After his divorce from Mary M. Brown in October 1903, Sherman left Wyoming and went to Pendleton, Oregon, where he conducted a rooming-house. He also changed his name to French E. Dodge. Around that time, he met one Mrs. Conner, who had left her husband. She stated that she was single and entered into a fraudulent homestead, for which she was to receive $500 from the Department of the Interior. She and Sherman developed a amorous relationship until her husband, Mr. Conner, pleaded for her to return home. She did so, and in 1908, returned to her husband and family. Sherman followed after her and boarded with the Conner family for a time. It was at this time that Sherman represented himself to be a Secret Service agent investigating fraudulent land claims in Oregon. He informed Mr. Conner that his wife had been involved in these fraudulent land claim entries and the only way for her to avoid trouble was to pay him (Sherman) $500. Mr. Conner mortgaged his home and gave Sherman the money, who then left, taking both the money and his wife with the pretense that she would leave the country and go to Canada. The money would be used to cover her traveling expenses. Sherman would periodically send letters to Mr. Conner, which usually contained demands for more money. Mr. Conner eventually discovered Sherman's fraudulent actions and informed the U.S. District Attorney in Portland. Sherman & Mrs. Conner were arrested on a 'statutory charge' (adultery) in July of 1909. At the time of their arrest, they were living in the town of Gresham, Oregon, pretending to be husband and wife. After being arrested for adultery, Sherman was investigated and his misrepresentations as a U.S. Officer were uncovered. Mrs. Conner plead guilty to the charge of adultery and spent time in jail. Sherman was tried in December of 1909. Following the testimony of Mr. & Mrs. Conner, he was found guilty of impersonating a U.S. Officer. Sherman was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment at McNeil's Island in Washington. Her served his sentence from December 1909 to March of 1911. After his release, he was to be returned to local authorities to answer for the charge of adultery.
Below are copies of the newspaper articles (11 in all) from the Oregonian that chronicle Sherman (French) E. Dodge’s charges of ‘Assuming to be a U.S. Officer’ between his arrest in July 1909 and imprisonment in December 1909.
July 16, 1909
DODGE IS IN DEEP
TROUBLE
Will be tried for
Passing Himself Off as a Government Official
Charged
with impersonating a Government Official, F.E. Dodge will be given a
preliminary examination before United States Commissioner Marsh today. Dodge
was arrested by Deputy United States Marshal Griffith near Gresham, where he
was living with Mrs. O.B. Connor, wife of the man whom he is alleged to have
fleeced out of about $600. The woman in the case may be required to defend
herself of a statutory charge.
Connor is a
mail carrier, living at Shedd, Linn County. It was there that Dodge appeared
and, apparently, won the affections of the wife, whom Connor suspects of
forming the conspiracy by which he was relieved of about $600. Dodge
represented to Connor that Mrs. Connor had acquired a timber claim in Eastern
Oregon irregularly, but explained that if the husband would give him $600, he,
as an inspector in the service of the Government, could fix matters with the
proper authorities. In order to raise the necessary funds, Connor mortgaged his
home at Shedd and turned the proceeds, $600, over to Dodge. Shortly afterward,
Dodge left Shedd and it was not long until the wife also informed the husband
that she wished to visit relatives in Canada and followed Dodge.
That was
the last Connor heard of the wife, although he frequently received letters from
Dodge, who did not want to lose a good thing. In these letters Dodge demanded
more money from Connor. The demands became so insistent that Connor finally
confided his troubles to a friend, who advised him to place the matter before
the United States Attorney, which was done. An investigation was conducted,
resulting in the discovery of Dodge and the woman near Gresham, where they were
living together. Connor swore to the complaint for the arrest of Dodge.
July 17, 1909
DODGE HELD TO JURY
GRESHAM MAN CHARGED
WITH IMPERSONATING OFFICER
Little Child of Woman
He Fleeced Throws Arms About His Neck, Calling “Papa.”
After a
preliminary examination before United States Commissioner Marsh yesterday, F.E.
Dodge, arrested Wednesday at Gresham, was held to the Federal Grand Jury on a
charge of impersonating a Government Official. In default of the required
$2,500 bonds, Dodge was remanded to the custody of Sheriff Stevens at the
Multnomah County Jail, pending a further inquiry into the case.
