Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-09-13
MRS. THOMPSON'S LETTER
In Which She Shows That Douglass
Is Not the Murderer.

The Journal has received the follow
ing letter from Mrs. T. c. Thor pson
OF South Fayette. the Journals reg
ular correspondent from that place,
regarding the arrest of Isaac Douglass
of Bowdoinham in connection with the
murder of Olive Broad ut Cornish, Aug.
90. Mrs. Thompson was very reluct-
ant to have her name used in the case
but her sense of justice and her alb
solute knowledge that Douglass was
working on that day on her own farm
lead her to write as follows:
Considering that Bowdoinham is q
small country place. 1t would indeed
seem a strange coincidence if there
should be two men by the name of
Isaac Douglass from that town, both
embodying the same personal habits
and traits of character. Seeing the
name of Isaac Douglass as the man
now held at Saco under suspicion of
killing Miss Olive Broad. on tire 10Th
of last month. brought to mind the fol-
lowing circumstances which occurred
here at that time:
Saturday morning. Aug. 16, 1902, be-
tween the hours of and o'clock. as
the writer was crossing the yard
saw man approaching the house. He
WAS a stranger. Never having seen him
before | babe him good morning, to
which greeting he made reply, followed
by the question: DO your folks want
to hire man to work." To me he APP
peared much past the age of heavy
manual labor required by farm work.
so I asked him what he could do. and
ANY kind of farm work. was the an
swer.
A day or two previous ] had over
heard my husband make the remark
that he would like to employ a boy to
cut bushes in the pasture, and as at
this time he was absent from home. |
told the old gentleman that if he was
locking for work. he might stay around
the premises until the return of my
husband.
| did not think the man had the ap-
Dearance of a professional tramp he
looked more like one of the inmates of
some charitable institution for aged
and INDECENT who had escaped or wan
dered away. The following is an ac-
curate description as 1 remember him:
Age, so years or better; height, feet,
about or ) inches; shoulders rounded
or hunched. think the right one was Il
little lower than the left: he had rather
a good shaped head, which was bald;
face was large, did not call it red, it
was tanned and weatherbeaten but not
f1orid: hair was dark and mixed with
grey; eyes small and squinted. color
hazel. at times looked dark; wore a
rather sandy moustache; face covered
with several days growth of beard.
partially grey: hands very large; fin
gers blunt at ends and from appear
ances of hands would think he had
done some considerable hard work; did
not note the palms to see if they bore
evidences of labor.
His feet were large and incased in
pair of nearly if not new pair of shoes:
quite sure they We're of Congress make.
On his head he wore a winter cap of
dark wool. made with visor The cap
had not seen much wear. He told me
that the cap was given to him by his
sister at Portland. it being given to
her by the wife of a man who had for
merly been a neighbor, but was now
deceased He also stated that when
given to him the cap was trimmed with
FUR. but he had removed it, as lit looked
too warm for the summer
He wore a dark cotton shirt. Think
ii was black with a pencil stripe Of
white. but am not certain about the
stripe. Had second shirt. carried it
done up in a paper-covered parcel. His