Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-24

Miller, l have, seen you with determined
front and smiling face fight your way from
laborer in a lumber yard to a position OF
affiuenee and trust, and 1 have often wished
TO tell that which / knew would accelerate
the pace with which you travel"
The Man Who Retained Moore.
One can only imagine Miller's astonish-
ment when told, "Do you know that Hamil-
ton or Archie Montague as he was better
known retained me when appeared for you
in Clarion county, and confessed to me that
you were innocent of any and all participa-
tion either in the robbery of John Connors
or the negotiation of the stolen property"
Only those who have shivered in the
shadow can imagine the feelings which
seemed to pervade his. Miller's, whole being
as the sunshine of the dawn of vindication.
A confession of the real perpetrator of this
horrible crime meant that he should no
longer walk with bowed head and burden
laden shoulder in the presence of his fellow
| men.
Colonel Moore and Miller then securing
| a private room began to compare notes. He
| told me what he had found out in the years
that had passed since that shadow had come
between him and his fellows. Miller has
since said: 81 never will forget what a
! thrill of surprise and hope permeated my
whole being as he said: ANY time that you
call on me will swear to the truth of the
confession made to me by the real robber of
| John Connors, Sr., at Catfish on the night OF
the sd of March, 1881.
In the morning when he arose the en-
| thusiasm passed away, and he felt that un-
| assisted and unaided it would be impossible
| to lift this giant shadow from a dead pas.
When, few months afterward, he stood
with bowed head before one of those pure
beings to whom God said when he turned
Eve from the garden of Eden ''Thy seed
shall crush the serpent's head, and he told
her the dark shadow which had overhung
his life and crippled his future, she said to
him: "In days to come you innocence shall
be blazen before the world, trusted her and
believed her.
Determined to Prove 1t.
The old determination, that in former
days had enabled him to conquer difficulties,
which men claimed were impossible to over
come, came back to him and he was in
spired by the love from a pure good woman
spurred on by the thought that if the shadow
was not lifted from his name she must
decend from heights which she occupied to
walk in the valley of shadow by his side.
After travelling through four States he
aroused Colonel oore Saturday night from
a sick bed from which he had attempted to
arise that day AID fainting and fallen back
on that couch which he had been confined
for many DAYS and begged him for the love
he bore his children and grand children to
right the wrong that had been done him to
clear the shadow from off his name and
permit him to stand on plain Of equality
among his fellows
The manner in which this had been done
and the ability of character which inspired
the narrative is left for the reader to judge.
1t is not expected that minds, unframed
to discriminate and weigh evidence, such as
a court of law will allow, can dispassionately
view this proof and sworn affidavits which
have been gathered together for the purpose
of showing the exact status of Mr.. Miller's
case and comparing them with the evidence
produced at the trial of this case, should
pronounce any other judgment thar to say
that he was entirely innocent In any crime
or completely in it. AT the trial of the
case in the Clarion County Court among the
mass of evidence taken covering some 40
pages was the testimony of this broker,
Nelson, in which he asserted that he then
recognized Miller as one of the men present
in the Little Lamb saloon when he bought
the bond and when paying the money to
Hamilton.
Some Reported Contradictions.
On another occasion he contradicted the
above statement and said that he had never
seen Mr.. Miller before. After the Jury
brought in verdict of guilty, he came to
Mr.. Miller, in Jail and acknowledged that
he had committed perjury and that he was
sorrow that he had done SO. Colonel Moore
in speaking OF this mans testimony at the
trial, said:
"NIr Nelson swore before that Mr.. Miller
had been present at the Little Lamb saloon
and had assisted in the negotiation of the
II Lii I
wicked falsehood, as 1 know from the state
ments of Hamilton, unbiased as they were
in every way, and from all the facts in the
case that Mr. Miller could not have been |
implicated in any of these transactions"
1t is singular, also, that this man Downer, |
who was the go-between for the man who |
sold the bonds and the broker who pur- |
chased them was never apprehended and |
compelled to show their interest in the |
transaction. Nor, indeed, was the broker
himself ever arrested, and yet he retained |
possession of them, and, after suits in the |
County Court, carried it to the Supreme |
Court, where it was decided that he should
retain them as his property.
Outside of Nelson's statement Miller
claims there is no evidence connecting him
in any way, shape or form, either in the
robbery, the sale of the bonds, or the money
from the sales. After the trial,
sentence, and Miller's escape to
Canada, this same John ConnorS. Sr., sent
an affidavit to Miller's counsel in Canada,
in which he declared that he did not charge,
nor intend to charge Miller with shooting
him with intent to kill, nor with doing any
shooting at all.
The prosecuting attorney of the County
adds his quota to the weight of evidence in
Miller's favor, and sends an affidavit con-
tanning precisely the same statements as set
forth in Connors' affidavit
Truth of the Statements.
No human being who knows anything re-
garding this case can believe that man and
his wife and two other witnesses could be
gotten years after this hundreds Of miles
apart, as they were, to testify in the pres
ence of a detective and reporter in most
way regarding the shooting
which had occurred ten years before, giving