The Van Buren press., 1859-11-25

partially, / told her to tax 70 me without |
restraint; that / had wished the settlement
on the other side of the yer on govern
ment business, which expected to trans
act and leave in very few doys. here
was guilty of falsehood had nof Wis
tied the settlement for geyernment, ofcourse
but to pursue the inquitors course of gam
bling with the refugees.
The woman implored me to be watchful
that was in the midst of the most aban-
doned description of men that could possi-
bly, be conceived of and1hat they would
make a victim of me the more readily, on
account of my extreme youth. told her
that they could want nothing of me, for the
simple reason that had Aothing valuable
about me. She assured lac that it was not
always avarice which tem5ted these men to
deeds of blood. They hid butchered her
poor sband in the veryd house where we
were. within hearing Of I.r Z and child.
rem, when all were .plo4s.g that his Iif1
might be spared. And ytls.soney was not
the temptation She thelA gave me histo-
ry of the cruel murder of her husband that
was as follows.
| DIR. was.educated physician in
the city of Philadelphia, though a native of
Kentucky. lie married his wife in that
city after which he went back to Kentucky
where he settled down in The practice of his
profession. 1t was not many years after
he took up his abode in his native place be-
fore he became involved, and subsequently,
being accused of committing forgery, he
concluded it was best to leave his native
State. His first stopping place after lcav-
ing Kentucky was Little Rock, Arkansas,
where he remained until his brother in law
joined him with his family. Becoming un-
easy and unhappy there, he finally remov-
ed to the settlement, where an end was put
to his earthly career by the hand of assas
sins.
His wife, when she came to this portion
OF her husbands career. was again deeply
affected but she soon mustered composure
enough to continue the story.
After my husband came here he proceed
ed to build this house, and We all moved in
to it in very short period after the first
log was laid. He was changed man, and
my health had become impaired by the ex-
/ posures which it was necessary to encoun-
ter, in travelling through this Wilderness
DIR. -- was a changed man most pain
fully was this the case. He was not. only
moody and sullen in his temperament, and
at times unhappy to the last degree. but he
did not seem to take that pleasure which he
once did in the society of his'wife and chill
dren. Now and then he would drink hard
and become intoxicated, in which case he
abused me most shamefully, and and bore
all for the sake of the children Some DAYS
before his death he entered into a specula-
ton with some bad fellows here, to Snug
gle spirits through the patton, which they
succeeded in doing. and with great profit
About this time. or;r,iniafter. when in a
calm n 6m1a So confessed 60 me
refugee w from usflsa: an doomed ,ei me msn ava;
that trap mad been laid for him a short
time after he was married that he fell into
1t that he was a sworn member of a band
of desperadoes and villains, and that he was
doomed to be a guilty wretch as long as he
lived. l thought he was crazy, but in a
few days his assurance was verified.
Not long after my husband made this
confession to me, he ran partition across
the cabin-making two rooms. In the 9th
er department he put two beds, and when
eyer any of his cronics called to sec him, he
would order myself and children into the
room. Here we remained while his COM
panions, drank and played cards-making
sometimesssuch noise that it seemed as il
the very roof would be raised They often
kept it up all night long.
One ming, after one of these frolics,
he said to me he wished that l was home
with my father he never intended to re-
turn to Philadelphia himself, but he would
see that was safely taken there. asked
why he was SO much inclined to part from
me. He stated that that was his business
] must leave him only the night before he
had been accused of divulging secrets to me
In regard to'his companions that he had
promised to send me home. He added that
l might take all the children but the two
eldest boys. lprotested against separating
me and my children. His only reply was,
that his determination on the point was
| fixed.
| That night he ordered myself and the
children into the room in more angry tone
than ever, and barred us in. 1t was not
long after this that his wicked companions
arrived and planted themselves down at the
table. | listened at the door, and while my
husband had gone out of the cabin for some
purpose. heard them whispering busily to-
gether. As he entered the apartment the
whispering ceased, and one of them said :
Let's play for the liquor first and decide
that point afterwards
After this they played and swore, and
one would have thought that the room was
occupied by tiends incarnate, rather than by
men. AT about II o'clock, one of the
company said, Well, boys now is the time,
what are We here for o sOut with the
light = said another. My husband now ask
ed what they proposed doing. when, with
out giving him the slightest notice, the light
was put out and heavy blow descended.
l heard husband cry out. Do not murder
me ; but the strokes fell heavy and fast.
and spite of my screams and the screams of
my children-spite of our efforts to beat
the door in, the bloody work was kept ND
until | heard my husband fall upon the
floor. In short time his murdcrers left.
tried to burst the door open, but without
success. At last l raised my eldest boy to
the window and he crawled outside and ran
round, entering the door which led to the
room containing his fathers corpse. AS
the child moved towards the door of the
room for the purpose of unbarring Il, he