Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-03-02
Bank Robber Comes to an At
lantic Preacher to Make
Startling Confession
4E LED A LIFE OF CRIME
One Night His Mother, Who Had Been
Dead for Fifteen Years Appeared to
Him and Begged Him to Reform
Unable to Shake Off tho Influence of
the Apparition.

Atlantic, March "A. confession OF
having committed all manner of crime
from petit larceny ito bank and train
robbery in all parts of the civilized
world, all manner Of crime. with the
possible exception of murder, is what
Methodist Episcopal church, listened to
from the mouth of a stranger, the other
morning.
The fellow appeared at the parsonage
ut 3 o'clock in the morning accompan-
led by an Atlantic boy, who went with
him from 81 local restaurant to show
him the way. He started to tell his
story then, but the minister, thinking
him drunk or possessed, temporarily.
with some hallucination, asked him to
return at 9 o'clock in the morning.
The fellow was there promptly at Q
O'Clock and told u story practically as
follows.
A Career of Crime.
He said that for twenty years or more
he had been professional crook and
had piled his trade in all parts of the
world. He told Of number of crimes
he had committed and said that two
of his former pals had been hanged for
crime and that he had himself served
time in the penitentiary. One of his
pals, whose name he gave as Rea, was,
he said, hanged in Nebraska during
the term of Governor Sage. He said
that while working with an organized
nf which, hn member he
had come to Atlantic and that plans
were being laid for bank robbery
here, but did not state which bank,
that before coming here he was at
Avoca and that one night his mother,
who has been dead for fifteen years,
appeared to him as natural as life.
spoke to him as she was wont to do
when he was an innocent child, and
then begged him to change his ways,
to live better life, to abandon his life
of lawlessness and be a man.
For two weeks he said that he had
tried to rid himself Of the worry caus-
ed by this appearance, that he had
drunk and caroused to cause him to
forget, but that he found it impossible
to drive it from his mind, and that he
now wanted to start in on a new life,
and that was his mission with the
preacher.
He gave the name of Jay Ernest
Gresham, but told Rev. Inglefritz 1t
was assumed. He also told of numer-
Gus aliases under which he had worked
and finally gave what he claimed to be
his right name. He claimed to be
native Of Tennessee. He told Rev.
Inglefritz that he would probably go
from here to ST. Louis where he hoped
to get honest employment and make
such reparation as he found possible in,
the future life for the crimes he had
committed in the past.
Seemed Highly Educated.
The fellow had benin town about a
week, staying at the private boarding
house of Mrs. w. N. Bates. He acted
the part of highly educated gentle
man and seemed to have plenty of
money paying voluntarily so cents per
week more than the regular price.
He claimed to be a spiritualist and
gave demonstrations once or twice that
proved to Mrs. Bates, who is a spir-
itualist, that he was a medium. At
the boarding house he gave it out that
he was a collector for the Aultman
Miller company. AT various places
about town he told that he was COL
lector for an insurance company, a COL
lector of bad debts, a fruit tree sales
man and various other things.
On Friday afternoon he claimed to be
going to Council Bluffs, but returned
to the boarding house at o'clock in
the evening, stating he had got as
far as AyOca where he had been drug
ged and robbed of $500 and a fine
watch. That was the night that he
first went to the Inglefritz home.
Saturday night he dropped out of sight
and nothing has since been heard of
him.
He was about 40 years old, about six
feet tall, and had but one eye, the left
being missing. He wore a pair of gold
trimmed spectacles.