Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-12-21
MISTAKEN IDENTITY.

a.
a few evenings ago a party OF gentle
he. we're seated in the Office Of the Louis
rf..e Hotel INDUCING in pleasant, social
e-rversatiOn. writes a Louisville, KY,
respondent Of the ST. Louis Globe Dem-
..r.f. when the subject OF the TichbOrne
claimant, lately released from prison, was
7ar-fuVed. and Arthur OrtOn's identity
v-ftl Young Charles Rogers Doughty
raelH (rne discussed at some length.
.sIaakiuE of this question OF IDENTIFY
s4ii Judge Harry CORN, Of Glasgow, one
Fl ~ PARTY, IA most striking case Of mis-
-steu identity occurred in our Circuit
Tl.rr about two years ago. On Sept. 3,
ISL. two stages, one coming from Man,
-7.rr cave To Cave City, and the other on
IL ..ay over To the cave, were met by two
--rrur.d highway men. " it'll drawn Dis-
III re robbers ordered all passengers
-- and made them stand in line and
.rrav an their money and valuables into
.r.ls. After gathering up the plumber
81. bandits made all the male passengers
f-re whisky from bottle and rode off.
..Ou one Of the stages was a cOlOred
-.-4...-nar. In the other were Judge r. II.
harrrree. of Lebanon, KY, a Mr.. ROun-
nee from Minnesota, a DIT. Craig from
.a.rla. "a gentleman from Tennessee,
AMI Judge ROuntree's daughter. The pas
-lr-a-s were detained some time bV the
-I...r-. and. as the two villains were not
Ifri-ed iu any way, il was believed TO be
~ ,4sv task 20 identify them n case they
u,r- caught. Among the plumber taken
was Judge Rcuntree's fine gold watch.
which bad attached TO IL a large gold key
with his name and some further inscFip-
-rr- upon il. 1t being present TO him
f-m Proctor Knott; also a diamond ring
.r. "a plain gold one belonging to Miss
5...-ree.
"A description of the men was pub
I..r.t aud rewards were offered By Judge
r.rrrre. and Gov. Blackburn for their
srrr-ueusi1u aad conviction. Finally a
s5I'av named Hunt was arrested in Ohio
comfy AS one of the thieving twain. He
r-l- Erlurht 10 Cave CITY for his prelim-
mlrr hearing Mai. Butts, OF Glasgow,
arf myself defended him. At this exam
5rrrI.r Judge ROuntree, Mr.. Craig and
Flo .ll0rrd preacher testified for the
~r-l Mr. Craig and the preacher both
-rrra positively TO the Identity Of the
man. lui claiming that at the time Of the
robbery be mad about three weeks growth
arharI upon his face, while now - Was
Clearly sGayen, except his mOdstache.
They identified him, among 9th things
HramHla upon bsS cheek. On the stand
IuL.. RuuuLree said he had come To Cave
rli recently been caught he would be
easily able 10 recognize him; that he had
heard Mr. Craig's positive testimony, but
AL ha could say was hat if Hunt was one
afth. men his faith in his recollection
was very much shaken.
Neither Mai. Bolts nor myself had
ever seen Judge ROuntree before, hut the
moment De- entered the room where the
-ril. was being held. Mai. Bolts, one of
the abiest criminal lawyers in Kentucky,
scanning his open, honest, intelligent
t.e. turned TO me and whispered: III
-lat 0ld gentleman swears to Hunt, our
case is lost We introduced on behalf of
Hunt rhe two drivers Of the stages, who
testified that, while Hunt resembled one
o.. tl- men, he was neither one of them.
--Jt course the magistrates who had
uIy tu De satisfied that there was suffi-
Gent ground for believing Hunt guilty,
auI who were convinced of the fact in
-leir own minds, as magistrates often are
-.0re any examination. held him to an
sWer at the Circuit Court Hunt was
Committed 20 Jail IN default OF bail, and
in the meantime, before court should
come lC. i undertook to find witnesses
down i'm 9biO county, about his home. by
whom Co prCrsRn alibi for him, but in
--eIj Df being able to do that L found out
-l 10 the best men in his neighbOrhOOd
sand he was absent from home at that
very time, and was gone for several da, S
from bis work in the mines. The more 1 in
yesti-ated the darker il looked for the fel-
low. and Bolts and /, who had both at
lr~t believed him innocent, began "a
dIlH-It.
