Year: 1875

At Fort Madison, Iowa, says the New
York Evening Post, there may be seen
going about the streets, with the utmost
freedom, a gray-haired old man, the
only feature of whose appearance dis.
tinguishing him from the city fathers il
the uniform dress of the penitentiary.
This costume is in strange contrast with
the rest of not unattractive exterior,
and ii brands its wearer as an object OF
curiosity to corner idlers, and of dread
to little children. 1t Is the mark of Cain,
indicating that the hands which. pro-
trude from it are stained with human
blood; it is the badge of murderer,
who escaped hanging only through a
technicality of the law.


The old man is known by the name of
Pleasant Fouts, and has the doubtful
distinction of having been the first white
man to commit capital crime within
the borders of Polk county, Iowa. When
last he crossed the county 1ine--in Au-
gust, 1854-he was an immigrant in the
prime of life, jOurneying westward with
his young wife, Ruth, in search of a
home. They never found one. In an
evil hour jealousy thrust itself between
them, and the husband, in moment of
madness struck murderous blow, of
which he has never ceased to repent.


A trial in those days and in that
sparsely settled region, though fenced
about with some formalities, was COM
paratively rapid and positively decisive.
Fouts, when brought to the bar, was
confronted with an unimpeachable wit
ness, who swore that she saw him stab
y xxysf nd xxyst1 I,,,sc 60
despite the deponent's entreaties to de-
sist; and that, after his victim had once
escaped him and taken refuge in the
house of a neighbor, he obtained access
to her there by deliberate cunning and
deceit.


Neither the deed nor the malice afore-
thought could be Controverted by the
Vaccinations of counsel, and Fsuts was
convicted of murder in the first degree,
and sentenced to be hanged. Less than
fortnight before the day appointed for
the execution, however, a reversal of the
judgment was obtained and a new trial
ordered, which resulted, in the then
cooler state of popular feeling, in his
condemnation to the penitentiary for
life.


For the first ten or twelve years of his
imprisonment, he lived like the other
convicts; but, little by little, the warden
came to have more confidence in him
and to allow him greater liberties, until
now he is under no restraint whatever,
and transacts much of the official bust
ness of the institution, both outside and
inside its gates.


He really needs no watching, for he
feels no temptation to abuse his privi
leges. With his wife's death the last
link that bound his desires to the world
was severed. The half-score of years
that followed permitted the rest of man.
kind to outrun him in the race of life.
He is, to all intents and purposes, dead
to social life; the hands of the century
clock have been turned so far back for
him that they can in no.manner regain
their wOnted place. Persons who know
him say that he is 80 sensible of his iso-
lation that nothing would induce him to
leave the penitentiary-nOt even full
pardon. Those gray, grim walls, so re-
pugnant to the sight of men who never
forfeited their freedom, encompass the
only home he cares for.


We are not aware whether Governor
Parker, in the documents relating to the
prison system of Iowa, which he is pre-
pairing to send to France, has included
any account of this singular case. 1t
would, indeed, scarcely come within the
scope of collection such as we take his
to be. A worthy biography of Pleasant
Fouts will probably remain unwritten
until, perhaps, the author of the Man
Without Country" seeks materials for
a similar romance.