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THE GREEN BAG
follows, which may be relied on: Some years past (I think between five and ten) a stranger made his appearance in this county, and upon being inquired of. said his name was Russell Colvin — that he came from Manchester, Vt. He appeared to be in a state of mental derangement, but at times gave considerable account of him self, his connections, acquaintances, etc. He mentions the names of Clarissa, Rufus, etc. Among his relatives he has mentioned the Booms above, Jesse, as Judge (I think), etc. He is a man of rather small stature, round forehead, speaks very fast, and has two scars on his head, and appears to be between thirty and forty years of age. There is no doubt but that he came from Vermont from the mention he has made of a number of places and persons there, and probably is the- person supposed to have been murdered. He is now living here, but so completely insane as not to be able to give a satisfactory account of himself, but the connections of Russell Colvin might know by seeing him. If you think proper to give this a place in your columns, it may pos sibly lead to a discovery that may save the lives of innocent men. If so you will have the pleasure, as well as myself, of having served the cause of humanity. If you give this an insertion in your paper, pray be so good as to request the different papers in New York and Vermont to give it a place in theirs. "I am, sir, with sentiments of regard, "Yours, etc., TABOR CHADWICK." Mr. Whelpley, however, took the matter up and visited Dover, where Mr. Polhemus took him to the field where his man was at work. Whelpley said nothing at first and Colvin, for it was he, merely looked at him sharply and turned to his work again. Then Whelpley called him by name. Colvin said that was not his name; that it had been but that he had changed it. Further conver sation demonstrated that there could be no
mistake in identity, but Colvin refused abso lutely to return to Manchester. Stratagems were employed and he was gotten, upon one pretext or another, as far as Troy, being pre vailed upon without further difficulty to pro ceed thence to Vermont. County court was in session at Bennington on December 2 2, when someone entered the room and said that Colvin had come. Court broke up in confusion. Judges, offi cers, attorneys, litigants, and spectators alike, rushed out through the windows and doors to see the man whom all supposed to have been murdered. His recognition was immediate. Manchester was reached at sun set of the same day, and, a courier having gone on in advance, the entire population of the community were gathered at Captain Black's tavern. When the stage galloped up a scene of wildest excitement ensued. Cannon were fired, and Stephen was brought from his cell to fire the first shot, Jesse hav ing been already taken to the State prison at Winsor, Vt., to begin his sentence. Upon meeting Stephen and seeing the fet ters upon his limbs Colvin asked, "What is that for?" Stephen replied, "Because they say I murdered you!" Colvin answered, "You never hurt me; Jesse struck me with a briar once but it did not hurt much. " At the instance of the court Colvin was ques tioned most thoroughly to test his identity and his answers showed a knowledge of trivial affairs that no impostor could have acquired. For instance, being asked who built the tavern in which he was then sitting, he replied, "Captain Munson. and it is all of the best oak timber, too," which, upon in quiry, was found to be true. The writer is not informed as to the fact, but avers upon his suspicion and belief that after Colvin's return a surprising number of people were found, who though they had sed ulously refrained from letting it be known, yet believed all the time that the brothers were innocent. Colvin's mental derangement was obvi ously greater than at the time of his disap
