The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1923-01-10
|MILLIONAIRE'S WIDOW A "JEKYLL AND HDYE," STATE
WILL SEEK TO SHOW IN TEXAS MURDER MYSTERY
By NEA Service.


millionaire lumberman, feminine
counterpart of the famous DR.. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde Of fiction?
Did one of two personalities draw
her up toward humanitarian work,
spending of thousands in the better
ment Of her community, generous
gifts TO charity, which gained her
the title of Lady Bountiful"--
While the other--the evil--person
atty drew her downward to con-
spring against her husbands life
and finally to firing the shot from
an automatic pistol that caused
his death as he lay sleeping.
That QUESTION is on every lip in
this little Texas numbering town
while Mrs. Knox, to the astonisn
ment of those she has benefited by
her lavish gifts, is behind the bars
of the Hemphill Jail charged with
the murder Of her husband, shot to
death Nov 26.
Her Strange Career.
Here is the story of Mrs. Knox's
| remarkable career as it will be told
in court if Mrs. Knox is brought to
trial on a murder charge:
Mrs. Knox, known before her
marriage as Lillian Marshall, was
the eldest of five. Shortly after her
| birth, her mother died. Her father
| moved to Houston while she was
still young girl.
no IL mt haaI nj
vast numbering concern and heir
/ Of fortune estimated at between
$7,OOGCOO and $1O,O0O,OOO. They
loved and were wed. That was 10
years ago.
The young wife Immediately afte,
her marriage was initiated into the
| secrets Of her husbands widespread
business interests. lie began to
dominate them through him and was
known throughout the southwest as
the Texas lumber queen"
But Mr.. Knox soon tired of domi-
mating her husbands affairs, vast
though they were. She became in
terested in charity and civic better
ment.
She set out to make beautiful and
better the rough region which in
those days surrounded the site of the
Knox mills here. She started build
ing fairyland in a lumber camp.
Her first work was to plan the
little town that was to grow around
the mills her husband owned.
Then she turned her efforts toward
improving the railroad connecting
Hemphill with Bronson, 10 miles
away. AS the result of her en-
deavors, the road was changed from
q narrow-g gauge to a standard-gauge
line.
She brought at her own expense
theatrical troupes from distant
places to offer their artistry free of
! charge to lumber camp employees
and their families.
She built mansion in which the
entertainments she gave made her
famous throughout the southwest
She purchased old masters and fur
Their embellished her art COLLECTION,
by importations from Europe.
Each Christmas saw the expendi-
ture of thousands that the people of
the community might not want fol
gifts.
The labor policy of the Knox
mills was directed largely by Mrs
Knox. High wages were paid and a
costly housing program, providing
homes for employees on easy install
ments, was started.
Knox Found Slain.
Then. came the sudden death OF
Hiram Knox. The multi millionaire
was found in his bed early in the
morning by Mrs. Knox and her SIS
ter, who said they were awakened
by pistol shot. A bullet had pene
trated the lumbe rman's head.
Testimony was introduced at tn,
inquest to show that Knox several
times had threatened to commit sui
eide. Nevertheless the coroner pro
nounced his death a murder. Then
came lull, ending with the sensa
ton that shook Texas and the south
west-the arrest of Mrs. Knox.
The state. according to the prose
cutor, will introduce letters said tt
have been written to Mrs. Knox by 9
Texan with whom it will attempt tt
prove Mrs. Knox was friendly.
But Mrs. Knox laughs at the &C
cusations.
"Malice and envy are behind this
prosecution" she says. 81 am limo
J cent This is a ronspiracv against
me-and some of those l have be
lieved friends are involved. / Wi
| nrove the charge ridiculous"