Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1882-07-06
A BOGUS SUICIDE. :
The supposed Dead Man Pursuing the
Law In an Ohio Town

The mystery surrounding the disap-
pearance of the Rev. d. M. De
Hughes, late pastor Of the Asbury
Methodist chuIc al Westfield, N. j.,
who was reported to have committed
suicide by jumping off Camden ferry
boat On the night of Monday, August
80, 1880, has been solved at last
When the inhabitants of the little town
west of Riverton, in Buglington coun-
ty, read in the Philadelphia morning
papers of Tuesday, August 81, of the
alleged drowning of the Rev. Mr.. De
Hughes, the entire neighborhood was
shocked beyond measure and the sup
posed sad fate of the pastor furnished
gossip for all the folks within radius
of fifteen miles. Though the suave
and agreeable minister had not been
located at Westfeld many months he
succeeded, by his pleasant manners, in
winning the good will of nearly all with
whom he came in contact, and when
his friends were apprised of his I'M
timely fate they We're indeed grieved.
THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE.
The story Of the suicide" is briefly
this: A clerical-looking gentleman,
presumed to be the Rev. Mi. De
Hughes, boarded the ferry-boat Dele
ware, while it was lying at the foot of
Federal street, Camden, about ten
o'clock on the night in question. He
walked to the bow of the boat and took
a seat near the guards outside the
gentlemen's cabin. A colored man and
two white men were the only passen-
gers that occupied seats near tie sup
posed minister. He appeared to be
nervous and acted altogether in
strange manner. Several times he
covered his face with a handkerchief
and muttered a few unintelligible SEN
fences. When the boat left the Cam
den side the white men withdrew into
the cabin. Neither Of the two men
left on the bow exchanged word and
when the boat was about crossing the
bar, abreast of Rdgway Park, the man
in black walked up to the negro and
peered into his face. Thereupon the
coiored man went into the cabin and
informed some Of the other passengers
that "the fellow outside meant to do
away with himself" Returning hasti-
ly to the deck, it was found that the
mysterious stranger had disappeared.
AS the night was dark those that peer
ed over the guards were unable to dis.
the form of man struggling
in the water. The deck hands hastily
ran through the cabins and not finding
the object of their search shouted
"Man over board !" and cried to the
pilots to stop the boat. The man in
the wheel-house, however, refused to
even slacken the speed of the boat and
she continued on her way to Philadel.
phia. Though no one heard any
splash when the supposed suicide plung-
ed into the dark waves, everybody
jumped at the conclusion that the
stranger had sought watery grave to
end his earthly troubles.
FAREWELL MESSAGE.
When the boat was about entering
its dock on this side Of the river
note book, card and two unsealed let
tiers were found laying on wheelbar-
row near where the man sat. These
were taken in charge by Collector Ben
der. The notebook had printed in it
the name "Rev. d. M. De Hughes
In this were found letters. One of
them was addressed to Mrs. d. M. De
Hughes, while the other bore the su-
prescription of George B. Lloyd, Gin
N. j. The card bore the
name Of Alice Watkinson, whose con-
nection with the minister's disappear
ance is related further on. On the
back of this card was written the fol
lowing: "The resources of nature are
at His command, and He can never
promise more than He is able to per-
form. The entire power of heaven
would be called to us and aid us.
There is possibility of our meeting
every requirement of God through
Christ. By His aid We can meet every
condition and claim" This was in De
Hughes handwriting.
On the day following this occurrence
q Times reporter visited Westheld, and
after a thorough investigation, suffi-
cient facts were learned to warrant the
of an article setting forth
that the Westtield preacher bad played
the drowning dodge, like DR.. John
Buchanan, Of bogus medical college
fame, in order to desert his wife, and
not until yesterday was it ascertained
that the Times was right in its conject-
ures.
What became of De Hughes after he
left the bow of that boat can only be
surmised. He may have jumped over
board and swan ashore or was picked
up by confederate with a small boat.
The most probable thing is that be
the guards and then jumped
to the top Of the cabin and lay in the
shadow of the smokestack until the
boat reached the dock, when he might
have escaped unseen by climbing down
the pilings on either side of the dock
and get away on an adjoining wharf,
VERY MUCH ALIVE AND HAPPY.
George B. Lloyd, to whom De Hughes
one of the letters found in
the boat, was confidential friend of
the preacher, and when told at the
time that probably the affair was moth
ing less than another Buchanan ruse
he grew very indignant and stoutly de-
Tended his missing friend. Not long