The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-08-27
ACCUSER OF MRS. LEDBETER Il
NOW AN APT STUDENT.
Under the Instructions of J. A. Arm
strong He Is Learning to Read
and Write; Tells the History of
His Life; Never Saw the Inside
of School; Mothersless at Four
Years of Age.
From Thursdays Daily.


to read and write, accomplishments to
which he has heretofore been stran-
ger j. A. Armstrong, one of the
prisoners, is assisting him and acting
as tutor, and others have also taken
an interest and supplied him with
a primer and slate. He puts in the
greater part of the time working away
He can read short and easy senten-
and has made considerable progress.
ces, and make his letters fairly good.
He stated to the reporters this after
noon that he takes the slate and book
to bed with him, and when he wakes
up during the night he works with
them.
Added a New Feature.
Smith added one new feature to the
case against Mrs. Ledbeter today, when
he stated that in addition to the re-
quests that she had made to poison
her husband she had last spring asked
him to throw her husband from the
top of ladder. This ladder was on
or near the barn and was about thirty
feet high, and Mrs. Ledbeter wanted
him to throw her husband from the
top of It.
Smith gave complete history of
his life. He said that he was born at
Pittsburg, Pa, thirty-one years ago
last March. His parents were both
Germans, and were born in Berlin,
On Int
affiliated with any church, attending
the church that his employers did, no
matter what it was.
Never Attended School.
Smith said that his mother died
when he was four years old, and his
stepmother was cross. He never saw
the inside of a school house. When
he was old enough to work his father
put him to work at his own trade of
truck gardener. He had one brother,
Joe, who now has farm in Winnie
bago county, Iowa, an done sister,
Mrs. Schultz of Cleveland, Ohio His
sister and brother learned to read and
write of the people that they worked
iOi. lHcH ldlHcI Isl HOW ucdQ.
Worked Around Considerable.
When Frank was twenty-one or
twenty-five years, old, he moved with
his family to Cleveland, Ohio, and re-
manned there four years, and then he
struck out for himself, firing of gar
dening. He went to Newport, Ind,
and worked in stone quarry for a
year and half. Then he went to
Menfeld, Pa, and worked two years
for the Pittsburg Chicago Gas com
pany, loading coal cars. He then
concluded to 60 west, and went to Chi
cago, where he spent three days, and
thence to Davenport, Iowa, where he
remained over night Then he went to
Stockton, Iowa, and worked two months
in the country for a farmer named
Henry PaulsOn. Then he worked five
months for farmer named Herman
Tiese. He quit Aug. l, two years ago,
and started for North Dakota, where
he heard there was plenty of work
and big pay. He got to Minneapolis
and then went to Hopkins and to
Chanhassen, where he Joined Mil
waukee railway camp that was doing
grading. He worked there all the fall,
and moved with the camp to Or
tonville.
His Acquaintance With Garner.
1t was while in the railroad camp
that Smith became acquainted with
Bill Garner, and when the camp dis
banded they went to Minneapolis, ex-
pecting to ship to the pineries, but
failed to get employment from
the employment offices, and de-
clded to come to Mankato, as
Garner had worked around here before
and said that there was plenty of
work chopping wood. They reached
Faribault Thanksgiving night, fall be-
fore last, and remained one day and
then came to Mankato. On Saturday
following they applied to I. r. Cough
Ian for work and were promised a Job
cutting wood, to begin three days
later. They afterwards visited the
Stahl House and there met Patrick
McTighe, who hired them to go to
work at once.
Smith chopped wood on the McTighe
farm until it was sold to Ledbeter
in February, 1908. and then went
to work for Ledbeter The subse-
quent events are known.
Smith stated that Mrs Ledbeter be.
gan to take fancy to him within
a short time after his arrival, but
it was two or three months before he
realized her object. He said that she
was accustomed to use the axe. chop
ping her own kindling wood, and was
stronger than her appearance indicates.
She could handle horses better than he
could
What McGetrick Says.
Martin McGetrick, who worked for
the Ledbeters at Redwood Falls. and
farm since Mrs. Ledbeter's ar
rest stated yesterday that Mrs. Led
better is one of the best horse women
that he knows. He thinks that she has
few equals. At Redwood Falls she had
a stylish horse that could step the
track in less than three minutes, and
she cut swell appearance. He said
that other women, who could not have
such fine turnout, got jealous of her
and began to talk abOut her He no.