The Topeka state journal., 1897-10-13
A HUNG JURY.
Mrs. Myra Atkinson, Wife of
West Virginia's Governor,
Forgery.
NO VERDICT REACHED
Stood Seven For AcquittaI and
Five For Conviction.
Remarkable Situation of a Host
Remarkable Woman.
RICH AND HANDSOME
She Has Many Influential
Friends Who Believe
That She is Innocent of the
Things Charged Against Her.

GlenviIle, w Va, Oct. 13.-The jury
in the Atkinson case failed to agree
and was dismissed by the court The
vote stood seven for acquittal and five
for conviction.
The trial of Mrs. Nyra Atkinson on
a charge of forgery is one of the most
remarkable on record. She is the rich
wife of George Wesley Atkinson, gov
ernor of West Virginia, and has been
prominent socially for many years, not
only in West Virginia, but in Washing
ton.
Mrs. Atkinson has powerful inf1uenc-
es behind her, for aside from her own
wealth it is said she can command
million through her sister, Mrs. Golf,
relative of Judge Nathan Golf, of the
United States district court.
AS if this were not enough to enable
her to put up a strong defence, she can
also command a political influence
that might prove more potent than
mere money. Her position seemed from
the first almost impregna BILE When it
was considered that besides all this she
is the wife of the governor, who has
the pardOning power, in case of cOnVic-
ton, though he says he has never given
the idea a place in his mind and neither
has his wife
Mrs. Atkinson was thrice married
and each time it was to her benefit. AS
a poor and obscure girl she first mar
ried DT. Ed. Davis, a man of prominent
family, in 1875 DIR. Davis drank I've for
whisky in the dark one night and died
In 1888 the widow married Judge Gid
con Draper Camden, the most prOmi-
nent and wealthiest member Of the IA
nous Camden family, that numbers
senators, governors and milliOnaires in
its list of nOtables She was then tlir-
ty-eight, handsome, ViVaciOuS and live
1y-just the sort of a woman to attract
the attention of a millionaire widower
of SeVenty-hVe; and that he was at
tracted, and that the widow was not
without business sense is proven by
marriage contract that gave her 800, 900
for marrying him and caring for him in
his old age; also by the will, that gave
her all of his estate except a few $500
legacies he left to his children and
grandchildren.
At 81, when Mrs. Camden married
Gov. Atkinson, last summer she was
still well preserved, and retained much
of her youthful spirit and vigor. She
and the governor had known each 9TH
er for years, and had always been good
friends. After the governors period of
mourning for his wife. who died in
1894, it was noticed that he was often
at Clarksburg, Mrs. Camden's home,
and that she often entertained him not
only there, but when they might chance
% be in Washington, where Mrs. Cam
den maintained an elaborate establish
ment on u street.
The forgeries Mrs. Atkinson is al
legged to have committed were in con-
nectiOn with the property left by Judge
Camden.
And it is through these that she is al
legged to have secured control of and to
have turned into cash thousands of
dollars worth of property now claimed
by others of the Camden heirs.
Judge Camden was weak for a long
time before his death, but up to the last
he insisted upon tranSacting his own
business Physically incapacitated, he
was unable to do this satisfactorily,
and he left many things half done.
The charge against Mrs. Atkinson is
that she took advantage of this, after
Judge Camden's death, to get control
of the estate of SIP. 900 he left, or, at
least, converted it into cash. The meth
cd she adopted it is said, was to sell
the land cheap, and by means of
forged letters antedating the death of
Judge Camden. intended to prove that
the business transacted had been car
ried on and concluded before the judge
passed away. Thus the money paid for
the land would go to her directly and
the other heirs would see none of it.
1t is with these letters and contracts
that the prosecution hopes to win its
case.
The arrest of Mrs Atkinson caused a
profound sensation from which the ma
tives of West Virginia have not yet
recovered. It was given a political sig
nificance that, perhaps, it did not merit.
Some Of the governors friends went
so far as to charge that the case was
brought to injure his chances for the
seat in the United States senate now
occupied by Senator Faulkner.
The fact is, Mrs. Camden Cher name
before her marriage to Gov. Atkinson
a short time ago. was under Indictment
before her marriage, and the movement
to indict her was begun before it had
even been hinted that a love affair be
tween them existed. The announce
ment of their engag cement last June
was in fact more of a surprise than the
announcement that Mrs. Camden had
been indicted.
Since the indictment Mrs. Atkinson
has steadily insisted on her innocence
and in the statement that she would be
exOnerated and hOnorably discharged.
In that she was supported by her
friends, of whom she has a legion.