The Press., 1884-11-27
(Hartford Times. ) A LIFE PRIN0NER.
JOHN WARREN AND HIS AGED FATHER-l WELCOME ANNUAL vISrTA CoNvICT's SORROW s#

a & JOHN WARREN AND HIS AGED FArHERA A
 WELCOME ANNUAL vIs1T--A CoNvICr's
 SORROW.
 Something like twenty five or twenty -six years ago, one John Warren, of Holland county, was sent to prison for life. His crime-the murder of his child wife--was an atrocious one. Both were young-~he only 22, if we remember aright, and she but about 18.As They had been married, we think, hardly year. He had got her to go with him up secluded road Through the woods between Merrow Station, in Mansfield, and the Willington threat mill, and at lonely spot, down steep wooded bank, he got her into the Willimantic river and held her under until sheiwas dead. He carried the body to some bushes and covered it with brush and leaves. Even when the crime was proved upon him, he showed very little trouble or concern. Warren, whose father lives h Mansfield still, was 2 young man then, but now his head is silvered with gray. His behavior has been such as to make him general favorite with the officers of the state pris- on, and for years he has enjoyed the dis tinction of being Estate shoemaker" This simply means that he cobbles shoes for prisoners and also keeps the officers in boots and shoes.
 When Warren was committed to prison, his father was in the prime of his life, but now he is an old man. He grieved deeply that day to this, he drives thirty miles to the prison 10 see his son, and brings him something that grows on the farm where his boy passed his innocent childhood days. If it is nothing more than few punches of grapes and half barrel of ap- ples, he always comes, to show that he has not forgotten his boy, and the meeting be- tween them is always affecting. These annual visits are looked forward to with increasing interest on both sides, as each knows and feels that they must, in the natural order of things, soon cease. The old man is feeble, but his devotion to his son is touching. When visiting the pris- on, he drives the entire distance, and takes two days to accomplish the journey. His wagon is pretty well freighted with good things for John. Apples, pears, and grapes a loaf of cake, pie or two, home made doughnuts, little tobacco, new pipe, and some warm, woolen hand knit stockings, made by mother or sisters, are among the things sent. While all these things are Welaome to the prisoner, he cares less for them than for good long chat with his father. After the visiting is done and he has said good bye, and had his little At of dejeetion at the thought of the sad parting which may be the last, he turns to the gifts from home. The apples are of three or four varieties. He takes up Baldwin. He knows just where the old Baldwin tree stands. His thoughts carry him back to boyhood again. The picture of auiet, happy home lie is be- fsss seyh9das a h5s sB Eseasas ssaas'' rss hs painful p distinetness tho aircastIes e he built & and how they have been toppled to the ground by the hand of adverse fate. And so, as he handles each article sent, his thoughts are busy with the past. His quarter of century of imprisonment has carried him from 22 to middle age, and his parents from middle ago to old age, and still he is prisoner. He has not much hope of pardon, for his crime was too atro- cious for him to expect mercy in this world. And while his thoughts turn back to the happy hours of childhood and youth, is it unlikely that the shocking scene of drowning his rl-wife is often be- fore him? The memory of that crime is a ghost that will not down at his bidding. Nay, the apparition of the murdered girl has astounded strangers driving past the spot where the crime was perpetrated, and who had never heard of the crime.
 The story told above is true except as to the location of the crime, and the very ''Timesy" sentence with which it closes. Everybody in Holland County knows that the location named Is miles out of the way, the actual place being Roaring Brook, in the north part of Wilmington.