The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1890-09-04
A MICHIGAN NETGHBORHOO
TREATED TO A SENSATION.
A Farmer Found Lying in His House Suf-
fering from Mortal Inj uries Says He Was
Attacked by Two Men-The CorOners
Verdict Strange One.
Grand Rapids Mich. dis

|
the shore of pretty little inland body
of water called Lake FinneSsy, is com
| Portable farmhouse surrounded by one
of the best tended and most productive
| fruit farms in the State. 1t is in Tall
| mage Township, Ottawa County, which
| is the only county intervening between
this and Lake Michigan. The neighbor-
| hood is famous for its fruit crops, and its
| farmers are among the most intelligent
| and thrifty to be found anywhere. Crime
and mystery so familiar in their varied
| aspects to city life, always seem strangely
| incongruous to such rural surroundings.
| At this quiet farm house the funeral
| services were held this Sunday afternoon
over the remains of VIM. A. Quigley,
who declared with his dying breath that
he had been murdered, and yet cor
oner's jury, composed of neighbors who
had known the dead man all his life, re-
fused to find verdict of murder.
Before the circumstances of the case
are related in detail, a word should be
said regarding Quigley, whose peculiar
characteristics will lend additional color
to the queer story. He was born in the
neighborhood in which he lived, and died
forty-four years ago. He was industri-
Gus to fault, economical to penuriOuS-
ness. allowed himself no luxuries, and
INDUCED in no vices, not even tobacco.
His own relatives called him avariciouS,
and said that money-making was his
only aim.
The neighbors were not more charita-
BILE. "Bill" Quigley, as he was called,
kept on his own way. caring nothing for
these aspersions. He proSpered. His
farm was set out in fruit and garden
vegetables, and his profits were large.
One son, Amos, a boy now nearly 10, was
brought up to work as hard as his father
worked. These two did all the work I'M
til three years ago, when Quigley be-
came afflicted with a chronic ailment,
which at times incapacitated him from
labor. Then a young boy was hired to
assist Amos.
Quigley came to town last Tuesday to
transact some business, although he was
hardly able to be out of bed. It rained,
he got wet, and was taken seriously i'll.
He had discharged DR.. Brady, who had
been the family physician for years, and
engaged DR.. Clark of Grand Rapids,
one of the "no cure, no pay" variety OF
practitioners. So he sent his wife to
town to consult with DR.. Clark about his
complaint. Mrs. Quigley cautioned the
boys to look after the old man while she
was gone, but Quigley imperatively or
dered them to do some work in the eX-
treme northeast corner of the farm out
of sight of tho house and the lake.
About three o'clock in the afternoon
Amos sent the boy, Holloway by name,
to the house for water and to see how
the old man was getting along. The boy
came running back shortly, terrified,
and said that the old man was dying.
The boy was told to go for Mrs. Pelton,
one of Quigley's sisters who lived near
by, and Amos hurried to the house. He
found his father lying insensible on the
sofa, stripped of his clothing, cold from
exposure, and bleeding copiously from
number of wounds on the face and head.
The old man recovered consciousness af-
ter while, and he told Mrs Pelton and
his son that he had been assaulted by
two men. He said he had been asleep
and was aroused by some kind of crush
ing shock as if hit in the face by some
heavy weapon. His next realization was
finding himself lying in a pool of blood
in the yard at the rear of the house. He
had summoned sufficient strength to
crawl back into the house, where he
had lost consciousness again.
His first thought was that robbery was
the motive, and his first words to his son
upon recovering consciousness were
command to look for his pocketboOk.
The son found his fathers trousers in the
woodshed, where they had been care
leSsly thrown by some one, possibly the
murderers themselves. The purse was in
one of the pockets and contained $25.
Seventy dollars was missing, including
$50 gold piece, one of the Octagonal
california slugs," which are rare and
are worth perhaps 800 or 500 as curiosl-
ties. Quigley had carried it for years as
a pocket piece. The theory Of robbery
would appear to be the only one con-
sistent with the circumstances were it
not for the fact that $25 was left in the
purse. If the robbers took $40 and left
the rest their motive for so doing is
matter for wide conjecture.
Justice Baldwin impaneled Coroner's
Jury and held the inquest. No one
of the witnesses knew of any personal
enemies of Quigley who might have COM
mitted the deed or caused it to be commit
ted. The fact that $25 was found in the
purse cast doubt upon the robbery theory.
DR.. Brady was positive that Quigley had
told the truth and that he had been muir
dered DR.. Clark was positive in his own
theory of accidental falling and an as
sault imagined in a nightmare. 1t be-
came an issue between the doctors. Two
county officials were present to see If
their services would be required. These
were Sheriff Van Poll and Prosecuting
Attorney Lilley, both of Grand Haven.
The jury deliberated all day and half
the night. Three OF them were fast in
the theory of murder. The other three,
while not actually accepting DR.. Clark's
theory, were yet unwilling to bring in
murder verdict with the doubts which
they entertained. About midnight the
worthy Justice who was acting as Coro-
ner notified the six good men and true to
find verdict or go home and he would
impanel a new jury. In view of this
threat they agreed upon verdict of
"death from unknown causes"
The verdict is far froEa satisfactory.
It is charged that the county officials
were DESTROYS of avoiding the expense of
unrayeling a difficult murder case, and