The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1885-09-12
DIR. WILLIAM N. GNIN.
I NatcheX Democrats

DIR. WILLIAM NJ. GMlN.
[Natchez Democrat.l
Few persons now living In Natchez
remember the portly form and massive
frame of VIM. NJ. Gwin, who held the
Office of u. $. marshal for Mississippi
when the banks of the State We're all
topping and rnin followed the collapse
Of the inflated currency of the country.
The announcement of his deaf in Now
York on the Sd inst, in briefdispatch
of Il few lines, is all that tells Of n life Of
prominence and full of incident.
DR.. Gwin came from his native State,
Tennessee, to NatcheZ, about the year
1886, just before the paper money sys-
tenn which had flooded the State with
irredecmable promises to pay, had
reached its eliminating point. Missis-
sippi was then the Et Dorado of adveu-
| turous men, and it was not long before
the energetic and speculative character
of DR.. Gwin made him conspicuous
among the energetic carpet-baggers of
the day, to whom Mississippi, by the
way, is indebted for much of her pros
perity. An ardent democrat from the
State where Gen. Jackson lived, his
! energetic craftsmanship secured for him
from Van Buren, the appointment of
marshal Of the State. The wreck of
large estates and the large amount of
litigation in the federal courts made
the office very profitable one and dur
ing his term there was probably no
more lordly marshal in the employ Of
the United States. Tho political inilu-
ence he acquired as marshal secured for
him tho democratic nomination for rep.
resentative in congress, to which he
was twice reelected.
After residence for II short time in
New Orleans, DR.. GWin went among
tho earliest immigrants to the newly
acquired territory OF California, from
which he was twice elected senator
aftor it became a State. When the
South seeded from the Union DIR.
GWiu took the side of his native Sec
ton, and had to undergo his share of
tho troubles that fell upon tho South.
An unrcconstructcd rebel he went from
the prison into which he had been
thrust by Federal tyranny, to Mexico
whore he cast his lot with the French
intruder Maximillian. Hero it was
said to have been arranged that he
should be made Duke OF tho Mexican
province of Sonora, but the failure of
| MaXimillian to establish an imperial
throne destroyed the plans which he
designed to carry into existence, and
DR.. Gwiu returned to California, and
has there displayed the same dashing
energy and enterprise that character
! lied his earlier life, up to the period of
fourscorc years, his age when he died.
- ---
MANY hn In !, # tx,n rt
~ because they think it wrong to take
human lie rs a punishment for crime
and partly because the innocent may
sometimes be executed, and, when
their innocence has been made mani
fest, no reparation eau he done for the
wrong committed. For many years
the State of Michigan has substituted
impriSon mont for life for the death
penalty. a case has lately been deve-
loped in that State which furnishes II
strong argument in favor Of her action
in this respect. In September, 1870, II
man was Brutality murdered, and one
Cargan and his wife were convicted of
the crime. He was sentenced to the
penctentiary for life, ana she to the
Detroit house of correction. They were
convicted on the testimony of the wife
Oh inc InurucTcu man anu OF young
man living in the family. Now she
has just confessed upon her death bed
that her entire testimony against Car
gan and his wife was false, and that
she and the young man were pcIjurcd
witnesses. During nj! the time of their
long imprisonment Cargan and his wife
have corrc5pondcd, aud he has had full
faith that some day their innocence
would hr shown. He il said to bn q
man Of unusual intelligence, and ar-
pears truthful and honest. aftnr so long
and cruel a separation, he and his wife
will soon be reunited. Certainly this
case "uaiIies one" in favor Of the abOli-
ton Of the death penalty, and substitute,
ing for it life imprisonment.
The September number Of Demurt 81 =
Illustrated Monthly Magazine is dccid
edly one OF the best we have had. The
story, "Bryanstonc and Wife," by
Philip Bourke MarstOn, il "A capital
one, and ''Ordcrs of Knighti,ood," on
illustrated article, ga Happy Island"
"The Story Of Ludwig Spphr," "a
Maid of Honor of the Last Century,"
and "An Old Italian City" are we'll
worth reading. The various depart