Mystery Articles for Anderson County, Kansas

ANDERSON COUNTY, KANSAS

MURDER, MYSTERY, SPOOKY ARTICLES

HELD FOR A KANSAS MURDER

A. R. DORSEY IS BELIEVED TO HAVE KILLED HENRY HINTON NEAR GARNETT

A. R. Dorsey, 408 East Ninth Street, was arrested here late Saturday on a Kansas state warrant charging the murder of Henry Hinton. The warrant charges that on May 20 Dorsey shot and killed Hinton in a secluded clump of trees about two miles from Garnett, Kas.

Amos Decker, sheriff of Anderson County, Kansas, came here Saturday morning and Dorsey's arrest followed. Dorsey has been employed by the E. Stine & Sons undertaking establishment for three month. He will resist requisition.

GARNETT, KAS., Oct. 8---Henry Hinton of Holden, Mo., and Dorsey, traveling in a 2-horse wagon, camped five miles southwest of Garnett May 20. That evening Dorsey reported to a farmer that Hinto had shot himself. Dorsey sold the team to Abe Gerkey and went away. A week ago a son-in-law of Hinton came here and started an investigation.
(Kansas City Star ~ October 9, 1911)

MURDER CAME OUT AT LAST

A NOTE IN THE STAR REVEALED A KANSAS KILLING

Relatives of Henry Hinton Made Inquiries and Disproved A. R. Dorsey's Story That His Aged Traveling Companion Slew Himself by Accident.

A little inquiry printed in The Star last week asking if any of the readers had seen or heard of Henry Hinton of Holden, Mo., was the cause of the unearthing of a murder case that rivals in some respects the famous Dender mysteries. A. R. Dorsey, also known as Thomas K. Boggs, was arrested by Sheriff Amos Decker and two detectives in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday and Governor Stubbs issued a requisition today for the return of Dorsey to Anderson County, Kansas, for the murder of Henry Hinton and the theft of a team and wagon. Dorsey was arrested at the A. Stein & Sons' undertaking rooms.

Hinton and Dorsey--or Boggs--were traveling overland through Anderson County and camped at Birch Switch, five miles southeast of Garnett, the evening of May 20. Early in the night neighbors heard a gun shot from the neighborhood of the wagon and the next morning Hinton was found dead. Dorsey or Boggs said the old man had pulled the gun out of the wagon to shoot a rabbit and the gun exploded, killing Hinton instantly. Boggs was arrested and finally released as every effort to break down his story failed. Dorsey claimed that the team belonged to him and after his release sold the team and wagon. A suitcase found in the wagon showed letters addressed to Dorsey from his mother in Florida, but Dorsey disclaimed them and said his name was Boggs.

In a few days the death was forgotten until one day last week, Amos Decker, sheriff of Anderson County, picked up The Star and read a letter from Hinton's relatives in Holden, Mo., asking for traces of the aged man and telling of his trip overland in a wagon and describing the team and wagon. The sheriff remembered the team, took the description, compared it with that of Hinton, went out and looked at the team and wagon, found they tattled and then began a search for Boggs or Dorsey. Garnett people had seen him in Kansas City and the sheriff arrested him. Boggs had given many references as to where he had been and letters sent out by the sheriff to the references were returned, shortly after the murder.

At police headquarters today Dorsey denied any knowledge of how Henry Hinton came to his death. He admitted that he rode in the wagon with the old man. Beyond that the police could get no information from him.

Dorsey is a bright appearing man, 32 years old. He is about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weights 126 pounds.

A fugitive warrang charging Dorsey with the murder of Hinton was issued this morning by James. L. Kilroy, a deputy prosecuting attorney. Arthur Dorsett, a patrolman, who arrested Dorsey, swore to the complaint. Dorsey will be given a preliminary hearing Friday before Justice Charles Clark.
(Kansas City Star ~ October 9, 1911)

A KANSAS MURDER MYSTERY

A. P. DORSEY ARRESTED FOR KILLING OF HENRY HINTON

Prisoner Claims He is Victim of Mistaken Identity and Names Thomas K. Boggs as the Real Murderer

A mystery that promises to equal the famous Hillmon case may develop from the murder of Henry Hinton near Garnett, Kas., a little before sunset May 20. The circumstances surrounding the death of Hinton are much the same as those surrounding the death of Frederick Adolf Walters, and it may develop that the motive may have been the same---money.

Two detectives have arrested A. P. Dorsey, an undertaken and furniture maker, and he is being held, charged with the murder of Hinton. Joseph Landers, a friend and boyhood companion of Dorsey, has retained the firm of Brewster, Kelly, Buchholz, & Brewster to defend Dorsey, and the trial promises to be almost as spectacular as the Hillmon trial.

Henry Hinton was a man who traveled about the country in a covered wagon depending for his food, for the most part, on the game he could shoot along the roadsides. In the summer time, roasting ears are plentiful and it is easy to slip into a farmer's garden after dark. The haystacks and granaries furnish plenty of horse feed. That was the way Hinton lived.

About the first of the last May the wagon with its lonely driver appeared in Wichita. Dorsey says he was there at the time and fell in with the old man on a side street one day. Hinton asked him if he would like to ride with him, and Dorsey, who has never maintained a very settled abode, took the chance.

CLAIMS A STRANGER JOINED THEM

"A man joined us," Dorsey said last night at the county jail, where he is being held under a figitive warrant, "just outside of Wichita. I never had seen him before, but I learned that he knew Hinton. After we had been out a while, he said his name was Thomas K. Boggs. We rode along together for several days, eating what we could pick up.

"Boggs and Hinton quarreled often, and when we got to Eldorado, Kas., I left the party. I feared that I would be drawn into the quarrel.

