. acts... . .
' BOUiiD__O_VER.
Henry Luddington and Dora Con-
roy Started for State Prison.
'FULL DETAILS OF'THE INTER—
ESTING EXAMINATION HELD
SATURDAY IN WILTON.
Even the Clothing They Wore at the
Trial Recognized as Stolen
Property.
Probably not many times since the
town of Wilton was set off from Nor-
walk, in 1802 or thereabouts, has the
stuffy little Town hall in Wilton held a
more cosmopolitan ,or more excited
audience than that of last Saturday,
assembled to listen to the testimony
against the alleged burglars and thieves,
Henry Luddington and Dora Conroy.
Among those who took the 9.23 a. m.
train from here were Mr. E. M. Lock-
wood, the able prosecuting attorney,
young F. St. John Lockwood and
a GAZETTE representative. Aboard
the train were found Detective Cronin,
Oflicer Arnold and the prisoners.
Arrived at Wilton it seemed as if
a large percentage of the population
had congregated at the station as a sort
of reception committee, and to subse-
quently do escort duty to the Town
hall. As we more or less laboriously
toiled up the dusty country road lead
ing to the venerable Town hall, (which
is now almost a centurion, according to
Mrs. Partington,) the words of Long-
fellow in “The Alarm Bell of Atri”
came to mind, and Wilton seemed to be
“one of those little places that have run
half up the hill beneath a blazing sun,
and then sat down to rest as if to say I
climb no farther upward, come what
may.”
In the Town hall all was confusion
and dust, the latter being caused ,by
Selectman Samuel G. Lockwood, who
was sweeping out the ancient temple
with alacrity and without his coat. In
a short time men, women and children
filled the little place till the interior
resembled that of a kaleidoscope, the
gayest spring millinery coming into ef-
fective combination with boys’ legs
dangling from the gallery, and quaint
masculine costumes perched atop of
desks, benches, polling booths, etc.,
like so many ancient fowls. Comrade
Hiram Cobleigh, of Branchville, was
among those present, and he informed
the writer that he was a Thursday visi-
tor at the Luddington palace, where
twelve hams were identified as the prop-
erty of Abijah Fillow, Seth Benedict
and a Mr. Mahoy. Comrade Cob-
leigh was also out three hams, but as
they had been eaten he hopes they
were full of “them pesky trycoon
worms” which are indigestible and
make people sick. Henry also found
, and identified a horse blanket belong-
ing to Charles L. Couch, of Branch-
ville. .
Chairs for the honorable court, the
counsel and the newspaper man were in
demand and werequickly provided by
Selectman Lockwood. Justice H. E.
Chichester presided at the examination,
and with him were seated by invitation,
Justices William Wakeman, of Easton,
and F. L. Sherwood, of Fairfield. The
prosecution was excellently conducted
by Counselor E. M. Lockwood, of Nor-
walk, assisted somewhat by Mr. \Vil-
liam B. Glover, of Fairfield. Mr. J. C.
Chamberlain, Bridgeport’s noted crim-
inal lawyer, appeared for the prisoners.
Everything being in readiness the
court was opened at 11 o’clock. Four
complaints against each of the prison-
ers were presented, made by Grand J u-
ror John R. Comstook in the names of
Edwin Bangert, Charles Jones, Rufus
B._Disbrow and Mrs. Huldah Hickok.
In Opening the case Prosecutor Lock-
wood said that in each complaint the
ofiense alleged was burglary and theft.
Mr. Chamberiain was willing that all
of them should be covered at once, and
the ball was opened by Mrs. Huldah
Hickok, (after the usual pleas of not
guilty had been entered,) a resident of
Wilton whose house was entered June
3, 1890, and robbed of gowns, shoes,
shawls, jewelry etc., to the value of
about $300. It is not necessary to go
over Mrs. Hickok’s testimony in de-
tail. She owns two houses in Wilton
and the one robbed was unoccupied by
her the night of the robbery. The
house was entered by means of a front
window and completely ransacked.
Nearly every drawer had been opened
and fresh wagon tracks were discovered
near the house. At the Luddington
house on Thursday she had discovered
.most of the stolen property.
Charles Jones, of New York, a sum-
mer resident, was the next witness, his
house having been robbed of bedding,
towels, clothing, etc., some time after
it was closed, December 1. The value
of the property thus stolen was about
$100.
Mrs. Minnie M. .Middlebrook, Mr.
Jones’ daughter, was sworn. In com-
pany with David B. Ogden, she went to
the Luddington house on Thursday
and identified considerable property as
having belonged to her father.
David B. Ogden sworn: He had
charge of the Jones property, in that
gentleman’s absence, and on the first
Thursday or Friday in December dis-
covered that the house had been burg-
larized, the burglars effecting an en-
trance by means of ’a window, pried
open with a spade taken from the wood-
house. .
Edwin Bangert, whose mother’s
house was entered February 24, and
WEEKLY .- NoRWALKa GAZETTE.
robbed of clothing, furniture, etc., to
the extent of $175 was the next witness.
