Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1877-10-17
pMlscfMaNg.

,MlscEMaM9.
BROUGHT TO LIGHT.
A Crime Committed Nearly rsvent!
Years Ago on the Western Fromtie
Revealed Through Mysteries
To the Editor of the Chicago Journal.
il OMAHA, Ncb., Oct.8, 1877.
| In the Fall of 1867 James Melton
. wealthy farmer and stock drover
left Washington county, Pa, with tn
Intention of proceeding overland t,
i California. He took with him larg
sum of money-from $4,000 to SIS,
1000 his friends claim--intenling Il
invest in mines. He wrote frequen
letters to his friends at various stage
of the journey, but at length thes
missives ceased. the last one beinl
dated at an obscure town in Missouri
and in which he stated he had joinei
q caravan that was enr0ute for tn,
gold fields, and would write from
1 Nebraska City, Neb., where they in
tended to stop few days. His friend
waited for the promised letter, bu
none came. They wrote, but received
no reply. After the lapse of two oil
three months his relatives
RESOLVED TO INVESTIGATE THE MAT
TER.
They traced him step by step unit
he crossed the line between Kansa
and Nebraska, where oil traces sud
denly ceased. The old overland trai
will probably be remembered by
many of your readers. 1t led along
barren valleys, across bleak plains
and through many lonely gorges
THAT SEEMED DEsoLATIoN ITSELF;
and that part of it which crossed the
frontier was especially forbidding al
this time. Very few settlers lived
along the route, and these were wide
ly scattered and were generally of the
roughcst kind, in many instances des.
peradoes who had fled from the East
to escape the consequences of crime.
Among these was man named Al
cxander Welman, giant in size and
strength, and about whose past histo-
Try nothing was known; but it was
remarked that his wife seemed like
lady, showing culture and refine
ment seldom found on the frontier.
BY dint of inquiry and perseverance
the friends of the missing man, Mel
ton, found that Welman had sold q
span of horses in Nebraska City two
or three months before, which they
were convinced belonged to Melton
but when questioned on this point
Welman claimed that he had traded
for the team in Kansas, and told a
story that made it seem probable that
he was at least an innocent purchaser.
This, however, did not satisfy Mel
toms friends, and after visiting the
rude log house in which Welman
lived, they decided to have him ar
rested, the extraordinary behavior of
his wife having had much to do with
the decision. This woman, when she
saw the men, went into violent con-
vulsions, and when she revived she
was placed on settee, where, with
her eyes fixed upon the floor, she re-
sponded to every qnes tion
'sTHE DEAD WILL COME TO LIFE I"
and altogether produced disagree
able impression upon the visitors.
But when the Sheriff and posse came
the next day to arrest Welman, they
found the house deserted, no trace of
human or animal life being anywhere
visible. Nor could the Wclmans be
be found. Large rewards were offer
ed for their apprehension, or for any
trace that would lead to them, but all
in vain. The friends of Melton re-
turned to Pennsylvania fully satisfied
that he had been murdered for his
money, and proceeded to administer
upon his remaining property as the
law directed. But the story of James
Melton's fate became noised for many
miles along the route, and many were
the speculations indulged in as to how
he had been made way with. A few
years later the settlers were surprised
to find Welman living in his cabin,
having returned as quietly and mys.
teriously as he had left. He vouch-
safed no explanation, and no one
dared press him for one nor was he
disturbed. His wife, however, was
not with him, and he told those who
asked that she was in the Insane
Asylum at Fulton, Missouri, having
"gone daft" two or three months
since, as he termed it.
Meanwhile, Melton's relatives were
very much dissatisfied with the small
amount of property that was left to
be divided among the heirs; il will
be remembered that the missing man
had taken with him large sum of
money. Of course this was lost with
him. When, therefore, they heard
that Welman was living in bis old
cabin along the route, they lost no
time in arranging to secure his arrest
IN suspicion, but before the law could
be put in motion, in fact on the very
day that the officers went to his cabin
for the second time to arrest him on
the charge of murder, they found the
man dead! And, stranger, still, his
wife was watching by the corpse She
had got well, she said, and been re-
leased from the asylum in Missouri,
where she had been put under an as
sumed name, and had come home.
Naturally there was a good deal OF
excitement, but as Welman's death
seemed to end the matter, it soon died
away.
But in the last month the
MYSTERY HAS BEEN SOLVED.
It seems that after her husbands
death, Mrs. Welman became q sort Oi
trance medium. So great is her fame
that several noted celebrities of Spir.
itualistic tendencies visited her, and
were fully convinced of her power
and inspiration. 1t was while in one
of these frances that she disclosed the
mystery of flames Melton's fate. Your
correspondent was present at a seance
The woman uses slate, and writes
answers to all questions asked her
ssAs THE SPIRIT MAY DICTATE
Having heard the particulars ol
Melton's case, and that she had al
ready made some revelations recently
in regard to it, we instructed the gen
tleman who accompanied US, to asl
questions relating wholly to it. Th'
time was o'clock p. M, the plac,
Welman's log cabin, modernized con
siderably to what it was some year
ago, perhaps. Mrs. Welman sat at /
small table, upon which was placed q
slate, such as is used by school chill
dren, except this one had no frame
She is tall spare woman, with blacl
| glittering eyes and regular features
She was very plainly dressed. Seat
ing ourselves near the table, we wait
ed few minutes, when she announce,
herself In communication with tn
spirits, or an unseen world.
Il "Did any one kill James Melton !?
was my friends first question. Yer,
readily the answer came
u Eyes"
u "Who 2" was next asked and ther
was q pause. But soon an answe
was given on the slate. The woman
fingers trcmbled little as she wrot
alexander Welman."
After . momentary surprise ha