National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-09-03
A CHEAP ROMANCE.

A Young "Pennamito" Who Proposes TO Con.
vert Himself Into a Modern Edmond Dantes
lie Nurses His Great Revenge and VIII
Get Even.
ERIE, Sept 2.--Thrce days ago a we'll.
dressed, dnely.formod, solfposscsscd gentle.
man knocked at the door Of the humble cot
tnge occupied by the Widow Gates, who lives
In the back country, some twenty miles south
OF this city, and inquired concerning tho
widows son, who had left homo some ten
years ago. In a short time the strangers
identity was revealed and the widows long.
lost son was In her arms The name Of the
gentleman is Charles stafford Ten years ago
he was Il rough uncultivatcd backwoods lad.
The whole Of his life since then has been
passed, until Wednesday last, In the pcniien-
tlary Mt Allegheny, and the story Of the transit
ton from boorish to q refined condition dis.
counts the fiction which was the primary
cause Of the change.
Last Wednesday Gov. pattison signed Stat
ford's pardon and liberated him AFTER serving
ten ofthe fifteen years to which he had been
sentenced for q crime that shocked the whole
Of this part OF the state the details OF which II
Is unnecessary TO relate here from tho fact that
the fearful story has boon told in the trial re-
IOIIt hll luul lnt NlNllll Oh lnt NIlllt Is uNW
young inatron living in the vicinity and
mOrhidly sensitive on the subject stafford,
the ignorant, unCultured wood.Cutter, was
arrested and was convicted upon strong cir.
cumstantiHl evidence. The strongest link In
the chain of evidence was the fact that when
arrested he wore the rcd vest which the victim
of the crime noticed upon her masked assail.
ant In the woods. Tho lads assertion that he
had been induced 70 change vests with aman
named MCGahm, who said he was going west,
was uncorroborated and when number OF
other links were supplied by some witnesses
no doubt Ia the minds Of the Jury, and they
convicted him In less than ten minutes.
-Four years ago the man named by stafford
as the person who snapped vests with him
died in the charcoal woods of Michigan, and
before dying confessed to the truth of the
prisoners story. lie denied being the actual
perpetrator, hut said stafford was as innocent
HS an unborn babe The confession was duly
attestcd and sent on here, but was considered
too obscure by the authorities. Two years
later Reoder Moore, the witness who gave the
most damaging testimony, committed suicide,
and while In the throcs OF death he confessed
and eNoneratcd Stafford, Public excitement
cnsued, and the community began to fear that
an innocent lad was languishing In prison.
| Lawyers of eminence and citizens OF promi-
hence profiered their services, and by degrees
| q mass of evidence was obtained that con
clusively established Staiiords innocence
| Through the tedious process of the state pardon
board his release was finally effected on Wednes-
day.
When no arrived at the penitentiary and 70.
Elected upon the fifteen years to be passed there,
rance he saw was against him. The judge who
| sentenced him had averted to his unintel-
lectual condition as being In harmony with the
| british nature of the crimc and he had seen
| the approving mods OF the Jury. He felt that
| he could never hope TO help himself or prove
his innocence without education and so he
| resolved to possess the power which know
ledge gives. Through the kindness of the
an lnNu tn md Ito A
| then he launched into the study of mankind
asreiiccted in the daily press. The newspa-
pers furnished to the convicts were devoured
by him with avidity and soon he knew more
OF the world and its doinys than thousands
outside of his prison walls. one day he pro.
cured novel from the pen of Alexander
Dumas-''The Count of Monte CristO" and
upon that work OF fiction his future life was
shaped. There was no learned able in the
pcnitentiary to dig into his cell us In the case
of Edmund Dantes, but for cell companions hC
once had minister who had gone wrong and
lawyer who had not done right. From these
he obtained much useful information.
He lived now for revenge. Upon his knees
he sworo by the Eternal God that each OF the
wretches who had sworn away hs liberty
should he made TO suffer rs he was suffering
year for year, tear for tear, groan for groan
BY the force of his nov ly-acquired intelligcnC,
he reasoned out theory which plainly indi
Gated the guilty party and laid bare the Gun
ming plot ofthe conspirators. What was dark
TO him when an ignorant lad was now clear ai
daylight, The persptcuity Of the letters he
sent TO his lawyers was remarkable and mate
rally aided them In their search for the facts
United States Detective Benson followed up the
clews furnished and succeeded in arrcsting fOul
of the alleged perjurcrs.
Staiiords plan for revenge is to make the law
his instrument in crushing them. Some O
them have grown wealthy In the meantime
one being richbunker, but ho proposes to de
vote the remainder of his life to the purpose o
establishing their guilt The wife Of the maj
whom he charges TO be the actual perpctrato
of the crime has made damaging admissions
which Stafford was engaged In copying whel
the reporter found him. When he read of tn,
death Of the man In Michigan and Of the sui
eide of Recdcr Moore he says he cried witt
for robbing him of his prey. The death of tn,
judge who sentenced him was regarded by hin
nj the fulhllmont of the curse which his ole
mother hurled at the court after her sons sen
tence was pronounced