The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1888-04-25
Sneed shoots.

Sneed shoots.
Last Friday morning, a man named
Cornelius Canon, apparently a tramp
was shot at Lawton, by VIM. Sneed, the
night watchman. The exact truth con
cerning the affair may, perhaps, never
be known.
The following is Ganon's sworn ante
mOrtem statement, taken by Circuit
Court Commissioner Holmes few hours
after the shooting:
Il got here at Lawton about six
o'clock last evening and was too tired
To 90 any farther Am forty-seven
years of age. When | came home from
the war, | went To Detroit to live. Have
lived in St. Louis, Mo, for the last
twenty years. After came here last
evening, ] was put in the lookup by
Melvin Hayes, the village marshal. |
was shot by the man acting rs constable
or night watch at about five O'Clock this
morning. think his name was Sneed.
| was in the calaboose when | was shot.
had two old coats that ! had slept on.
| took up one and had brushed the dirt
off from it and was STOPPING over To
pick up the other one when he shot me.
He was behind me when he shot me.
The marshal left the door of the Gala
for me TO 90 out The night marshal
locked me up last night and came and
unlocked the door about five o'clock.
He came in and went over by the stove
and commenced whistling, and said |
was 10 leave at five O'Clock this morn
ing. He, the night watchman, said
something about the weather, and |
said the marshal had left the door open
SO could go and / said he was taking
advantage of the other man who put Us
in there; that he brought in one man To
show him that the other man was not
doing his duty by leaving the door un-
locked so i could go out. / told him he
had no right to put me out. (Witness
says my memory is wandering and
can't remember definitely / asked
him if he couldn't assist me TO morsel
TO eat before | went out. | think he
said not Sneed came in and told me
To get out. / did not hurry as fast as
he wanted me to and he told me to
hurry up. | used some words that he
did not like. / intimated to him that
he was taking advantage of the man
who had put me in. He was about two
yards from me when he shot me. He
! had not been in the calaboose over two
minutes when he shot me- | was get
ting out as fast as | could. There was
no stick of wood near me when /
stopped to pick up my coat. If there
was any wood, il was between him and
me. have relatives living in Detroit.
Joseph Canon, corner of Prospect and
Marion streets, he is my brother.
Henry Gordon, my brother-in-law,
Hamtramck. had fire in the lookup
last night and got a couple of hours of
rest. The wood was in there when |
went in there. The wood was in one
of the cells. He, the night watchman,
came in at five o'clock and told me to
get out, and / told him that the other
| man put me in and he had no business
To put me out. He opened the door
wide open and said il was time for me
To go. ! told him he was taking adyan-
tage of the other man who put me in
and that he was no gentleman. | was
in the act of picking up my coat and he
drew his pistol and shot i'm second.
was in the corner getting my coat,
about one and half or two yards from
the door, when he shot me- | made no
threats toward him. / make the fore
going statement believing that l am
near my end or death. / make this
ante mortem statement believing that |
am going to die and that death is immi
nent."
On the other hand, Sneed's version of
the affair is that at the time of the
shooting Canon was between him and
the door, armed with a stick of wood,
with which he struck Mt him and which
he warded off with his arm, at the
same time asking him To drop the stick
and permit him (Sneed) to pass out;
that Canon again raised the stick to
| Ia, haf k.a hnn u -
pistol and shot, and that the shooting
was purely an act of self-defense
The ball entered Ganon's body just
above the left hip and a little to the left
of the spine, evidently passing down
ward and forward. An examination
was made at about noon by DR.. Megan
of Lawton, and Drs. Rose and Mahoney
of Decatur, at which il was concluded
that the wound was not necessarily
fatal, but that the chances were that
the wounded man would not survive.
Sneed Is the same man who, some
years since, was tried convicted and
sentenced to Jackson for the murder of
one Love, colored man, near Lawton,
an affair that created a good deal of
excitement at the time. The sentence
was subsequently set aside by the SUI
preme court and new trial ordered,
which resulted in an acquittal.
After an investigation by Sheriff
Todd, Sneed was arrested and lodged
in Jail. Later on in the day, he was
arraigned before Justice Warner on a
charge of assault with intent to murder
and, at his request, his examination
was set for Saturday afternoon, at
which time it was held and the prisoner
committed to Jail to appear before the