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Obituaries and Death Notices
Cairo Evening Bulletin
2 Jan 1869-31 Dec 1869
Cairo, Alexander County, Illinois
Transcribed by Darrel Dexter
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Saturday, 2 Jan 1869:
A miserable old man, ragged
and filthy, who gives his name as Millson, was in town this morning.
He says he came from the northeastern corner of Texas, where he had resided
with his wife and a grown daughter until about seven months ago, when a
roving band of Apache Indians killed his wife and carried off his daughter
into captivity where she now is. He avows a purpose to reach General
Hazen's command, out on the Plains, hoping through his interposition to
recover his daughter. For that end, he alleges, he is begging money. The
old man's story may be a true one—the cursed Apaches are not over tender
with the pale-faces—but he would command sincerer sympathy, and possibly a
great many quarters, if he would not odorize his breath with whisky. He
was, this morning, very nearly intoxicated.
On New Year's Eve, Mr. H. H. Spencer's mill, two miles from Pulaski Station, was the scene of an accident that shocked the entire neighborhood. The particulars as detailed to us, are as follows: Mr. William Harman, one of the employees, desired to put the mill in motion, and with that view proceeded to adjust the band on the flywheel when the tail of his coat was caught up by the tumbling shaft, which, at the moment, was making fully four hundred revolutions per minute. In the twinkling of an eye, Mr. Harman was brought upon the shaft and whirled beneath it where he lodged in a box over which the shaft was revolving. Every stitch of his strong winter clothing was torn from his body; his foot was horribly mangled and finally twisted from his ankle; his thigh bone was broken a ghastly incision made in his arm, and his whole body badly cut and bruised. When taken out he was unconscious, but by the use of stimulants was soon revived. With the exception of his boots, he was as naked as when he came into the world. Dr. Gordon, of this city, was sent for, and amputated his leg, below the knee, set the broken bones of the thigh, and did all he could to alleviate the unfortunate man's sufferings. He despaired of saving the man's life, however, feeling assured of internal and other injuries that had not fully developed themselves. His prognosis of the case proved a true one, for last night Mr. Harman was relieved by death from his sufferings.
He was an industrious man,
well thought of, and leaves a wife, but no children.
About two months ago a young man named James Rice, arrived in Cairo from Louisville, in which place, it is understood, his people reside. He engaged in the peddling business in this city, depositing his accumulations with Mr. A. O'Donnell. About the 7th ult. he made a visit to Hickman, leaving in the hands of Mr. O'Donnell the sum of $40. On Christmas Day he took the steamer Anderson at Columbus, intending to return to Cairo. Shortly after the boat's departure, he engaged in conversation with a passenger, and, attempting to support himself against a stock gate standing near the guards, was precipitated overboard. He instantly passed under the ice and was seen no more. The boat was stopped, and a close lookout kept for his reappearance, but all to no purpose. The ice had covered him once and for always.
He had, at the time of
drowning, about $40 on his person. The money in Mr. O'Donnell's
hands is held subject to the order of the legal claimant.
(Alexander G. Trousdale
marred Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Gregg on 9 Oct 1864, in Gallatin Co.,
Ill. William B. Gregg marred Elizabeth Ann Cook on 16 Dec
1841, in Gallatin Co., Ill. A. G. Trousdale is in the 1870 census of
Township 8, range 8, Gallatin Co., Ill. He was born about 1837 in
Illinois. His wife, Elizabeth, was born about 1826 in Illinois. Two sons,
Hugh C., born about 1857, and John C., born about 1865, lived in the
household. They are also in the 1880 census of White Oak, Gallatin County.
On the 1880 Hugh is listed as H. C. Gregg.)
PETITION FOR PARDON
The Charleston Courier of Friday, says that Johnny Gatlin (whose parents reside in Cairo) met with an accident the Tuesday evening previous, that will probably cost him his life. He had occasion to visit the smoke house of the Whitcomb Hotel, wherein a large tub of boiling hot soap had been placed to cool off. It being dark, young Gatlin stumbled and fell backward into the scalding liquid, fairly cooking his body and legs from his waist to his knees. The burned part instantly swelled to alarming proportions, causing the sufferer the most intense agony. It is feared that he will die.
(The 1870 census of
Charleston, Mo., lists John Gatlin born about 1853 in Illinois.)
Yesterday evening, a negro man named Henry Stevenson, whose family reside on Twentieth street near the courthouse, fell from the upper wharf boat into the river, and disappearing never came to the surface again. It is said that he was engaged in a scuffle with a companion, and losing his foothold while on the edge of the guard was precipitated overboard. Had he not immediately sunk to the bottom and remained there, it is probable that he might have been rescued, as several persons stood ready to extend assistance on the instant of his reappearance.
It is said that he was an
industrious negro, who knew his place and kept it. In his family there is a
case of small pox—his wife or a female relative, we are not advised which. We have already announced the violent death of a young man named P. F. Corder, a resident of Marion, in Williamson County, at the hands of another resident named Samuel Cover. It appears that Cover and a younger brother of Corder came to blows, last Friday, and that the renconter resulted in the discomfiture of the latter. Cover plead guilty before the mayor next day, and was fined ten dollars. While in the act of stepping out of the mayor's office he was accosted by P. F. Corder in a very angry and insulting manner. He attempted to avoid a difficulty and told Corder of his aversion to further trouble. Corder finally assaulted him, when they both clinched. During the struggle Cover drew a pistol and shot his assailant through the neck, the wound producing death almost instantly. These are the details as given by the Carbondale New Era. Judge Mulkey was employed to defend Cover and visited Marion on that account. At one time the excitement ran very high in the village and Cover's confinement in jail is said to have saved him from being dealt with in a summary manner.
(Pleasant Thompson Corder
is in the 1860 census of Township 9, Range 3 east, P. O. Marion, Williamson
Co., Ill. He was born about 1839 in Illinois, and was living in the
household of his parents, P. T. and Julia Corder. During the Civil
War he served in Co. G, 15th Tennessee Confederate Cavalry, as
did his father.)
The trial and conviction of a colored woman named Jennie Rose, for the killing of her alleged husband Aleck Rose, are still fresh in the minds of many of our readers. Jennie served a couple of years or more in the penitentiary, when her friends, believing that she had paid a due penalty for ridding the community of one of the worst negroes that ever disgraced it, and one, too, who had threatened and repeatedly attempted to take her life, petitioned the governor for her release. The prayer of the petition was granted, and on the 2d instant the prison doors were opened and Jennie walked forth. Feeling exceedingly grateful, she essays a card of thanks, which we publish below substantially as written by her: “To the citizens of Cairo—my most respectful friends: I address you by public letter to return to you my humble and sincere thanks for the great kindness you have shown me. I cannot express the great gratification of my heart to think that I am once more a free woman enjoying the sweet air of liberty, and released from that shameful imprisonment, and all of my friends welcome me. My friends, as time and tide proves all things, even so the future will prove what my desire and intentions is. I do not intend to cast myself away because I have been in state’s prison; but I intend to hold my head above the waves as long as life exists. It shall not be cast in my friends’ faces that they done good for my future welfare, but I did not do good for myself. I now have nothing to give me trouble, and I intend to make my future days happy and my friends shall never have to take me out of such trouble again; and I return my sincere thanks to Mr. J. G. Morgan for writing the petition and to Mr. and Mrs. Buck for being so interested as to take upon them to get signers in order for me to gain my liberty. Readers please excuse all mistakes, as I am not accomplished in education. This is composed and written to the best of my knowledge. I shall here close, and what I have said I hope will be satisfaction to all the community, and my God bless those that interceded to set the prisoner free from bondage, and reward them here and hereafter. Good-bye. I am more than obliged. Mrs. Jennie Rose
REVOLTING MURDER. We received yesterday, the details connected with a double murder, which took place on the line of the Iron Mountain railroad, about four weeks ago. The murder was committed at that point on the road nearest Cape Girardeau, and the victims were a Mr. Kelly and his wife, who recently lived in the fourth ward of this city. It appears that Mrs. Kelly and a neighboring woman named Mrs. Fitzgerald, quarreled about a table fork. Words ran high and the woman separated in a fever of exasperation. The same evening Fitzgerald provided himself with a revolver, and repairing to the shanty of Kelly, shot him dead in his tracks at the first fire. Mrs. Kelly thereupon seized a stick of stove wood and dealt Fitzgerald a blow on the shoulders. Kelly aimed at her heard, but the muzzle of the pistol was knocked downward, and the ball took effect in the woman’s leg. Seeing that she did not fall, and having no further charges in his revolver, the fiend seized the woman by the throat, and with the butt of his weapon dashed out her brains. He then immediately fled the country, and is believed, now to be in Memphis.
A few days after this bloody
occurrence, a sister of Mrs. Kelly paid the neighborhood a promised
visit, and found only the new-made graves of her sister and brother-in-law.
She at once returned to Cairo, and from here went to Columbus, where,
detailing the occurrence to her landlord, she was informed that the murderer
had been his guest the night previous, and had that very morning left for
Memphis. For cold-blooded fiendishness, this bloody affair stands almost
unparalleled. Nick Smith, who stabbed young Dwyer during a barroom fight last week, was brought to the jail of this county for safekeeping. The Mound City jail is a mere shell, erected out of logs several years ago for city uses only, and wholly unsafe. It is no more a fear, however, that Smith would break out of jail and effect his escape, than apprehension that a mob would break in and take him out and hang him, that suggested his removal to Cairo. The feeling of Dwyer's friends ran high on the evening of the prisoner's removal, and it is thought that he was not "spirited away" an hour too soon. As true versions of the affair has not yet been published, it may further the ends of justice to state here the details. Dwyer was intoxicated, and called at Smith's saloon with some friends for drinks on credit. Smith's son refused, whereas Dwyer became angry, even furious. The son immediately advised his father, who was butchering an animal at the time, of the state of affairs, and requested him to come in and settle matters. Smith repaired to the saloon, knife in hand, but laid the weapon down on reaching the counter. Dwyer at once assailed him, using the most abusive language he could command, to which Smith replied angrily. The altercation had continued only a few seconds when Dwyer seized a chair and dealt a blow at Smith's head, either missing him or striking him so lightly that no injury resulted. Dwyer persisting in his assault, Smith gathered the knife, and as Dwyer was in the act of turning plunged it into his back to a depth of fully eight inches, inflicting a ghastly wound and cutting in two one of the kidneys.
It is said that Dwyer
was very drunk and incapable for that reason, of inflicting harm upon
Smith; but of this fact, it is presumed that Smith was not fully
advised. These are the details as furnished to us by a party who professes
to be entirely familiar with the whole unfortunate occurrence.
(This may have been John
Dwyer, who was born about 1854 in Illinois. He is in the 1860 census of
Pulaski Co., Ill., living with his mother, Jane Dwyer, a 40-year-old
native of Ireland.)
(William Harmon
married Sarah Gant on 21 Nov 1844, in Randolph Co., Ill. William
Harmon married Mrs. Amanda Davis on 13 Mar 1869, in Randolph Co.,
Ill.)
A man named Hoefer,
living in the outskirts of Hannibal, Mo., murdered his daughter, fifteen
years old, on Friday. He first strangled her with a strap, then cut her
body in tow with a shoe knife, after which he tore out her hearts, cut it
open with his knife and drank the blood. He was arrested, and, when asked
why he committed the horrible deed, replied that Christ was killed and it
was no worse for his child to die than Christ; that he offered her as a
sacrifice to Christ. It is said the man is insane on religious subjects.
(Edward T. Ross
married Mary E. Wall on 15 Nov 1860, in Perry Co., Ill.)
We saw an announcement a short time ago that a Mrs. Snow, of Metropolis, had left her home while in a state of mental aberration; and that her husband had made no effort to secure her return. Since that time we have received particulars that reflect very severely upon Mr. Snow, which we make public in the hope that they will bring him to a realizing sense of his inhumane conduct. It appears that Snow, and a few old women in the neighborhood, conceived the idea that Mrs. Snow had gone crazy on the subject of spiritualism. With some of the old crones who adjudged her crazy, the only proof of insanity required was a knowledge of the fact that the unfortunate woman entertained opinions to which they could not assent. On testimony of this nature Mrs. Snow was sent to the lunatic asylum, sometime ago; but she soon made her escape and returned home. After her return she attended to her household duties, took in sewing, and contributed largely to the support of her family. Snow, it is said, abused her shamefully, making her home almost endurable, his brutality finally culminating in blows. All this she endured for the sake of her children, until about three weeks ago, when she left home, and the last seen of her she was sitting on the bank of the Ohio, above the town, casting pebbles into the water. Two or three days passed, and to all inquiries concerning his absent wife, Snow replied, “You never mind, she’ll turn up; she’s with some of her clique, somewhere,” (meaning by “clique” respectable citizens to whom he attributed spiritualistic views) and manifesting no concern whatever about her safety. Finally some of the neighbors made search, and on the river bank, where she had been seen sitting, her handkerchief was found, and hanging to a bush in the edge of the water, was a light shawl, which she had worn upon her shoulders. Accepting these discoveries as conclusive proof that the poor woman had drowned herself, a search was made in the river for her body. The heartless husband extended no assistance, in fact, ridiculed the idea that she had drowned herself, insisting that she was “with her clique and would turn up again, he’d warrant them.” The body has not been found, neither has the poor, abused and persecuted woman “turned up” as the unfeeling husband predicted she would. She has undoubtedly sought relief from the brutality in the more kind and friendly waters of the Ohio. The citizens of Metropolis are said to be greatly exasperated over the inhuman part played by Snow, and talk quite freely of driving him out of the town. If they fail to devise some plan whereby he may be made to feel the enormity of his conduct, they will fail in their duty. That’s our opinion about the matter. (Henry C. Snow married Julian Brenerman on 27 Mar 1866, in Massac Co., Ill. He married Mrs. Sarah E. Burns on 24 May 1877, in Massac County.
Henry Snow is in the
1870 census of Metropolis, Massac Co., Ill. He was born about 183 in
Tennessee. His wife Julia was living with him and she was born about 1835
in Indiana.)
Columbus, Ky., February 16, 1869. Editor Evening Bulletin:--In a conversation with a gentleman from Guntown, Miss., whom I met on the Mobile and Ohio railroad train at Corinth, where I saw two men in citizen’s dress guarded by a file of soldiers, I learned the following facts concerning the late difficulty at Guntown station, Miss. Some weeks ago a man hailing from Kansas, arrived at Guntown and made some display of money, and intention of business. In a few days he made the acquaintance of a Mr. McIntosh, who had three daughters, all of whom received him kindly. A few days ago, he made a proposal of marriage to one of the daughters and was accepted. But this was not by consent of Mr. McIntosh, who made serious objection, and positively refused to accede to any such arrangement. Yesterday morning the Kansas gentleman called at Mr. McIntosh’s and requested him to come to the gate; but the old gentleman replied that “if he wished to see him he must come to the door.” This seemed to exasperate the Kansas man, who replied that if he (McIntosh) did not come to the gate he would shoot him, and at once crew a revolver and fired. Mr. McIntosh retired, closing the door after him; and immediately afterward the Kansas man broke it down and commenced an indiscriminate fire upon the old gentleman and his daughters. After he had expended his shots, he retired to a house where lived an old man and his son, about a half mile distant, who are supposed to have been his accomplices in all the shooting done in the vicinity recently. After his departure Mr. McIntosh got out a writ of arrest, which was placed in the hands of the constable, who, with some citizens attempted to arrest him, but were resisted by him and the old man and his son, at whose house he was stopping. Finding arrest impracticable with the force he had, he (the sheriff) sent to Corinth, Miss., for a squad of soldiers to aid him. A corporal and a number of soldiers went down, and when they reached Guntown they were advised that the Kansas man and his two associates were determined upon resistance to the last, and that they might reasonably expect some trouble. The corporal, after reaching the house, told the parties within that he had so many (giving the number) soldiers, and that their intention was to arrest them; that resistance would be useless. The men within replied that they were armed and ready to defend themselves; and that the man who forced the door would be killed. At once the corporal bursted in the door, whereupon the Kansas man fired, the ball striking the corporal in the abdomen or a little above where the belt passed around, from which the ball glanced and did no harm. The corporal then fired, his ball taking effect in the Kansas man’s head, killing him instantly. Whereupon the soldiers rushed into the house with fixed bayonets and forced the two men, father and son, to surrender. I saw the two prisoners when they arrived at Corinth. Such are the facts as far as I can learn them. I have no doubt the citizens were intimidated from giving the proper aid to the sheriff from the fact that should they have done so, and a “Kansas” man had been killed, as was the case, it would have been published throughout the north as a great “Ku-Klux outrage.”
Through the untiring efforts
of Mrs. C. Shelley, a pressure was brought to bear upon Governor
Palmer that resulted in the pardon of Barney Leffler. Leffler,
it will be recollected was sentenced to an imprisonment of twenty-five years
for the killing of Mr. Charley Kurtz, and had served out about five
years of his time. Mrs. Shelley hearing that he had conducted
himself well as a prisoner; and relying upon his assurances that he is a
changed man, made the effort for his release that he might relieve her of
the burden of his two little girls who are now old enough to feel, in some
measure, for their father's shame. He will arrive in Cairo, probably next
week.
We are sorry to learn, as we do by the Columbus Dispatch of yesterday, that Mr. Matthew Myrick, of Charleston, Mo., was killed over a card table in a bar room in that town on Monday last. Myrick was engaged in a game with an Arkansas man named Spencer. A dispute arose when Spencer drew a bowie knife and used it with fearful effect, inflicting several wounds in Myrick's side, neck and breast, of a most ghastly character.
The deceased was a brother
of Frank Myrick, former sheriff of Mississippi County, of which
Charleston is the county seat. Late Cincinnati papers contain the details of the murder of Mr. J. H. Rice, of Shamrock, Adams County, Ohio, and give expression to the suspicion that two boys, living in the family and named Frank Hardy and Willie Taylor, are the guilty parties. On Saturday evening last Mr. Murphy, clerk of the Antrim House, in the city, was reading an account of the homicide in the Cincinnati Commercial, when Hardy and Taylor stepped in the door. Having been a resident of the same neighborhood he recognized the boys and at once suspected their participation in the crime. He detected the agitation of the boys, and plied them with questions based upon the assumption of their guilt, and succeeded in drawing from the following confession: One day last week, Monday we believe, Mr. Rice and the two boys, (Hardy being a stepson and Taylor a bound boy) were in the barn, bottling wine. The boys had partaken pretty liberally and were partially intoxicated. The old gentleman, reprimanded them, angry words ensued, when Hardy becoming enraged, seized a hatchet, and dealt this stepfather a blow with it upon the head, which killed him instantly. The boys then dug a hole on the outside of the barn into which they rolled the body, after rifling it of a gold watch and chain and $1,000 cash, covered it up and hastily fled the country. Mr. Murphy, determined that the ends of justice should be served, sent out a bystander for Marshal Hogan, who soon made his appearance, took them in charge and committed them. The gold watch and chain and $150 of the money were recovered, and are in the possession of the marshal.
The disclosure of the boy’s
guilt, five hundred miles from the scene of the murder, under the peculiar
circumstances stated, is one of those realities that are stranger than
fiction, and furnishes another proof of the truth of the adage that “murder
will out.” The detection of the Ohio boy-murderers, in this city last Saturday, is attended by circumstances too strange to attribute to mere chance. As stated by us yesterday, our Mr. Murphy had resided in Adams County in the neighborhood of the homicide, but, at sight, was unable to identify the boys. He had just finished reading an account of Mr. Rice’s murder; how his body had been concealed near his barn, and how it had been robbed of a gold watch and $1,000 in money, when the two lads, Hardy and Taylor, stepped into the room. Murphy spoke of the homicide and the boys betrayed agitation. Not yet thoroughly satisfied of their identity, however, he took from his pocket a photograph of the murdered man’s daughter, and asked them if they recognized it. The response was quick and unguarded: “Yes, it’s the likeness of Miss Laura Rice.” Satisfied now, he dispatched a messenger for Marshal Hogan, who, acting upon the assumption that they were the guilty parties, drew out the confession published by us yesterday. Thus, it seems, they escaped the range of their acquaintance, safely gained a point six hundred miles from the scene of the crime, to come face to face with the only living man in the world, perhaps, who could, through the advantage of his knowledge, have wrung from them a confession of guilt. Truly, truth is stranger than fiction.
