~AUDIO~---images---comment---transcript---notes---links---site navigation
audio---~IMAGES~---comment---transcript---notes---links---site navigation
audio---images---~COMMENT~---transcript---notes---links---site navigation
Papa Charles served as an expert witness in the trial of a fallen woman for the murder of her perfidious lover, who was President McKinley's brother-in-law. It was the trial of the century! (All right, nobody ever called it that.)
audio---images---comment---~TRANSCRIPT~---notes---links---site navigation
[...]it was so dark that it was necessary to light a match to distinguish the dead man's features. Two housewives, whose dwellings are as close to the scene as the Eckroat house, gave similar testimony. One of these women, Mrs. Bederman, saw the flashes from the last two shots and afterward crossed the lawns and went to the steps at the base of which Saxton's body was lying.
The local weather officer, Prof. Stokey, testified that there had been a rainfall twice that day, and that the night was lowering and threatening.
This was a double advantage to the defense, as it went to show that the fields across which Mrs. George is said to have run would be damp and muddy. One of the state's chief witnesses swore that the shoes worn by Mrs. George when arrested were dry and dusty and her skirts were clean and stiff from laundering. The state made a vigorous fight against this testimony, Attorney Grant being especially savage in his cross-examination of Eckroat and his son-in-law.
The local weather officer, Prof. Stokey, testified that there had been a rainfall twice that day, and that the night was lowering and threatening.
This was a double advantage to the defense, as it went to show that the fields across which Mrs. George is said to have run would be damp and muddy. One of the state's chief witnesses swore that the shoes worn by Mrs. George when arrested were dry and dusty and her skirts were clean and stiff from laundering. The state made a vigorous fight against this testimony, Attorney Grant being especially savage in his cross-examination of Eckroat and his son-in-law.
audio---images---comment---transcript---~NOTES~---links---site navigation
I've given just a small excerpt of the newspaper article because it's quite long. You can read an account of the case in the Wikipedia article for Ida Saxton, the wife of William McKinley. Here's my version:
Ida Saxton McKinley had a brother named George Saxton. He had a mistress, Annie George, who was married to another man. George Saxton encouraged Annie to get a divorce so as to marry him. She complied, whereupon he dumped her for another woman. Soon after that, on the night of Friday, October 7, 1898, George Saxton was shot to death. Annie was tried for his murder.
As the newspaper article says, our very own Papa Charles, the official government weatherman for the Canton area, testified for the defense. He said that the night of the murder was wet: that there had been a rainfall twice that day, and that the night was lowering and threatening. Therefore the path that Annie would have taken to reach the site of the murder would have been muddy. And yet the state's witnesses testified that Annie's shoes and dress were dry when she was arrested that night. Annie was acquitted, and nobody else was ever tried for the murder.
I haven't studied the case any further than that. And perhaps I should, because Wikipedia says that Annie claimed self-defense, which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. There's a fairly recent book on the subject. To be continued - maybe.
Ida Saxton McKinley had a brother named George Saxton. He had a mistress, Annie George, who was married to another man. George Saxton encouraged Annie to get a divorce so as to marry him. She complied, whereupon he dumped her for another woman. Soon after that, on the night of Friday, October 7, 1898, George Saxton was shot to death. Annie was tried for his murder.
As the newspaper article says, our very own Papa Charles, the official government weatherman for the Canton area, testified for the defense. He said that the night of the murder was wet: that there had been a rainfall twice that day, and that the night was lowering and threatening. Therefore the path that Annie would have taken to reach the site of the murder would have been muddy. And yet the state's witnesses testified that Annie's shoes and dress were dry when she was arrested that night. Annie was acquitted, and nobody else was ever tried for the murder.
I haven't studied the case any further than that. And perhaps I should, because Wikipedia says that Annie claimed self-defense, which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. There's a fairly recent book on the subject. To be continued - maybe.
audio---images---comment---transcript---notes---~LINKS~---site navigation
LINKS TO OTHER RELEVANT PAGES IN THIS WEBSITE
RELATED DOCUMENTS/PAGES:
(none at the moment)
(none at the moment)
GENERAL LISTS OF DOCUMENTS:
- DOCUMENTS BY DATE
- DOCUMENTS BY WHERE THEY WERE WRITTEN ----- Ohio
- DOCUMENTS BY SOURCE ----- newspapers.com
- AUDIO READINGS OF THE DOCUMENTS
- DOCUMENTS 1890-1899
audio---images---comment---transcript---notes---links---~SITE NAVIGATION~
- THIS PAGE IS: 1899-04-19 NEWSPAPER ARTICLE EXCERPT FEATURING PAPA CHARLES
- THE PREVIOUS PAGE IS: 1899-01-17 APPLICATION FOR ARMY INVALID PENSION FOR PAPA CHARLES
- THE NEXT PAGE IS: 1899-06-07 WEST POINT INVITATION FROM WILL TO ALMA
- DOCUMENTS FOR THIS DECADE: 1890-1899
- CHAPTER LAYOUT: DOCUMENTS LIBRARY
- TABLE OF CONTENTS
- HOME PAGE