Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1879-07-25
A MILLIONAIRE,S FATE.
The Rise, the Fall, the Wandering. and
Romantic Death OF James II. yVheatley,

The Rise, the Fall, the Wandering, and
Romantic Death OF James II. yVheatIey.
James II. Wheatley left Tennessee for
Brooklyn over twenty-five years ago,
when lad of sixteen years. Being pen
niless he pitched in with will, and at
the age of thirty eight found himself
millionaire, married an estimable Brook
lyn lady, and turned his attention to the
doing of good works. He was chief
mover in many charitable schemes, pre-
sented a rectory to st. Peters Episco-
pal parish, and founded much-needed
home for consumptives. He lived in a
magnificent house. He did not drink,
chew or smoke. The panic of 1873
came, and Mr.. Wheatley found himself
crippled, He left the sugar business
and went to Philadelphia to manufacture
waterproof cloth. Later he went into
the shirt business in New York. On
the night OF August '27, 1878. Officer
Cannon, of the New YORK police. found
Mr.. Wheatley lying on the sidewalk at
the corner of Charles and Morton streets.
lie was moaning piteously for help. His
vest was unbuttoned, and his rufied
shirt and collar betokened struggle.
de seemed under the influence of
powerful drug. To the officer the
prostrate man said he had been robbed
and nearly murdered by highwaymen.
He painfully told the story of the assault
upon him. AS he was walking along
Sixth aN enue, just at dark, he said, he
was. suddenly assaulted by three men,
who threw him down and began to
beat him. They tore open his vest and
robbed him of $4,000 in money and
bonds. On the person of the victim
fo,,nI l1,o1 of q TX 00n
| together with small sum of money, q
valuable gold watch and a set of dia-
mond studs. The police did not credit
the story ofMr. Wheatley, but his friends
| to this day express the opinion that he
was robbed. He was taken to an hos
pital, and leaving it the next day with
out a goodbye to his wife, disappeared.
Then it was discovered that he was a
defaulter to a large amount. Detectives
who were put upon his track found him
in Hendersonville, a small mountain
town of North Carolina, but found him
on his death-bed He had entered
HenderSonville last winter, ragged,
foot-sore and sick He worked, though,
and stayed in the town, where he made
the acquaintance of woman named
Josephine Bond. Her relatives were in
| SOOu n w ali ftluttNlI-
ment quickly sprang up between Mr..
Wheatley and Miss Bond Although the
former was somewhat eccentric in his
behavior, his acquaintances attributed
it to his illness, and had no idea that he
was demented. Mr.. Wheatley's illness
grew upon him. He suffered from
Bright's disease of the kidneys. Miss
Bond frequently visited the house
where he boarded and tenderly nursed
hin. Her attentions. gave rise to some
scandal, and in order to stop the gossip
Miss Bond proposed to Mr.. Wheatley
that they should be married, and that
he should be taken to her house. The
insane fugitive readily assented, and
when he was in a dying condition a
clergyman was summoned, and the
ceremony was solemnized. Mr.. Wheatley
was then borne to Miss Bonds house on
Il bed, from which he never stirred until
his death. The woman he had welded
tenderly nursed him until his demise,
and then his remains were buried in the
village churchyard An intimate per-
sonal friend of the former millionaire,
hearing of his sad end, has brought the
body to Brooklyn, and inferred it in
Greenwood cemetery.