The Ordway new era., 1922-11-24
!hM!S::'!.'T1RY5S II ;: I
MYSTERIES.
s-,.l.s-r ~ NJ rag p, v-.,s Al
The cAMPDEN SECRET

AnooI the middle of m.
teehth century all rna, e seVe
sleatly excited over what s,sad ~an vi
iariy referred to as ths vas "s pop
secret" the mystery Of tho eaiapd'
ai, anee OF William Harrison, wSa sa''sl q
supposed to have been rohhaS , W
then murdered. A mo,ho. 'oeu N
oS o"o , sons We're arrested, tried. ,r co,,I' y
en and executed-and then NV. .On''c
later Harrison returned snS ,%V ,!,s yea
most remarkable story of k,s'' wa
ana adventure, filed with ',aIl1 sn4
possible and conflicting sta,sm.l' ras" Y
mat 1t has generally come I'4ea' ,o s4 y
heved that he was never va-, y. Ue \
MS own home from the ,Ima '@' i's1
disappearance until his return, Y
But why did he remain awa.
why did the persons accused :, N Y
murder give such misleading Aeon
of their actions that iury oaa., ,,,aa'
,heiil OF murder practically wIths1
hesitation? "'""|
Inc evidence brought out n, =.
triai showed that Harrison lss N
house In the afternoon and walta,
was supposed to have wslkad :,
miles 10 Charrlngworth to collac, .',
rents. When, as evening came an n
Harrison had not returned bls sa,r.l
"a man named John Perry--wa, ~
In search of him. Neither Bsrr,|
nor Perry put in an appearance n,
night and. in the morning, one Of A
sons of the missing man iolnea IN h
search, meeting Perry Oh his NJ
home.
Ihe servant maintained that ta N
been able to find no trace of bis mi,
ter, bur when young Harrison oInI
In the search he located a bloodstsinI
hat which was supposed to have \
lonsed to William Harrison. soon n
entire countryside was engaged IN !
attempt 10 solve the mystery and
strange actions OF Perry led to h
being suspected Of the crime III.
legged motive being the securing
the moncN which Harrison had Di
him at the time. Under preagd
Perry stated that his mother d
borther had frequently asked h
when Harrison went to collect
rents, and added that 1t wa;
OPerry'sj belief that the missing n
had been murdered by Mother Pa
and her son.
ON the strength Of this oil thr
OF the Perrys were arrested, tried i
sentenced TO death. Joan Pery VI
the first to be hanged, protesting
innocence. Richard Perry follow
his mother to the gallows, and fna
John Perry, Ilarrisons servant, lat
retracted his previous statement d
declared that he knew nothing vi,
ever of the crime or any possible
tive.
Nearly two years after the lhf
had been hanged for his murder. "
liam Harrison returned to bis hol
apparently uncOncerned, and telling
tale of having been waylald By l
waymen, kidnapped and spirited av
TO the continent. For several "a
he stated. his captOrs had KEEP
hidden and had then put him on nOoa
a ship. though he never Veuclisil
any explanation as TO the mo''e
the outrage. for he had colnpardA
little money in his possesslOa =
one of-the details of his story has
do with the way in which MS
ductors kept him supplied
money. :,
Finally, he declared he was sou
n physician ut Smyrna, bul nc
able TO give no definite deseriploa
the city nor was he able to exp
how. penniless and unfamiliar
the languages spoken on the cOn'i,
ha n,os able 10 md his way
home. ~,
The only apparent exp'ain'i'4
tbp entire affair is that, for sOine
son, Harrison's presence al ..m, ,ra,
was inconvenlent to some oi' ". ~.
authority. He had lived through ~
lous times, and had come .,.s A',
changed state of affairs wl'n
masters. lie was familiar win u i
her of secrets. and Therefore
have been better out of the wy w.,
the time being. But the r,r .r Il
ture of these secrets anu VI, ,aa
innocent persons were peIin'',s, !,
go to the gallows for a ef,ns aas j,
had not been comiiii''eu ~
been disclosed.
We'll Protected. o.n,