Evening times-Republican., 1914-01-05
SECOND SuccEseFuL ouEeT ron
KIN " WicktsAM. CITY en-.
oiNEER OF AMes.
VAUGHN JEssUp FOUND
IN FAR.WEsrERN STATE
One ef 4sirs ss 100000 Estate ef Il. G.
Wiekham, ef zsarins, Wsrssins -
Tunnel labersr on Raiiroad-Sue
ssssfui Search First Made For 4. II.
Wiekham.
Special to rimes-Republ,can.

Special to Times Republican.
Ames. Jan. 5.-"Isn't your name Jes-
supp. asked q mud-smeared civil en-
gineer from Iowa Of a tunnel laborer
who was digging his way. with a gang
OF laborers, through one Of the lone
some ranges Of the coast mountains IN
the trackless heart Of the state Of Ore
gon. eighty nine and q half miles by
surveyors chain from the nearest rail-
way station In Oregon. The civil en-
gineer drew a faded boyhood picture in
front Of the man he addressed.
Yes. guess 1t is. where have seen
you before?" replied the mud-spattered
laborer. Within fifteen minutes the de-
tective-engineer-th city engineer OF
Ames, and the tunnel laborer, an heir
to an Iowa estate worth more than
800. 900. were trudging their way back
through those eighty mine and half
miles Of mud to board the first train for
Iowa.
Two Heirs Missing.
About year ago. to be exact. Dec.
90. 1912, H. C. Wickham. a wealthy
pioneer farmer Of near Gearing. q vil-
lage near here, died leaving no will so
far as known. There being no will, the
estate must be divided according to
the statutes. In settling the estate two
of the heirs under the law We're mis-
sing; and those heirs were Vaughn Jss-
sup, a nephew Of the Ames city en-
gineer. and r. w. Wickham, brother
of the engineer and son Of n. c.
Wickham.
The court and administrator Of the
estate were being held up in closing
the affairs ct the estate and distribut-
ing the shares by the absence of know
ledge of the whereabouts Of r. H.
Wickham and Vaughn Jessup. Until
those heirs were located and identi-
fed by the court the law could not act.
Both Found.
r. H. Wickham had been out Of touch
with his relatives almost absolutely
given up as dead or lost. That seemed
to cross. without aid from letters or
ert H. Wickham was found, and was
found by his brother, the Ames civil
engineer.
Jessup had been out Of touch from
his family for seven years, and none
heard from him excepting that SIS
ter received letter from him a year
ago last August. His sister lives in
Beardsley, Mimi, and Jessup called
Beardsley his home. In the letter he
wrote to his sister q year ago Jessep
was in California, and he said he was
going to Eugene, Ore. from California,
then to Sopkane and then homo to
Beardsley.
. But, Jessup changed his mind. appar-
entity. because he never came back
home to Beardsley
The administrator Of the estate gave
up hope that either Of the two missing
heirs would ever appear unless they
were hunted for. John Q. Wickham. tho
engineer. although he worked his way
through college and did nearly every
thing to get through. never tried his
hand at being a detective but the ad-
ministrator decided to give him try
along sleuthing lines.
First Tried Advertising.
John @. tried his hand and made
good. He already had found his bro
ther, who had been lost nineteen years.
and he therefore had quite little ex-
perience to guide him. The flrst thing
he did was to advertise in the news
papers of many Of the western cities
for Vaughn Jessup. and this means
worked out for as result Of an adver-
tisement In San Francisco paper the
detective engineer learned that Jessup
had been in the Denver house in San
Francisco. Jessup's name was on the
San Francisco hotel register so. judg-
ing by Jessup's letter to his sister, he
surmised that Jessup left San Fran
cisco for Eugene, Ore, where he had
worked formerly.
The engineer went straight from
Ames to Eugene. Ore. He tried to get
track Of him there. but not finding i'm
mediate trace of him he followed the
Oregon state Soad. along which an Ash
land hotel keeper told him Jessup had
gone. The trail began to get warm
when the searcher telephoned to Mott.
an inland postoffce. where the post
master said Jessup had been there only
a day or so before inquiring for mail.
Wickham hastened in the direction Of
the Noti railway tunnel. three and
half miles west Of Mott. where Jessup
had worked once before. He met an
laborer, who said that
he didn't know where Jessup was but
told Wickham to go to Swede. whose
ak strokes could be heard in the noun
tain timber, and that the Swede knew.