An
affecting scene was witnessed during the preliminary examination of Dodge when
the 3-year-old daughter of Mrs. Conner, wife of the man whom Dodge fleeced out
of about $600 through his misrepresentations, rushed across the courtroom and,
throwing her arms about the neck of the imposter, addressed him as “papa.” The
little one, following the abandonment by the mother of her natural father, had
been thrown so much in the company of Dodge that she had come to know him as
her father.
September 14, 1909
Notes of the Courts.
The County grand jury stopped in
its investigation of the Real case yesterday morning long enough to place Leo
Henkle, of Corvallis, on the witness stand. He testified in the case in which
F.E. Dodge is alleged to have eloped with the wife of Orville B. Connor, representing
himself to be a United States officer. Henkle was present at the Connor
wedding.
September 21, 1909
EIGHT ARE HELD; FIVE
ARE FREED
F.E. Dodge
is charged with a statutory offense on June 1, involving Cora E. Conner, whose
husband, O.B. Conner, made the complaint.
September 24, 1909
COMPLAINT IS READ
The
following were…arraigned:…F.E. Dodge and Cora E. Conner, statutory crime.
November 13, 1909
WIFE IS FORGIVEN
Twice Duped by Erring
One, Husband Opens Heart
DODGE LEADS HER
ASTRAY
Dramatic Story Lies
Behind His Indictments for Obtaining Money
While Impersonating a
Federal Employee
Behind the
indictment yesterday of French E. Dodge by the Federal grand jury, charging him
with dishonestly obtaining money while impersonating a Federal employee, is a
story of a faithless wife and a forgiving husband which would make a good
subject for a melodrama.
Dodge was
indicted upon the evidence presented by O.B. and Cora E. Conner and their
little girl, Grace. He is charged with getting by fraud more than $500 from
Conner, who is a rural mail carrier, which a route between Shedd and Lebanon.
About four
years ago there was domestic trouble in the Conner home, and Mrs. Conner went
to eastern Oregon, in the vicinity of Umatilla, where she filed on some land
under the Carey Act.
Dodge Demands $500
Some time
later Dodge appeared on the scene and said he was a special land agent, and had
discovered that her entry for the land was illegal. He promised her, according
to her story, to settle her cause for her if she would pay him $500.
In a
pitiful letter addressed to her husband, Mrs. Conner told him that she was in
danger of going to jail unless he could send her $500, which he managed to do
by disposing of the little property he owned. To insure further the protection
of the mother of his children, Conner went to his wife and promised to take her
back home with him.
The clouds
cleared away from over the Conner home, until she suddenly disappeared, and her
husband was led to believe that she had been forced to leave to keep out of the
way of Government officers, who were on her trail for an alleged land fraud.
Last April
Dodge appeared at the Conner home and asked the latter for more money to
protect his wife, and $20 more was paid him. Later Dodge obtained $7 more in
the same way.
Husband Learns of
Betrayal
Then Conner
set out to search for his wife, and when he found her he realized how he had
been deceived, and he had her and Dodge arrested on a statutory charge. This
arrest led to Dodge being investigated by the Federal officers, who found that
he was not an employee of the Government as he had represented himself to be.
November 23, 1909
WOMAN WILL PLEAD
GUILTY
Cora Conner to Admit
Misdeeds with Rural Carrier
Cora E.
Conner, who ran away to Gresham with F.E. Dodge, after the latter had
represented himself to be an agent of the Government, and had thereby secured
more than $500 from O.E. Conner, the woman’s husband, will probably plead
guilty in Circuit Court today. Her intention to do this was announced to
Presiding Judge Bronaugh by Deputy District Attorney Vreeland yesterday
morning.
Conner is a
rural mail carrier. His wife had filed on Government land. Dodge, representing
himself as a Government agent, said she had perjured herself and that Connor
must pay him $500, that she might escape prosecution, and that the woman must
leave the country. Dodge returned to Conner subsequently for more money. Conner
grew suspicious and, upon investigation, found his wife living with Dodge in
Gresham. They were trapped and arrested on a statutory charge. Dodge will be
prosecuted in the Federal Court for impersonating a United States Officer.