Two Versions. The Times of this morning gives Mr. Hogan’s version of the arrest and detention of the boy-murderers. Saturday, and as it is calculated to cast a shadow of uncertainty over the details given in the Bulletin, yesterday, it requires a brief notice. We obtained our information from Mr. Murphy, of the Antrim house, whom we regard as truthful and reliable. If he is mistaken, his mistake is a broad one. The Times says that Mr. Coyne finding the boys were the persons he was in pursuit of, he took them into custody and left them in the Antrim house, while he went out to notify Hogan of the arrest. It is somewhat singular that an officer of Mr. Coyne’s well-known shrewdness should turn murderers loose in the open office of a hotel, leave them there unguarded, while he goes off in the pursuit of another officer, whose deputy he, himself is. We have a better opinion of Mr. Coyne’s tact as an officer, particularly when he is called upon the deal with murderers. And, furthermore, how is the fact that Mr. Murphy dispatched Jimmy Smith for Marshal Hogan when he became satisfied of the boy’s guilt, to be reconciled with the new version of the matter. If Hardy was under arrest when he entered the Antrim House, he had been given wonderful latitude, as he was entirely unattended. Mr. Walton claims that he saw him in a Levee saloon, “Scott free” the evening previous; other parties saw him in the saloon opposite the Antrim House several hours before his arrest, to all intents and purpose as free and unrestrained as any citizen of Cairo.
But we have no disposition
to pursue the subject. We confined ourselves to the facts as related by Mr.
Murphy, as nearly as we could. If they are foundationless, Messrs.
Hogan and Murphy for it.
Capt. A. C. McCallam,
of the Armenia
died at his residence in this city, last night, very suddenly, of
inflammation of the bowels and congestion of the lungs. He was only sick a
day or two, having been seen at the landing on Saturday last. As a tribute
of respect to the deceased, the steamers in port had their flags at
half-mast today. “Dad” Clements is no more! The hale old man, who, a few weeks ago, gave promise of living out the 19th century, has “shuffled off this mortal coil,” and passed to the realities of the eternal world. He died on Sunday night, of pneumonia, having received the kindest and most diligent, friendly and professional attentions, from the moment he took to his bed, until he was laid away in his narrow charnel house.
Few there are in this and
Pulaski counties, and upon the hundreds of steamers that arrive at and
depart from Cairo, who have not long known “old dad” and loved him for the
great warmth and geniality of his heart, his rank open-handed ways, his
sympathy for the suffering and his charity for the needs. For every ear he
had a humorous story or a kind word; and although not bountifully blessed
with this world’s goods, he shared with the poor and deserving to the last
farthing. He had been connected with the commerce of these rivers during a
period of thirty or thirty-five years, as a pilot, but always regarded this
section of Illinois as his home, and seemed, really, to be a fixture of the
country. Matured men and women recollect him for his kindness to them when
children, and gray-haired veterans recall him as the companion of their
youth and their friend all along the way of life. He has gone, and left a
void that is felt by thousands—a void that none may fill. Sweet rest—peace
to his ashes and farewell.
Poor "Dad!" After a
struggle of over sixty years with the ebbs and flows of this life, he has at
last shipped anchor, and steered for an unknown port. A generous nature, a
noble heart, and an open hand, characterized him through life. His place
cannot be filled. He was, we believe, a native of Virginia. He leaves one
daughter, and thousands of friends to mourn for him. His remains were taken
to Caledonia for interment.
The frequent murders in Stoddard County betray a stain of society that must seriously retard the growth and development of that section of southeast Missouri for years. Deeds of blood and violence, murders the most cold-blooded and deliberate mark the passage of nearly every week. As short time since a prominent citizen named Dr. Caraway was shot dead in his tracks. From what we can gather of the facts in the case, it appears that a grudge existed between the doctor and one Sam T. Henson, for a long time. Last Friday they met at a grocery in the little village of Spring Hill, and after each had paid full tribute to the bottle, got into an altercation. Henson was armed with a double-barreled shotgun, loaded heavily with buckshot. Before the bystanders realized his intention, he raised the weapon to his shoulder, and fired the contents of both barrels into the left breast of the doctor, literally honey-combing his lungs. Our information failed to learn whether the murdered was arrested.
Thursday, 11 Mar 1869:
Some ten days ago, Mr.
George Brown, living in Elkhorn, Ray County, Missouri, accidentally
shot and killed his little boy, aged about twelve years. The father had
been away, and returning early in the morning, unbuckled his revolver, and
carelessly threw it under the bed. The hammer striking the floor caused the
piece to go off, and the ball struck his son above the left eye and came out
behind the left ear.
The remains of Mr. Charles
Schuh were attended to the care this afternoon by the Arab and Rough
and Ready Fire Companies in full uniform, and a large number of citizens,
the new German band heading the procession and discoursing appropriate
music. This mark of respect to the remains of the deceased is no doubt a
source of much comfort to the bereaved family, and speaks well for the fire
department of our city, of which Mr. Schuh was an efficient member.
A large number of friends accompanied the body to Villa Ridge, and there
assisted in the last sad rites of burial. The turnout was unusually large.
About a quarter of a mile from a point on Cache River, formerly known as Milford’s Ford, about seven miles from Cairo, live a family named Wiseman—lately from Missouri. A few days ago the mother gave birth, we are informed, to one of the most remarkable human monstrosities that we ever heard of. Its body—the entire surface of the body, was red as crimson. The head, which, in general, was shaped like that of a human, presented no sings of hair, the extreme crown being as smooth as the face. The ears actually met behind the head, and the nose, very flat, covered fully one half the face. The arms were very slim and bony and were twenty-eight inches in length, reaching eight inches beyond the “pedal extremities.” The leg terminated not with a foot, but in something more in the nature of a hoof. The knots (for no word answers a better purpose) intended to supply the place of feet, were cloven like the hoof of a hog, and there was no visible sign of a knee or knee joint. There was a continuous bone, like the femur, from the hip to the ankle joint. The fingers of the hand were in keeping with the length of the arm, and were entirely boneless, intertwining with each other like an equal number of strings or cords. The voice of the monster was sharp and shrill, more like the squeal of a pig, than any other sound to which it could be compared. Its cry was almost continuous from the moment of its birth until its death, on Tuesday. It appeared to be in constant agony, and died in convulsions.
Monstrous as the
creature was, the mother appeared devoted to it; and sincerely sorry when it
died, instead of feeling grateful that such a shocking deformity was
snatched from what would have no doubt been a horrible life.
From a gentleman who came up on the Belle Memphis, last night, we gather the following particulars of one of the bloodiest tragedies of this bloody era. The boat landed at New Madrid yesterday and took on board two passengers named Darnelle and then proceeded up the river. She had gained a point at the end of the swamp above town when she was again hailed by three men, a lady and a little girl, all of whom, it seems, desired to get on board. The lady with a gentleman who proved to be her brother-in-law, and whose name was Lane, were first to start on board the boat; the clerk and the little girl following close behind and a Mr. Edwards following in their rear. The first gentleman with the lady on his arm had reached the foot of the stairs and were about to ascend when a shot from the boiler deck took fatal effect in his body, killing him instantly. The clerk hurried the little girl out of the probable line of the shot, and had no sooner reached a point of security than a second ball was fired killing the second gentleman as he was in the act of passing on the stage plank. At this juncture the gentleman remaining on shore drew his revolver and aimed it at some one on board the boat, but the cap exploded without igniting the powder. Seeing this, one of the Darnelles, who undoubtedly did the shooting, rushed to the shore, and approaching within six feet of the now disarmed Mr. Lane, poured a whole charge of buck shot through his chest, killing him on the spot. Mr. Lane watched the approach of his antagonist with a clam indifference that could not have been exceeded had the object been a mere exchange of civilities. He stood erect, with his hands by his side, and faced his death without the change of a feature or show of fear. The terrible meeting seems to have been anticipated as all the parties were heavily armed with shot guns and pistols and some of them with both. The Darnelle brothers having thus accomplished their bloody purpose walked ashore and disappeared in the neighboring forests. Thus terminated a family feud which is only one of the thousands now marring and destroying the domestic place and quiet of the people of the South.
Our Cape Girardeau contemporary of the Missouri Democracy very appropriately designates the series of murders in New Madrid County as the “epidemic of blood.” Only yesterday we gave the particulars of a shooting scrape in that county wherein three men lost their lives, and now through the Democracy, we receive the details of two more killing scrapes. They are as follows: On Wednesday of last week, a Negro man named Charles Smith, was wantonly shot down in cold blood, on a farm about a mile and a half southwest of New Madrid, by a man named Eastin. The murderer made his escape, but a person who was in his company at the time he committed the foul deed, and whose name we failed to ascertain, was arrested and lodged in jail. He was to have been examined last Monday before the legal authorities. We have not learned the result of the investigation. On the succeeding day, Thursday, a man named John Graves visited New Madrid, got on a spree, and raised Cain generally. Marshal Beymer attempted to arrest him, when Graves resisted, firing upon the officer with his pistol. The marshal returned his fire, the shot instantly killing Graves. The homicide was justifiable, as the officer acted solely in self-defense.
The death of this distinguished citizen of St. Louis was announced on Friday last. At the time of his death he was in the 76th years of his age, having been born in Goochland County, Va., on the 4th day of September 1793. He was the youngest and for sometime the last survivor of twelve children. His father died when he was a child, and he was partly educated by his brother, Fleming Bates, of Northumberland County, Virginia.
During the administration of
Mr. Fillmore, he was appointed Secretary of War, and declined to
accept the office, not from any fear of disagreement with the
administration, but he preferred private life and did not think that duty
required him to take the offered placed. Afterward when tendered a place in
Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet, under very different circumstances, he
accepted it, because his duty required him to do so.
We are advised by a private
dispatch from St. Louis that Capt. Jerry Coates is not dead, but is
rapidly recovering from his injuries. This will be welcome news to the
Captain's thousands of friends who accepted as true the report of his death.
We met on our streets yesterday, Henry Mayo, who, about three years ago, was sentenced to the penitentiary by the Alexander Circuit Court, for the term of his natural life. He was convicted of the murder of an old man living near Goose Island, whose name has now passed from our mind. The evidence was circumstantial, but undoubtedly pointed to Mayo as the guilty party. To our inquiry, “How did you secure a pardon?” he replied, “Oh, old John Dougherty sent for me as soon as he got into office. I knew he would, for he knows I am an innocent man. He knows too, that my lawyer, the ‘short’ Munn, sold me out to parties who wanted to prey upon the little property I would leave.” He declares that the man for whose death he was punished, was not murdered at all; that being drunk he knocked his own brains out by falling down in a wagon among some plows. Vindicating himself, thus, he made a heavy charge upon his neighbors, who had interested themselves in bringing about his conviction. He was a better man than the vest man among them, and would compare records from the cradle forward. There was no blood on his hands, and they knew it. Plunder was their purpose, and, being successful in swearing him into the penitentiary, they commenced their work of plunder before he reached Joliet. They couldn’t steal his land, but they made away with at least a thousand dollars worth of moveable property—everything he had left that they could use or convert into money. This, be t understood, is Mayo’s story. For the other side it can be said that he had a fair trial; a jury of his own selection; and when the evidence, pro and con, was all before the court, there was not even a reasonable doubt as to his guilt, left upon the minds of the jury. Some of the witnesses who testified against him rank among the best citizens of the county. So, if Mayo was innocent, he was certainly the most unfortunate victim of circumstantial evidence of which we have any knowledge. (Henry Mayo was tried for murdering Charles McClellan and Elisha Fox.)
That John C. Meece was guilty of the murder of Harvey Rude, no one who has known him during his prison life, believes for a moment. His statement of his whereabouts the night the murder was committed, and how he came in possession of the coat belonging to the murdered man, has ever been a straight-forward consistent story, adhered to from first to last without variation. During the long weary years of his imprisonment, his life was that of a consistent Christian, at least since the present chaplain has been connected with the prison, and his death a happy one, still maintaining his innocence. When in your city with the petition, I anticipated being able to secure a pardon for him from the Governor, but when I reached Springfield, I found the Governor’s time so much occupied with business pertaining to the Legislature, that he had not time to examine the papers. I also found that a remonstrance had been forwarded to him, which undoubtedly caused him to delay the examination longer than he otherwise would.
But it makes no difference
now. His Maker has pardoned him out, and sent Death to bring him home. He
has gone now where no perjured witnesses will again swear his life away, and
where judges and juries will make no more mistakes. And when the men who
were interested in his arrest and conviction shall stand with him before the
bar of God, it will then be known who were innocent and who guilty.
Funeral procession will
leave corner 10th street and Ohio Levee at 10 o'clock, on Wednesday, April
14th, 1868.
We make these remarks that
the reader may gain a better understanding of the communication on this
subject published by us yesterday.
Friday, 23 Apr 1869:
Thursday, 29 Apr 1869:
P. Corcoran, coroner, was called to hold an inquest over the body of John Humes, who was accidentally killed on board the steamer Stella this morning, and calling a jury, instituted the needful inquiry. The jury rendered a verdict to the effect that the deceased came to his death by being caught by the pittman of said boat, the killing being purely accidental. Mrs. James Ryan was sworn as foreman of the jury.
Coroner Corcoran
speaks of the conduct of the captain of the Stella in terms of the
highest praise, one of his acts of generous kindness being the purchase of a
metallic case for the body, that it might be conveyed to the widowed mother,
who resides in Louisville. While the stern wheel towboat Stella was lying at our wharf this morning, John Humes, of Louisville, Ky., and another man, approached her stern in a skiff, stopping at the wheel, by the direction of the mate, to attach a line to one of the wheel arms. This job accomplished, Humes attempted to crawl up between the pittman and the fantail; but at the moment about half his body had passed through, the wheel commenced a revolution, the pittman slowly, but with a giant’s strength, closing upon the body of the poor man, like the blade of an immense pair of shears, crushing flesh and bones as it closed upon him, until the wheel caught upon the center, and, of course, stopped. In this excruciating and horrible condition Humes was suspended, his hips, abdomen pressed and crushed into a space of three or four inches. With all his faculties about him, the suffering man screamed to the engineer to “back” and relieve him; not to go ahead, for the worst had not yet been reached. But, as stated, the wheel had stopped upon the center and could not be forced into a backward revolution. In this situation of affairs the only thing that could be done was done. Steam was applied, the wheel made its forward revolution, still further crushing, mangling, and grinding the wretched sufferer, until a complete revolution loosened the terrible grip of the iron, and timber upon his body, and let him drop into the river below. Still living, the wounded man was picked up by parties in a skiff, but by the time he reached the boat, death came and relieved him of his sufferings.
Humes
was a man about thirty-five years of age, and was serving on the Stella
as a deckhand. He has a widowed mother living in Louisville to which point
his remains, preserved in a metallic case, were conveyed.
Our readers will receive with mixed feelings of surprise and sorrow the announcement of the death of Mr. Albert R. Whittaker, for many years a citizen of Cairo, pursuing the avocation of druggist. He died at 9 o'clock this morning of congestion of the stomach, his case defying the most skillful treatment of our physicians and devoted attentions of his relatives. His remains will be conveyed by the morning train to Zanesville, Ohio, the residence of his parents.
Mr. Whittaker at the
time of his death was 36 years of age, in the very prime of life; and, when
we saw him a few days ago seemed many years removed from the final end we
have announced. He was well known in the community, was of a companionable
turn, and enjoyed the friendship of those forming the large circle in which
he moved.
An old negro man named Wyley Pea, residing on the farm of Mr. Chandet, was most inhumanely butchered by his sons in the nighttime and the body dragged by a horse some distance from the house, thrown into a log heap and burned up. The circumstances connected with the murder are as follows: A few days before the murder, the old man's two sons came home, bringing with them an axe, which they claimed to have found on the roadside. The old man doubting the truth of their story, made inquiry in regard to the circumstance, and became convinced that the axe had been stolen from some woodchopper near where they had passed. He thereupon compelled them to return in company with himself to the place where they had stolen the axe and made them deliver it to the owner, and after this he administered to them a severe flogging. This is the only cause assigned for the murder which occurred in this way: At the time of perpetration of the deed the old man was in the act of untying his shoes, when his elder son approached him unnoticed with an axe, dealing him the fatal blow, after which he disposed of the body in the manner stated. The son who confesses to have done the deed is about twenty years of age, the other is only thirteen, both were engaged in removing the traces of the murder when discovered--the young digging up the ground along the trial to the log heap; the other, in washing the stains of blood from his clothing. The younger one has not been arrested, but the oldest boy was taken this morning and sent to Benton to await his trial.
The above I have from Mr.
Fulham of this place.
We find the following
paragraph in the Chicago Times and give it room in the columns of the
Bulletin for the benefit of those gentlemen in Cairo who still
entertain belief that "Mollie is a gallous girl, kind-hearted and all that,
and didn't mean nothing by killing George, nohow." The Times says:
"Soon after her pardon she
arrived here, where she soon became the proprietress of a house of ill
fame. The fact that she was the famous Mollie Trussell attracted a
great many visitors to her house and she became quite a lion among the
certain class. Since her advent here she has been twice before the police
court for assaulting persons with a bowie knife and now she has come before
the public again in the character of a procuress. The daughter of a
well-known merchant was missed from her home, and search resulted in her
being found in Mollie's bagnio. As the father is desirous of keeping the
matter from becoming public, for the sake of his young and beautiful
daughter, the matter will be hushed up and Mollie will escape merited
punishment."
Capt. Shanks gave the editor of the Jonesboro Gazette the particulars of a bloody affray in the upper end of this county, some two weeks ago. The scene of the difficulty is a point opposite Cape Girardeau called Wahoo. It seems that there lives in that vicinity a family consisting of a father and two brothers, who are very turbulent and quarrelsome, and have been in the habit of beating men whom they caught drunk, and whom might have excited their ire. On the day above alluded to one Smith, with a friend, had been indulging rather freely in the flowing bowl in company with a friend; the Mosbys sought a pretext for a difficulty, and the trio commenced beating Smith's friend unmercifully, rendering him helpless. Smith, seeing his friend thus treated, attempted to make them desist rather in a peaceful manner, whereupon they (Mosby and his two sons) turned upon Smith with fists, clubs and stones, and whatever came to hand. Smith, though, a peaceable man, would not scare worth a cent, but out with his knife and commenced in earnest in his own defense, cutting one of the young Mosbys until he died and wounding the other badly before they had enough of him.
That Smith did right,
is the verdict of the entire neighborhood. "Right?" "Let it be recorded." At Thebes, Illinois, Mary 27th, after a few hours illness, Oliver Gilbert, son of Jasper and Eugenia Culley, aged two years and four months.
One more home made
desolate. One more little mound raised in the "City of Silence." One more
little earth angel wafting its way to the realms of eternal day. Bright
"Gibbie!" Yesterday, fair and blooming as the flowers, amid which, your
infant feet strayed—today as cold and white and still as the marble above
your little narrow couch. Must we put you away from us, and resign you to
the dark, dreary depths of the tomb before the roses of health have hardly
faded from your cheeks and lips, or the glad echo of your childish voice has
died away in our ears. In vain must we ever again listen for the patter of
your tiny feet through the silent home. Ere they had long tread the rugged
paths of earth his heavenly Father led his footsteps to the shore of
eternity. Farewell, "Gibbie!" The light has been withdrawn from our hearts
and our home. Oh! may your angelic spirit be another link to unite our soul
to our home above. In they lonely narrow bed; Sleep, no mother's voice is near,
Asking blessings on thy
head.
