The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-07-20

discovery. whereypon Mr.: Sage went 70 Ithso.
and identified bis son. The paper adds that
measures were at once put on loot 70 secure
Benson, who was still living at CROMWELL, ana 70
An extra session Of the Supreme Court was
s,sSss a. snS nssn o law on
GERS sent to arrest Benson found him A.
Msthod,st prayer meene enssseo 30 ~
bis,at this juncture. He was carried TO jail,
and. bis trial having been adjourned over from
February to April, 1858, he was then brought be-
fore the Supreme Court In session at the old
town OF Haddam. Benson pleaded not guilty
tined sage, Senior, his daughter Elizabeth, and
the long missing Charles II. Sage. The evidence
81 eson was Srsny sy'p .b ana tns o. Young
hoped that the mystery OF his disappearance
woul now be explained. But US the Site only
had TO prove his existence, his testimony was
exceedingly aRgravatlng by Its brevitv, being
simply to tbs eject that he was alive and we'll.
The defence introduced a witness or two who
testified as to Benson's good behavior while In
their employ. and to his lack of mental ability,
the object being tn show that no had not wit
story as he had told, and that somebody must
have been assaulted, rs he described, on the
night In question hence that he was not guilty
OF perjury 10 supposinR IL 20 bo young Sage.
when he learned that the lad was missing. But
although TO this day some. OF the people Of
cromwell believe that murder m st have been
committed, and allego that n pcduler wont to
appear there was never seen after the night Of
the supposed murder, and other assume that
the lad who returned was not the genuine Sigo,
vet the Jury had no trouble in agreeing, and
speedily brought In verqict of guilty.. A mo-
ton Tor arrest OF judgment was entered, and tho
case went over to the September term Of tho
court. when tho motion was Withdrawn. and
Benson sentenced to State prison for life. In
1891, he was pardoned out to enter the United
states volunteer service IN the late war, and IL
Is said, has since died.
THE MYSTERY NEVER CLEARLY ExIAINED.
AS has been intlmated before. the conviction
OF Benson for peijury did not forever settle the
mystery In tho minds OF all coenizant OF the
facts. for, while the counsel for the state to this
day ufiirm that BenaOn privately confessed his
perjury To them. when arrested. his own coun-
sci, ex~Postmaster CaIef OF Middletown asserts
tn Il to him he ever asserted hts innocence, and
that he to this day believes that Benson did sec
some one murdered. As to y ge. Senior and
Junior, and to the Nugont family, there have
also been WIDELY diverRlng opinions, some be-
gents, that, on the day of the disappearance OF
young &c, Mrs. Nueent found him In a stua.
!ion that led her 70 charge him with at
tempting improper libt rites upon her daughter
and that the fact Of this scandal and Of his
fathers bsrd treatment led him to flee tho town.
Some held that the father knew Of his sons
hight, and persuaded the Nugenis to prevent
the true cause thereof being known, while
others believed him guiltiess OF this, but that
young Sage hsd from atyrannical father, while
others held Mrs. Nugent privy to the plot
against her husband. At all events, the popular
ieeng Was aasinst the ges SO much so that
ConcerniDv the recent deIth Of NueeDt a
friend In Cromwell writes rs follows: HIS son
tn-law Informs me he left home Thursday, June
!, after some dinlculty with his wife. He had
been a. work IN Yves field, and IL W. 9 supposed
that he hau returned there. The statement In
discovery OF the body. which had evidently been
In tho water three or four days. The supposi-
s,Sn - thss the man went from bis house 70
river snd there drowned himself as ne had re-
peatedly threatened to do. The son-in.Isw says
that his wife drove him out Of the house, and
that be had been unable to work Tor several
days on account OF illness"