The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-11
Insane Murderer Helped Sir James Murray Write
 Great Dictionary
NEW DETAILS ARE
 BROUGHT TO LIGHT
Case of American Ex-Army Surgeon Confined in Broadmoor Asylum Attracts Wide Attention
 in England
By HAYDEN CHURCH

London, September 24.--tSpecial) Not for many years, 1t Is safe to say, has the publication of any story aroused so great a sensation in this country as that which has followed the of the narrative. first published in your columns, of how Dr. w. c. Minor, once an American army surgeon, i'm prisoned in Broadmoor Criminal Lu- natic asylum for a murder committed while he was insane assisted the late Sir James Murray, editor of the great est of all lexicons. namely. the "Ox- ford Dictionary" in compiling that mighty and world famous work.
 The recent death of Sir James Mur- ray gave the appearance of this ex- traordinary tale of real life a particu- lar timeliness and practically every prominent newspaper in England, in- cluding the leading London journals, have printed columns, followed by edi- torial articles regarding what they one. and all termed truly amazing story. Among other newspapers, the famous Daily Telegraph and Paul Mall Gazette published lengthy lead ing articles on the Strange Case of Dr. Minor." the latter journal declaring that:
 No romance is more thrilling than this wonderful story of scholarship in a padded cell"
 Partly as a result of this publicity a considerable amount of additional and highly interesting information re- garding Dr. Minors life in England has come into my possession. Before detailing this, however, the points of the original story may be summarized briefly. Dr. William Charles Minor. who now, as an elderly man. Is end ing his days quietly somewhere in the United States, was a surgeon in the army of the north during the civil war He went mad so it was stated at his trial for murder, as the result of having to brand a deserter, fol- lowed by a sunstroke More or less re- covering, he visited England in the autumn or 1871, largely for the pur- pose of painting and sketching, di- rection in which he had marked talent. A member of a wealthy family, he was highly connected and carried letter of introduction to, among others, John Ruskin. The victim of delusions (stated at his trial to be fear of the Irish, this being the time of the Fenian outrages), he one night shot and killed brewery stoker named Merritt whom he encountered near his lodgings in Lambeth, and who was complete stranger to the American. For this he was tried, found mot guilty" on ac- count of being obviously insane, and eventually sent to Broadmoor, there to be detained during her majesty's pleas ure-this in April, 1872, otherwise in Queen Victoria's day.
 Sent Five Thousand Quotations
 In that famous prison, which is To- cated at Crowthorne, a little town in Berkshire. Dr. Minor remained. it seems, for 25 years or more. As time passed on he gradually recovered his mental balance, and always a man of cultivation, he began to interest him self in scholarly pursuits. A member of wealthy family. he was able to surround himself with an exceptionally fine library. It was about this time that Sir James Murray was beginning the compilation of the projected "New English Dictionary" and was inviting scholars the world over to send him in quotations with the result that in the end he received over 5000, 900 of them By permission of the Broad moor authorities, Dr. Minor became one of Murrays many correspondents. and in the course of their association sent in between 5000 and 5000 quota tions. The doctors letters were ad- dressed simply from Crowthorne Berk- shire, and it was not until many months afterwards that, in the dra- matic fashion described in my first ar- ticle, Sir James Murray became aware that one of the most esteemed of his many correspondents was an American convicted of murder
 This strange story was frequently told