The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1892-04-13
INVOLVING The CLERK or CONGRESS-
MAN COOPER.
He Says That This Clerk Was In the Habit
OF Selling Inform alton Secured Through
the Use of the Congressman's Name-A
Decided sensation In the Pension En-
vestigation.


sioner refused to answer the questions
and Mr.. Enloe then, over the objection of
Counsel Payson, put in evidence part of
the testimony Of last year on this subject.
Mr.. Enloe asked if the completed files
order had not resulted in the adjudication
of 10000 of Mr. Lemons cases and in
that way put S25O,OOO of lees in Mr..
Lemons pockets within eight months.
Mr.. Enloe asked if Mr.. Lemon had not
left Washington for Europe Immediately
after this investigation was ordered.
Mr.. Raum said be had no personal
knowledge as to when Mr.. Lemon went
abroad, but had heard that since the in
Europe. Mr.. Enloe asked if Mr.. Lemon
had not gone without any other notice to
his employees than note announcing that
he was going to Europe.
Mr. Raum replied that he knew nothing
about the matter.
Mr.. Enloe next asked If Raum had yet
paid the note indorsed by Mr.. Lemon.
The commissioner said that was private
business and declined to answer.
A decided sensation was sprung when
Mr. Enloe asked If the secretaries of con-
gressmen ever sold information of the
status of claims to pension attorneys.
Mr.. Raum had big bundle of papers
and was evidently prepared for just this
sort of question, for he produced them
and read letters in which the charge was
mad that Samuel r. Hersey, private sec
retary of Representative Cooper of Indi-
ana, had, through Ragan & Co. of Kenton.
o.. and II. G. Peet of Columbus Ind, car
ried on quite business of this sort, charg-
ing 50 to each claimant for status. 1t was
then shown that Hersey had called up
these cases on congressional slips signed
by Representative Cooper. one Of the pros
ecutors in the Raum case. Hersey also
worked for Mr.. Brookshire lind and
Mr.. Gantz, (0.) but it was not shown
that Hersey's connection with them had
been the same as with Cooper, the investi-
CATION, directed by the commissioner,
having related solely to Mr.. Cooper.
There were, the commissioners said,
| 1000 pension cases all over the Northwest
in which Hersey was involved. 1t was
on this matter that Mr.. Lineweaver,
whose absence has been frequently in
The papers relating to the affair were
offered in evidence by Mr. Raum. but have
not yet been admitted in evidence, the
committee desiring to examine them and
! pass upon the matter.
! The substance of them is covered in a
! letter from the commissioner to the secre-
! tary of interior dated April 3, recommend
ing Herseys disbarment.
! In effect the letter shows that on
! Feb. 25 last a report was received
/ from ]. G.. Greenwalt, a supervising
/ special examiner of the pension Office
/ with reference to a complaint received from
! John r. Whittinghill of Crothersville,
Ind, and formerly in the Ninth Kentucky
/ volunteers. In this complaint Whiting
! hill said that he had received a letter from
| c. /. Ragan IL Co.. of Kenton, o.. saying
that for s. he would furnish Whttinghill
the exact status of his claim and the testi-
mony necessary to it. Whittinghill asked
| ii it was fraud and if Raean could fur
nish the information why could not he
! (Whittinghill) get it from the pension
| Office without expense. The papers show
that on Sept is of last year the commits
sioner wrote WhittinghiI, saying that he
was not advised upon what method Ragan
| & Co. were working the pension Office and
asked him TO forward So to the firm for
/ which the pension office would reimburse
! him and request status This was done and
! on Nov. 49, Whittinghill received reply
/ giving him as full and accurate state
/ ment of his claim as If the man had had
the papers before HIM. Meanwhile the
case had been put aside to ascertain what
would come of it, and it turned out that,
on Nov. IL, the papers in the case were
called for by Hersey upon a congressional
slip of Representative Cooper. The COM
missoner's letter said that he could not
know that this was any more than a coin
cidence and could not determine whether
there was any connection between Ragan
and the Cooper slip. So, on Nov. %,
Whittinghill was requested to correspond
with Ragap q Co. relative to the claim OF
Henry Behrens of the Ninth Ohio infantry,
the claim having been selected at random.
On Dec. %, the claim was called up by
Hersey on a congressional slip OF Mr..
Cooper and was examined. Feb. g, 1892.
Ragan. writing from Chicago, forwarded q
''status of the claim"
In the meantime the commissioner had
received a letter dated Dec. 22, 1901,
from ex-Representative Williams (O.),
calling attention to the fact that GER
tain Ohio pension attorneys were hav-
| ing their cases called up for status and re-
| ported upon by hersy on Mr.. cooper
congressional slips. The matter was
placed in Greenwalt's hands, and he OBJ
tanned from the Office in which he had
formerly worked letter press book con-
tanning thirteen copies OF letters relating
TO claims. One letter gave q complete
status OF the claims OF Mrs. Elizabeth
Moflatt OF Elizabethtown, Ind. called up
Oct. 7, 1891, on Mr.. Cooper's congressional
slip.
At Greonwalt's request, Lineweaver was
assigned to assist him. In Ohio he took
the depositions of n. B. Cunningham, q.
@. Calheld, j. +. Armstrong, and ID. n.
Darst; he also took those OF John f
Morgan OF Bloomington, Ind. These.
papers, tho commissioner letter said,
showed that Hersey secured inlormation
ON pension claims through Mr.. Peet, and
that Peet and Hersey were brought to-
Rother by Cooper, Peet having been a
clerk under Mr.. Cooper when the latter
was postmaster OF Columbus. Peet was
related 70 Cooper By marriage, and was
the, A,oonfidential man and chief clerk OF
Mafring Il Slusher, pension attorneys.
Poet furnished Grcenwalt with several
original letters received from Hcraey Civ
ing reports OF the status OF cases. The plan
was the commissioners letter said. that
Ragan wrote 10 pension attorneys and
claimants and secured tho business and
forwarded Il 70 Poet, who in turn corre-