The Lambertville record., 1899-05-31
KEPT THE SKELETON.
QUEER REVENGE OF A MAN WHOSE
FRIEND WAS MURDERED.

He Took the noucs OF the Murdcrer
From the Grave and Hung Them ON
the Wall of His outhousc--A TrnE-
J cdy of the Civil War.
Morning. colonel ="
Morning, sir, replied the man who
was leaning over the fence.
He was short, thickset man. with
a clear and piercing eye. his face shaved
smooth, with not the suggestion of n
wrinkle; yet his hair was as white as
snow. He had n slight southern accent.
and his hearty manner of inviting the
visitors in and his cordial hospitality
We're wholly southern One of the visit
ors knew him and had told the other
that there was man with bona fide
skeleton in his closet and that the slsele-
ton had story. 1t did not require any
| persuasion to obtain glimpse of the
skeleton. The owner presently led the
way to an outhouse and. opening the
door, displayed the skeleton of a man,
badly fastened together and hanging
to tho wall by the neck. The Missourian
did not object TO telling the story.
THAT fellow" he said motioning
with his thumb to tho skeleton, twas
once an acquaintance of mine, and l
liked him SO well'-this with a laugh
THAT have kept him by me ever SINCE
so that l can como out and stir him up
whenever feel disposed and he gave
the skeleton dig in the ribs
at was this way" he continued
closing the door ON his acquaintance
''During tho war ! lived in ono of the
southern states. where l was about the
only northern man. They took nearly
everything that had as time went on,
killed my stock, killed some of my peo-
ple and finally announced that they
were going to kill me Nearly all the
country was terrorized ut that time by
a good for nothing chap whom we will
call Jim Conner that was not his name,
but 1t will do-one name is as good as
another now
"When the war broke out. he started
in as a sort of independent guerrilla and
began system of looting and killing
| knew him well. and ho sent mo word
that he was coming my way and was
going to burn my house and hang mo
to tree in the yard | sent word
back that was ready for him We
heard of him all nround-men shot
niggers killed. houses burned-so that
the namo of Jim Conner became thing
to scare children, not to speak of men
| was always trying to help northern
men. and one time had two or three
with me- passing them ON as occasion
offered
81 had not heard from Conner or his
raids for some weeks, when one day he
rode into tho yard and swore that he
was going to burn tho house We had
no means of protecting ourselves OK
cept by using II rifle, and with that
tried to pick him off from tho top story
but he had picked mn one of my friand
who had been in the field and they pu
him on horse and stood behind him nm,
shot Mt tho windows of tho house. n
the same time gathering brush will
which. they said. TO burn the house.
but no ono dared to approach the
house, rs | was sure shot supposed
that they would wait until night and
then creep up and burn me out ! kept
out of sight and could not believe that
| they would murder man in cold blood
But, hearing shout | glanced through
a bullet hole in the shutter and saw
them driving my friends horse up TO n
trec--a fine old tree that had planted
as boy One of the limbs crossed tho
drive, and TO this they fastened the
rope and drove the horse away. leaving
my friend dangling there, and ! watch
ing the operation totally helpless, while
they were looking ON.
"Some United States troops finally
camo along and drove them off aud cut
tho body down. and we joined in the
chase. | hunted the gang for weeks
then gave 1t up. as it was evident that
they had given rs the slip After the
war | moved to California and came
here soon heard Of curious char
acter who lived up in ono of tho can
yons the life of hermit never con
nected his name with Conner ii being
moro or less common But when he
died one day the story was that he had
| had bad record back in Missouri that
he had been n murderer. etc. and II
occurred to mo that it might be my old
enemy. tho man had been after for so
many years
II emit say that | hayo n particu-
larly revengeful disposition. said tho
skeleton owner. "but he had murdered
my friend. and | had never given up
the hope Of finding him and was always
on the lookout Tho old fellow was
alone and homeless, it seems, with no
friends, and they had buried him by the
side of his hut / heard Of it few days
later and employed some men to aid
me in the investigation
Conner had bad saber wound
across the face, by which no one could
ever fail TO recognize him. and when
we opened the grave there was the
man. while Tapcrs which he left showed
that he was Conner had found him
too late to turn him over 10 tho law.
SO | proposed to hang him where
could keep an eye on him for the rest
Of my life. and in my will | propose tC
leave instructions that he shall be left
hanging. dangling in the wind. just
as he had hanged my friend Ind his
skeleton prepared. rs no one claimed
him. and hung him mp as warning to
any Of his seed that might follow in his
footsteps. x Chicago Inter Ocean
HOW He Explained.