The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1906-01-19
James Con!ey, a Half Breed,
Dies Very Suddenly.
SLIGHT EVIDENCE OF SUICIDE
Had Worked in the City But Few
Months; Former Confederate
Soldier and Scout.
From Saturdays Daily.

From Saturdays Daily
James Conley was found dead in bed
i'll his room at the Ryan House, on
Main street, at $50 o'clock this morn
ing, by the proprietor, Thomas Ryan.
The cause of his death is not definitely
known, but there is some reason to be-
lieve that it was a case of suicide. Con-
ley was half breed Indian, coming from
one of the tribes located in New York.
and had lived in Mankato only a few
months.
When Mr.. Ryan called his boarders at
the usual hour, Conley failed to answer,
as was his invariable custom, and Mr..
Ryan got lamp and investigated. He
found the man lying dead in bed He
then summoned some of the boarders
who were at breakfast, and they found
that this was so, and sthat the body
still had some warmth. Conley had been
heard breathing hard shortly after five
o'clock. He had evidently been taken
sick at his stomach, as he lay with his
head over the side of the bed, and a
vessel underneath, and froth was no.
ticed coming from his mouth and nose.
Mr. Ryan at once notified Coroner
Kennedy, who made an investigation and
ordered the remains removed to the I'M
dertaking rooms of John Klein & Co. In
one of the pockets of the mans cloth
ing were found two hard white mineral
substances, hard as marble. Mr.. Ken
nedy exhibited these to druggist, who
pronounced them deadly poison, two
grains being sufficient to cause DEATH
Not very much is known about Con-
ley. Mr.. Ryan states that he first
came to Mankato last June or July and
worked two months at his trade of horss
sheer at L. II. Foley's shop. Then n
went to Beresford, n. d., remaining
there two months, and returning to Man
katO in November, since which time In
had been working steadily in John
Dougherty's shop. He came to Man
kato originally from Sioux Falls, S. d.,
where he had lived for six or seven
years with family named Dougherty.
He had life insurance policy running
to little girl named Tessy Dougherty,
"a member of a Sioux Falls family,
He also carried accident insurance with
the Woodman's Mutual Casualty com.
pany OF Minneapolis.
The deceased was born Nov. 9th, l847
He was a confederate soldier during tbs
civil war, and afterwards was scout
in the employ of the government, and
served during the Apache war. He was
a single man, and stated to friends
that he had no relatives that he knew of.
He was a large, strong appearing man,
| with Jet black hair and mustache. He
drank good deal, but was generally
well, except that lately he had comEIlin-
ed of stomach trouble. He quit work
suddenly Thursday noon, saying that he
was going to leave. Mr. Dougherty was
short of help and Conley agreed to re-
main at higher wages. He did not work
that afternoon, but sat around the shop.
| Yesterday he was not feeling well, and
did very little, but when he left at sup
per time he said that he thought that
! he would be all right this morning and
would be on hand. He ate a good sup
per and went to bed at $3.50 o'clock,
as was his custom. He had been drink
| inc a little more than usual this week,
spending nearly all of his money for Ii
quor, and he seemed somewhat despond-
ent last evening.
Mr.. Conley claimed to have 100 acres
of land somewhere in Iowa. He was
generous to fault, friendly, and was.
well liked by those who were associat-
ed with him.
The remains will be held while an eff
fort is made to locate any relatives.
Coroner Kennedy has decided not to
hold an inquest. The substance which
he found is what blacksmiths use to
harden tools, and while deadly poison
it is frequently carried by those in
this trade.
! A young man at the Ryan House
last evening saw Conley take something
from little box, place it in his vest
pocket and throw the box away. He
thought nothing of it at the time, un-
til it was limited that the man might
have committed suicide.
| Coroner Kennedy is satisfied that Con-
ley committed suicide. The coroner found
a quantity of cyanide of potash in the
mans clothing, and from evidence at
hand is convinced that Conley ate some
of it. Cyanide of potash is used by
blacksmiths to sharpen their tools.