 The Austin Weekly Statesman Thursday, December 24, 1885 pg. 1 A ROMANCE The Way a North Texas Youth Got to the Penitentiary Special Telegram to The Statesman Sherman, December 22 - District court disposed of a romantic case this morning. W.P. McDowell, of McKinney, indicted for perjury, was called from jail to answer the charge, and cut matters short by a plea of guilty, on which the jury assessed his penalty at 2 years' confinement in the state's prison. The romantic appears when we look back to the cause of this young man's trouble, which began in the month of July and ripened into a prosecution for felony, with the above result. One George P. Bedford, an operator in the Western Union telegraph office at McKinney, became enamored of Lula Wiley, of that place, and told McDowell that he had the lady's consent to a marriage but her father objected, and notified the clerk of that court not to issue license in which his daughter was to be a contracting party. This story, when told by the stricken Bedford to his friend McDowell, excited his deepest sympathy, and agreed to accompany him to Sherman, where no orders had been issued from Grayson county. They came to Sherman, hunted the clerk at a late hour, when the usual affidavit was required certifying to the age of the lady. McDowell, who had applied for them, while his friend sat outside in a buggy, swore she was over 18 years old, and, personating Bedford, signed the latter's name to the affidavit. The next morning's Courier, from Sherman, containing an account of the issuing of the license, fell under the notice of the father-in-law in prospective, who took prompt steps to stop the proceedings, and came to Sherman at once to investigate the matter. He saw the false oath as to the age of his daughter, and filed a complaint charging the parties with perjury. Both Bedford and McDowell were arrested, and the county clerk identified the latter as the man who did the swearing. He was indicted by the grand jury and now takes a felon's stripes and a blighted life as a reward for his acts. In connection herewith, it may be proper to say that the lady in question promptly denied any engagement with Bedford, and asserted that his conduct was to be accounted for on no other grounds than that the scamp was so badly stuck on himself that he presumed to forestall her answer to his suit, and prepared a marriage license before asking her hand in marriage.   FELONY Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson CountyTXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |