Too often, it’s true what they say about newspapers: We don’t print the truth; we print what people (and police reports) tell us. The news media race to identify victims to be pitied and villains to be pilloried. Long before Tawana Brawley and Richard Jewell, there was a man by the name of W.D. Cantelberry … or was it Cantelbury?

HIGHWAY ROBBERY

A Stranger Attacked by Three
Highwaymen and Robbed
Of $480 in Money

Arrest of One Man on Suspicion

A bold highway robbery was committed Wednesday night, on First street, near the lower end of the Bassett’s Creek bridge, at about 8 o’clock. A man by the name of W.D. Cantelberry, from Minneiska, had been out to Osseo to collect some money that was owing him, and when just at the lower end of the First street bridge he was met by three men, who knocked him down and gagged him, and then hurriedly dragged him off to the side of the street behind a lumber pile. Here they rifled his pockets of $480 in money, all that he had in the world, and left him in an insensible condition. He remained in this condition until about 1 o’clock in the morning, when he returned to his senses and succeeded in finding his way to the American House, where he had been stopping with his wife since his arrival in Minneapolis some ten days ago. All he could remember was that he was knocked down, gagged and then dragged off. The rest of the time from eight in the evening until one in the morning was all a blank. They gave him some pretty severe blows about the head, and probably did not intend that he should give the alarm very soon.

W.D. Cantelberry probably walked the unpaved streets and wooden sidewalks of this part of Minneapolis. This photo shows Nicollet Avenue as seen from Second Street in 1867. (Photo courtesy mnhs.org)

When he reached the American House he was in a sad plight. His head was badly cut and his body bruised, while his clothes were completely covered with dust, from dragging him through the dirt.

The darkness of the night prevented him from recognizing any of the highwaymen, nevertheless it is probably they will be arrested. One man giving his name as Walker was arrested yesterday on suspicion. Three suspicious looking men were seen in that vicinity during Wednesday night, and some are of the opinion that they know who the rascals were.

Mr. Cantelberry was intending to engage in business at Maple Plain, but this unfortunate loss may interfere with his plans.

Our people who have occasion to be out after night should go prepared for these fellows and give them a warm reception.

A brief update appeared in the next morning’s paper. The poor fellow’s story was not holding up to police scrutiny:

Police Court. – The young man Walker, arrested upon suspicion of robbing Cantelberry near Basset’s creek on Wednesday night, was brought before Justice Morgan, and there not being sufficient evidence implicating him, he was discharged.

W.D. Cantelberry, the man of whom we made mention yesterday as having been attacked by three highwaymen and robbed, now says that he was robbed of but $8.00 instead of $480, and furthermore that he did not go to Osseo after money, and his stories are now so conflicting that no one believes he was robbed at all. He went to St. Paul Thursday night with his wife, and yesterday morning Chief of Police Seelye and officer Coleman went down there and found him about sending his wife down the river by boat. They brought him back and took him before Justice Morgan, and his statements being so conflicting and unreliable, the Judge held him till this morning to answer to the charge of perjury. The supposition is that he was out of money, and to get rid of paying for his board concocted this story in order to gain the sympathy of Mr. Jones of the American House. He says he sold his watch for $20, and with the proceeds was intending to send his wife to her home in Minneiska, while he was to return to Minneapolis and get work. It is rather a mixed-up affair, but probably his examination to day may show some new developments.

The Tribune cleared up the whole sorry matter on Tuesday, Nov. 2:

THE MAN THAT WASN’T ROBBED.

A Singular Case of Prevarication.

He Goes to Jail for Perjury.

W.D. Cantelbury, the miserable fellow, who hatched up such a story about his being knocked down by highwaymen and robbed of $480 last week, now makes a clean breast of the whole affair, and admits that he was neither knocked down nor robbed, and that his whole statement was a falsehood from beginning to end, made up to enable him to gain the sympathy of Mr. Jones, of the American House, so as to get away from town without paying his board bill.

He now says the he had been out in the country on the day of the reputed robbery, looking for work, and that in returning to town in the evening, he stumbled and fell, striking his head on a stump, causing the wound which he had reported to have received from the highwaymen. He then left his hat and pocket-book near Basset’s bridge, and came down to the American House with the story of his robbery. But he was not sharp enough to escape the vigilance of the Minneapolis police who soon discovered his deception, and brought him to grief. Yesterday he had a hearing before Justice Partridge and plead guilty to the charge of perjury and was bound over to appear at the next term of the District Court. His bail was put at $500, but he was unable to raise this amount, and, in default, was sent to the county jail, where he will have ample opportunity to meditate over the folly of lying.

When the police brought him back from St. Paul, on Saturday, he claimed that he had sold his watch for $20, to enable him to send his wife down the river, and persisted in that statement until Sunday night, when the police, by great vigilance, found the watch secreted on his wife’s person. He was then compelled to admit his deception again. So it would seem the fellow is wholly unreliable.

The same month that W.D. Cantelberry visited Minneapolis, a new tunnel built to channel water to power Nicollet Island flour mills collapsed. A huge whirpool sucked everything nearby into the sandstone tunnel and threatened to sink Hennepin Island and collapse St. Anthony Falls. For more on this engineering disaster, see the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s report on the Eastman Tunnel collapse. (Photo courtesy mnhs.org)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 30th, 2005 at 2:08 am and is filed under Crime, Main, People. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.