The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-05-05
ROMANCE IN REAL LIFE.
Strange Story of Love and Crime TolC
in Baltimore Court.
From the Baltimore American.

Late yesterday afternoon the jury in
case of James L. Wilcox, as he now &C
knowledges himself to be, and his pretty,
young wife, who have been on trial in the
United States court under the name of
Foster, charged with coin-shaving, found
both guilty. Judge Morris suspended
sentence, and the prisoners were taken
back to jail.
There were but two witnesses for the
defense introduced yesterday. They were
Wilcox and his wife. Their evidence de-
veloped a most romantic story, and drew
sympathy from all present. Wilcox
| frankly admitted the commission of all
crimes imputed to him He said. how
ever, that he had tried in every way to
keep his wife from knowing that he was
doing anything criminal, and he felt sure
that she did know the nature of the work
in which he was engaged. Then he graph-
ically told the story of his life. Eight
years ago, he said, he was a real estate
dealer in Chicago, having been born in the
state of Illinois, and while on a trout-fsh-
ing and hunting trip in the mountains of
Wisconsin, he came upon an old farm
house. He found in it worn. hard
worked woman, a dissolute husband and a
lot of children. One of these was his
present wife Eta Frank Bosley was
hername. She was absolutely uneducated
but showed bright mind, and he was
attracted to her. Her forlorn aspect
touched him. He was then well off in the
world S goods and he sent the girl, then
but IA years of age to Mt. Carroll semi
nary, about sixty miles from Chicago. He
had a sister at the institution, and the
two girls. about the same age, became
close friends. They remained there for
four years, and when they left in 1890,
Wilcox met them in Chicago, and the
friendship and care over the little girl
whom he had met in the mountains
ripened into love. He proposed marriage,
she accepted him, and they were married
by Presbyterian clergyman.
In the meanwhile, however, in 1886,
Wilcox had gotten into trouble. He had
gone into the various counties of Illinois
and had secured bounties on wolf heads,
which were being paid by the authorities
He swore that he had killed the wolves
and obtained the bounties. In reality. he
had never killed a wolf, but had actually
made the heads out of skins giving them
glass eyes, etc. He had to make affidavit
Tor every head, and when detected, was
arrested for perjury, and, upon trial and
conviction, was sent TO Joliet peniten-
tary for two years and six months. 1t
was not long after his release that he was
again engaged in the real estate business
in Chicago. accumulated handsome fort
une, and then married his wife Last
year he said he had $4,000 in the First
National Bank of Chicago. He had made
a great deal more, but through unfortun-
ate speculation had lost it all on the Chi
cago Board of Trade.
The prisoner said he had never entered
into the business of shaving coin until
last November. He had been in the habit
of splitting gold pieces and making coins
for himself and friends which had a head
i
the case might be. This was for the
purpose of winning in Tipping coins 1t
was sharp practice, but il was not crimi-
nal. While doing this work he noticed
that there We're filings which dropped
from the coin, and then he conceived the
idea of engaging in the business, which
brought him Into trouble. He declared
that his wife never knew what he was
doing, always taking his word that he
was simply splitting coin and soldering
them together.
The prisoner told of the various aliases
under which he had gone in the many
cities they had visited, and detailed the
various transactions in which he had got
ten notes changed into coin, and then had
had the filings smelted and afterwards
sold them. Coming down TO the Balti-
more trip, he told how he had gotten the
money from the bank, and how he had
induced his wife to get the shaved coin
exchanged for notes. He declared that
she was perfectly innocent of any wrong
doing, and believed that the gold was
good Wilcox was perfectly cool He is
a man of refinement, and evidently one of
education. If his evident abilities had
been turned into some legitimate channel
he would DOUBTLESS have made fortune.
His one desire seemed to be to shield his
wife, for whom he evidently had pas
sionate fondness.
Mrs Foster or Wilcox, timidly APP
preached the witness stand when Senator
Hayes called upon her TO testify in her
own behalf She told the romantic stor,
Of the meeting in the Wisconsin noun
tains She told of the unhappy home.
and in a voice trem bling with emotion
spoke of the goodness of Wilcox to her
She said they we're married Aug z.
1890. by Rev. DR.. Halsey, OF Mccormick
seminary, Chicago. She was asked to
take her wedding ring of to show the
inscription on the inside, but she begged
hard against this, woman-like
believing that TO remove the wed
ding ring meant il-luck Her
council, however, suggested that she
had better do il, and the poor little
woman, with a sob, took of her glove
then Withdrew the sacred emblem, which
was passed around among the jury
though il were any kind OF commodity
She declared that she knew nothing Of