Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1838-04-19
From thc CasenOUia IN ~ Monitor.
Discovery OF Mn. BARKER's REMAINS.
"Murder, though it hath no tongue. :,

SPEAKS with most miraculous OISdLS'
i. A discovery was made in the town of Sui
Ivan on Saturday last, which dispels all
doubt as to murder having been perpetra-
ted there in the early part of September last,
on the body of an elderly gentleman by the
name of Robert Barker,Tof Colerain, Mass.
Whatever of mystery has rested on his fate
since his strange disappearance, has been
solved by the discovery of his remains, in
secluded piece of wood about mile and a
half east of Chittenango landing, and some
IL or Is rods south of the canal, whittier he
had been decoyed by the fiend who sought
and took his life, as affording a greater
chance of security from detection than tine
north, Or tow-path side.
Several weeks elapsed after the perpetra-
ton of this murder, before public attention
was called to it; and still longer time be-
fore suspicion was directed to the particular
region where it was actually c"mmltted'
and to the individual who COMMITTED IL. AS
the one is nowascertained beyond all DOUBT
SO is the other rendered scarcely less certain,
though the name is for the present Withheld.
It appears that on or about the LIST day of
Septen,ber last, the deceased left his resi-
dence in Colerain, with the intention Of 60
ing to Onondaga county, in this State, to be
married but not arriving at the time and
place expected, and his friends hearing moth
ing from him, after waitinga reasonable time
they wrote to Colerain, advising his friends
there of his non-arrival, and requesting to be
informed as to the cause. The reply to this
communication naturally led to fears that
some accident had befallen him, and notices
were sent in every direction describing his
person, stating the time of his disappearance,
and offering a reward for any information
that might lead to discovery of his fate
This notice met the eye Of captain of one
of the Erie canal boats on the 18th of Octo-
Der, who distinctly recollected that about
the time mentioned in the advertisement, a
man answering the description therein given
took passage with him for some place in
Onondaga CO.; that on reaching New-Bos-
ton, (about three miles east of Chittenango,)
at an early hour in the morning, he express
ed wish to get off and walk a short dis
lance, being tired of the confinement of the
boat that he accordingly got off, and at the
same time another person, with the express
intention of walking also: that after passing
Chittenango about mile and half, the
latter person was received on board again,
from a bridge, having waited, as ne said,
some time for the boat to come up; that on
being asked where the other passenger was
he said he had concluded not to come on
board again, but had "gone across lots" to
the place he was going to-adding that he
had requested him to take charge of his
trunk, and leave it at certain place named
n request, however which the captain did not
think proper to comply with. On these
facts being made known at Chittenango, the
citizens turned out in great numbers, and
spent several days in securing the country
between the two points above mentioned:
which of course proved Intellectual, as their
%
side of the canal. The body was found on
Saturday last, with the skull badly fractured,
and having been stabbed four times in the
left side with a dirk or knife. A small wal
let was found in an inside pocket of his vest,
which in his haste the murderer must have
overlooked. 1t contained the remains OF
what the jury suppose to have been $SlOO
bill of one Of the eastern banks, besides other
bills, but in such state of decay as to rem
der it difficult ifnot impossible to decypher
them. jury of inquest was summoned,
which returned as their verdict that the de-
ceased was wilfully murdered by some per-
son to the jury unknown. We are not with
out hopes that the perpetrator Of this foul
deed may be ferreted out and receive the
punishment due to so heinous crime.
From the Buffalo Com. Advertiser.
rived in the city this morning, from Erie, Pa,
bringing intelligence of most extraordinary
outrage committed al that place on the night |
of the 9Th inst. The particulars as stated in
the handbill, published in relation to the af- |
fair. are as follows:
AS Miss Hanoi, daughter ofP. s. V. Ham,
OF, Esqr. OF that place, was returning from a |
party in company with young man of Mr.. |
Fl 8 family, about IL o'clock at night, thew
were assaulted on the sidewalk by Robert G.
Bristol, Captain ofthe Steamboat James Mad
ison, and four other persons; the young man
was forcibly secured, while Miss Hanoi, a.
mid screams for aid, was forced into hack
close at hand, with the loss of her bonnet and
other articles of clothing, and then driven
down to the harbour, where she was put on
board the Madison. The boat appears to
have been in readiness for the purpose, with
steam up, and forthwith pushed out into the
lake with lights extinguished.
Chase was Immediately given in the u. s.
Revenue Cutter, and the Steamboat Thomas
Jefferson was got under way as speedily as
possible; but from the darkness it was inn
possible to discover the course taken by the
fugitive boat.
The Madison was not fully in condition
for sea, having only part of her buckets in,
and but little wood on board. Hence, Bris-
tol is supposed to have pushed across the lake
for Canada.
The affair seems to have made quite stir
at Erie, and from the responsibility of the
parties; and from the novelty of using a
steamboat of 700 tons on such an enterprise,
together with the attendant circumstances,
have caused it to excite some little sensation
here.
We can hardly credit the fact that Capt.
B. would have pursued such suicidal course