Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1865-08-26

An Insurance Agent with Ten wives
He Hangs Himself with n Pair Of

Drawers.
Prom the Cedar Falls qo-s) Gszette.l
Last fall there appeared in tbiseity one Frank
N. Csss. agent OF a mutual Gre insurance com
PAM, located at Madison, Wisconsin. He reprs
scented himself a. q single man, and paid bis ad
dresses 20 the daughter Of an esteemed and In
sslligent family, the name Of which We omit, OF
special request The parents did not favor the
suit. Case being almost a stranger. and his age
nearly forty, vaB deemed unsuitable for the
young maiden of scarcely twenty years. How
ever, no succeeded in winning the girls agsctons
and she. viewing him through the roseAfs hue of
her glrlish love, with her guileless, unsuspectng
nature. believed him ali that her fancy painted
him. The parents being determined 10 prevent
the match, availed themselves Of atemporary sb-
ssnce on the part Of Case to send the girl TO
friends At Strawberry Point. Delaware county, to
get her out Of the vsy. On his return. Case by
some means learned her whereabouts. when be
Immediately sought her. The result uss, that the
young girl. away from home and the loving care
which wosld have saved her, yielded 70 the spe
cioas pleading Of an artfsl villain and consented
10 q elandsstine marriage. which was effected q,
Delhi. IN this State, on the 10th day of April
last. Soon after the marriage Case, and she Who
supposed herself bis honored wife, returned TO her
parents At this place who, seeing that further OPP
position would be useless, received them kindly
and cordially. So matters passed on until
lady was Informed by citizen OF the place that
Case had a vile living in Wisconsin at this time
Of bis marriage here. As might be az
pscted. this intelligence fell with a crushing
weight upon a family whose good name was
above reproach, and no one OF whose members
had ever suffered even the shadow of dishenor TO
fall on their domestic hearth stone. The father
Immediately began investigating the matter, and
found the information but too true. Cautiously
obtained which, he had Case arrested the early
part of this week He had bis examination yes.
tsrdsy before Justice Crosby. j. Powers appear
ing for the State, and A. +. Brown conducting
the defense. The facts DEVELOPED IN the exami-
nation, and learned from other reliable sources.
prove Case 10 be william Of the darkest dye. Ii
" satisfactorily asceFtained that he married not
less than five different women in Vermont and
contiguous States, before commencing bis career
in the West. At one time be vas paying bis ad-
dresses 20 the sister Of n lady now living in this
city, and she was about accepting him, when a.
the advice OF friends, she wrote down to another
part OF the State where he had been living for
the purpose OF inquiring into hrs character. The
answer returned was that be had a wife living
there, and two or three children. A happy cir
cumstancs would IL have been for the girl whom
he dishcnored here. bad she taken similar pre-
caution. Since he has been West. Case has mar
derstand. that at the time Of his arrest, be was
intending 20 marry the fifth ore, young lady
living 10 this State, not 4 great distance from
Cedar Falls He Was arrested, OF course,
on the charge Of bigamy The plea Of the de-
PENDANT was n novel one, remarkable for its bare
faced shamefulness, its unqualified acknowledge.
ment Of heinous crime. The defense this:
Ia 1860, Case married one LeonOrs CSdy, who
be says deserted him Shortly aitsr.ard he
al Sufh md eutw dana A
OF wealthy farmer in Greene county, WIscon
sin. Some time after this marriage he procured
divorce from Lenora Cady. lie now claims
that be did not commit bigsmy in marrying the
lady in this place because Hannah was hot bis
lawful wife, he having married her before he had
procured a divorce from Leonora. He acknowl-
edged that he had committed bigamy. but it was
in Wisconsin, and not IN Iowa, therefore the
Court had no jurisdiction in the case, and should
discharge him from custody.
The prosecution offeres in evidence a certified
copy OF the marriage. showing that Case had
been married ia legal form To Hannah Suther-
land, and rs the marriage with the lady here was
also proved, he clearly stood convicted OF big
amy, and Was held TO bail in the sum OF fifteen
hundred dollars for his appearance at the next
term OF the District Court. in default OF which
he was committed to the county Jail. There Is
no doubt that Case divorced from Leenora.
and not until he had married Hannah. az he had
a certified copy Of the divorce bill in court, but
il not being properly authenticated. il not
admitted as evidence.
Ii was a scene OF thrilling interest when Case =
last victim came into the court room So over
come was she by her sense OF the degrading
and humiliatng position in which she was placed,
that her emotions we'll nigh oyercame her, aud
she had to be supported by her aged mother,
who accompanied her. 1t was well that she WAS
not obliged 10 20 on the witness stand, for We do
not believe she could have passed the terrible
deal. A soon as the mother saw Case she shook
her fist at him and exclaimed. "Ohl you infa-
nous villain il | had pistol | would shoot you
dead on the spoti' and the clsnohed teeth aud
flashing eyes Of the injured mother we're guar
antes that she would not have been allow TO exc
cute her threat. had opportunity offered. Case
sat there with a sneering smile on his dark,
swarthy face. apparently the sas, concerned Of
any one present. The girl is a noble looking
specimen OF w0msDhood and those who know
her say that she is good as fair. Young and
inex perenced. she was unable to look beneath
the mask which hid the incarnation of evil. and
fell victim 10 the wes Of one whose long ex
perience rendered him comPetens TO pursue his
nefsfious designs with success.
J. S.-JGst as We go TO press, We learn that
.the prisoner committed suicide this morning
Last evening Officer Sessions placed Case in
charge OF A. r. Brown, who took the prisoner TO
nts room 10 pass tue nlghb MS morning
Brown went to breakfast, leaving the man in
bed .hAndcuffed he had been all night. About
soclock, Officer Sessions got the key aud went
up TO take charge OF Case. de entered the outer
Office and passed 10 the bed room, when he dis
covered Case hanging in the doorway, he hssing
taken a pair of drawers and tied them over the
transom and ABOUT his neck The officer imme-
diately cot him down, aud sent Brown, who had
IN the meantime came in, for physician. Life,
however, was extinct, and Case had passed be
yond all reach Of human laws 10 appear before
the TRIBUNAL Of the Most High. His self de
struction determined effort, when dis
covered bis feet rested UPON the floor. lie must
have drawn up bis knees, and kept the weight Of
his bcdy upon his neck until strangulation took
place, and he so far gone that he could not stand
upon his feet. lie left a letter TO his vile in
this place. saying that he did the deed through
love of her, and that Der father had driven him
20 the act. Thss ANONYMOUSLY ended the
earthly career o one who had blasted the hap
peness Of nany family circle: and As be was
detested and abhcrred while living. NO sy mpathy
or respect will be attached TO bis memory now
that he il dead.
EPISCOPAL CONVENTION or IVES