Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1872-01-27
MURDER OF COL. JAS. FISK, JR.
Detailed Account of the Assassination
Origin of the Difficulty between the MUIR
dcrcT and his Victim Provisions of Fi-k's
WilI, cIc.

Will, etc.
THE SHOOTING.
James Fisk, Jr., was shot twice, by
| Edward Stokes, at the Grand Central
! Hotel. New York, at 20 minutes past {
| on Saturday afternoon, the 9th inst.
| Fisk had just alighted from his carriage
/ at the hotel entrance, and WAS ascend
| ing the stairs to his rooms, when Stokes
came out of an adjoining passage way,
unperceived by Fisk, unbottoned his
coat, drew a revolver and rapidly dis.
| charged three shots. The first lodged
in Fisk's shoulder, the second whistled
close by his head, the third. with more
fatal direction, took effect in the abdo-
men, intlicting a mortal wound. Fisk
evidently recognized his assailant before
! falling, but made no remark Immc-
diately after the shots We're fired the
hotel employees rushed to the scene.
| While some cared for the wounded man,
others seized Stokes, who, seeing escape
was impossible, made no resistance. He
was promptly handed over to the police.
| Fisk was quickly conveyed to his room,
where the surgeon of the hotel was soon
in attendance upon him, and all that
unremitting medical skill and attention
could do was done, but without avail.
He fingered until few minutes before
II O'Clock on Sunday morning, when
he breathed his last.
THE PUBLIC FEELING.
The news of Fisk's death spread rap
idly, and everywhere produced pro
found sensation of deep regret. All the
aspersions that his enemies had heaped
upon his character were in Il moment
forgotten, and only his noble qualities
of head and heart We're remembered
his frankness, his generosity and his
charity. The scene in and around the
room where the body lay was touching
Of the friends of Fisk and guests of the
hotel viewed the body, and later in the
afternoon, prior to the removal of the
corpse to Flsk's residence, the general
public were admitted.
THE FUNERAL
took place at Bratteboro, VT, on Tues
day, at o'clock p. m. The brigade to
which the Ninth Regiment is attached
escorted the remains, the Ninth acting
as a special funeral escort. The officers
of the brigade will wear the usual
badge of mourning thirty days.
PROVISIONS OF FIsK's WILL.
Mrs. Hooker, his sister, receives
100000 in Narragansett Steamship
Company shares. His father and mother
receive $1,000 year each. 70 each of
the two Misses Morse, his sisters,in-law,
he bequeathed $1,000 year. 70 the
Ninth Regiment, Sll, 900 To his wife
he bequeathed the balance Of his prop.
crty of all kinds. 70 Jay Gould, for
whom he entertained the warmest and
most disinterested friendship, he left
his personal effects, and entrusted to
him the labor Of love, as it is called in
the will, of carrying out all his Mr..
proyements. Mrs. Fisk inhcrits all her
/ deceased husbands shares in the Erie
railroad
ORIGIN OF THE DIFFICULTY.
The origin OF this difficulty dates back
nearly two years. Col. Fisk and Stokes
We're interested in an oil company which
| furnished all the oil used by the Erie
Railroad Company. Fisk and Stokes
became intimate friends. Stokes seem
ed u smart, energetic young man, and
grew rapidly in Fisll's favor. The profits
of the oil business became very great.
Stokes became a frequent visitor at Col.
tlsk's rooms in the Grand Opera House.
They were continually together SO in
innate were they that Stokes repeatedly
dined with Col. Fisk at the house of
MRS. JOSEPHINE MANSFIELD,
who was Col. Fisl's mistress. The Col
onel became acquainted with her acci-
dentally when she was III want, clothed
her in silks and satins, sprinkled her
with diamonds and other gems, gave
her rich mansion with brown stone
front, furnished it sumptuously, and
placed carriages and servants at her dis
posal. SO infatuated did he become
that he repeatedly appeared in public
with her, despite the earnest protesta
tons Of his friends. He laughed at the
| newspaper exposures of his shame, and
was finally debarrcl from fashionable
society. Col. Fisk's friends were deeply
grieved, but they remained true to him,
for whatever may have been his faults,
he always stood to his friends to the
last.
is about five feet nine inches in height.
His body is well knit; his head is COY.
cred with glossy curls his complexion
is clear; his features regular, and his
eyes dan kbluc. His forehead is wide,
but not high. He dresses in the height
Of fashion, with tendency to gaudi.
ness, and generally wears large dia.
monds. He is fluent taIkcr, and is
very quick of motion. He speaks rap.
idly, and uses many gestures. Col.
Fisk seems to have confded entirely to
Stokes's sense of honor, and to Mrs.
! Mansiield's sense of gratitude. Appar-
emily he had not the least notion that
Stokes would endeavor to supplant him
in her affections. Stokes, however, ap-
pears to have fallen in love with Mrs.
Mansfield at first sight. His attach
ment was apparently reciprocated, and
the readiness with which she transferred
her affections from Col. Fisk to his as
sassin gives an air of strong probability
to the rumor that she had deliberately
trapped Col. Fisk for his money. The
attachment between Stokes and Mrs.
| Mansfield was not discovered by Col.
Fisk until weeks had elapsed. Mean
while the Colonel was paying for the
very dinners at Mrs. Mansfeld's house
to which she had invited her friend
Stokes. Though warned by his
friends of whatwas occurring, he refused
to believe it, and it was not until he had
assured himself from conversations with
Mrs. NJ. that the reports were true, that