November 24, 1909
ERRING WIFE BACK
Given Two Years for
Eloping, Paroled, Spouse Forgives
HER AFFINITY IS HELD
Man Accused of
Enticing Woman From Home Said by Government to Have Impersonated United States
Timber Inspector
Cora E.
Conner, accused of a statutory offense, has been sentenced by Presiding Judge
Bronaugh in the Circuit Court to serve two years in the Penitentiary. She was
paroled, however, during good behavior. O.E. Conner, her husband, a rural mail
carrier, appeared with her in court when she entered her plea of guilty, and
announced his willingness to take his wife back and forgive her misdeeds.
While Mrs.
Conner was standing before Circuit Judge Bronagh yesterday morning for
sentence, F.E. Dodge, accused with her, was appearing before Judge Bean in the
Federal Court. He will be allowed to enter a formal plea next Monday morning.
Dodge went to Linn County a few
months ago and became acquainted with the Conner family. It is alleged by O.E.
Conner that Dodge and his wife, Cora Conner, became affinities. It is said that
Mrs. Conner had filed on a timber claim, regarded as “shaky” by neighbors, and
that Dodge soon heard of the rumors as to defective title.
The
Government officers say Dodge went to Mrs. Conner and represented himself as an
inspector of the Interior Department, saying he would be able to settle the
entire trouble for $600, provided Mrs. Conner disappear for a time. It was
agreed that she would go to British Columbia and that her future correspondence
with her spouse would come through the hands of “Inspector” Dodge.
Conner says
he heard from his wife from time to time, usually in the shape of requests for
money. Finally he grew suspicious, came to Portland and placed the matter in
the hands of the United States District Attorney. It was found that Dodge was a
false inspector. Later the woman and Dodge were arrested in a lodging-house in
Portland, where they passed as man and wife.
December 14, 1909
DODGE IS ON TRIAL
Accused of Taking
Man’s Wife and Money in False Guise
PRETENDED TO BE
OFFICER
Asserting He
Represented Interior Department, Testimony is He Got Money From Connor to Take
Wife From Prosecution
Charged
with impersonating an officer of the Secret Service of the United States, as
well as pretending to be an inspector of the Department of the Interior engaged
in the inspection of homestead entries, French E. Dodge is today on trial in
the United States District Court. O.B. Connor, a ranchman living near Shedds,
is the chief witness and while on the stand yesterday swore that Dodge not only
impersonated an officer of the Government without authority, but succeeded in
securing several hundred dollars from Connor. After securing a large portion of
the money, Connor charges that Dodge took Mrs. Connor away and used the funds
to support her in a tent, situated in a grove near Gresham.
Turning his
back to the part of the courtroom where Dodge sat beside his attorney, Connor
faced the jury squarely and recited the story of his wrongs. He said his wife
took their two children from his home in Shedds and removed to Pendleton in
1904. Connor went to see them in 1908, and succeeded in persuading the wife to return
with him. They arrived at the home in Shedds in July, 1908, and about that time
Connor received a letter from a woman in Portland saying that his wife had made
a homestead entry near Pendleton, for which she was to receive $500 when the
patent should be issued by the Government.
Within a
few days of the receipt of this information, Mrs. Connor told her husband that
a friend had arrived at Shedds and asked her spouse if he had any objection to
his calling at the home of the Connor family. Turner not only had no objection
but went over to the store to meet Dodge, and invited him to the house. Connor
says that Dodge came and stayed until September.
About the middle of September Dodge
told Connor, so the witness testified, that he was an officer of the Secret
Service investigating land frauds in Oregon and that his wife had pretended to
be a single woman when she made her filing on lands in Umatilla County. As a
friend of the family, Dodge agreed to get Mrs. Connor out of the country and
prevent her prosecution if the husband would advance sufficient money to defray
the expenses. Connor put up $500 at that time, he says. Dodge took the woman
away and Connor understood she was in Canada.
Numerous
letters were read to the jury signed by Dodge in which he advised Connor as to
the whereabouts of his wife and made solicitous inquiries for the welfare of
the children who had been left in the care of Connor. Some of them were dated
at Seattle and others at Portland, but all of them contained appeals for money.
