St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-09-10
Lawrence Brainerd Kidnapped
a Bold and Successful Exploit.

Lawrence Brainerd, the defaulting
president of the St. Adams savings
bank, was enticed from Winnipeg over
the Canadian border Sunday and ar
rested for his misdeeds on American
soil. He will be taken to Vermont for
trial. The bank had to shut up be-
cause of extensive defalcatiOns by
Brainerd, the president. The poorer
portion of the depOsitOrs lost much of
their savings, and the recent removal
of Receiver Roberts, who had institut-
ed "a number of suits to make good
these losses, has freshly aroused the
community. Brainerd was arrested
and released under bonds, and fled to
Canada with his family. He has since
been hiding in Winnipeg. His offense
was. of course, not eXtraditable, but
detectives have been on bis track and
they determined to get him over the
paired to Winnipeg three months ago.
He gave out that he was detective and
swelled about in that role so much
that people believed he was an impOs-
ter. He cultivated Brainerd's acquain-
lance. He confidentially whispered in
the guileless ex-president's ear that he
ill-gOtten gains. The two from that
day were fast friends and frequently
drove out together and spent hours in
each others company.
Last Saturday Brainerd, who passed
under the name of Johnson, and his
friend, the detective, started for a
drive over the prairies to shoot ducks.
When we'll away another detective
suddenly appeared on the scene.
Brainerd at once recognized this one
whom he had met in the states. he
saw the game but made no resistance.
A warrant of some sort was shown him,
and he was informed that he must come
along with his bogus friend.
Brainerd's father was president of
the Vermont Central railroad and his
brOther-in law is exGOv. Smith. Be
sides being president of the st. Albans
savings bank he was one of the hackers
of the st. Adams Messenger, Il deacon
of the Congregational church and su-
perintendent of the Sunday school.
A st. Adams dispatch says that
Brainerd's counsel will ask the Cana
dian authorities to demand his return
by the United States government.
HISTORY OF THE CASE.
1t will be remembered that couple
of years ago Brainerd, who was presi-
dent of and controlled the Vermont
trust company at st. Adams, loaned
the funds of that concern without war
rant of law to the Norwood lumber
company, which was another of his
business enterprises in northern New
York. The depOsitOrs of the trust
company were of the poorer class OF
the community, many of them widows
and orphans, and its failure wrought
peculiar hardship. The manner of the
failure added to the popular indigna-
ton, as the institution received depOs
it's up to the day when its doors finally
closed. Brainerd was indicted, and
the failure to bring him to trial was
one of the more recent scandals al
fecting the Vermont courts. The case
came before Chief Justice Royce, and
Brainerd retained rs counsel the Judges
son, at that time young lawyer with
out much experience or reputation at
the bar. When the cases came up for
trial young Royce applied for con
tinuance for his client, and his father
from the bench granted the motion, for
the reason that IL fair trial was impOs-
sible in the excited state of public feel
ing. The reason may have been sound.
but the relation of the Judge and the
attorney of course excited comment.
The arrangement of Brainerd's bail,
too, was severely criticised, on the
ground that his bOndsmen were not
good for the amount involved, and
there was little surprise in the state
when Brainerd forfeited his bonds and
ran away.