Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-05-30
CONVICTION
AS SWINDLER IS
A 25-YEAR GHOST
Letter From Man Imprisoned
and Pardoned Reaches the
Loser Day of Death.

North Vernon. lnd.-The cOincidcnt
arrival of a letter from John p. Quinn
With the death of Zachariah Deputy of
near this city. has served to recall one
of the boldest %swindling games eve
worked and one which aroused the en-
tire state.
Quinn. living at Oil City. Pa. wrong
fully served seven months as one of the
swindlers. and his letter to Deputy
asks that the latter give him a letter
showing him innocent OF amy wrong
doing. Quinn wanted the certificate To
answcr a charge of having been "a con-
Wet. He was lnlrdoned by Governor
Gray after his Innocence was prOven
and became a leader i'm the crusades
against vice i'm various sections of the
country, but his prison record followed
him wherever he went, and when he
went into court i'm an attempt to OBJ
tain Il conviction OF men engaged in
illegal practices. his prison record was
used against him.
A letter telling of his wronful on
viction and of his pardon WAS SCI To
the PENNSYLVANIA city.
Obtained $1,000.
Tho swindle game was worked 10y
three notorious crooks. and was so bold
that the entire state was aroused. Dur
ing the early part of 1887 three men.
aftcrward identified as Edward Rice.
Fatty" Stewart and ''Punch' Mason.
registered at the Snodgrass hotel. They
became acquainted with Deputy.
learned of his wealth and induced him
to draw $1,000 from Il bank at Sey-
mour
AS he returned to this city the crook
met him ON The highway. They asked
that they be permitted TO count the
money, and two of them jumped into a
| waiting vehicle and escaped. while The
third walked leisurely away. Deputy
attempted to follow the men in the
buggy. but soon "A 1T up. Thcn he
to capture them. The men fled tn
Tcrre Haute and later escaped over the
line into Canada
In the meantime Quinn and two 9th
or men were arrested at Tcrre Haute
and charged with the crime. They were
brought to this city for trial. They
were confronted by Snodgrass. owner
OF the hotel. and his daughter. Blanche
They stated positively that the men nm
der arrest were not the men who rob
Der Deputy. notwithstanding this
failure to identify the three men the.
were tried. convicted and sentenced tt
prison for % years each.
Real Swindlers Found and Escape.
Deputy was not positive that tho
right men had been arrested. but il i.
stated that two detectives induced hin
to swear they We're tho men. Month:
afterward he real culprits were in.
duced to enter the United States. ant
they were arrested at Detroit. returned
to Brownstown, county seat of JacksoI
county, where they We're p%ositivel!
identified by the Snodgrasses. The.
put up a cash bond of $4,000 and inn
mediately left An effort wa.
made to arrest them again. but the,
were never taken for his crime. How
ever. each Was arrested for otheH
crimes. and each served long terms.
AT the end of seven months Governo
Gray became convinced that the W'ron
men had been convicted and he granite,
them a free and full pardon. That ha'
been 81 quarter of I; century ago, We
Quinn's record still haunts him.
Miss ~SnOdgrass saw the letter AN,
she has done all she can to remove tn,
stain from Quinn's name. that his las
years may be free from the ghost of
bV2Onc day.