The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1921-03-27
MARRIED WOMAN
WHO FREED HIM
Man Returns to Scene of
Crime Of His
Youth
SAVED BY A WOMAN
Accepts Mesalliance IA Prefer
able to Paying the PEN
atty of Murder

spcciai ip rhe World
TAHLEUtAU. March 90 From
his hom. down boz the woodlands
near whore tho Illinois river winds
ats way near the base of grim flint-
rock covered ridges which are
crowned With guarlod oak trees
there came To town not many dHyq
hco man who wont wrong iu
years long since passed. Had therc
been any OF the real ld-timera of
some decades ago among tho living
they would have had difficulty IN
recognizing In the white haired
wrinklGd Wsngcd and faded eyed
Bpecimon Of humanity the same man
who, once straight. muscular. Keen.
eyed ana powerful, had been ia
miliar figure In the little town of
Tahloquah some four decades and
more aRone. Time brings many
changes and the man once 40 alert
and filled with the Vigor Of lifo Us
now FAR down the shady slope OF
this human life. 10 the majority Of
people he is only an old man. one
who occasionally takes drop too
much and walks staRReringly NJ
he makes his way homcward But
TO some who have listened to the
story as told by others In days past
the history Of the Chcckorod career
of the now old man ia familiar.
Away back In the days Of the
early seventies. when times were
far different from what they are
today when conventioualltica were
paid scant attention hy many, the
man In question In his famblings
about the country met a girl who
was far outside the circle In which
the members OF his family moved,
one OF whom II was said although
of some fine attributes, should have
remained In the circle TO which she
belonged. The man. II seems, m
tended taking ns his holpmoct a
young woman OF good family and
perhaps would have done 80, had
not u tragedy supcrVcncd. Having
fallen into the habit of liquor drink
ing and some MISUNDERSTANDING
having occurred with the man with
whose family the Eirl who was out
side the pale lived. the man hith-
orto mentioned while intoxicated,
conceived the IDEA that he was In
danger and no thinking decided To
shoot mt the other man. whether To
kill or to scare, there have been
doubts Expressed. The shot was
fired into the room whore the own
or OF the house lived and about the
time the trigger was pulled the wife
stepped I'm line with the bullet and
received fatal wound.
Woman's Testimony Saves.
Thereafter there was much
trouble for the man who fired tho
shot. In custody of stern faced of
ficors ne was taken for trial to "a
distant town wherein was the head
quarters of United states court.
Powerful aid was eNertcd in behalf
~ q "A l.ta0 a l.. d.
appeared that he would have n very
slender chance of securing acqulttal.
but ms the witnesses were being eX-
amincd the girl, who had made her
home with the family of the slain
Woman, took the stand and her tes-
timony Indicated that the shooting
was accidental The jury accepted
the STORY she told and verdict of
scauittai was forthcoming The de
fendant soon went his way with re-
joicing. but he never married the
young woman OF good family con.
noctions Instead. the partner of
his joys aud sorrows became the
girl who had sworn Ia his behalf
on tho witness stand, and, according
TO the story told by one familiar with
the case. her testimony was given
only after she had secured the iron
clad promise that she should become
the wife OF the defendant when he
should have secured his liberty.
During many long years the de
fendant, after his acquittal, lived
In secluded region and rarely went
far from his isolated cabin home,
and his actions Indicated his dis
appointment with his condition.
though he was never heard to cN-
press himself but on occasions
drank hpnVilV and nptcd I'm "A rock
less and almost desperate manner.
Az the years kept passing on. how
ever, there seemed to be somewhat
of n reconciliation with fate, an ac-
ceptanCe OF the conditions, and dur
ing recent years the old man has
been seen more frequently and in a
moro congenial frame of mind. But
what "a story he could tell IL ho
would