Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-01-19

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eliminated from the judicial presence.
Wilkinson did n neat turn on that occa-
sion. and the brethren present. who took
In the situation. laughed audlbly. II Is
said the pain occasioned by Wilkinson's
squeeze lasted the erring brother several
months.
On the 18th OF June. 1852. an ARRAY &C.
CURED In Petersburg. Va, i'm which n
citizen OF Richmond named Gardner
Thompson lost his life. Thompson and
Lewis Montague were rival proprietors
of restaurants on BOllingbrook street.
had had sundry quarrels. and were not
generally on good terms. On the date
in question 1t seems they had come to
blows The murder was a subsequent
proceeding, and was alleged TO have oc-
CURED in the alley separating the re-
spective establishments and near its ter
mination on Lombard street, some 700
feet south of Bollingbrook street. between
Sycamore and Second, and, OF course,
the same distance from the places OF
business Of the two men where the DIS
turbance first began. On the first trial
of the case the intense feeling against
Montague found expression in verdict
OF guilty of murder in the first degree,
and his sentence to be hanged on the
9Th of the ensuing August. Meanwhile
Montague's lawyers, who worked indie
fatigably in his behalf, unearthed some
new evidence OF material character,
and applied for a new trial, which was
granted This was held on June 6, 1854,
two years after the offence was originally
alleged to have been committed. on this
hearing the prisoner was acquitted.
George Sharpe. son OF the president OF
the Exchange Bank, OF Norfolk. was the
fraaI MOntagfIa
IT IL said that he testified that after the
two men had apparently composed their
difference on BOlllngbrook street Thomp-
son pursued Montague up the alley and
began an assault on him near its termi-
nation In Lombard street. Then Montague
shot and killed Thompson. Montague died
a few years after his acquittal
The first American Hotter known in
this city was located on Main street.
and occupied the whole Of the present
store of a. Saks & Co. and the adjoining
tenement. 1t was a popular hosiery in
ITS day, and was kept during the most
prosperous era OF its existence by Mr.
j. Mildebarger Smith, afterwards Of the
Norvell House. Lynchburg and now of
the Albemarle Hotel, Broadway, New
York city. Among the northern guests
who occasionally dropped down to the
American to spend a few weeks was
Colonel j. Buchanan Cross, of Pennsyl-
vania. lie was a man Of fine presence,
OF much ease Of manner, and unfailing
generosity. and it need hardly be added,
with these qualifications, universal
favorite with everybody. Colonel Cross
had terminated one Of his visits, and
ostens!bly gone home TO join his family,
when great was the surprise one day TO
learn that he had been arrested in Phila-
delpha as one of the greatest forgers that
ever made handsome living by a facile
and deftly-handled pen. OF course, Colo
mel Cross was not thereafter seen often
in Richmond because he was in Penn
sylvania penitentiary, and could not get
hexe All the same. the genial and ac-
complished Colonel did not let hi-
talents rust while in prison for want
of practice, but successfully accomplished
one OF the most magnificent pieces OF
rascality on record. This latest product
OF the ColonePs inventive faculty was a
forged Governors pardon, on parchment,
IN regular style. and the usual huge red
seal. The pardon was accepted as true
and genuine by the authorities OF the
Eastern penitentary, and Cross was
turned loose 1t hardly need be said that
he soon made himself scarce in that To-
cality An old counterfeiter. known as
Colonel Bill Cregar. lately dead, fur
nished Cross the $500 necessary to get
the parchment paper, seal. and forms
struggled .nto the prison and out, and
I'm the mail after Cross had made out
the document. To show the versatility
and readiness Of resource OF Colonel Cross
I'm his line Of crooked endeavor. 1t Is re-
lated that once in Berlin. while at q
swell dinner. he picked quarrel WIN
~ a
and as soon as he received the note in
reply with the signature (Which he was
playing for he left town and forged the
name for $4,000 worth Of paper, on which
ne proceeded TO realize, and decamp TO
rar,s unknoUn. G.. G. w.