The Philipsburg mail., 1899-08-18
GILBERT w.
son of
A. A. and Mary Gates,
was murdered in Missouri
by Alexander Jester,
January %, 1871.

y
The story of the murder as it was
obtained from the father and some of
the old residents of West Chicago who
remember the incidents, is this: In
the summer of 1870 Gilbert Gates
health began to fail, and his father de-
cided that a hunting trip through Mis-
| souri, and Kansas might benefit his
health. team of horses and a COW
cred wagon were purchased and well
supplied for the journey. He was a
good hunter and killed a number of
| buffaloes besides smaller animals.
| Hides in those days represented money,
! so the trip bade fair to turn out we'll
! The autumn passed away and fhe win
ter was we'll along when the Gates
family sent word to Gilbert to return
home, as they were growing anxious
about his continued absence. No an
swer came, and in addition to the un-
easiness from this cause Mrs. Gates
was Wakened from sleep by a dream.
1t had seemed to her that while at
funeral she had stepped up to the cof-
lin to look at the corpse and had seen
her son lying dead before her. She
told her husband at once and both
were SO affected by this premonition
of evil that the same day Mr.. Gates
fitted out his team and went in search
of his SON.
He Travelled into Missouri and began
to trace the route Gilbert had taken.
He found the youth had met Alexan-
der Jester travelling in a rather dilap-
idated wagon and Travelled in his COM
pany. The last place where the two
were known to have been together was
Warrensburg Mo Here all trace was
lost of Gilbert, but Mr. Gates traced
Jester to Bloomington. Ill. There he
found that Jester had sold some OF Gill
bert's buffalo skins and had turned his
team of horses out for week before
leaving for return trip to Missouri.
nephew of Jester was found who said
that Mrs. Cornelia Street, sister, liv-
ing at that time at Wichita Kan.
might know something about him.
Mr.. Gates acted on this suggestion
and went to Wichita, where he called
Sheriff Walker to assist him. The two
formed plan to capture Jester. Mr..
Gates went to the Jester homestead and
looked at it with the ostensible view
OF buying it, He began negotiations
with Mrs. Jester and offered a good
price. One OF the children was seri-
ously i'll, and the two circumstances
induced her to write to her husband,
urging him to hasten home. She no.
titled Mr. Gates OF the day on which he
would arrive, and the trap was set
Jester came driving over the hiii
with two teams one hitched behind the
other. He drove into his corral jumped
out OF the wagon, and went at once to
the bedside of his sick child. Mr..
Gates at once recognized one OF the
teams as the property of his son, and
the officers placed Jester under arrest.
When he was searched Gilbert Gates
watch was found on him. and the gun,
clothes, and other property were found
in the wagon. Jester was taken to
Paris, Mo-, and placed in Jail. A
lynching party of several hundred men |
was organized along the road taken
by the officers, who, getting wind of It.
hurried their prisoner off to Mexico,
Mo, where he made his escape. Jes-
ter had confessed his crime almost at |
once to Mr. Gates He told how he had
Travelled with Gilbert along the road |