Logan County, Illinois - Chapter 14: Dark Deeds, 1886

Chapter 14: Dark Deeds

Murder at Middletown. - Suioide and Attempted Wife-Muedee. - Mysterious Murder in 1870. - A Farmer Clubbed to Death. - Murder near Cornland. - Suicide in a Park. - Killing of Harry Talbott. - Suicide at Lincoln. - Attempted Murder and Successful Suicide. - The Clare-Connors Muedee. - A Fatal Blast. - Suicide of Ben Frank. - Shot Himself. - A Medical Student's End. - Triple Murder. - A Prominent Farmer Suicides. - The Carpenter Case.

Logan Coanty has had more than its share of tragedy, and perhaps of other crime. From first to last there have been in the county not less than thirty murders, and more than that number of suicides. Three or four of .these have been of more than local importance, and gave the county for the time an unenviable notoriety. The reason for the numerous crimes that have occurred here can not be found in the character of the people, who are as law-abiding, sensible citizens as the average in Illinois. Certain it is, the citizens and authorities have shown greater diligence and been to greater expense for the suppression and punishment of crime than many localities can claim. Perhaps it is only for this reason that Logan County is as prominent as it is in the history of crime.

We do not propose to oifer anything like a complete catalogue, but .on the following pages outline a few of the best remembered cases of violence.

Murder At Middletown

A man who worked in Lincoln at the shoemaker's trade in the autumn of 1859, and who was known as John Renner, shot and instantly killed James Rockforu, an Irishman, in a grocery at Middletown, a little before sundown on Monday, February 13, 1860. The murderer took to the timber immediiitely, acknowledging the homicide, but claiming that it was done in self defense. Pursuit was (398)

Sdioide And Attempted Wife Murder

In February, 1870, the orderly people of Logan County were startled with the news that on Friday, the 18th, John L. Phipps, a well-known farmer residing on what was known as the Geer farm, some six miles west of Lincoln, had attempted to murder his wife and then committed suicide. In October previous, Mr. Phipps married Miss Kate Buckles, daughter of John Buckles, of Lake Fork. During their brief married life their matrimonial relations were not of the most pleasant character. His conduct toward her had always been characterized by brutality, and it was proven before the coroner's jury that he had treated her more like a servant than as the wife of his bosom. A temporary parting had taken place between the parties, and only on Tuesday before the tragedy he had gone to the house of her father, sought her to return with him and gave his word and honor to her father that he would tr^at her in a manner befitting a husband. With these promises she returned with him to his home, accompanied by her mother, there in a short time to almost meet a terrible death.

In the evening on which the tragedy occurred, he had broken his promise of good behavior and had offered her gross insults. Unable to bear it longer, she had reluctantly consented to separate from him again, and only waited for morning, when he promised to return her to her father. Mrs. Buckles, the mother of the unfortunate woman, was the principal witness before the coroner's jury, and although prostrated as she was from sickness and fright, yet she testified intelligently in regard to the horrible affair. She stated that before the crime was committed, a conversation took place between the suicide and his intended victim. He asked her to accompany him to an adjoining sleeping-room, where he wanted to talk to her. The mother, fearing his intentions, asked him to remain in the room and they would review the whole case. He objected to this, however, and insisted on having his wife accompany him to the fatal room. No sooner had the door closed on her retreating form than she heard the report of a pistol, followed immediately by a second shot. Mrs. Buckles ran out of the house, gave the alarm to an employe on the farm, and he went to the neighbors for assistance. At first there was some hesitancy on

Under the lead of Samuel Seeley they entered the house and found the body of Mrs. Phipps lying on the floor in the kitchen, to which place she had crawled after receiving the terrible wound. Proceeding to the room where the shooting was done, they found the body of Mr. Phipps lying in a pool of his own blood, and nearly, if not quite, dead. The ball had penetrated his head near the temple and had passed entirely through the brain. A smothered groan from Mrs. Phipps attracted their attention, and on examination it was found that she was still breathing. She was tenderly cared for, and was gradually brought back to health and strength.