A Card. Mr. John C. Kauffman—Sir: You have publicly declared that I am not a musician and that I cannot draw a bow properly over my violin. Now, in order to put your knowledge as well as my own to the test, I make this proposition which I hope you will accept. 1st. That a time and place be set to test our skill and knowledge before competent judges. 2d. We agree to play correctly any three pieces of music which you may select, and you and your band can play. If we fail, we will pay you $20. If you fail to play correctly any three pieces which I may select and which myself and sons cal play, that your pay us $20. 3d. That three of the best musicians of Cairo be selected as judges.
I advise you to abandon your
slanderous attacks concerning my son, who has been in his grave for three
years. He had a better knowledge of music than you or any member of your
band may ever expect to have. Will you accept this offer, and put your
boasted knowledge to the test.
(The deceased son of Charles
Wittig is probably Carl Wittig, Jr. See 15 Jun 1869,
article.)
The Columbus Dispatch, of yesterday gives an account of the killing of a citizen by the name of John Bugg, by another citizen named Willis Bridgeman, in that town on Monday last, which looks very much like a murder. Bugg and his wife lived "at outs" and Bridgeman took it upon himself to aid Mrs. Bugg in the procurement of a divorce, conveying her to Clinton for that purpose, and extending other attentions which excited Bugg's jealousy. Bugg swore about the matter roundly in Bridgeman's absence, threatening to shoot, cut and kill, but in Bridgeman's presence he hadn't a word to say. On Monday morning the parties met at the foot of the hill, Bridgeman drew a pistol and peremptorily demanded Bugg to retract everything he had said about him. Bugg refused to do this, remarking that he took nothing back. Thereupon Bridgeman fired, killing Bugg instantly. An inquiry into the case resulted in the holding of Bridgeman to answer for manslaughter in the sum of $1,000
Bugg
was an old man, bordering on sixty years. On the 19th day of March last, Capt. Jerry Coates met with an accident, which, at quarter to 5 o'clock yesterday evening, eventuated in his death. For a period of many weeks he remained an inmate of the Sisters Hospital in St. Louis, undergoing there the painful amputation of the left, which had been crushed, and suffering as few men are capable of suffering. A few weeks ago he reached St. Mary's Infirmary in this city, where he remained until the hour of his death. A few days ago evidence of mortification manifested themselves in his wounded limb; but his system was in a condition that rendered a second amputation too perilous to be undertaken. Although suffering the agonies of a protracted death, he was always hopeful, believing up to the day of his death that his chances for recovery were good. But the sure forerunner of death that had betrayed itself in his wounded limb continued to spread until yesterday evening, when death snatched him from an agony that few men have lived to suffer. He died without means, leaving a mother and sisters in our city, who, depended upon him for support, also moneyless. We speak of this matter that the hundreds in Cairo who were glad to call Capt. Coates a "friend," who knew the generosity of his heart, may provide the needful means to meet the burial expenses. The time was when his money was given free as water, whether to relieve the needy or to enliven the social circle. Let that time, and the large-heartedness of the deceased be remembered, and a generous response to the last call that can be made in his name will need to wordy urging.
The remains were conveyed
tin Villa Ridge for interment, by the 2 o'clock train.
Most of our readers are already familiar with the details of the killing of young Dwyer at the hands of Nick Smith, a Mound City saloonkeeper. Smith's trial was terminated in the Pulaski Circuit Court, last Saturday, the jury finding the accused guilty of manslaughter, and fixing his term of imprisonment in the penitentiary at five years. So, the first sentence for murder pronounced by Judge Baker was against Nick Smith. The prisoner or rather convict, is now in the jail of this county, awaiting removal to Joliet.
Smith
may congratulate himself on his fortunate escape. Had we been on that jury,
with our present impressions of the killing confirmed by testimony, we would
have "hung" until the crack of doom for a verdict or murder, for such we
honestly believe was the nature of his crime. The jurors who decided the
case, quite honestly believe, no doubt, that it was manslaughter.
During the past two weeks
the papers of Illinois have inflicted upon their readers columns and pages
of irrelevant trash drawn out during the progress of the trial of Mr.
William A. Robinson for the murder of Hon. Murray McConnell.
Five-sixth of the huge mass of published matter had no bearing on the case
whatever, and the other sixth was unintelligible. A reading people was
never so grossly imposed upon, since the birth of the printing press.
Robinson was acquitted on Tuesday evening. The jury was out one hour
and fifty minutes. While the crowd at the tobacco warehouse were waiting for the signal for dinner today, the report of a pistol was heard in an adjoining building. With a portion of the crowd we hastened to the spot, and to our surprise and horror found a young man lying prostrate on the floor, shot through the heart and gasping his last breath. Extending inquiries we learned the following facts: The body was that of Sam M. Eaton, a painter from Hinckleyville, Ky. A few minutes before one, James Smith, of Cairo, provoked a fight with a man by the name of Clark, in the saloon of the St. Charles. During the progress of this fight, Eaton appeared upon the scene and ordered Smith to desist, or he would shoot him. The fight continued and Eaton drew his pistol, cocked it and leveled it at Smith’s body. Just at this juncture Mike Berry, who had a moment before carried a chunk of ice into the hotel, appeared with the ice hooks in his hands, and approaching Eaton, commanded him not to shoot—adding that it was no time for a fuss. Some say that Berry raised the ice hooks in a threatening attitude; while others say they were merely resting on his shoulders. Be that as it may, however, the pistol of Eaton was diverted from Smith to Berry, and brought within a foot or two of his right breast. In this position the pistol was fired and Berry fell, pierced through the lungs. Eaton then started toward the tobacco warehouse, when the cry was raised to “stop him, he has killed a man.” Eaton continued on his way, and reaching the warehouse, was met by officer Cummings, who exhibited his badge of office and demanded a surrender. Eaton again drew his pistol, pointed it at officer Cummings and actually pulled the trigger. Officer Cummings, seeing that it was a matter of life or death, then drew his revolver and shot Eaton dead in his tracks, his ball taking effect in the left breast, about three inches above the nipple. Eaton fell forward, pistol still in hand, upon his face. When we assisted in turning him upon his back, a half-minute afterwards, life had departed. The affair is one that is deeply regretted on all sides; but the universal verdict is that officer Cummings was fully justified in killing Eaton. He was not only in dearly peril himself but in the discharge of his duty. Eaton was here merely as a looker-on, the pistol he carried being one that he had borrowed of a neighbor, for the trip. He was a single man, given to occasional dissipation, but was not spoken of as either a desperate or dangerous man. Young Berry was raised in Cairo, was a quiet, inoffensive young man, and the sole support of an aged mother who lives in the upper part of our city. Whatever he may have done, in the opening fracas, all agree was done in the interest of peace. At half past two o’clock he was still breathing, but before this paper comes to the hands of our city readers, he will have followed his slayer to the unknown world. The occurrence necessarily cast a gloom over the feelings of all; and the regrets over its occurrences are somewhat intensified by the reflection that such an affair should disturb the hundreds of visitors called here by the opening of our tobacco market.
The announcement of the death of the Hon J. R. Emrie, of Mound City, spread a gloom over the feeling of thousands, and brought poignant sorrow into the homes of those bound to him by the ties of relationship. He died on Saturday last and was buried on Sunday, the Rev. E. Lathrop, of this city, conducting the funeral services. Judge Emrie was more than an ordinary man. Fifteen years ago he filled a high position in the political circles of Ohio and during the year 1864 was taken up by the American or Know Nothing Party of the Hillsboro District and elected to Congress by a large majority. In Congress he served his constituency quietly and satisfactorily, and on his return home, he was nominated for a second term, but the Know-Nothing Star having commenced its descent by that time, he was defeated. During a period of twenty years he edited the Hillsboro Daily Gazette, but catching the mania that prevailed respecting the Mound City project, he removed to that place, something over twelve years ago, and resided there until the day of his death. He filled the office of police magistrate several years, and seemed to have an irrepressible longing for public life. He was a good-hearted, honest man, who enjoyed the friendship of many and the enmity of but few. Good rest to his ashes and farewell.
(Jonas Reece Emrie
was born 25 Apr 1812, in Ohio and is in the 1850 census of Hillsborough,
Highland Co., Ohio, and the 1860 census of Mound City, Pulaski Co., Ill.) He has, from the first, been under the treatment of Dr. Dunning, whose knowledge of gunshot wounds, their probable results, etc., is of the highest order. To an excellent theoretical knowledge he has added the experience of a three years' connection with the army, and a residence of a year or more in the city of Memphis!
It is fortunate indeed that
the wounded man fell into such skilled hands. Barry is now in St.
Mary's Hospital, and it is believed that there is a chance for his recovery
if inflammation can be kept down. To that end his attendants are now
directing the most unremitting efforts. Whatever may be the legal consequences of the terrible affray yesterday, young James Smith, of this place, must, if he has any feeling, regret his part in the tragedy—must feel that he is morally responsible for the fearful results which have flown from it. He provoked the fight that led to what may yet result in a double homicide. He stood for an instant between time and eternity himself. The pistol of Eaton was against his heart; and, but for a defective cap, he would now be experiencing the realities of another world. At one time Smith was the pride of his friends, a model or propriety; but evil communications have led him into bad habits, and if he had been shot down we fear many would have said the retribution was just. But we introduce this subject now to speak not so much of Smith, as the conduct of the officers who arrested him, Marshal Bambrick and Policeman Arnold. He had committed an offense that brought shame and regret to the heart of every decent citizen of the place, and when arrested should have been imprisoned to await his trial; but, instead, he was taken by the officers to a neighboring boarding house, and carefully put to bed. It may be that custom has led our officers to believe that partiality of this kind will still be tolerated; but the proper authority in the city should inform them that all law breakers are on an equality, and that officers of the offended law should not tenderly handle one offender while they deal harshly with another. There are in this city rowdies, men who provoke fights, practice confidence games on unsuspecting visitors, and in other ways disgrace Cairo, whose offense are winked at—who, when arrested, are arrested with a kind of apology, and who, by some book or crook, escape any condign punishment even when brought face to face with justice. This matter should be remedied; and the people should say to any officer of the city, (no mater what his position) who neglects hereafter to mete out the penalties of the law without fear or favor: “henceforth you are no officer of mine!” If they do, then society will have a sure protection against outrages, officers will not offend with impunity, and law-breakers can no longer hold high and undisturbed carnival in our midst. We wish no injury to come to young Smith save that which his conscience may inflict upon him, and that which his offense against the law, which he holds in little respect, may demand; but, we do wish, and in the name of peace and good order demand, that the officers of the city shall hereafter know no friends and no foes in the discharge of their duty, and that on all occasions, they shall do their duty, their whole duty, and nothing but their duty.
The Court convened at 10 o’clock a.m. The witness being sworn, Joseph Arnold testified: On the day of the tobacco sale, the 10th inst., Mr. Wilcox came over and asked me to go over to the St. Charles and quiet a fuss going on over there. Mr. Bambrick and myself started over toward the St. Charles when I saw a man running toward the warehouse with a revolver in hand. Persons were following and some one hallowed “stop that man he has shot a man.” He had this revolver leveled when on the platform entered the upper door of the warehouse, and someone told Mr. Cummings to “arrest that man he has killed a man!” He and Mr. Cummings approached each other, Cummings commanded him to “drop that pistol and surrender.” He replied, “Are you an officer?” Cummings replied, “I am.” “Show me your star,” was the response. The star was on Cummings breast in plain view. The two men were within 12 or 16 feet of each other. Cumming retorted, “Put down that pistol and surrender,” at the same time slowly approaching; when he reached within 10 or 12 feet of ____ed, deceased elevated his pistol to a level with his face, when Cummings fired, and the deceased fell to the floor. As Cummings and deceased approached deceased had his pistol aimed. Did not hear it snap—could not have done so on account of the noise prevailing. Sam Brown (colored) saw only a part of the fuss. Mr. Cummings told deceased to put down his revolver. He had the revolver pointed at Mr. Cummings, and the pistol was cocked. “I didn’t hear the deceased say anything; heard Mr. C. repeat, “Put down your revolver—you are my prisoner.” Heard him say this two or three times. The deceased had his revolver in hand when he came into the warehouse where Cummings was. When deceased was told to surrender, he pointed his pistol at Mr. C. and I thought I heard it snap. Mr. Cummings then fired. Heard people say to deceased, “Give up; he’s an officer.” Deceased asked to see star; but the star was in plain view. Witnessed confessed to considerable trepidation, and had a great anxiety to “get out of that.” George W. Bell testified that on the 10th of the present month he was attracted by a noise in the bar room of the St. Charles Hotel, when coming from dinner; stopped and saw a party in there. Jim Smith was one of that party; Mike Berry and Rufe Bowlee were of the party. Mike and Rufe were trying to get Smith out of the saloon, and finally got him into the barbershop adjoining; they threw him down and put their knees on top of him, and I think Smith promised to behave himself. Rufe and Mike then went out to take a drink; Eaton and Clark and an unknown man were standing at the counter. Smith walked up to the counter and stood around when Ed Clark stepped out and said to Smith, “Jim, I’m ready for you now.” Smith ran up behind Clarke and struck him on the side of the face with his fist. The two then clinched and rolled upon the floor. Finally Smith got on top and commenced to give Clarke h-ll. Then Mike Barry ran out of the saloon. Next thing I saw was Barry alongside of Eaton, the deceased. Eaton had his revolver in his hand, down by his side; Mike raised an ice axe over Eaton’s face; Eaton turned round and looked at him and said something I did not understand. Eaton then fired. Berry fell upon the floor and “hollered.” Witness then ran out of the barroom door. Eaton came running out of the other door with a man behind him who told him to “leave town.” Witness then jumped behind “two blue cars” and heard the cry of “Stop murder!” Witness then went and jumped on the warehouse platform and passed into the warehouse; first thing he saw Cummings holding his pistol at aim toward Eaton; he commanded Eaton to surrender; Eaton asked, “Are you an officer?” Eaton had his revolver leveled; witness saw him lower it a little; then raise it again on Mr. Cummings, when Mr. C. fired. Eaton cried, “O-oh,” then raised his revolver again, and I think snapped it. Witness then left and saw no more. Cross-examined by Esq. Bross—Live in Cairo—am a steamboat man—believe the pistol in court it the one used by Eaton. It was a navy revolver. Cross-examined by F. E. Albright—Think that Mr. C. commanded Eaton to surrender, and that, when Eaton raised his pistol he snapped it. Pistol was leveled at Cummings and ball would have hit him had it been fired, before Mr. Cummings fired. The parties were only about ten feet apart when Mr. C. fired. Dan Flaherty testified that he was in the warehouse eating dinner. Eaton had been drunk and raising a disturbance in the lower warehouse. He was remonstrated with. Then went up town, but came back again. He was told not bother the casks. He knocked against witness and behaved badly. Witness saw Eaton come running into warehouse, as far as scales, saw him swing around and draw his pistol and point it at officer Cummings, when officer Cummings fired upon him. He then turned around again, raised his pistol at officer C. a second time and snapped it. Saw him fall down shortly after Cummings shot him, and saw Mr. Yost come up and take the pistol out of his hand, can’t say whether the pistol was socked or snapped before Cummings shot—too much noise. Did not hear Cummings say anything—heard no words pass between them. Witness was about 16 to 18 feet from parties, was not scared. Do not know that he aimed it at Mr. Cummings before Mr. C. fired upon him. Cross-examined by Albright—After Mr. Cummings shot, Eaton let his pistol fall to his side. Casper Yost testified that he was standing in the upper warehouse and heard some one cry out from the sample room that a man had been killed. As I stepped out I saw the deceased, and heard Mr. Bell say, “Stop that man.” I followed him and told him to surrender. Deceased asked, “Are you a policeman?” Witness told him that Mr. Cummings was a policeman. Deceased then commanded me to stop, and seeing Mr. C. advancing with his pistol leveled toward deceased. I made no further attempt to effect an arrest. Witness told Mr. C. to show his star to deceased. Star was on coat collar. Witness saw it plainly. While witness was speaking to Mr. C. he shot; was not in a position to see whether deceased had his pistol at aim; turned round and saw deceased fall and went up to him. Capt. Williamson, who was present remarked, “The man is dead.”—witness saw blood come from deceased’s mouth; heard pistol of deceased snap after he was shot and before he fell; heard policeman Cummings call upon him to surrender. Eaton (the deceased) asked, “Is he a policeman?” Witness replied, “He is.” Deceased had plenty of time after Cummings told him that he was an officer, to surrender, but he made no reply. Policeman Cummings kept his eye steadily fixed upon deceased; and while witness was speaking to C. deceased elevated his pistol. The distance between the parties was from 12 to 15 feet. Witness was about 8 feet distant. The cross-examination elicited nothing further. Capt. Williamson being sworn, testified that he was in the warehouse, when the alarm was given that a man had been killed, and started for the door when Eaton (the deceased) entered the warehouse, Mr. Yost after him. Witness followed as far as scales, when Eaton stopped and said to Yost, “Halt;” Yost remarked that Mr. Cummings was an officer and he had better surrender. As Eaton turned, he elevated his pistol, when Cummings fired, Eaton turned, bent down, and groaned, and then stopped, leveled his pistol at Cummings again and snapped it. Deceased had pointed the pistol at Cummings two or three second before the latter fired. Deceased made no reply to Cummings’ second order to surrender. When first accosted he turned around and enquired, “Are you an officer?” and then raised his pistol, pointing it at Cummings. Cross-examination by Mr. Albright—in response to deceased’s interrogatory, “Are you a policeman?” Cummings replied that he was. Heard Yost ask Cummings to show his star. The star was on Cummings’s coat collar or lapel. Witness was only five or six feet from deceased when Cummings fired. The defense tendered testimony to the effect that deceased had declared on the occasion of a shooting scrape at Mound City, some time ago, that if he should ever shoot a man he would never be taken alive. The court regarding such testimony as irrelevant, refused to receive it. John Kochler, gunsmith, was then called, and being shown the revolver that had been identified as that which had been used by deceased, testified that the same was out of order; that ordinarily the cylinder revolved too far, so that the hammer descending would strike the shoulder of the cylinder and not the cap. He gave it as his belief that the pistol had been snapped twice, without effecting an explosion. An attempt had been made to fire the two chambers next to the one that was found empty, the stroke of the hummer having left an indentation or bruise in the end of the cylinder. Here the testimony closed. The court regard the evidence as harmonious in all the important details, and held that it established an unquestionable case of justifiable homicide. The decision, although not unexpected, was received with evidence of pleasure by the crowd that thronged the courtroom. The examination involved almost two hours.
Great Instrumental Concert. Carl Wittig, assisted by his granddaughter, Emma Wittig, orphan child of Carl Wittig, Jr., deceased, has been taken in especial charge by her grandfather, and under the faithful and able instructions of that accomplished violinist, has at the early age of 12 years manifested remarkable proficiency in the musical art. Together with his sons, and a host of amateur performers, they will give a grand concert in the St. Charles Hotel on Thursday evening, June 17th, 1869, for the benefit of three orphan girls (children of Carl Wittig, Jr.) who have been in their infancy thrown upon their aged grandparents. For further particulars, see programme. Tickets 50 cents. For sale at Hannon’s bookstore and the St. Charles Hotel.
