The Savannah morning news., 1902-01-24


White House, N j. Jan. 21.-"The
Pidcocks always did kind of like to
keep their money is about all that
White House has to say about it,
White House never goes very far in
criticism of the PideoclI family. To
find why the people of this village are
so careful it is necessary to consult the
town and county records.
The present occasion for the remark
as to the conservatism of the Pidcocks
about letting money escape from the
family circle is the filing of John Falks
Pidcock's. will for probate. The viii
leaves $1,000 to the testator's loving
and faithful wife, jeanette Davis Pid-
cock, and after few other requests
of trifing character leaves the resid-
uary estate, amounting to S10O,OO0 or
more, to Mr.. Pldccck's beloved sister,
Nellie. MIR. Pidcock died on Ian II,
week ago Saturday, after an illness
CT two months. He was married to
jeanette Davis just before he became
ill. She married him, against the pro-
tests of her father and the rest of the
family, when he was about to submit
TO serious operation. She nursed him
all through his illness until his death.
Now folks would like to know whether
she is going to sue for what the neigh
borhood ventures to believe cher rights
Curiosity on this point was suppressed
until to-day, when it was learned that
MI. Pldcocks two surviving brothers
/ and the inheriting sister had gone
South for an indefinite stay.
To-day people have gone so far as IN
do some of their guessing out loud
Before the Pidcocks have been gone
ten days 1t may be that some one will
even pluck up courage enough to ask
squire Davis, the widows father, what
ne and his daughter are going TO do
about it. But there is no use. accord
ing to general public opinion, in being
In too much of a hurry about these
Things. "A fellow can't always tell lust
where the Pidcocks are, anyway.
Nelson Pidcock. the father of the
present generation of the family. was
one or the notable figures in Hunterdon
county politics and finance in his day
he was Congressman from this district
Either through his acquaintance at the
National Capital or through relatives
living in the South he became inter
ested in the pine lumber business in
georgia. He went to Moultrie Ga.
ana was prominent in the organization
OF the Quitman Lumber Company The
concern required considerable capital.
No small part of it came from the
Somerset County Bank of Somerville.
Congressman Pidcock was director of
the bank. A few years ago the bank
went down. The receiver, William
Johnson, made a trip to Georgia to
see what security the bank had loaned
It's money on. When he came back
ne made such a report that the bank
tried to make Nelson Pidcock respon-
slble for the Quitman Lumber Com
pany's paper, which he had indorsed.
The old gent1emanawent into bankrupt
cy. thorough search was made for
moneys which some suspicious persons
were sure he had, but no trace of it
was ever found. ale died about two
years ago and left his wife the old
family homestead and an allowance of
$lOO month for life. she had been
married to him so long" said White
| house, that she. was almost one of
the family" sp
The sons have done we'll in a worldly
way since their fathers death. Long
before Nelson Pidcock died. John Falks
Pidcock had been the president of the
Rockaway Valley Railroad, which runs
from White House to Morristown. This
railroad had only one engine. but that
sufficed for the traffic for a long time
Less than ten years ago a new engine
was bought, a thoroughly modern pro-
duct of American skill and ingenuity
The manufacturers were rather proud
of ii. One day when one of their agents
went out to the Rockaway Valley Rail-
road to see the engine. he couldn't find
it. Nobody knew where it had gone.
There was a long hunt for it, and at
last it was reported that the engine
had been found in Quitman county,
Georgia While the search was going
on John Quitman went away. So far
as his neighbors knew he did not re-
turn to Hunterdon county or to the
state until last fall. His return caused
no little excitement in the community.
He was treated with all the more re-
spect when 1t was learned that he had
built the Georgia and Northern Rail-
road, a line fifty-one miles long, from
Pidcock Gas the site of the Quitman
Lumber Company's business Is now
called to Carlisle, Ga.
1t was also learned that he had been
married in the South to a woman of
aristocratic family and a Roman Cath
Ole. This kept White House people
busy going down to Somerville to talk
they never talk about the Pidcocks in
White House, there are too many
little birds around. None of the Pid-
cocks had ever been a Roman Catholic.
The first Mrs. Pidcock died two years
after her marriage.
Meanwhile James Pidcock had been
suffering all sorts Of impositions in
Hunterdon county. One of the negro
employees was insulted in a White
House barroom one Saturday night
three years ago, and ran home and
told his master about it. James went
out with the negro. and telegraph
lneman named James Kane was point
ed out to him as the one who had in
suited the negro. There was a fight,
and Kane was shot so that he died
a few days afterward. The negro es-
capped. Pidcock said that the negro
did the shooting. The case was taken
before the grand jury and that body
refused to indict Pidcock. The grand
jury was rebuked by the court and the
next grand jury indicted him. He was
tried and acquitted. In the course of
the proceedings an attempt was made
to inspect the minutes of the first
grand jury The county clerk, after
some pressure. said that he could not
give up the minutes because he did
not have them. He had sent them to
James Pidcock, he said. when the jury
was dismissed. The negro was ar
rested down South last year and was
brought back for trial and acquitted
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