The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1881-05-10
A WIDOWS SUIT.
A York Man Who Took q Policy
With Every Agent That Came
Along.

One Of the most sensational and i'm
portant insurance Gases ever known in
this state will come up Tor trial in the
United States circuit court to-day.
Four years ago j. w. Leidy. a we'll
TODD and highly respectable citizen of
Mechanicsburg. Cumberland county.
took charge Of the Washington hotel
10 York. this state. About May,
1879. when Mr.. Leidy MAS consider
ing the advisability Of investing few
thousand dollars in York county real
estate. an insurance agent convinced
him that it would he better for him to
invest in life insurance companies.
The clo4uence Of the agent prevailed.
and Mr.. Leidy took out Il policy on
his own life for $4,000, the scheme
being what Is known rs the Quarterly
payment plan" Other agents heard
Of the frat ones success. and on the
following day another one took up his
quarters at the Washington hotel, aud
made play for the landlord and his
cash. This second agent unfolded the
beauties uf the ''old line plan Of i'll
surancs. but before he succeeded in in
duciug Mr.. Leidy to invest an ener-
gstic advocate Of the tontine system
appeared on the scene, aud he was fol.
lowed BY . seductive emissarv If
company operating on the assessment
plan. 30 that the landlord was besieged
ON oil sides. aud was only granted
quarter when he invested in each OF the
companies. Other SCENTS came and
went. and ~ the majority We're sue
ces.ful. Mr.. Leidy soon became known
To insurance men as certain prey for
every new agent that approached him.
He was taken sick in January, 1880,
aud died on February. 1880, in the
6ity-six year If his age. He at
that time held policies as follows :
Fidelity. If Philadelphia, $4,000;
Massachusetts, Life. of Boston. SlO.-
600: Northwestern, Of Philadelphia.
$40. 900: Home. Of Lebanon. 81 900
United Brethren Aid. Of York. So |
900; Prudential, Of Harrisburg, |
81 ,OOO; Keystone. Of Allentown.
| 81 900; New Era. Of Lancaster. 3d.
OOO: Hartford. Of Connecticut. S3. 600
Urbana, Of Urhsua, o., $4,000: The
Peoples. Of Westervelt, o.. $4,000.
and several other locsl companies for
smaller amounts. The United Breih-
rem Aid c"myanv refused Ia pay their
risk, but when Mrs. l..i.ly carried a..
case to court in 1880, they paid the |
debt in full. The Home. Prudential,
Kevstons and several minor companies !
Of York county also paid their risks to
the widow, so that she has received
about S13. 900 aud about $40, 900 are
still due her The managers If the
Massachusetts, Company refused 10
pay. and Mrs. Lsidy instituted the
suit which will begin in the United
States corut to-day. When this sui;
was brought, an agent of the companv
called ON Mrs. Leidy and asked leave
10 d,sinter the body Of her husband
for the purpose Of ascertaining what
disease caused his death. Permission
was granted, and the agent. his legal
adviser aud a physician, accompanied
by Messrs. SPangler aud Chapman.
the widows attorneys. went to the
cemetery. and taking the body from
the grave, made careful examination
# i: The heart. liver. lungs. brain
ried To the physicians rom, in the
York county aims house. where they
were examined by doctors that night.
Mr.. Lsidy is supposed to have died
from the effects Of homorrage. but
during the examination of his stomach
in the Aims house it leaked out that
the officers of the insurance companies
had reason to believe that Mr.. Leidy
Vas killed by poison administered by
those who would be financially benefit
ed BY his death. This news created
q sensation in York, hut Mrs. Leidy
says: The story was so absurd that
l paid no attention To il but | sup
pose It will he used in some way by
the defence during the trial If the
case. After the Investigation in the
aims house the ghastly relics of Mr..
Leidyis mutilated body were packed
in box which was sealed and sent to
this city, where . prominent chemical
expert connected with the Pennsylva-
mia hospital found Gas Mrs. Leidy saws
The heard "enough arsenic and cur.
rosive sublimate in his stomach to kill
I dozen men," The widows friends,
Md she has numerous influentia ones,
'ay the agent Of the insurance COM
pany broke faith wien he broke the
'eal On the box and submitted the cou-
.ents to an analytical chemist of the
own selection. Mrs. Leidy
ays it vas understood that she was to
'e represented BY q chemist at the
analysis, but it was over before he
.ould attend. The case has created
more comment in York and Cumber-
and Counties than any case Of the
lind ever known. Over one hundred
have been subpenaed and ,
bout sixty OF them we're in the CITY
The Others will arrive
bis morning. A prominent witness
Or the plaintiff said yesterday, in re-
erring to the suspicion that Mr.. Leidy 4
'as murdered: ''1hey say the experts
Dnnd lot Of poison in the stomach,
nd no doubt the insurance people
xPect tn make big fight over that
'ct, hut | learned this morning that
he undertaken who had charge of
the funeral iujectrd arsenic into the
nrpse to preserve il, 10 he had no ice. =
hat will, l think. account for the
olson. IL any Was found"
D NERVOUS sUFFERERs-THE GREAT EU
ROPEAN RENEDY-DR- J. b. SIMPSONS
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