Buggy Thief John Williams

Date: 31 Jan 1911 to Apr 1911
Location: Sedan, Chautauqua, Kansas, United States
Surnames/tags: Williams Brosius

In 1911, the theft of a buggy belonging to John Brosius of Sedan, Kansas, led to the recovery of not only the buggy but a stolen horse, the capture of a thief, a jailbreak, and finally justice. It all played out in the pages of the local newspaper.

The first article of the series reports how the stolen buggy was recovered, and introduces the thief and his dubious story.

Captured Buggy Thief.
Party Who Stole Buggy From John Brosius Captured Next Day.

Sheriff Warren made a spry little chase Tuesday after a man who stole a single buggy and harness from John Brosius in the west edge of town some time Monday night. He overtook and captured his man about ten miles north of Moline and brought him to town and lodged him in jail that evening.

The man gives his name as John Williams and his age as nineteen years. He says he is from New Mexico and came overland on the horse he was driving by way of eastern Oklahoma.

Early Tuesday morning Mr. Brosius missed his buggy and single harness and at once notified the sheriff's office. The buggy was easy to trace by reason of a bent axle which threw the track made by one hind wheel about four inches out of place. Mr. Warren had no difficulty in tracing the buggy to Moline and there changing teams he continued on and soon overtook the object of his pursuit. The man had evidently been riding the horse before he secured the buggy as he was hauling a saddle in the buggy.

The officers are inclined to believe that Williams is older that he says he is and that the horse he had had been stolen. The horse does not show the wear and tear of any such trip as he claims to have made.

Williams was arraigned before Justice R. Speed Wednesday and was bound over to district court.^[1]

While awaiting his trial in the county jail, John Williams made an unexpected and nearly successful jailbreak, casting even more doubts upon the story he had told when arrested.

Took Iron From Stove and Wall Crumbled Before His Strength--Prisoners to Be Kept in Cells.

John Williams, arrested last week for stealing a buggy and harness from John Brosius, attempted to escape from the county jail Sunday afternoon. He came very near accomplishing his purpose and in thirty minutes more would undoubtedly have gotten away. The manner in which he did the stunt convinced the officers that he lacks much of being the innocent, 19-year-old country boy that he told them he was when they overtook him with his booty nine miles northwest of Moline last week. Instead of that they now believe he is a hardened criminal upon whom the inside of many a jail and prison has yawned.

Williams' plan was foiled by word getting from the jail to Undersheriff Buckles just in the nick of time. Someone suspected what was going on and got word to the undersheriff by phone. Hastening to the jail he put Williams in one of the strongest cells there is. He will be kept there until taken to the penitentiary at Lansing for he was captured with the goods he had stolen and there can be no doubt of his guilt.

At 2:30 Sunday afternoon Sheriff Warren and Mrs. Warren left the jail for a short buggy ride. The only prisoners were Williams and Arthur Plume, the latter being held over Sunday on the True case. Both men were locked up in the corridor. Williams went upstairs and broke off a piece of iron from one of the stoves. Using it as a sort of pry-bar he began to tear out the wall in the stairway leading from the lower corridor to the upper one. He took a couple of blankets from one of the beds and laid them on the stairway to muffle the sound of falling plaster and stones. He had a hole torn nearly through the wall when discovered. A few minutes more would have enabled him to have kicked out the outer stone and escaped. The wall is built of soft sandstone and when once a hole is started the rock and plaster crumble like dirt.

Plume took no part in the affair and would not have gotten out if he could. "I was afraid he would get away," said Plume. "I watched him work but could do nothing to stop him. I tell you I was mighty glad when the officers came and locked him in a cell."

No blame attaches to either the sheriff nor his undersheriff in connection with the affair. It has long been customary to allow prisoners the freedom of the corridors in all jails instead of keeping them closely confined in cells. The jail needs cementing inside and out as it will always be easy for prisoners to take a stove leg or any piece of iron with which they can hammer or pry and start a hole in the wall around the windows or doors. And when once the hole is started the rest can be done with bare hands.

"I'll have to lock all prisoners in their cells hereafter unless the jail is fixed," Sheriff Warren said. "That means they can get no exercise or comfort, but I can't afford to take chances on any man's getting away."^[2]

Not surprisingly, part of the story John Williams had told, namely where he had acquired his horse, was soon proven false.

The Horse Was Stolen. When John Williams was arrested here a few weeks ago for stealing a buggy from John Brosius, he claimed the horse he was riding was secured in New Mexico. The officers doubted this. Last Friday Undersheriff Buckles was reading the A. H. T. A. Weekly News and he found therein a description that exactly fitted the horse. It was stolen from Sapulpa, Okla., and the sheriff there was notified at once. The horse has been returned to the rightful owner.^[3]

A. H. T. A. was the acronym for the Anti-Horse Thief Association, a widely successful vigilance committee initially organized at Fort Scott, Kansas, in 1859. This association believed in working cooperatively with law enforcement, and this case became one of their many successes. The anecdote of the horse's reunion with its owner added a lighthearted note to the drama.

His Horse Knew Him. When the Sapulpa man came here Saturday afternoon to get the horse that John Williams, now in jail, is accused of stealing from him, all he had to do to prove his ownership of the animal was to enter its stall and say: "Here, Billy." The horse understood his master's voice and at once put forth one of his front legs to "shake hands." The man took the horse back with him Sunday.^[4]

After a busy week at the county courthouse, John Williams seemed to be the only person who had not been involved. He merited only a single sentence for his presence.

