Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1851-08-15


Some three years siuce one BuRpIcK SpRAGUe
took w his residence in Morrieto wn. He seemed
TO be very quiet and peaceable man, and seldom
made any words with any one, unees spoken to-
MANY believing that brevity was the soul OF wit,
thought him a remarkably shrewd and Uncommon
man. He had no business i'll particular, tho 1t is
said that formerly III Brookfeld, in Orange County,
where his parents resided, he had been engaged ~
the grave stone busine IS. Becoming more acquaint-
cd, after his arrival IN Morristown, he trequented the
'nverns aud other public places, and was, very natu-
;ally. accused of gambling and drinking. He con-
tinued to live i'll Monistown, leading the lie men,
toned. land il is also said that he loaned money,
bought up notes, &c.,) without any particlar Incl
dent. except The breaking of hi arm, until about
June, 1919, when the Grand Jury of this County
found a bill Of Indictment against him tor perjury;
ne havins obtained the possession Of a farm III Nor
,js,own for the accommodation OF the parties con-
cetned,' and afterwards, when all trouble had blown
ever, or during the ~pendeucy of the Investigation OF
the title, he committed the offence for which he was
charged. An immediate arrest OF SpraRue vas
r,tae and he was lodged in the jail Of this County
tut his friends soon came forward, gave the required
bad. and he was permitted TO go at large. He soon
alter lett this section OF the county, and was not
again heard Of until sometime in November, lsi9
in the vicinity of Lake Memphlemogog, where he
had been stopping Tor some time. Atthls tune, NC
tmher, 1919, great excitement prevailed III the VI
cinity where he was stopping, as he had suddenly
ard unaccOuniab,y disappeared, and no Knowledge
OF hin whatever cuuid 5e obtained. He had been
eecn iust before his disappearance with one Bill
Clark" and a companion OF his, who were ooth OF
rather notorious reputation, having been up for rlal
for the murder OF Parker, of Manchester, N. H., OF
which they were not found guilty. Dillgent search
evos made for Sprague the country i'll the %ncighoor-
hood was muck excited, and great interest was felt
90 know his whereabouts, and large parties were
m the look out but all TO no purpose. as no trace
c,uIi be found Of his whereabouts or his tate. HE
c,nrtus,on was tina, he had been robbed and muir
dered, and that his body had been slyly secreted.-
Soon after this, when all hopes of finding him were
abandoned, a married sister residing in Crattsbury,
opened his trunk, and there found eight or ten, and
some say. fifteen hundred, dollars IN bank bills, but
nothing to lead to the discovery OF hi' unknown tate.
Every thing continued in this most mysterious and
unsatisfactory state until last Thursday, July 3lst,
when the body, 50 long missing, was found IN Lake
Menphremagog!
Nv lobOi VI us SNO'S'J
and striking as that Of the disappearance. Two
gentlemen from Stanstead, who were deslrous OF
fishing, get out with that view some day last week.
Wishing a small boat, they employed a man well
acquainted with all parts OF the Lake, and who usu-
ally attends all fishing excursions, Il row while they
should fish. During their excursion, they requested
the man 10 row the boat into a certain small cove
To this he objected saying there were no fh there;
tina, it was a bad place to go INTO, &c.,-the result
Of which was that they went i'll some other direction
Relating this Incident after their return, their curl
osity was excited to learn or know what the boat
mans real objections could have been to going into
the cove alluded to. Suspicious were aroused Gu
riosity was excited, and it wns resolved to get up n
patty and make a visit to the mysterious cove. A
party was formed on Thursday last, and in due time
they reached the suspicious Cove, where, most
strange to relate. was found the dead body of BUR-
DICK S~PRAGuE. The throa, was cut his coat drawn
up over lis head, and there fastened with his suspen-
ders. Notwithstanding he had been missing Tor a
period OF tuenty-onc months, the body was in n
Woadertul st tte OF preservation SO much so, that 1t
was recognised at once as that oil the long lost
Sprasue! The depth Of water where the body, no,p
upon the surface, had 50 long lain, has hot been
learned by the writer Of this. 1t Is supposed that II
had been sunk by some weight and TO confirm this,
il; is said hut ] know not with what truth, that one
arm had decayed and dropped off, supposed to be
owing to the effects OF the cord 10 which the weight
required to sink the body was attached. The recov-
cry OF the body under such peculiar circumstances,
and after a mysterious absence Of nearly two years,
created great excitement IN the vicinity. Suspicious
rested at once upon the boat-man, who fed the
country ere the officers OF justice could overtake
him.
The wonderful preservation of the body; the man
n,r Of Sprague's disappearance, and the recovery OF
his remains the conduct OF the boatman in endeav-
onng to avoid the cove. and his escape as soon as
the cody was recovered together with the general
mystery Of the whole affair, make this one OF the
most extraordinary events that has happened in
Northern Vermont for some years.
Spragre was n qniet, silent man, of fair address,
and some intelligence; had never had any family:
WIS hy,wren forty and fifty wears of age, as suppos-
81 OF large size, and was considered TO be a man
vorih money, az he always had more or less about
~ person, and was known to make frequent loans.
It is not intended in any thing that has been writ
tan, 10 throw suspicion upon Bill Clark" his com ,
plrlon, or the holtman but the circumstances are
given az hey are SAID TO eAist, without any desire to
Tryud.ce them in The eyes OF the public or the law.
SIMON.