St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-08-10
BRYsON'S FAST CAREER.
History of His Life and the Crime
That Led to His Execution.

That Led to His Execution.
| r1HELENA, Mont, Aug. 9.-The latter part of
July, 1888, George Bryson and Annie Lund-
| strom came to Helena and took rooms with
| Mrs. Sarah Bennett. No. $40 Bridge street.
| He said they were from Minneapolis. Bry-
son introduced the woman as his wife.
While at Mrs. Benefits they were continually
| quarreling, and Mrs. Bryson told Mrs. Ben
| nett frequently that she was afraid of her
life. She said Bryson was continually asking
! her for money: that he gambled it away, and
she would let him have but little at t1me
| enough to procure his meals She told Mrs.
| Bennett she was SO afraid that her husband
would rob and leave her that she had her
| money (she led Mrs. Bennett to infer it was
| in drafts sewed up in her clothing, in diff.
| ferent dresses, SO that if Bryson did manage
to steal some of it he could not procure it all
| Mrs. Bryson wore heavy gold chain and
! had handsome gold watch. Mrs. Bennett
| describes the woman as apparently forty-fve
years of age and quite bald on the crown OF
the head, wearing heavy switch to hide It,
! She seemed to be com pletely infatuated with
| Bryson, who was about twenty-eight or
| twenty-nine years old. The couple renamed
at Mrs. Benefits about two weeks. The 18th
| OF August, according to Mrs Trunk, the Atm
| Of August, according to Mrs. Mixture, Mr..
| and Mrs. Bryson engaged a room at Mrs.
| Trunks, No. SIG Eighth avenue, the woman
paying months rent in advance. At Mrs
| Trunks roOmed Mrs. Mixture and Mrs. Hard
| wick. When Bryson and the woman first
went to Mrs. Trunks. Mrs. Mixture had an
adjoining room and Mrs. HaTdwick room
near by. At this house were repeated the
| quarrels which marked their stay at Mrs.
| Benefits. Mrs. Bryson and Mrs. Mixture
| became very wei ACQUAINTED, and Mrs. Mix
| ture did some sewing for Mrs Bryson, max
! ing the dress she wore
| WHEN SHE WAS MURDERED.
| Mrs. Bryson frequently told Mrs Mixture
| she was afraid her husband would kill her.
| The latter part of the BrysOns' stay at 516
| Eighth avenue Mrs. Mixture was in a room
| down stairs and did not hear the quarrels,
| but Mrs. Hardwick did. Aug. 81, Bryson
| o'clock he and Mrs. Bryson left the house
| together. ostensibly is get their dinner. She
| was seen to leave the house dressed i'll the
| same clothing she had on when her dead
| body was found in the prospect hole. At 4
| O'Clock Bryson returned alone. He went
| Immediately to his room, but did not remain
| there long, coming out and going uptown.
| He came back at night, and Mrs. Hardwick
the night and if he slept at all it was early
| in the morning. Shortly after daylight Bry-
| son was heard moving around. taking things
| from the wall, and when he went out about
z o'clock il was found that he had packed
the trunks. He came back shortly with Joe
Ryan, an expressman. Mrs. Hardwick asked
Bryson where his wife was, and he told her
+ she had gone to Butte. When Mrs.
Mixture learned that Mrs. Bryson had
left she said it was very strange; as she
| came to her shortly before she, left
| the house the day before and got her to
change a $40 bill She gave her So bill
and So in silver. Mrs. Bryson handed her
the So bill and told her to keep it until she
returned. She put the bill in her purse, and
thought it strange that Mrs. Bryson had not
| called for it. Then it was learned from Mrs.
| Trunk thai Mrs. Bryson had paid months
room rent and that they had occupied the
| room but two weeks and that no demand
| had been made for rebate.