The Mound City Journal
of Saturday gives the details of a shooting scraps at Grand Chain, in
Pulaski County, the Sunday previous, that resulted in the instant death of
an Irish railroad laborer. The Irishman had, a short time before, met a
negro who was carrying a shot gun on his shoulder and getting possession of
the gun carried it to his boarding house. The negro passed on, but soon
returned, carrying another gun, accompanied by two other negroes. A demand
was made for the gun, to which the boarding boss replied: "If you behave
yourselves you shall have it." The Irishman still intoxicated, "rubbed
against" the negro, evidently determined upon a disturbance. The negro,
nothing loath, it seems, raised his piece, fired and the Irishman dropped
dead in his tracks. The negro then fled, and has not been captured. His
accomplices, however, are in jail awaiting the next session of the Circuit
Court.
John Jackson, a
dissipated negro, devoted his entire time and talents to the service of King
Alcohol, until yesterday morning. He proved too faithful a subject, and
finding a place in the weeds, near the corner of Sixth Street and Jefferson
Avenue, he laid down and died. His body was buried today at expense of the
county.
At a meeting of the St.
Patrick's Benevolent Society held at their room on Thursday evening, June
24th, 1869, the following resolutions were adopted:
In this city, at 7 o'clock this morning, Mrs. Julia Schuh, wife of Mr. P. G. Schuh, aged 25 years. The remains will be taken to Evansville for burial per steamer Quickstep, tomorrow evening—funeral from Mr. Shuh's residence, No. 56, Seventh Street at 5 o'clock p.m. The friends of the family are invited to attend. The community will heartily sympathize with Mr. Schuh in his loss of one bound to him by the most sacred mortal ties, and nearer and dearer to him than the world beside. May time speedily lighten his weight of sorrow and deal kindly with all those who mourn the departed one as no more of Earth. (Paul G. Schuh married Julia Korameyer on 21 Apr 1866, in Alexander Co., Ill.)
Wednesday, 30 Jun 1869:
A ball for the benefit of
the unfortunate Michael Barry, who was so severely wounded by a
pistol shot not long since, will be given tonight at Scheel's hall.
The weather is rather oppressive, but every person should contribute his
mite to this charitable movement. Barry has an old mother, and other
helpless relations, who depend upon his labor for support, and his benefit
tonight should fill his purse with greenbacks. During the last down trip of the steamboat Richmond, and at a point between Memphis and Greenville, a negro named Joe Williams, killed a negro hand on the boats, whose name we have not learned.
Williams
was tied by the officers of the
Richmond,
it being the purpose to deliver him over to justice; but somebody cut the
ropes that bound him, that he might effect his escape. He plunged
overboard, gained the shore, and by some means reached Cairo. He was found
working on one of the Farrar's barges today, but officer Arnold
has taken him under arrest. He will be held subject to a requisition from
the Governor of the State in which the murder was committed. He is a brutal
looking negro. The ball for the benefit of young Barry was fully equal to the expectations of those who engineered it. There were one hundred and fifty tickets sold at one dollar each, and sixty dollars taken in at the bar, netting about one hundred and seventy-five dollars. This sum would be a God-send to almost any poor man, but to one who is on a bed of sickness, and penniless, it has an indescribable value.
We are sorry to add that
young Barry is not getting along as well as we all had occasion to expect.
He is receiving the most devoted attentions, and is entirely comfortable but
not beyond danger yet.
Mr. W. R. Christelbauer was drowned in the Big Muddy River near Murphysboro on Sunday evening, under the following circumstances: Mr. Christelbauer, with two or three companions, were returning from a visit to a friend, and when they reached the river it was proposed that they go into the river bathing. Mr. Held and Mr. Ehrlich, went into the water, while the deceased and Mr. A. Kramer remained on the bank. The deceased said that in his younger days he had been a good swimmer and believed he could swim across the river and back. He was urged however not to go into the water, as he was now an old man and could not swim as in his younger days. But a desire to once more try his skill seemed to take hold of him and no persuasion could induce him to give up the effort. He went some twenty-five yards below where the other two men were in the water, and taking off all his clothing except his undershirt and drawers, leaped into the water head foremost. When he came up he commenced to paddle with his hands just as one does when they first commence to swim. Mr. Kramer, who was still on the bank, cried to him to come out, that he could not swim, but he made no reply, simply looked at those on the bank. Mr. Kramer then told those who were in the water that Mr. Christlebauer was drowning, but as the river in this place is very deep, and one of them could swim, to render him any assistance was impossible. Just as he went under the last time, he cried "help" that being the only word he uttered while he was in the water.
The Murphysboro Argus,
from which paper we obtain the above facts, says Mr. C. leaves a wife
and two children. In 1864, he came to Cairo and established himself in the
bakery business, which he pursued until the close of the war, when trade
becoming dull, he removed to Murphysboro, where he engaged in the
manufacture of cigars. He was highly respected by all who knew him.
There is a family in the county afflicted with a peculiar disease, if it is a disease, which probably will not be found to exist in one family in a million. Mrs. Blakly was the mother of four children, three of whom she has lost in the following strange manner: Two of them, it was noticed, began bleeding from the gums, after picking their teeth, and it was found impossible to stop the flow of blood, and in a short time they both bled to death. The other, a boy, and the oldest child, died a few days ago, having bled to death from a slight cut in the end of one of his fingers, inflicted over one year ago.—Golconda Herald. (Dorcas Blakely born about 1845 in Tennessee is listed in the 1870 census of Eddyville, Pope Co., Ill.)
Thursday, 8 Jul 1869:
A little boy named Hezekiah
Miller, aged six years, fell overboard at our wharf, this forenoon,
from the steamer Wanamte, and was drowned. He was from Ukeesport,
Pa., and bound for Kansas. Further particulars we could not obtain.
Tuesday, 13 Jul 1869: An Atrocious and Unprovoked Murder. On Sunday morning last two men crossed the river at Paducah to the Illinois shore, and called at the farm house of Mr. Robert McCormick. They asked for breakfast, but Mrs. McCormick being sick they were informed that they could not be accommodated. They insisted and finally Mr. McCormick and his son cooked them a meal. After dispatching the meal one of the men asked Mr. McCormick if he could change a twenty-dollar bill. Mr. McCormick replied that he could, whereupon this man confessed that they had no money. One of them exhibited a pocket book worth 40 or 50 cents, and Mr. C. desiring some compensation for his trouble asked the owner to give him that. Refused in this Mr. C. naturally became somewhat exasperated, and a few angry words were exchanged; but a few minutes afterwards the two strangers departed leaving Mr. C. in an apparently good humor. Shortly after Mr. McCormick retired to bed Sunday night he heard an unusual rush among the green corn at his door and a moment afterwards there was the tread of hurried feet on the porch, one of the intruders exclaiming, “Now, d—n you, we’ve got you.” These words were followed by pistol shots fired indiscriminately into the room. Mr. McC. Seized his revolver and ran from the house, pursued by one of the men, who fired upon him, two of the shots taking effect in his left arm. Mr. McC. Finally discovering that only one man was in pursuit of him, presented his pistol and fired three times. The man fired, but not before Mr. McC. Had discovered that he was one of the strangers who had called at the house that morning. Returning to the house he found all quiet, but one of the first objects that met his sight was the dad body of his wife lying on the porch. She had, most likely, attempted to follow her husband and was shot down by one of the murderers as soon as she passed the door. The ball took effect in her abdomen. The neighborhood was aroused as soon as possible, and it was ascertained that the two men had been loitering about the neighborhood all day, placing the matter beyond probability that they were the murderers. Pursuit was made but with what result we have not learned. The packet, down last evening, made the facts connected with the murder known at Ogden’s Landing. The men had passed that point only an hour or two before. As Mr. Ogden’s sons and others put out in pursuit immediately it is highly probable that the bloody villains have been captured.
(There are two marriages
recorded in Massac Co., Ill., for Robert McCormick. He married on 19
Nov 1865, Emeline Jones, and on 24 Sep 1869, Terzey C. Jones.)
Sequel to the Massac County Murder We gave yesterday the details of the killing of Mrs. McCormick, in her own home on the Illinois shore opposite Paducah. The murder was undoubtedly the work of the two villains who took breakfast in the house the morning before. On Monday morning the particulars of the murder being made known at Ogden’s Landing, a few miles below Metropolis, a resident of that locality took his gun and put out in pursuit of the murderers who had left that point only an hour or two before. He had proceeded only a few miles from the landing when the bloody fiends, concealed in the bushes by the roadside, fired upon him six or eight times, and fled. The man fell, pierced through the body by four or five pistol balls, so seriously wounded that he died a few hours afterwards. From the Paducah Kentuckian, of yesterday, we learn that the bloody monsters were seen by the mail carrier between Blandville and Lovelaceville. Marshal Wilcox, of Paducah, receiving information of this fact, collected a party of men, among others the Negro who ferried the murderers across the river on Monday morning, and started in pursuit. As the Negro is confident that he can identify them, there is a strong probability that Marshal Wilcox and his party will capture them. That our police may be on the alert for the villains we append a description of them: The larger one of the two is thought to be from 30 to 35 years old, nearly six feet high, rather spare made, with grey eyes and rather long nose. He had on a soft black hat, black cloth pants, and a pair of nearly new boots; he had black whiskers all over his face. The other is rather short and heavy set, with light or sandy hair and whiskers, both slightly grey. He had on an old grey coat and grayish colored pants; shoulders prominently round. No doubt a good reward will be paid for their apprehension.
On last Sabbath evening as
Mrs. Berry,
the wife of Dr. David Berry, of Hoodville, was kindling a fire by
pouring coal oil on it out of a can, the oil in the can took fire, bursting
it and throwing the oil all over her person, setting her clothing on fire,
every vestige of which was consumed. She was so shockingly burned that she
died in about six hours—McLeansboro Times.
Young Mike Barry’s
dead! Forty days ago he fell at the hands of a stranger whom he had never
met before, pierced through the lungs by a pistol ball. The wound was
pronounced mortal, and it was thought that a few hours would be the span of
his existence. But, being a young man of a vigorous and robust
constitution, of powerful recuperative energies, he rallied, grew better,
day-by-day, until even his physician gave out that there was reason for
believing that he would ultimately recover. Only yesterday we heard that
his wound had commenced bleeding externally, and that he was not only in
better spirits, but experienced a decided relief from the turn his case had
taken. It has turned out, however, that the bleeding was only the precursor
of dissolution. He grew weaker as time passed, and at an early hour this
morning quietly breathed his last. Poor Mike, he sacrificed his life in the
defense of one who was undeserving even of his friendship. Peace to his
soul and good rest to his ashes. The body of little Willie Meehan, who was drowned in the Ohio, Saturday afternoon, was found this morning. The little boy had carried his father’s dinner to the work on the railroad, and was returning when he fell in with other boys who proposed a swim in the river. Willie at first confined himself to a puddle near the river, but being assured that the water was shallow near shore ventured into the river. He had been wading around by a few minutes when he stepped over a perpendicular bank into water fifteen or twenty feet in depth. The other boys saw him struggling, but believing that he could swim, made not attempt to rescue him. They were not undeceived until the little fellow had passed beneath the surface and drowned. The sad news of his death reaching his parents, they immediately repaired to the spot, and during the evening and night made fruitless search for the body. Yesterday, a cannon was brought into requisition, and fired ten or a dozen times, but without effect. The river was carefully dragged, and several expert divers explored the bottom of the river in the vicinity, but all in vain. The parents of the boy could not, however, abandon search, so, all last night, the father and a relative of the family kept watch in a skiff, lest the body should rise and float away unobserved. Towards morning it became so dark that objects could not be discerned five feet distant, so the watch was reluctantly abandoned. At an early hour this morning it was resumed, and about eight o’clock, the father realized the sad satisfaction of finding the body, bloated and discolored, lodged against the chains of the upper wharf boat. It had, evidently, risen to the surface, while the father was off watch, and floated to the point named. After the ceremonies of an inquest, held by Judge Corcoran, were gone through with, the body was enveloped in a sheet, and conveyed to the home from whence, thirty-six hours before, it had departed full of youthful life and boyish anticipations. At one o’clock this afternoon, accompanied by the family and friends, the body was conveyed, by special train to Villa Ridge for burial.
He was a bright little boy,
well advanced with his studies in school, and an object of just pride with
his parents. Will not his end prove a fearful lesson to the little boys
who, at every hour of the day, jeopardize their lives by bathing in the
treacherous waters of the Ohio River?
By the death of young Barry, his widowed mother, Mrs. Motherway, who is aged and inform, was stripped of her sole and only dependence for a livelihood. This fact was impressed upon the minds of those who attended the burial yesterday, and was father to the suggestion that one-dollar fare be collected from each and every grown person on board the funeral train. The suggestion was acted upon, and about one hundred and fifty or two hundred dollars were collected. Out of the sum the bill of the Illinois Central Railroad Company was paid, and the balance handed over to the old lady. In this way $75 or $100 were placed in her hands—a sum sufficient to support her, in her humble sphere during a period of six or eight months. The old lady evinced the warmest gratitude for the kindness and felt, no doubt that after all that she was not wholly deserted and friendless. (The 1860 census of Cairo, Alexander Co., Ill., has Ellen Motherway, age 53, born in Ireland.)
Thursday, 22 Jul 1869:
The following letter,
received by us this morning explains itself:
Last evening the dead body
of a man was found in the river about a mile below here, and brought
ashore. After an inquest had been held the body was buried. It was very
much decayed, the hair all off. The man was apparently a little above the
average stature, had on black cloth plants, and three shirts, viz: a check
shirt outside, a linen bosom shirt and a knit undershirt. In the pocket was
two two-dollar bills, a one-dollar bill, two five cent and a one-cent piece,
and a small pearl handle knife. No papers.
We see it stated that the
bloody villains who, without the slightest cause or provocation, shot down
Mrs. McCormick in her home, in Massac County, have finally been
arrested. Their pursuers overhauled them near Clarksville on Monday, and
after a desperate fight, succeeded in arresting them. Several shots were
fired on both sides, but nobody was killed or mortally wounded. We are no
advocate of mob law, but if the bereaved husband and his friends should
string these bloody, villains up to the limb of a tree, we could scarcely
condemn them. If there ever was a case that called for the interposition of
Judge Lynch, this is certainly the one. Wednesday, 4 Aug 1869: A Revolutionary Soldier named James Moore, died at Beverley, Jefferson County, Mo., July 20, at the age of 82 years. Capt. Moore was taken prisoner by the English and confined at Fort Gibraltar. He was a member of the senate and legislature in Medina County, Ohio, and has been residing in Northern Illinois for the past twenty-seven years, and only removed to Missouri four months ago (Memphis Appeal). Jimmy Moore must have been quite a lad when he shouldered the musket. He was probably three years old. (He was born after the Revolutionary War had ended. He was born 27 Mar 1786, in Vermont.)
The Hon. David J. Baker, Sen., died at his home in Alton, on Saturday morning last, in the 77th year of his age. Mr. Baker was among the first settlers in Illinois, having located in Kaskaskia, Randolph County, something over a half century ago. In he early history of the State he was elected to the United States Senate, and since that time filled various positions of trust and honor. As a lawyer he ranked among the most able and distinguished of the State and nation. No man has been more closely connected with the civic history of Illinois, and especially the southern portion of it, than David J. Baker, Sen. With all those measures and enterprises calculated to develop the country and add to the prosperity of the people, he was intimately connected. Always a steadfast friend to Cairo he lived and died in the belief that here, at the junction of these rivers, must grow into being the great central emporium of the Mississippi Valley. His name is connected with the earliest movements looking to the foundation of a city here, and at the time of his death, he owned a large land estate in and about the city. He is the father of Judge D. J. Baker, of this city; of Judge H. S. Baker, of Alton, and of E. L. Baker, editor of the Springfield Journal. He was well known throughout Illinois and the adjoining states, and all who knew him will learn of his demise with feelings of sincere sorrow.
This notice was prepared for
yesterday’s issue, but was crowded out.
A lamentable accident
occurred at Villa Ridge, on Wednesday morning. Mr. Joseph Essex, who
resides about a mile from the village, was driving in town with a spirited
team attached in a wagon without a box. On the wagon bed he had a number of
barrels, beside himself and three or four boys. When crossing a ditch near
Fombelle's store, the barrels fell off in front under the horses'
heels, and Mr. Essex, who was driving, fell with them. This accident
scared the horses and they started on a run. Mr. Essex was not much
injured, but his boy, about seven years old, fell across the front axletree,
and the wagon striking a stump soon after, his leg was terribly smashed. He
died of his injuries Thursday evening. Two of the other boys on the wagon
were considerably injured and one of them is not expected to live.
The Paducah Kentuckian,
of yesterday, has correspondence from Mayfield, Ky., to the effect that a
mob consisting of about forty strange men took a negro man from the jail of
that place to a point about a mile outside of the town, where, sending three
or four bullets through his brain, they permitted his body to remain until
cared for by the county authorities. The name of the negro is given as
Charles Usher. His crime was an attempt to rape a little white girl
only six years of age. If there is an offense known among men that calls
for the vengeance of mob law this negro was guilty of that offense. Why the
father of the wronged child did not take the law in his own hands, and kill
the black fiend on the spot, is not stated. That death, sure, and if
possible, terrible, should be the penalty of crimes of this nature, no
father who has the feelings of a father, will for a moment deny. Had
Usher been dispatched by the little girl's father, no man would have
condemned the act.
An old man, a Swedenborgian,
and a stranger in this city, was found lying out in the commons, near
Williams mill, this morning, in a dying condition. How he reached
Cairo, and whither he was tending, we are not informed. He is perfectly
destitute, poorly clad; but is only one of the scores that are charged to
the charity of this people every month of the year. Of course this poor man
must be helped, if not beyond help; and, should he die, buried at public
expense. It is cases of this kind, generally foisted upon us by passing
steamers that swell our pauper expenses so far beyond legitimate bounds.
A Little Preliminary Conversation Some two or three weeks ago, or more, Patrick Purcell was seated on the track of the Mount Carbon railroad, overlooking the turbid waters of the Mississippi. He had been seated there but a few moments when along came Mathias Schaefer, a German resident of this place, who accosted Pat in this wise: “Mr. Purcell, I’ve a notion to down myself!” “Well, if you want to drown yourself,” coolly replied Pat, “Wha don’t you go along and do it.” “If you don’t come,” rejoined Schaefer, “I’ll do it sure—you’d better come,” saying which he proceeded to the edge of the water. “Go on with your show,” was the answer. “It’s none of my funeral.” “Come quick if you are coming. I tell you again you'd better come,” was Schaefer's final appeal to the imperturbable Pat, who maintained his seat on the railroad track. "Proceed with your exhibition," came from Pat again, whereupon the determined Schaefer waded out into the stream, sat down, and actually drowned himself. Pat mentioned the circumstance to a passerby a few moments afterwards and when reproved for not rushing in and rescuing the foolish man retorted with some spirit that if he wanted to drown himself it would go pretty hard with the man that might attempt to interfere with his arrangements. And so the matter dropped.
The body Schaefer was
taken out of the water as soon as possible, but too late to attempt
resuscitation with any hopes of success. So it was quietly put away in the
ground on the margin of the stream within whose waters the life left it. Three Men Killed by a Fall of Earth. The first and only accident of a serious nature growing out of the work on the Cairo and Vincennes Railroad, occurred day before yesterday at a point in Pulaski County known as section 20. The character of the route there makes a considerable excavation or cut necessary, and while a number of the hands were engaged at the work of cutting under a section of the bank there was a sudden and unexpected slide of earth that crushed down and covered up three of the men, several others making an escape that was almost marvelous. When the great mass of earth was removed two of the men were found dead—they had been killed outright. The third one, Mr. Cain Mahoney, of this city, was taken out alive, but his injuries were of such a nature that he died the ensuing morning, passing the interval in great agony. The names of the others we could not learn. Mr. Mahoney was a man of family, and was a hard-working, well-behaved citizen. He lived for a long time in the Fourth Ward in the neighborhood of Division Street. His remains were decently coffined and conveyed to Calvary burying ground at Villa Ridge, where they were interred.
(One of the men killed was
probably named Dinan. See the 18 Apr 1870, issue for the article
concerning Widow Dinan.)
The remains of John Ray were landed on our wharf this morning from the steamer Belle St. Louis. For many months he had been afflicted with chronic diarrhea, and under, advice which was probably ill-judged, sought relief by a visit to Hot Springs, Arkansas. He grew weaker under the sweatings and drenchings to which he was subjected there, and concluded to return to Cairo. He reached Memphis, boarded the Belle St. Louis, and died on the way up. He left one hundred and forty dollars in the hands of the clerk which was handed over to a friend in Cairo, and which will be employed in giving the body decent burial. During the past two years Ray served as runner for the Antrim House, in which position he made himself widely known. The disease which put a period to his life was no doubt contracted through the exposures and excesses incident to that service. Right here we will take occasion to say that there is a certain class of diseases to which the Hot Springs treatment is death. Invalids should consult their physicians before incurring the expense and danger of a trip thither. Persons afflicted with rheumatism and venereal diseases, sores, tumors, etc., may resort to that cure with confidence; but there are diseases and their name is legion that will be greatly aggravated by it. What these diseases are, almost any physician who has an analysis of the waters, can readily tell. Chronic diarrhea, most evidently, is one of them.
The body of
Ray has been taken in charge by the widow, and her friends and will be
decently interred for the present, at least, at Villa Ridge.
(The Jonesboro Gazette
of 1 May 1869, stated that Joseph Deonimerinoth was murdered by Abram
Misenhimer at Dongola on 27 Apr 1869.) The ordinary quiet and sober little town of Anna was thrown into a perfect maelstrom of excitement Saturday night by the announcement that one Dupas had been killed at the hands of Robert Whitehead. The friends of both parties had a somewhat different tale to tell about the fatal encounter, but as we received our information from a gentleman who is entirely disinterested we are inclined to accept it as correct. It is substantially as follows: Dupas and Whitehead met in one of the saloons Saturday night, and added several drinks of liquor to what almost any reasonable man would have assured them was already a quantum sufficit. Thus fired up, they became both talkative and positive. A difference of opinion on some subject led to angry words and angry words to a bout at fisticuffs. Before they had had time to pummel each other very severely they were separated by the bystanders. Here it was thought the matter would drop, by almost everybody except Dupas. He appeared dissatisfied with the result and sought an early opportunity to renew the fuss. He attacked Whitehead with the fury of a madman. Whitehead, determined to deny himself with effect drew his pocketknife, and dealing Dupas two swiping blows with it terminated the conflict. The second blow separated Dupas' windpipe and death ensued in less than a quarter of an hour. Beyond this, we obtained no particular.
(The Jonesboro Gazette
of 21 Aug 1869, reported that William “Buck” Dupass was murdered by
a man named Brandon alias Whiteside, of Grand Tower.)
Mr. Dupas, who was
killed by Whitehead, in Anna, last Friday night, was a man of family,
and a quiet respectable citizen. He alleged that he had seen Whitehead
trying to effect a felonious entrance into a barroom, and this was the
foundation of the fuss, and not a drunken spree, as we were informed
yesterday. Dupas' jugular vein was severed by a knife in the hands
of Whitehead, and death from a loss of blood ensued in a few minutes.
Whitehead and a ruffian accomplice, who prevented a separation of
the belligerents, were arrested by the officers on the spot and are now
securely confined in the Union County jail. By yesterday evening's packet, which arrived after we had gone to press, we received information concerning the summary taking off of the negro, Henry Baldwin, who was arrested in this city, last Friday, on a charge of rape. The particulars of this arrest, confessions and removal to the Paducah jail have been made public in previous issues of our paper. The marshal of Paducah made an undisturbed trip with his prisoner, and lodged him in the McCracken County jail about 11 o'clock Saturday night. The Paducah papers denounced the crime in the severest terms, but advised the exasperated friends of the outraged family to permit the law to take its course. Sunday and Monday passed, and it was thought by some that the advice of the press had been taken and the wretched criminal was in no danger of personal violence. On Monday night, however, just before the hour of midnight, seventy-five or eighty armed men, securely masked, collected about the jail, aroused the jailor, Mr. Davis, and made known the character of their mission. At first, Mr. Davis refused to surrender the keys; but soon seeing how futile his individual resistance would be, he led the mob to the negro’s cell. A number of them entered; placed a rope about his neck and quietly led him out into the open air. The mob moved down Broadway to a point a mile or two beyond the limits of the city, and there upon a tree, standing near a road crossing, they suspended him, and left his body. Of the details of the hanging, we know nothing. The belief is expressed, however, that the mob did not give the black fiend the benefit of a neck-breaking, but threw the rope up over a limb, drew him up by hand and permitted him to struggle until he choked to death. The mob remained on the ground, we understand, until the negro ceased struggling, then pinning a placard to his body, quietly dispersed and returned to their respective homes. We are told that the placard read, substantially, as follows: "Let no one cut this body down who does not wish to fill its place!"
We hope there is a mistake
in this. The punishment of the negro was no more than he deserved, but it
is scarcely a manly revenge that would see his lifeless and unfeeling body
on by the roadside, a horror to passersby, and no source of gratification to
the outraged family. This would add nothing to the punishment—It could
only injure the living. We hope, therefore, that the placard story is
foundationless. And thus has the negro, Henry Baldwin, realized his
prediction: "I have no other expectation than that they will hang me."
When will negro men learn that the penalty for outraging white
women is severe, swift, and terrible death?
On the 18th inst., after a long illness, Nettie, daughter of Dr. W. R. and Annie E. Smith, aged six years. Fold the weary little hands above the pulseless heart; brush the sunny hair back from the calm young brow; imprint a long, long kiss on the cute still lips of the fair young dead, and lay the tired little sleeper to rest in the tomb. Six years that tender floweret was cherished in this earthly home; then it folded its pure delicate petals with the summer flowers, to open them to light and love no more. No mother's arms are tenderly folded around her now. No mother's lips with their sweet mesmeric power, will ever again gently bear down the wearied eyelids to soft repose. No rude chill blasts of winter, nor scorching noonday heat, can reach our little flower—our sweet pale star—our Nettie. Often through the lonely watches of the night will that mother hear again the low and tone of her child; and dreaming upon her arms to enfold once more her buried darling.
But, Nettie, our angel, you
are not lost to us forever. Even on earth, when the sweet spirit of
resignation and peace is dwelling around us, we will know that you are
hovering near, voicelessly speaking to our souls, that from earth's dark
sorrows you are forever free. And when we, too, enter the barque of the
pale boatman, that's to bear on us o'er eternity's tide, haste then, on your
seraphic wings, sweet Nettie, to greet us, as we touch the ever shining
shore, where weary hearts find an eternal rest.
Friday, 20 Aug 1869:
Yesterday forenoon a strange
man was found lying in a state of insensibility in the commons near the
Mississippi levee. He had been struck down by sunstroke, but how long he
had laid there no one knew. He was carried to St. Mary's Infirmary where he
now lies. During a lucid interval he gave his name as George Young,
and said his occupation was that of a peddler. Doubts are entertained of
his recovery.
Captain John W. Russell
died in Franklin County, Kentucky, last week, aged seventy-five years. The
Louisville Courier Journal says: He was famous among Western
pioneers for his strength and intrepidity. He served in the War of 1812,
was a member of the state senate, and was an intimate personal and partisan
friend of Henry Clay. He was for many years a Mississippi steamboat
captain. The incidents of his force of will and power if command would fill
a volume. On one occasion, in New Orleans, he had a personal rencounter
with the pirate Lafitte, and, unarmed, whipped him and ejected him
from a ballroom. On another, while landed at Natchez, a passenger of his
boat was robbed by the gang, which then infested the portion of the town
bordering on the river, and known as "Natchez under the Hill." By
surrounding with his crew the house in which the robbers took refuge he
passed a cable around it, and under threat of pulling it with its inmates in
the river, he compelled restitution of the money, and made himself a terror
to the thieves and gamblers, who then infested the river towns. Of his
great strength, persons who knew him in his later years, when enfeebled by
age, would have had but little conception, that, when in his prime it was
known from Pittsburgh to New Orleans he had lifted a shaft weighing 1,647
pounds, and that he had carried entirely across the deck an anchor weighing
1,242 pounds in weight. Two Fatal Cases of Sunstroke It is conceded on all sides, we believe, that yesterday was, by many degrees, the hottest day of the season. The thermometer stood at 100 degrees at 10 o’clock a.m., and during the day reached 104 degrees. The night was sweltering, persons occupying badly ventilated houses, being unable to close their eyes in sleep. About 12 o’clock m., a stranger, whose name could not be learned, was prostrated by sunstroke near the corner of Poplar and Twelfth streets. He was found about a half hour afterwards in a state of insensibility and removed to St. Mary’s Infirmary, where he died about 2 p.m. He had on a brown pair of ribbed cassimere pants,, two gray flannel undershirts, a white over shirt, a buff linen coat, and a black felt hat. He was about 5 feet, 8 or 9 inches in height, weighed 170 or 180 pounds, and was about 32 years of age. His hair and moustache were black. There were not papers about the person of any kind. A scrap was picked up from the ground where the body was found, upon which the name “John Murphy” was written, and which, possibly may have dropped out of his pockets. His hands—the inside being calloused and discolored by coal dust—indicated that he was wither a founder, blacksmith, or steamboat man. We are thus particular in giving details in the hope that thereby his friends may learn of the said fate that has befallen him.
About the same hour of the
day John Harrington, formerly an employee of the railroad blacksmith
shop, was sunstroke near the residence of his father on Twenty-seventh
Street. He was carried home where he died in about one hour. Mr.
Harrington was a single man, and generally respected as an industrious
and well-behaved person. He was much devoted to his old parents and
contributed not a little we understand to their support.
About eleven o'clock last night Judge Corcoran, county coroner, was called to hold an inquest over the body of Mrs. Ellen Wayne, a middle aged woman, who had been serving as cook in the boarding house of Mrs. Karney, on Poplar Street, between Eighteenth and Nineteenth. Mrs. Wayne had cooked supper, cleared away the dishes, and when she retired to her bed was appeared to be in the enjoyment of her usual good health. She had been in bed but a few moments, when an old lady in the same bed, observed her get out on the floor and assume a kneeling posture. Shortly afterwards someone entered the chamber with a light in hand and found Mrs. W.'s lifeless body lying prostrate upon the floor. She had most evidently died without a struggle.
The coroner's jury made
diligent inquiry into the facts, but were unable to determine the cause of
the death. They therefore decided that "deceased had come to her death by
means unknown to the jurors." It is thought probable that the woman died of
heart disease.
At fifteen minutes past one
o'clock this afternoon, Mr. John Hamilton breathed his last. He left
his home at noon yesterday, and spent the greater portion of the afternoon
at his place of business. Returning in the evening he fell exhausted, from
the sidewalk, and never afterwards awoke to consciousness. He was about
forty-two years of age, and leaves a wife and a child. Those who have known
him most intimately speak of him in terms of highest praise. He lived the
life of an honest, industrious man, leaving a name behind him that will be a
dear legacy to his stricken wife and fatherless child. His remains will be
interred most probably at Villa Ridge. Of the time due notice will be given
through the city papers.
The body of Mr. Copeland, the mall agent on the ill-fated Cumberland, has been recovered. It was found at a point ten miles below Metropolis, having floated a distance of about ninety miles. It was recognizable only by the clothing and a peculiarity about the teeth. The right arm had been blown off at the shoulder, and the head and face badly scalded and torn. The belief is entertained that the unfortunate man was killed instantly by the explosion.
There is a touching incident
in this connection that we may venture to relate. Mrs. Copeland, the
young, intelligent and devoted wife, was at Caledonia. Her husband had
promised to stop off and spend a day or two with her on the arrival of the
boat; and she, delighted at his promised coming, arranged the house as she
knew would please him best, and prepared for the tea table, those accessible
delicacies for which he had shown a fondness. In joyous expectation she
awaited the arrival of the boat; and when the usual hour passed by and it
came not she still watched; it would surely come. And far into the night,
the board, with its snowy cloth and tempting viands awaited the husband’s
coming, the devoted wife alarmed but still hopeful. The husband, the white
was a torn and bleeding corpse, slowly nearing the wife and the waiting
board, borne along by the sluggish waters of la belle reviere. From
the grief of the devoted wife, when the sad news was communicated to her,
that she awaited in vain the coming of her husband, we may turn away. It
was indescribable.
We have in the sudden death
of Mr. John Hamilton and of Mr. Copeland, the mail agent on
the steamer
Cumberland, an
illustration of the wisdom and prudence of life insurance. Both left a wife
and child, but left them secured against future want and poverty. They had
taken out and kept up policies for $5,000 on their lives, to be paid to
their wives. Thus by the expenditures of a comparatively small sum of
money, not more than is usually expended for tobacco these men left their
widows and children a competence—have insured them against penury and want
for all time to come. It was, comparatively, a small outlay that kept these
policies in force. Compare with that outlay the result, reflect upon the
uncertainty of life, and the wisdom of life insurance becomes undeniable.
At the expiration of ninety days, or sooner, if asked, Mrs. Hamilton
and Mrs. Copeland, will each come into possession of $5,000 cash, a
sum which, if judiciously invested, will bring them an annual return that
will comfortably support them. At 3 o'clock today the members of the Arab and Rough and Ready Fire Companies, with a large number of citizens, assembled in the Church of the Redeemer, where the Rev. J. W. Coe, pronounced a funeral sermon over the body of John Hamilton.
At 6 o'clock a train,
consisting of two passenger coaches and a boxcar left the foot of Sixth
Street, crowded to excess with citizens and firemen, for the Mound City
burying ground where the remains were interred. The high esteem in which
the deceased was held was manifested by the large number who attended the
funeral service and participated in the last and rites of burial. Mr. H.
was a member of the Arab Fire Company.
The following preamble and resolutions on the death of John Hamilton, late a member of the Arab Fire Company were read before the company at a special meeting held at their hall, in the city of Cairo, Illinois, on Wednesday, August 25th, 1869, to wit: The camp of the Arab is again clothed in mourning; their council is made desolate, the hearts of the brave and true stricken with grief. The heads of their chiefs and faithful followers are vowed low. The hands of the great Chief Ruler has been laid upon them, and another Arab has been called away to pass from earth across the Great Desert of time and pitch his tent in that undiscovered country—eternity. There where the vine and fig tree doth flourish and the date and the palm tree yield forth their grateful nourishment may our brother find rest from the toils and burthens of life on earth. Arabs, it becomes us to express in proper manner, some befitting tribute of the living to the dead, and place upon record our action in perpetuating the recollection of our associates. Therefore be it Resolved, That in the sudden taking off and untimely death of our brother Arab, John Hamilton, on the 24th inst., we recognize the hand of our Great Chief Ruler to whose command we humbly yield implicit obedience, knowing he doeth all things well. Resolved, That we deeply and sincerely sympathize with the afflicted widow and fatherless child in their irreparable loss and assure them that the Arab Fire Company will ever hold in respectful and fraternal remembrance the goodness of heart and excellence of character of him, the late husband and father. Resolved, That this company will drape their hall and furniture in mourning for thirty days as a mark of respect to their departed brother. Resolved, That the foregoing preamble and resolutions be spread upon the record of the company; that a written copy be furnished to the widow, and that the daily papers of the city be requested to publish them. Thomas J. Kerth, Sec’y
About noon, yesterday,
officers Cummings and Arnold received a dispatch from
Columbus, Ky., authorizing them to arrest a colored man named Daniel Hill,
who had, a few minutes before, taken passage for Cairo on the transit
steamer Gen. Anderson. The dispatch stated that Hill had
committed murder. On the arrival of the
Anderson
he was taken in charge and conveyed to the county jail. The authorities at
Columbus were then advised of his arrest, and returned instruction to hold
him.
At a small town in Missouri, named Granby, where Bill Lake’s circus held forth on the 22d instant, a man by the name of Jack Killyon effected an entrance into the pavilion without paying the price of admission. Lake being informed of the fact seized Killyon by the coat collar and forcibly ejected him. A few minutes afterwards Killyon bought a ticket and entered the canvass. Approaching Lake, who was talking to two citizens of the village, he drew his revolver and fired, the ball taking effect in Lake’s breast near the left nipple, and producing death in about fifteen minutes. Lake fell forward on his hands and exclaimed: “My God, boys, I am killed—carry me home.” He was conveyed to his hotel, where he died immediately.
Lake
was notoriously rough and insulting: but in this case he was not to blame.
When last in Cairo his bearing towards citizens was so rough that only one
thing deterred many of them from laying violent hands upon him, and that one
thing was fear! But in the present case no blame attaches to him.
Mrs. Lake offers a thousand dollars reward for the arrest of
Killyon, who, in the consternation and uproar of the moment made good
his escape.
A young man by the name of Clark affects to believe that he is called upon to avenge the death of Eaton, the desperate man whom officer Cummings shot in self-defense. Clark fortified himself with several glasses of blue ruin, this morning, and by a display of pistols and dirk knives endeavored to create the impression that he was a very dangerous man, and would probably chop a very large number of people into mince meat on the smallest provocation. Officer Cummings visited him, intending to persuade him that he had justly incurred the vengeance of no one by killing Eaton, but Clark was not disposed to listen, and very savagely informed Cummings that if he wanted to be hewed up into shavings all he had to do was to pass over in Kentucky.
James Barrett, of
Walker & Sisson's also incurred
Clark's
displeasure, and was threatened with annihilation. Barrett not
relishing such threats caused the arrest of
Clark
on a peace warrant. The case was heard before Squire Bross this
morning, and the accused was held to bail in the sum of $200 to keep the
peace, etc., until the next term of the circuit court. Failing to give the
bail he was committed to the county jail. On the 26th day of June, Laban Duncan was landed on one of our wharf boats in a dying condition. He was conveyed to the St. Mary's Infirmary, where, during the ensuing day, he died. He informed the sisters that he lived in Golconda, and expressed an earnest desire to reach home before he died. He was so ill, however, that the steamboat refused to carry him beyond Cairo.
The sister in charge of the
Infirmary wrote a letter of inquiry to Golconda, but failed to elicit a
reply, and up to this time nothing has been heard from the deceased's
relatives. We make these fact public in the hope that they will fall under
the eye of interested parties. The deceased left papers in the possession
of the sisters that may prove valuable to the owner. Further particulars
may be obtained by addressing St. Mary's Infirmary.
Miss Louisa Moore lives on Fourth Street. She is in humble circumstances, having to earn her livelihood by “day’s work.” About 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon a strange woman entered Miss Moore’s humble abode, carrying in her arms a boy baby, about ten months old, and in her hand a black carpetbag. She made known the fact that she lived in Jackson, Missouri, some eight or ten miles from Cape Girardeau, and was in Cairo on business. She was a stranger, and being somewhat fatigued, she would feel much obliged if Miss Moore would permit her to leave her baby and carpet sack in the house until she went out in town and secured change for a bill. Permission was given, and the strange woman left the home. An hour passed by, then night came on, but the mother did not return. The baby became hungry and fretful and showed Miss Moore what a Missouri baby could do in the way f crying when incited thereto by hunger and neglect. The little fellow had not yet learned how to feed from a bottle or spoon, and resisted any attempts of the new nurse to satisfy the cravings of his appetite by any such unusual appliances. And far into the night the baby bellowed and Miss Moore watched for the return of the mother; but she came not. The baby wouldn’t sleep, and seemed to take a sort of savage satisfaction in keeping everybody else from sleeping. The dawn of daylight, therefore, found Miss Moore nursing and soothing the obstreperous little stranger. What became of the mother, we cannot say. It is evident that she has purposely abandoned her child. The carpet sack contained the baby’s wardrobe, but nothing to indicate the name of the parents.
