Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1839-10-10
II FroIn The NHiionnI GaLeIie Ist iiis
TIE LATE MURDER.

w Wood, continues To excite 81 much pub
lie concern and sympathy, that we give
to-day n more particular account OF the
Melancholy affair than we were yester-
day enabled TO gather. The daughter
of Wood had been for some time address
sed by a young man, u mechanic, VIII"
aimed her affections, and on the 10Th
uli., they were married without the
know ledge OF consent Of her parents
The union was kept secret, until about
he middle OF last week, when an anony-
nous note, informing Of the marriage,
and nddre sscd to the eldest son Of Mr..
Wood, lad about fifteen years old +,
reached the hands of his father. This
note he treated as silly hoax, and said
nothing to his daughter on The subject.
On Friday Inst, in the afternoon, the
daughter did not appear in the front shop
as was her daily practice, and the father
on going TO her chamber found she had
left the house. This step, so unusual
for her, taken in connection with the
note addressed 10 the son, convinced the
father that the contents ot The note must
be true. He Immediately became fan
tic with rage, had his shop and house
closed, and raved with passion to such a
degree As to bring on cOnvuIsive spasms.
The kind attention Of his neighbors for
the moment seemed 10 assuage his an
guish, hut the night Of Friday was pas
sed by him in state Of great inquieiude
and excitement. Through the continued
kind Offices of neig hbors and friends,t the
daughter was on Saturday, with the con-
sent of her husband, induced TO return
to her father house. This produced
an apparent calm, and she continued
with hlm the remainder Of that day and
the whole OF Sunday.
/ On Monday yesterday morhing the
father received either verbal or written
demand from the husband for the resto-
ration Of his wife, and notice that in case
of refusal legal measures would he taken
ag ainst him. TO this demand Wood re-
Piled that he would give IL definite an
swer by twelve o'clock. Immediately,
or very shortly after the receipt Of the
husbands message, the father went up
stairs to his daug gh'er's chamber, and in
stanly the report Of a pistol was heard. 4.
The members Of the family, running to
the room, found Wood in raving state,
pacing the hoor, exclaiming, {" | did it
i killed her--now she is happy"
while his daughter lay prostrate, bleed
ing and insensble. DIR. James Rush
and DIR. q. Emerson were soon OIL the
premises, but the case was beyond the
reach of human aid.
II was found, on examining the wound
ed girl, that the bullet had entered the
face at the inner angle OF the right eye,
and passed through the head, iracturing
the upper part OF the skull. She linger-
ed until eleven O'clock, when she expir-
ed. Very soon after the preparation of
the murder the sheriff aud coroner en-
tered the chamber, and had Wood re-
moved to another room, when he threw
hi,ns, II ON bed and soon fell aslcep.--
|, When the mayor entered the room Wood
was reused from his slumber, and imIne.
diately asked A" Is she dead 7" On be-
ing answered aflirma,iveIy, he excIaim-
ed, "Then she is happy" and raved
about his willingness to die, the act of
friendship that it would be to dispatch
him, aud the hope of being buried in the
same grave with his murdered daughter.
To question by the Mayor he re-
piled that he had before the commission
of the crime drunk three glasses of bran
dy, but had not taken any laudanum.
The examin rion by the Mayor, prcvi-
Gus TO committing Wood 10 prison, was a
brief proceeding, and was held in the
chamber to which he had been removed.
On being conducted by the police officers
to The carringe, going To the prison, he
manifested some reluctance to enter, but
this was soon overcome without the use
Of force. On the way thither he was
perfectly Slept, but on entering the pri-
son he began to rave in much the same
way that he had done before being re-
moved, and it was necessary to use some
degree Of force to place him in one of
the prison cells.
The foregoing are all the essential
facts relating to this murder. il may,
however, CRAFTY the curiosity which it
has excited, TO add some farther particu-
lars.
ne uuIOTtuHdtc nusDdnu Ol w OOu
daughter is Edward Peak, and was late
ly the proprietor Of boot and shoe store
in one OF the Shakespeare buildings
His wife, on leaving her fathers house
on Friday afternoon, escaped through b
the trap door Of the roof, descended
through an adjoining building, and re-
paired to her husbands boarding house
On Saturday Wood purchased two
pairs Of pistols, and from his dene amos
in the gunsmiih's shop, one Of the ut
tendants was induced to follow him I'LL
he lost sight of him in the neighboIhood
of Moyamensing prison. A circum-
stance is told, that Wood, Immediately Iy
before running to his daughters cham
ber, was seated in his Office in the north
OF his dwelling, from which be saw a
person whom he supposed to be MIR.
Peak in building in The rear Of hi.
house, making signs TO and convcrsinq
with his daughter, ~ho was in an uppe'
chamber. Immediately he rushed up
stairs-what followed has been told
Accounts from Noy amensing this morn.
ing say that Wood is in composed
state of mind, and deeply affected with