The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1892-04-14
NOT GUILTY.
Hiram Williams Discharged at
MasSill0n
On the Charge of Robb ng Old Man
shriver.
He Proves COUclus'vely lie Was Not
Ia NJ ssill0n
At tho Time the Old Gentleman
Lost His Money.
Williams Will Pi obpbiy Sue For Big
Damages.
Full Report OF the Interesting Case --The
Evidence and .Arsuments-,.The Result
Gives General Satisfaction,

L
for beating the man Harmon Shriver out
| of IS, 800, and will not be held to appear
before the Grand Jury. The result of the
| trial gives general satisfaction, as the ev-
idence clearly showed that Williams was
not the man. He was In Tifiln and Eos.
| toria at the time the job was done, and
| consequently could not have been here.
II is probable Williams will now COM
mence suit against Shriver for damages,
| as the trial has cost him u large sum of
| money. Attorney Wilson stated at noon
today to NEws-DEMooRAT reporter, that
| he had not fully decided what would be
done, but in all probability some legal
steps will be taken. There is little doubt
| that Williams could recover damages.
Attorney Otto Il. Young stated this
| morning that the Grand Jury would prob
ably be asked to further investigate the
matter.
1t would be hard to find jury in Stark
| county to convict any man for this
| crime on the testimony of Shriver,
after the positive manner in which he
| identified Williams.
Andrew Burkel was the next witness.
| He said he accompanied Mr.. Shriver to
Canton the day he went over to identify
Williams. They went into Rose's saloon
| in East Tuscarawas street, and saw Will
lame talking to another man. After
| looking at Williams, Mr.. Shriver said
"That,s the man, On cross exaInina-
| BILE interest in the case and had offered
| man named George North $40 il he would
| get him certain letter. He said he had
\ given him So but did not get the letter.
MIR. Young attempted to show the con-
| tents of the letter, which was written by
Mrs. Williams. This evidence was not
allowed by Mayor Reed. Mr.. Williams
| agreed to furnish the letter for IS and Mr..
Young promptly offered 500 but did not
| get the letter.
Joseph Sayler, proprietor of the hotel at
| New Berlin, was the next witness. His
| evidence was not material. He produced
the hotel register, but the page wanted had
| been torn out.
At this point the State rested. The first
| witness
CALLED BY THE DEFENSE
Was Mr.. j. c. Carlisle of Fostoria. He
| said he was merchant policeman
and knew Hiram Williams. He saw him
| on December IS, last, in Fostoria, a little
| after z O'Clock in the morning, at the B.
Dc o. depot The witness went to Tiffin
| that morning on the same train with Will
| liams. Witness saw Williams in Fostoria
| in the afternoon of the same day. Cross
examination elected nothing new except
| ing that witness had a poor memory re-
| garding other trips made to Tiffin and
who he saw on the trains.
Charles Hahn of Canton, said he had
| read an account of the Fleeing of Harmon
| Schriver in the S-DEMoCRAT. The
| day before ne read the article, he saw Mr..
Schriver Ia Canton. The old man was In
buggy with another man, when he saw
| him. The man with Schriver was a
stranger and was not Mr.. Williams.
| SEEN BY A LAWYER.
T. P. Johnson, Fostoria lawyer, testi-
| fed that on December II and 18, Williams
| was In his Office in Fostoria TO consult
| him rnInu a GI1it that uua TOR na1
against him by the Philadelphia Cigar
company OF Canton. On the afternoon of
December lS, Williams again entered his
| office and talked with the witness.
MIR. johnson said that on Sunday morn
| ing he went into the Palace hotel at Fos-
toria and saw Williams in the hotel. The
article regarding Schriver being robbed
| was read in the presence of Williams and
Williams said, "If l had been in that part
| OF the country l would be accuOed of doing
the job" Witness said he was positive
Williams was in his office on December
18.
GOOD WITNESS FOR THE DEFENSE.
| W. L. Hertcher, of Tiffin. assistant cash
Ter for the First National bank, was the
| next witness called. He testified as fol-
! lows: l have been assistant cashier of
the bank for the past six years. The first
time saw Williams was on December IL.
He was IN our banking room accompanied
| by his wife. next saw him on the morn
ing of December 18. 1t was between 8 80
and 40 o'clock. A lady claiming to be
| Mary Williams was with him. On Decem-
ber IL these parties had a note signed by
the Hick Brown Milling Co., of Mansfield, /,
| which they desired collected. The note
was duly collected and on December 16
| placed to the credit OF Mary Williams. On
the morning of December 18, Mr.. and Mrs.
Williams came in and said they had called
to get their money. / asked how they
wanted to take 1t and they said New
York draft would do. gave draft for
the amount taking Mary Williams check
The defendant was with her and made all
the arrangements. l took more risk than
usual in taking note for collection and
consequently noticed Mr.. and Mrs. Will
| liams carefully so could identify them
both II there was anything wrong with The
note. am positive Williams was In the
bank on December 18.
On cross examination he stated that
| when he saw Williams coming he said to
Mr.. Hershberger, "There comes Williams,
| take good look at him, so you will be
able to identify him IL there is anything
wrong" / asked Williams II he intended
| to locate 10 Tiffin and he said he did not.
amount was large and the parties were
strangers to me.
FAVORABLE TO WILLIAMS.
John ID. Coates of Tiffln said he was
| clerk In a dry goods store on December 18.
Between 8 and 8 o'clock Williams and a
| fiesby lady entered the store. Williams
| said he was waiting for the bank to open.
| am positive the defendant 10 the man
who was In the store on December 18.
w. KELLY
| or Eostoria. night engineer In the Nickel
| Plate yards said he knew Williams. On
December 18 i saw him az o'clock in the
morning In Eostoria, again at 10 and at
dinner time. Sunday l heard paper
read at the Palace Hotel, which contained
| an account Of the Shriver matter. VIII
liams said II he had been there they would
December 18. because IL was pay day and
| ! went to the pay car on crutches. / told
| Jake Leopard on Sunday II he had been
/ there they would have blamed him. The
witness got badly mixed up on cross ex-
animation.
| MRS. FANNIE LEOPARD,
| A sister of Mrs. Williams, said she saw
| Mr.. and Mrs. Williams in Fostoria on
| December IL. They came into the parlor
| of the Palace Hotel at 80 o'clock. They
| went to Tifiin and on their return again
came to the hotel. Both remained for
| dinner.
HIRAM WILLIAMS.
The defendant next took the stand. He
| told his story In a straight forward man
/ ner. He said; / have been convicted of
| q crime. l was not In Massillon on De-
cember 10, 1891. was not at Shriver's
| and did not see him. did not have a
| jumping jack In box and did not
trade him one for any money.
did not put up any money to