Miss Moore, being
unable and unwilling to take care of the child, laid all the facts of the
case before one of the directresses of the Orphan Asylum, and we presume
that the youngster is now installed in that institution. Information from
any source that will dissolve the mystery surrounding the transaction, will
be thankfully received either at this office or the Orphan Asylum.
On the arrival of the
passenger train this afternoon, a little son of Widow Summers, living
on Fourth Street, crawled under the train and took a seat on the after break
beam of the forward trucks of one of the passenger cars, and was not
observed when the order was given for the train to move to make room for
another train. The little fellow attempted to pass out the front of the
wheel but was caught and his body cut entirely in two. His entrails were
torn from the cavity of his body, his little heart and liver being carried
several feet from his body. Mrs. Summers hearing the shocking news
hastened to the spot, and at the sight of the terrible spectacle fainted
away. The little boy was only about five years old.
A white man and a negro were
working on a coal barge at the Elizabethtown landing, on Thursday last, and
the white man showed a disposition to shirk his allotted duty. The negro
expostulated and finally pitched to and gave the white man a severe
drubbing. Next morning the white man repaired to the barge as usual, and
shot the negro dead in his tracks. We did not learn the names of the
parties.
As the down passenger train
was nearing St. Johns, about ten o'clock, last night, the engine shocked
some object from the edge of the track, which as the train sped by was
discovered to be a human being. Conductor Cormick had the train back
up that the matter might be investigated, and discovered the dead body of a
woman. She was neither torn nor badly bruised, death being caused, probably
by the breaking of the spinal column. There was nothing about the woman to
indicate her name or place of residence. She was dressed in a dark calico
dress, and sitting on the end of the tie, was mistaken at first for a
cluster of weeds. Cormick left parties in charge of the body, with
directions to convey it to St. Johns that the proper inquiry might be
instituted. She had most evidently seated herself on the end of the tie and
fallen asleep.
Mrs. Summers is a
widow woman, in very indigent circumstances, who is still charged with the
care of three children, the eldest of whom is not over seven years of age.
She is, therefore, a deserving object of charity, and we hope that citizens,
to whom application is made, will extend such an assistance as they can, if
it amount to no more than twenty-five cents.
A fisherman living in one of
the little seven-by-nine boats lying at our wharf died on Saturday night, in
the most horrible agonies. It is said that he had partaken heartily during
the day of fish, watermelons and stimulants. He was attacked by violent
purging, which was succeeded by cramps, which continued up to the hour of
his death. It was undoubtedly a case of cholera morbus. As many of our
colored people subsist upon a similar diet, it is a matter for surprise that
a considerable number of them have not gone the way of the fisherman. At the moment of closing our forms for the press we received the following special dispatch from Paducah. The steamer Phantom blew up at New Liberty this morning, many of the passengers and crew being killed and wounded. Hascall. Through the kindness of Mr. G. S. Kent, our obliging telegraph superintendent, we have been placed in possession of the following additional news:
Mr. George Nichelson,
the first clerk, was instantly killed. The other officers escaped unhurt.
The boat is said to be a complete wreck, and having no insurance against
explosion, is of course a total loss. There was but little freight on
board. Cause of the explosion, names of the killed and wounded, not yet
communicated. We shall share in the public anxiety for further particulars,
hoping in the meantime, that the disaster is not so terrible as first
reported.
The explosion of the Cairo and Evansville packet Phantom, announced by us yesterday evening, created an excitement and anxiety in our city that was only surpassed by the recent disaster to the steamer Cumberland. During the evening and far into the night there was an eager inquiry for details, which was a measure answered by the arrival of the steamer Clara Scott, direct from the scene of the explosion. The Phantom was filling the place of the steamer Quickstep. It was known that her boilers were old and dangerous, but with a reckless disregard of consequence deserving of the keenest reprobation, she was still kept in the trade. She had not made a landing after leaving Golconda, and was under way in the middle of the river, a short distance above New Liberty, when her boilers exploded, giving out a report not unlike that of a sharp clap of thunder. The forward upper works were badly wrecked; and the hull was so injured that it sunk almost immediately. Fortunately the water was shallow, covering the main deck amidships to the depth of only a few inches, leaving the forecastle and engine room dry. Her boilers, except a small fragment, were blown overboard. The wreck caught on fire, but, by the prompt and well directed efforts of Mr. David Pierson, the mate, was extinguished. It will be recollected that Mr. P. was mate on the ill-fated Cumberland, and, although considerably bruised and wounded, saved the wreck of that boat from burning. There was but little weight on the Phantom at the time of the explosion, but what there was is a total loss. It is known that four persons are killed outright, and two are missing, probably blown overboard. Among the killed is the first clerk, George Nichelson. His body was found in the debris, not mutilated and town, but with a wound under the eye, which it is believe extended to the brain. He was also bruised on the chest and abdomen. In the loss of George Nichelson, the hundreds and thousands who have known him so long and loved him so well, will recognize the most lamentable feature of the disaster. He was a young man of most estimable traits and character, of a most sociable turn, genial, warm-hearted, noble-minded, and generous almost to a fault. We understand that he was engaged to be married to a highly accomplished and most loveable young lady of Cairo, sometime during the approaching winter. To her as well as to his own family, the news of his violent death will bring an overwhelming grief. Six of the Negro deck hands were wounded, two or three of them quite seriously. Mr. William Grammar, the barkeeper, was badly hurt; Steele, the steward, has his left broken at the ankle; and William Barry, the second mate, had his thigh broken. The express agent, George McTadden, is seriously wounded in the leg, and the second cook is also badly wounded. Mr. Hart, a machinist, on route for Paducah, was shockingly cut in the face, the bone in some places being laid bare. The wounded and such of the dead as could be recovered were taken to Paducah on the Clara Scott, where they received all the attentions the good people of that city could bestow.
We reported in a recent
number of the Bulletin the killing of a woman near St. John's by the
cars of the Illinois Central railroad, remarking at the time, that the body
bore no serious cuts or bruises. Since the matter has been canvassed, a
doubt has arisen as to whether the woman was killed by the cars or by some
other means. To dispel this doubt, the body will be exhumed and a diligent
inquiry instituted. On the part of some it is believed that the woman had
been foully dealt with. The body remains there ten days, forty families, the while, using the water! For a number of years there had lived in the neighborhood of Anna, an old man named Pullen. Last Friday a week ago he gave his family to understand that he was going to Johnson County in search of work, and taking his leave, he was seen no more. In the southeastern part of Anna there is a public well, from which all the neighboring residents procure their supply of water. Yesterday morning a young man visited the well for water, but found some trouble in sinking the bucket. As the well was very deep, and closed over at the tope, except as opening for the passage of the bucket, he could not detect what the obstacle was. The bucket finally filled with water, however, and was drawn forth. The water looked well enough, but the smell it emitted was intolerable—and furthermore, there was a tuft of human hair in it! To make a long story short, a lantern was lowered into the well and revealed the presence there of old Pullen’s bloated and partially decomposed body! When drawn out it was simply a mass of putrid flesh, swollen, distorted, horrible! The bucket, in its rapid descent striking the head had scalped off great patches of hair, and made bruises and indentations; but there were no marks on the body that aroused suspicions that the old man had been foully dealt with. He left home as stated, and no doubt precipitated himself into the well and there perished. The men, women and children, who for a period of ten days or more, used the waster from his decomposing body, felt—well, we shall not attempt to say how they felt! They quit using the water.
(The
Jonesboro Gazette of 18 Sep 1869, gives his name as Ludwic Pullian.
The 1870 mortality schedule gives his name as Ludwell Pullen and his
cause of death as accidental suicide. He was born 1813 in Alabama. There
is a marker in Anna Cemetery for Ludwell Pullen Co. F, 81st
Illinois Infantry, who died 3 Sep 1869.)
Friday, 17 Sep 1869: Suspicious of Foul Play. On Saturday evening last a gentleman stopped at the Continental Hotel, in this city, and registered himself “O. Hillman, Tenn.” He deposited a carpet sack with the clerk and received a check therefore. On Sunday he observed to the clerk that he had taken no breakfast and wanted no dinner. He then repaired to his room. On Sunday night at 12 o’clock, Mr. Stites, the proprietor of the Continental, saw Mr. Hillman descending the stairs in the direction of the street. He never returned. This morning while one of the steamers at our wharf was towing a pair of barges in front of the city, the dead body of a man arose astern. It was conveyed to the shore, and although considerably swollen and disfigured, was believed to be that of Mr. Hillman. The check given by the clerk of the Continental for the carpet sack, was found on the body, and Mr. Stites recognized the coat as very like that which Mr. H. had on when he left the hotel Sunday night. There is some diversity of opinion as to how the strange man came to his death. The restless and unhappy frame of mind he was in while at the hotel, strengthens the conclusion that he destroyed his own life. Certain marks about the throat and arm induce the belief , on the part of some, that he had been foully dealt with, and this conclusion is strengthened by the finding of a watch key and no watch, upon the body, and a number of pistol cartridges and no pistol. There was a two-dollar bill in the vest pocket and a few nickels in the pantaloons pockets. And a third view of the matter is that the body is that of one of the victims of the ill-fated Phantom. Which, of all these conjectures is the true one, we may never know. The body was interred at the expense of the county.
About two weeks ago an infant child was left at the house of a Miss Moore, on Fourth Street, by a woman who said she resided at Jackson, Missouri. The infant was taken in charge by the managers of the Orphan Asylum, and remained there until yesterday, when Mrs. Summers, the mother of the little boy recently killed by the cars, called, claimed the child, and carried it away. It is probably that she, being a widow woman, dependent upon the labor of her own hands for the support of herself and five little children, disposed of the infant, as stated, in the hope that it would receive better care than she could bestow upon it.
Her extreme poverty and the
loss of her boy, have, we understand, prostrated her in a bed of sickness
from which, it is thought, she will never arise. The case is one that
strongly appeals to the charity of our citizens.
The deceased was
respectfully clothed, having on, when the body was found, a cloth business
coat, corded cassimere pantaloons, white shirt and calf boots.
The dwelling house of Mr.
Pierce, at Tamaroa, caught fire about 2 o'clock this morning and burned
to the ground. The most appalling feature of the affair is that Mr.
Pierce's daughter, a Miss of about fourteen years of age, was suffocated
and burned to death in her room. The fire caught from an ash hopper in
which live coals had been emptied the evening previous.
The number of lives lost by
the Phantom disaster may never be known. On Sunday last the body of
another victim was found about five miles below New Liberty, lodged in
brushwood on the point. The officers of the steamer Umpire buried it
there, marking the place by notches on the nearest tree. The body was that
of Charles Myerling of Evansville, a young man about eighteen years
of age. The back part of his head had been blown off, probably by a
fragment of the boiler.
When the Fanny Brandies
was a short distance below
Ogden's
Landing, last upward bound trip, she blew out one of her drum heads. The
noise being terrific, the deck hands believed it to be the result of a
boiler explosion, and not caring to have their heads knocked off by the
flying fragments, quite a number of them jump overboard. Three of them, a
white man and two negroes, were drowned. The balance kept themselves afloat
until picked up by a yawl.
A Young Woman Flings Herself from the Second Story Balcony of the Court House. The arrest of a frail creature named Maggie Wilson, for an assault with a deadly weapon, has already been mentioned in these columns. This morning she was arraigned before the circuit court under an indictment for assault with intent to commit murder. Shortly afterwards she passed out upon the second story balcony of the courthouse, avowedly to get a drink of water. She took water from the tank, passed the dipper to the attending bailiff, and as quick as thought, flung herself over the side balustrades of the ground below, a distance of about thirty five feet, alighting upon some large sticks of wood. Contrary to expectation, she was picked up alive, and, although was considerably bruised and otherwise injured, the belief is entertained that she will recover. She was carried to the hall of the jail and medical assistance summoned, and, when we saw her about 2 o'clock this afternoon, she was conscious, but unable to speak above a whisper.
When first committed to the
calaboose, for the present charge, she tried to hang herself, and would,
most likely have succeeded, but for the interference of the jailor. She
expresses a determination to destroy herself when she has the opportunity,
and she has given most remarkable evidence of the sincerity in the matter.
(The Jonesboro Gazette
of 25 Sep 1869, reported his name as Francis Weinberger, aged 15
years, died 18 Sep 1869.)
On the elevated ground
beyond St. Mary's Park among many neglected and exposed graves, is that of
Col. Anthony Olney. The palings that once surrounded it, have rotted
away, and the slab that friends or relatives erected to his memory is
standing all awry and about to topple over. The inscription upon this stone
informs the passerby that Col. Olney was assistant superintendent of
the first improvements ever made at Cairo, Illinois. The condition of the
stone and the grave, also informs the passerby that the present generation
are careless of the ashes of the dead who pioneered the country. It would
cost but a few dollars to enclose this grave, and, is it not our duty to
make that expenditure? In the course of years the improved limits of our
city will embrace this old burying ground, and necessitate a removal of the
dead it contains; but until that time let us take proper care of Olney's
grave, and thus prevent, what is threatened, an entire obliteration of all
traces of his resting place.
A brakeman named William
Nash, was killed by the cars of the M & O Railroad, near Moscow,
Kentucky, about twelve or fifteen miles from Columbus, last Tuesday. He has
just finished packing a "hot box" on one of the cars of the train to which
he belonged, and gave the signal to go ahead. As the train moved on he
attempted to clamber up the roof of one of the cars, and in doing so made a
misstep that precipitated in front of the wheels. Seven cars passed over
his body, literally tearing it to fragments. The shapeless mass of flesh
and bones was collected, conveyed to Jackson and there interred him.
The dead bodies of two
paupers were removed from St. Mary's Infirmary this morning, to the pauper
burying ground, where they will mould and be forgot. One was the body of a
negro whose name we did not learn. The other was the body of Andrew
Mitchell, a white man from the country, who was entered on the 27th
instant, while in the last stages of the diarrhea. We could learn nothing
of his history or the whereabouts of his relatives—only that he came in a
dying condition, died, and was hustled into a pauper coffin, and put away
among the pauper dead.
An accommodation train will
leave the lot at Eighth Street tomorrow at 10 o'clock a.m., to convey the
remains of Charles Eble, deceased, to Villa Ridge for burial. It is
hoped that the friends of the family will attend. A charge for the round
trip will be made, to cover the cost of the train. Tickets sold at the
doors.
On 27th day of last June
Laban Duncan
was brought to St. Mary's Infirmary, in this city, in a dying condition. He
arrived at our landing on board of a steamboat, and, although he manifested
great anxiety to be conveyed as he expressed it, "home to Golconda," he was
carried ashore here, and died. He was from Point Pleasant, Missouri, but
claimed a residence in Golconda. Among his effects were found deeds for
valuable property in Golconda, and Shawneetown, and a note of hand for $100. It is with feelings of sincere sorrow that we record the death of Charley Eble. He died last night about 8 o'clock, passing away quietly as if he were falling into a sleep. He was an honest man, tender-hearted and generous, giving his attention to his own affairs, and never intermeddling in the affairs of others. For many months he had been afflicted with a diseased foot, that gave him considerable pain, and resisted all attempts at cure., His general health finally became affected, and in time, his stomach. A dry, irritating cough ensued—and all these symptoms of a disordered system became more and more aggravating, until Death claimed him as its own. A few days ago, the great toe of his right foot was taken off, but without the result hoped for. Death had evidently marked him as a victim, and all medical resorts and appliances were utterly futile. Charley had resided in Cairo about fourteen years, and during all that time commanded the respect and confidence of all who knew him. While his health permitted he was an active, efficient and liberal member of the Rough and Ready Fire Company. The excellent hose carriage of the company was presented by him. He was also a member of the Cairo Casino, and these two organizations served him a good part during his protracted illness, paying him $14 per week, and extending fraternal attentions most acceptable to one of his helpless condition. His remains, at the request of his wife, will be conveyed to Sioux City, Iowa, and there interred beside the remains of her father. Poor Charley! There are many living who could have been better spared.
P.S. Since placing the
above in type we learn that the remains of Mr. Eble will be buried at
Villa Ridge. The shocking affair between the Darnells and Lanes, that occurred in Madrid Bend, about four months ago, is, perhaps, remembered by most of our readers. It will be recollected that three Darnells took passage at New Madrid, that the boat landed a few miles above town to take on board two Lanes and a relative named Edwards; that while the last named were attempting to board the boat, they were fired upon and killed outright by the Darnells. The Darnells fled, were pursued for weeks, by mounted men, but made good their escape.
One day last week, General
Darnell charged with being accessory to the killing, appeared before
the circuit court at Tiptonville, Tenn., and gave himself up to the
authorities. The General was on the boat at the time of the killing, armed
and not doubt he intended to participate in the bloody work. It so
happened, however, that the other Darnells did the shooting. The
General was released on a bail of $10,000—which indicates that he will be
held to answer only for murder in the second or third degree.
One of the largest and most
imposing funeral processions we ever saw in Cairo was that escorted the
remains of Charley Eble to the funeral train at 10 o'clock today.
First came the body borne upon the hose carriage, which deceased had
presented to the Rough and Ready Fire Company, of which he was a member.
The carriage was drawn by two beautiful jet-black horses, properly
caparisoned. Then followed the pallbearers, the Cairo Silver Cornet Band,
the member of the Rough and Ready, the Arab and Hibernian fire companies,
and the Cairo Casino, all in uniform. Citizens, ladies and gentlemen,
brought up the rear. The mark of respect to the deceased must have been as
gratifying to those whom mourn him as it was creditable to those with whom
he had associated in life. A few minutes after 10 o'clock the train left
for Villa Ridge, where all that was mortal of poor Charley was committed to
its mother earth.
Whereas, It has pleased Almighty God to remove from our midst one of our best members and from the bosom of his family an affectionate husband and kind father. Therefore be it Resolved by the officers and members of the company that in the death of our brother member Charles Eble this company has suffered an imparable loss and his wife and children that of an affectionate husband and a kind and indulgent father. Resolved, that we deeply sympathize with the bereaved family in the loss of one so beloved and dear to them and would commend them to the kind services of Him who tempers the winds to the shorn lamb, and is a husband to the widow and a father to the fatherless. Resolved, that we bury our departed brother with the honors of a fireman, as is provided by the Constitution of the Company, regulating such cases. Resolved, that a copy of the foregoing resolutions be sent to the bereaved family and published in the Cairo Evening Bulletin and spread upon the records of this Company.
Joseph B. Taylor,
Secretary
Died, in this city, on Sunday, October 3d, 1869, at 10 o'clock a.m. of congestion of the brain, Robert Winston, youngest son of Claiborne and Elizabeth Winston, aged 18 years, 1 month, and 16 days. (Hancock Co., Ill., and Richmond, Va., papers please copy.) It is difficult to realize that Rob Winston, as he was familiarly called, has passed from the scene of earth. Only a few days ago he was strong and vigorous, as lighthearted and happy as any of the many companions and friends who survive him. On Thursday he returned from the country (whither he had been called as deputy county surveyor) complaining of an attack of the ague; but as he had, on previous occasions been, to all appearance, similarly attacked, it was thought that a resort to the usual remedies would effect the desired cure. Thus matters stood until Friday, when the case assuming a more aggravating form, a physician was called in. A moment's investigation assured him that it was an attack of congestive fever which it would be difficult, indeed, to master. The succeeding evening the patient became unconscious and remained in that condition until he died. That his death is a crushing affliction to the family, we need not add. It was wholly unexpected—all were unprepared for such an overwhelming load of sorrow. "Bob" was well known in the community, and loved by all as a generous, kind-hearted, noble-minded young man. Although only eighteen years of age he received the nomination for the office of county surveyor, by he unanimous vote of the Democratic convention to which his name was submitted.
