Watertown leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1909-1911, 1909-07-23
SCOUR SHORE
IN SEARCH FOR
MISSING JUDGE
AUTOMOBILE PARTIES FROM KENO
SHA HURRY FROM TOWN
TO TOWN.
GLENCOE GIVES ONE CLUE.
Leading Wisconsin Lawyer Believed As
phasia Victim, for He Disap-
peared Before.
MIND A BLANK MANY WEEKS.

KENOSHA, Wis, July 2O-[Spe-
cial.l-A red hot clue which may lead
to the discovery of the whereabouts of
Judge Joseph II. Clarkson was received
in Kenosha this morning in a telephone
message from Glencoe, Ills, which de-
clarcd that a man answering the descrip-
ton Of the judge who has been missing
from mere since last Wednesday night
had been seen there late Monday after
noon.
This was in keeping with other mes
sages received from several places along
the lake shore which gave the impression
that the missing man was somewhere in
that part Of the country and that he was
unconscious of his movements or his
identity. In every place where he is al
legged TO have been seen he made small
purchases of food and this seems to indi-
cate that he is spending his time in the
open country outside of the cities and
only going into them when the pangs of
hunger demand.
In Court Wednesday.
Mr.. Clarkson tried case in a Keno
Sha court on Wednesday afternoon and
seemed to be in the best Of health and
spirits. His wife was out of the city,
having gone to Minneapolis on an auto
mobile trip several days before and
Judge ClarksOn was staying at the fam
lily restd ence. On Wednesday evening
he left home and, meeting some friends.
stated that he was going TO 4 meeting
Of the Knights of Pythias. He did not
30 TO the lodge meeting, but later in the
evening appeared at his office, where he
held a long conference with District At
torney Baker. 1t was just after o o'clock
when the business was concluded and the
former judge picked up his hat and with
= pleasant Good night, partner" started
for his home.
Search Woodlands in Vain.
The woodland about Kenosha was
searched on Saturday and Sunday, but
no trace was found. Mr.. ClarkSOn is of
q deeply religious nature. and it is the
opinion of his wife that he wandered
away while in deep religious thought
and that he is still wandering STEPPED in
meditation.
This disappearance of Mr.. Clarkson
recalls his strange actions while resi-
dent Of Omaha in 1891 and furnishes a
possible clew for n solution. At that
time he had Just resigned as Judge of
the district court and was member of
the law firm Of COngdon, Clarkson q
Hunt He had returned from a trip
through the Black Hills and one night
announced to his associates that he was
going for a brief fishing trip to Honey
Greek lake, in northern Iowa. That war
the last seen of him by Omaha people
for four months.
He next was seen by "Pop" CrandaIl.
the boathOuse keeper at the lake, when
he arrived at the camp carrying a bun
die. One night he told CrandaIl he was
going for a dip in the lake. He did not
return, and next morning CrandaI dis
covered a boat out in the lake and the
clothes, money and watch of the former
Judge on the waters edge.
Case Was Great Mystery.
Word that Mr.. Clarkson had been
drowned was telegraphed TO Omaha and
became the sensation of the day. A
large searching party was organized and
hurried to the lake. For days the lake
was dragged and the searchers, hands
locked and in a long line, tramped the
shadows III search of the body The
newspapers teemed with the mystery for
several weeks, and only one person
seemed inclined to doubt that Mr. Clark
son had been drowned.
This person gathered evidence that
the missing man had bought two suits of
cheap clothes before leaving Omaha,
that he had purchased railroad ticket
at Missouri Valley, and that a barber at
Logan, Ia. had shaved off his beard.
The disappearance was made a political
issue between rival newspapers before
II was placed among the unsolved mys-
teries of the city.
Dramatic Return.
. Finally one day in the autumn Clark
son reappeared in Omaha. His return
produced almost as great a sensation as
his disappearance. He declared simply,
that he had lost his identity for four
months. during which time he was.
known as Bart Doolittle. In telling of
the incident he stated he had worked in
n lumber yard for some time, and one
night he went with a number of the oth1
or laborerS to cigar store in Clintont
Ia and noticed on the wall a motto,i
s'There is no place like home" This
seemed to awaken his faculties and hei
began to wonder where his home was.
He pici1ed up a paper on the floor.
and one of the first articles he saw was
in reference to his disappearance He
jumped to his feet, and, waving the pa
per. shouted to the men in the store
II am Joe GARRISON" He left at once
for Omaha.
a Fear Another Lapse of Memory
The striking similarity between his.
leaving Omaha and his departure from.
Kenosha has led his friends here to-
believe that he has suffered another
lapse of memory and that in time he will
recover his faculties and return to ke5
nosha.
Mr.. Clarkson has been living in KeL
nosha for the last two years and in
that time has been prominent in many
lines of work. He was graduated from
Yale in the early '7Os with high honors.
and was noted as an athlete. After
leaving college he came to Chicago,'
where he engaged in the practice of laws
He went to Kenosha in 1879 and was
associated with James Cavanagh in the
practice of law. \ few years later he
went to Omaha, Neb.. where he was
elected judge of the district court.
Later he became interested in Chris
tian Science and was made one Of the
leading lecturers of the Christian Sci
ence church. He became involved in a
celebrated controversy with Mary Baker
G. Eddy. The published defense of Mr..
Clarkson when he retired from the lee
ture board and the church attracted wide
attention.
He returned to the Episcopal church
and was the lay reader at st. Matthews
church in Kenosha. He is president
of the Kenosha Lincoln club and an
ardent supporter of Senator La Toilette
in Wisconsin.
2 Improve Merrill Line