"As soon as I read these letters I knew that the Follansbee I knew at Longley & Robinson's, and the Follansbee for whom these letters were inquiring to be the same man, and so I informed Chief Anderson, but as Follansbee was charged with no crime I took no action except to look up his whereabouts.

 

"In glancing over the CONSTITUTION one morning, I read of his marriage to Miss Hunter, and at once recollected his telling me that he had a wife and five children in Fond du Lac, Wis.  I also remembered the letters and knew at once that he was a bigamist.

 

"The Mr. Binsel spoken of in one of the letters is working at Messrs. Fred Hart & Sons, Marietta street, and knows that Follansbee is a married man.  He knew him and his family in Fond du Lac.  They came south together.  Mr. Fred Hart knew him there and Follansbee may say what he wants; he has two wives and I will prove it."

 

Mr. Binsel was hunted up by the CONSTITUTION representative.  He was busily engaged shaping a sash at Hart's planing mill.  In response to the reportorial queries, he said that he knew Follansbee in Fond du Lac; that Follansbee had worked for him for some time in Fond du Lac; that he had five children, the eldest a girl about twenty-one years of age and was living with the mother of those children who was passing as his wife.  He felt no doubt, in fact was certain, that she was Follansbee's wife.  Since Mr. Binsel's residence in Atlanta he has received letters from Fond du Lac inquiring about Follansbee.

 

Soon after Follansbee married Miss Hunter, Mrs. Binsel clipped the marriage notice from THE CONSTITUTION columns and sent it to a friend of her's who resides just across the street from Follasnbee's wife in Fond du Lac.  As soon as the lady in Fond du Lac read the notice she went across to Mrs. Follansbee's home to show it to her, but when she entered the house she found Mrs. Follansbee reading the same notice, which someone in Atlanta had sent her.  This was learned through a letter which Mrs. Binsel has received from Fond du Lac since sending the marriage notice.

 

 

In addition to Mr. Buchanan and Mr. Binsel, there are several persons in Atlanta who know Follansbee.  One of these furnishes the CONSTITUTION with a brief history of Follansbee since 1875.  During that year, said our informant, he arrived in Atlanta, but remained only a few days, he then went to Dahlonega where he secured work.  Whilst in Dahlonega he began paying attention to the daughter of a widow lady, but soon the story of his wife in Fond du Lac leaked out and Follansbee got the set back.  This information was given the lady's mother by Mrs. Binsel.  Soon after this escapade Follansbee left Dahlonega for Atlanta.  He came down the Chattahoochee to Iceville in a dugout.  Then it was that he began work for Longley & Robinson.  In '78 this firm discharged him and he went to Marietta and from there to Woodstock, in Cherokee county, where he worked in a gold mill until February last.  During that month Collector Andrew Clark appointed him store keeper and gauger, and assigned him to Hunter & Crockett's distillery, near Decatur.  Here it was that he became acquainted with Miss Hunter.

 

At the time Follansbee was seeking the appointment at Collector Clark's hands, he met Mr. Binsel and asked him to indorse his application.  During the conversation he informed Mr. Binsel that he had heard from his wife a short time previous.  He also said that there was a mortgage on his house and lot in Fond du Lac, and that he was seeking the appointment in order to cancel it, and it is said that Mr. Binsel not only signed the application, but that Mr. Hart attached his signature thereto, hoping to thereby aid the man.

 

Miss Hunter has returned to her father's home in Decatur.  Mr. Hunter says that he cannot help thinking Follansbee a bigamist.

 

Late yesterday evening Follansbee granted the pencil pusher an audience.  He said that he had employed a lawyer and would stand trial.  He says that the woman in Wisconsin is not his wife, but admits that he lived with her for more than twenty years, during which time she passed as his wife, and as such obtained credit, but to Mr. Buchanan he has since his incarceration admitted having a wife in Fond du Lac.

 

His preliminary trial will occur Thursday next in Decatur.  The prosecuting witnesses are Mrs. Eisbenery[sic], with whom Follansbee boarded; Mr. Dyer, to whom he has frequently said that he was a married man; Mr. Fred Hart, Mr. Buchanan and Mr. and Mrs. Binsel.

