The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-09-18
a DOCTOR GIVES POISON
IN A CONSPIRACY CONDUCTING
WHOLESALE MURDER BUSINESS.
ScOOba, Miss, Presents n Series of Al
most Unbelievable Crimes to OBJ
tain Life Insurance.

Meridian (Miss.) Letter in Memphis Appeal.
When Circuit Court for Kemper county
convenes at De Kalb next Monday the cele-
brated insurance poisoning cases, the dis
closure of which has astonished and horrf-
fled every one who has become acquainted
with their horrible details. will again be
opened UP. In view of the fiendishness of
the crime with which these men are
charged, their prominence in the community
in which they live, and the widespread in
terest that has been manifested in these
cases, it is we'll enough to review here the
facts as they have been brought out. KEN
per county has been the scene of occur
rences that attracted the attention Of the
Nation before, but nothing has ever oc-
CURED within her borders that so aroused
the good and law-abiding people from one
end of the county to the other as have
these charges against Lipscomb and Jack
The memorable events which eliminated in
the assassination of John w. Gully and the
Chisolm tragedy in 1876, when one of the
county's most prominent and influential citi-
zens was shot down from ambush, and
then, through retaliation and revenge, the
jail was besieged and the Republican lead
er and dictator. members of his family and
into insignificance when compared with the
hideousness of the crimes laid at the doors
of this doctor and merchant.
1t will be remembered that at the March
term of the court DR.. W. H. Lipscomb, an
old and prominent practitioner Of Scooba
and Guy Jack well-known merchant of
the same town, were indicted by the grand
jury for having killed by poison Charles
T. Stewart, on whose life Jack carried in
surance policies aggregating 600 About
two weeks prior to the presentments thus
made warrant was sworn out against Dr.
Lipscomb and he was arrested and held
under guard until the converting of Circuit
Court, so strongly did the circumstances
point to his guilt. Upon the finding of the
bills of indictment Jack and Lipscomb were
promptly incarcerated in the county JAIL
The latter went to trial and after a thor
6ugh Investigation and the ELOQUENT plead-
ings of able counsel he was declared guilty
as charged in the Indictment, and was SEN
fenced to be hanged. His case was appealed
to the Supreme Court and he is now in Jail
awaiting the action of that tribunal. On
account of the limitations of the term,
Jack case could not be taken UP at the
March term of the court, and he, therefore,
remained in Jail. In June he instituted
habeas corpus proceedings before Chan
Jacks own published admissions were so
damaging that the chancellor denied the
application for bail and remanded him to
bail. Through his attorneys he then made
an application to the Supreme Court, and
he was here granted bail in the sum of $780,
OOO for his appearance al the present term
of Circuit Court
SUSPICIOUS FOR YEARS.
For several years there have been grave
suspicious of foul work in and about Scooba,
the home of these men, and the insurance
companies, alarmed at the unusual state Of
affairs, sent representatives there to in
vestigate and to cancel the policies that
had been issued These policies were most
ly on negroes, who had been insured in
large sums, the benefciaries being meT-
chants in Scooba, and it is said that they
had become so fully impressed with the
danger to their lives that they lived in a
state of constant dread. Dr. Rogers. chief
medical examiner of the New York Life,
made a visit to Scooba, and under his di-
peace, and one of the truest, best men in
the county, visited each of the persons thus
insured and took their sworn dispositions,
which showed that fraud had been prac-
tised in nearly every application made.
Mrs. A. v. Hardin, widow who re-
Eauitable Life insurance Society for the
benefit of Guy Jack and A. A. Hammack,
the application being signed by. DR.. Lips
comb, medical examiner. Mrs. Hardin was
not aware of the existence of this policy
for several years after it was issued, and
she was only apprised of it then through
ton to the fact that the premium would
mature on a certain date. She made affi-
davit before w. p. Minor, circuit clerk of
Noxubee county, that she was not exam
ined for this insurance. by DR.. Lipscomb
or any one else; that her signature was
forged to the application for the insurance
that she did not authorize any one to sign
it for her, and that she knew absolutely
nothing about it.
Several years ago the life of John caves,
farmer, who lived near Scooba, was in
sured for 5000, Henry Rosenbaum, mer-
chant of that place, being the beneficiary.
Eaves was given a bottle of whisky from
which he, Colonel Mcneil and Capt. Daniel,
of the same neighborhood, drank. A toddy
was also prepared from the same bottle and
given two or three ladies. Every one who
drank Of this whisky became sick and some
the bottle showed the presence of arsenic
in large quantities. Rosenbaum was in
dicted by the grand jury Of Kemper coun-
ty, but as Eaves, the main witness, re-
moved to another State and would not APP
pear and testify, the case against Rosen-
baum, after two terms, was nolle pressed,
but the eliminating point was reached
when the life of Charles It. Stewart was
taken. The man died in great agony. The
fact that an enormous dose of strychnine
had been administered was so clearly .es
tablished that there were no grounds left
for controversy over that point.
All the circumstances and all the evil
dence adduced on the trial of DR.. Lipscomb
pointed to the guilt of the accused. Even
before the coroners inquest was held
testify, the names of Lipscomb and Jack
were connected with the murder of the
general and unoffending Charles 7. Stew
art. The services of Lonegrans detective
agency were employed, and in almost every
step taken by its representatives in the
work of bringing to light the facts in this
almost unparalleled crime the awful suspi-
cion of the law-abiding and laW-loving ele-
ment of the community were fully con-
firmed.
POISON IN THE STOMACH.
Captain A. M. Moore, mayor of Scooba
and ex officio justice of the peace, man
at all times who dares to do right and
uphold the law, held the inquest over Stew
arts remains, and summoned number of
reputable physicians and had an autopsy
made. This autopsy and the analysis of
the state chemist of the contents of the
dead mans stomach showed that enough
strychnine had been administered to kill
an elephant. Stewart possessed an open,
confiding nature, and was easily drawn into
the meshes of the men who regarded gold
of far more value than human life. Guy
Jack carried $21 600 insurance on his life,
and DR.. LipScOmb prescribed for him, CIV
ing him q capsule on the afternoon of the
night on which he died
Twenty-one thousand dollars is regarded
by some people as a pretty good sum to
not raise 800 in cash, but it seems that
this large sum was not regarded quite
enough on the life of this poor man, for
on the very day that Stewart was poisoned
A. A. Hammock, a merchant of ScoOba,
gave him money to go TO Meridian, about
$4,000 additional. But poor Stewart was
denied the trip to Meridian. He went home