Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1905-09-06

er brain, and this friend suggested Sc
curing the services of notary to take
the acknowledgements necessary to Sc
curing land under the patents. They
came to st. Louis and found the man
they wanted-a notary who liked his
liquor bit too we'll to ask too many
questions. The deeds based on the pat
ents were made and good business was
done in the sale of the lands until the
stock Of patents ran out. This pair dis
continued operations, but they opened
great field l saw that thousands of
these patents were available-never
mind how-and am ready to carry on
bushes on big scale"
Gut how can deed be made in 1872
or later so that it will look like it was
made dozen years before, when the pat
ents were issued?" cautiously asked the
other.
Take my word for it, the deeds issued
from these patents are as good as wheat
for commercial purposes. l have a
process that gives them a semblance Of
age that no one has ever questioned. In
short, it's market we want-nothing
else"
Might not the signatures to these
deeds be construed as forgeries
Possibly, although no one has ques-
toned them SO far But in order to pre-
vent any complication from that source
we can provide for the signing of the
documents in another state They can't
force witnesses across the state line"
Numerous other objections, designed
to test the security of the scheme rather
than to discourage the execution of it,
were offered by the visitor. Each was
met with comprehensive and plausible
answer, indicating that in all it's details
the plot had been subjected to the
scrutiny Of bright mind trained to the
consideration of legal technicalities
Before the men left the office they had
entered into hard and fast agreement
to carry out the plan proposed by the
MisSourian.
Robert T.. Lindsay, the president of
the Real Estate Loan and Trust COM
conversation in his private Office on the
night in question, was a man of in
creasing prominence in his state. He
was the son of James Lindsay, who had
located in st. Louis in 1884
Lindsay ST. became the editor of the
first free soil' paper published in Mis-
souri,, and was later sent to the legisla-
ture as a Benton democrat" During
the early days of the war, while Ulysses
S. Grant was recruiting the regiment
at the head of which he made his first
leaps toward military greatness, he
went TO Iron county, Mo-, in the south
east part of the state and became &C.
luainted with jams Lindsay, making
the latter's log house his headquarters
in the county.
Because am held to the dead level of
history in these narratives and not per.
mitted to indulge in the temptations to
flights of romance that constantly pre-
sent themselves, am here forced to call
attention to a trait in the character of
Grant that was in a great measure re-
sponsible fer the Missouri land thefts
In his sojournings at the Lindsay
home Grant conceived a strong personal
liking for his host, and after he was
elected president he appointed his
friend Lindsay pension agent at St.
Louis. To this trust Lindsay proved
recreant and was soon found $4,000
short in his accounts. This brought
about his removal from that office. but il
did not deter Grant from appointing him
registrar of the Ironton land office in
1877, just before his second term expired,
thereby indicating the bulldog con-
stancy with which the great military
genius chung to his old friendships
whether the objects of them were wor-
thy or not
Robert L. Lindsay, the son, inherited
many of the traits of his father. the
keenness of mind, geniality of manner
and, unfortunately, the shifty standard
of morals. The younger Lindsay was
educated in the law and had he centered
his energies on the practice of that pro-
fession along honorable lines he would
have attained place Of prominence
among lawyers. Instead he turned from
the law to real estate, and early in his
career began the development of the
most gigantic steal of the century. It
is around this swindle with Robert l..
Lindsay as the pivotal character, that
this bit of history turns.
This steal has passed into criminal
history under the title of the Missouri
Land League. The % men who were
convicted for this crime were the
pioneers in the science of government
land stealing on wholesale basis.
In my dealings with criminals have
always been disposed to throw heavier
mantle Of charity around the evil-doer
who, by birth. environment and lack of
opportunity for better things, has fol-
lowed criminal paths, than around the
well-bred, luxuriously nurtured thief
whose wrong-doing is contrary to. and
not because of, early trainingsor neces-
sity. Such crimes as these gigantic land
grabs, therefore, appeal to me as being
of a peculiarly vicious kind. and the
nrOcno11tinp of fha 0rr1prifC bol;o1vo a.