Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1849-08-16

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From the Cincinnati Chronicle Extra, July 3I.t.
Horrible Deprauity-.A Family Of Eight
Persons Poisoned-Resulting in Death.
1t is our painful duty to chronicle some
Of the incidents Of crime perpetrated in
this city, than which the adnals of human
depravity scarce furnish more revolving
record.
We shall endeavor to give but the gen.
eral outlines Of thu case, as it will, of
course undergo judicial investigation, but
even what our duty requires us to state,
will sicken the hearts OF the public.
The family Of Capt. J. Blair Summons,
the we'll known and popular steamboat
commander in the mail line between Gin
cinnati and Louisville, residing in this city,
on Sixth street, between Main and Syca-
more, being at tea OH Friday evening last
child was suddenly seized with reich
ing and vomiting at the table, and soon af-
ter, others were attacked in like manner.
1t was at first apprehended that they were
attacked by cholera, and it was an hour or
two before any suspicion Of poisoning
arose. The entire family who sat at the
table, however being attacked in the same
manner, suspicion was necessarily arous-
ed, and, horrid to relate, circumstances
pointed with painful certainty to the son
Of Captain Summons, Mr. James Sum-
mons, aged some twenty-five or thirty
years, as the author Of the dreadful crime,
The persons poisoned are Capt. Sum-
mons and his wife; Mr. Armstrong and
his wife SON in law and daughter of Capt
Summons and their child a boy, three
years old William Summons, son Of the
Captain, Is years old; Paul Huston En-
gineer and Mrs Rivers, a seamstress in
| the family-eight persons in all. Mrs
Rivers died on Saturday morning, at the
time we write { l o'clock Saturday after
noon) the state Of affairs, as reported to
us at the house by physician, was, tina,
Mr. Armstrong was out Of danger, that hi.
child was in great peril, and that all the
| rest were in critical condition mortified.
ton having supervened.
We attended the coroner's inquest upon
the dead body Of Mrs Rivers, and will
now proceed to give a general summary
(by no means detail) ofthe evidence sub
mitted to the jury.
1t was proved by the clerk of Backaus,
druggist, at the corner of Main and Sew
enth streets, that he sold man on Friday
afternoon. who called for "rat poison" an
ounce Of arsenic and the same clerk, on
Saturday morning positively identified
James Summons as the purchaser. The
cook Of Capt. Summons testifes that, a
little time before the family sat down to
tea on that evening, James Summons came
into the kitchen, and, as she had stuck a
nail into her foot, advised her to apply a
| piece of bacon to the wound. She STEP
ped out Of the kitchen for the bacon, and,
returning soon, found James Summons
employing both hands in agitating the tea
kettle which she had left boiling on the
stove. Immediately she was called from
the dining room to bring in the tea. She
poured the hot water from the tea kettle
into the tea pot and carried it to the table
in the dining room, where the family (al]
but the Captain) were already seated
from which they were served with tea.-
The child, at first commenced vomiting
/ Mrs Rivers drank more tea than any other
Some of the others did not even exhaus,
their cups and saucers. Capt. Summons
coming in, Mrs S. remarked that some
thing was the matter with the tea and she
would make him some fresh; and she
made him drawing Of green tea, while
the other was black tea. She used water
| from the same tea kettle.
Mr. Burdsal, druggist, neighbor, be-
ing sent for as friend, had his suspicion
aroused from the same circumstances, and
he immediately secured the contents Of
both the pots (.he black and green) to-