Lafayette's Second Mayor Assaulted by Prominent Citizens
Colonel
John S. Williams, who served as Lafayette's mayor from 1856 to 1859, founded
the Sunday Times newspaper in 1879. This led to clashes with political
opponents like suffragette Helen Gougar, who once beat him with an umbrella, and
Captain DeWitt Wallace, whose attack upon Williams was violent and bloody. What sparked such
hostility? Did politics play a role between a Democrat mayor and some Republican
community leaders?
Who was this notorious man?
Williams was accompanied by gentlemen who constructed what eventually became the Wabash Railroad. He acted as their attorney and purchased the right of way for the road from Fort Wayne to Danville, Illinois. He came to Lafayette with a wife, Anna Southard, and a young son, Frederick; however, his wife died in 1855 and was buried in her hometown of Lockport, New York.
Williams
was elected mayor of Lafayette in 1856 and served two terms. He later assumed
the role of city attorney. In 1859, he married Mary Ball, the daughter of Owen
and Frances Ball. The couple resided at 627 South Street, now the location of
the Tippecanoe County Public Library. Mary's parents lived adjacent to their
residence.
In
1862, Williams was appointed as Colonel of the Sixty-Third Indiana Volunteer
Infantry. Following the capture of Fort Donelson, a prison was established in
Lafayette to house the surrendered Confederate soldiers, where Colonel
Williamson briefly served as the commandant. He participated with his regiment
in the Second Battle of the Manassas Gap (also known as the Battle of Bull Run)
in July 1862. Additionally, he served as the commandant of one of the military
camps in Indianapolis for a brief period. Due to physical disability, he was
discharged from service in July 1863. Williams was an esteemed member of the
Indiana Commandery of the Loyal Legion and was elected to membership in the
John A. Logan Post No. 3 Grand Army of the Republic.
Sample Packing House Served as Confederate Prison
In
1886, Colonel Williams was appointed as Internal Revenue Collector for the
Eighth District by President Andrew Johnson and served in that role for three
years. In 1872, he ran as a Democratic candidate for congressman-at-large and
lost by only 309 votes statewide. In
May 1885, President Grover Cleveland appointed him Third Auditor of the United
States Treasury. He served for three years and was a Purdue University Trustee
from 1879 to 1883.
Helen Gougar Files Slander Lawsuit; Mayor Williams Involvement Exposed
The false
gossip circulated through the town and appeared in local newspapers. Colonel
John S. Williams, senior partner of the Sunday
Times, testified that his son Fred informed him about the scandal. He
mentioned discussing the allegations with DeWitt Wallace, who responded that
they were “not a word of truth.”
Helen
Gougar responded to the allegations via her paper, Our Herald where she
lashed out at the Sunday Times. “The change in the Sunday Times from
favorable to unfavorable to us occurred between May and August, and between
these dates John S. Williams took occasion to call upon us ostensibly upon
business every time but never finding us alone he conducted himself like a
gentleman and departed. The last call found us at home alone, and at this time
he insulted us most grossly. We turned him from our house, accepting no apology,
although he begged like a culprit not to be exposed. We declared we should
expose him, not on our own account, but to save other women not so favorably
situated to protect themselves as we were. When he found us unyielding, he
turned with the look of a fiend and declared, ‘Madame, you tell this, and I
will ruin you.’ The task of ruination began in the very next issue of his
paper.”
Williams's
response to Gougar's assertion that he had made a proposition was published in
newspapers across the state.
“He
denies the charge and says that every woman knows that a man advances just in
proportion as he is encouraged, and the consequence is that no virtuous woman
is every improperly approached,” wrote The South Bend Tribune in its March 27,
1883, edition. “John S. Williams says that he is no saint, but that he is a man
of ‘common sense’ and that his knowledge of the world prevents him from ever
offering familiarities to Mrs. Gougar without invitation or encouragement. ‘Even
my bitterest enemies,’ says the editor, ‘will admit that this charge is
intended for effect abroad, and with a view to making people believe that there
was at least one occasion when she preserved her virtue.’ The reply appears
over Williams’ own signature.”
