Iron County register., 1894-03-01
The Mystery of DR.. A. Hayden
Sawyer Solved at Last.

|
many. as the DIR. was resident of tn
place five or six years ago:
After months of mystery concernin
the sudden disappearance of DR.. A
Hayden Sawyer. of this city, and nun
erous unsuccessful attempts to get il
formation regarding his whereaboui
by his friends. the facts concerning hi
disappearance have at last been mad
public. The story of his disappear
ance. and as it has since turned ou
his subsequent death. are most strange
An uncomfortable love for morphine
its wretched results, followed by in
sanity, and the strange disappearance
of the victim. are the features in brie
in this most romantic tragedy in rea
life.
Last May DR.. A. Hayden Sawyer
mysteriously disappeared from his lit
tie home on West Morgan street, ant
although the fact of his disappearance
at the time was Withheld from tho pub
lie by his wife, it leaked out later il
the shape of various rumors. The mat
ter caused considerable excitement il
local business circles, but finally diet
away. His wife left the city soon af
ter, as it was supposed to join him, ant
nothing more was thought of it.
| The deceased was at his death com
paratively a young man, though {
wreck from morphine. He came here
about three years ago to place himself
in the care of some physicians who had
opened up a "chloride of gold" cure in.
stitute for morphine aud whlskey
| fends, which was situated on Olive
| near Twenty-second street. He grad
uated about a year later, and owing to
his high standing as a physician and
practical knowledge of the effects OF
the cure. was made superintendent
of the institute, which position he held
until it disbanded, about February OF
last year. The closing of the institute
placed him ont of a position. and the
worry of a family to support it is said
soon drove him back to his old friend,
morphine. His mind soon gave way,
and at times he became violently in
sane. During one of these'fits he i'm
agined that some harm was to be done
his boy, a great favorite of his, and he
left home, taking the boy with him.
He boarded an Iron Mountain train and
got off at Kimswick, some twenty-five
miles south of here. His queer ac-
tions attracted attention in the small
town, but the citizens asked no ques-
tlons, and the partially insane man
went on his way. He crossed the Mis-
sisslppi River at Kimswick, and
constructed small hut in dense por-
tion of the woods, where he said he
would live the remainder of his days.
The hoy, although still of tender
years, began to realize the condition
of his father, but could not get away to
notify the people at Kimswick. The
craze1 father rarely slept and never
loosened his grasp on his boy. Num-
erous fishing and hunting parties were
given in the vicinity and the father and
son lived on the remnants of their
luncheons.
Meanwhile an anxious wife and
mother had searched the entire State of
Missouri for him. His helpless con-
dition was we'll X kuown to Mrs. Sawyer,
and she employed the best of detec-
tives to locate him, but to no avail.
The little obscure hut of the former
physician, then hermit, was a safe hid
ing place. He continued to live in OBJ
scurity for months, and kept watch
tul eye over his son.
Food, however, became scarce, and
this, together with the dampness of
the climate, soon gave the two hermits
the fever. DR.. Sawyer's condition be-
came gradually worse, and he became
too week to stand up. As is often the
case in insanity, the sudden weakness
brought back to him for few minutes
one morning his right senses, and dur
ing that moment he bade his son seek
help. The boy, obeying instructions,
went to the city told his story to tel
egraph operator and asked him to tel-
egraph his mother here. The opera
tor thought the story untrue. and sent
the boy to the Mayor of the town.
Here he retold the story as related
above.
The Mayors sympathy was aroused,
and he at once ordered a telegram sent
to the boys mother. He then left for
remove the sick man to more COM
Portable quarters. He was greatly
surprised at seeing the men and re-
fused to go.
At this point the stories differ. One
is 70 the effect that his wife arrived in
time to see him die, and another is
that she did not. At all events, he
died about two months ago. and was
buried on the banks of the river. The
boy had a severe spell of sickness af-
forwards but has since recovered.
Attorney Thomas Russell, who has
attended to several legal matters for
Mrs. Sawyer, tells the story of the dis
appearance of DR.. Sawyer, as related
to him by Mrs. Sawyer, which is prac-
ticaliy the same as told above.
After diligent search a reporter for
the Star Sayings located Mrs. Sawyer
in this city. She had moved several
times since her husbands disappear
ance and is now located at No. 3103
Morgan street. She was greatly NOV
ed when she found out that the story of
her husband was to be published. She
said she had attempted to keep her
husbands actions from the public.
She, however, corroborated the fact of
his disappearance. her long search and
his subsequent death. She would give
the reporter no information and would
tolerate no interview. She said that
the reason she told but few persons of
her husbands death was to screen the