River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1881-10-13
DEP SCHEME.
A Maryland Man EDriches himself at
the EXPENSE Of His Neighbors.

Yesterday about TWO thousand of the
suits instituted by Or. Harrison Wag-
ner, the professional litigant, against
citizens Of Frederick county, Mary
land, were settled, the defendants be-
ing compelled to pay various sums,
ranging from $50 to SO in each case.
The operations of Wagner are without
a parallel in the United States. About
two years ago he was generally consid-
cred to be harmlessly insane. His
actions We're calculated to confirm this
theory, and his eccentricit;es were re-
garded with indifference by every one
who knew him. In the fall of 1879
Wagner caused much amusement by
going before an obscure country Inagis-
trate and entering several hundred suits
for damages against leading citizens
chosen at random in all parts of the
any dealings with him. The amount
of damages sued for in each case was
between $50 and 500, the limit for
which suits can be brought before
magistrates in this state No attention
was paid to the supposed lunatic's
suits, and the cases were soon forgot
ton, but were several times recalled to
memory by notices of hundreds of
other suits being brought by Wagner,
who frequently entered as high as one
hundred claims against one person.
Early in 1880 Wagner disappeared
from public notice, but in the fall of
that year the entire community was
thrown into a furore of excitement
when it was learnd that Wagner had
commenced proceedings to enforce
judgments in 1850 of the suits. 1t
was then learned for the first time that
the persons sued, having failed to APP
pear before the magistrate to answer,
judgments had beer entered in each
case for the amount named in the COM
plant. Wagner made no effort to
collect the judgments until the year
had expired, when by law the power of
appeal had lapsed. In November last,
therefore,, he was possessed of ,800judg,
ments, averaging $75 each, against
about 300 county residents and corpo-
rations. Each Judgment was endorsed
"By default" and mo appeal taken"
and of course they amounted to lien
on any property owned by the defend
ants.
During Wagner's absence several
persons against whom he had obtained
judgment died, and his first move was
to file the judgments in the Orphans
court as claimed against the estate.
Martin Shank, one of his victims, had
died, and left an estate valued at $1,000
to his wife and three little children.
Wagner filed judgment against the es-
tate amounting to Sc, 200, and the Or
phan's court was compelled to post
pone the hearing of the claims several
times in order to avoid the necessity of
admitting their validity. AT length
several citizen employed counsel for
Mrs. Shank, who filed an application
for an arrest ofjudgment on the ground
of fraud. The same policy was pur-
sued by all the other victims, and since
that time the cases have been dragging
along in the courts, the indications
pointing to Wagner being eventually
successful in enforcing all of them.
The coul IS ruled that the failure of the
victims to contest the suits was in law
virtual acknowledgment Of the JUS
tee of the claims, while the further
failure to take an appeal from the
magistrate within the period prescribed
by law places them beyond remedy.
After he had begun to enforce the
judgments Wagner found the county
too hot to hold him, and went to New
York city, where he now is. The pro-
ceedings against his victims have been
carried on by counsel here, and the
settlement made in nearly all the cases
yesterday, it is thought, will net him
nearly $4,000. He does not pretend
that he ever had any legal claim for
damages in any of the cases, yet he
has succeeded in obtaining considera-
BILE portions of the estates of several
deceased residents of the county, be-
sides mulcting hundreds of farmers of
hard earned money Baltimore News.