Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1911-03-28
MEN EMPLOYED TEARING DOWN
JAIL DISCOVER MlsslvEs
LONG WRITTEN
WRITES SWEETHEART
Prisoner Convicted Of Stealing Horses
From Con Lewis and Sent to the
Penitentiary Asked for Tools
to Break Out.

the old with new structure to cost
about $4,000, prisoner under the as
sumed name of Joe Bowers, asks his
lady friend to arrange for the sending
Of four gun barrel saws and rat tai
file with which he might effect de
livery from the then strong bastile
The letter, with another note from q
little child named Flossie Smith, both
written in 1868, was found by the men
tearing down the walls Of the old
structure.
Historic Letter.
/, The Bowers letter and the history II
unfolds reads like page from the
hidden past and shows that even in
the days when the boys in blue and
gray were at it, some fellows would
take horses belonging to others, bride
officers and attempt to break jail by
attacking the jailers. The writer who
signs the letter j. B. or Joe Bowers
stated in his testimony before the
grand jury that indicted him for at
tempting to bribe an officer and break
jail; that his right name was Jonathan
Sleeper. The letter was given the
press by Robert McMasters of the Of
tumwa Mill & Construction company,
who is keeping them as curios.
The history of the writer was OBJ
tanned through the courtesy Of Janitor
William Brady of the court house, who
with a Courier representative dug
through heap Of dusty documents in
the old files and records Of the district
court that have for long years been
locked away in the vault in the base
ment of the county building.
Case Is Reversed.
The story { f the crime for which the
writer Of the letter was afterward sent
to Fl. Madison penitentiary for four
years term of imprisonment, deals
with the theft of two horses from Con
Lewis, figure in the livery business
in the early days in Ottumwa, and the
owner of the once famous Lewis
opera house. The theft took place on
the night Of July 7, 1868, and when the
men accused Of the theft were found,
they were hidden in a brush thicket
some twenty miles from Ottumwa with
the horses tied there. The two men
were Joe Bowers and ]. Carver as
they appear in the records. In the
first trial of Bowers on the charge OF
larceny, he was found guilty by
jury composed of Edward Rockwell, A.
v. Stephens, John OBrien, John Il.
Weaver, Andrew Martin, Marshall
John Davidson, Richard
Jackson, B. J. Harmon, w. e. Moss
and John Alexander. Judge H. H.
Trimble sat upon the case and the
attorneys were Judges Hendershott
and Burton for the defendant and G. c.
Nourse attorney general, for the state.
Hugh NJ. Brown was the clerk Of court
and his deputy was D. F. Gaylord. The
verdict of the jury was guilty and the
value of the animals placed at 5000.
Five years sentence in the state peni-
Tertiary was melted out by the court
and the case appealed to the supreme
court June &c, 1854 The opinion from
the supreme court directing new
trial on charges not inconsistent with
those in the original case and revers-
ing the action of the lower court was
received September IL, 1864. The sec
ond case against Bowers dealt with at
tempting to bride Sheriff Allen M.
Bonnifield to whom $3.50 was offered il
he would set the prisoner free, and
with the attack Of Bowers on Jailer
Holmes who was caught in an I'M
guarded moment and but for the inter-
ference of another prisoner named
Johnson might have been overpowered
and a delivery effected.
Sent to Fl. Madison.
Among the records in the vault
dealing with the cases of Bowers, was
the receipt from Warden E. A. Layton
of the Fl. Madison penitentiary to
Sheriff G. A. Derby showing that Bow
ers was delivered to the state prison
for a term of four years by the coun-
ty sheriff December 16, 1864. The
Bowers letter is reproduced in full as
follows:
September the II, '63.
Miss E. j. Parsons.
1t is the first day their is man
leaves the Jail today and mails this
letter for me. So they wont get to
read it here. Now I am in trouble, to
think must stay here, can that be,
EN-? What is the reason that your
father has promised to come and see
me so often and has not done it. EN-,
now then if you can get him to come
for yours and my sake do it or we will
never meet. If stay here for can't
live it out I have been sick for the
last month. If you do not care for me
do nothing for me. If you still keep
your word do the best you can for me.
When l ask myself, Must l stay here
and die, Oh God. EN- you don't know