The Saint Paul globe., 1898-10-10


quire Why He Was Not Notified
of the FuneraI-ReIatives Anx-
ious to Know Whose Body They
Buried.
Lynn (Mass) Special Boston Post
Strange as is the strange case of Miss
Grace Marion Perkins, as the connec-
tion OF the belle Of Middleboro with the
bridgeport tragedy has been termed,
the case of Daniel B. Kennedy, of this
| city, is stranger, for while Miss Per-
klns succeeded in stopping her own fu-
neral, Kennedy's presence in the land
! o1 the living became known only a
| 1eW days ago, while his supposed re-
mains We're buried in ST. Mary's GEM
etery by a sorrowing family several
months ago, after having been identi-
| ned by scores Of people as the remains
OF the original and only Boom Ken
nedy.
Kennedy, who was born and brought
UP In the central portion of the city,
left home in the early spring without
telling where he was going. This was
| nothing new for him to do, SO when
his family failed to hear from him in
some weeks they thought little Of it.
He was strong and something of
ability to care for himself
The first doubts which they had on
this score came some weeks later, when
the body of an unknown tramp was
found on the railroad tracks near Port
land. The man was clad a bit better
than the average tramp, and-1rst link
In the chain of circumstances which
led to his identifcat1on-he had on a
coat made by a Lynn tailor, who prides
himself Ia
The police officials, when they noted
this, called up the Lynn police and
asked them if they could identify the
man. The description was that Of Ken
nedy, even to tattooing on the right
arm and to a scar on the head.
1t Is a fact, but strange one, never
theless, that not one man in hundred
can accurately describe his own broth
er. This, in some cases, leads to false
identifcations, but the Lynn police
were not so fixed.
IN THE CASE OF KENNEDY.
He had partaken of the hospitality
Of Turnkeys Twtsden and O'Connor on
several occasions, on one Of which he
was photographed for the gallery, and
on each of which a careful tally was
made of his distinguishing marks
Therefore when the Lynn police said
brethren said it must be so, and Mrs.
Mcdonald went to Portland to secure
the body. She at once identified it as
that of her brother, and the Lynn-made
coat as one her husband had given
him.
Then the remains were brought to
Lynn where the sorroWing widowed
mother of the supposed dead man saw
them. She was not so sure that the
remains were those Of her boy, but,
making allowances for the change that
life on the road might make, allowed
finally that it was her Danny" Then
the neighbors, men and women, VINO
had known Kennedy for years, came
in, and after viewing the remains,
| mourned his untimeSy end. Some there
were in that group who knew Kennedy
as we'll as men can know each other,
and all were agreed that he was the
| corpse.
Then the cold -blooded, matter of fact
| policemen, who knew the lamented
Daniel in life, saw the body and de-
clared that he, whom they had often
sent into court, had gone before the
| great court Of last resort Theirs was
no Identification by hysterical father,
it was the decision of men used to iden-
| tifying unfortunates.
So, in pretty ST. Mary's cemetery they
buried him, and the widowed mother
went her way, weeping for her boy,
who, if he had been wild, was still her
| boy; who, if he had got himself and
his family into trouble, was
MORE TO BE PITIED
than condemned. Then came long
sensational report from Maine that
Kennedy was killed while about to hold
up a wealthy man, by the accidental
discharge of revolver in the hands
of a companion.
Scarcely had the soil above the grave
settled. when one day Mrs Mcdonald
rushed into police headquarters, too
| able to make herself understood she
informed Clerk Willis Heald that her
brother was alive. ''The dead's alive
| Mr.. Head! the deadS alive What do
| you think of that?''
Heald began to think she had lost
her senses when she handed him a let
! ter from jamestown, N. D., purportine
| to be from her brother. The writing
she said, was like her brothers. But
| she could not make herself believe thai
| it was from him.
"If it's him. she asked, "whom die
we bury?'
Clerk Head is Yankee, but not OF
a guessing caliber sufficiently great tt
| answer the problem submitted to him
a joke on the family, and after while
| Mrs. Mcdonald went on her way
thinking that some heartless one was
playing a joke on her.
The police, however, were anxious tt
help the family, so a letter was sem
| to the authorities of the town where
the letter was mailed, asking them il
they could locate Kennedy. With
letter went photograph. But no an.
| swer came
Then it was suggested that Mrs. Nc
| Donald write to her correspondent tell
ing him that he was supposed to be
| dead, and asking him to prove his iden-
tity by telling how many uncles he had
how many were living and where. Also
where did he last see her
In remarkably short time the answer
Ncame. 1t was in part as follows:
Your letter announcing my death 6
great surprise, for l
NEVER WAS MORE ALIVE
in all my life. Why, I am work
ing, and you never heard of a dead
, man running behind a plow. I'm the
livelieSt dead man in America.
When I left Lynn I Travelled about
quite q, bit and then went to work for g
farmer, who lives near the town where
this letter is dated. I am doing we'll
not drinking. and getting fair wages
Then he went on to tell how many
uncles he had, and saying that he had
last seen his sister on the back stairs
leading into their home. His answers
were correct in every detail.
Then came proof convincing. He
wound UP his letter by saying that he
had just been paid off, that he had