Stith - Joe
Source: Crawfordsville Review
Thursday March 30, 1916
On his way from Brooklyn where he captured a noted forger to Bakersfield, California where he is now the deputy sheriff of the county, Joe S. STITH, a former resident dropped off yesterday to say howdy to some of his Hoosier friends and to pass the night with relatives here. Mr. Stith left his prisoner safely locked in the jail at Marion County and awaiting transportation came here for a few hours. Joe Stith will be remembered by the older inhabitants as he grew to manhood in Crawfordsville. He was on the police force at Danville, Ill for a time and later took Horace Greeley's advice and went west. He finally landed in Bakersfield, California and as they needed good men on the force there Joe landed a birth in 3 weeks. Since that time he has been appointed deputy sheriff of the county in which Bakersfield is located (Kern County) and has settled down as a substantial citizen owning a small ranch and growing up with the country. Mr. Stith's prisoner is George Wilder, formerly of the Bakersfield community. Wilder was a quasi-lawyer and real estate man. He issued some spurious paper and fled the country. He was located through a post card found in an old tool box. The tracing of the man across the continent with such a meager clue was left to Stith. Wilder was at last located in Brooklyn NY and his arrest followed. Joe will go to Indianapolis this morning and renew his long journey across the country.