The body of the suicide was brought to Lincoln and the funeral held on the Sunday following. Mr. Phipps was a man of morbid temperament, excessively mercenary, and entertained a fixed idea that there existed no such thing as female virtue. After settling down to the business of life, instead of honoring her who had left her home and parents to share with him his sorrows and joys, he let the " green-eyed monster " of jealousy take undisputed control of his reason, and construed every act of hers into some horrid shape, until at last it impelled him to set a watch over his own household. That he had intended to murder her was clearly proven from the fact that several weeks before the end he had pointed a shotgun at her, and only failed of carrying his purpose into execution by a quick movement on her part in escaping from its range. Then he told her he was only jesting. Wednesday before the tragedy he was in Lincoln, and purchased the revolver with which he perpetrated the awful crime. Murder was then in his heart, and he was every whit as guilty as though he had succeeded.

Mysterious Muedke

On Sunday, November 13, 1870, the body of a woman was found under a log in Salt Creek, a short distance above the Chicago &. Alton bridge. The inquest showed that she had been murdered and afterward put in the creek for concealment. The remains were kept at the office of Undertaker Evans for several days, and great efforts were made to learn who the woman was, but without avail. She was roughly dressed, and it was thought she was one of a party of tramps who had been in the vicinity a few days before. As no person could recognize the remains, and no one was missing from the county, it was clear that the woman was a stranger. The county offered a reward of $800 for the arrest and conviction of the murderer, but there was no clue to work upon and no discoveries were made.

Afaemee Clubbed To Death

On the evening of Sunday, August 15, 1875, Timothy Murphy, an Irishman renting a farm a mile and a half east of Oornland, in this county, while driving some cattle out of his field, was beaten with a club so terribly that his skull was fractured, and he died an hour or so afterward. Murphy's own statement and the circumstantial evidence elicited at the inquest indicated that while driving the cattle out he met his neighbor, Martin L. Turley, between whom and himself an old grudge existed, and that a quarrel followed, in the course of which Turley knocked liim off his horse with a club, and subsequently struck him over the head with the same weapon, inflicting a fatal wound. Both men had borne a good character, and the murder created intense excitement in that portion ot the county. There had been a feud between the parties. Turley was tried in January following and acquitted.

Muedee Near Coenland

A cold-blooded and atrocious murder occurred on Sunday evening, November 14, 1875, near Doyle's Mill, a locality in Mt. Pulaski Township, about three miles northeast of Cornland. John Daily and Frank Fletcher were farm laborers and single men. Both were formerly from Kentucky, both were drinking men and neither bore a good character. It was rumored that there was a woman in the case, and that the difficulty arose from jealousy, but whether this was true or not, the two men met in the road on Saturday, the 13th, and had a fierce quarrel. Fletcher the same day threatened to kill Daily, and the next day repeated his threats, aud, seeing his enemy pass down the road, borrowed a gun and awaited his return. As Daily rode by, Fletcher stepped from behind a tree and shot him at such short range as to set his clothing on fire. Daily survived until midnight, and before his death stated that Fletcher had shot him. Fletcher, on returning from his murderous errand, openly boasted of what he had done. No immediate attempt was made to arrest him, and he fled the country the same evening. Neither of the men had any property, nor, it is believed, any relatives in this county. The coroner's jury de- cided that the shot was premeditated by Fletcher, and a pursuit was then instituted, but in vain. He was finally discovered in Kentucky, by means of a letter written to an acquaintance here; was brought back, tried in Sangamon County by change of venue, and acquitted, the I'ury deciding that the shooting was in self-defense.

