The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1899-08-12

shot would de-
rhis abatement almost shocked those
who heard II and sonse Of them conciuo-
- M once that the woman was insane
pr, a. is said that M 20 this time there
h,a been othing In her conduct 70 IN
dioate thai she was mentally unbal-
opcoa she has insisted ever since the /
damage suit In which she failed to sun
s,snclate certain charges that some Of /
he witnesses and others wronsed her
ana has been struggling With an IN
satiate desire for revenge which seems
a. have rotten the lest Of her yester-
day.
continuing her talk the woman said
-no realized what she had done and
knew what the penalty for such crime
is she said n she was not hung for
this orense she would certainly XIII
number OF people nearly all OF whom
we're connected with the damage suit re-
ferred TO Among those she named as
nRely to encounter trouble at her hands
were Benton Oabbert. coleman Law
renee. George Drutchheld. residisg In the
vicinity Of Dearborn. and L. c. Gaboart
of ST Joseph The latter with J. w
Boyd. was attorney for Coleman In the
suit referred TO- while Mrs. Montgomery
was represented by Nic-ols ana Pistole'
of this city
As soon as 1t became known that the
assault upon Mrs. collier had been mace
and that the assailant was under arrest
the people OF Dearborn became consid-
erablv aroused and for a time It looked
like there would be a lynching party IN
spite Of the efforts Of the officers to pre-
! serve peace and quiet. The more sober
mind, prevailed. however, and no dem
ON t-ation was made by the angry ones.
| Ms Montgomery lived in the SOUTH
ern part of this county near the Platte
county line. the nearest town and post
office being Dearborn In Platte county,
/ Coleman Lawrence, the man against
whom she brought the $1,000 damage
slit, is located at the stock yards and Il
Is for this reason that the suit was
brought to this county.
That the shooting OF Anna Bell COL
Her By Mrs. Montgomery Is the result
of the evidence given by her In the
slander suit brought by Mrs. Mont
gomery against Coleman Lawrence
IN Judge Woodsno's division Of the cir
cult court which was commenced on
June 6. last and which lasted a week
and resulted In verdict for the Defend
ant on all the Issues involved, there can
be little, If any, doubt
Anna Bell Collier was called to the
stand during the trial on the part Of the
defense and gave some strong testimony
against the character of Mrs. Mont
gomery for chastity and virtue. There
were. however a least ten other wit
nesses whose testimony was far more
damaging to Mrs. Montgomery's cause
than that Of the woman who was yes
terday fatally wounded by her. ana II
seems strange that Mrs. Collier should
have been the nrst victim.
Mrs. Montgomery in the court room
on different occasions made threats
that she would kin several witnesses
who testified against her. but Mrs. Col
lier was not marked as one of her pros
peedve victims at that time. Mrs
Montgomey cried aloud In the court
room that she would kill Mrs. Lou
Montgomery. wife of George Montgomery
and her sister-in-law before she was divoI
ccd from win Montgomery.
1t Is said that Mrs Montgomery had re-
, peatedly threatened to kill certain wit
nesses. Several Of those whom sh'
threatened we're colored people.
After Mrs Montgomery made the as
s sertIon in the court room she was close
e ly watched by two deputy sheriffs de
tailed by Sheriff HUI for the purpose
During the remainder OF the trial they
sat close to the plaintiff. During the
entire srlal Mrs. Montgomery sat with
sullen countenance, and her small wick
: ed eyes were fixed on the witnesses who
testified against her.
The suit brought by Mrs. Montgomey
against Coleman Lawrence was for $ll,00
for defamlng Of character, and she based
her case against Lawrence on the
: ground that he, while in conversation
with Charles Chestnut and other men II
grocery store on Frederick avenue, II
August. 1885, made statements deroga
tory to her character, which In substance
was that william Montgomery was thu
father OF her two children, born whil
she was the wife Of Jerome Anderson.
The case lasted a week, and was on'
OF the hardest fought legal battles eve
seen in the courts OF this county. Th'
plaintiff was represented by Niehol
and Pistole and the Defense by BoyC
and Gabbert. Lawrence "a commission
man at the stock yards in this city, anC
while he won the suit, Il Is said, tina
Il cost him many a restless night
II the evidence in the law suit Is e
be relied upon Mrs. Collier Is not Mrs
MontgomeTys hrst victim. 1t wal
claimed by the defense during the prog
gress OF the trial that Mrs. Montgomery
once shot a woman who she accused OF
slandering her.
The plaintiff lives on the farm OF JohF
Wilhoit near Dearborn at the time OF th'
alleged Lawrence siander. She had
moved there with her husband. william
Montgomery and lived in a little house
short distance from the one occupied
by Wilholt himself Wilhoit became ~
and Mira. Montgomery moved onto hii
house, 10 care for him.
While they lived there they disagreed
and the fight between husband and
wife resulted. Mrs. Montgomery sued heI
husband for divorce and was granted a
legal separation Montgomery did not de.
fend the suit, and the divorce was grant.
ed by default Mrs. Montgomery continu-
ed TO live In the Wiholt house. and Il
was while she was living there that WI
holt claims TO have heard the slanderOus
remarks that were made about her by
7 Lawrence, He said Lawrence made the
remarks in the store OF Charles Chestnut