River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1882-07-13
ARnGuS S,lIGIDE.
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 church at Westfeld, N. j.,
who was reported to nave committed |
suicide by jumping off Camden ferry
boat on the night of Monday, August |
80, 1880, hos been solved at last.
When the inhabitants of the little town |
west of Riverton, in Buglington ceun- !
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 q 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 were indeed grieved.
THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE.
The story of the suicide" is briefly
this: A clerical-looking gentleman,
presumed to be the Rev. Mr.. 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 handkerchief
and muttered 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
colored man went into the cabin and
informed some of the other passengers
that "the fellow outside meant to do
away with himself" Returning hasti-
" to the deck, it was found that the
mysterious stranger had disappeared.
ed over the guards were unable to dis
tinguish 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 p and cried 10 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 a wheGlbar-
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. NJ. De Hughes
In this were found letters. One of
them was addressed to Mrs. d. NJ. De
Hughes, while the other bore the SUI
prescription of George B. Lloyd, Gin
naminson, N. ]. 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 a possibility of our meeting
every requirement of God through
Christ. BY His aid we can meet every
condition and claim" This was in
Hughes handwriting.
On the day following this occurrence
Times reporter visited Westfield, and
after thorough investigation, sutfi-
cient facts were learned to warrant the
publication of an article setting forth
that the Westhelj preacher bad played
the drowning dodge, like DIR. 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 small boat.
The most probable thing is that he
mounted 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
addressed 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
ago Mr.. Lloyd, who now drives stage
between Riverton and Westfield, re-
ceived letter bearing the postmark,
"Waynesville, Ohio" 1t contained
message from his old friend, the past
or, who assured him that it gave him
the greatest pleasure imaginable to in
form Mr.. Lloyd that the one whom he
supposed dead was alive and doing well
by practicing law at Waynesville. The
ex- preacher besought Mr.. Lloyd to
kindly convey to all the neighbors his
best wishes and that if any of them
ever got out as far as Waynesville he
would treat them right.
1t is believed at Westfield that the
atfable minister has been followed to
his western home by the woman Alice
Watkinson, for she immediat ly left
Camden, where she at that time lived,
after De Hughes disappeared and no
thing has ever been heard of her since.
De Hughes originally hailed from Dau-
phin county, this state. He was man
of fine az dress and particularly obliging
to the ladies, whose company he
sought Several times during his pas
torate at Westfeld damaging scandals
arose respecting his intimacy with sew
eral vivacious sisters of his congrega-
| ton.
MYSTERIOUS ROBBERY.
| His sudden turning up recalls an IN
| teresting story about a robbery alleged
to have been committed at his house.
1t was about two weeks before he dis
appeared, while his wife was at the sea-
shore, that De Hughes reported around
that his house had been entered and
goods valued at $500 stolen. His Ii