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PREACHER BY DAY. THIEF BY NIGHT.The Strange Dual Life of Alonzo Whitman, Evangelist.AH ACCOMPLISHED HOESE THIEL(tonera!ty Stole From the Brethren Who HodKntertaluec! Him—Hi* DaringMethods—Had a Habit of Marrying Too—Now Half a Dozen Prison* lawn For Him.A preacher of the gospel by day and a -daring horse thief at night—that, in brief, has been the career of Amos T. Whitman, who was released from the Northern prison of Indiana a fow days ago after serving two years' time.From the Indiana penitentiary he was taken to one in Ohio, and after he has served his time there he will undergo the ■ penal service of Illinois and then go from j prison to prison until society’s long stand- lt;lug score against him has been settled.Whitman is of no ordinary caliber. As a leader of horse thieves he never had an equal in the central states. His sermons •were filled with tenderness, enthusiasm and earnestness, and he had the rare faculty of being able to really sway the minds •of men. But it was not until he was 60 years old that his Joky 11-11 yde character end his crimes were discovered.His influence over women was no less. More than half a dozen wives are scattered through the states in which he alternately prayed and stole.Whitman is an Ohioan. Even when a young man he attracted a great deal ul attention because of his shrewdness. He Jbad only a common school education and a faculty for absorbing all kinds of knowledge Without instruction. Among other things, he acquired a smattering of theology from listening to sermons and the talk of the religiously inclined.Life in bis native community became irksome, and so he left one night after an \ alleged forgery and wholesale theft of fine ! horses. !In Kansas he began his career as a I preacher. He had a small charge and he • married one of the sisters. He preached to j his Sock and prayed while he was stealing ; from them. He went to their homes and !I missed his quarry by only on hour or two j so exasperated him that, though the asso-j elation which sent him to catch the horse I thief shut off his supply of funds, ho went | into his own pocket and continued the I chase on his own account.J At a small hamlet in Illinois Welker I concluded to consult a fortune teller. I When he entered the room, she innnodiate-I ly said: “You are after a man who loft I here a fow hours ago. 1 told him ho was a | fugitive from justice, and ho nekmnvl-I edged it. He then threw open his coat and showed mo a string of revolvers and said that ho intended to protect himself if H over enme to a show down.”The fortune teller told Welker that it would bo a long chase, and he would give up, but in the future their lives would cross under most peculiar eircumstances, and he would get his man. Whitman eluded tho.sheriff, and the latter returned to his home.Two years ago several horses were stolen near Anderson, Ind., and Che officers wore put on the track of the thieves. The following morning one of them was overtaken. He was driving two of the stolen animals and was sound asleep. Ho was placed under arrest before he awoke, and though he attempted to get at his guns hewas too slow and was disarmed. Ho was placed behind the bars. He gave his name as J. T. Wiliiams, but would vouchsafe no other information. He was Cried and found guilty.Before being sentenced he asked to be heard. Ho spoke only a lew moments, but the court and the great crowd in the room were affected by the eloquent and pathetic fairy tale that he told. He only got twoyears.Before his arrest Whitman had shaved off his beard. When it grew again, the identity of ‘‘Williams” was discovered, and the preacher horse thief confessed his wrongdoings to his old time euemv, Sheriff Welker.Whitman’s term having ended, he stepped out of his cell only to find six deputy sheriffs from as many sections of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio lined up in the office wa ting for him.Whitman's methods wore daring and unique. How many there were in the gang will never be known, but there were throe or four women in the combination who attended to the selling of the horses. The horses were taken by men who were adepts in horse theft. They were smuggled away to places where bleaching outfits had been built by the gang. Every horse was put through a bleaching process which changed He was bobbed, groomed splen-and at last placed on the mar-Chieago. Cincinnati, St. Louis, Columbus. Indianapolis or at other points.Iiiiirhis color, didiy, fedprayed with them in private, and while jjet there he spotted their horses and laid his
Newspaper Details
Massillon Independent
Massillon, Ohio, US
Thu, Jul 22, 1897
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Massillon P.
OH, USA 24 Oct 2019
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