Suicide In A Pake

Tuesday night, April 2, 1878, between the hours of nine and ten, some of the boarders at the house of Mrs. Thompson, near the south park, in Lincoln, heard the report of a pistol, but the shot attracted little attention. Early the next morning the body of Frederick Neuman was discovered by early passers-by in the south park, near the northwest corner. The dead man was seated in an easy position, at the foot of a small elm, and at a little distance a careless observer would have thought him asleep. His head drooped a little to the left, one foot was thrown across the other negligently, . and his right arm rested easily across his lap. Still grasped in his right hand was a small silver-plated pistol, while on the right side of his head, above the ear, was an ominous hole from which a little stream of blood had marked its way down his neck. Death must have been instantaneous, for the slight droop of his head was evidently the only change of position that had followed the fatal shot. Neuman was a German, a bachelor, thirty-eight years of age. He was a native of Bavaria, whence he emigrated to the United States when about twelve years of age. He had lived in Lincoln about eleven years, was a cigar-maker and had worked several years for Messrs. Scheid & E.ethaber. For some years he had been in the habit of indulging in strong drink, and he would occasionally go on a spree of several days' duration. When sober, he was a very good man and he could have had work all the time at good wages if he would but have remained so; but being untrustworthy on account of his bad propensities, he had been discharged a number of months before by Scheid & Rethaber, and afterward found it difficult to obtain work. Sometime in February he received $109 from Germany, but the money was soon spe'nt for liquor. He was usually very despondent after indulging in a spree, and had often threatened to kill himself, but no one thought he would carry out his threat. Some letters written from a neighboring village showed that a woman was mixed up in the affair. Among other things, she told him repeatedly in these letters that he must quit drinking or she would have nothing more to do with him. These may have done their part in producing the melancholy state of mind which always followed his harder drinking bouts. A memorandum on the back of an envelope found in his pocket began thus: "If I cannot live like a man, I can at least die like one."

Killing Of Haert Talbott

Shepard S. Bell shot J. Harry Talbott a little before noon, Jan. 1, 1&79. The latter had rented the farm of the former, near Burton View, in 1878, and owing to sume misunderstanding the parties became involved in a lawsuit. This engendered bad feeling, and in attempting to make a settlement in the office of Boyd, Paisley & Co.'s shoe store on the day of the shooting, it seems that a quarrel arose. No one was in that part of the store at the commencement of the trouble, save the shoemaker and the two men themselves; but Mr. Paisley, on stepping in, observed Mr. Talbott standing by the stove and saw that Mr. Bell, still inside the office railing, had a revolver in his hand. Mr. Paisley asked what he was doing with the pistol, and was informed that he (Bell) intended to defend himself. Mr. Paisley and Mr. Boyd, who soon came in, endeavored to prevail upon him to put away the weapon, promising that he should not be harmed, and Mr. Talbott also siid that he would not trouble him. Bell at last came out from behind the railing, but still refused to put away the revolver. Finally Talbott said, "If yon don't put away your pistol, I will take it from you." Bell dared him to do it, when Talbott sprang forward and caught him around the body. Bell then fired a shot which took effect in the right shoulder, ranging downward, and before Mr. Paisley could prevent him, he fired two more, the last one missing the intended victim and striking the floor, but the other ball entered Talbott's body just under the ribs on the left side, about four inches from the median line of the stomach. Messrs. Boyd and Paisley took tlie pistol from him. Bell then walked out on the street, where he was arrested by Constable Hukill.

Drs. Sargent and Little were called in and probed Talbott's wounds for the balls, but without finding them. He was then removed to the Lincoln House. The ball in his shoulder was subsequently extracted, but the other could not be found, and he soon began vomiting blood. He died the following morning, after making a will and a sworn statement of the circumstances of the shooting.

