The Ottawa free trader., 1855-06-09
From the Wilmington tDel) Reporter Of
Saturday.


haoh ehS 'btl.l NeDDrtCT
Saturday.
Horrible Outrage.
Two CHILDREN MURDERED ny THEIR OWN
FATHER.-One Of the most revolving tragc-
dies that it has ever been our painful duty to
record in the columns Of the Rcpor-
ter, was perpetrated at an carly hour yes.
tcrday morning, some three miles distant
from Dover. 1t viii be rocolected by most
of our readers, that about four months
SINCE We gave an account of the arrest and
imprisonment Of a notorious bad character,
named George Parker, negro, for an Us.
sault on one Of our most cstimable citizens.
For this offence he was committed to the
county Jail but, before the term expired
for which he was incarccratcd, he made good
his escape, by breaking through the wall
OF the cell in which he was confined and
although diligcnt search was made for him
and liberal reward offered for his capture,
he managed to cvade second arrest.
1t seems for the past few weeks hc had
been living at home with his family, near
Walkers Mills, on tho Kcnton Road. His
family consisted of his wife, three small
children anda nurse.
At ian carly hour yesterday morning Par
kcr attempted 10 shoot through the head the
woman who lived as nurse in his family;
bnt she threw up her right arm, andMherein
received the greater portion of the charge;
her face and head received but little damage.
Soon after the commission Of this act, ho
proceeded to the house of negro, named
Charles Gibbs. Here, with the aid of al
axe, he forced an entrance, and made after
Gibbs, threatening to shoot him. Gibbs cs-
capped, and ran to the house Of Mr. Isaac
Moore, in the neighborhood, for assistance.
Mr.. Moore, with one of his farm hands,
started for Gibbs house. On the road they
overlook several others, and thus combined,
they imagined themselves sufficiently strong
to arrest Parker and prevent him from doing
any further damage. But in this they were
mistaken. Arriving at Gibbs house, thew
found Parker still in it, cutting and .lashing
away with an axe at everything within his
reach and hc at the same time threatening
| to shoot any one or more who would attempt
| to touch him.
The party finding that they could not
master the dcspcradc sent to Dover for De-
puty-Shcriif Cooper, who, in company with
! Constable Arthurs, proceeded to the scene
| Of the disturbance, which was now Parker's
own premises; he having left Gibbs after
doing his property all the damage he could.
When the officers arrived, they discovered
that Parker's house was in flames, and that
two of his children Zone aged two years and
the other four) were lying dead, with their
throats cut from car to ear, and one Of them
so horribly burned that recognition was a.
most impossible Parker, il seems, murder
ed these two children in the presence of some
eight or ten men. lie placed the children
on either side Of him, and his gun in front Of
him, threatening to shoot any person who
would attempt to modest him. While in this
position he cut the throats of his two child
dren lie then set the house on fire, threw
the children into it, and soon afterwards
confronted, with his gun in hand, the party
who desired to arrest him, and who were
within gunshot distance Of the house. In
their efforts to secure Parker, they shot him
no less than three times, the ttird and last
shot taking effect in his face, cutting through
the under lip, and knocking out two or three
left eye, is quite badly shattered.
In fact, his whole face is filled with shot
and more or less injured. A man named
Cole, we believe, fired at him. and was thus
successful in his aim, when Parker rushed
furiously at him and they clinchcd The
friends Of Mr.. Cole now ran up, and after
much difficulty succeeded in getting the
wretch to the ground and tying him. Al
this juncture, the Deputy Sheriff, Cooper,
and Constable Arthurs, reached the ground,
and quickly assisted in their further securing
him in heavy irons. The fire in the hous,
was now speedily cxtinguished, and the re-
, mains Of the children laid aside to await the
Coroner's inquest. All this occurred before
, Z o'clock yesterday morning Parker was
placed in a cart, and brought to Dover
q His screams on the road, and as he passed
through the main street of the town, attrac
, ted the attention Of almost the entire com
' munity. lie was taken before Squire
James l.. Smith, and after brief examina
ton, was committed to the county Jail, there
- await his trial at tho next term of the
Court of Oyer and Terininer, which will bt
,. nearly five months hence The prisoner il
confined in the dungeon cell, and is bound
in irons, hand and foot.
, 1t was with great difficulty the officers ant
: their assistants got him to the cell, and i
was only managed by tying rope round hi
: neck and dragging him head foremost dowr
the stairway and into the dungeon. His re
sistance was so great that ii was proposed
by several who olticiated, to lynch him OF
the spot, and have no further trouble will
5 him. Parker is, perhaps, the most dcspe
rate character ever confined in our county
> jail lie is some six feet high, weighs moi
less than two hundred pounds, is very mus
cular, and 1.-THE as cat. At times, it ha
taken, as in the present case, more than
dozen men to manage him.
=, For four hours after his confinement, hi
continued and unccasing cries Of Murder,
" murder murder were distinctly hear,
, for at least quarter of n mile in all dircc
: tions from the Jail. During the day NOR
than one hundred persons visited his cell
to take a yiew of tho plisoncr.- The -rumo
that horrible murder had occurred nea
Dover prevailed at an early hour and ou
G quiet own was the scene of intense and unus
! ual excitement.
We may mention here that Parker mad
c desperate effort to take the life of his wifi
o and her remaining child. Sho escaped b.
. running from the house with the child i
l. her arms.
y The murdered children, as they laid bs
y fore the jurors, presented a most ghastl
e and horrd spectacle. One with its thros
u mangled and cut from ear to ear, and tn
q other with its head partially burned ava,
II the brains literally baked, and its lung
heart and liver exposed to view, the ics
s around them having been entirely cor
i sumcd
I, The verdict of the Coroncr's jury was q
d follows: That James Henry and Viols
Ann came to their deaths, on tho 9th da
II of May, 1855, by violence at the hands
l. their father, Gcor % Parker, and violcnc
l. being cutting and burning.