The burglars evidently unlocked the
door with a skeleton key as no windows
or outside doors, were broken. Last
Thursday morning in Luddington’s
house, he identified most-of the stolen
property.
Albert Sterling saw a light moving
about from room to room in Mrs. Ban-
gert’s house one night in the latter part
of February. My father first saw
it and said, “AL, what’s that light
down there?” Edwin Bangert was at
once notified.
Charlotte Bangert testified that she
went with her brother to the Ludding-
ton house where she assisted in identi-
fying the property taken from her
mother’s house. Quite a sensation was
created when she also identified the
hat worn by the Conroy woman, as
hers.
Rufus B. Disbrow, another summer
resident of Wilton, from whose house
various articles, the value of which was
about $50, were taken March 18, was
next sworn as to the fact of, residence.
Miss Carrie Bedient, a member of
the family in whose care the Disbrow
house was left, went to the Luddington
house and identified a hanging lamp.
some clothing, jelly, etc., as Mr. Dis-
brow’s property. She testified that at
the time of the burglary she saw the
footprints of two persons back of the
house and upon the cellar bottom. One
of the tracks was evidently made by a
woman who wore a 3.15 or 4 shoe, with
French heel. The burglars got into
the house through a window.
A RECESS TAKEN.
At this point, 1 o’clock, a recess of
half an hour was taken for dinner. In
the interval the writer interviewed
Captain Elijah B. Batterson, who owns
the “Thieves’ Paradise.” He said that
it was in the town of Fairfield, four.
miles from Westport on the Newtown
turnpike. A year ago last March Lud—
dington, who then called himself Per-
kins,and who dressed well and appeared
well, approached him in the woods with
overtures for the purchase of the prop-
erty—house and about three acres of
land which he valued at $100. No bar-
gain was consummated, but it seems
Luddington 8: Co. immediately took
possession of the property and lived
there over a year without the owner’s
knowledge.
During the recess a Sir Oracle lean-
ed over the railing and in a stage whis-
per said to the writer: “B’ gosh, I be-
lieve all the cloze they’ve got on is
stole.” (This in view of the fact that
the very hat worn by Luddington was
identified by Mr. DisbrOw as his prop-
erty.) A
When court reconvened, at 2.30,Haw-
ley Bedient was sworn. He visited the
Disbrow house, March 19 with his sis-
ter Carrie, and ccrroborated her testi-
mony respecting the. footprints of a
man and woman. A window or. the
side stoop had been forced open. The
sash look was broken, and the sash
pried up by an iron about an inch wide.
Edwin Bangert recalled: “I discov-
ered on the morning of Feb. 24 that the
house had been robbed. It rained the
previous night, and when I found my
hat rack at Luddington’s it bore evi-
dence of having been out in the rain.”
Mrs. Hickok was recalled and identi-
fied the gowngvorn by Miss Conroy as
her property.
sensation and laughter in the crowded
little court room.
Detective Cronin testified respecting
going to the house with Officer Arnold .
and a posse of four. and arresting Lud-
dington and Miss Conroy.
James Bedient testified in corrobora-
tion of the testimony of hisbrother and
sister, and nothing new was developed
save that he found partly burned pa-
per on the floor of the Disbrow house.
ABNOLD’s LUCKY ESCAPE.
Officer Arnold, having been sworn,
identified several bunches of keys,
dark lantern, magic lantern, jimmies,
revolvers, saw, etc., (taken from a satch-
el in the sustody of Detective Cronin,)
as having been found in the Ludding-
ton house. He described finding Lud-
dington on the top of a pile of furni-
ture in a locked attic room. He assist-
ed Luddington in a search for his vest,
the latter saying “Iv’e something in
one of the pockets that I want to give
you ! ” The vest was not found till the
next day, and in one of the pockets
was a revolver, with every chamber
loaded. This was evidently what the
prisoner wanted to “give” Officer Arn-
old.
This practically closed the testimony.
Mr. Chamberlain said he had nothing
to offer in behalf of the defense, where-
upon Counselor Lockwood made a log-
ical, eloquent and exhaustive argument,
covering the testimony presented, and
upon its conclusion Justice Chichester
bound the prisoners over to the May
term of the superior court under bonds
of $4,000 each.
GENERAL NOTES.
Attorney Chamberlain made quite an
argument against holding the prison-
ers for burglary, but admitting they
might be bound over for theft. To this,
Counselor Lockwood, ever alert, made
effective response. - A
It was the general opinion that Lud-
dington’s’face would be good for ten
years in any state prison in the land,
on general principles. While Miss Con-
roy may be equally guilty of burglary
and theft, hers is not an unattractive or
criminal face, and 1t is quite likely that
With better surroundings and respecta-
ble associates she might become a pret-
ty decent sort of a woman.
This caused a renewed
AT THE THIEVES' DEN. '
An Endless ”Quantity and Variety
of Stolen Goods.
