Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-07-14
Woman Testifies That Bodies
Were Buried on Iowa Farm
Following Murder. =,
PIONEERS FACE CHARGE
OF Staying CATTLEMAN
Siam Murder and Treasure Case 0c-
cupies Attention Of Court at s
Bedford, Iowa. ,

BEDFORD, iowa, July 1S-S3muei
Anderson. whose attempt to obtain
part of a ninety treas
ure said to have been buried near
Siam, Iowa. forty-seven years ago led
to the arrest hero last week OF four
Iowa pioneers charged with the muir
der of Nathaniel Smith, a wealthy cat
tleman, and his son in 1868. was the
frst witness today at the resumption
of the hearing in the Siam murder and
treasure case.
Anderson told of coming into pos
session of the farm on which the MUIR
ders were committed and on which the
money, said to have been taken from
Smith by a gang OF counterfeiters. was
buried. He told of spending years
digging up his farm in search OF the
treasure chest.
The case Of Bates Huntsman. the
eldest OF the four aged defendants. was
taken up first. The other three de-
and Henry Damewood. 1t was expect.
ed the hearing. which began last night,
would last two more days.
Mrs. Porter's Evidence.
Mrs. Maria Porter Of Quitman. Mo.
repeated on the witness stand last
night her recollections OF what she saw
in September. 1868. in connection with
the murders of Nathaniel Smith and
his son.
Mrs. Porter testified at the prelimi-
nary hearing OF Bates Huntsman; sam
Damewood. who were arrested recent
ly on charges of being accessories to
the murders.
Mrs. Porter. who was fourteen when
the Smiths were killed. told of her girl.
hood experiences on the Collins farm.
where the bodies and loot supposedly
were buried. She then related having
seen certain men bringing the bodies
to the farm and Of having Witnessed
the burial of one in an old well. Her
story was unchanged on cross-exam-
| ination.
Denies Statement by Sister.
Mrs Elizabeth Collins Benson, widow
Of Jonathan Dark, whose name has
been frequently mentioned in connec-
ton with the murders, testified today
| that there had been no murder on the
| Siam farm at the time mentioned by
her sister, Mrs. Maria Collins Porter, in
testimony yesterday. The sisters At
| on a farm near Siam. Mrs. Porter IL
one of the states principal witnesses.
Mrs. Benson, whose homo IL in Ok
lahoma, also denied the existence OF .
l secret CAN0 BAlu u uds0 O0ch oDO6 - -
rendezvous by the counterfeiting CANS.
She said she had never heard OF any
buried treasure. and that she never
knew Of \ band Of Taylor county out
laws.
! Concerning the killing Of jonathan
Dark, her former husband. ArA Benson
said he did not come to their homo In
Missouri for the purpose OF killing her
sister Maria, as had been testified. but
| that he had objected to her other sis
ter, Matte Collins. going with . oar
tain man and that Matte shot him
down.
Mrs. Benson said she had not seen her
sister, Mrs. Porter, for twenty-five
years, and could not understand why
she had testified as she did.
New Clue to Identity.
| A new clue to the Identity of the MUIR
dered cattleman was received today by
w. W. Bulman, assistant to the county
prosecutor. In the form Of letter from
Kansas City. A woman who signed her
self as ''E" told of a relative named
| Nathaniel Smith. who went to Kansas
City from Indiana at the close Of the
civil war. He invested heavily in land