The cases of Sallie E. Hillmon against the Mutual Life Insurance Company, the New York Life, and the Connecticut Mutual Life, repeatedly before the courts for a period of thirteen years, have attained a degree of notoriety that could only attach to one of the most desperate legal struggles in the history of jurisprudence. The contention on the part of the companies has cost them more than their liability in the event of satisfactorily proved death, and their stubborn resistance has been due to their belief that Hillmon has been seen alive in various places at different times, that he is still eluding the detectives and covering his tracks, and that it is a duty they owe to honest policyholders, aside from subserving the ends of justice, to resist fraud at any cost.

When the claim was made and resisted, the first trial took place in the United States Circuit Court at Leavenworth, in June, 1882. The jury failed to agree, and in 1885 the case was retried in the same court before Judge Brewer with a like result. A third trial was held in Topeka, in February, 1888, before Judge Shiras, and a verdict was rendered for the plaintiff. The jury gave a verdict against the Connecticut Mutual for $7,530, against the New York Life for $15,060, and against the Mutual Life of New York for $15,060. The defendants entered a motion for a new trial, and Judge Shiras suspended judgement until the June term to allow of the preparation of a bill of exceptions. The grounds upon which the new trial was asked were as follows: First -- Misconduct of the plaintiff at the trial. Second -- Misconduct on the part of the jury. Third -- Because the verdict and judgement are contrary to the evidence. Fourth -- Because the verdict and judgement are contrary to law. Fifth -- Because of error of law occurring at the trail and duly excepted to by defendants at the time. Sixth -- Newly discovered evidence material to the defendants which they could not by reasonable diligence have presented upon the trial of this action. Failing to secure a new trail, the companies carried the case to the United States Supreme Court upon questions of law.

The decision of the Supreme court at Washington reversed the judgment in favor of the plaintiff in the Circuit Court at Topeka, its action being based on errors in the admission of testimony and in the charge to the jury. After this remand the case came up for a fourth trial at Topeka, and ended in another disagreement. On the first trail the jury stood ten for plaintiff and two against; on the second, they stood six to six; on the last trail, seven for the plaintiff and five for the companies.

John W. Hillmon was born in Indiana in 1845, and therefore at the time of his alleged death near Sun City; from there to Kinsley; from there to Great Bend, on the Santa F' Road; then to Larned, and to Wichita via Hutchinson. Hillmon and myself were entirely alone on this trip. Iliff, of Medicine Lodge, saw Hillmon on this trip. We put up at his stable. I then stayed at Wichita until the 4th of March. Hillmon in the mean time went up to Lawrence to see his wife, and to get some more money. He returned about the first of March, and on the 5th we left on our second trip. We went due west to Cowskin Creek, and then west to Harper City, then to Medicine Lodge, on by Sun City, and beyond some miles; then we turned northeast down Medicine River, to a Camp on Elm Creek about eighteen miles north of Medicine Lodge and at Lawrence, Kan., was the man Joe Burgess or Berkeley, killed by Hillmon as related above, and John W. Hillmon I believe to be still alive; at least he left our camp and went north, as stated above. After killing Joe, Hillmon said he would assume the name of William Marshall. Baldwin, his wife, and Mrs. Hillmon know all about this."

The last trial of this remarkable case, which took place in the United States Circuit Court at Topeka, before Judge A. D. Thomas, occupied a period of nine or ten weeks in the early part of 1895. With regard to the question of identity it was shown that while Hillmon's height was five feet nine inches, Walters's height was five eleven and a half. There were material differences between the hair, the teeth, and the weight, and one had several distinctive scars. While eight witnesses declared that the body in dispute was Hillmon's, twenty-one of defendant's witnesses testified that it was not Hillmon's, and twenty-six others, including Miss Alvina D. Kasten, who was engaged to be married to Walters, insisted that the body was Walters's.

Charles Hay testified that he saw Hillmon alive near Leadville in July, 1879, and the following witnesses declared that he was alive after March 17th, 1879, the date at which Hillmon is claimed to have been shot: Richard Helm, of Albuquerque, N. M., J. D. Benton, of New Mexico, and W. E. Northrup of New Mexico, who saw Hillmon alive in 1884 and 1885. The following witnesses who knew Hillmon intimately in the 70's, having hunted on the plains with him, identified him when arrested and imprisoned in 1889, in Tombstone, Arizona: John H. Mathias, Geo. S. Baker, Chas. W. Hart.

Mrs. Hillmon in 1882 admitted before five witnesses that her husband was alive. Mrs. Geo. A. Nichols (Hillmon's sister), Geo. A. Nichols and W. W. Nichols (Hillmon's two brothers-in-law), Mr. S. D. Nixon and Mrs. Maggie Nixon, all testify that Mrs. Hillmon, at the first trial of the case at Leavenworth, went to the Continental hotel, where the above- named parties were stopping, to find out what they intended to testify to in the case, as to the appearance of her husband, and when told that they would describe his defective teeth and the scar on the hand, exclaimed, "If you, his sister, you, his brothers-in-law, and you, his friends, mean to testify to that, then I will go and withdraw my suit, and turn my husband over to the authorities."

