These
newspaper articles are taken from The
Daily News. They 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 15, 1909
Front page headline:
SAY SHE LOVED MAN WHO ROBBED HUSBAND
HUSBAND FOILED; MAN
GETS WIFE AND $600.
French E.
Dodge, who is alleged to have blackmailed Orville Conner, a merchant doing
business at Shedds, Linn County, out of $600, and also took away Conner’s wife
and two daughters, was locked up in the county jail at 11 o’clock last night to
await trial on serious charges. Mrs. Conner was placed in the women’s quarters
of the jail, and will also have to face the court.
According
to the facts related by United States officials, Dodge is one of the worst
scoundrels the government has had to deal with in many a day. Several days ago
Mr. Conner appeared at the office of the United States district attorney and
told Mr. Wyatt, the deputy, that he had a complaint to make. Mr. Wyatt, after
hearing the details, on Wednesday called in Andy Nichols, the old government
sleuth, and said, “Andy, I’ll turn this case over to you.”
The story
told by Mr. Conner to Mr. Wyatt and also to Andy Nichols was that on October
14, 1908, French E. Dodge appeared at his store at Shedds and informed him that
he was a secret service agent of the United States government, which is untrue.
Dodge said Mrs. Conner had taken up a timber claim in eastern Oregon, having
been located by one Moise, a timberman, and that Moise perpetrated fraud and had
been indicted by the United States grand jury, arrested and placed under $2,500
bonds.
Impersonates Officer
Conner said
Dodge told him that as he was a United States secret service officer he would
shield Mrs. Conner if Conner would give him $600, and would get transportation
for Mrs. Conner from the government and send her to Canada. She wouldn’t appear
against Moise, who would go clear.
As Mrs.
Conner had located on the timber claim, and believing the lying story told by
Dodge to be true, Mr. Conner paid the $600, and Mrs. Conner left home
ostensibly to go to Canada, taking her two daughters with her.
Conner let
things run along, but finally became suspicious that something was wrong. He
received no letters from his wife from Canada, and saw nothing in the
newspapers about the case of Moise, so he decided to consult the authorities.
Detective
Nichols immediately began an investigation and at 5 o’clock Wednesday evening
had located Dodge at Gresham. On Wednesday morning Mr. Conner signed a warrant
for the arrest of Dodge and armed with this instrument Nichols went to Gresham
at 6:30 o’clock, discovered Dodge standing in front of the store of Lewis
Shattuck, and placed him under arrest.
Living Together
Deputy United
States Marshal William Griffith accompanied Detective Nichols to the scene. It
was ascertained that Dodge and Mrs. Conner were living together as man and
wife, and the two daughters, aged 17 and 6 years, respectively, were also in
the house. On this state of facts warrants were sworn out in the office of the
justice of the peace at Gresham against Dodge and Mrs. Conner, charging them
with lewd cohabitation and adultery, and were served by Constable Gullixson of
that place.
They were
unable to give bail. Dodge will have to appear in the United States on a charge
of falsely impersonating an officer.
Detective
Nichols performed good work. He started out on the case yesterday afternoon at
2 o’clock, and had the parties in the county jail at 11 o’clock at night,
besides gathering much important evidence.
July 16, 1909
EXAMINE DODGE
French E.
Dodge, who bunkoed Orville Connor of Shedds, Linn County, out of $600 and took
away Connor’s wife and two daughters, will have an examination before United
States Commissioner Marsh late this afternoon.
July 17, 1909
Front page headline:
DODGE AND MRS CONNOR; HER FIVE GIRLS
FATHERS!! HOW’D YOU
LIKE THIS TO HAPPEN TO YOU?
* *
* * *
*
Bigamist
Johnson, who is now serving a sentence in a California prison, admitted that he
married many women and had dallied with an almost endless number of others.
Yet it is
not on record that Johnson also purloined a whole family, or at least some of
the children.
In the
Portland county jail is French E. Dodge, who not only ran away with Mrs.
Orville Connor and secured $600 from her husband, but also took two of the children
along.
Orville
Connor and wife have five girls. The youngest is six years, and oldest about
17. Dodge managed it so two of the children left their father.
He
threatened to send the oldest girl to a reform school if she did not accompany
her mother and himself.
As for the
6-year-old tot—well, that was easy. Six-year-olds generally follow mother if
they can.
A strange sight was witnessed in
court yesterday when the little 6-year-old girl ran over to Dodge, threw her
arms about him and called him “papa.”
Connor was
looking on at the time, but the little girl had forgotten him. His head dropped—no
wonder.
What did
the father think? What were his feelings when he witnessed HIS little girl
throw her arms about ANOTHER man and called him “PAPA”?
What about
the WOMAN in the case?
* *
* * *
*
It is not
an infrequent occurrence for a man to run off with another man’s wife, but it
is an uncommon thing for him to take some of the children along in the bargain.
This,
however, is what French E. Dodge, who is alleged to have blackmailed Orville
Connor, a farmer at Shedds, did.
Dodge told
the eldest daughter, 17 years old, that he was going to place her in a home for
bad girls at Salem if she did not accompany him and her mother.
The
youngest child, 6 years of age, was taken along by her mother. Dodge all of
this time represented himself as a United States secret service officer of the
United States government. This fact evidently influenced the elder girl to be
led by his threats.
At the
hearing yesterday afternoon before United States Commissioner Marsh, the
youngest child rushed across the room, and throwing her arms about the neck of
the imposter, addressed him as “papa.” She has been thrown so much in the
company of Dodge that she came to regard him as her father.
