St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-02-07
Pleads Guilty Of Fraud and
Hands Over $4,000 to
the County,
From Which His Long Con-
tinued Populations Will
Be Made UP.
Clerk O'Connor Largely In
strumental in Getting at
the Stolen Money. =.

| pleaded guilty to one OF the i've lndlct-
ments for forging jury certificates, and
was sentenced to six years at hard labor
III the penitentiary at Saltwater. Al
though there have been rumorS in Off
eial circles that the populations of Davis
have been into the thousands of dollars,
yet when it became apparent yesterday
that the sum total would reach nearly
$4,000, the people were literally as
founded. 1t is not known to what -eX-
! tent the forgeries have gone, but
this is believed to be the outside
| limit. and there is little doubt
eft that for the opportunities he had
Davis was a marvel in his peculiar line.
The facts are more astonishing since
Davis was the last man suspected of
such glaring rascality, and that, too, as
| Judge Kerr said, under the very eye
of the court and in the temple of JUS
tice."
Cy Wellington represented Davis. T.
| ID. O'Brien, as county attorney, repre-
resented r. T.. O'Connor, as clerk of the
court. After Davis had entered his
plea of guilty, he and the attorneys
| named retired to an outer room, where
three sets Of papers were executed IN
triplicate. When they returned G. ID.
O'Brien stated to the court that, on be-
half OF Clerk O'Connor, he desired to
read these papers and have them filed
as part Of the records of the court.
The first paper read was stipulation
signed by j. 2. Davis, T. d. O'Brien, as
county attorney, Erwin & Wellington,a
attorneys for Davis, and by Martha A.
| Davis, his wife. 1t recited the facts
that Davis ''had been indicted of the
crime of presenting a fraudulent claim
TO public officer for payment, and his
| plea of guilty to the indictment, and
| that he had stated in open court that he
had obtained from the county, upon the
false order, upon which he was in
| dicted, and upon other similar false
| orders, several sums of money without
| having the right to do So" The stip-
| ulation also recited that Davis had on
| Dee. l, 1890 (Which was the night of his
arrest), transferred and delivered to r.
L. O'ConnOr certain certificates of de-
post upon
Several Banks
| in st. Paul, aggregating $19, 544. A, which
sum had been deposited at various
| times, and which certificates of deposit
were by Mr.. O'Connor turned over into
| court. 1t was also stipulated that as
soon as the amount unlawfully received
| by Davis shall be ascertained, the re-
| mainder of the sum shall be turned over
to Davis or his assigns.
Another OF the papers was release
| signed by Davis and his wife discharg-
ing r. T. OConnor from any claim by
| them for any Of the money by suit or
otherwise.
The other paper was an assignment
by Davis of all his interest in the sur
| plus to his wife, Martha A. Davis. G.
! ID. O'Brien handed over the papers, and
| with them the certificates of deposit,
| which he desired the court to accept and
| place in the proper depository of the
| court to indemnify the county against
| any loss by reason of the acts of Davis.
Judge Kerr ordered the papers to be
filed. and the certificates of deposit to
the amount of S19.544.44, with their ac-
crued interest, to be deposited to the
credit of the county in the proper depos-
| itory to await the determination of the
amount taken by Davis
County Attorney L. d. O'Brien stated
that. as far as he knew, the county was
fully Unidentified, and if. upon investi-
CATION, he finds the amount will cover
all loss to the county, he will recon-
mend a nolle as to the other indict-
| ments; but he would at once move for
sentence upon the Indictment upon
which Davis had pleaded guilty.
Mr.. Wellington made a somewhat eX-
tended plea for leniency, He did not
attempt to palliate the offense. Davis
was guilty of felony under the statute,
| and the punishment took wide range,
the maximum being seven years in the
peniteutiary and fine of $1,000. In
view of the fact that Davis was young
| and had a wife and child to support,
and that the county was fully reim-
| bursed, he asked for considerable judg-
ment.
| Davis was sworn to answer such queS-
lions as should be asked by the court,
| and in response to inquiries stated his
age to be thirty-one, by profession
A Lawyer,
/ with some experience as a clerk, but
that he had no mechanical trade.
/ Judge Kerr stated that he would pro-
nounce sentence after he had time to
| reflect, and proceeded with other BUSH
4 ness for an hour or two, and then re-
! tired from the. court room for a few
| minutes. He returned at 5 o'clock and
| took his seat upon the bench, called
| DAVIS up and proceeded to dispose of
| the case.
Judge Kerr was visibly affected, aud
1 spoke with considerable feeling of
sympathy ABOUT as t0lloWS:
| Mr. Davis, the duty which evolves upon
me is the most painful one have ever had
i to perform. have known you ever since
| have been on the bench as competent
| obliging official You have been educated in
| the law. and ought to have known better.
| have listened to what counsel has said in
your behalf, and l feeldeep sympathy for
| your wife and family. would gladly make
| the sentence light if saw it was my duty to
do so. But this was not an isolated case.
20 ~
| ceny in the hall of justice, and under the
| very eye of the court. You were lawyer
and trusted official, and you have
| carried on systematic defiance Of law.
cannot IN justice to my conscience and
| duty cut off much from your sentence, and
| it is impossible for me TO reconcile light
| sentence with my idea of duty, however
| much it is my inclination to do SO. The
| judgment of the court is that you be SEN
| fenced to hard labor at the state penitentiary
| at Saltwater, for the period of six years.
Davis had appeared pale and thought
full while in court, and he betrayed no
signs of emotion when sentenced.
From a conversation had with him be-
fore sentence, it was cleaned that he ex-
| pected the maximum limit. In that con.
versation he declined to state how long
his populations had continued, or how
| much he had taken. He stated that he
brought some money with him when he
| CdulC W OI, dull DuG Iudb StdG0IlSllL Is
not regarded as true by a number of
persons, who said that he was taken
into the Office by Mr.. 0'Connor upon
recommendation of gentlemen who
stated that he and his family were then
In Extreme Poverty.
and did not earn sufficient money to
more than keep them from the starva-
ton point. Mr.. Wellington stated that
when the matter is sifted to the bottom
it will be found that the sum of money
turned over to Mr.. O'Connor will
amount to about $1,000 more than
enough to indemnify the county.
In speaking of the matter last even
ing, Auditor Kahn said that it is prob
able the shortage will be about $40, 600.
He had begun an examination of the
matter and had gone back for about
two years. The work is difficult be-
cause Davis destroyed the stubs from
which the certificates were issued, and
| to- haI 4l,1