His remains were conveyed to
the Villa Ridge Cemetery this afternoon by special train, attended by a
large concourse of citizens who had known and loved him in life, and now
mourn his untimely death.
While the up freight train
was switching at Carbondale, last night, a brakeman named House, who
was on top of the train, fell to the ground between two cars and was
seriously, if not mortally hurt. He was hustled along over the ___ some
distance, and that he was not killed outright is due to the fact that, he
succeeded in working his body out-___ rail. His left leg was ground off,
his head and neck were alarmingly lacerated, his right arm was ___ and his
hip injured. Upon the whole he was a badly hurt man. He was placed in
charge of a physician, we understand, and conveyed to Centralia, where he
lives. He was a steady young man, respected by all who knew him. It is
scarcely possible that he can recover.
The Golconda Herald
informs us that Mr. R. M. Ridenhower, Independent candidate for
member of the Constitutional Convention from Johnson county district, died
of hemorrhage of the lungs on the 28th of last month. Mr. Ridenhower,
an estimable citizen, respected by all his neighbors, was a gentleman of
very decided political opinions. He was one of the original Abolitionist of
Southern Illinois, and stood, for a time, solitary and alone in Johnson
County, advocating the principles of the Republican Party. When such men as
Major Kuykendall and General Logan were denouncing Democrats,
who thought the war should be prosecuted with vigor, as advocates of an
Abolition crusade against the right of the slaveholders, Mr. Ridenhower
was openly the champion of the doctrine that slavery should be overthrown
either by the operation of revolutionary laws or by the sword in the hands
of men determined to know no law but their desire that the disgrace of
slavery should be effaced from the soil of the Republic. After the war, in
which he beheld each of his cherished political doctrines develop into
consummation, Mr. Ridenhower was overslaughed, time and again, by men
like Kuykendall and Logan, who became converts to radicalism
when they became convinced that an advocacy of the principles of radicalism
would put money into their purses and elevate them into positions of honor
and responsibility. Sometime ago, he came to the conclusion that he would
tolerate the insolence of the eleventh-hour converts to republicanism no
longer, and announced himself as an independent candidate for the
Constitutional Convention. He would, no doubt, have been elected had he
lived. Of the three candidates in the field, he was the only one who had
any proper conception of the duties of a member of the Convention, and was,
although a Republican, a true friend of his own race. In his death,
therefore, the people of his district have sustained a deplorable loss; and
will untie with his relatives, who loved him, and his friends who respected
him, in lamenting his untimely "taking off."
Something over a month ago,
lawyer Butler
was called to Thebes, in this county, to defend a couple of negro men
against a criminal charge, preferred against them by a neighboring farmer by
the name of Hogan. It seems that negroes had cultivated a patch of
corn that was a favorite resort of an unruly horse, the property of Hogan.
The negroes drove the animal from their corn time and again, but as often as
it wanted a "good square meal" it returned. Finally the dusky
agriculturalists lost all patience. For the dozenth time they saw the
pestiferous visitor making sad havoc in their growing grain and concluded
they wouldn't stand it any longer. So sallying forth one of them with a
shot gun and the other with a butcher knife, they dispatched the
corn-devouring animal in short order, one of them putting a heavy charge of
shot in its carcass and the other cutting its throat. Of course Hogan
sued, and the negroes securing
Butler
to defend them, of course, they were acquitted. Did the matter rest here?
Not quite. A few days ago a resident of that locality visited; among other
things, he saw the dead body of one of the negroes. A mere glance showed
that the head had been perforated by a rifle ball. The other negro warned
by the fate of his partner, left the country, leaving household effects,
crop and everything else to take care of themselves. Where he has flown no
one knows. Considerable excitement prevails in the neighborhood, but as yet
no arrests have been made.
The friends of the late
Lawrence Byrne, will take notice that his funeral will take place
tomorrow (Sunday) at 1 o'clock p.m., from the residence of Mr. O'Callahan,
on Tenth Street. A special train will convey the remains to Villa Ridge for
burial. Mr. Byrne died on the line of the Cairo and Vincennes
Railroad, yesterday at 3 o'clock p.m.
The dead body of a man was
picked up in the Ohio River this morning, and brought to the shore near the
point. The body was dressed in the barb of a laboring man, and gave
evidence of having been in the water eight or ten days. The coroner was
called to hold an inquest, the result of which we have not learned.
At her residence in
Jonesboro, on Tuesday, 12th inst., of progressive paralysis, Mrs. India,
wife of the Rev. I. N. Albright, in the 34th year of her age. Mrs.
Albright was a woman of exemplary piety, a member of the M. E. Church
during a period of thirty years, loved by all who knew her. She had been
sick during a full year, suffering the while most intensely, but bearing the
infliction with patience and Christian fortitude.
The little steamer
Revolution for a long time run by Capt. David Hiner as Cairo and
Mound City packet, exploded at Mound City yesterday, instantly killing an
invalid lady lying in bed on the wharf boat, at which the ill-fated craft is
lying, and wounding more or less seriously five or six other persons. The
cause of the explosion is not stated.
On two occasions we made
enquiry through the columns of the Bulletin for the friends or
relatives of Laban S. Duncan. Last spring
Duncan
was carried from a steamboat to St. Mary's Infirmary, in a dying condition.
He lived but a short time after reaching the infirmary, leaving among other
things deeds to lands in Pope County, and several other papers of
considerable value. This morning Mr. C. S. Hamilton, of that county,
arrived in the city to look after the deceased's effects.
Duncan
had lived with
Hamilton's family
during a period of eight years, and when he left, confided his property to
Hamilton's
care. To this fact
Hamilton
can produce satisfactory evidence. The property consists of three bodies of
land in Pope County, notes of hand and, we believe, some town lots in
Shawneetown. The only known relative of
Duncan
is a sister who lives in Iowa.
John Crofton, who for years labored on the streets of our city, is dead. He was taken sick, on the line of the Cairo & Vincennes railroad, near Carmi, and died in that village on the 18th instant. He was well known in Cairo as an inoffensive, hard-working old man, quiet and steady, attending to his own affairs, and permitting others to attend to theirs. At the time of his death he was fifty-two years of age. He was the father of young Tom Crofton, whose name in an unenviable connection, has on previous occasion, appeared in these columns.
(John Craufton, born
about 1822 in Ireland, is in the 1860 census of Cairo, Alexander Co., Ill.
His son, Thomas Craufton, born about 1849 in New York, is listed in
his household.) The Paducah Kentuckian of the 26th learns that, on Monday last, two brothers, named Martin and John Johnson, living in Marshall County, Kentucky, were making a settlement, when a dispute arose over the trifling sum of ten cents, and this led to a fracas in which John was beaten to death with a chair. Martin made his escape.
From the Paducah
Kentuckian of the 26th we learn that the wife of a prominent doctor in
that county committed suicide very recently by hanging herself. On Saturday last, Mr. Ed. Machen, of Eddyville, reached the city, having in charge a young man whom he had arrested at Eddyville a day or two before charged with having committed a murder in Illinois sometime since. We believe that he has gone on with his prisoner to that state.
Mr. Machen was a
clerk on the steamer
Cumberland
at the time of its explosion, and the young murderer was one of the
passengers on the boat. Escaping unhurt and landing at Shawneetown, he was
there recognized and arrested and placed in jail. A few days after,
however, he managed to escape and made his way into Kentucky as far as
Eddyville, where he was recognized by Mr. Machen as the same man whom
he had seen in the hands of the officer at Shawneetown, and was promptly
rearrested.
When the Stonewall left
St. Louis on
Tuesday evening last for New Orleans, she carried out with her no less,
moderately estimated, than three hundred and twenty persons. Of these, fifty
were cabin passengers, including about fifteen ladies, and a small number of
children; one hundred and forty deck passengers (reckoned higher by some)
en route for Little Rock, where they were to engage as laborers on one
of the railroad enterprises now progressing in that section; and the crew,
including captain, clerks, pilots, engineers, cabin force, deck hands,
roustabouts, etc., numbering in the aggregate at least eighty. This estimate
is made by a surviving member of the crew, and is, we believe, from the
corroborating testimony of other survivors, a very fair one. The exact
numbers lost, and their identity, are, as in all similar cases, utterly
impossible to ever learn. No more than thirty-five of this number survive;
and of the fifteen ladies, all but three are missing. Of the eighty who
constituted the crew, but four are now alive; of the one hundred and forty
deck passenger, but twenty were saved; of the thirty or thirty-five male
cabin passengers, at least twenty-six or twenty-seven perished; of the
thirty-five who succeeded in reaching the bank, two died from intense cold
and exposure.
Wednesday evening was usually
cold and blustering for our October. A heavy frost had set in; and the large
number of deck passengers were huddled together in knots, in as close
proximity to the boilers as the engineers would permit. Supper was just over
as the boat entered that part of the river, resembling in many features, a
canyon, which extends from near
Grand Tower to
some distance below. Either side is lined with walls of rock, almost
perpendicular, rendering access to the banks in all places very difficult
and in some impossible. The peculiar formation of the bed and banks of the
river at that point materially increases the rapidity of the current and the
irregularity of its course is plainly marked at intervals of every few
hundred yards, bordering on the bank, by numerous powerful eddies. The land
contiguous to the river is not available for agricultural purposes, and is
sparsely settled, miles intervening between the houses of the few persons
who have settled there. The nearest house to the scene of disaster was
distant at least one mile and a half.
It was while making the passage
of this canyon, between seven and eight o'clock, that one of the deck
passengers discovered the loss of his valise. It had been removed from the
spot where he had left it. Beside all his clothes, he declared it contained
a considerable sum of money. By some means he procured a candle, and
lighting it, started out in the search of his missing property. Aft of the
boilers was stowed away a large quantity of baled hay. With fatal
carelessness he began his rummaging among the bales for his valise; and this
did not continue long before the hay became ignited, and cries of "Fire,!
Fire!" resounded everywhere throughout the boat.
The concentrated effort of the
passenger and crew to extinguish the fire availed nothing. In less than two
minutes, it had made such headway, that the uselessness of any further
effort to battle against it was apparent. Self preservation then was the
ruling motive of the hour. One of our informants describes the scene as
awfully terrible. The shrieks of the frightened and the moans and groans of
the suffering mingled with the cries of children and the blasphemy of men on
deck, the horses stampeded sought the flames, crushing and bruising all with
whom they came in contact, and giving utterance to their suffering and
distress in accents almost human. The spread of the fire prevented those on
deck who were aft from going forward and vice versa; companions
separated by the flames were yelling and shrieking one for another, while
the almost remarkable intrepidity was displayed by others in attempting to
save the baggage which contained the total of their worldly goods. In the
cabin, the scene beggared all description. The mind cannot imagine, much
less the pen describe what followed there. Humans carried their souls in
their countenances. Every feeling of horror, fear, pity, surprise, woe and
agony, were clearly depicted in their features, as if traced there by the
pencil of a master. There was nothing of the heroic about the whole affair.
As the detailed incidents will show, nature, stronger than any
consideration, forgot all ties, was deaf to all appeals, sunk everything in
a battle for its own existence. Women supplicated men and men beseeched each
other, in vain for help; and what is rare, even where the struggle is
greatest for self, mothers deserted their children. This fact alone, so
unnatural and fearful, serves to give an idea, under such circumstances, of
the strength of the ruling passion. These scenes were being enacted within
the few minutes which elapse from the cry of fire to that stage in the
conflagration when the existence of animal nature on the boat was
impossible. Of the number who perished in the flames, it is not possible to
estimate with any degree of accuracy. It is known however, that a large
number of the deck passengers, wounded by the stampeded horses, and in other
ways, never left the boat; and it is certain, that a number of the cabin
passengers, male as well as female, who had succumbed under the intense
excitement, and became oblivious of everything transpiring about them; were
also destroyed by the flames. Between inevitable destruction by fire, and
the forlorn hope which the cold waters of the
Mississippi
offered, there was no choice. Like rats deserting a sinking ship, they
leaped, and tumbled and fell into the river, from all parts of the boat, and
there the struggle for self continued. From a gentleman who was among the
last to desert the boat, and the first to reach the shore, about three
hundred yards distant, we learn the following incident.
He was on the boiler deck at
the time of the fire, and upon hearing the alarm; ascended to the hurricane
roof. He observed one of the pilots emerge from his state room, and jerking
a door from its hinges in the texas cabin, flung it into the river. The
pilot instantly followed. In a few minutes a steamboat captain, a guest of
Capt. Shaw's, also emerged from the texas, and seizing a ladder threw
it overboard. He also jumped into the river. In the meantime the flames had
made such fearful progress that it was no longer safe to remain on any part
of the boat, and our informant, unable to procure anything which would serve
as a preserver, divested himself of his boots and overdress, and plunged in.
Fortunately he reached a bale of hay, thrown over from the burning boat, and
succeeded in mounting it. By paddling and steering he managed to reach the
bank, some six hundred yards from the point where he jumped from the boat.
The moon had not yet risen, but the night was clear and starlit. Just a
short distance below him, was one of the numerous eddies referred to above.
The current ran directly to this eddy, within a few yards of the bank and
continuing, shot angularly from it toward the center of the river. He could
plainly discern the mass of struggling humanity, floating with the current
on bales of hay, plank stateroom doors, stanchions, and whatever else,
toward the eddy. Roughly calculated, he thinks there must have been no less
than one hundred persons floating about in this way. The eddy reached, they
were shot out with the current from near the bank to the center of the
river, and went down with their last hope. Not one of these who drifted to
the eddy were saved. Those who escaped the flames and sustained life while
in the freezing waters, were carried within sight of their haven only to be
forever deprived of touching it.
The details of this incident
are sickening. A mother, not yet advanced to middle age, and her two girl
children, aged respectively about eight and five, were cabin passengers,
en route for Cairo. They had no male escort. In the excitement which
followed the alarm of fire, the children who were romping about in the cabin
naturally, sought out their mother. She was frantic with fright. Her shrieks
could be hard distinctly above the tumult and din everywhere prevailing. She
rushed hither and thither, entreating first one and then another to save
herself and children. No one noticed her. When the desertion from the boat
was greatest the flames were enveloping everything on the boat, she rushed
with her children to the guards. There was no time for delay. The clinging
children were ruthlessly cast from her, and she sought safety for herself in
the river. The children perished in the flames. The mother never rose to the
surface of the water.
The fiercest struggles were
waged in the water for the possession of articles affording the least
protection to life; and even, after possession, the supremacy was contested
with that zeal and bitterness peculiar only to men attempting to battle
death. One notable instance is worth recording. For or five men were
struggling for the possession of a bale of hay. It was floating toward the
shore and onward in the eddy. The combatants could be plainly seen. The bale
was cleared of all contestants, save two. One of these raising himself
partially out of the water with one hand, reached forward with the other in
which he held a knife, and plunged it into the body of his opponent. The
wounded or murdered man fell back and sunk into the water. The assailant
drifted on the eddy and was seen no more.
Was that of an Italian lady,
aged at least seventy years. Her son and daughter-in-law were traveling with
her. She was left to take care of herself. She threw herself from the boat
and managed with some assistance, to gain a bale of hay that was floating
by. She reached the shore, and was lifted to the bank of the river, where
she remained in clothes, stiffened with frost, until morning. Younger and
stronger natures succumbed to the cold, but she still survives. Her
daughter-in-law was also saved.
In two hours from the ignition
of the hay, nothing remained to mar the scene of this unparalleled horror,
save the few survivors who were clustered together on the bank. In clothing,
saturated with water and gradually stiffening under a severe frost, and keen
and chilling blasts; in a wilderness, and to them a home nowhere; no fire
nor the materials to start one, their condition can be better imagined than
described. Yet in this awful plight they remained all night, and the wonder
is, that instead of but two perishing, any of their number survived. One of
the victims to exposure was a Texan, from
Galveston, on his way home. Papers indicating this much was found
on his person. He was a young man of fine physical frame, and was of all
others, judging by appearance, the best fitted by nature to endure such a
siege. The other was a strong, powerful Irishman. He reached the bank naked
and died about four o'clock Thursday morning.
Our informant says that the
wife of Capt. Shaw was reported as saved among the survivors, but the
most diligent inquiry on his part failed to establish this fact.
We might fill a page with
details of incidents as related to us. But we have not the time or space for
this issue. It is enough to say, however, that in all others as in those
mentioned everything was subordinated to the higher law of self
preservation. We would be pleased to be able to do record an act of self
abnegation amid all this. It would sparkle like a Kobineer in darkness. But
we look in vain.
About six of the thirty-two or
three who survived, were taken on board the City of
Memphis
and carried to St. Louis. A number of them reached this city last night on
the Olive Branch.
Is variously estimated at from
two hundred and seventy-five to three hundred. Of the crew, but four
escaped, the captain and clerks being numbered among the lost.
Mr. Henry Taylor,
late engineer of the steamer Anderson, a citizen and property holder
of Cairo, died in his berth, on board the steamer Dan Able, on the
Mound City Ways, yesterday morning or sometime during the preceding night.
He was at Mound City superintending the repairs of the Able, and
although his health had been impaired during a period of several months, no
one anticipated sudden termination of his existence. He retired Saturday
night, well as usual; on Sunday morning was found stark stiff, in his bed,
his face besmeared with blood, that had oozed from his nose and mouth. He
was lying perfectly upright and composed, the bed clothing pulled about his
neck in a manner that implicated that he died without a struggle. He leaves
a wife and child in this city, to whom the news of his death fell as great
and overwhelming grief. At 7 o'clock this morning George W. Hagey breathed his last, and entered upon the realities of that other world accessible only through the portals of the tombs. Although the community is sensibly shocked by the announcement of his death, the ad event was scarcely unexpected. He had for many days, even weeks, been lingering on the border of eternity—that fell destroyer. Consumption, meanwhile weakening the hold he had upon life. Yesterday morning he passed away calmly and without a struggle, as if he were composing himself for a sweet sleep. Mr. Hagey and a twin brother were born in Huntsville, Ala., on 22d day of February 1816, and was named George Washington Hagey, on the public square in Nashville, under a salute of common—his twin brother receiving the name of Thomas Jefferson at the same time, and place. His father, John Hagey, did gallant service as one of Gen. Lafayette’s bodyguard. When quite q young man Mr. H. located in Smithland, where he married and raised a large and intelligent family, ten of his children and his wife surviving him. In the year 1860 he formed a business copartnership with Capt. George D. Williamson which continued up to within about six or eight months of his death. In that relation, and as a citizen and a father he sustained a character entirely above reproach. Kind hearted and indulgent, consistent and affectionate as a husband and a father, his death will strike a deep and lasting sorrow to the hearts of his widow and children. May time speedily soften the pangs of the great grief that has overtaken them.
The remains will be buried
in Smithland, Kentucky, to which place they will be conveyed by the packet
tomorrow evening.
Tuesday, 2 Nov 1869:
Wednesday, 3 Nov 1869: Mr. Isaac Worthington, an old and respectable citizen of Pulaski County, residing at South Caledonia, was instantly killed on Thursday last, by a fall. He was the proprietor of a wood yard at the steamboat landing near his residence, and sold wood to steamboats, ranking it into flats for the convenience of such up bound boats that might wish to tow. On Thursday he was passing over the ranks of wood in his flat, and losing his footing was precipitated to the bottom of the wood boat, a distance of about eight feet. Ordinarily such a fall would be of small consequence; but Mr. Worthington striking on his head, his skull was bursted wide open, and is brains scattered in every direction about the spot where he struck. He was killed, of course, on the instant. We have known Mr. Worthington long and well. He was an honest, industrious citizen and a provident and indulgent husband and father. He was well known throughout Pulaski County and very generally respected. During the many years he devoted to hard labor, he constantly accumulated something above his current expenses, so that his family, which consisted of a wife and six or seven children, are secured against want. At the time of his death, Mr. W. was about fifty years of age.
