True American. [volume] (Steubenville [Ohio]) 1855-1861, 1857-04-15
THE MURDER OF WHITE.

the lull particulars VI Jne awful muruer OIL
Samuel Henderson White, together with
the testimony before the Coroner's jury,
and diagram OF the interior of the house
where the deceased was killed. making
over five columns. The jury did not re-
turn verdict until Wednesday noon. Ii
is as follows:
"That the deceased, Samuel II. White,
came to his death by blows inflicted with
an axe in the hands of some person or
persons unknown"
The Examiner leans to the opinion
that two persons must have been concer-
ned in the robbery and murder, and also
believes that they were not strangers to
White, nor unacquainted with the con-
struction of the desk in which he kept
his money. 1t says:
According to the testimony of Mrs
White, adduced before the coroner's in
vestgatlon, the dece ased usually kept his
money in one of the secret drawers of a
desk in the bed room. The door that en-
closed these drawers was found to have
been pried off its hinges. and the drawers
bore the marks of having been lmaged.
The lower and larger drawers of his desk
III which clothing had been kept, had ev-
identiy been examined by the robbers
and murderers, as their contents were
much disp aced. There were no marks
of blood on the desk, which in our opin-
ion, goes 10 show that there were two
persons engaged in the murder, for no
one could have dealt the blows without
getting very bloody. One must have
done the robbing while the other accom-
plished the killing. We cannot clear our
mind of the idea that the men were not
strangers to Mr.. Whte-nor that they
were not acquainted with the construc-
tion of the desk in which he kept
his money. Not one man in hundred
would have been able TO discover the Sc
cret drawers. unless he had seen them
opened by another person. We do not
believe that we ever could have found
them"
The same paper gives the following
description Of The room in which the ira
gedy was enacted. and the appearance
Of The murdered man.
"We entered The sleeping room Of the
family, and oh what scene was presen-
ted to our view! We have read of such
sighls--we have imagined such specta-
never expected to witness the
actuali!y. On a bed in the north west
corner of the room was the body of the
man. The face and head were
covered with clotted blood the gore
WAS dry and hard-not feature of the
face could be deserned. The pillow and
bolster on which The head rested were
saturated with blood, and the sheet con.
Iained perfect pool of it, extending from
the neck Of the deceased 10 the middle of
The body. Blood was all around. The
head hoard, and the upper posts of the
oed-the ceiling above the bed-the wall
at the head Of the bed-lhe window at
the side of the bed-and even the wall
six feet from the bed were red with blood.
Two wounds could be distinctly Oh.
served on the head of the man-one
above the right and the other above the
left eye brow. The latter was appalling
y visible. We could easily have inser-
ted two fingers Of our hand. Two addi-
lional wounds were found on the top Of
The head, toward the left side, but these
were slight. The skull however was lit.
orally crushed. The lower jaw bone was
broken in the middle, causing The mouth
TO be greatly out of its natural shape. At
the foot Of tile bed was found an axe.-
Whites own axe-the handle of which
was besmeared with blood, as was also
the poll and this was the instrume Mt
with which the deed was commiied.-
We almost sickened at the sight before
us. We can describe il but imperfecty.
We have witnessed the slaughtering of
swine and other animals, but such things
were as nothing compared to the killing
Of Samuel II. White.
1.-Two little girls, aged respectively
three years and eighteen months, slept
in trunde bed at the side of the large
bed during the night, and were in sonnd
slumber when discovered on Monday
morning. They we're happily unconscious
of the terrible tragedy that had deprived
them of a dearly beloved parent and pro.
tector They had probably been dream
ing of him, as the first word they uttered,
when aroused, was "papa -
The most intense excitement exists in
Washington county, equal, in proportion
to the population, to that which agitated
lhe public mind of New York in relation
to the Burdell murder, and strange to say
(although the Examiner does not make
mention of it) we have it from authentic
sources that suspicion is directed toward
Mrs. White, as being implicated in the
deed Of blood. But there is an absence
of any facs, if we believe the testimony
elected, on which 10 build the awful sup.
position, which has gained ground in mt
a few minds, that she is the murderess
herself. Yet it is not so improbable thai
she might have been an alder and abettor,
But then, where is the motive! None
has been advanced that we have heard of,
and il were cruel to accuse wife of con.
niving at the murder of her husband, On.
iii one. is shown. Police officers have
been securing the country in every direc.
tion, but up 10 this time no arrests have
been made. The report that Mrs. w.
had been arrested, we learned last nigh
to be false. se.-Pih. Journal,