The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-04-21


ing for his release, and the Kansas
sheriff and judge who arrested and sem
fenced him were on the side OF mercy.
The first letter on file in this case was
from the prosecuting attorney of Mar
shall county who gave the history of
Hogan's crime and advised against
clemency in this case. 1t seems that
Hogan was travelling through Marshall
county in wagon with an immoral
woman for whom he acted as the agent.
The pair met another man and woman
travelling by wagon and engaged In the
same low business. The man Massey
with the other wagon was nick-named
"Scotty" The two parties pitched their
camps together by the roadside and
some time during the evening Hogan
and "Scotty" got into quarrel over a
| horse trade. The men did not come
to blows and the next morning the out
| through some accident of fortune, or
perhaps led on by his fate, "Scotty
again pitched his camp alongside the
Hogan wagon. Visitors came and in
| the meantime the quarrel between the
| two men was renewed. Hogan seized
| his gun and shot 'Scotty' to death
| The witnesses at the trial test1hed that
| * was coldblooded murder and both
women testified against Hogan. declar-
| ing that he was of a brutal and vicious
disposition. Hogan pleaded guilty TO
manslaughter in the first degree ana
was sentenced to the limit of the law:
The Marshall county attorney wound
M his letter as follows: 81 looked upon
Hogan as a coldblooded murderer who
should have been sent UP for life. he
lis, l believe, as bad character as L
ever sent to the penitentiary during my
| Is years service as county attorney.
With this story of the crime, cou-
pied with his occupation and the tes-
| timony of his women companions 1t
was hard to see where Hogan had
chance for clemency, but the other
| letters on file put different aspect
| on the case The attorney who de-
Tended Hogan in the trial wrote urg-
| ing leniency He declared that "Scot-
| tyr had bad name himself and had
threatened Hogan's life; that the wo-
men in the wagons were both in love
unable to secure his witnesses for the
trial. The sheriff of Marshall county
| threw his influence to the side or mer-
cy and offered to give Hogan a job
and look after his parole. Then came
the list of letters from Des Moines,
Ia. Hogans old home, and they told
story of a hardworking, honest man
of good repute, who had cared for his
aged parents until he got married:
who had worked hard and provided
for his family. Then the wife ran
away and left the husband with two
little girls to care for. Hogan made
his first mistake then. Instead OF
carrying his cross up the hill. he left
the girls with his parents and went
| away to live a wandering. aimleSs hfe
He fell in with evil company, like
| they all do, and wound up as a muir
derer in that degraded camp by the
public road in Marshall county. He
had only been with the woman in the
wagon for three months when he fired
upon "Scotty.'
Childish Appeal Succeeds.
Then came letters written in child
feI haD ne
girls. One was being cared for in
Catholic school of Mercy and the 9TH
er was living with friendly family
in a nearby town. The old mother is
in the poorhouse. The girls drew a
different picture of this monster de-
scribed by the stern county attorney
To him he is their dear papa, who
had always been a good man until
mamma run away. Won't you please
let him go free so he can come home
and take care of US and grandma. I
would give my life for his freedom.
| What more can 1 do. L want to see
him, oh, bad, and I know he will
be good like he was here II you will
let him come back. / don't know
very we'll what he did in Kansas, but
it must have been awful bad to send
him to prison. But he will be good
here if you will let him come and
take care of sister and 1 and grand
ma"
/ The picture of the brutal man in
the camp of thes carlet women. with
a smoking gun in his hand and his
victim lying at his feet is altogether
different when seen from another
Il point of view. impossible as the theory
may appear to be. To the little girls
up in Iowa he is their dear. good pa
| pa" and to reputable citizens up there
he is "a hardworking, decent man
who had fallen in with evil compan-
ions" In his circle of friends and
role Twas in 4@%A
is different man from the Hogan of
the Marshall county highway. Maybe
he will make good up in Iowa in spite
Of his terrible record in Kansas. Who
knows? Today he was given the
y chance, and who is there at this time