Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1895-10-18
A DEAD MANS SHOES.
THE FAMOUS TIcHBoRNE CASE FINDS
A PARALLEL IN WISCONSIN.

the Truth Became Known She IndIg-
nantly Refused His Offer Of Marriage.
In the winter of 1891 Willis German Of
Sedgwick, Wis, who had just married
Annie Mclaughlin, disappeared as COM
pletely as though the earth had opened
and swallowed him. AS he owned good
farm and some business property and his
domestic relations were Of the most pleas
ant character, no reason could be assigned
for his leaving. Extensive search and in
quiry developed no trace of his where
abouts. Mrs. German finally reconciled
herself to widowhood and set about look
ing after her property, worth in the neigh
borhood of $40, 900.
In March, 1894, a man appeared In
Sedgwick and announced himself as the
missing Willis German. He closely re-
sembled the missing man and had knowl-
edge of circumstances that only German
and his wife knew. Nevertheless Mrs.
German had her doubts. There was some
thing peculiar about him which the friends
of tho missing Willis German could not
understand. He possessed all the charac-
teristics of the absent man, but could not
RCU ItilllCS anu lOL'sIlNIGS IlSnb ~ All bllIltS
and did not seem as familiar with the
country around SedgwlCk as he should
have been. The man accounted for this
by saying that he had been injured in the
head over in Michigan, to which state he
had wandered, and that his mind was not
as strong as it had been prior to this acct
dent. He had been with his cousin, John
Mcclure, he said, who had been very kind
to him during his long illness.
Within month the man was recognized
by all as tho real Willis German, and he
then took his place as the head Of the Cor
man family. Tho feeling on the part of
Mrs. Germans friends that all was not
right wore off after time, and until a
few days ago this man has been looked
upon as Willis German, the lawful hus-
band OF Mrs. German, with whom he has
been living and the legal owner Of the
property which had been cared for by the
lady after her husband disappeared.
A little over two months ago a son was
born to Mrs German, and her brother, p.
H. Mclaughlin, came on from his home
in Nebraska in response to a message say
ing that his sister was not expected to live
On his arrival at Sedgwick he made mat
tiers very interesting by declaring that the
supposed German was not the same man
who had originally married his sister. 1t
was explained to him that German had
been very sick during his absence, and
that perhaps this WA what caused the
great change in his appearance. This ex-
PLANTATION apparently satisfied Mr.. Nc
Laughlin, and whuS Mrs German was
out of danger he departed. ostensibly for
hi, Nphrnclya bn,,,n hnt n rnnlitNy for
Michigan to investigate the story told by
his alleged brother-in -law. This investi-
CATION has resulted in finding that the
supposed Willis German is fraud, and
that the real Willis German has been dead
since the spring of 1899.
Mr.. Mclaughlin traced German after
he left Sedgwick and found that he had
gone to Milwaukee and from there across
the lake to Michigan, where he had worked
in the mines on the upper peninsula be-
ing known to all rs German Mclaughlin.
1t was further found that he had been
somewhat dementcd, which probably &C.
counted for his leaving his homo here. In
the spring of 1892, German had been In.
jured and had been taken in charge by
John MCGUIRE living at or near Hancock,
Mich, who claimed to be the injured
mans cousin. Here German died, and
soon afterward Mcclure disappeared, no
one knew where. Tho two men had re-
sembled each other to remarkable de-
gree Mr.. Mclaughlin was told by the
people who had seen them together.
Returning to Sedgwick few days ago,
Mr. Mclaughlin charged the supposed
Willis German with being an impostor
and with being in reality John Mcclure.
The man hotly denied the charges, but
when confronted with indisputabla proofs
that he was lying no broke down and con-
fessed all He said Willis German was his
cousin, and when German was injured in
the mine he was taken In charge by Nc
CURE and nursed. In his happiness at
finding kinsmnn German told Mcguire
all about his homo life, his wife, his prop
erty and his friends, for rs he lay there dy-
ing everything came back to him and his
mind was once more clear.
Mcclure was tempted by the property
owned by German to pass himself off as
the dead man. The two mon resemblcd
each other, and, armed as he was with tho
history of his cousin and knowing all the
details of his life at Sedgwisk, Mcclure
found it an easy matter to appear Mt the
nome III his COilSlIl III HIS hSSullltll CUhTHC-
ter He was surprised, he said, to succeed
as we'll as no had and would not have
gone so far had not Mrs. German finally
admitted hat he was her husband. Then
it was too late to back out, and he had
been literally in Willis Germans shoes
ever since.
Mcclure was completely Frustrated
when lie finished his confession and with
tears streaming down his face offered to
marry Mrs. German. He said no loved
her and would do all in his power to right
the wrong he had wrought. The child ly-
ing in Mrs. Germans arms was his. he
added and this was an additional reason
why he should marry her.
Mr.. Mclaughlin, angry though he was,
McGuiros proposition ms the
most sensible that could be suggested and
wanted his sister to accept the offer, but
Mrs. German would not listen to it. She
insisted that MCGUIRE must leave Mt once.
So, after making written confession Of
the deception he had practiced relating to
the death of Willis German and relinquish-
ing all rights to the child, he was allowed
to depart.
AS soon as the German property, con-
sisting of farm and two store buildings, |
can be sold MIR. Mclaughlin will take his |
sister and his mother to his home in Ne |
braska, there to try to. forget the dark |
cloud which has fallen upon their lives |