The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-07-12
Up u Game on a Life Ia.
ttg surance Company. 4uis

Perhaps come readers Of the ISrEIlI
oEsoER have heard Of the Wackerle case
now somewhat famous In the newspaper
lis the case OF man who was insure,
In the EIna Life Insurance Company o
Hartford, c., for which Mr.. A. b. Beach
Of Wheeling, Is agent, and whose wife
while he v4s yet dwsllsr here below
undertook to collect the insurance on hi
life, on tho pretense that he was a dea,
man. Tie Hartford COurant states til,
case as follows: cist ~
In April, 1867, wackerle insured il
The Etna Company for 5000. and pait
two annual premiums. This polio.
lapsed in 1859, and . new policy was L.
sued instead, for the same amount
Wackerle, when first insured, was reaid
Ing at Milwaukee, Wis. Soon after III,
issue OF the latter policy he left bis fam
lily and was next heard from in California
Mrs. Wackerle went 10 him, and they re.
turned TO Quincy, Ill. Having resided
there a short time, Wacksrle again lei
his home, and, it is supposed by his wife
went South. MIRA. Wackerle went to 81
Louis in pursuit Of him, and from
there TO Texas, where she belieyet
he had gone. At Shreveport, Lou
isiana, she got information, sht
said, that the year previous, q mar
had been killed on the Texas & Pacific
Railroad by being run over by a train o
care nine miles from that city. Assuming
that II was her husband, she set herself a
work to procure evidence to that effect
She was furnished blanks Indicating wha
was necessary to establish his identity
and death. In February, 1874, she visit
ed Hartford, with he'"proofs Of DEATH
They were found to be incomplete ant
unsatisfactory, and an investigation
seemed necessary. Two affidAyits wert
furnished identifying the party killed as
Wsekerle, but they were found to have
been made by Ignorant freedmen. In on.
the party Ia made to say that ION the 25tt
Of December, 1879, q man by the name
Of William Wakerle, well known 10 thu
deponent, having worked with him OF
Section 2 Of the Texas 4 Pacific
Railroad, was killed by being rur
over by the freight train" -
. . land, further, that ha saw
said Wackerle after his death, and know
him to have been the same person whom
he knew alive by that name" When in
quiry was made Of this party, he said IN
der oath that he was not present at thu
time Of the killing Of the man on the rail
road near Shreveport on the 18th Of De
cember-that he did not see the man aftel
bis death-and denies he affidavit as fur
nished by Mrs. wackerle. The Other
freedmen made affidavit 10 proofs fur
nished by Mrs. Wackerle. "That on thu
18th OF December, 1872, one William
Wsckerle, laborer on the Texas ant
Pacific Railroad, was killed at . plac,
about nine miles from the city Of shreve
port, by being run over by train OF tn,
Texas and Pacific Railway Co; that b.
was present and saw said William Wack
erie, deceased, when his body was sent &
Shreveport, La, for coronef's inquest aut
interment; that he has frequently heart
the deceased spell his name Wee k.e-r-l,
to deponent." This party subsequently
said under oath that he did not know thu
name Of the man killed; that he coulC
neither read or write; that be could no
spell his own name; that the affidavit pnr
ported 10 have been made by him wa
not ,true; that 1t was never read to him
nor was he sworn; that his ignorance hat
been taken advantage OF in procuring II
that hB only intention was 10 swear tt
the fsct Of man having been killed. The
certificate OF death and burial gave thu
name Of the deceased as "unknown.' Mrs
Wackerle has also furnished several aff-
dayits in which the parties state a mar
was killed on the above date, and they
have since heard, or have been led 10 be-
lieve, Il was William Wackerle. 10 these
affidavits the supposed age Of the party
killed was stated differently from twenty
TO fifty. The Company found that nc
such man as Wackerle was employed or
the Texas and Pacific Railroad, and L
this effect had stidavits Of the road
master, pay. master, assistant treasurer
and foreman Of the gang 10 which tbs
man killed belonged. From these atfida'
wits 1t appeared that the man killed wal
Frank Ettine, who was an employee Of the
road, and that neither Of the persons max
Ing the affidavit ever knew or heard oil 9
man named William Wackerle. All the
evidence possessed justified the company
in taking the course II dill.
The discovery Of Wackerls's where's
bouts was due to letter written BY Mr.
Joseph Weinmann, Of Faribault, MINI
Mr.. Weinmann's letter asked for infor
nation as to what companies were int
rested in the case. A request for this In
formation was published and promptly
answered by the New York Mutual Life
to whose representative the address o
Mr.. weinmann was given. subsequen
correspondence between Mr.. W. and tina
Company was forwarded to the Etn'
Life. The result is thu, stated BY TIL
Current: .ar .a.g
[ The Etna Company atonce dispatched
their adiuster, Mr.J. C. Webster, TO Fari
bault, where be found Mr.. Weinmaun I,
be Just what he had represented. A lette
from Wackerle, dated in January, 1878
and written in California, was shown, II
which be said be left his wife at Quincy
ILL.,, because be was afraid she would XII
him II he lived with her longer; that Oh
had extorted everything from bim-hi
land, cash, policies Of insurance an
eyerything--And he bad started out Il
escape further misery and extortior
He did not know Of his wife's wherea
bouts, and made inquirieSconcerning heI
With this Interesting disclosure mel
light was Of course thrown upon the casl
and the adjuster took Mr.. Weinmann I
California, and there WAckerle va
found alive and well. Fortunately tw
other Germans-John Helm and ]. Mich
olas Hein-who had lived in Carve
Mimi, and who were members Of Lier
Tenant Weinmann's company wit
l 80 ~ II Z