The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1904-12-02

"Circumstantial Evidence" in your daily
edition of November 26. And not only
did I peruse it because of the interest
ing features of the story but because
my old and interesting friend, Judge
Severance, told it.
Judge Severance's narrative brings to
mind a series of thrilling Incidents merg-
ing at last into one great climax, which
transpired in Iowa in the late autumn
of the year 1882, and as "circumstan-
tial evidence" led to the lynching by a
mob of well known citizen, will tell
the story.
One dark, rainy night N the latter
part of October, in the year given above,
an old gentleman named VIM. McAlles
ter was brutality murdered in the door,
yard on his farm near Blakesburg, a
country hamlet in Wapello county, about
twelve miles distant from Ottumwa, the
county seat. He and his aged wife lived
there alone. According to his wife's
testimony, along in the night, some con-
siderable time after they had retired, the
old mans attention was attracted by a
peculiar noise outside of the house. He
arose to investigate and in doing so
stepped outside the door. Soon after
Mrs. McAllester heard conversation car
ried ON by some one in rather earnest but
suppressed tones. At last she got up
to go to her husband but before reach
ing him she noticed signs of scuffle and
heard sounds of blows. When she
reached the old man he was in the last
agonies of death, so near gone he was
unable to speak. He had been savagely
beaten over the head with a club, or
blunt weapon of some kind, and his skull
was later found to have been fractured
in two or three places. Mrs. McAllester
a few moments later heard some one
running across the barnyard and still
little later the splash of horses feet
trotting down the road to the north
ward.
Early the next morning neighbors and
county officials instituted a vigorous
search for the murderer. The only clue
they had for starter was the peculiar
tracks of horse which belonged to a
man named Pleasant Anderson who liv.
ed on farm one half mile north of the
McAllester place. This horse had a
crooked leg the foot of which toed out
ward so much that it was an easy mat
ter to trail him anywhere. His tracks
were found leading from his owners
farm up to the scene of the tragedy,
where, by the roadside near the barn, he
had been tied for time; then they led
back again to Anderson's home and into
the barnyard through a gate which open
ed onto the highway. Another semblance
of clue were prints in the mud in Me-
Allester's yard of No. 8 boot, the size
of shoe worn by Anderson.
The result was that within an hours
time after the funeral of the dead man
Anderson was arrested and charged with
the murder of McAllester. The entire
neiShbOrhoOd, almost was of the belief
that he was the guilty man. Yet, know
ing the suspect so well, if they had
stopped for moment to reason they
could have reached no other conclusion
than that man so well-posted and
shrewd as he was, had he been going
out on bloody expedition like the one
that inspires this sketch, he never would
have taken his own deformed horse to
blaze a trail that would lead to his
own detection. So shrewd Grim
inal hunter was Anderson that for
two years in the earlier days of Okla
homa he filled with credit the position
of deputy United States marshal in that
territory. He was brave and fearless
and though his general reputation was
a little shady he had never been known
to do anything very bad-nothing that
would bring him into very bad disrepute
or under the restraining influence of the
law.
Feeling was so intense against Ander-
son in his own county that when he
and his counsel began to prepare his de-
Tense they decided to take change of
venue from Wapello county to Mahaska
county and at Oskaloosa the trial came
off. After bitter legal fight which
continued for several days the case went
to the jury. That body after being out
but few hours returned verdict of
"Not Guilty"
Anderson went back to his home and
family-wife and three interesting chill
dren. The excitement and disgrace of
his recent experiences had wrought
heavily upon him and he had decided to
SELF his farm and seek home else
where where the surroundings of him
self, wife and children would not be
darkened by the shadow of gloom that
settled down over his Iowa home. He
was laying his plans to go away and
carrying them into execution as rapid
ly as he could
But one night in the dead of winter,
within three weeks after the trial at