Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1874-06-25
The Convict's Oath.
The Fearful Death-bed Confession
of Former Inmate Of the JEFF
fersonville Penitentiary-A Rec
ord of Fiendish Vengeance.

maker, about twenty-five years
old, was convicted Of having
obtained money under false pre-
lenses, at Fort Wayne, Ind, in
1917, and sentenced to two
years Imprisonment in the pen
.itentiary, he turned savagely
toward the man WHO had prose-
cuted him, an old speculator
named John Taylor, and ex-
claimed, in a thrilling voice:
"John Taylor,you have ruined
me. Henceforth there shall be
no peace for you nor yours on
earth. Mark my word"
The court officers interrupted
the convicted prisoner and
dragged him to his cell. John
Taylor tried to laugh Davis
threat away, but upon most of
the hearers it made a deep inn
preston.
Davis served his two years
in the peuitentiary at Jefferson
vile. His conduct while in
prison was bad. He was sui
len and morose, and was fire.
quently punished for insolence
toward bis keepers. When he
was released, in the autumn of
1919, he did not return to his
former home, but went to Lou
isvilIe, Kentucky, where he
worked diligently at his trade
under an assumed name. His
Ifellow-workmen did not know
what to make Of him. He
Stunned their society, he never
spent any money, and most of
his acquaintances thought he
was not altogether in his right
mind.
Meanwhile, in Fort Wayne
no one thought any more of
Frank Davis. john Taylor
was every day growing richer.
He was a selfish, grasping man,
and he had but one delight in
the world, his young daughter
Jennie, a girl Of twelve, who
had been born to him by his
second wife. With the mother
the speculator lived on very
cold terms; upon the daughter,
on the contrary, he layished all
the affections of which even he,
the worshiper Of the golden
calf, was capable.
A STARTLING EVFNT.
1t was in June, 1854, on a
baImy summer evening, that
the citizens Of Fort Wayne
were startled by the news that
Jennie Taylor had been missing
from her fathers house since
early morning. John Taylor
was running around, evidently
a prey to the deepest anguish.
He inquired of everybody con-
corning his daughter, who, he
said, had risen that morn
ing at very early hour, and
had gone out to take a walk,
saying she would be back in
half an hour. But she had not
returned, and none of her ac-
quaintances had seen her. The
distressed father offered large
reward concerning the wherea-
bouts Of his daughter; but no
one had seen her, no one knew
anything about her. During
the night and the following day
messengers, who knew the girl,
secured the neighborhood for
the girl, but without obtaining
any clew as to her fate. For a
whole week earnest searches
were made for the same purpose,
but equally without Success
Old Taylor was on the verge of
madness. Fears were enter
tanned that he would commit
suicide in his despair.
THE MYSTERY
remained as dark as ever until,
on the End of July following,
John Taylor received the fol-
lowing laconic letter:
"Your daughter is not dead,
but leads life Of shame"
The envelope was postmarked
St. Louis. The handwriting
was evidently disguised. 1t
may be imagined that this mys-
terious letter did not lessen
Taylor's anxiety about his
daughter. Jennie looked two
or three years older than she
was, and she was, moreover,
decidedly pretty. The dis
tressed father hastened to St.
Louis, where he laid the letter
before the Chief of Police
That dignitary made thorough
search for the girl in all the
hannfS of vice in that ocrnat CITY.