The two cases of theft — $8 worth from DeWitt Nute’s home and Mrs. Smith’s horse and wagon — were resolved in the Superior Court, beginning on Sept. 21, 1914, with James Carson being the first. Several days prior, he had filed a request for appointed counsel. That had been approved by then-sitting Judge Sawyer on the 17th. When the case was brought forward on the 21st, Carson, as he had in the lower court, admitted his guilt. He was then sentenced to 5 to 7 years “at hard labor” in the N.H. State Prison, and was transported thereto by the Sheriff’s Department on Oct. 14. (Keep in mind that Carson had already been “doing time” from and after his arrest on the 29th of June.) Also in the court file is a bill from the lawyers appointed by the Court—the firm of Pierce & Galloway — for what appeared to be the staggering sum of $8, but what actually amounted to what would be close to $250 today.

There are two interesting wrinkles to round out this report. The first is that the value of the stolen horse as stated in the lower court complaint was $100. By the time the case reached the Superior Court, the value had risen to $200, maybe no more than a typographical error, but possibly a claim by the Smiths that their horse had been undervalued. This upgrade probably didn’t impact the sentence in any way. Carson, with his past record, was clearly headed to State Prison in any case — but the change is curious.

And remember James Connors, Carson’s companion in the theft of the horse and wagon (and co-resident at the Dover PD the night before)? He had been taken into custody on the stolen wagon by the Berwick police and appeared to have been acting as a look-out for the attempted theft of Hanson’s horse on First Street. Based on the available information, he clearly appeared to be an accessory to Carson’s criminal activities, yet he was never charged with a crime. The only order from the lower court was that he was to post bail for his appearance as a material witness in the Superior Court, and it appears that he did that, so he served no time in jail. But on the 21st, when Carson pleaded guilty, there is no mention of Connors, no reference to his involvement, no charge in his name, no indication of his present whereabouts.

This raises an interesting question. On the paperwork transferred from the lower court, there is reference to a bail order in the amount of $500 for a potential material witness, just as reported in the news following that hearing. But the name is not James Connors, but Leo Sheldon, and Sheldon’s name doesn’t appear anywhere else in the record. Could it be that Connors was actually Sheldon, and not an accomplice, but acting in some kind of undercover capacity to keep tabs on someone who was clearly a career criminal? Is it possible that “Connors” disappeared from the record because he never really existed?

Also on the 21st is the alleged theft from the residence of DeWitt Nute, involving John Ryan, Edward McCarty, and James Burns, but it turns out that none of these names were real. Ryan is actually Wallace E. Crosby, McCarty is Leslie A. Bogart, and James Burns last name is Macaione, no first name listed. On the 21st Ryan/Crosby filed a petition to have Attorney Walter W. Scott appointed to act on his and Burns’ behalf, and this request is granted. Pleas of not guilty all around are entered that day, but on Oct. 1, these pleas are retracted with pleas of guilty. Attorney Scott made a pitch for his clients, seeking leniency. And the record contains a quite remarkable letter from Thomas M. Burckes, the Chief of Police in Lynn: “To Whom It May Concern. This letter will introduce you to Minot Bogart, whose son Leslie is in some trouble in your city. This boy has no record in our court, and his father is a hard-working man. Respectfully Yours…”. In response, and owing to the fact that the young men “had never been in previous trouble”, all three cases were ordered to be continued for sentencing, the defendants released to return home, any future “mittimus to issue at the call of the Solicitor.” (The record does not show if any or all of the three had been able to post bail following the lower court appearance, in which case it’s possible that they had already spent several months, or a part thereof, behind bars.)

And here a point of clarification. There has been some previous mention of Judge Frost’s courtroom being in what was popularly known as the Opera House, even though it was actually the location of all the municipal offices, in addition to the fancy auditorium. This would have been true only after 1899; however, following the fire that destroyed the city hall/county court that was located on Washington Street, on the lot we know today as the former Masonic Temple. That was actually the second municipal building at that location, both falling victim to a serious conflagration.

Following the second loss, the City Fathers decided to move up the street to the lot between St. Thomas and Hale streets, the County Court and offices moving to a new building on Second Street. The police court and Judge Frost (and the police department) made the same move, so for approximately half his tenure, cases were heard in the Washington Street building, the latter half at the “Opera House” (and that burned in the early 1930s, giving us the City Hall building that we have today. One by-product of the loss of the buildings was, despite some heroic efforts by city employees and others, a fair number of municipal records were lost.)