(Isaac Worthington,
born about 1818 in Ohio, is in the 1860 census of Township 15, range 1 east,
Pulaski Co., Ill. His in the 1850 census of Northern District, Jackson Co.,
Ill.) A few days ago while Mr. John R. Snell and Mr. James Biddle were hunting hickory nuts on the road leading from Blandville to Milburn, on Mayfield Creek, they came across the dead body of a young man, the cause of whose death was seen in a bullet hole in the head and another through the chest. Writing to the Paducah Herald, Mr. Biddle says that the body was dressed in a gray suit of cassimere, and from papers found in his pockets he was led to believe that deceased name was Polk Gillespie; that he was a book agent and had been traveling for a publishing house in Cincinnati. His complexion was fair, hair light, his height about five feet 8 inches, and age 21 years. The papers found in his possession, and a small ambrotype, the likeness of a young lady, were forwarded to Col. John C. Noble, of Paducah. The body was buried by Messrs. Biddle and Snell where it was found.
It is altogether probable
that the young man was murdered by one or more of the prowling outlaws that
are known to infest that region of country—the object being money. The case
is one that calls for diligent inquiry, and as it is probable that the
deceased had friends or relatives in Cincinnati, the papers of that city may
serve the ends of justice by copying this article.
Nothing's lost! The drop of
dew that trembles on the leaf or flower is but exhaled to fall anew in
summer's shower. The spirit that has flown away, will give perennial bloom,
in fairer, happier, holier day. A few days ago, on the authority of the Paducah Herald, we published the particulars of the finding of the body of one Polk Gillespie, shot through the head and heart, near Blandville, Ky. The body was found—so stated—by Messrs. Biddle and Snell, and buried where found. The murder was charged to the "desperadoes that are known to infest that portion of Kentucky." A Blandville correspondent of the Herald, writing under date of the 20th inst., discredits the whole story, and gives very good reasons "for the faith that is in him." We thought it very strange, at the time of republishing the particulars, that Messrs. Snell and Biddle should bury the body of a man who had clearly been foully dealt with, without first informing the authorities. Blandville, the county seat of Ballard County, was only a mile and a half distant, yet not one word of the finding was communicated to a single citizen of that place not to anybody else, living in the neighborhood. Furthermore, no such men as Snell and Biddle reside in the county. Notwithstanding this showing a man by the name of Polk Gillespie has mysteriously disappeared, and extended inquiry has failed to elicit any clue as to his whereabouts. A Paducah detective started on a search for the missing man on Monday and may, in time, unravel the mystery. It would be well for him to take Messrs. Snell & Biddle in charge, if he happens to come across them, for if Gillespie has been foully dealt with, they know more about the matter than they communicated in their letter to the Herald. The assertion that desperadoes are known to infest Ballard County, and prey upon the people, is simply untrue. The citizens there is as secure in the possession of this property and as exempt from violence as the citizen of any part of Illinois.
We shall wait with some
anxiety, further developments.
Another scene of blood to
blacken the history of Southeast Missouri has just been enacted. A Cape
Girardeau paper, says that on Friday last, a man by the name of Vaughn
was shot dead in his tracks in Sikeston by one Dr. Shumate, a
merchant. The facts are detailed thus: A son of Mr. Vaughn has sold
to the Doctor a load of corn. A dispute arose in reference hereto, and
young Vaughn returned home in anger and informed his father of what
had passed. The old man at once waited upon Doctor Shumate, and
commenced belaboring him with a handsaw, which he held in his hand, aiming
blows at the Doctor’s head, which would have cleft him to the brain
probably, had they not been warded off. The Doctor avoided his assailant’s
blows as best he could until he secured his revolver, when, taking aim at a
vital part, fired. Vaughn fell to the floor and expired almost
instantly. Previous to this difficulty, the parties had lived on friendly
terms, and the neighborhood was not a little shocked when the particulars of
the fatal rencounter became known. What legal steps were taken in the
premises we have not been advised. If the particulars as above set forth
are correct, the affair is clearly a case of justifiable homicide. Some weeks ago we referred to the finding of a large lot of private letters addressed to J. S. Saxton, under circumstances that induced the belief that Mr. S. had committed suicide. It was subsequently ascertained that Mr. S. was in Leavenworth city; and his career in that city, we propose to speak.
For some time after his
arrival in Leavenworth he demeaned himself in a manner that won general
respect and confidence. Extending his acquaintance he finally numbered
among his companions a young Englishman who was receiving from home a
monthly remittance of $160. With this young man Saxton soon
commenced a round of dissipation, and finally abandoning business gave
himself up entirely to drink. During a period of three months the two drank
steadily and to great excess, spending the last ten days indoors, refusing
all food, and subsisting entirely on liquor. The police, believing that the
young men deliberately proposed self-destruction, broke in upon the revels
(they always kept their door locked) and taking them both under arrest and
conveyed them to the calaboose. The ensuing night the Englishman died in
prison in a fit of mania potu. Saxton was snatched, as it
were, from the very haws of death, but, as time proved, to a very poor
purpose. Leaving the bed into which his dissipation had prostrated him, he
returned to his cups, and, unfit for positions of honor and trust, he
accepted the charge of a bar room in a house of ill fame. Even this
degraded place he could not hold, and now we hear of him as an outcast from
the respectable circles in which he once moved, a hanger on about a freight
depot on the Missouri side of the river, where, for such off jobs as he can
turn his trembling hands to, he received his food and grog! Such we are
told, is J. S. Saxton, only a short time ago a respected and
respectable resident of Cairo—a young man whose future then, seemed full of
promise.
Mrs. Villmore, a
middle-aged woman, evidently in indigent circumstances, called on us this
morning in a hunt after her missing husband. She last resided with him at a
point twelve miles from Pine Bluff, Arkansas. On the 16th day of last
October, Mr. Villmore (whose given name is Albert alias Joseph, for
short) started for Pine Bluff in company with two young men of the
neighborhood, alleging a purpose to attend church. Since that time he has
not been seen, and Mrs. V.'s most diligent and anxious inquires have
failed to elicit any information whatever that points with certainty to his
fate of whereabouts. One of the young men told Mrs. V.'s negro cook
that Villmore was dead, and enjoined secrecy upon her. Upon this
testimony Mrs. V. tried to effect the arrest of the young men for the
murder of her husband, but the authorities advising her that she would be
called upon to prove that her husband had actually been killed before she
could punish anybody for killing him, she abandoned the idea of such a
prosecution, and started out on a tour of inquiry. She has traveled many
hundred miles, most of the time under circumstances well calculated to
unnerve the stoutest heart and palsy the most resolute will. She has just
returned from Assumption in this state, where at one time, Mr. Villmore
lived; but he had not been there, and his acquaintances knew nothing of his
whereabouts. The probabilities are very strong that the two young men who
accompanied him from his home to Pine Bluff, made way with him; and that the
assurance one of them gave the negro cook, that Mrs. V. would never
see her husband again, is entitled to full credence.
(Matthew D. Gunter
married Martha Ann Fort on 16 Nov 1857, in Audrain Co., Mo. He was
married again to Eliza R. Billings on 25 May 1871, in Alexander Co.,
Ill.) The death of Judge Hunter, of Memphis, was announced several days ago. Of what he was to Memphis, where he resided since the war, we no not choose to speak. He is dead. Let a memory of his faults be buried with him. To the hundred with whom he became acquainted in Cairo and Southern Illinois, he manifested himself as a good hearted uncalculating sort of a genius, unstimulated by ambition, and taking things as they "turned up" with the composure of a perfect philosopher. He was a lawyer, a mechanic, a musician and a schoolteacher, but like all "Jacks of all trades" excelled in nothing. At one time he was entrusted with the management of more cases in the Pulaski Circuit Court, than all the balance of the attorneys practicing at that bar. To this fact perhaps, he might have ascribed his failure in the practice of law, as it imposed upon him more duties than he could properly attend to. In the winter of 1860 he located in Cairo, where he continued the practice of law, and blowed a Bb soprano horn in the Cairo brass band. He became a favorite with the band boys, being a fine social turn, ever ready for a "lark" and like the balance, a most devoted lover of music. We never thought Hunter a bad hearted man, and the necessity had to be dire indeed that would drive him the commission of a mean and belittling act. What changes in his character his Memphis experience may have worked we do not know. He was denounced as a petty tyrant, yet when he ran for one of the most lucrative and responsible offices under the city government, it was only by the most prodigious efforts and lavish expenditure of money, his opponent could encompass his defeat. But he is gone. Good rest, and farewell to him.
(William Hunter, an
attorney, born about 1817 in Ireland, an attorney, is listed in the 1860
census of Cairo, Alexander Co., Ill., with his wife, Mary A. Hunter,
and two sons, Harry Hunter and Willie Hunter.)
About 4 o'clock this morning
coroner Corcoran was called upon to hold an inquest over the body of
a man lying dead in the passenger depot of the Illinois Central Railroad.
Organizing a jury, of which Mr. J. D. Barrett was made foreman, the
coroner proceeded to the inquiry. From the evidence it appears that the
name of the deceased is J. M. May. He had arrived on the transit
steamer Hammitt only a few minutes before, and reaching the platform
of the depot was seized by a violent hemorrhage of the lungs, of which he
died almost immediately. About this person was found a letter written by
Dr. Jarrell, of Dyer Station, Tennessee, and addressed to Dr.
Vanmeter, Charleston, Illinois. The letter commended deceased to the
kind offices of Dr. Vanmeter, stated that he had been treated two
years for a lung disease—tuberculosis we believe—that he was a poor, but
deserving man, and the father of a very destitute family. He had a railroad
ticket for Mattoon, and was, manifestly, on his way to Charleston, to submit
himself to the treatment of Dr. Vanmeter. He had $3.65 and a carpet
sack containing a plain pair of homemade pantaloons and a white shirt, with
him, all of which was taken in charge by the coroner. The verdict of the
jury was in consonance with the above facts. The body was disposed of at
the expense of the county. Mrs. Martha Ann, wife of Mr. M. D. Gunter, died at her residence in Goose Island in this county on the 27th of November. In the death of this estimable lady the neighborhood sustained a loss that will long be felt, and the devoted husband a bereavement that will throw a shadow over all his future life. As a mother she was kind, indulgent and affectionate; as a wife she was truly a helpmate, nerving the heart and strengthening the arm of her husband to successful wage his battle of life, cheering him in moments of despondency, and sharing with him his toils and his cares, as well as his joys and triumphs; and as a member of society she exhibited those traits of character that endeared her to all, the old, the young, the rich, the poor alike. In the entire circle in which she moved there was none to speak ill of her. On the contrary, all knew her but to love her for those qualities of head and heart that rendered her a Christian woman. To the afflicted husband we offer our sincere condolence and hope that time may soon lessen the great load of grief that is now weighing him down.
Mr. George W. Hagey
and Henry Taylor, both deceased, belonged to the same Masonic lodge,
effected life insurance in the same company, died upon the same day; their
bodies were taken in charge by the same lodge of sorrow, were conveyed to
Smithland, Kentucky, on the same boat; were interred in the same cemetery,
on the same day, and left families in the same city—Cairo. These facts form
a train of coincidences that strike us as quite remarkable.
The friends and acquaintances of the late E. Hayward, are respectfully invited to attend his funeral, in the parlor of the St. Charles Hotel at 9 ½ a.m. tomorrow (Friday). A special train will leave the Hotel for Villa Ridge at 10 o'clock. The funeral services will be conducted by the Rev. C. H. Foote. The friends of the deceased are invited to attend the burial. Free seats in the train will be provided for all who wish to attend.
(This is probably the same
man as is listed in the 1860 census of Cairo, Alexander Co., Ill., as Edward
Haywood, born about 1836 in New York.)
(Paul Allen married Elizabeth Welden on
31 Dec 1854, in Alexander Co.,
Ill. The daughter is probably Juliet R. Allen, who,
according to the 1860 census of Cairo, Alexander Co.,
Ill., was born about 1857 in
Illinois.)
We have the details of a very painful and shocking death that
occurred Tuesday night, on
Ninth Street. A child, two or
three years of age, had passed the most trying period in an attack of
measles, the disease having fully developed itself all over the face and
body. The severely cold weather set in, the family was ill supplied with
bedding and fuel, and was unable therefore to preserve that warmth in the
body of the child that was necessary in the successful treatment of its
disease. The result was the “measles were driven,” and when the morning
dawned the little creature had passed through all the horrible agonies of
death by suffocation. The father, being entirely destitute, was on the
streets today begging money wherewith to bury the body.
In this city, at
1 o'clock this p.m. Mr. James
Van Voorbies. The funeral services will take place at half past 1
o'clock p.m., tomorrow (Friday) at the residence of Mrs. Redman,
corner 7th and Washington, from whence the remains will be removed to Villa
Ridge for burial. Friends and acquaintances of deceased are invited to
attend the funeral.
We have daily proof of the truth of the adage, "one half of the world has not just conception of how the other half lives." Our peculiar relations with the public subject us to more tales of suffering and destitution than we could find space to repeat, should we devote our columns to no other use. We have noted down, for the eyes of the reader, a few of the stories of misfortune and want that have been repeated in our hearing since the commencement of the present week. First, is that of a sallow-faced, ragged, sickly, married man. Has three children; all of them down with the measles; he was unable to work, had no money, and absolutely feared starvation. Secondly, is that of a man about fifty years of age; lives in Hamilton County, Ohio; everything he had was swept away by the war, he being a resident of Virginia during that interval of "unpleasantness." He had just returned from Missouri, where he hoped to collect a debt due him, but was disappointed; had just recovered from a protracted spell of sickness; was penniless; almost naked, weary in body and distressed in mind. He shed tears copiously, and avowed, with an alarming earnestness, a purpose to end his miseries by blowing his brains out. The third applicant was an infirm, old man from Tennessee. His son, with whom he had been living, and his son's wife, had driven him from their home; had maltreated him, even to the infliction of blows. Firmly believing that they entertained designs upon his life, he was begging his way to Ironton, Mo., where he has a daughter, whom he hoped would furnish him food and shelter for the brief interval yet allotted to him. He has been three weeks on the way, sleeping in barns and out houses and subsisting on such morsels as he could be from families on his route. A young but married man had been brought to want by sickness. His wife and children had, for many weeks, been prostrate; he had not a cent wherewith to buy medicine and nourishment for them, nor could he leave them while he worked for money. One of his children was lying a corpse in his house, and he could not bury it for want of means. He was discouraged, grief-stricken, and as miserable generally as want and sorrow could make him. A young printer, ragged and dirty, landed in Cairo penniless. He had been drunk, and while in that condition a deck hand fell upon him and beat him severely, bruising and lacerating his face, smashing his nose, and almost closing both eyes. In such a condition he could secure admission into no boarding house in town, and he was promptly driven even from the saloons into which he entered to warm and rest. He had asked for food and money, and in every single instance had been refused and generally denounced as a "worthless, drunken vagabond." He had not tasted food for more than sixty hours, during Tuesday night slept, or rather stayed, in the entrance of one of our sewers. His bruised and blackened face had closed all hearts as well as all doors against him, and when we saw him he was "more dead than alive." The sixth case of destitution was that of a cadaverous, poorly dressed country girl, from Dunklin County, Missouri. Her father had been killed by the bushwhackers; her mother by the fall of a tree during a storm. She had been an invalid during her entire womanhood, and at intervals of months was unable to leave her bed. Her brother and his wife, with whom she had lived since the death of her mother, treated her with great cruelty and although penniless, she was making her way to Stephensport, Ky., where she expected to find an uncle who would take care of her. She had nothing to live for, she said, and would welcome death as a happy termination of her miseries.
The seventh and last individual to whom we shall refer, carried
under his arm a small, a very small, plain poplar coffin. He occupies one of
the many huts that environ our city, and was, in appearance, but a short
remove from a skeleton. His wife had died but recently, leaving in his
charge an infant only two months old. He himself had just recovered from a
severe attack of bilious fever, in time to put away with its mother, the
little child, which he felt had died of cold, starvation, and neglect. He
had no means when he was taken sick, and but for the kindness of negro
neighbors, would have died. He expected to bury the child with his own
hands, and didn't care how soon he took his place beside it. And here,
without repeating half the tales of misery and wretchedness detailed to us,
within, the interval mentioned, we close hoping that the Christmas upon the
eve of which we write, may being a God's blessing to these poor, and the
poor everywhere.
After a somewhat protracted illness, Mrs. John Myers died
on Saturday evening last at
9 o'clock. She and her husband
were numbered among the oldest residents of the city, having located here
before a single house of the two or three thousand that now form the city
was erected. She was an exemplary wife and mother, ready in the discharge of
all her duties as such; and a valuable member of the circle in which she
moved. The funeral services were held at the residence of the deceased at 9
o'clock this morning the Rev. Mr. Foote officiating. At 10 o'clock
the remains were conveyed to the depot and from thence were conveyed to
Villa Ridge for burial.
A laborer named Pat Collins, arrived in
Paducah Friday evening, from Wingo Station, on the
Paducah and Gulf Railroad,
where for some time he had been laboring. It was his purpose to take the
first boat for New Orleans that he might, in some of the infirmaries there,
have his eyes treated. From the Kentuckian of yesterday, we learn
that on Saturday evening the poor man was found lying dead in the streets
near the post office, his head having been split open with an axe or
hatchet. And all this for the $10 or $15 the half-blind man had about his
person! Horrible! Suspicion fell upon a negro named George Jackson.
After a twenty-mile chase this negro was arrested, and is now in
confinement. The arrest was effected by Marshal Wilcox, who, by the
way, is one of the most active police officers and efficient detectives in
this part of the Mississippi Valley.
Thursday, 30 Dec 1869: A
STABBING AFFAIR. Yesterday afternoon while John Lacey, a white man, and several negroes were working in the hold of the steamer Continental an altercation arose, which led to a fight and the serious if not fatal injury of one of the negroes. Lacy 's version of the affair is this: that while pursuing their work one of the negroes took occasion to tell him that he "was no account and ought to be knocked in the head and flung overboard." Lacey replied rather tartly, when three or four of the negroes rushed upon and commenced beating him. Having a heavy, dirk-blade pocketknife about his person, he drew it, and the negroes pursuing their attack, he defended himself as best he could. In doing so he stabbed one of the negroes six or seven times, inflicting serious wounds upon the arms and back. Lacey then dropped his knife and walked out in to town, where in the course of an hour or two, policeman Patrick O'Callihan overhauled him and conducted him to the calaboose. The wounded negro was conveyed to the hospital, where he now lies in a very critical condition, Lacey is in the county jail where he will await the action of the grand jury, to convene on the third Monday of next January.
On Thursday,
December 27, 1869, Michael Edward, infant son of M. E. and Ellen Powers,
aged two months. Funeral leaves Stone Depot, at one o'clock tomorrow
(Saturday) January 1, 1870. Procession will leave the house at half past
twelve. Many of our readers will call to mind the colored man named William Hamilton, who during the summer and fall assisted Mr. McHale in the management of the calaboose. He was an industrious and entirely trustworthy colored man, and for that reason was employed by Messrs. Rearden and Carroll to assist in the performance of a timber contract, concluded by Col. Rearden with certain up river bridge builders. On Christmas Eve Hamilton left his work, near Unity, intending to hunt his way into town, for that purpose borrowing Col. Rearden's shotgun. When within six to eight miles of the city, he caught his foot in such a manner as to cause him to fall violently to the ground. By some means, which we are unable to explain, the muzzle of the gun was thrown against his abdomen and the entire contents of one of the barrels lodged therein, inflicting a terrible and mortal wound. Word of the accident reaching Col. Rearden and he procured a team and caused the wounded man's removal to the hospital, where he lingered in great agony until last night when death relieved him. |
