The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1865-08-25
An Insurance Agent with Ten
Wives. 79.,s
He Hangs Himself with a Pair Of
DfaWofS~ 9ges ~
From the Cedar Falls Uovs, eazsn..

girls 8ffeCtOne, ana Sne, viewing nlui
through the roseate hue of her girlish
love, with her guileless, unsuspecting ma
ture, believed him all that her fancy paint
ed him. The parents, being determined to
prevent the match, availed themselves OF q
temporary absence on the part of Case to
send the girl to friends at Strawberry
Point, Delaware county, 10 get her out Of
the way. On his return, Case by some
means learned her whereabouts, when he
Immediately sought her. The result was
that the young girl, away from home and
the loving care which would have saved
her, yielded to the specious pleading Of an
artful villain, and consented to q clandee-
tine marriage, which was effected at Delhi,
in this State, on the 10th day Of April inst.
Soon after the marriage, Case, and she
who supposed herself his honored wife, re-
turned to her parents ct this place, who,
seeing that further opposition would be
useless, received them kindly and cordial
". So matters passed on until month
or six weeks ago, when the father of the
lady was informed by . citizen of this
place that Case had q wife living in Wis
consin at the time of his marriage here.
As might be expected, this intelligence
fell with crushing weight upon family
whose good name was above reproach,
and no one of whose members had ever
suffered even the shadow of dishonor to
fall on their domestic hearth-stone. The
father Immediately began investigating
the matter, and found the Information but
too true. Cautiously he went to work to
collect the evidence, having obtained
which he had Case arrested the early part
of this week. He had his examination
yesterday before Justice Crosby. b
Powers appearing for the State, and A. T.
Brown conducting the defence. The facts
developed in the examination, and learned
from other reliable sources, prove Case to
be villain of the darkest dye. It is set
isfactorily ascertained that he married not
less than five different women in Vermont
and contiguous States, before commencing
his career in the West. At one time he
was paying his addresses to the sister Of
lady now living in this city, and che was
about accepting him when, at the advice
of her friends, she wrote down to another
part of the State where he had been living
for the purpose of inquiring into his char
acter. The answer returned was that he
had wife living there, and two or three
children A happy circumstance would it
have been for the unfortunate girl whom
he dishonored here, had she taken similar
precautien. Since he has been West, Case
has married no less than four other women,
and we understand that at the time Of his
arrest he was intending to marry the fifth
one, young lady living in this State, not
q great distance from Cedar Falls He
was arrested, of course, on the charge of
bigamy. The plea Of the defendant was q
novel one, remarkable for its barefaced
shamefulness, its unqualified acknowledg-
ment Of heinous crime The defence was
this:
In 1860 Case married one Lenora Gladly,
who he says deserted him. Shortly after
wards he married Hannah Sutherland, the
only daughter Of wealthy farmer Of
Green county, Wis. Some time after this
marriage he procured divorce from L.
nora Cady. He now claims that he did
not commit bigamy in marrying the lady
in this place, because Hannah was not his
lawful wife, he having married her before
he had procured divorce from Lenora.
He acknowledged that he bad committed
bisamy, but it was in Wisconsin and not in
Iowa, therefore the Court had no jurisdic-
ton in the case, and should discharge him
from custody. The prosecution offered in
evidence certified copy Of the marriage
certificate, showing that Case had been
married in legal form to Hannah Suther-
land, and as the marriage with the lady
here was also proved, he clearly stood con-
victed Of bigamy, 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 commit
ted to the county Jail. There is no doubt
but that Case was divorced from Lenora,
and not until after he had married Han
nah, as he had certified copy Of the di-
vorce bill IN court, but it being not proper
ly authenticated, it was not admitted %
evidence.
It was q scene of thrilling interest when
Cases last victim came into the court
room: So overcome was she by her sense
of the degrading and humiliating position
in which she was placed, that her emotions
well-nigh overcome her, and she had to be
supported by her aged mother, who &C
companied her. It was well that she was
not obliged to go on the witness stand, for
we do not believe she could have passed
the terrible ordeal As soon as her
mother saw Case she shook her fist at him
and exclaimed, "Oh, you infamous villain!
if I had a pistol would shoot you dead
on the spot, " and the clenched teeth and
flashing eyes Of the injured mother were
guarantee that she would not have been
slow to execute her threat had opportun-
ity offered. Case sat there with q sheer
ing smile on his dark swarthy face, APP
parently the least concerned Of any one
present. The girl is noble looking speci-
men of womanhood, and those who know
her say that she is as good as fair. Young
and inexperienced, she was unable to look