Sunday evening a DAILI GAZETTE
reporter visited the house where the
Luddingtons lived and stored their
endless booty. It is just four miles
north of Westport on the main read up
to Easton. It is a story and a half and
basement, shanty rather than house, on
the left hand side, and between the
Aspatuck river and road, which at this
point are but a few rods apart. There
was a large crowd of visitors, some
hunting for lost property and others
there from idle‘ curiosity. The same
sort :of crowd has visited the place
daily since the arrest. The place is in
the charge of Mr. Aaron Mills, who has
been officially detailed for the purpose.
A large cotton American flag draped
in crape, is run out of the 2x3 front
chamber window on a fish pole, and
across the street is suspended a pihce of
green serge on a limb of the forest tree,
in honor, one of the natives stated, of
the Irish birth of the mother of the
Luddington woman. One cat darted
furtively about the door-yard, while
another sat viewing the unusual scene
with great solemnity on top of the stone
wall opposite. In the yard were sitting,
stalking, sissingand squawking hens,
ducks, geese and turkeys innumerable.
One maternal goose was conducting
her three ofi'springs to a large pool in
the yard supplied by a spring across
the street. Several hens with fine
large broods were clucking about, at
least a dozen more were sitting. One
goose was sitting within three feet of
the kitchen door. A parrot, with head
down in apparent consciousness of its
disgrace, and refusing to confess even
its want of a cracker, hung just inside
the front door. On the right side on
entering the front door, was awell-
worn house organ, while the floor was
strewn with an utterly indescribable
mass of the stolen goods, coats, carpets,
shawls, dresses. men’s and ladies’ hats,
children’s toys, carpenter’s, black-
smith’s, miller’s and quarrymen’s tools,
photographs, knives and forks, plated
spoons, and napkin rings, crockery and
earthen ware of every description,
mats, quilts, oil cloths, at least a doz-
en skates and hand-saws, with an enor-
mous new range set up in the kitchen,
etc., etc., etc. There are now at least
a half dozen loads of such stufl‘ remain-
ing, while over a dozen loads had been
carted away. While the GAZETTE re-
porter was there, one lady found her
spandy new Sunday bonnet, Easter
pansies and all, her church dress, flan-
nel skirt and stockings among the now
mixed up conglomeration. Nine fine
linen table napkins belonging to Mrs.
Charles Jones, of \Vilton, were also up-
turned, although she supposed on Sat-l
urday that she had recovered every-
thing stolen from her save a fine linen
table cloth. A Bedding man also rec-
ognized about eight bushels of corn,
because it was of a peculiai‘ variety and
three years old. This quite broke up
Mr. Mills as he said he did not know how
he was now to feed his large family of
poultry.
The big family Bible was claimed by
George Rockwell, of Ridgefield.
One neighbor told 11s that Luddington
went to Bridgeport regularly as often
as twice a week to sell his stolen butter,
lard, pork, hams and poultry and that
he supplied one firm there with all the
poultry it retailed. Another stated that
everybody suspected and in fact knew,
though they could not prove, that this
gang were stealing from the neighbors,
right and left; carrying off everything
movable, with the utmost impartiality.
The little barn was locked with anew
Smith 8; Edge patent mail lock. The
horse was attached and taken to West-
port, but Luddington’s woman’s moth-
er had sent word that she would be
over from Bridgeport Monday and
claim it as her property. The five child-
ren are with their aunt at Bridgeport.
~——-~-—~-—.~¢ o >-
Found at Luddington’s.
The following is a list of things stolen
from Mr. John Lee, the Bedding wa-
goner, and found at Luddington’s
house: Half a dozen knives, two forks
marked M. L., four teaspoons marked
M. B. and one teaspoon marked M. M.,
one table spoon marked M. B. , one
bead purse marked M. B., two pairs of
woolen stockings, one breast pin, one
whisk broom, one umbrella, a silk
handkerchief and a pocket book, but
minus the $60 in it when stolen.
Things stolen from Mr. Lee and still
missing: Half a dozen knives, two
forks marked M. L., five teaspoons
marked M. -B., one teaspoon marked M.
M., one tablespoon marked M. B.,
sugar tongs, one dozen linen handker-
chiefs, one silk handkerchief (black
and white), one silk sunshade (black),
one large pocket book, beaded purse
and a gold pin.
The public are chiefly indebted to
the Wilton board of Selectmen, Charles
A. Ambler, Josiah Gilbert and Samuel
G. Lockwood, for the detection, break-
ing up and arrest of this organized gang ‘
of burglars and sneak thieves, which
has been carrying on its nefarious
crimes for some six years, past and ex-
tending their depredatiOns in' all the
northeastern towns of Fairfield and ‘
~_into New Haven and Litchfield coun-
ties.
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BUILDING tors
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On -:- Wilton -:- Avenue,
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100 PIECES PURE ENGLISH MOHAIR, 40 inches wide, all
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50 BLAZERS, in sizes 14 and 16
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35 PIECES EXTRA-VALUE BODY BRUSSELS, good patterns,
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33 of our FINEST PATTERN
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Manufacturers of FINE PARLOR SUITS and Extensive Dealers in all
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—TYPE METAL .—
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EVEBAL Hundredeounds‘ ofOld_Type f0
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Norwalk Chronicler