester W. Rowe, the defaulting cashier of Poweshiek county, Ia., is under arrest in the City of Mexico, and a large part of the $30,000 which he made away with has been attached by Pinderton operatives and will likely be returned to the country from which it was taken. Richard Rowe, brother of the absconder, is also under arrest as an accomplice. Rowe disappeared April 20, and since that time the most thorough search has failed to locate him. Several times the officers thought they had a clue, but investigation has proved them of no value. Rowe and his brother at the time of the arrest were conducting a saloon in the City of Mexico, and is is said, were making money fast. It is somewhat doubtful whether either of the brothers can be taken back to Iowa for trial. Requisition papers were honored by the state department at Washington and forwarded to Mexico as fast as possible. They were locked up, but when it came to extraditing them the detective found himself blocked. Under the Mexican law a foreigner may go there, renounce all allegiance to the country from whence he came, become a Mexican citizen and thus avoid extradition. Rowe had taken advantage of this law, although he had only been in the City of Mexico about three weeks. As a result, there is likely to be a hot legal contest in which the United States government will probably play a prominent part.
[transcribed by S.F., Sept 2007]