The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-03-07
YOUNG STAIN IN wINsLow,
At the Time He says He Dreve the
Gang TO Dexter.
mrs. Lamb Remembers Him as Her
husbands Hired Man.
Evidence that Is Likely to Cause a
a Reopening of the Case.
Especial to the Press.l


terest in this section as they bid fair to over
throw the evidence of Charles F. Stain Civ
en- at the trial and which, if proved false.
will probably give the convicted murderers
new trial. On the stand Charles Stain swore
that in the summer and fall of 1877 he was at
home, and in July and November visited
Maine in company with the gang on their
two trips to Dexter to fit keys and obtain in
formation. In his testimony as reported by
the Associated Press, he said: 81 saw Olv-
er Cromwell and William Scott frequently at
my fathers house in Medfeld in the summer
OF 1877. They would meet and lay plans for
operations and specially favored Dexter as
promising field. In July, 1877, they talked
about banks at Dexter Waterville and An
son which they proposed to crack. They
had all their tools on the floor, consisting
of a boring machine, seven little
drills. hammers, keys, revolvers, etc.
l was frequently present at these meetings"
Now itturns out at this late hour that he
was not in Massachusetts, at all in July, 1877,
and probably not during the fall. Instead
he was employed on the farm of Charles Har-
vey Lamb, at Lambs Corner, five miles
from Waterville, in Winslow. Mr.. Lamb is
dead. but his widow resides on the farm and
has seen your correspondent today She
said she knew Charles F. Stain we'll April
16, 1877 he came to their house in q destitute
condition and applied for work, remaining
there until the first of August. In proof
she presented a memorandum book in which
was an account written by Stain himself, it
being between himself and his employer G. III.
Lamb. On the debtor side were the follow
ing items: April 20, one bat, $1.50; April 2S'
cash. so cents; May 8, paid for confection-
cry, 12; paid overalls same date, 30 cents;
paid Husts, S1.25: one book, Is cents; candy
20 cents On the credit side appears the
following: april 16. 1877, commenced
work" Accompan ying this book was
companion book kept by Mr.. Lamb, on
which were debited large number OF small
items and on the credit side were the items:
"April 16, 1877, commenced work; June 6th,s
by labor to date, $1,000; by work from June
to July 21.' This last entry proves con-
clusively that young Stain was in Winslow
as late as the 21st of July, and Mrs. Lamb
says he remained there until the first of Au-
gust-about the 10th. He left one Monday
afternoon, saying that he was first going to
Augusta and then to see his grandmother in
Mount Vernon. That night he called on
girl in the neighborhood to whom he had
been attentive and then departed. AS will
be seen even if young Stain left Lambs on
the 2lst, he would not have had time to go
home to Medfeld, drive the horse Flora to
the wharf of the Star of the East in Boston,
come to Maine with the gang and visit Dex-
ter, and on his return reach the Farmers
Hotel in Augusta on the 2Sth of July, on
which date Landlord Bowman testified that
he saw Cromwell at his hotel, young Stain
agreeing as to the date.
But Mrs. Lamb says as before stated, that
he did not leave until into August Some
time afterwards a friend of the Lambs met
young Stain on the road between Buckfeld
and Augusta, and the latter said he had hired
team and was riding round the country.
While driving about, he said he drove off
bridge in certain town, and the selectmen
paid for his carriage, which was smashed,
and $50 for personal injuries. This was di-
rectly after he left our house, said Mrs.
Lamb. December 30, 1877. Stain returned
to our house and went to work again for sny
husband to pay $40 which he owed him.
This was Saturday evening, and the next
Tuesday he ran away and went to Water
vile, working there in the mill as hort time"
Mr.. Lamb went out there and berated
Stain soundly for his untruthfulness.
On January 30th he wrote a letter to her
husband who was then in Boston, and pro-
ducing it, she read to your correspondent
in which it appears that k. S. Bradbury, an
Auburn stable keeper, called at the Lamb
house January 20 in search of Frank Stone,
alias Frank White, alias Frank Snow, and
other aliases, and said he wanted him for
stealing team which Stone hired ostensibly
to go to Belgrade to collect note. He had
not seen the team again until the Saturday
subsequent. By direction OF Mrs. Lamb,
| Bradbury and the officer with him went to
| China and found Stone in the employ of a
| farmer named Estes, arrested him and took
| him to Auburn where he was convicted and
| sent to Jail. The girl was stopping at Estes's.
| She is now married lady residing in Cali
| fornia.
Even at that time Stain was much given to
| story telling, and to Mr.. Lamb accused his
| father Of murder. This time it was a man
who worked in Natick, Mass, carriage
| shop. He re ated the circumstances even to
| the minutest detail. This man was stauck
| on the head the same as Barron, and Mrs.
| Lamb remembered that the little boys name
| who gave the alarm was Willie Fossett. he
related the story in such a plausible manner
| that MIR. Lamb believed it, and when he
went to Boston called on Jonas French, Dis
| trict Attorney of Norfolk county, and French
| said no such murder had ever been commit
| ted Frank Stain was great liar, and his
| father was bad man, but he didn't think
| nm guilty OF MURDER.
| When Stain first went to Lambs he nearly
| cried his eyes out over his first wife, Annie
| Deerng, whom he had lost He said she had
two brothers who had store on Washington
| street, and it was burgariZed by his father
| and Billy Scott Lamb also called on the
| Deerings aud learned that their sister had
| married Stain, oyer which they were much
| grieved, Their store had been broken into
| and they always supposed some of the Stains
| did it. Even then Charlie talked about the
| Stain gang, connecting Cromwell, Harvey
and Billy Scott with it,
''He said his father had a cave in the
woods,' said Mrs. Lamb, where he secreted
| his stolen goods, but said nothing about any
secret places in the house. He told how he
| kept meat stall in the Gerrish market, Bes-
| ton, under the assumed name OF Charles
| Franklin, and when | went to Boston, con-
| tinued the lady, | saw the sign over the stall,
| it never having been taken down by the new
proprietor He said his father hired Crom-
! well to marry his daughter, and he wore that
murdered carriage makers watch, and the
mans coat, which he stole, he had dyed, CIV
| ing it to his son Charlie, who wore it
| Mrs. Lamb is lady of much Intelligence
| and in speaking of the case, said that time
| and again she had determined to write to the
| papers or Stains counsel, telling what she
| knew but had as often changed her mind,
| not wishing to be dragged into the case. She
| does not believe that Stain and Cromwell
| are guilty, regarding the whole affair as one
! Of Charles Stains stories, but thinks his
| stop at Carney's was when he was driving
| about the country as he was in the bablt OF
doing. There are more developments in this
remarkable case and it is underitood that
| this new evidence is being probed to the
| bottom by interested gentlemen.