Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-07-19
A STRANGE LII E
MISS MARY DoWNEy, PUBLIC Ii.
BRARIAN, TELLS OF THE
IMMORTAL j. NJ"
Had Passes on All Roads, Many Of
Them Good Until Doomsday"-His-
tory Is Pathetic one-caIled Him.
self "The Apostle of Truth"


"One of the strangest characters,
who by reason of their strangeness,
has ever gained prominence in the
history Of the American continent, was
the Immortal j. NJ Free. who passed
away the last of last month" said Miss
Mary Downey, librarian Of the Ottum-
wa public library to a representative
of the Courier
Free, who was known from east to
west and from north to south, died
June 81, in the Ohio State hospital for
the insane at Toledo. He was beyond
all doubt insane but his insanity was
of the most unusual kind Miss Down
ey knew the immortal when she was
but child, and in recent interview
talked most Interestingly of her re-
membrance of him.
She said: Probably the most nota.
BILE thing about j. NJ was his ab.l-
1ty to travel over nearly all railroads
and stop at many hotels, without ever
paying cent. For many years one of |
his most priceless possessions was a |
pass reading The Immortal j. N, pass
him forever. Good on all roads from
now until doomsday.'
He at this time carried passes on
almost all the roads in the country.
His pockets were full of passes. Dur
ing later years of his life, however,
these were curtailed, and this fact,
coupled with his declining strength,
did not allow him to travel in the ex-
tensive manner that he did during
those earlier years.
~. "Lifting the Veil"
Even from the days Of my child
hood remember him when he used to
come to my home city. He then would
speak of lifting the veil,' meaning that
both sides on any national question
were wrong and that it was his mis-.
sion as an apostle of truth to clear
their vision so that they might see
Alright
Many stories are told of him. One
of the most common and well known is
that Of the hotel keeper, who, after ..
NJ had asked for his bill, said, Well,
seeing it's you and seeing it's me,
will knock off half of it, Free drew
himself erect and said, Well madam,
seeing it's you and seeing it's me,
will knock off the other half
Zone little, known story, but one
which / am assured is true, Is that Of
his walking pass from Newark, O., to
Columbus. Having failed to secure a
pass over this road Free went to the
president and demanded pass, as the
Apostle of Truth After he became
importunate, the official, in order to
rid himself of his unwelcome visitor,
wrote pass which read something
like this: Good for one walking pas.
sage for the Immortal ]. N. from New
ark to Columbus
The Pass Was Good.
Gree boarded the train and when
the conductor told him that the pass
was good only for walking, replied that
he had been walking from one end Of
the car to the other and that as long
as he kept on walking the pass was
good. And so it was For a long time
afterward that pass remained good for
the passage but on all such trips Free
never failed to walk back and forth
the entire length Of the car during the
journey"
The history of this strange man de.
scribed by Miss Downey is in truth a
pathetic one. His mind was early
wrecked. AS boy and young man he
possessed brilliant mental attainments
4 far superior to the youth of his neigh
borhood and it was often said around
4 the stoves in the country stores Of the
village of McCutcheonsville, near
which place he was born, that the fu-
ture had many honors in store for ia
cob N. Free. Every advantage was
given him in the way of education. He
attended an academy and carried off
the honors of his class. Later he stud.
led law and was admitted to the bar,
entering into the practice Of his pro-
i fession.
J. Loses His Reason.
There are several stories as to the
circumstances that led to the dethrone-
ment of his reason. Probably the true
story is that it occurred after the close
of murder trial in which he was the
attorney for the accused. j. N. believ-
ed implicitly that his client was inno-
cent and he entered with all his ener-
gies into the defense.
i For several weeks before the trial
took place he worked continuously in
the preparation of the testimony and
the law points that would come up at
its hearing. Inc trial lasted a week and
during that time Free worked assid-
! uously, and long into the night, giving
himself scarcely time to sleep. His
speech, the closing one for the defense,
was masterpiece Of eloquence. When
he had finished, tired and worn out, he
went to his hotel to lie down and sleep.
I After having slept for a couple of
hours he was awakened by knock at
: the door.
1 It was his client, who walked into
his room and announced that the jury
J, had brought in verdict Of not gull.
|, ty." The man had hurried to Free to
thank him for saving his life. Then in
!, moment of grateful confidence the
J, client admitted to Free that he was
guilty. The lawyer, indignant and ex.
cited, rushed out of the room to notify
the judge of the terrible mistake that
| i .