The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-02-13
IN A BAD BOAT.
ALLEGED DEFALCATIoS OF RTEus
y. RAMSEY.
Nearly Four Hundred. Thousand Dol
lars That Must BE Accounted For
Peculiar and Complicated Case.

st. Louis Feb. IA special to the
Post-Dispatch from Carlisle. Ills. says:
When Rufus Ramsey, who died sud
denly three months ago. supposedly of
heart disease. went into the state treas
ury two years ago, he was thought to be
the richest man in southern Illinois.
Within week over $4,000 in claims
against his estate had been filed, but the
most startling is that of five Chicago
bankers who We're his surety as state
treasurer. When Henry WuIff succeeded
the dead man he found a shortage of
SS9,559.52, which he communicated to his
bondsmen who made it good, but have SO
far suppressed it in the hope Of reimburse
ment out Of the estate of the dead man
Now E. NJ. Blount and Carl NIoll cashiers
Of two Chicago banks, have fled in the
county court claims to the full amount of
the shortage.
When the bondsmen filed their claim
in the county court for $685., 1892, the
amount was so stupendous that Judge
Jesse Jones refused to allow it until
| further proof Of its correctness was
filed. This was done on Feb. 9, when
an itemized statement of the amounts
! distracted by Ramsey from the state
| treasury was put in the hands of the
| court. It showed that Ramsey had be-
I gun tampering with state funds seven
| days after taking office. He was sworn
! in Jan. 8, and on January II, 1898, he
! helped himself to $4,000. One form Of
his eInbezZlement was to take the cash
| from the state funds and turn in a
| personal due bill having it charged up
as cash, all others being much the
! same.
On Jan 10 he took SIS, 600; Jan. "a,
! $4,000; March 4. $1,000; May 10, $4,000;
I June 6, $500; June q, $1,000; July 81,
| $4,000, and so on down the year His
| last withdrawal in 1898 was on Nov. II,
when he took S4,761. For whole year
| then there was total intermission, so
I far as the itemized statement Of the
! bondsnen shows, and then there comes
| one more, the last, $4,000 taken on
! Nov. S.
The day upon which Mr.. Ramsey
| took to his bed the claim of the bonds
men on the bond, which was filed in
| the county court. is very simple in Ian
! gua5e and reads as follows:
Estate of Rufus n. Ramsey, to John
| II. Wilbeck ct al, dr.; to cash paid by
them as bondsmen for Rufus n. Ram
( Sey, late treasurer of the state of Hi
noiS, TO Elijah P. Ramsey, his successor
IN office, to make good the former de-
flcit as such state treasurer, $685., $50. so /"
This sum viii have to be paid before
any of the other sums can be satisfied
| II is what is known as the sixth class
trust funds, while deDoSitorS claims are
in the seventh class. Together with the
claim was a paper connecting Ramsey
with Henry Setter the Lebanon. Ill,
I banker, who failed so disastrousIy lust
after RamSey's death This paper
shows that the banking firm OF Henry
Setter & Co. owed Ramsey personally
the sum Of $243. 1852. The first note
was drawn September 5, 1898. for S1S1. =
1882. 1t was the largest one drawn.
The others ranged from So, 900 to $1,000
in amount. The last one was drawn
October 81, 1894, and was for So, 400. The
first is written in the regular form of
q note, but the others are in the form
Of due bills with no date of maturity
given. These notes and due bills were
In the treasury together with his own
due bills, representing cash There
We're also due bills from the Napa
Land company, amounting to S4,4OO.
These three amounts made up the sum
which the bondsmen were Obliged to
make good.
In addition to the claim of So. 539. %,
made by the bondsmen, claims of
merchants and farmers of Carlisle
and Iron counties have been filed in
Nhe S'OAIS StuIl Tie SnIlre 1hOeNteQ-
ness up to date amounting to $46S, 27S So
while the estate is probably not worth
over 100000. including the assets of
Setter, which can be held.
, w. II. Curtin, a close friend of Ru-
fus Ramsey, the deceased state treas
urer of Illinois, had this to say of his
laffairs:
mo better man than Rufus Ramsey
lever lived, and had he lived every dol
lar of his Indebtedness would have
been paid and his family left with $780,
1000. Had not Henry Setter failed
everything would have been all right
Setter borrowed over $24O 900 from the
Union Trust company, of Chicago, an6
gave security on 1900 acres of lan6
near Lebanon. This money came out
LOT the state treasury, the trust com.
Ipany acting as go between. When he
Tailed his assignee filed q motion tc
tset aside the conveyance Of this pro-
lperty and the bondsmen, rather thar
laccept security over which there was
liable to be a litigation, fled a claim
against the state. This property is
worth in ordinary times over 5000 900
1t was worth that at the time it was
iaccepted and Ramsey had right tt
lido as he did. The law allows a state
Treasurer to use money as he Dleases
All he has to do is put 1t back This
has been done and everything is nj
straight"
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