-His case was continued twice. / be,
leya, but at the third term all parties
were ready and We went into trial, after
Hunt had been in Jail about eighteen
Months
Judge Rnuntree testified in substance
rs bee dil at the examining trial, while
craig from Georgia, ROuntree from Min
les0Ja, the Tennessee man, and another
man whose name have FORGOTTEN, along
with the cOI0red preacher. all swOre posi-
lively that Hunt was one OF the men. and
The spokesman Of the party. WecOuldn'i
prove an alibi. All we had to rely upon
was the swearing Of the two drivers and a
strong argument on the question of mis-
taken identity, and TO try 10 create in the
minds Of the jury a reasonable enough
doubt 90 get the fellow of. But the men
who were 50 positive as TO Hunts Identity
were an men Of fine intelligence. and the
r,ry wasn't out but a short time till they
brought in verdict Of guilty, and fixed
his punishment at three years in the peni
tertiary.
The very next day, however after his
convection. the papers brought the news
40 Jesse James assas sInatIOn at st. Joe
No, 5y the Ford boys. and the finding
upon his person of Judge ROuntTee's
watch and KEY, and upon Mrs. James
d nEer Miss ROuntree's diamond ring
v Ilat was pretty conclusive evidence thai
Jesse James had a hand in the robbery
aud was one of the two men.
81 Immediately commenced an investi
d cation with the assistance OF Judge ROun
Hrr..H II -
Connection with the robbery. | got the
l1ltavits of the Ford boys, in which they
reclied what Jesse James and Bill Ryan
now i'm the Missouri penitentiary serving
CUT term Of p years for some train rob
berry, / believe, had told them; also, al
affidavit from Dick Liddell, one Of the
james gang: a statement from the
warden OF the Missouri Penitentiary in
regard 10 something that Bill Ryan haC
admitted about the stage robbery, and {
letter from old man Hite, in LOgaT
county. ny, an uncle Jesse and Franz
James, saying that the night after tbs
STAGES we're robbed Jesse James and Bill
i.E in staId ali night at his house and tOlI
ann an about the robbery, and alsI
showed him and his wife Judge BOun
Trees watch and Miss R0untree's rings
one 1t which, the plain gold one, witt
inscription Patsy in il, Ryan gave L
IS Hite's) daughter. l was in Judgr
bquu-ree's Office in Lebanon, a few cay
after ! received Hite's letter, when tht
rll-. with the name Patty in It, CANT
express from Hite.
io make long story short, we found
liz coHclusIvely that Jesse James ant
hil Ryan were the men who robbed III
2 and that Hunt was innocent, bu
q, most OF the evidence we had was no
@ legal character, and as that whlcl
was .eEal would be very hard to obtain
instead of applying for a new trial To-
l-l- / went to Frankfort and there lal,
The whole matter before Gov. Blackburn
Wa0 at once pardOned our client. Before
hlut left Glasgow Judge ROuntree hoo
rs photograph taken, and then wrote Z
=. Joe for that of Jesse James. WheI
Dc received the latter there was found {,
-- one of the most striking resemblance
have ever known between two men
heir every feature, their manner o
c9m1ing their hair, correspondent 10
a-cety, and the most singular Of all, upOl
james face was a mole in almost thu
same place as the one on Hunts cheek
As soon as Judge ROuntree saw Jess
James photograph. he exclaimed; :
ave always said l couldn't recOgniZ
Hllt as one Of the men who robbed US.
20 recognize this as one of them, and tn
--- HUNT has been mistaken fOr.'
80 there was an innocent man VINO
nom close resemblance to one OF tn
most notorious highwaymen ever known
suffered Imprisonment in jail for nearl.
e"9 Years. Where he was at the time IN
-.l9erT was committed, and why n
elllJn't or wouldn't show his where
frSlltsi we never knew. One theory Away