Bell had purchased the pistol but a half an hour before the shooting, and just after having some warm words with Talbott on the street. It is evident that murder was in his heart, and that he was guilty of a heinous crime. He set up the plea of self-defense, however. At the May term of court, the case was continued to September. Then a change of von ne was taken to McLean County, where he had a long and expensive trial in March, 1880. He was defended by able legal talent from Lincoln, and also Chicago. When the jury went out, they deliberated three days, and then returned a formal disagreement into court. A part of the jury were in favor of a long term of imprisonment, and a part, influenced by the evidence adduced on the plea of self-defense, voted for one year's imprisonment. Bell's final trial was in Sangamon County, where he was acquitted. He was last heard of in Dakota. While in Lincoln he studied law for about a year with Harts & James. He had taught school for some time in the county. He bore a good general reputation, but was extremely passionate and vindictive. He was about thirty-five years of age. Talbott was well and favorably known, and was highly connected with respectable families in this county.

Suicide At Lincoln

A German named Joseph Koomer, residing in the southern part of Lincoln, shot himself with a shot gun on the night succeeding Thursday, March 6, 1879. He was a bachelor, about forty years of age, and lived alone. He cultivated a vineyard, being a vinedresser by occupation. Although he was in debt for his property to the amount of about $400, bis services were in good demand, and he always received good wages, so that his indebtedness need not have troubled him had it not been for his drinking constantly and sometimes deeply. His friends said there was no doubt that strong drink had unsettled his mind and that it was the direct cause of his self annihilation.

Attempted Muedek And Successful Suicide

Charles Herbeck, a German in the employ of H. L. Pierce for two years or more at a farm near Rocky Ford, southwest of Lincoln, shot his wife on Tuesday, March 11, 1879, and shortly afterward killed himself. They had not been living amicably together for some time and Herbeck had threatened before to kill his wife. About two weeks before the end, he left her and came to Lincoln, where he remained until the day mentioned. He then hired a team and driver at Klatt's stable, and went out to his home. Here he had the driver, Henry Kirby, put up his team, saying that he would return to Lincoln pretty soon, and meantime they would have dinner. As Kirbj was on his way to the house, after putting up his team, he heard a shot fired, and directly afterward. Mrs. Herbeckran out at the door, saying she was shot. A man employed on the farm helped her to the house of a neighbor, Peter Critz. A few moments after she left, Kirby saw Herbeck come to the door, look around as if in search of his wife, and then go back. He came out again, and in reply to a question by Kirby, said he did not want to go back to town. Kirby took his horses from the stable and went for some of the neighbors. Others, including H. L. Pierce, had been aroused by some boys who had heard of the shooting, and were soon looking for Herbeck. They found him in the stable with the door fastened on the inside. While Mr. Pierce was trying the door, a shot was heard inside, and when an entrance was gained Herbeck was found dead in the hay-loft with a pistol ball in his head ; he had shot himself in the left eye.

Herbeck was from St. Louis, where he belonged to a German lodge of Odd Fellows. He was strongly under the influence of liquor when he did the shooting. The cause of the tragedy was said to be jealousy. The woman was ironing at a table when shot, and was stooping over her work when her husband fired the pistol The ball struck her in the back about three inches below the shoulder-blade and about an inch and a half to the left of the spine, and passed entirely through her body, coming out at the point of the breast-bone ; it was thought to have passed under and within an inch of the heart. She was for a time not expected to live, but did recover, to the surprise of all.

Lincoln was the scene of an unprovoked murder on Friday, No vember 19, 1880. John Clare, a coal miner, well along in years, the father of a family of grown children, and Daniel Connors, a young man, also a coal miner, and an old friend of Clare, entered the house of John Daly, on German street, in the Third Ward, apparently on the best of terms; and after sitting and conversing together for a short time, Clare drew a revolver and shot Connor. 'No one was in the room up to almost the instant of shooting, and the particulars or causes leading to the crime were never learned. The matter remains one of the unsolved mysteries. Clare's trial was postponed from time to time, and did not take place until September, 1881. He was then found guilty and sentenced to fifteen j'ears in the penitentiary. His defense was that of insanity.

