The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1869-10-14
Vol 81, No. 28
G. Ben Darwin.


From the Iowa state Register.
| Some one in San Francisco h:l
sent us copy Of the Herald Of tha
city, of the 25th ult., that contain
an account OF a case Of abortion aut
death, in which a former fowan i
rather prominently mixed up, tha
person being Mr.. c. Ben Darwin. :
The Herald says:
About two weeks ago. Coroner
Letterman received information
which led him to believe thata mur
der had been perpetrated in this city
and that the victim had been quietly
buried in the Masonic Cemetery
| He at once made the necessary in.
quiry into the case, and discovered
that Mrs. Il. f. Wilson. who resided
at 1918 Market street, died on Sun
day the 9Th Of September, and was
buried on the following Monday un-
der suspicious circumstances. On
the 10th inst, he went to the ceme-
terry in company with Dr. Bently,
had the body exhumed and placed
ina vault, where post mortum ex
animation was made by DR.. Bcntly.
The result of the examination show.
cd conclusively that her death was
caused by abortion. This point be-
ing established, the coroner at once
nude his arrangements to secure a
jury and the necessary witnesses,
and few days later-last Tuesday
proceeded with the jury to tho
cemetery. The body was agai ta-
ken from the grave and shown to the
jury, who were then and there sworn
in. -~
All this had been doHo without at
tracing the leas, suspicion, and en-
tirely unknown to any Of the parties
concerned. On the following eve
ming an inquest was commenced, the
proceedings Of which are given be-
low. Mrs. Wilson, the deceased, had
been the wife of Mr.. l.. d. Wilson,
collector at the Port Of Puget Sound,
and the mother Of three children.
Judge Darwin, Of this city, was,
about three years ago, Judge of that
District, and formed the acquaint-
ance Of Mrs. Wilson. Some time af.
ter, the latter applied for and obtain.
cd divorce from her husband, and
had been, for the ten months previous
to her death, living with Darwin, at
the residence Of her mother on Mar.
ket street, No 1918, on as he admits,
the most intimate terms. In his tes-
timony before the Coroner he made
other admissions, not fit for publica-
tion; but added that he intended mar
rying her. A good deal of the testi-
mony taken by the Coroner Is unfit
for publication, but from the follow
ing and the verdict of tho jury. it
will be seen that she has been the
victim Of murder, at whose hands is
not known.
The Herald gives b aif d column of
Darwin's testimony, no part of which
is decent enough for publication in
this paper. A perusal of his evidence
leads to tke belief that he has be-
come bankrupt in sense as we'll as in
morals. He admits frankly that he
had been criminally intimate with
the woman; that he had lived with
her at her mothers house for ten
months; told with disgusting detail
how tenderly he had nursed her in
the sickness that was finally fatal
how he put his arms ''around the lit
tie darling's neck" and called on the
doctor sfor Gods sake to stop the
little darling's vomiting" related the
minutest particulars of the course OF
treatment; that when the woman
grew worse he became frantic and
told the doctor he "would not lose
the darling little woman for the
world" and that he was extremely
sorry that fate had prevented him
from receiving and acknowledging
the unborn infant as his own. While
acknowledging his intimacy with the
woman he still protests that "she was
as pure woman as ever was made"
and waxed eloquent over the sland-
ers that had been heaped upon her
by "the man who was her former
husband" There is much more ofthe
same sort of shameless confession
that we cannot print.
The jury Of the coroner returned
the verdict that the woman came to
her death from abortion, produced by
the advice ia Mrs. Hoffman. The
Herald says further steps will prob
ably be taken, and that the utmost
rigor Of the law will fall upon all the
m ~ zoe f.ao.appo od Il, tho ,.r,,.,a