North Branch democrat. [volume] (Tunkhannock, Pa.) 1854-1867, 1865-04-26
Selttt S tory.
THE HUSBANDS REVENGE.

| Somewhere about the year 1885, VIM
Bradway, yonng man Of five and twenty,
then living in the interior of The State o.
New York left his family. consisting of g
wife and two small children, and went south
on tour of speculation. He was absent
nearly year, and stated on his return, that
he had been very successful, and had pur
chased place on the Red River, whittier he
proposed to move his family, and there set
tie, perhaps for life. His wife, pleased with
the novelty of the cha nge, readily assented
to the new arrangement; and, as soon as
their Northern affairs were properly settled
they set off for their new home, which, in
due course of time. they reached in safety.
But Mrs. Bradway was sadly disappointed
in finding the place 80 different from what
she had pictured in her fancy. The settle
ment was new, and everything was rough
The houses, many of them, were built Of logs
and even the best or them lacked the finish
of her Northern home, while the furniture
was generally of the plainest and coarsest de-
scrlptlon, and scanty at that. But worse
than all the rest were the inhabitants -
composed principally of rough spectators,
negro traders, gamblers, and outlaws from
different q uarters, with such females and
children as looked to them for support. Mrs
Bradway who had been we'll educated and
brought up IN refined society, sou ght in vain
| among them for suitable aCcociates and COM
panions, and, being a stranger in strange
land, soon became depressed and homesick.
Under the peculiar circumstances, she un-
guardedly made some remarks not compli
mentary to the place and its inhabitants -
and these remarks being reported, with such
additions and exaggerations as scandal-mon-
gers generally use for embellishments, she
soon found herself surrounded by open enc
emies and subjected to such petty annoyan-
ces aud prosecutions as little, malicious minds
delight to infct upon those they secretly be
lieve to be their superiors. and both envy
and hate for that cause.
Six months had not passed away ere Will
liam Bradway felt the necessity of removing
his family from that unpleasant and lawIess
locality, and this he was preparing to do,
when an awful tragedy occurred which
changed the peaceful man into bloody aven-
ger. Some business at a neghboring settle
ment called hun from home for a couple Of
days, and on his return he found his house in
ashes. and learned that his wife and children
had all been murdered under the most afro
cious and aggravatlng clrcumstances-hiS
poor wife, previous to her throat being cut ,
having been subjected to treatment worse
than death by the three ruffians concerned
in the horrible affair.
To fond husband and father this was
terrible blow; aud tor day and night
William Broadway remained beside the still
smoking ruins of his dwelling, some of the
tlneswaIking slowly around them with his
eyes bent on the ground, and some OF the
time standing and gazing at them with an
distracted air, as if he were recalling tho
past, or ookingIiDto the future. He had
shown no violent sorrow even at the first but
had received the awful intelligence as one
m mentally stupefed-as one who could not
clearly believe the facts aud comprehend the
whole extent of his loss. It was obserued
that his features suddenly became deadly
white, even TO his lips, and then gradually
changed TO hyid hue, which remained
without alteration, and without beirg after
wards tinged by even the slightest flush
"Who did it :" he inquired in tone Of
unnatural calmness.
These men were named-George Har-
baugh. James Fawcet, and John Ellery.-
These men were known as gamblers and des-
peradoes, and had been suspected Of being
robbers and murderers. They did not live
in the village, but had visited it occasionally;
and one of them had, some time previously,
had quarrel with Bradway, and threatened
revenge, though the latter little dreamed at
the time that anything 30 terrible was meant
az had been accomplished.
1t is but justice to say that, though the
Bradways, as previously mentioned, had
made themselves very unpopular in the
| place, there were very few Of the residents
WHO openly sanctioned the horrid crimes
that had been committed, and there were
some who boldly expresseda hope that the
vile perpetrators would yet meet with ajust
punishment but though the rufians had
made no secret of their fiendish deeds, and
| had even boasted of them before they left the
place, no one had made any attempt to arrest
or detain them, and they had gone, no one
knew whittier.
1t was about ten o'clock in the morning
that William Bradway first saw the ruins o
ais home, and heard the awful news of hi
irreparabe loss and all through the remain
der of that day and the night which followed
it he conducted himself in the manner W.
| hava tiescrihed seeminolv taking notice OI