A Fatal Blast

A number of casualties have occurred in the Lincoln coal mines, but one of the saddest occurred December 4, 1880 ; Marcus Lindsey went down into the mine at half-past four on that morning, and put in a blast which was tired at twenty minutes past six, and which caused his death. In mining coal, rooms are opened at right angles to the entries, or should be, but Lindsey had not noticed, it seems, what direction he was taking and had turned his room until it was running nearly parallel with the entry. When he went down into the mine on Saturday morning, he drilled a hole and put in a charge of powder, stopping only eighteen inches from the face of the entry. Then when he lighted the fuse he went out into the entry to wait for the explosion and sat down but seven feet from the deadly charge toward which the fire in the slow match was rapidly creeping. A miner in a neighboring room, George S. Howser, came out to get his clothes to go home at the time that Lindsey came from his room, having fired the fuse. "When the explosion took place, instead of breaking out in the room as intended, it burst through the face of the entry and threw out coal enough to have killed twenty men, had they been in the entry. The concussion put their lights out and Howser called to Lindsey, but receiving no answer lighted his lamp and went to him, finding him mangled and lifeless. The body was fearfully blackened and bruised, and both arms were broken above the elbow, while a piece of coal had 'passed entirely through the head from left to right, tearing away the back part of the head almost to the ears. Death had been '' swift and pangless." Lindsey was a married man, of good character, and a painter by trade, working in the mine during the winter season.

Suicide Of Ben Feank

On the afternoon of Thursday, December 2, 1880, Ben Frank left his house north of the Boulevard at Lincoln, telling his wife that he was going to town after some stove-pipe, and would soon be back. He did not return, and at 9 o'clock Mrs. Frank being alarmed at his continued absence, had a search instituted. This was continued, without result, through Friday and Saturday and up to Sunday morning, when the body of the unfortunate man was found suspended from a rafter in the barn. It was not found sooner because in a dark corner where it had escaped the first and more casual observation. Mr. Frank was an old and well-known citizen, having been in business in various capacities for many years. He was in good circumstances financially, leaving quite an estate, and temporary insanity was the undoubted cause. He had suffered a sunstroke the previous summer from which he had never fully recovered, and it was said that he had several times threatened to take his own life.

Shot Himself

John Blake shot himself on Monday, December 27, 1880, less than a month after the Frank suicide. He was at one time in fair circumstances, and one of the owners of the " Logan Mills," but drink had ruined him. About 4 o'clock in the afternoon, alone in the basement of the mill, he tired three shots into his left side aiming at the heart; but entering too low and too far to the left, and failing to accomplish his purpose, fired a fourth shot against the right side of his head; but this ball struck on the thick parietal bone, and, the revolver being only a 22-caliber, the bullet was flattened and turned aside, plowing a short distance under the scalp. Two or three of the employes were in the mill office above, but did not hear the shots. Mr. Elwood finally heard him call, went down and found him lying stiff and bleeding on the ground. He was carried up to the ofiice, where a hasty examination was made by Drs. Ross and Brown and he was then carried to his residence on Third street, where he expired the next morning. Being asked what caused him to take his own life, Mr. Blake replied that he " could not make his books balance." He was about $200 short in his accounts, and had been warned that he must keep sober and keep his business straight or he would be discharged. He was a member of two benevolent orders, and his family was thus provided for. He had signed the pledge the spring before and kept it for a time, but had remarked he must die of delirium tremens or kill himself, and he preferred the latter.

William J. Engle, a young man twenty-three years of age, had been studying medicine in Lincoln with Dr. W. W. Houser for about six months prior to September 1, 1881, at which time he left to attend medical lectures. While residing at Lincoln he made the acquaintance of Miss Jennie Lanterman, daughter of A. J. Lanterman. An engagement had followed, but this was broken oft on account of Engle's conduct and bad habits. He went to Colorado instead of Chicago to attend medical lectures, and after a couple of months returned to Lincoln. He hung around for some days, and then shot himself in front of Mr. Lanterman's house. He had made previous attempts on his life, and was certainly of diseased mind.

