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Strange Story in the Pension CaseAgainst “Nancy Manker.”'IMPERSONATED A DEAD SISTERAnother Sister TestificJ That the Real NancyManker Had Died FourteenYears Ago.St. Louis, Dec. 17.—More of romance than is usually developed in fraudulent pension cases was divulged when Nancy Manker was accorded a preliminary hearing by United States Commissioner Gray yesterday on the charge of having attempted to obtainpension by fraudulently representing herself as the widow of William A. Manker, who was in the First Massachusetts cavalry volunteers during the wai. It was shown that the defendant was a sister of the woman who is claimed by the government to have been the real widow, and who died in 1883, and that it was through this relationship that she obtained the knowledge of the dead man’s personal affairs that at first puzzled the authorities. This was shown by the testimony of Mrs. Mary Fluty of Hannibal, Mo., another sister of the defendant, and by that of James Fluty, herhusband. fAccording to the testimony, the claimant was in reality Sallie Grubb. One of her sisters married William A. Manker, who died at Browfnville, Mo., in February, 1875. His widow died eight years later, and Sallie Grubb was present at the funeral of Hannibal. with her other sister, their mother and John Morrison, of Centralia, Mo., a brother. Sallie Grubb, the defendant, went to Ottumwa, la., directly after her sister's funeral and made application for a pension, impersonating her dead sister.Then she came to St. Louis, and in 1893 resumed her claim for a pension. It was refused, and an investigation was commenced, resulting in her arrest last Thursday at her home, 1821 Biddle street. The facts on which she based her claim, as set out in her affidavit, were so accurate that the special agents who investigated were thoroughly puzzled until the story was told yesterday at the preliminary hearing. They had found witnesses who had seen the dead body of the real widow of the veteran, but almost doubted the evidence on account of the accuracy of the affidavits in regard to the dead man’s history.The claimant is now an old woman. She is afflicted with an incurable disease, and it has so disfigured her face as to make her repulsive to the sight. The contrast between her and her sister, the latter a strikingly handsomewoman, was startling when they met in Judge Gray’s office yesterday. Mrs. !• luty did not look at her sister,whom she had not seen for fourteen years. When asked what the relationship w’as between her and the defendant, she wept and said: “I don’t know. I haven’t seen her yet.” The relationship was testified to by Mrs. Fluty’s husband, and was not denied by the defendant. The latter protested she was the real widow and that she could not understand the testimony of her sister and brother-in-law.After the woman had been held in $200 bond by Judge Gray, and while she was waiting to be returned to jail, she and her sister were reconciled,and during the afternoon, in Marshal Lynch’s office, Mrs. Fluty comfortedthe woman as best she could. Theclaimant has a daughter, AliceSchgultz, who was subpoenaed for thehearing, but did not appear on account of illness.
Newspaper Details
Burlington Evening Gazette
Burlington, Iowa, US
Fri, Dec 17, 1897
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
MA, USA 23 Oct 2021
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