Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-03-08


she must take and keep for it,
said all right, and it seems to me tha
| said that perhaps the father ough
to he consulted. say il seems 50
! and vet can give no reason for il
for a. far as I knew, ISelknap kney
nothing Of the money. have Il fain
recoln' .tion ola remark Of Mrs. Bow
er, tha; ii ! sent the money to tn
father. that il belonged to her an,
that she would get it any way. Icer
tainly had some understanding tllel
or subsequently with her or him, 70
when the next payment came due ant
was paid. I seat one half therco
to the Sccretaryof War and have con
tinued tn do SO ever since. One ant
a half IL two years after the com
] mcncemrnt Of these payments re
duced the amount to 5000 per anun
The reason for this reduction wa.
partly because Of the combined com
plants on the part of Evans and Iii,
partner and partly, so far as now
remember, in consequence of an arti
Gle in the newspapers about that tim,
rejecting on the injustice done to sol
| dicrs at this fort caused by the exor
bitant charges made necessary on th,
I part Of the trader by reason OF th,
payment of this bonus. To the bes
Of my know ledge and belief the abov,
Is true statement of all the facts il
the case and as complete as | can re
member the occurrences Of 50 man,
years ago.
! After the funeral Of the then Mrs
Belknap in 1870. the money was sen
according to instructions TO the Sec
rotary Of War, sometimes i'm banl
notes by the Adams express and
4 think on one or more occasions by ;
certificate of deposit on the Nationa
bank of America in New York
Sometimes have paid him in New
York in person. Except the first pay
ment in the fall of 70. the aggregate
receipts from the post were abou
$4,000, Of which one half was dis
posed of as already mentioned. Usu,
ally when l expressed Bclknap mon
ey, l would send him the receipt ol
the company which he would either
return marked o X. or otherwise
acknowledge the receipt of same
Sometimes paid to him in person in
! New York, when no receipt was nee.
cssary. have not preserved any re.
ceipts or letters. When sent by ex.
press always deposited the money
personally AID took receipt for it
| | have frequently correspondent
with the Secretary of War: have for,
! warded requests to the Secretary
wrote me BY Evans, wishing privi.
leges about the Fort, such as to sell
liquor. &c: The contract between
Evans and mG never was the snbjec,
I OF conversation between Bclknap and
myself. I came to Washington or
| Wednesday the Goth Of last month
went to the house of the Secretary
Of War; staid Wednesday night and
returned Thursday morning.
/ showed him photographic subpoena
and asked him what it meant. Iit
/ said he supposed it was to state to tht
committee what knew about ouI
F.! transactions together. l said that
did not like to appear, becanse
thought my testimony would be dam
aging to or would implicate him ol
give him trouble. He said hi
thought not and advised me to. sta,
and meet the committee. During
that evening my conversation wa'
chiefly with his wife, he being pres
ent part of the time and understand
ing the general tenor of our conver
sation. She suggested that | coult
make a statement which would sati.
fy the committee, and eNculpatc til,
| Secretary. She wanted me to go be
fore the committee and represent tla
she and had business transaction,
together for. many years. and that al
this money had scnt her WAS none,
she had from time to time deposited
witaAAe as a kind OF a banker, an,
that she had instructed me to send /
to the Secretary.
dined there and spent the evcmin:
and staid all night. retiring about |,
o'clock. Tie evening was devoted t.
discussing this matter. told her tn
statement would not hold water hc
fore the committee, and even ii j
would could not make it. At tn
same time | was so wrought up. ant
had such an anxiety. She pressed an,
pressed me about it. and having ,lep
little since the receipt of the subpoena
and >ympathizing with their condi
ton. I did not give posiliv,
answer that night. went To be.
at L. o'clock. and don't suppose
slept wink. They said the,
would have breakfast about . . clock
| came down at 10 and met the secrc
tary alone. | told him thought
had better leave and get out of th
country. for would not pcrjurc my
self for any one$ that could aiior,
to have my throat cut but not perjur
myself. He said he did not wish M
to do that that we could fix it up som
other way. said | think had bet
ter leave the country. The Sccrctar
. said it would ruin him if I left.
, said if go before the committee
will ruin you, for will tell the trntl
| lie was greatly excited when cam
/ down stairs to leave. He followe
and asked me into the. parlor an
+ said | want 10 make a last appeal I
: YOU to stay longer: that ii went |,
would be ruined. said ! woul
ruin him il | went before the con
+ mittee. and left for New York.
. asked my attorney. ifthe committe
could reach me by subpoena if Lei
/ the country. | stated the case to hii
, (Mr. Bartlctt) We discussed th
matter Of my leaving the countr,
i went home and found there di,
, patch from DR. VIM. Tomlinsol
. brother-in-law of the Secretary. Il
+, purport was not to leave ; that he ha
. good news that he was coming owe
:: determined not to be governed b
, i, but | was going. 1 thought the
: only wished to fix up some new stor
: but that would not be a party to i
. My trunk was being packed to lcav
: About midnight, February 9th, ID
) Tomlinson arrived at my house. Il
: said. have seen Joe Blackburn. II
: is cousin OF mine who said I
| thought if you (Nlarsh) would writ
r a letter something like the one whic
[ he Cromilnson)' would suggest tn;
+ there would be no further invcstig;
{ tion, and il there was they would a.
I no questions that would be difficult
n answer. and that Mr.. Blackburn sal
/. he thought that ii the commit,
1 wanted TO examine me they woul
n appoint a subcommittee and con
T. over to New York and do 80. L
: came to my bedroom aud told hi
a to go to the sitting room and draw
0 sketch of the proposed letter, al
d that when dressed would jo
t him and write such Il letter as |
9 wanted if l could. wrote the lett,
@ from the sketch OF Tomlinsom. III
a endcavor was to eNcmlpatc the seer
q tary. There was nothing in 1t. n
# true, Ia the best of my recollcctio
n but it did not state the whole trut
' II was very short. lie took ii wi
/ the contract enclosed and said
d would take the letter and contraci
I Blackburn. who would show il to Il
n committee.
It He left at : o'clock Friday NOR
Is ing. Friday night the subpoena
d the Committee was served OH III
Il Saturday morning DIR. Tomlin,on Il
II pearcd before me and asked ii b;
II been subpoenaed. lie began tellil
II what he wanted me to say before L
IS Committee. lie wanted me to trl
II graph TO the Committee that my "
/ was sick. and ! did. said to |
- TnrnItn .nn tl,af 4 u-,,. xnrr, \ ,..tt