 

Intelligence of the coming of Follansbee's oldest daughter reached THE CONSTITUTION reporter late last night.  It is said that she is en route to Atlanta, where she will arrive to-day, for the purpose of attempting to extricate her father from his position.      "As soon as I read these letters I knew that the Follansbee I knew at Longley & Robinson's, and the Follansbee for whom these letters were inquiring to be the same man, and so I informed Chief Anderson, but as Follansbee was charged with no crime I took no action except to look up his whereabouts.

 

"In glancing over the CONSTITUTION one morning, I read of his marriage to Miss Hunter, and at once recollected his telling me that he had a wife and five children in Fond du Lac, Wis.  I also remembered the letters and knew at once that he was a bigamist.

 

"The Mr. Binsel spoken of in one of the letters is working at Messrs. Fred Hart & Sons, Marietta street, and knows that Follansbee is a married man.  He knew him and his family in Fond du Lac.  They came south together.  Mr. Fred Hart knew him there and Follansbee may say what he wants; he has two wives and I will prove it."

 

Mr. Binsel was hunted up by the CONSTITUTION representative.  He was busily engaged shaping a sash at Hart's planing mill.  In response to the reportorial queries, he said that he knew Follansbee in Fond du Lac; that Follansbee had worked for him for some time in Fond du Lac; that he had five children, the eldest a girl about twenty-one years of age and was living with the mother of those children who was passing as his wife.  He felt no doubt, in fact was certain, that she was Follansbee's wife.  Since Mr. Binsel's residence in Atlanta he has received letters from Fond du Lac inquiring about Follansbee.

 

Soon after Follansbee married Miss Hunter, Mrs. Binsel clipped the marriage notice from THE CONSTITUTION columns and sent it to a friend of her's who resides just across the street from Follasnbee's wife in Fond du Lac.  As soon as the lady in Fond du Lac read the notice she went across to Mrs. Follansbee's home to show it to her, but when she entered the house she found Mrs. Follansbee reading the same notice, which someone in Atlanta had sent her.  This was learned through a letter which Mrs. Binsel has received from Fond du Lac since sending the marriage notice.

 

In addition to Mr. Buchanan and Mr. Binsel, there are several persons in Atlanta who know Follansbee.  One of these furnishes the CONSTITUTION with a brief history of Follansbee since 1875.  During that year, said our informant, he arrived in Atlanta, but remained only a few days, he then went to Dahlonega where he secured work.  Whilst in Dahlonega he began paying attention to the daughter of a widow lady, but soon the story of his wife in Fond du Lac leaked out and Follansbee got the set back.  This information was given the lady's mother by Mrs. Binsel.  Soon after this escapade Follansbee left Dahlonega for Atlanta.  He came down the Chattahoochee to Iceville in a dugout.  Then it was that he began work for Longley & Robinson.  In '78 this firm discharged him and he went to Marietta and from there to Woodstock, in Cherokee county, where he worked in a gold mill until February last.  During that month Collector Andrew Clark appointed him store keeper and gauger, and assigned him to Hunter & Crockett's distillery, near Decatur.  Here it was that he became acquainted with Miss Hunter.

 

At the time Follansbee was seeking the appointment at Collector Clark's hands, he met Mr. Binsel and asked him to indorse his application.  During the conversation he informed Mr. Binsel that he had heard from his wife a short time previous.  He also said that there was a mortgage on his house and lot in Fond du Lac, and that he was seeking the appointment in order to cancel it, and it is said that Mr. Binsel not only signed the application, but that Mr. Hart attached his signature thereto, hoping to thereby aid the man.

 

Miss Hunter has returned to her father's home in Decatur.  Mr. Hunter says that he cannot help thinking Follansbee a bigamist.

 

Late yesterday evening Follansbee granted the pencil pusher an audience.  He said that he had employed a lawyer and would stand trial.  He says that the woman in Wisconsin is not his wife, but admits that he lived with her for more than twenty years, during which time she passed as his wife, and as such obtained credit, but to Mr. Buchanan he has since his incarceration admitted having a wife in Fond du Lac.

 

His preliminary trial will occur Thursday next in Decatur.  The prosecuting witnesses are Mrs. Eisbenery[sic], with whom Follansbee boarded; Mr. Dyer, to whom he has frequently said that he was a married man; Mr. Fred Hart, Mr. Buchanan and Mr. and Mrs. Binsel.

 

Intelligence of the coming of Follansbee's oldest daughter reached THE CONSTITUTION reporter late last night.  It is said that she is en route to Atlanta, where she will arrive to-day, for the purpose of attempting to extricate her father from his position.