"I took the train at Eldorado and came to Kansas City. I tried to get employment at an undertaking establishment here but couldn't agree on the salary. Then I worked around Kansas City for a few days. I visited a friend at Wichita for a week or two and then I came back to Kansas City and obtained employment at the same undertaking company. I stayed there until I was arrested."

"How do you explain the clothes with your name on them and the suitcase which was left in the wagon?" he was asked.

"I left the clothes in the suitcase when I left the wagon and took the train. They didn't amount to much."

The rest of the trip made by Hinton from Eldorado to Garnett, nearly a hundred miles, is a mystery. A wagon camped at Birch Switch, five miles southeast of Garnett in Anderson County, the night of May 20. Just about dark a man ran to the neighbors and told them that Hinton was dead at the wagon; that he had been accidentally killed. The story is told by the man was that just after they had camped Hinton asked him to hand out the shotgun which was under the seat in the front of the wagon. As he pulled the gun from its resting place the hammer caught on the springs of the seat and was pulled back far enough to explode the cap. The load of shot entered Hinton's head and killed him.

CLAIMED HE WAS THOMAS BOGGS

The man told the sheriff that his name was Thomas K. Boggs and that the wagon and team were owned by him. Hinton, he said, was a passenger. The coroner of Anderson County investigated and "Boggs" told so consistent a story that the coroner's jury exonerated him. He immediately sold the horses and wagon and a little later disappeared. He was not seen again for several weeks. But the clothes with the name "A. P. Dorsey" in the wagon left a doubt about the case.

Persons from Garnett came to Kansas City and they saw Dorsey here. He was the same man who said he was Boggs when Hinton was killed, they said.

About June 1, Dorsey came back to Kansas City. A month later he went to work for an undertaker. He didn't have a suitcase, but he told the other employees that it had been stolen during the summer.

Dorsey was trimming a casket when the detectives and Sheriff Decker of Garnett walked in Saturday. Mr. Landers, his friend, was bidding him goodby before he left for the old home of the two boys of Gainesville, Ga. He already had his ticket. But Landers went with Dorsey to police headquarters and has remained to aid him in the fight.

It is said that Dorsey's parents and relatives are widely known in Georgia and that they are well-to-do. No word has been received from them. Employees and employers who worked with Dorsey in several undertaking firms here say he was an excellent workman and his hospitality was extremely Southern. They hope it is a case of mistaken identity. Dorsey denies all knowledge of the death of Hinton.

DORSEY FORMERLY A GEORGIA CORONER

ATLANTA, GA., Oct. 9--- A. P. Dorsey is widely known in Gainesville, Ga. He is about 30 years old. He left Gainsville about two years ago to go to Kansas City to work in a coffin factory. Dorsey is the son of a former undertaker of Gainsville. For a time he was in the undertaking business himself. Later he was coroner of the county and was also at one time in the motion picture business.

Dorsey always was known here as "Ab." Nothing has been heard in Georgia in any murder charge against him.
(Kansas City Star ~ October 10, 1911)

A REQUISITION FOR DORSEY

NO WORD FROM RELATIVES OF MANY CHARGED WITH MURDER

No word has been received from the mother or brother of A. R. Dorsey, who is held in the county jail here charged with the murder of Henry Hinton near Garnett, Kas., Mary 20. They have been notified by Dorsey's attorneys, Brewster, Kelly, Brewster & Buchholz.

It is understood he has several wealthy brothers who could help him. Dorsey will be given a preliminary hearing before Justice Charles Clark Friday morning on a figutive warrant on which he is held here. Governor Stubbs has issued a requisition for his return.

Dorsey is a son of the late A. B. C. Dorsey of Gainsville, Ga. One of his brothers was until recently manager of the Postal Telegraph Company at Gainesville, but is now owner of the Lavonia, Ga., Telephone Company
(Kansas City Star ~ October 11, 1911)

BACK TO FACE MURDER CHARGE

SHERIFF DECKER OF ANDERSON COUNTY, KANSAS, RETURN WITH A. R. DORSEY

A. R. Dorsey, who was arrested here charged with the murder last May of Henry Hinton near Garnett, Kas., was taken back this afternoon by Amos Decker, sheriff of Anderson County, Kansas. Sheriff Decker came to Kansas City this morning with requisition papers for Dorsey.
(Kansas City Star ~ October 12, 1911)

J. R. BOGGS IN JAIL AT GARNETT, KAN.

GARNETT, KAS., OCT. 12---J. R. Boggs, alias S. R. Dorsey, who was arrested in Kansas City Saturday for the murder of Herny Hinton here last May, was brought here this afternoon by Sheriff Decker. He was placed in jail.
(Kansas City Star ~ October 13, 1911)

TO TRY DORSEY FOR MURDER

A CHARGE OF HORSE STEALING ALSO PLACED AGAINST A MAN ARRESTED HERE

GARNETT, KAS., NOV 1---Thomas K. Broggs, known as A. R. Dorsey, arrested in Kansas City a few days ago, was arraigned before a justice of the peace today and bound over to the district cout on two charges, one for the murder of George Hinton in this county last May, and the other for stealing Hinton's team.
(Kansas City Star ~ November 1, 1911)

DORSEY ACQUITTED OF MURDER

NOW MAN ARRESTED HERE IS TO BE TRIED ON CHARGE OF STEALING A TEAM

GARNETT, KAS., Dec. 8---A. R. Dorsey, tried for killing George Hinton, was acquitted this morning. Until the last ballot the jury stood six for conviction and six for acquittal. Dorsey still is held on the charge of stealing Hinton's team and will be tried later.
(Kansas City Star ~ December 8, 1911)