The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-09-05
NO MYSTERY NOW
STORY CF THE THEFT OF A. T.
STEWARDS BODY Is REVEALED.


STEWARDS BODY Is REVEALED.
In . Rich New Jersey Club the Scheme
Originated to Get Away with the Corpse
and Hold it for Ransom-Judse Hilton
Offered a Big Reward but the Conspira-
tors were Afraid to Take Up the Case
and Carry 1t Through-Bones of the
Man have Been Located in New York
Reward has Long Ago ReIapsed.
Binghampton, n. Y, Sept. A pc
culiar story regarding the robbery of
the tomb of A. T. Stewart, and the dis
posal of the body has just come to
light through the death of a farmer
near here.
On the night Of Nov. 6, 1873, the body
Of A T. Stewart was stolen from the
family vault in st. Marks Church, this
city The work was said to be that Of
a famous Baltimore ''resurrectionist,"
g. A. Christian, whose photograph was
identified by a woman living near st.
Marks as that of a man she had seen
around the tomb about 1 o'clock on the
morning the robbery was committed.
Search failed to reveal any trace of the
body, however, and Judge Hilton, who
had charge of thu Stewart estate, Of
fered $4,000 for the return of the body
or $4,000 for the conviction of any of
the participants.
On the hills between Windsor and
Susquehanna, a short distance from
h. 1;+ Il
time ago, a farmer named Nixon. One
evening in November, 1873, a young
man, wei dressed knocked al the farm
house dor and asked for lodging. He
said he was a western farmer but meet
ing with poor success had come east
in search of work. He was engaged by
Nixon He gave his name as Thomas
Forester, and, for a young man. was
considered by the neighborS as strange
ly reticent.
Every day, rain or shine. through
snow or mud, he would make his way
70 the postofIice, and ask for mail, but
no mail came. In December, while Wis
iting a remote corner of his farm one
afternoon, Nixon came upon his hired
man filling in a hole. In response to an
inquiry Forester said he had met a
skunk the evening before and was bury
ing his clothes.
In the spring of 1880 Forester was
taken seriously Ill with pneumonia. On
his death bed he unfolded a remarka-
bic tale. His name was not Forester
but Mccarthy, and his residence was in
New York City. He was a membr of
the gang that removed Stewards body
from the vault. The plot, according to
his story, was Matched in the rooms of
fashionable New York club One
evening a party of young men, the sons
of wealthy parents, but whose losses at
the gambling table mad left them pen
niless, were discussing the situat ton
when one of the party said if they had
A. T. Stewards money they would be
RIl right Another one replied: eve
haven't his money, but we could get his
body, which means the same thing"
Thus the robbery originated. The young
men delegated one of their number to
superintend the robbery and plan the
details. He at once opened negotia-
lions with a "reSurrectionist," who
agreed to make the attempt for 10000.
his helpers to receive s., 900 each half OF
the sum to be paid in advance, and the
balance when the body was delivered
to a certain spot. Mccarthy was one of
the helpers and watched outside the
railing with a horse and buggy in order
TO give an alarm should anyone ap-
preach. The men carried their grew
some burden in a sack. In hosting it
over the fence the bag caught in the
iron rail and was slightly torn. The
odor which emanated from it was so
fearful that two Of the men We're TAX
en- violently i'll.
The bundle was thrust into the wa
gon and driven to point on Canal
street Here it was carried into a base
ment and thrust into a barrel of
I'll LIZ L., l.. \ L.
pared with a view to killing the
stencil. The barrel was headed up. Ia
beled fish" and given in charge of Nc
Carthy to take into the country. The
label, il was thought, would allay any
suspicion should any odOr escape. Nc
Carthy saw the barrel shipped to Sus-
quehanna, Pa, and then followed on
the train. After securing his position
with Nixon he secured a team and con-
veyed the barrel and its contents TO the
farm, where he dug a hole and buried
1t, pending negotiations for its delivery.
This was the work he was engaged in
when discovered by Nixon.
The number implicated in the plot ne
cessitatd a large reward and it was for
this that the conSpiratorS waited until
they became convinced that they could
not obtain the money without publici-
~. and probable prosecution. Thus the
matter was dropped for time and Nc
Carthy thought the projectors were
glad to be rid Of a. scheme that had be-
come so notorious. Mccarthy insisted
the remains were still in the barrel and
Were the genuine article.
Nixon. who from his retired life knew
nothing of the robbery, and little of the
world anyway. set down the statement
as the vagaries of a dying man, and
paid no more attention to it. but since
MINORS death the grave and skeleton
have been found, and this ends a great