The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1878-07-04
CANTON TREASURY STEAL
THE CAREER OF THE DEFAULTER
GEORGE FEssLER.
The Treasurer Hail Fellow Who Kept No Cash
Books.
(FrOm the Cleveland Herald.)

" for the absconded Treasurer George Fessler,
has not yet been earned, and in the minds OF Fess-
lers intlmates 1t will not assist for some time IN
come In lining the pockets Of the detectives detail
ed by Allen Plnkerton to give chase.
ION, my he done smart, capitally" chuckled
late attsche Of the Fesser staff But the author of
the odd expression Of admiration soon gave vent
to deep sigh, as Of pain while he turtherremark-
ed: ''If any one had insinuated aweek ago that
he'd have done what he has he'd have been cow
hided out OF town. Well [snother sighl, Pm on
his bond and I'll have to stand the loss with the
rest. was in the office with George-we always
called Fessler by his first name for eVey body
liked him--and there were half dozen assistants
In the Treasurers Office, and all Of us were good
men. By, whoopI IA loud burst Of laughter.l
oh George was shrewd, he was; George was smart
he was Hal hal hal hol hool George did cum
ming thing, he did"
AS the speaker concluded he gave utterance to
yet another sigh which appeared to be Of the ma
ture Of envy and regret that he was not the defaul
ter and thief, safely viewing the commotion on
the scene of his exploits from Victoria's provin'
Ces 30 near and yet 80 far In the eyes OF officers Of
the law.
Ihaye given the above little speech publication
for the purpose of showing the character Of one of
tle ABblBLaQLA OIuCo uuuoE pSn5lSLI auu bh6t
thew were nearly all In greater orless degree in
competent for the positions that they held as dep
uties or associates in the Treasurers Office kept
completely under Fessler's surveillance In con.
ducting the affairs Of the county is the only con-
clusion that can arrive at after careful survey
and consideration Of the situation. There were
members of both political parties among Fessler's
deputies and 1t is a matter to be regretted that
some Republicans aided the Democrats in placing
and keeping the departed Treasurer in position,
knowing that be was incompetent and believing
that there might be looseness In his accounts, be-
cauAe he was hail fellow we'll met" and popu-
lar man Of influence. And, according TO the di"
rect statement Of two Of Fesslers bondsmen made
TO me this afternoon, 1t was the intention OF por
ton OF those who went security for the Treasurer
to make up among themselves large deficiency
In Fessler's cash that was discovered toexst with
out exposing the cuiprlt 10 criticism OF punish
ishment which might render him leSs popular
and injure his chances II 1t were ever deemed
best to nominate him again for fat office. l. e..
Il is said that he was named by the Democrats not
long ago for State Treasurer. Uriah Feather-net
Heep-was selected eight months since by the
bondsmen TO act as deputy next TO Fessler, and to
hold the latter in check in illegttmately disposing
In any way of cash that belonged to the county,
Feather was himself on Fesslers bond, and 1t was
natural TO suppose that he would therefore take
an especial interest in strengthening out matters as
much as possible. He had also In times gone by
Stark county. Let us hear this individuals story,
shorn OF the praise mingled with criticism Of Fess'
lers character words laudatory Of the persons
who had been employed in the Treasurer's office
and quantity Of verbiage that is tmmaterial;
'When entered the Office there was nothing
in the way of a regular cash book. The
receipts and expenditures were putdown asmem'
orandums inst as 1t happened had an invoice
taken before would consent to go in, and every
thing seemed correct except the looseness In ac-
counts. instituted cash book, and kept things
right George acted as cashier, and | had him
report TO me every night. You know was put In
by the bOndsmen to look after him. There were
lots Of checks etc. received In payment or taxes,
and George used often to keep them on hand un,
IN they became worthless, but had them all sent
to the bank right off, At first George was pleas
ant but toward the last he didn't seem like him
self His conduct toward me, who was endeaV-
orng to help him out, was not what II should De-
But his own brother-in'law, Miller, was alone
worth all the deficiency, and he was on his bond.
Fessler need not have bothered
"Then there was dehcienCyW
'Yes."
