Didn't Kill Himself

New York, 1895

Cornelius B. Seaman, a blacksmith of Port Washington, on Tuesday got a verdict in the Supreme Court of $525 against the Prudential Life Insurance company on two policies that be held on the life of one of his workmen, Jacob Mettloch. In January a year ago Mettloch was found dead in Seaman's barn. A rope used to lower feed from the haymow was found wrapped around his neck and his body was in an upright position leaning against a ladder. A Coroner's jury found that Mettloch committed suicide. The insurance company refused to pay the policies, asserting that the man had taken his own life. Lawyer Merrill set up the theory that Mettloch was seized with heart disease while descending from the mow, where he had been sleeping after a spree, fell, and became entangled in the rope, which had nothing to do with his death. The jury rendered a verdict for the full amount with interest.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, N.Y., Jan. 18, 1895, unknown page number.