News at Court House.

Events of a Week at the County Capitol.
Assessment Figures Are In

A Case in Juvenile Court Ends In Acquittal--Other Items at the Court House. ...There is only one man in jail now, John Williams, awaiting trial on a charge of stealing a buggy from John Brosius. Ed Gray recently released from jail, has been taken to the poor farm.^[5]

Finally John Williams came to trial during the first week of April.

Court Now In Session

April Term Began Tuesday Morning at 9 O'Clock
Williams Pleaded Guilty

Admitted Stealing Buggy From John Brosius--Swinney Found Guilty of Assault and Battery.

The April term of district court convened at the opera house at 9 o'clock Tuesday morning with Judge G. P. Alkman on the bench. No time was lost in getting the machinery of the court started and by noon the first jury case was on trial.

It was that of Add Swinney, charged with assaulting John Teague with intent to kill. At a school house fight near Elgin last fall Swinney attacked Teague with a knife and cut him badly. A ple social was in progress and the fight followed. The state was represented at the trial by J. D. McBrian because S. H. Jones, now county attorney, had represented Swinney at the preliminary last fall. Swinney was represented by J. E. Brooks. The jury brought in a verdict of assault and battery instead of assault with intent to kill.

The case of the state against Elmer Higgins, for assaulting E. W. Jerrels of Chautauqua, is now on trial, C. D. Shukers is here from the attorney general's office at Topeka assisting in the prosecution.

John Williams pleaded guilty to burglary and larceny and was sentenced to the state reformatory. This is the man who stole a buggy from John Brosius and was captured with it northwest of Moline. He took the buggy at night, not knowing that it had a crooked wheel by which it could be easily tracked. The crooked wheel resulted in Williams' capture. Williams is the fellow who came so near escaping from the county jail in January.

Other proceedings of the court up to the time of going to press are:

Cases continued--Newman vs. Sterling Oil & Gas Co.; Dabney and Lane vs. Comes; Marquis vs. West, at request of defendant; Aetna Building & Loan vs. Knapp, for service; Crane Co. vs. Kaessmann; Nuphfer vs. Flannagan; Clark and Mertz vs. Holladay; Dutton vs. Brosius.

Copple vs. Denman et al, dismissed as per stipulation.

Thompson vs. Milliken, continued because issues are not complete.

J. E. Brooks, guardian of estate of Barbara Underwood, vs. James Underwood, dismissed without prejudice.

Salbach vs. Hagaman dismissed without prejudice at cost of plaintiff.

Crawford vs. Crawford, divorce granted plaintiff.

International Harvester Co. vs. Brasher, dismissed for want of service.

Charles J. Randall vs. Palmer Randall et al, judgment of partition as per stipulation. Appraisers: J. W. Brown, R. F. Burkett and L. H. Sullivan.

Finley vs. Taylor, demurrer filed.^[6]

With the conviction and sentencing of John Williams, all would seem to be finished, but there was still a little more to come. An incident involving a coat made it to the newspaper as Williams was transported to the reformatory.

Sheriff Warren took John Williams to the reformatory at Hutchinson last week to begin serving a sentence for stealing a buggy from John Brosius in January. When Williams was ready to go he had no coat. When asked what had become of it he said that Elza Mitchell had won it from him in a card game. As Mitchell was in jail for stealing a coat from a man near Elgin, the incident took on a humorous tinge. A coat was loaned to Williams and when he got to Hutchinson the usual reformatory garb was placed on him.^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ "Captured Buggy Thief," Sedan Times-Star, 2 Feb 1911, p. 1, col. 1; digital images, America's GenealogyBank (www.genealogybank.com : accessed 14 Aug 2011), Historical Newspapers.
2. ↑ "Tore Hole in the Jail," Sedan Times-Star, 9 Feb 1911, p. 1, col. 1; digital images, America's GenealogyBank (www.genealogybank.com : accessed 11 Mar 2012), Historical Newspapers.
3. ↑ "The Horse Was Stolen," Sedan Times-Star, 16 Feb 1911, p. 5, col. 6; digital images, America's GenealogyBank (www.genealogybank.com : accessed 11 Mar 2012), Historical Newspapers.
4. ↑ "His Horse Knew Him," Sedan Times-Star, 16 Feb 1911, p. 1, col. 6; digital images, America's GenealogyBank (www.genealogybank.com : accessed 11 Mar 2012), Historical Newspapers.
5. ↑ "News at Court House," Sedan Times-Star, 16 Mar 1911, p. 1, col. 3; digital images, America's GenealogyBank (www.genealogybank.com : accessed 18 Mar 2012), Historical Newspapers.
6. ↑ "Court Now in Session," Sedan Times-Star, 6 Apr 1911, p. 1, col. 3; digital images, America's GenealogyBank (www.genealogybank.com : accessed 11 Mar 2012), Historical Newspapers.
7. ↑ "Events of the Week at the Court House," Sedan Times-Star, 20 Apr 1911, p. 1, col. 1; digital images, America's GenealogyBank (www.genealogybank.com : accessed 12 Jan 2013), Historical Newspapers.