A crime came to light on Sunday, August 20, 1882, that was characterized by the press and citizens as the most atrocious ever perpetrated in Logan County. The following account is condensed from that given by the Lincoln Herahl :

The scene was a farm six miles east of Mt. Pulaski and two miles south of Chestnut. The victims were Charles H. McMahan, Robert Matheny and John Carlock, the last two being men in the employ of the first-named. The house in which McMahan lived stood alone in the fields, fully half a mile from any road, making it a fit scene for such a crime as the one we are narrating. There was no fence about it and no garden, the building standing in an untidy clump of weeds, with here and there a rusty piece of wornout farm machinery, and, at a little distance, a cluster of stacks, a dilapidated shed stable and some uncovered corn-pens, where the crops of two or three seasons were slowly going to decay. The neighbors said McMahan was holding his corn for a better price. To the north was a small, badly kept old orchard. The house itself was a one-story building, 18 x 30 feet in dimensions. It was never painted, and was black with the storms of thirty winters. The interior of this gloomy place was equally forbidding. i

The last time the three men were seen alive was on Friday evening, when the neighbors noticed them at work stacking oats near the stable. On Saturday one of the neighbors was annoyed by a stray horse belonging to McMahan, and on Sunday forenoon David Long went to ask him to take it away. Long found no one at the house, but noticed that quilts were hung at the windows, and that some things were out of place. Frank Lyon and Alfred Ayres afterward joined in the search, which lasted, perhaps, two hours, when, led by a sickening odor from a clump of tall weeds near some corn-pens, about 300 yards south of the house, one of them came npon the body of young Carlock. Without making a careful examination, tliey at once concluded that the body was that of Charles McMahan, and jumped to the conclusion that McMahan had been murdered by his two hired men. It was not till an hour later, when the body of Matlieny was found in the weeds within fifteen feet of that of Carlock, that the magnitude of the crime began to dawn upon the horrified spectators. Search was then made for the body of McMahan, and was continued for some time before it was found concealed in tall grass in a slough at a point 120 yards southwest of the other two. All three were found lying npon their backs, witli their throats cut from ear to ear, the gash in young Carlock's throat having almost severed his head from his body. All were blindfolded, gagged, their hands tied behind their backs and their feet hobbled so that they could only step about eight inches. Their hands had clutched the weeds beneath them so tightly, in their death agony, that the weeds had to be cut before they could be removed. Matheny and Carlock had each been struck a severe blow over the liead, probably with a billy or club - a blow which laid bare the skull.

McMahan was a bachelor who lived alone, except that he usually had a hired man employed the year through. They did their own cooking, and lived in a rough, uncomfortable way. There was no evidence of a struggle in the house, and the three must have surrendered quietly to what seemed the inevitable. The accepted theory was that the thieves did not at first intend to murder their victims, but that, finding themselves recognized, tliey afterward decided to kill them, on the theory that "dead men tell no tales." There was nothing to show that the house was closely searched. After their money and McMahan's watch were secured, the three were marched in a hobbled condition south across a piece of plowed ground to the corn-pens above metitioned, where the two young men were butchered. McMahan was taken to the slough, about 120 yards southwest of the others, and his throat cut.

This afiair, as may well be supposed, created the wildest excitement throughout the county, especially the southeastern portion. Governor Cullom offered $200 each for the arrest of the murderers. The Board of Supervisors offered $1,000 reward, and authorized the use of an equal amount for the employment of detectives in ferreting out the perpetrators. In addition to these rewards the relatives of McMahan offered $1,000; residents of Chestnut and vicinity, $500; residents of Beason and vicinity, $500; residents

These heavy rewards attracted a number of volunteer detectives, and many arrests were made during the succeeding few months. No evidence sufficient to convict any one, however, was found, and it began to look as if justice was to be cheated. Jan. 1, 1884, the matter was placed by the authorities directly into the hands of the Pinkerton agency, and the arrest of J. H. Hall and David Long was accomplished on Saturday, Feb. 16, 1884, at East SL Louis, whither they had been decoyed from St. Louis to avoid the delay of a requisition from the Governor. They were in prison in St. Louis four courts until Tuesday evening following, when they were brought to Lincoln. J. H. Hall was a brother of Noah P. Hall, and the latter a brother-in-law of McMahan. Long was never suspected of complicity in the affair, but was employed by the detectives to associate with Hall and gain his confidence. Long did learn Hall's guilty secret, and his testimony was very useful on the trial.

