, 1860-04-24
The Cordova Counterfeiters in Court !!
Chester G.. Clark turns Statc's Evidence
4 SINGULAR LINE or DErEEcE 1,rrr.rr,
NEW USE OF RELIGIOUS READING
Ja1for I1AhtIn.s In n New Phase.

Ane caee u Viu DlEc!0T, the Ne5tor of Coun.
ter'eisers, was concluded yesterday in the United
States District Court, by verdict of guilty.
ihc Old man las fame Of his own, and no verv
fragrant one, earned by q forty years cl,cauered
connection with bogus coin making. With
enough Of the "Simou Sugcs" order Of talent
to giye him and his doues peculiar favor ard
stamp that was purely their own, he has mind
enough to have fitted him for more than
med'ocrlty in any useful calling. Dlcached
As h's features are By i'll health and contine-
uent, the old man wears a cast Of features that
would not do discrcdit to New England dca.
con OF the old school, but there is still lurking
devil i'll his eye, that shows he is good for some
thing yet in his chosen vocation OF law breaker
aud cain.naser, it the penalty due the laws
leave Linn scope enough this side the grave
Such general interest las attached to the man
and his fate throughout wide section of coun.
Try, that it may interest our readers if We nre.
sent here, in.bidding the old fellow adiea from
his jail residence in our city, some facts con.
cefn'ng his career, before presented iu our col
umns.
Wno IS OLD n1GELow!
On the bauk Of the Mississippi River, shout
twenty .nilea aborc the city Of Rock Island, and
mile aud half below the little village Of Cor
dova, in Rock Island county, Timothy L. Bicc-
low, sl1ty-si1 years Of age, owns farm Of
about thFee hundred acres. His house, COM
Portable frame building. stands short distance
from the highway, and near it stands what ap
pears to be b1acksmith's shop. Notuithstand-
ing his bad antecedents, his neighbors sup
posed, until recently, that he was leading dir
ferent life.
lie has lived in that place for about fire years,
his ostensible business being that of farmer.
but his real business the manufacture Of bogus
coin, some portion of the time be has lived on
au island in the rTer for better security against
detection and arrest. lie has family. consi,..
ing Of wife and several children. two Of
whom, u son aged 1a years, and daughter aged
"A 5ears, were living with him st the time Of
his capture.
According to his own statement, Bicelov has
been engaged in the business Of counterfsitinc
for Jorty years, and has been convicted at least
four times, and served terms Of imprisonment
in four State penitentiaries. William Il. Brad.
ley, Esq, present Clerk Of the u. s. Courts, was
Clerk Of the Court in 10 Dayisss County when
Bigelow was sent to State Prison five ycar's
term for larceny.
In 1889, Bigelow, his son, and man named
Coz, were arrested ut their residence on Camp.
belts Island, about eight miles up the river
above Rock Island. They employed awel1-
known lawyer here to defend them, aud paid
his fee With dne bay horse. It subsequently,
turned out, md not long after, that the horse
had been painted, and an owner turned up
at once, 30 the lawyer lost his fec. In 1910.
when the lawyers we're sharp after him, old
Bieelor built retreat under his potato bin in
his cellar. lie is one Of an old-tine class Of
outlaws now thinned ont by death. or BY being
overtalen in their offences. The life of Old
DigeloW, could it give the details Of his career,
his hair-brsadth escapes from justice, and the
various ways in which he has built
up reputation scarcely paralclled by
my counterfeiter now living, would surpass in
what the book-men call "stnsation," anything
Of the kind published in tho last quarter of
century, aud would furnish Sylvanus Cobb, of
the Ledger, material for work "to he contin~
ued through half dozen years. wceklies,
His career has declared hin, to be possessed
ofrare qualities Of cunning, skill and fxedncss
Of purpose, such as exercised in my honorable
calling would hare given him competence and
honor in his old age. Al it is, he pillows his
grey hairs within prison wallis, and sees ut the
sunset Of life 4 long night of infamy about to
Gloss in upon his name.
He haa nearly recovered from IN attempt ho
aTers made upon his lits about I yssr siacs. H