, 1864-07-22
a STRANGE CASE ME HNED.
CGN e KlGATIK.


| About month eince We published IN item
inquiriDg "Where is Ssrah Jnne Helm p
It Wus cnue ed by letter written to clergy
uan in this city By Thomas La Graaye,
ted that there WIS fortune In prospect fol
her, and seemed very anxious to know he,
whereabouts. a few days after the i'en ap,
peared lady called on the Clergyman aud
introduced herself rs the Sarah jana Helm
niofssaid, although her naue at present was
ShEa6 Jane Wilson. The clergyman showed
her the letter, was consiaced she was the
one 10 whom 1t referred, and wrote the
cibity.
Nothing was heard Of the matter again, and
It was almost forgotten, until Saturday
morning last, when Well.dressed man
called npon the Sheriff, and wanted him to
60 into the country and do some business.
nc seemed very angry, and Threatened such
| dire vengeance upon the heads OF somebody
who nobody could tt1l-that although he
Lad no legal papers Of any k1nd, Mr.. Mabony
hin, and be did go They drove ont to Ep-
worth, and then the whole secret Of the affair
| cAmt out.
It seems that in 1854 and '55, sarah Jane
Nnttipg married Samuel Helm, In Hawley,
| he being Snowman aud AWAY much 81 the
time, until 1860, when, as they were quite
poor, Helm started off on d tour with d cir
Gus, and shortly afterwards his wife came to
Dubuque at the solicitations of her luther
and brother who resided here. She went to
work In the millinery store Of 8. B, Dumont,
and after her brothers. wife died shG Kept
house for him. During the first year of her
star here she correspondcd with her husband,
and then from some unknown reason tue
correspondence ccaeed. About. two years
oreIseer, living near Epworth. he being &C.
4ua1nted with the circumstances Of her pre-
Vfous life, aud her brother hayiDg furnish ed
her sort Of certificate, which he said he OBJ
tained from lawyer, declaring her divorced.
Well, Mr.. and Mrs. Wilson lived comfortably
and contented upon furm, very much re-
spectcd BY the excellent people in whose
neighborhood they were, until Helm made
his appearance % above etased.
Airs Il. n Is overcome with CONSERVATION
when her first husband met her und spoke to
her, ana VI. Wilson was we'll nigh paralyzed
with grief and dismay, However he told his
wife that be had no legal claims upon her,
al that she must make her own choice be-
tween himself and Mr. Helm-that if she
selected him abe could get divorce from Mr.
Il and then they would live together again.
That night che Stayed at the house of one Of
her neielbors, and on Sun iay came into Du-
buque and took u room In the Key City
House. at which place Helm was staying
Yesterday morning she declded to 70 East
In the afternoon reports very prcjudicial
to Ills character, and a story tuat he bad
come to her only to secure fortune which,
1t Was eald, had been left her, having reached
her, she placed herself under the protection
Of Sheriff Mahony, consulted F. E. Bissell,
Esq, md actually took the initiatory steps
towards sueing for divorce, and had the
Sheriff serve notice to that effect on sIr
Helm, who Immediately sought another in.
terview with her, which resulted In her co-
Ing back to the Key City House with him.
Here. We learn, she again met Slr. Wilson.
and the two husbands talked very plainly to
clerk interterred, aud Mrs. q. again went to
the sherit's house. Mr.. Il. soon followed
her, With D. n. Cooley, Esq !, as his attorney
Mr. Cooley heard the stories of both parties,
and, thinking that Mrs. 81. might be intlu-
enced in her choice by fear Of Helm, sent
Of the Sheriff, told her that, although lie was
ber husbands attorney, he was her friend,
and that If she did not want to 70 with
Helm she should be protected here, and 1t
DO harm should befall her for thus deciding,
She replied that thc loTed Helul better than
anybody else In the world; that he treated
+. her very kindly when she lived with him be-
fore, and that she had deliberately decided
to 70 with him.
Thus the matter stood at 10 q clock last
night when the parties separated. What the
result will be no one can tell, The poor wo-
nun is well nigh crazed with psrplexIty and
fear and grief Her affections arc evidently
with Helm, and her heart prompts her to
share his lot whatever It be; but her Judy
ment, Influenced by rcports Of evil, causes
her to dist1ust aud dread him.
Mr. Helm, who says he lives at Binghnmp-
ton, where he has billiard room, states that
he received letter from her brother {now in
the army telling him that his wife was dead,
and that afterwards he sent the brother
money With which to purchase. tomostones
for ler grave. a gear ago, he heard that SHE
was living near Dubuque, and he wrote let
ters to the Postmaster md Chief Of Police
here. which were never nnsTeryd-those TO
the former Mr.. David says he received He
then put the matter into the hands OF the
lawyer, L. Grange. The result was, he
learned Of her whereabouts, and Immediately
camefor her. He also slys that the insinu-
ated fortune was mere ruse on the part Of
LaGranEe, to excite i'll Interest In the parties
here to whom he wrote. THIS is his story
He..offers to procure evidence from Blnghamp-
ton that hc is q respectable and upright
citizen.
We should think tho only safc plan for
Mrs. Helm to pursue, is to allow her friends
and Ehe has mnny-to make inquiries Of
parties in BiDghampton, and thus remove or
confirm all had reports concerning hin.
The affair has created much excitement in
the city, and was talked Of On every corner
of Main street last evening.