Could insanity be caused by a rejection from a loved one? An article from July 3, 1895 says, “yes”. A desperate struggle ensued in Rock township between William D. Sleezer, a maniac, and J. Jenkins, Charles Mulvaney, of Rock township, and Wm. Mulvaney of Cherokee. William Sleezer, called at his brother’s home, Martin Sleezer, of Rock township, and began kicking and pounding the door and when his brother came to let him in, he struck at him with a hoe, saying at the same time that he was going to kill him. The brother ran to the home of Jenkins, where horses were secured, and a wild race of four miles ensued before the maniac was overtaken. As his pursuers approached, he drew a dagger and made a rush for Jenkins. Now came a struggle for the knife, which was secured after the party had received several slight cuts. The crazy man was brought to Cherokee. The unfortunate man was to have been married in a short time, but when he called on his sweetheart, a Cherokee girl, day before yesterday, she informed him that she had changed her mind and would not marry him. This preyed upon his mind until he lost his reason and became a raving maniac.
However, the Aurelia Sentinel tells another account of this story. Will Sleezer, a young man who has been making his home at Pomeroy and traveling in the interest of the Walter A. Wood company, came to Aurelia Thursday, last week, and hired a team of Watson & Butterfield to go into the county to do some work. He has a brother living in Rock township and he also intended visiting with him while out with the team, but told the liverymen he would return that night. Nothing was heard of him until Saturday when he telephoned that the team was all right and that he wished to keep them another day. That was the last heard of the team until Tuesday night and the owners began to get anxious. Early Wednesday morning they investigated the matter and found that the fellow had gone violently insane and was in the jail at Cherokee, and team was found at Gates’ barn at that place.
Mr. Sleezer was at Cherokee Monday night and told the liveryman, upon leaving the barn, that he was going to Aurelia, and talked very rational. He drove direct to his brother’s place in Rock township. Upon arrival, he hitched his team to the fence, picked up a hoe which was lying in the yard, and went to the front door and almost kicked the door in. His brother opened the door and was at once attached with the hoe.
The first time the insane man struck at him, the hoe caught on the porch or it might have resulted fatally. The brother jumped inside of the house and closed the door. The crazy man then went out into the road, took off his coat and started down the road as fast as he could run. The brother, after getting two men to assist him, took the team and started in pursuit which was a chase of over four miles before he was overtaken. He showed fight with a knife at being caught, but he was finally overpowered and taken to Cherokee, from which place he was taken to the asylum at Independence by Deputy Sheriff Wheeler on Wednesday. Tuesday the sheriff of Calhoun county was here with a warrant for the arrest of Sleezer for forgery. It seems he had forged a check on one of the banks at Pomeroy.
Sleezer was to have been married to a lady at Cherokee Tuesday, but the prospective bride had heard of the crooked business through friends at Pomeroy, it is said, and broke the match. This together with the forgery is supposed to be the cause of the fellow going insane. After his capture, the crazy man’s arms were tied, and even then it took three men to hold him. The poor fellow chewed his tongue until it was raw, and bit his fingers until they bled. Mr. Butterfield went over to Cherokee and brought the team home Wednesday.
Winning His Wager March 2, 1899
E.H. Lee, the self-styled “King of Tramps,” who is walking on a wager, the items of which demand that he shall walk 5,000 miles, earn $5.00 above expenses, and marry a wife all within a year, arrived in Fort Dodge one day last week on his pilgrimage. The bet, which is the most remarkable on record, was made with a traveling man connected with a Minneapolis shoe house, Sept. 10 of last year. Since that time Lee has started out in a fair way to fulfill the difficult conditions of the wager. He has already covered 2,200 miles, and, most difficult and romantic of all, he has won a wife. The circumstances of the wooing are quite romantic. The bride whom he has won is said to be one of the most beautiful girls of Cedar Rapids, where she is employed in the Cereal mills. Lee says that when he made the wager, he was engaged to be married to a charming maiden of Waterloo, named Mary Anderson; that they had arranged to meet at Des Moines, where they were to be married; but, though he himself religiously kept his appointment, the girl failed to show up, so defeat stared him in the face at the very outset of his career. Nothing daunted, however, he set out to find a substitute, and was not long in finding one who could not long resist his charms. Her parents, who are wealthy, opposed the proposed match, but the girl was true to him. They accordingly met in Dubuque, and from there went to Fairplay, Wis., where they were married. The regal consort of the royal tramp then went back to her county where the conditions are best while her royal master continued his little journey in the world.
Lee started out as a tramp thirteen years ago from Minneapolis, where he was a bootblack. From that time on he has continued in the business, and has a wide experience in the profession, enough, in his own opinion, to entitle him to the sobriquet, (nickname) “The King of Tramps.” Lee has been averaging eighteen miles a day and sells a patent solder to pay expenses. Upon entering a town he goes to the post office where his book is stamped with the office postmark. He has been traveling about Iowa, which he says is the best state in the Union for the tramp and he proposes to stick to the part of the country where conditions are best.
A Dangerous Thing December 31, 1908
The town of Marcus wasn’t always as clean is it is now as this article says: Has it ever occurred to the town authorities that the ridge of earth piled up on Main street, along the line of the new sewer is a menace to the best interest of the town and to those who drive in from the country?
Some dark night somebody’s team will become frightened and in running will overturn a wagon or buggy, and the next thing will be a damage suit against the town. This ridge should be leveled at once before someone is hurt.