Three weeks went by. Mrs. Mixture was
uneasy in her mind. She suspected crime,
but didn't have shadow of proof Finally
she concluded to inform the police. She
had picture of Bryson and one of Mrs. Bry-
| son also, which she gave to the officers to aid
them in their investigations. While search
was being made for Bryson woman ap-
| peared at the postofiice and asked for his
mail. The clerk jokingly told her that If she
was Mrs. Bryson she was
SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD.
| He informed the police Of the woman
| visit, and watch was kept at the postotfce
for the mysterious stranger. Within day or
| two she appeared again, and when she left
she was shadowed by Marshal Hard to
small hotel near the Northern Pacific depot,
| kept by a woman named Porter. She was
Mrs Flora Thompson. The marshal. by fol.
| lowing her, found the man he wanted and
| arrested him. Bryson took the arrest coolly
and refused to talk. further than to state,
| when he was arrested. that the woman was
in Seattle. He positively refused to tell
| where the trunks were. On the preliminary
| examipation it was ascertained that when
| Bryson left 516 Eighth avenue he had the
| the trunks taken to the LenOir house, where
he registered August % as J. d. Lundstrom.
| He remained there one night. He registered
! at the hotel where he was captured under the
name of Barnes. from Seattle. The prelim-
mary examination was held before Judge
| Sanders, who held him to the grand jury de-
| spite the fact that the body of the supposed
| murdered woman had not beeh found. The
mystery surrounding the case hsd created so
much excitement that Mayor Fuller offered
reward of $500 for the recovery of the
body, which was found in an old pros.
pect hole, Oct. /, northeast OF the
city, by a blacksmith named Dixon.
| An inquest was held On the remains, and the
| verdict reached that Mrs. Lindstrom came
| to her death at the hands of George lncan
Bryson. The grand jury found true bill
| against Bryson, and he was arraigned for
| trial before Judge Mcconnell, who granted
| change of venue to jefferson county. Bry-
SON was born and reared at Howick Station,
| Canada, where his father, David Bryson,
| now lives. In 1881 he married Miss Emma
| Chase, of Howick and few days afterwards
| Mrs Bryson received from her mother con-
siderable sum of money, with which Bryson
| started grocery store in Montreal. He con-
| tinued in that business for awhile, but was
| leading a fast life and broke up. Through
| his fathers influence he was appointed Sta
| ton agent for the Grand Trunk railroad at
| Howick. He sold out his store, and on the
| night following the sale he entered the store
| and carried off everything he thought he
| needed for housekeeping. While station
| agent he used the Grand Trunk & American
| Express company's moneys for his own pur-
poses. then reported to the company that the
station had been burglarized. Suspicion fell
upon Bryson and he left, going to Detroit,
Mich. His wife left few days after
ward for Port COlbOrne, Canada. On her ar
rival she told her relatives that Bryson had
skipped and that the railroad detective was
after him. She followed her husband to De-
troit and warned him that the
OFFICERS WERE ON HIS TRAIL.
In the meantime Bryson's father sold out
and made good the detalcatiOn Of his son.
and as matters were squared Bryson went
uation as clerk in R. Smiths grocery store.
While there he became intimate with mar
ried woman named Graham. The liaison
was discovered, and Bryson left the city and
secured position on small steamer plying
between Montreal and Toronto as news
agent. His stay on the steamer was brief, as
he was discharged for his conduct with fe-
male passengers. Obtaining work in cloth
fleeing to ST. Paul in 1888, where he secured
position with the New York Tea company,
whose funds he appropriated July ., 1888.
He was arrested for the crime, tried, con-
victed and sent to the penitentiary at
Saltwater for one year and ten months.
He was discharged Jan. 19, 1897. He re-
turned to ST. Paul and served several short
terms in both the st. Paul and Minneapolis
JallS. he nnaIly secured placo Win the
Union Pacific Tea company, All Cedar ave-
nue.. and embezzled their funds. but made
restitution, the company promising not to
prosecute. During the winter of 1873 he
met Mrs. Annie Lindstrom at I4l6 Washing
ton avenue, and stole $500 from her.
JOHNSON RESPITED.
HELENA, Mont, Aug. 9.-Peter Au-
gust Johnson, who was to have been
hanged at Deer Lodge to-day for the
murder of Carlson at Anaconda year
ago, was granted respite for two weeks
by Coy. White.