Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1891-10-22
BURNED THE RECORDS.
Court House Omcials Arrested for "a Das
tardly Deed.

Court House Omcials Arrested for Das-
tardly Deed.
The Court House at Washington, Ind,
was recently set on fire The Record
er's and Sheriff's offices were totally de-
stroyed and a portion OF the Auditors
Office was ruined. An investigation
proved that the interior of the Auditors
Office, including all the important rec
ords, had been saturated with kerosene
oil, and they were only saved by the
prompt action of the lire departments.
The books had been taken from their
shelves, placed in piles, and saturated
with the oil.
The city soon filled with furious peo-
pie from all parts of the county, and
the widest excitement prevailed until it
became certain that the perpetrators of
the deed were safely inclosed by the
stone walls of the Daviess County jail.
The conspirators who are in the tolls for
the crime, says q dispatch from that
place, are County Auditor James {. La
Velle. Aaron Il. Hawes, a prominent
Steele Township farmer. and Basil Led
gerwood and Samuel Harbin, two day
laborers of this city. A warrant is out
for Michael Lavelle, the Auditors broth
er. but he cannot be found by the Off
GERS, and it is believed that he has fled
the country
County Auditor Lavelle has been Au.
ditor for eight years, and for the eight
years Immediately preceding he was
Deputy Auditor for his brother His
term expires Nov. ] and few weeks ago
the eonnaiaaionors or~l4red an investiea-
tion OF his books aud accounts, appoint
ing ex-National Bank Examiner samuel
H. Taylor and Edward +. Meredith a
prominent attorney, to do the work. To
this Lavelle made strenuous objection,
and used every means la his power to
defeat or postpone the proposed investi-
cation. This opposition was continued,
and the time was set to begin the work,
when but a few days before it was to
have begun an alarm OF fire was sounded
and the Court-House was found to be in
flames.
Suspicion pointed to Auditor Lavelle
as concerned in the incendiarism, and
the officers began work at once under
the direction of County Attorney John
c. Billhelmer and Sheriff Charles Col
bert Five new jugs that had contained
kerosene were found in an outhouse,
where they had been thrown by the in
cendiaries. With this valuable clue the
man who bought the jugs was easily
found, and was arrested and lodged in
jail. His name Is Samuel Harbin. At
first he denied all knowledge Of the fire,
but under vigorous pumping he weak
ened and agreed to tell the whole story
of the plot.
He stated that no was hired TO do tho
work of destroying tie court house
records by Auditor Lavelle and Aaron
b Hawes. He aud Basil Ledgerwood
were TO be paid $500 each for the work.
Lavele gave Harbin money to get coal
oil Il aA. onH 10 ht,x
volver. Laveile took HarbiD and Led
gerwood to the court house and tod
them where to set the fires and gave
them keys to the court house and Offices
That night they carried in the coal oil,
flooded the Offices, applied the torches
and fled The arrangement was TO
certain extent abortive, as the Auditors
records, which make the investigation
possible, were saved, although all the
va liable records I'm the Recorders Office,
fixing the title TO all the landed property
in Daviess County, were destroyed. The
loss TO the county by this is'incalcula-
BILE.
As soon as Harbln had completed his
testimony, warrants were issued for the
others concerned. Ledgerwood, when
arrested, knocked under at once, tell
ing the same story Harbin told. Every
statement corroborates the evidence Sc
cured. Auditor Lavelle was immediate
lyl arrested. A B. Hawes soon joined
him, but Michael Lavelle could not be
found, and has no: been arrested. Led
gerwood and Hardin were arraigned I'm
court, and pleaded guilty to the charge
of arson.
Auditor Lavelle's bondsmen, becom-
ing frightened at the turn affairs were
taking, required him to turn over all
his property TO them, and this was done,
Halves lives on a farm OF 500 acres,
owned by his wife, and Is in good cir
cumstaEces financially. He Is q des-
perate character, however, and he was
brough. IN at the muzzle OF Winches-
ter.