SHOT NEAR MAQUON
(Galesburg's Daily Mail, Morning Edition, Wed., Nov. 7, 1894)

MR. THOS. WALTERS IS BADLY WOUNDED

He Resents an Attempt to Rob His House by Two Tramps and is Badly Wounded - Only Meagre Particulars Received up to a Late Hour Last Night.

     Word was received here late last night that Mr. Thomas Walters, a wealthy farmer living 4 miles south of Maquon, had been shot and badly wounded.
     Particulars of the affair were not given, but the shooting is supposed to have been done by two men for the purpose of robbery. At an early hour two tramps came to the house, and from what could be learned last night made an attempt to rob the house, but Mr. Walters resisted and the shot was fired by one of the men.
     Just how badly Mr. Walters was wounded could not be learned last night.

THE MAQUON SHOOTING
(Galesburg's Daily Mail, Evening Edition, Wed., Nov. 7, 1894)

FURTHER PARTICULARS OF THE DASTARDLY DEED

Four Men Enter the Home of Mr. Thomas Waters and Order Him to Hold Up His Hands and be Robbed - He Refuses to Comply With Their Demands and is Shot.

     Brief mention was made in The Mail extra this morning of the shooting of Mr. Thomas Waters at his home near Maquon last night, but at the time only meagre particulars were given. Parties here from Maquon this morning give additional news of the affray. It seems about 8 o'clock last evening while Mr. Waters, who is a man nearly 75 years of age, was seated in his house four miles south of Maquon, chatting with a friend, whose name could not be learned, two young men, one with a light moustache and the other with about two weeks' of growth of beard on his face, entered the house, and with revolvers in their hands ordered Mr. Waters and his friend to hold up their hands. The friend started and ran out of the house and disappeared in the darkness, but Mr. Waters, who is a strong, well preserved man, stood his ground and refused to throw up his hands and be robbed, but instead put up a fight. Seeing that the old man was game, the robber fired, the ball entering Mr. Waters left breast and passing through came out near the left arm. For a moment the old gentleman was stunned, but regaining himself he started again to fight and for a time matters were pretty lively. The old man kept up the fight and succeeded in driving the two men from the house.
     The news of the shooting was soon spread about the neighborhood and word was sent from Maquon to Sheriff Mathews. A search was at once instituted throughout the county, but no trace of the men could be found. This morning two young men who answered pretty closely to the description of the men, were arrested in this city but an investigation of the case proved them not to be the parties wanted.
     The wound in Mr. Waters breast, while a serious one, is not considered dangerous.

MAQUON
(Galesburg's Daily Mail, Evening Edition, Thurs. Nov. 8, 1894)

     About 7:00 o'clock last night a daring robbery was attempted on Thos. R. Walters, at his home, some three miles southwest of Maquon. Mr. Walters, his wife, two daughters and a hired hand had just finished supper when two masked men entered the room, one remaining at the door, the other advancing with pistol in hand, demanded Mr. Walters money, the old gentleman answered by snatching a stick of stovewood and began to defend himself when the scoundrel shot him in the right breast. At this moment the wife and daughters caught the robber and shoved him towards the door while Mr. Walters was still pelting him with sticks of wood and chairs, but before expelling him he fired a second shot but missed it's aim. Dr. Knowles was called in and reports the wound not dangerous, and that in probing the wound he could not determine whether the ball entered or glanced off. Uncle Tommy is 81 (sic) years old and he fought in defense of his home with a determination and the courage of a Bengal tiger. As we go to press this Tuesday evening, we learn two men answering the description of these men were arrested in London Mills.

Were Not the Men.
(Galesburg's Daily Mail, Evening Edition, Fri. Nov. 9, 1894)

     Sheriff Mathews returned last evening from Havana, where he went to take a look at the two men arrested there on the charge of shooting old man Walters near Maquon. While the two men answered pretty closely the description of those wanted, they were not the ones. At a little after midnight the sheriff received a telephone message from Maquon that the same two men who had made the attempt on Mr. Walters had been prowling around the neighborhood again, and that they had been driven out of a chicken coop near by where they had stolen one or two chickens. The sheriff left for Maquon on the early morning train to investigate the matter. It is his belief, and the belief of many others that the two men have been in hiding near the Walters place ever since the shooting was done Monday night.

A Reward
(Galesburg's Daily Mail, Evening Edition, Sat., Nov. 10, 1894)

A reward of $100 has been offered for the capture of the two men who shot Mr. Thos. Walters at his home near Maquon last Tuesday night.

No Trace

Sheriff Mathews returned from Maquon last evening where he had been to investigate the Walters shooting. As yet no definite clue to the men who did the shooting has been obtained.

ONE MAN CAPTURED
(Galesburg's Daily Mail, Evening Edition, Tues., Nov. 13, 1894)

THE ASSAILANT OF THOMAS WALTERS IN JAIL

He is Arrested at Peoria and Tells What He Knows of the Shooting - As Yet the Officers Have No Clue to the Other Man - A Search for Him Going On.

     It seems that one of the men that made the assault on Thos. Walters at his home near Maquon one night last week, and because he would not hold up his hands and be robbed, shot him, has been captured at Peoria and is now in the jail there, and it is said he made a clean breast of the affair. So far the officers say they have no clue whatever to the other man implicated in the shooting.
     Regarding the arrest of the Peoria man the Journal says:
     On Saturday evening last Captain Tripp, assisted by B.F. Adams, son-in-law of Thomas R. Walters, of London Mills, the man shot last Tuesday evening, arrested one Fred Bohn, on suspicion of being one of the two men who made the murderous assault upon Mr. Walters.
     Bohn was taken to the station and caged in the women's department, where for a time he was left to study over the situation. Later he was taken into the chiefs private office, where Captain Tripp and Mr. Adams put him through the sweating process. Bohn is not the nerviest man in the country, and in the course of an hour or so, through up his hands and made a clean breast of the whole business, but could not give the name of the man who was with him, and who fired at and wounded Mr. Walters in the left breast.
     Bohn has told the whole story: how he and his companion went to Mr. Walters' house near Maquon, entered the kitchen and went into the dining room, where Mr. Walters and the hired hand sat by the stove playing checkers. Mr. Walters was ordered to give up his money or be killed, and he bade the man with the revolver not to shoot and he would get the money for him. Mr. Walters arose, and as he did so caught a stick of wood from the box and hurled it at the robbers head, the robber replying with a shot which struck Mr. Walters in the left breast. One of the daughters rushed in and caught hold of the man who held the revolver and begged him not to shoot, but a second shot was fired, accidentally, as the marauders made their escape from the house.
     Bohn has told the whole story, but in telling it, put the shooting on to his companion, who was in Peoria for several days after the attempted robbery, but who, it is feared, has within the past forty-eight hours left the city.
     Mr. Adams brought in a suspect this morning, but Bohn said he was not the man and he was released.
     The sheriff of Iroquois county telegraphs that he has a suspect under arrest, and asks for information in the matter of the age of the man wanted. Bohn is about 22 years old, and has lived in Peoria for a year or more. At one time he worked on a farm in Knox county, near the Walters farm. His confession has been taken down in writing word for word as he told the story. He was feeling penitent this morning, and crying like a child, gave more of the details of the affair.