Evening star., 1909-06-04
PlUhGER OLD CONVICT
POSED AS MILLIONAIRE AND
Welded PRETTY GEORGIAN.
Caught With Bride in Automobile
Running Away From Exposure
as q Fraud.

| BA1NBRIDGE. Ga. June "A. D. Oil
yer. banker. lavish investor in stocks and
| lands, and reputed multimillonaire. who
| duped Georgia citizens out of thousands
| of dollars and married one of the pref
tieSt young women in the state. has been
identified positively as an escaped convict
with an uneXpired term of eleven years
hanging over his head.
The identification was made by Sheriff
T. o. Jones of Aberdeen county, Miss,
and came as climax to the arrest of Oil
yer several days ago when he was fleeing
with his young bride in an automobile.
Sheriff Jones, the moment he saw the
ex-banker in Jail, positively declared that
the prisoner was a fugitive from the Mis-
souri, penitentiary, where he was known
as Charles Harding.
Escaped Last December.
The sheriff said that Harding was ar
rested in Aberdeen county, Miss, May 30.
1905, and remained in Jail under various
charges for several weeks. finally being
convicted on all counts brought against
him. He escaped from the penitentiary
December 81. 1908.
Several days after this escape Oliver
appeared in this section. penniless. but in
a short time was reputed to be worth mil
lions and began buying several banks
sawmills and property throughout the
| whole state.
| Oliver became famous in a few weeks
for his always ready reply to all pro-
| posals:
III take 1t. just wrap it up
This applied to land, houses and stocks
and everything that was purcha asable. He
| had the reputation of never refusing to
trade, and he always paid small proper
| tion in cash, insisting that the seller de-
posit the money in one of his many banks
Thus the endless chain continued until
divers trades mounted into the hundreds
of thousands.
I He purchased automobiles at wholesale
and prodigally gave them right and left
to his newly made friends. He built many
fine houses and the whole country stood
aghast at his supposed wealth and Ma
poleontc business ventures.
Welded to Wealthy Girl.
| Oliver found time to court Miss Rose
English, daughter of a prominent family,
| and married her. giving her diamonds
worth $4,000 as wedding present
He lived like a prince and spent money
| lavishly upon his young bride. He es-
tablished elegant stables and bought
blooded horses and almost weekly added
to his stock of automobiles.
His undoing came when a check for
| $4,000 given to an Albany contractor was
| returned unpaid. Then the people be-
came suspicious and his arrest followed
| his flight in an automobile with his BRIDE
When Oliver was arrested 1t is said the
/ body of his automobile was half filled
| with currency in bills of large denomina-
tfons. wrapped in bundles in newspapers.
| Immediately following his arrest he suf-
| fered a collapse and was released on bail.
| as his mental condition appeared to be
| serious. Additional warrants were issued
and he was again placed in Jail. The
| four banks bought by Oliver, 1t is de-
clared. have been looted.
| He is not only wanted in Mississippi
where he has eleven years to serve in the
penitentiary, but also in Atlanta and Bir-
mingham by the federal authorities II is
| declared he has served a term in the Ohio
penitentiary for obtaining diamonds under
| false pretenses. 1t is said also that he
| has three other wives.