John S. Williams Assaulted by DeWitt Wallace
“BLOOD ON THE MOON, Captain Wallace
Puts on His War Paint and Feathers, HIS COWARDLY AND UNEXPECTED ATTACK ON JOHN
S. WILLIAMS, A Man Twenty Years His Senior and an Invalid, But One Expression
of Opinion.
“An
exciting episode occurred in the rotunda of the Lahr House shortly after 8 o’clock
Wednesday morning, in which Capt. Wallace and Col. John S. Williams figured
conspicuously. It was an event which is to be deeply deplored, and one which
reflects anything but credit upon the principal actor and the instigator. Capt.
Wallace, thirsting for gore and notoriety, made a brutal and unexpected attack
upon Mr. Williams, at the entrance of the washroom, in the presence of a number
of the guests of the hotel, among whom were several ladies, who were at the
counter getting their mail at the time. Those who witnessed the disgraceful
affair have but one expression, and that is of contempt and disgust for the poltroon
spirit which prompted a man in his prime to attack and invalid twenty years his
senior with a loaded cane.
The
story of the crime is about as follows: Captain Wallace was standing near the entrance
of the washroom in conversation with John B. Sherwood, when Colonel Williams
came down the stairway and passed them on his way to the office, where he made
inquiry, and returning, was passing into the washroom, when, without warning,
Captain Wallace sprang upon him and struck him a glancing blow with his loaded
cane, his constant companion, and the foundation of all his courage. Again, the
swift descending cane whizzed through the air and the loaded end falling square
upon Colonel Williams’ forehead, brought that gentleman to his knees. In a loud
voice, intended for the ears of all present, Captain Wallace vociferated, “You have
linked my wife’s name with that dastardly murderer in jail.”
“Why,
Captain,…,” began Colonel Williams, but the sentence was not finished. Another
blow felled him to the tiled floor, as the brutal assailant vociferated, “I
have hunted you for two days.”
“My
God, Captain!” cried the prostrate Colonel, “I didn’t do it.”
By
this time, Mr. Sherwood and a traveling man present, succeeded in catching and
holding the now thoroughly crazy assailant, who continued to strike and kick
viciously at his fallen victim, while Frank Moody shouted: “Let them fight; let
them fight! Why in the hell don’t you leave them alone.”
By
this time, Colonel Williams had been picked up from his position on the floor,
and some kind friend advised him to “run for it.” The Colonel took the cue and struck
out like a quarter horse on the home stretch for the elevator. By this time,
Captain Wallace succeeded in breaking away from the two gentlemen who had been holding
him and an exciting and picturesque chase ensured. The Colonel had evidently
been in training, and had he depended upon his legs would soon have distanced
his pursuer. But he chose to hunt cover in the elevator and slammed the door
behind him.
Captain
Wallace thrust his left arm through the large glass light in the door, which
fell with a noisy crash to the floor. Crawling through the aperture, he
proceeded to pummel the Colonel, who by this time had succeeded in starting the
elevator, and a thrilling panoramic view of the sanguinary contest was
presented to the spectators in the rotunda.
The
farce would have terminated in a tragedy but for the timely intervention of
Dick Reagan, Chief Clerk of the Lahr, who succeeded in pulling Wallace out of
the elevator in time to prevent his being caught between the elevator and the framework of
the door. A second more and his head would have been crushed like an aged egg
by the freight elevator. “Mr. Reagan!” exclaimed Wallace, when he had been
placed upon his feet. “You needn’t let that glass bother you; I’ll pay for
that, (Dick was looking melancholy) but I don’t allow any man to insult my wife,”
and the dowdy Captain flirted out through the ladies’ entrance twirling his
cane and caressing his Hyperion locks, his white hat rampant on the back of his
head. The only excuse for the attack, if such a flimsy pretext may be termed an
excuse, was a paragraph in the “Man About the Town” in last Sunday’s Times. The
paragraph was this:
“I
wonder if Nelling will not endavor to prove an alibi? He can find lots of swearers
in town to help him out. Let him examine the record of the Gougar-Mandler trial
for their names!”
