St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-09-30
A HATEFUL SLEEP.
Hanson Willis and the
Crimes Laid at His
Door.
Captured While Asleep and
Armed to the
Teeth.
Pursued by Armed Hosts He
Shoots and Kills a
Citizen.
Three Other Murders Charged
to Him but He Escapes
Hanging.

Pomeroy co. Letter: This morning
small-sized, lightweight man, attired
in weather-worn suit of butternut and
jeans, and with wandering and I'M
safe look In his eye, was taken from Jail
in the custody of two deputy sheriffs
and placed on board a train
ell route for the Columbus peni-
teniary to begin twenty-year
sentence. The prisoner was Han
son Willis, against whom there stands
the bloody record of four murders, with
the further allegation that he shot and
seriously wounded fifth man. His
record of crime has seldom been paral-
leIed outside of the wild West beyond
the Mississippi, and seems impossible
in the midst of the high civilization and
dense population of the middle Ohio
valley.
Hanson Wills, whose luck in escap-
ing the gallows as punishment for one
of his crimes can only be attributed to
the inclination of the authorities of this
county to escape the financial burden
which prolonged trial would place
upon them, by accepting his protfered
plea OF murder in the second
degree, has for years been looked
upon as one of the eccentric
characters common to every commu-
nifty, but until April of this year he was
never regarded as a criminal. Ever
since 1882 he has made his habitatiOn in
a f1atbOat, where he and his wife and
the latter's father, George W. Carter,
maintained precarious existence
doing odd jobs for river men
or farmers along the banks of
the Ohio. Sometimes the boat was
tied to the West Virginia shore, and
again TO the Ohio side, its location vary
ing fifty miles up and down the stream.
Little was known of WilliS'S antece-
dents by the people along the valley,
except that he had come among them
from some point down stream. On this
subject Willis always displayed disin-
clination to speak, and as he was the
poSsesSOr of vicious temper, no one
cared to question him too closely to sat
iSfy mere curiosity.
Soon after the election of President
Cleveland in 1884, Willis, who up to that
time had excited no particular attention,
| suddenly appeared on the outside of
his house boat with large can of fiery
red paint, which he proceeded to dis
tribute evenly over the outside of
his floating dOmicile. Upon the
sanguinary background thus OBJ
tanned Willis painted i'll white
letters foot long the name, "HansOn
Grover Cleveland Willis" This was
accompanied with a rude outline sketch
of a revolver of mammoth proportions,
and beneath was the warning, beware
of mei' This peculiar freak was for
months in plain view of all the travel
up and down the river, and led to in
Vulnerable questions as to the identity
of Willis and his peculiaritieS, and he
soon had wide nOtOriety.
On the evening of March IA last Will
| ISIS boat was mOOred on the Ohio side
of the river, few miles north of this
city. Willis and his father-in-law, Car
ter, were present in the boat with Mrs.
| Willis. The two men had been drink
ing and quarreling at intervals, and
the woman had good deal of trouble
to keep peace. At last she told
them to go out on the beach and