Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-02-11
A Lady Forger.

MIS- Et'en .. upper the noted Iowa pee
oulturist, lecturer, editress and magazine
writer, living at Des Moines, Iowa, has been
forging the names OF wealthy people aud OBJ
tanning money on the sam TO a large
amount. The excuse is the severe mental
strain to which she has been subjected during
the past few years, her onerous and arduous
lsbors in behalf of bee culture and the geu-
eral enlightenment Of women, aud financial
embarrassments, all combining, according to
her physician, to render her derangsd
for two years, aud as consequence Of that
lamentable condition, to commit the forgeries
for which she has been arrested. Aside
from raising money on forged notes Mrs
Upper has repeatedly given her check upon
banks where she had no funds nor account.
The history Of the woman is somewhat
remarkable. No woman in Iowa has borne
a higher reputation for probity of character
than Mrs Topper. She was born at Provi-
denco, Il. l., In 1922, aud was the daughter
OF Noah Smith, for fifteen years FIRST assist.
ant steward Of the United States Senate.
Her mother was a sister Of Henry Wheaton,
the well known author Of treatise on Iuter.
national Law. Mrs Upper was given all
the educational advantages which wealth
could purchase, aud at an early age won
local distinction as a magazine essayist. In
lS43 she married Allen Upper, a wealthy
lumber merchant at Houlton, Me. Soon
after his health failed, and his business aud
wealth passed away. In 1851 the family
went West and located in Washington county
Up to this time Mrs Upper did not know
what it was to labor for even a day. Neces.
sity stared them in the face. Several small
children must be cared for, as we'll as an
invalid husband. She engaged to teach a
school, and taking her babe with her on
horseback, daily. she went 10 her school, and
attended to her household affairs when out
of school. She soon brought the school to
her own house, and thus supported her fam.
lily until 1857, wnen she turned her atteu.
ton to bee culture. In 1872 she removed
to Des Moines, where she has since resided
In the meantime her business has extended
to every state in the Union. Her labor:
have been severe and onerous. Her CORE,
~spondence was sufficient to absorb most oil
her time yet she personally packed aud
attended to all her shipments, besides editing
one or two bes.journals, aud writing for sew
eral others, and frequently going abroad t
lecture. She was also one OF the regular
lecturers Of the agricultural college.
She has reared three daughters to woman
hood, one Of whom is the wife Of Il lawyer
aud ia the able and eloquent pastor Of q
church 10 Colorado another is q teacher a
Marshalltown while another in Des Moline
is engaged in raising and breeding fancy
poultry, and is we'll known throughout th,
state. She has one son about fourteen year
old, and q younger daughter. Her HUSBAND
is now teaching school at State Center. BJ
her own hard labor she has kept her famil,
together and educated her children, fifth,
them for any position in society.
Two years she broke down in both bod
and mind from overwork, and passed througI
a long time Of sickness aud nervous prostra
ton. Ii was soon after this that these fraud
ulent practices appear to have begun. Sh
was financially embarrassed, and it is though
by many that the constant worry Of her al
fairs unsettled her reason, and caused her h
commit acts against which her very natur
would seem TO revolt. Her plan appears h
have been to raise money by forgeries, and
when discovered, to replace it with SUNS OBJ
tanned in a similar way.
Much Of the forged paper she seems t
, have taken up before maturity, aud hov
much of it is still outstanding it is not posi-
BILE to tell. She has not been extravagau
in living or dress. Her house is very plainl
furnished, while she is noted for her plain
ness Of dress. Her family physician declare
she is decidedly u monomaniac on money al
fairs, and not Of sound mind.