Connor
testified that his wife previously left him, remaining away for three years. He
believed she was with Dodge all of this time. Mr. Connor said he went to
Pendleton and brought her home, and soon afterwards Dodge appeared on the
scene, and after stating that he was a United States secret service officer, told
him Mrs. Connor had filed on a timber claim, taking an oath that she was a
widow, and would be prosecuted for perjury.
Connor
borrowed $600 from Mr. Forks, giving a mortgage as security, to square things
with Dodge. Mrs. Connor was to be taken to Canada until matters were fixed up,
but she never went there.
Mr. Connor
stated that he received two letters from his wife, one mailed at a railroad
station and the other at Portland. The grown daughter also testified.
Dodge had
nothing to say, and Mrs. Connor did not appear as a witness. Dodge was held to
answer before the United States grand jury and was remanded to the custody of
the sheriff, in default of bonds in the sum of $2,500.
Mrs. Connor
was interviewed at the county jail by a News reporter this morning.
She is a medium-sized woman, dark
hair and eyes, and has a pleasant but somewhat sad countenance. She spoke in a
soft tone of voice, and evidently is a person of mild manners. A woman one
would not think would leave her husband and children. Mrs. Connor stated that
she is the mother of five children. They are all girls, ranging from 6 to 17
years.
She declined to discuss her case,
and after several questions walked away. Her only response was, “I don’t want
to talk about it.”
She was
asked if she had been in Gresham all the time since leaving her home this last
time, why she took the children along, and other things, but would not say.
Mrs. Connor appears to realize her position keenly.
Mr. Connor
has returned to Shedds, taking the two children with him to rejoin the other
three. Dodge must also face a state charge for cohabitating with Mrs. Connor.
November 24, 1909
WIFE MUST BE GOOD 2
YEARS
Cora
Conners, charged with unlawful cohabitation, was sentenced to two years’
imprisonment in the Oregon state penitentiary by Judge Bronaugh yesterday, but
was paroled on good behavior, this parole coming at the request of her husband,
O.E. Conners, a rural mail carrier, who appeared in court and offered to take
her back and forgive her misdeeds.
F.E. Dodge,
arrested with Mrs. Conners, and charged also with representing himself as an
officer of the United States, is on trial before Judge Bean in the federal
court.
Dodge went
to a timber claim on which the Conners had filed, represented himself as a
United States inspector of the interior department, declared that the Conners’
claim was invalid and then agreed to square the matter for $600, provided Mrs.
Conners would disappear for a time.
Mrs.
Conners disappeared, and wrote frequently for money, the letters passing
through Dodge’s hands. Finally Conners became suspicious and came to Portland,
where he found his wife and Dodge living together.
December 14, 1909
DID HE REALLY SHOW
HIS LOVE?
F.O. Dodge,
who fraudulently obtained $500 from Orville B. Conner, a mail carrier at
Shedds, and also took away Conner’s wife and four daughters from their home,
was tried in the federal court today. The case was submitted to the jury at
noon.
Mrs. Conner
filed on a piece of government land in eastern Oregon. Dodge later approached
Conner and represented himself to be a secret service agent of the United
States. He told Conner that Mrs. Conner had been indicted for fraud for her
actions in relation to the land. Dodge promised to get Mrs. Conner away to
Canada, and later to have the case dropped by the government for $500, which
Conner paid.
Dodge on
leaving with Mrs. Conner, influenced her to take the children along, which she
did. The oldest daughter is 17 years of age.
Dodge did
not go to Canada, but instead with Mrs. Conner and her daughters, took up his
residence at Gresham. Conner, becoming suspicious as time rolled along that he
had been made a fool of and buncoed, laid the case before United States
Attorney McCourt. Dodge was arrested for falsely impersonating an officer, and
he and Mrs. Conner were also charged with unlawful cohabitation.
The
children were sent home to their father. Mrs. Conner was recently released from
the county jail upon her promise to return to her husband and children and
behave in the future.
Dodge is a
man of good appearance and is about 35 years old. His defense was that he did
not impersonate an officer and used the money obtained from Conner to provide
for Mrs. Conner and the children. He said he loved the woman. The opinion
expressed is that a verdict of guilty will be returned.
December 15, 1909
Stole Man’s Wife and
Money; Is Convicted
F.O. Dodge,
who stole $500 from Orville B. Conner, and also took away Conner’s wife and
four children, was found guilty yesterday afternoon in the United States
district court. Dodge was convicted on three counts of falsely impersonating a
secret service officer. The penalty is imprisonment of not more than three
years and a fine of $1,000.
Mrs. Conner
testified how she met Dodge at Pendleton, and was induced to take up land
fraudulently, for which she expected to receive $500. Her husband, she said,
came to Pendleton and induced her and the children to return to their home in
Shedds, Linn County. Dodge, she said, later came to Shedds and told her husband
she had been guilty of land fraud. Dodge said he was an officer, and induced
Conner to give him $500. Mrs. Conner and the children then left the home at
Shedds, accompanied by Dodge, and they went to Gresham.
The
evidence of Conner and his wife was corroborated by their 14-year-old daughter.
One of the bad features of the case is that Conner had to mortgage his farm to
procure the $500 he gave to Dodge.
December 16, 1909
18 MONTHS FOR DODGE
A sentence
of 18 months in the federal prison at McNeill’s island was imposed this morning
by Judge Wolverton on F.O. Dodge.
Dodge
defrauded Orville B. Conner out of $500 and also persuaded Mrs. Conner to leave
her husband and live with him as his wife. Dodge, Mrs. Conner and four
daughters of the Conner family were found by the officers together at Gresham
at the time the arrest was made.
Dodge and
Mrs. Conner previously associated at Pendleton. Mrs. Conner testified against
Dodge at the trial and her evidence had much to do with his conviction.
