The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-11-17
BOTH REFUSE TO YIELD
Widow and Brother Demand Re.
mains of Ketcham.
LIVELY CONTEST i EXPECTED.

II the Wife Can Show Her Marriage Certif-
cate the Coroner Must Recognize Her
Otherwise the Relatives of the Deceased
VIII Win-An Appeal To the Courts May
Probably Occur-Nothing New Revealed
by the Inquest.
Chicago, Nov. 17.-If Mrs. John B.
Ketcham, better known in the neighbor-
hood of 3421 Indiana avenue as Mabel
Wallace, persists in her determination
TO bury her husbands body in her own
lot at Forest Home cemetery there will
be contest over the remains. The
brother of the dead man is determined
to carry the casket back to Toledo o..
with him. If the widow expects to come
out of the fray victorious she must show
her marriage certificate to Chief Dep
uty Coroner Mandelbaum, something
she has heretofore refused to do. This
was the prospect in view when at 10
o'clock in the morning a coroners jury
took possession of the luxurious back
parlor in the widows home and COM
menced the inquest over the remains of
the clubman. The investigation will
with little doubt be continued until
later date as the analysis of the stom-
ach of the deceased is not as yet COM
pleted. The opening of the official in
quiry gave prospect of trouble. The
widow had stated positively that her
husband would be buried in her lot.
Brother Insists Upon His Right.
With equal determination George
Ketcham. the brother, had expressed his
intention Of taking the body to the fam
lily lot in Ohio. He went so far as to
engage Daniel Horan, an Eighteenth
street undertaken, to take the body to
Toledo and there inter 1t. AS a first
step the undertaken applied to Chief
Deputy Mandebaum for a death GER
tificate, but was refused.
'None will be issued until after the
inquest" was the ultimatum from the
coroner's office Mr. Mandelbaum will
then decide into whose possession the
body will go.
This woman" he said, will have to
show me her marriage certificate be-
fore she secures possession. If she thus
proves she is his wife, she will, of course,
be accorded the custody of the remains.
If not the brother will be intrusted
with the casket BY the looks of things,
/ rather expect a dispute over posses
sion of the body"
Neighbors of the widow expressed IL
as their opinion that she would yield
to the brothers claim, in spite of her
previous attitude.
Must Await Oficial Report.
Chief Deputy Mandelbaum took
charge OF the inquest in person.
I'VE will have to continue it" he said,
"as the analysis of the stomach will
M he Anis IF daU9
haps. DR.. Noel is conducting this end
Of the investigation, and of course our
jury must receive his report before it
can reach an intelligent verdict. Do
think the analysis will bring startling
disclosures? No, i do not, but we are
acting on the safe side. The circum-
stances seemed to call for an investiga-
ton however. The post-mortem showed
the liver was almost gone as the result
of heavy drinking, and 1t Is my opinion
death was due to natural causes.
George Ketcham was one Of the first
witnesses called at the inquest, and II
was the coroner's intention TO adjourn
with his evidence. Dispatches from EN-
poria, Kan, where Mabel Estelle Wal
lace was tried on the charge OF murder
ing her first husband, John Il. Walkup.
relate the circumstances under which
she met him, his sudden and suspicious
death shortly after their marriage. and
her subsequent trial and acquittal. She
met Walkup at New Orleans In 1883,
when he was mayor OF Emporia. They
were married at Covington, KY in
July. 1885
WaILup Died Suddenly.
Exactly one month after the marriage,
Walkup died suddenly. A post-mortem
examination revealed traces of arsenic
i'm his stomach. The young wife was
arrested on suspicion The prosecution
attempted to show that she had pur-
chased arsenic at Cincinnati before
they started for his home in Emporia,
also that she had applied to several
drug stores for poison, but she refused
to sign the record showing its purchase.
The trial lasted three weeks. The
defense made no denial that death had
resulted from arsenic but claimed the
man was in the habit of using 1t as
medicine and by accident had taken an
overdose.
When the young and beautiful girl
took the stand in her own defense. Jur-
ors and even lawyers wept over her tes-
| timony. and verdict of acquittal was
! returned She had only one friend dur
ing that trial-a wealthy man named
William Jay, who interested himself in
her behalf and paid the expenses of the
trial