At the May term of court, 1884, the grand jury indicted J. Holland Hall, Mrs. Bell Hall, his wife, and William Ferris, Mrs. Hall's brother. The trial commenced June 10, and was concluded on the 25th, the jury finding Hall guilty and sending him to the penitentiary for life. Ferris was acquitted on the charge of murdering McMahan, but immediately rearrested upon the charge of killing Carlock and Matheny. It was hoped that additional evidence could be secured against him by the next term of court. Mrs. Hall was not seriously suspected of guilt. At the September term the case against Ferris was dismissed, with leave to reinstate. This ended the matter in the courts. Hall is now serving his life sentence, and the murder is rapidly being forgotten. It was the general desire of the people to see Hall hanged, for if ever murder warrants capital punishment surely this triple crime should result in an execution of the guilty man. It was also generally felt that Ferris should have a life sentence, or at least fourteen years imprisonment. This case, lasting twenty-two months, cost Logan County $6,000.

A Prominent Farmer Suicides

John Thomas, a well-to-do farmer living near the corporation line of Lincoln, commited suicide on January 19, 1883. He had been in bad health for several years and suffered at times intensely. His disease was catarrh of the head, in a very severe and probably incurable form. Under the influence of his disease, he was gloomy and despondent, and at times he would avoid his friends as though conversation was a burden. He sometimes said he would rather die than suffer as he did. On January 9 he started for Southwest Missouri, in company' with A. B. Nicholson and Joseph Keam. He hoped thus to improve his health, but, finding no relief, he returned on Wednesday, the 17th. He went out home the next day, and remained in bed most of the time, requesting to be left alone. At about 7:30 the next morning, while the family were at breakfast, he went to a closet and took out a breach-loading rifle, loaded it with a cartridge and then went into his daughter's room, where his younger daughter, Emma, was asleep. Sitting upon the side of the bed he placed the muzzle of the rifle to his forehead and touched the trigger. The report was so smothered that those in the dining-room did not notice it, but Emma awoke and ran to them, saying, "Something is the matter with pa." Mrs. Thomas ran in and raised him up. Seeing the blood, but not noticing the gun, she thought he had burst a blood vessel, but in a few moments the dreadful truth became apparent. A physician was sent for, but the shot proved fatal within fifteen or twenty minutes. The coroner's jury returned the only verdict possible under the circumstances. Mr. Thomas was sixty years old, and a native of this State. He came to this county in 1853, and settled at first on Sugar Cieek. He made many friends, and became one of the county's most prominent and highly esteemed citizens. He was one of the leading men in the county agricultural society, and was one of the most active workers in the building of Zion Church, north of Lincoln. He was materially prosperous, being the owner of a fine farm of 160 acres, adjoining the city limits, and having personal property of considerable value besides. His suicide was undoubtedly due to the cause universally assigned for it - continued ill-health, which had, to some extent, affected his mind.

The Oaepenter Case

The mysterious murder of Zura Burns, on the night succeeding Sunday, October li, 1883, made Lincoln a center of sensation for several months, and gave it a national notoriety. It ruined the reputation of a prominent business man, ate up his property, entailed vast expense upon Logan County, gave employment to an army of lawyers, detectives and reporters, and gave the readers of the newspapers a surfeit of unwholesome literature. The affair is yet so fresh in the memory of the citizens of the county, and peo- pie formed so many partisan opinions concerning it that it is impossible to write as complete and impartial a history of the case as it deserves.

