Dakota Datebook: George Barrington

Jamestown reported the visit of an English nobleman on October 9 in 1913, but the man's bizarre behavior drew more than a little speculation on the part of the city's inhabitants. A man claiming himself to be George Barrington, the nephew of the English Duke Barrington, was arrested and charged with the attempted murder of several train passengers.

It all began a few days earlier, when an unknown man came into town. The man said that his name was Ed Williams, and he seemed a likable fellow. Then, one morning he awoke with the desire to make some cigarettes, which were prohibited for sale in the state. Williams somehow got his hands on some tobacco, but was not able to secure any cigarette papers in order to wrap it. He decided that he would have to visit Montana for that purpose, and he caught the next train. While on board, for seemingly no reason, he began shooting at the engine's brakeman, a Mr. Paulson. After taking five unsuccessful shots at Paulson, Williams began shooting at other passengers on the train. The train was halted, and Williams jumped and ran. The local sheriff eventually apprehended the fugitive. Upon his capture, Williams inquired as to the reward being offered for his arrest; he was utterly dismayed that no one thought it necessary to offer a reward at all.

When he was later questioned in court, Williams claimed that his real name was George Barrington and that he was of noble English blood, his uncle being the Duke Barrington. When questioned as to his motives for such a deception, he stated that he had used an alias to avoid shaming the family name. Shortly thereafter, the man was asked whether or not he knew how far Montana was from Jamestown. The defendant answered thirty miles at first, but then changed his answer to three hundred and fifty. On October 7, the Sheriff's Deputy escorted "Mr. Barrington" to Grove, North Dakota to begin serving his eight-year sentence; "Mr. Barrington" was altogether excited to begin serving his time as to "...shorten it as much as possible."

Dakota Datebook written by Jayme L. Job.

"Dakota Datebook" is a radio series from Prairie Public in partnership with the State Historical Society of North Dakota and with funding from Humanities North Dakota. See all the Dakota Datebooks at prairiepublic.org, subscribe to the "Dakota Datebook" podcast, or buy the Dakota Datebook book at shopprairiepublic.org.