Rock Island Daily Argus

Death of P. L. Moen the Barbed-Wire Man.

THE MYSTIC "DOO" WILSON AFFAIR.
Its Significance Goes into the Grave with the Dead Man—The Suit to Recover $100,000 from Moen, and the Testimony It Brought Out—A "Matter of Busi-ness" Which Never Was Satisfactorily Explained and Probably Never Will Be Now.

WORCESTER, Mass., April 24.—Phillip L. Moen died in this city yesterday. Mr. Moen's death was due to a paralytic shock sustained a week ago. He was born in Wilna, N. Y., Nov. 13, 1824. He was at the head of the great wire works of Washburn & Moen located in this city, and also in process of erection at Waukegan, Ills. He was prominent in social, political and religious circles, and Worcester's foremost citizen. He leaves a widow, one son and two daughters.

That Doc Wilson Episode.
Mr. Moen was well known not only in New England, but in the country at large, from his great business interests and also from the coupling of his name with "Doc" Wilson in the famous Moen-Wilson entanglement, which has always been a mystery and probably always will be. Two trials resulted from it. Both were actions on contract, brought by Wilson to recover $100,000 from Mr. Moen.

The Checks Were All Right.
At the first trial the jury disagreed. A new trial was granted, and Mr. Moen won the case. The fact that Mr. Moen was paying Wilson large sums of money was first brought before the public by checks drawn by Mr. Moen payable to Wilson which were questioned at the bank. The newspaper men elicited the information from Mr. Moen and his attorneys that the checks were all right and that he had paid Wilson the amounts of the checks—a total of several hundred thousand dollars.

But Why Did He Pay Them?
Wilson was a coachman in Worcester, employed by the late Lucius W. Knowles. Mr. Moen was an aristocrat far removed from Wilson in the social plane. Some claimed that Wilson was an illegitimate son, but deeper thinking people scoffed at this idea. Mr. Moen would say nothing on the subject. He said that it was a matter of business, pure and simple, and was none of the public's business.

What Wilson Swore To.
Wilson stated that in 1887 three suits were brought against Moen—one by Bemis B. Engley for the seduction of his daughter, one by Hattie H. Engley for breach-of-promise of marriage, and one by Hattie L. Wetherell for breach-of-promise, each suit being for $50,000. He met Mr. Moen, he stated, at Moosehead Lake, in August of that year, at the latter's request, and Mr. Moen told him the case must be settled. As he did not wish his name connected with Wilson's, Mr. Moen offered him $100,000 with which to settle the cases.

The Mystery Still Exists.
Mr. Moen claimed that he only loaned the money to Wilson, and had promissory notes for all but the $100,000 given him in checks, $50,000 of which was recovered. One story especially was very sensational, mixing up the name of the first Mrs. Moen in the affair. But the old nurse who was in the Washburn family for years, and with Mrs. Moen up to her death, utterly and completely contradicted the claim. The mystery still exists.