The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-02-17
Mrs. Tupper's Forgeries is She Insane!

We published last week, says the
Marshall Qowa) Times, an account of
some of the vagaries of Mrs. Ellen S.
Topper, of Des Moines, the celebrated
bee culturist, and stated that for some
time she has been in the habit of forg
ing the names of wealthy and well
known men to notes and afterward ne
gotiating them at some bank. OF late
| it appears that she has become perfect
| " reckless in her transactions of this
character, appending the names of par
ties with whom she only had the slight
est acquaintance to commercial paper
and selling it at the most ruinous and
extrayagant discounts. During all this
time, however, she has cOntrived to
meet this paper when it came due until
quite recently, when her extrava-
CANT discounts seem to
have accumulated faster than her
power to liquidate. Her latest achieve
ment was at Monticello, in Jones Coun-
ty, where she sold upward of $4,000
worth of forged notes early last week,
using the names of prominent Dubuque
men as indOrsers. These were soon
discovered to be forgeries, and the vic
tins at once went to work to apprehend
her, and telegraphed far and near to
ascertain her whereabouts. Saturday
morning Mrs. Upper arrived at State
Center on visit to her husband, who is
teaching school in that vicinity. She
had no sooner left the cars, however,
than she was taken into custody by the
authorities and placed in durance at
the hotel. 1t seems that the terrible
excitement through which she has
been passing for the past few months,
and the arrest, were more than her
shattered nervous system was able to
endure, and she was taken very i'll with
disease of the heart, to which she has
been more or less subject for several
years. She was made as, comfortable
as possible and her husband sent for.
Her daughter in this city and her family
physician, DIR. Stone, of Des Moines,
were also quickly summoned by tele-
graph. On the same train with her
daughter arrived the Sheriff of Jones
County and the cashier of the bank at
Monticello. These worthless, notwith-
standing that the unhappy woman was
dangerously i'll, insisted on taking her
with them to Jones County on Sunday
nights train in spite of the remon-
strances of her physician, who said it
was absolutely dangerous to remove her
in her existing condition. The Times
has all along believed Mrs. Upper to be
insane, monomaniac, morally ire
sponsible for her acts. The denOaenlent
of her sad career more than ever con-
- ,of hor
daughter, Miss Kate Upper, of this
city, arrived, letter was placed in her
hand by her mother with the request that
she would read it. ..
The letter was a most affect ing one.
Passing over parts of it that refer only
to her struggles to maintain herself and
her family she adds: Enclosed you
will find two notes. The circumstances
under which | obtained them l must
keep secret even from you. promised
not to use them unless driven to it by
dire necessity, and desire you also not
to use them unless absolutely necessary
to save your mothers good name"
The notes were as follows:
DIES MONIES, Dec. l, 1878.
Thirty days after date, promise to pay Mrs.
Ellen S, Upper or bearer the sum OF 900 with
interest at 10 per cent. per annum.
His
JESUS = CHRIST.
mark. -
The other note was for $500 at sixty
days and signed as above. This fully
bears out the theory of the Times with
regard to her insanity, and it would
certainly seem that instead of being in
the clutches of the law the unfortunate
prisoner should be in some asylum,
where medical skill might be used in
the endeavor to restore the shattered
mind of this once brilliant and talented
woman to its former health and vigor.
Extraordinary Enterprise.
Frank Leslie, the publisher of eight