No
allusion was made to anyone, and the Williamses declare that none was intended,
so far as Captain Wallaces’ wife was concerned. It certainly took a vivid
stretch of a distorted imagination to construe it into such. Colonel Williams
was not the author of the paragraph, and we happen to know he disapproved of it
at the time. It was written by his son, Fred S. Williams, and if a wild beast
was to have been turned loose on anybody, he should have been the victim, but
then he is a young man, active and able-bodied, and the result might not have
been as desired. On hearing of the fracas, Fred Williams armed himself with a
heavy cane and proceeded to Captain Wallace’s office, but Wallace was not in.
He then went to the Court House, but Wallace had not been there, and he
returned to the
Times office. It was a lucky thing the two men did not meet, or we might have
had a tragedy to record.
It
is very generally believed by those who witnessed the affray at the Lahr House that
for the timely intervention a murder would have been committed. The first blow struck by Wallace broke
Williams’ eyeglasses, and he was thus rendered hors de combat, and was
completely in the power of his assailant. It is a great misfortune to Lafayette
that such a disgraceful event should have transpired here. It is bad enough to
have the court records burdened with the bloody quarrels of all too numerous
bummer element, without having ignominy heaped upon us by so-called respectable
people making bummers out of themselves and indulging in the low scum born
thirst for revenge, which invariably marks the ruffian. It is a mean soul and a
small mind that can contemplate an assault, and especially an armed assault
upon an unguarded and helpless enemy. The crime this morning, for it was nothing
less than a crime, was on a par with Poock’s assault on Captain Wallace last
summer, and the instigator of the fracas equally deserving the contempt of
gentlemen. It was a vicious instinct that prompted them both, and in this
latter case there was even less excuse. Punishment adequate to the offense
should be meted out to the offender.”
Helen Gougar Attacked Colonel Williams with Umbrella
The
location mentioned in the news article was Helen Gougar's home. This was one of
several instances where she had been publicly criticized in such a manner. On
the same morning, Gougar encountered Williams in front of the Lahr House, and
the ensuing interaction was newsworthy.
“Mrs.
Gougar was much enraged,” read the news article, “and having an umbrella, began
to beat Williams over the head with it.”
After
the altercation, Williams claimed that he did not write the article; however,
Gougar threatened to sue the newspaper for libel.
The
Death of Mayor John S. Williams
Much
more could have been written about Lafayette’s second mayor, but in the end,
his death on December 3, 1900, was a sad day for the community. The Lafayette
Journal captured the mood with these words:
“The
residence of Colonel John S. Williams on South Street was darkened by the
shadow of death last evening and the spirit of the master of the house was
transplanted in eternity just as the clock was striking the hour of 6. Word of
the dissolution was passed to the outside world, and it was received with
sorrow. It was not a surprise, because it was an announcement that had been
awaited for hours, but it was a shock to the hearts that had felt akin to the
life that had just gone out for years. It was a breaking of that bond of
fellowship and friendship that had been established by years of companionship
and had been cemented and strengthened by the nobler qualities in manhood. At
the moment that was to signalize the transition from earth to eternity
approached, the members of the family were gathered at the bedside. Mrs.
Williams, the devoted wife who had shared the home, the cares and happiness of
the dying man for forty years, was present with Mrs. John E. Bates of
Washington, D.C., sister of Col. Williams. The other persons at the bedside
were Frederick S. Williams, the only child of the family, and Mrs. George B.
Williams of Washington, D.C….”
Colonel John S. Williams was Lafayette's mayor for two terms, a Civil War leader, and an early railroad industry influencer. This shows that flawed individuals can achieve significant accomplishments.
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