On the 15th of September, 1879, Mrs. Hillmon went to the office of Mr. Wheat, one of the attorneys for the plaintiff, who lived in Leavenworth, and demanded from him the policies, which he then held, stating that she wanted to "back out " from suing the companies; Mr. Wheat refused to give them up unless he was paid $10,000, claiming a lien to that extent. Mrs. Hillmon finding that she could not obtain the policies to hand back to the companies, executed four releases, the following being a copy of one, and all being identical, except the name of the company, number of the policy, and amount:

LAWRENCE, KANSAS, Sept. 15, 1879
In consideration of one dollar to me in hand paid, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, I hereby release, surrender and acknowledge satisfaction in full of all claims against the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, by reason of policy No. 195,132, issued by said company, dated December 10, 1878, and for the sum of ten thousand dollars on the life of my husband, John W. Hillmon, and hereby enter satisfaction in full, and order the dismissal of any and all suits or proceedings commenced or that may hereafter be commenced by any person or persons, in my behalf, for the collection of the same.
(Signed.) "S. E. HILLMON."
Attest : W.J BACHAN   JOHN H. BROWN.

These releases were signed without the payment of one dollar, or the promise of the payment of one dollar. They were signed upon one condition, namely, that the companies should agree of themselves, not to undertake the prosecution of John W. Hillmon, Mrs. Hillmon, Levi Baldwin and John H. Brown; but with the understanding that if the State prosecuted them, the companies would not withhold the evidence which was then in their hands.

The insurance companies claimed that a conspiracy was entered into by John W. Hillmon, Levi Baldwin and John H. Brown, for the purpose of insuring Hillmon's life; in pursuance thereof securing the body of another man and palming it off upon the companies as that of Hillmon, and then collecting the insurance money upon Hillmon's life and dividing it among themselves. The companies also claimed that Mrs. Hillmon became a co-conspirator with them at the time of the inquest, and continued to be such from that time on; and that also others, on account of their pecuniary interest, became co-conspirators engaged in the endeavor to collect the insurance money on the life of Hillmon, Hillmon not having lost his life.

In support of this charge of conspiracy, Dr. Phillips testified that Levi Baldwin asked him all about life insurance, the length of time after death before decomposition set in, and the appearance of a man after being buried; and also said, "Doc, wouldn't it be a good plan to insure some fellow's life, have him disappear, and go South and get the body of some 'greaser' and pass it off on the insurance companies for him?"

Mr. Blythe, an attorney of Tonganoxie, testified that Baldwin and Hillmon came to him one day and asked all sorts of questions as to the manner of collecting.insurance money in the event of death. Baldwin told him that he meant to insure Hillmon's life, and wanted to know how he should go about it. Mr. Blythe explained that as he was not a life-insurance agent, it would be better to consult those who were engaged in the business. Mr. Selig, Mr. G. W. E. Griffith and Major Wiseman testified that Baldwin and Hillmon went, unsolicited, and made application for $50,000 insurance upon the life of Hillmon, $25,000 of which was issued; that Baldwin and Hillmon repeatedly asked what form of statement had to be made out in order to collect the money in the event of Hillmon's death. Mr. Carr testified that Baldwin told him in March, 1879, that he and Hillmon were mixed up in a scheme to get hold of "a lot of money."

As already remarked, the successive suits, the adjudicature of the highest court in the land, the efforts made in tracing the fugitive in Arizona and Mexico, and the employment of all the legal and detective machinery available, must have cost the companies more than $25,000, the amount of the claim. They have never accepted the averment that the man killed near Mimi Wesson's Hillmon Case.

In regard to the Briley to whom the killing of a man alleged to have been John W. Hillman or John W. Hillmon was reported by John H. Brown, an interesting coincidence is that the 26 May 1883 journal entry from The Journal of Samuel Slack, Jr. mentions Scott and Lee Briley of Barber County, Kansas, for having been involved in a jury trial in Barber County with a man named Holcum for the shooting of Holcum on Sand Creek.

Slack was, as you will see from his journal, very poor at spelling, and anyone researching this lead would do well to search for Holcomb as well as Holcum individuals.

Note that John H. Brown's "confession" stated that Hillmon said he would assume the name of William Marshall after he "disappeared" and that John H. Mathias, Geo. S. Baker, Chas. W. Hart testified that they recognized Hillmon when he was imprisoned in Tombstone, Arizona, in 1889. It would be interesting to know if Tombstone records showed William Marshall having been arrested in that city in that year. However, many or most of the early records for that town were destroyed by water when the mine where they had been stored for safekeeping, presumably from fire, was flooded.