Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1874-02-07
The Latest Western Tragedy.

The Latest western Tragedy.
The tragic ending of long feud be-
tween two leading citizensof Anderson,
Ind, was briefly narrated by telegraph.
In spite of the leading" chara cter of
the actors in the affair, the details of
the quarrel and its results reveal de-
pressing amount of rather commonplace
rascality.
The story begins with the rivalry of
Col. Thomas N. Stilwell and John e.
Corwin for the social leadership of a
town of some 5000 or 5000 inhabitants.
This may seem petty enough contest,
but it was prosecuted with as much in
tensity as if half the nation had been
on-Iookers. Col. Stllwell, moreover,
was a man of mark beyond the limits of
Anderson. He raised and commanded
a regiment of Indiana Volunteers dur
ing the war, he was a member OF the
Thirty-ninth Congress, and in 1867
President johnson appointed him Min
lister to Venezuela, post which, with
out Senatorial confirmation, he filled
for year.
About the period of his return from
South America, Col. Stilwell found
John e. Corwin, native of Bingham
ton, N. Y, married to the daughter of
one of Anderson's wealthiest citizens,
and possessed with the ambition of sup
planting him in the "social, political,
and commercial leadership of that
community. Stilwell succeeded his
father as President of the First Nation
al Bank of Anderson. He was a free
liver, a populaf fellow among large
class of the general public, and very
loose in his dealings with his deposi-
tors. Corwin's father-in-law had been
one of the latter, and the bank was ac-
customed to assist him in evading taxes
on his deposits by certifying at stated
periods that it held his money in bonds
of the United States instead of green
backs.
On the death of the wealthy citizen
for whose benefit this fraud had been
annually perpetrated, his son-in-law
came into possession of one of the cer-
tifcates for $4,000 of 7-30 bonds, al
legged by the bank to have been actually
represented by greenbacks which had
long before been drawn upon. Corwin,
however, refused to accept this expla-
nation, and entered suit against the
bank for the recovery of the money.
The case was about to be brought to
trial when, owing to run on the bank
during the late panic, it was forced to
suspend.
According to statement furnished to
the Controller of the Currency in Sep
tember, the assets of the bank were
stated at $223,000. According to the
statement of the Receiver, two months
later, the assets were some $3.50, 900 less
than in September. Thereupon ensued
much indignation on the part of the de-
positors, allegations of fraud against
Stilwell, and an Indictment by the
Grand Jury, charging him with the en-
bezzlement of some $3.50, 000of the bank
funds. OF late years Stilwoll has been
unsuccessful in most of his enterprises.
When it is added that he took to drink
ing a great deal, the question of his ul-
innate ruin became obviously mere
matter of time. Smarting under the
consciousness of repeated failure, he
found a convenient explanation of his
misfortunes in the hostility of Corwin.
At length when Indictment followed
bankruptcy, his rage against his rival
assumed the character of a monomania.
One afternoon, after some talk about
his misfortunes, Stilwell started from
his home, was seen in crossing the
street to place his revolver in his over
coat pocket, and Immediately after to
enter the Office of Corwin. The parley
there was brief enough. Stilwell raised
his pistol to shoot; Corwin, who is a
much more powerful man, succeeded in
grasping his arm, and directed the
pistol of his adversary downward, where
its shot was intercepted by bundle of
keys in his pocket. Then Corwin seized
his assailant by the collar of his coat,
turned him round till the back of his
head was in line with the pistol he had
in his right hand, and, with apparent
deliberation, shot him twice through
the brain.
Thus has Col. Stilwell, in the middle
of life that might have been a just and
honored one, died the death of rabid
cur, and thus has his rival brought
himself before the bar of justice to be
tried on the issue of whether his act
can be justified on grounds of self
defense, or whether it was deliberate
murder. The story carries with it q
very obvious moral.