Mrs. Patrick Jewett made the discovery that a murder had been committed, finding the body of Zura Burns at 7:30 Monday morning, October 15, 1883. She quickly spread the news. Coroner Boy den and Dr. Leeds at once went to the scene of the tragedy, at the far end of the short lane lying between the ten acres owned by Chris. Lawrence and the ten acres owned by James S. Randolph, in Sigg's addition, northwest of Lincoln. The body was lying in a furrow. There were no indications of a struggle, yet the ground was somewhat tramped. The tracks of a buggy led from the spot southward through the lane, where they were lost in the road. In turning her over a horrible spectacle met their gaze, as the riglit side of her forehead had been crushed in with some blunt instrument and her throat was cut from ear to ear; one eye was open and the other closed; her tongue protruded slightly between a set of large teeth, while her face and hair were clotted with her blood, rendering it almost impossible to distinguish the features. The earth beneath the wound was saturated with blood to the depth of several inches.

The remains were brought to town, and later in the day were identified by the Lincoln House clerk and a 'bus driver, the latter claiming he brought her from the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville depot the Saturday morning previous. An examination of the Lincoln House register showed that on the morning mentioned she subscribed her name as Zura Burns, of Yandalia, 111. It was further found that she had left the Lincoln House a little after 8 o'clock Saturday night, with a small hand satchel and a gossamer. Her father, William H. H. Burns, was telegraphed for and arrived "Wednesday morning. " Zura " was a nickname, tjhe proper form being "Missouri."

The coroner's jury met on Wednesday, and was composed of William M. Dustin, A. B. Nicholson, Henry Ahrens, David Gillespie, George I. Harry and Simon Rock - six highly respectable citizens. Thomas W. Kenyon and Samuel Stern were afterward substituted for Messrs. Dnstin and Nicholson. This jury remained in session from October 17 to November 1, on the latter date rendering the following verdict:

1, we, the undersigned jurors, sworn to inquire of the death of Missouri Burns, on oath do find that she came to her death by the means of a wound in the throat, produced by some sharp instrument, in the hands of some person, or persons, to the jury unknown."

Much of the testimony before the jury tended to show that the guilty party was Orrin A. Carpenter, but still they did not see fit to charge the crime upon him in their verdict. The authorities arrested him, however, and held him to await a hearing before a magistrate. He was at this time abont forly-six years old, and stood exceptionally well in tbe social and business circles of Lincoln. He came to this county with his parents from Fawtucket, Ehode Island, in 1854, and lived first at Lawndale. A year later the family removed to a farm four or five miles northwest of Lincoln. About 1878 Mr. Carpenter, in company with Aurelian Esten, of Lawndale, purchased an elevator in Lincoln of W. W. Barrett. He was therefore considered well-to-do, and was thoroughly well known. He was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, and, altogether, seemed one of the very last men who could be thought capable of murder.

Many circumstances, however, pointed to him as the murderer, and at the very beginning of the investigation he employed counsel and refused to testify. His preliminary hearing before Judge Lacey occupied some five days, and another day was devoted to lawyers' arguments. At the conclusion, Carpenter was admitted to bail on a bond for $10,000, for his appearance at the January term of the Circuit Court. The bond was signed by himself and A. Esten, G. "W. Edgar, F. C. W. Koehnle, B. F. McCord, S. A. Foley, J. A. Hudson, Paul Smith, Thomas "W". Kenyon and T. T. Beach.

At tbe January term of court, before Judge Herdman, Carpenter was indicted on five counts. When arraigned for trial, February 5, he obtained a change of venue to Menard County, and his trial was set for March 3. The trial came off at the appointed time at Petersburg, and lasted about three weeks. The result was his acquittal, the jury agreeing that there was not sufficient evidence to convict. Still public feeling was largely against him. A meeting of the citizens of Lincoln was held, and Carpenter was requested to leave the county for good. He remained but a few months at Lincoln, disposing of what property he had left after paying his heavy bills, and then left Lincoln for the West. He is now at Sioux Falls, Dakota.