Mr.. Feathers tongue must have felt like resting
after daShing off the word "yes," as the owner
frowned and hesitated, but the member recovered
itself finally and ratified on again. Mr.. Feather
probably concluded that as he had revealed por-
Hon he might as well enjoy the luxury Of relating
all that he knew, Mr. Feather also regaled him
self with an occasional OAln ab ne Jhlkeu, luebe
occurring mainly in connection with the mention
Ofthe missing TreasurerB name. He now said:
"How much better 1t would have been II Georges
little difficulty had been quietly and neatly settled
without his dipping his hands into the vault Part
of us city bondsmen got together and talked the
matter over-privately, you know, for we didn't
want 10 let the farmer bondsmen who would
tell into the secret-and we decided TO undergo an
assessment which l think would have been
about $500 apiece among perhaps dozen OF elGn, .
known thing about It. George had nice pro-
perty, and we had that transferred to US, and
should have sold 1t for enough 10 help US long
way toward making Us good"
On being interrogated closely concerning the
amount Of the back deficiency, Feather said he
thought 1t must be between SIS 900 and S2OOOO,nOt
over the latter sum. he did not say how 1t was
incurred, except In the general charge OF lo0sene@
and II was impossible to obtain any information
more definite elsewhere. Mr. John R. Miller,
FeBsleEs brother.in.lsw, and one Of the leading
bondSmen, corroborated the statement Of the de-
fciency previous to the larger defalcatiOn, and
placed the amount likewise OF between SIS 600 and
$4,000. Feather, while satisfied that Fesaler would
not abscond with funds not belonging 10 him,
nevertheless had strong suspicious Is he asserted
that william A. Creech, the Deputy Auditor, a
quick -Witted, energetic and honest man, was on
one occasion detailed 70 accompany Fessler to
Columbus when he had large sum-Rbout $780,
O00-to deliver into the State Treasury, 0stensibly
to protect the money, but really TO watch the
Treasurer az well Bg to guard against outside
thieves Mr.. Creech informed the writer that he
was not given Instructions but his expenses were
paid to accompany Fessler and 1t was his duty 70
protect the State funds while on the road. A.
POntius the first deputy before Feather, and John
Raber, second assistant In conjunction with Fess'
ler attended to the money In the Treasury safe,
which was provided with time lock that was
Eent constantly In operation. When Fessler made
his lnal haul 1t was only accomplishea IN tne
Absence of his associates by changing the locks
period Of working
The defaulter was In the grocery business when
he was elected Treasurer in 1874, but is described
as being too generous to be successful, Anyone
who wished to borrow small sum OF money was
rarely refused, and Fessler's beer and various
liquors which he had were often disposed OF rap
idly withOntremuneratlon The expenses OF the
eannpaien were great and when Fessler Telinquish-
ed bis grocery he was in debt for goodly sum OF
money. The erection Of his new brick residence
on North Poplar street placed him In a worse con,
dtion financially, but on gaining the p0sltion Oh
Treasurer he soon began to nquldate his DEBTS
The Canton City Bank had claim against Fess
Ter for several thousand dollars, but when the
concern gave up business IL was taken by Feather
and has since been Axed up. While in Office Fess
ler was exceedingly generous in giving loans IN
small and larger sums, and itWas sort OF by-W0rd
about town that persons who went to him would
never be refused. Whether the money that he
loaned was his own or not is a conundrum that
the peOple of Stark county would like to see solv.
ed, Fessleroontracted bad habits of drinking and
dissipatlng in other ways and must have spent
every wear fully the s. 600 which was about the
si,nn maid for salary per annum. He lost money
by the failure of Ballard, Fast & Co, and else
where
The Treasurer--or rather the deputies for him
entered on the duties of the Office in 1874 The
records in the apartment of the Auditor Mr. James
P. sourb,ck show that Mr., Feather was appointed
by the Probate Judge to examine Fessler's cash
and ascertain that everything about the office ives
In propershape. he made an examination March
22d 1875, October 9th 1875, March Slst, 1876, and
March 10th, 1871 There Is no record Of any ex'
animation in October Of 1876 although Il Is posi-
' ,9.N