Connor sent various amounts to Dodge, but finally became suspicious and placed
the correspondence in the hands of the United States authorities. It was not
long until the affinities were located near Gresham.
December 15, 1909
HIS AFFINITY CONVICTS
F.E. DODGE, ELOPER,
PERSONATED FEDERAL AGENT
Woman He Enticed From
Home Testifies Against Him – Jury Decides in Hour
After Mrs.
Cora E. Connor, wife of O.B. Connor, of Shedds, had taken the witness stand
yesterday for both the United States and the defense, the jury consumed only
one hour in finding her affinity, French E. Dodge, guilty of personating a
Federal officer on all three counts charged in the indictment returned by the
Federal grand jury.
The woman
admitted all the relations the Government charged she has maintained with Dodge
from the time she left her husband in 1904 and took up her home in a Pendleton
lodging-house, up to the date they were arrested while living in a tent in a
grove near Gresham. She admitted that she had been convicted in the Multnomah
County courts of eloping with Dodge and that she was at liberty on parole.
Mrs. Connor
told how she met Dodge at Pendleton and went to live at his rooming-house. Then
she said she was induced to become a member of one of the Umatilla County conspiracies
for the fraudulent entry of lands, that she entered a claim and expected to be
paid $500 for the title as soon as it was received from the Department of the
Interior.
In 1908 her
husband, O.B. Connor came to Pendleton and asked the wife and children to
return to the comfortable home he had provided at Shedds, and she accepted the
proposal. They arrived at Shedds in July. In September, Dodge appeared and soon
after rented a room at the Connor home. Dodge then informed Connor that his
wife had violated the law while living in Pendleton and that he was a Secret
Service agent, engaged in the investigation of fraudulent land entries. Dodge
told Connor that he sympathized with the family and did not want to see Mrs.
Connor get into trouble.
“The only
way to avoid it is for you to send Mrs. Connor to Canada,” said Dodge. Connor
borrowed $500 on his home, placed the money in the hands of Dodge and watched
the “friend of the family” drive away with Mrs. Connor, on their way to safety
across the Canadian border.
In a few
days Connor began to receive letters from Dodge, but never from the wife.
Always there was a demand for more money. Money was sent from time to time, but
finally Farmer Connor stopped the remittances. Detectives were placed on the
case and Dodge and Mrs. Connor were located at Gresham.
All of the
testimony of Connors and his wife as to the relations of the family with Dodge
were confirmed by the evidence of their 14-year-old daughter. The girl said she
had tried to prevent her father from placing the mortgage on the home place,
but that he was so badly alarmed he would not listen.
Dodge will
be sentenced Thursday morning. The penalty provided by statute is three years
in the penitentiary and a fine of $1,000.
December 17, 1909
AFFINITY IDOL
SHATTERED
French E. Dodge,
Convicted Housebreaker, Goes to McNeil’s Island
French E.
Dodge, convicted on three counts of impersonating an officer of the Secret
Service of the United States, was yesterday sentenced by Judge Wolverton to 18
months on McNeil’s Island.
The final
chapter of the story of illicit love for Mrs. O.W Connor, of Shedds, now will
not be written till after Dodge shall be discharged from the island prison.
When he comes forth officers of the Multnomah Circuit Court will meet him with
a warrant charging adultery, upon which he will be again forced to face a jury.
Dodge
conducted a rooming-house in Pendleton in 1904, and Mrs. Connor resided at the
place after she left her husband, a ranchman living near Shedds. While at
Pendleton, Mrs. Connor represented herself to be a single woman and filed upon
a homestead, as one of the dummies used in the Umatilla conspiracy case. She
was to receive $500 for her claim.
In 1909,
Connor persuaded his wife to return to Shedds, where she was followed by Dodge,
who represented himself to be an inspector assigned to the investigation of
land frauds, and who told Mr. Connor of the fact that his wife was liable to
prosecution by the Government. After scaring the husband, Dodge undertook to
get the woman out of the country and into Canada and Connor mortgaged his farm
for $500 to pay her expenses. Dodge took the woman away, but located with her
in a tent at Gresham, where they were arrested by Federal authorities.
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