St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-04-26
What a Sheriff May Not Do.

\ case WAS decided in the Franklin
county court last week which is of moIo
than ordinary interest to the public ut
large. and of eSperial Importance to
men who are entrusted with SrrN in.
processes. 1t WAS certainly Il very az
gray at,-d act tn. part al tn" sh"Iitf,
and most people will say that the YER
diet served him just right. Sheriff
Bacon lived at It. John>hury Centre
twenty-five Years ago. Below We give
report of the ease as we find it in the
papers:
r. T. Kcnc,~on rs. " E.. Bdcon. of
Montpelier. This ease wds important
i'll principle. which has been twice he
fore tried 10y Il jury in County Court.
and once III Supreme Court. II APP
peared that X. b. Kcncrson. in Fehrua-
ry. IS64. removed from Boston To ST.
Adams. to live. On the 10th of that
month he and il daughter of b. F.
Rugg. Esq, were married at st. Adams.
Mr.. Rugg being one OF the wealthy and
energetic men of that town. Mr.. Ken
er>on and his bride. together with one
or two couples of friends. took the
evening train for Montpelier. having
previously caused rooms to he engaged
for the party at the Pavilion Hotel.
The defendant was then Deputy
Sheriff of Washington County. and re
sided in Montpelier. He had writ
put into his hands and an account in
favor of John =. Dewey. with inStruc-
tions To collect the account of kenerSon
or arrest his body. Bacon met the
bridal party at Milton. found ont the
plaintiff. took him aside. and made
known his business. or Il part of it.
What was said is not material. The
plaintiff told him he had engaged rooms
at Montpelier, was going there on that
train. should stay over night. and would
see him there. which was apparently
satisfactory to Bacon.
On arriving at the Pavilion Hotel.
having waited upon the ladies to their
rooms. the plaintiff and one friend came
to the office and booked their names
Bacon then called the plaintiff into Il
side room, and told him he must pay
the bill. furnish $500 or $1,000 security.
or go to jail. The plaintiff looked at
the bill, told Bacon one item of so
was not right, and that he had not
money enough to pay the bill. but if he
would wait until business hours in the
morning he would arrange it or furnish
bail to his satisfaction. Bacon would
not wait. and some hard words are
claimed to have been used bN defend
ant toward plaintiff. which defendant
denied. 1t was then between twelve
and one o'clock in the night. The
plaintiff insisted ii was unreasonable to
he taken to Jail at that hour of the
night, and tried by offers of baggage
and all the money he had. with that of
his friends, to satisfy Bacon that he
would be safe till morning. when he
said he would furnish all the bail re
quired. But Bacon insisted upon tax
ing plaintiff to Jail that night. and did
50. The next morning he let the plain
tiff out to go to breakfast. and then
plaintiff got an opportunity to get legal
advice ut the office of Rrdficld Il Glea-
son. While going from Rcdtcld \
Gleason's office to the Pavilion. Bacon
met the plaintiff and again demanded
payment of the bill. saying he should
again imprison the plaimtitf. The
plaintiff then demanded to he taken he
fore the authority signing the writ. for
examination. Bacon did not permit
this. but lodged the plaintiff in Jail
again, where he WAS kept till the even
ing of the same day before his friends
could procure his release. Immediate
ly on obtaining his liberty. Mr.. Kener-
son directed this suit to be brought.
After repeated trials. and settling queS-
tons OF law i'll the Supreme Court. he
has now obtained some satisfaction for
what he regarded as IL gross outrage.
Verdict for plaintiff s59l 90 damages.
and costs.
The wife of Stephen y. Stockwen of
the Boston Journal was seized with an
apoplectic tit on Friday evening. while
calling upon her pastor. Rev. \. f..
Cunning of the Highland Congregations
al church, and died after lingering in an
unconscious state until o'clock. Sat
wday morning. Mrs. Stockwell was
Il most generous and earnest Christian.
and her good influence will be sadly
missed III the circle i'll which she moved.
She was 30 years of age and leaves four
children.