The Case of Archibald Fisher 299
of his brother Henry, he was immediately arrested and lodged in jail, which was probably the best thing that could have been done for him, as he was undoubtedly in grave danger of mob violence — the feeling of the people against him having become greatly aroused.
Search was now recommenced for Fisher's body, and near the thicket where the body was supposed to have been concealed, a small tree was found bent over as though the hanging might have been done on it, and underneath it were unmistakable signs that a struggle had taken place there. A trail, as though made by dragging a heavy body, was also found, and it lead directly to the tracks of a buggy going in the direction of the mill-pond already alluded to. The tracks were lost sight of for a little in an open place in the woods, but were recovered near the margin of the mill-pond where the buggy had been driven into the water and out again on the same side of the pond.
Hundreds of men were soon engaged in dragging and fishing for the body; failing to find it, and becoming impatient of delay, they cut the dam and drew off the water, but the body was not in the pond. About noon of that day — Thursday, June 18 — the officers who had gone to arrest William Trayler returned with him in custody, accompanied by a man calling him self Gilmore — Dr. Gilmore. These officers, with William Trayler in charge, had stopped for the night at Lewiston, a town about half way between Greenbush — William Trayler's home — and Springfield. Late in the night they were awakened by Gilmore, who had just arrived, and told them that Fisher was alive and at his — Gilmore's — house in Warren County; that he had followed them to give this information, so that the prisoner might be released without further trouble. But the officers declined to release Trayler on the word of a stranger, and next morning continued on their way to Springfield, Dr. Gilmore accompanying them.
Gilmore told the officers that when he heard of William Trayler's arrest he was several miles from home; that when he returned home he found Fisher there, and that he would have brought him along, in pursuit of the officers, but that Fisher's physical condition rendered it impossible for him to come. The doctor further stated that he had known Fisher for years and that he was subject to fits of temporary derangement, in consequence to an injury to his head received in early life. The doctor also stated that Fisher had said the first he knew of what he was doing, after leaving the Traylers, he was not far from Peoria, and being nearer home than Springfield, he had started at once for home, without the remotest thought that his sudden disappearance was leading to the injury of anyone.
On reaching Springfield Gilmore's statements were made public. At first the people were dumb with astonishment, but when the news was conveyed to Henry Trayler, at the jail, and he reaffirmed his own story of the murder, people began to suspect that Gilmore was acting in collusion with the murderers, and that the story he had told was simply a ruse by which to secure their release, and although he was not placed under arrest, he was kept under close surveillance. About three o'clock that afternoon, Mr. Myers — Archibald Trayler's partner — left for Warren County to ascertain the truth of Dr. Gilmore's story.
Without waiting for the return of Myers, however, the Traylers were brought before a justice of the peace for preliminary examination, on the
