356
The Green Bag,
CONVICTED BY A DREAM. BY GEORGE H. WESTLEY. WHILE glancing through one of the earlier volumes of THE GREEN BAG — I frequently do so to entertain an odd moment — I came across an article entitled "Dreams Before the Law Courts "; and as I read the interesting cases therein de scribed, my mind reverted to a remarkable criminal trial which I had once heard of as having taken place in Franklin County, Vermont. On looking the matter up I find it to have been substantially as follows1: — About the year 1840, Eugene Clifford deserted from the British army in Can ada, and, escaping his pursuers, made his way into the little town of Fairfield, Ver mont. Here he took up his abode and secured work upon a farm. Being a man in the prime of life, of stalwart form and good bearing, Clifford soon won the affec tions of a buxom widow who lived in the neighborhood with her two children, and in due time they were married. The widow brought him property to the value of about two thousand dollars. One Sunday in October, only a few months after the wedding, Clifford and his wife and step-children started to cross the lake in Fairfield, with a view to visiting some acquaintances on the opposite side. The day was cloudy and cold, and a strong wind was blowing from the west. The boat which Clifford had borrowed was by no means a safe one; it was roughly built and altogether unfit to be out in stormy weather. Nevertheless the venturesome pair started off, Mrs. Clifford and the little ones seated in the stern, and the husband rowing. It is important to say that the woman and children were wrapped up in two shawls, one a silk and the other a Highland plaid. 1 Thanks are due to Mr. J. J. Beardsley for assistance in the presentation of these facts.
The lake was about three miles long and three-fourths of a mile wide. As before stated the weather was boisterous and cloudy, and so it does not appear that the boat was observed by anyone after it had got fairly away from the shore. Therefore there was none to witness the drowning of the wife and children, and none to tell the story of the sad affair save the surviving husband. His report was this : That as they approached the side of the lake to which they were voyaging, the boat gave a sudden lurch and the three unfortunates were thrown into the water; that he sprang to the stern of the boat to save them, when his sudden movement capsized the boat; that being himself pitched out he immediate ly sank, and after struggling and strangling, he rose to the surface and grasped an oar; that on looking around for his wife and children, he could see no sign of them; that with great difficulty he managed to keep himself afloat, until at length, his feet touching the bottom, he waded to shore. While this story was generally believed, there were certain circumstances connected with the case which in some minds aroused suspicion. In the first place, it appeared that Clifford gave the earliest information of the accident at the boathouse, where he arrived late that same afternoon. Now to reach this house he must have traveled at least two miles, passing by or near several inhab ited dwellings. When he arrived at the boatman's, his clothes and hair were drip ping with water, so much so that at his trial it was insisted that he must have renewed his bath on the way, to corroborate and give force to his story. Under Clifford's guidance, search was made for the bodies, and they were found a few yards from the land at a place ten or twelve feet deep.
