, 1865-06-24
uOmlC1DE AT CRYSTAL
LAKE,
4 Returned Soldier Shot while Fore.
Ing Entrance 10 q Dlafeput4ble
House,

GFrom the Woodstock tI,l,) Sentinel, 1st.]
Coroner Blair held an Inquest at the house
Of Rutledge Harris, about one and & half
miles from Crystal Lake, last Friday after-
noon, on the body Of john Dollar. Of Wood
stock, who came 10 his death In tha follow
Ing manner:
John Dolan, who Fas young man about
nineteen years Of age, returned to Woodstock
only tWo weeks since, discharged from the
E'gin BatterE, In which he Inns served for two
ierrice. be WAS regarded as incorr5giblc. OF
coming home, however, 1t Was hoped hn had
improved morally, as he certainly had physI-
cally. It 2ppeafs On Saturday night. June
10th, two girls from Crystal Lake, one named
harris and the other Allen, were In Wood
missed the o15 P. IN. train, that would harn
taken them within a mile Of home. In the
evening, they fell in with John Dolan and
one OF h1t comrades, who finally took
them tn us+13s home, ,,.n.t to tho house occupied
last, John persuaded one OF his associates to
accompany him from Woodstock to Crystal
Lake On arriving there, after carpusInE and
getting pretty well intoxicated IN Eome of the
low doegeries Of that village. they started to-
E,etheF for the Harris house, where the gir.s
there between = and 1 O'clock, and dea,and-
cd admission, to sec the Allen girl. Rutledge
Harris. who seems to have been the only man
in the house, responded that the girl was not
there, hut down in the village. They told
him he Lied, that they Eould break bis door
II u they did not let him In, Threatened to
shoot him u he did not open tue door, and
licked and pounded it with al their might.
Harris responded that his mother was sick,
and they could not come In; that II they
broke open the door the first who entered
would be dead mao, and proceeded to re-
cap his rife. Fttalty, John Dolan, with
p. % eonsado dophn havns psSoas1 asei aIq
retired to the road. Instantly, as the door
opened, Harris fired, and Doian ran back.
Almost Immediately after the people In the
haGte 1@a. hsa5d he buEEy dsye o and Hs,ris
he thought perhaps tie SHOT lad missed
Though It hardly seemed probable), nailed
up the catch On the door, and went to bed,
IN the morning, he found Dolan lying dead
alongside the fence, twenty rods from the
house: The ball entered just below the right !
naming in the body. At lts ent1auco It made
large rRgetd hole. From testimony before t
the Cotonef's jury, It appeared that on be. |
Ing shot, Dolan Immediately ran back towards |
the road, and bis comrade asking him II. he |
vas shot, said yes" and then took hold Of |
the fence, and let himself slowly down lon |
the ground, where be almost instantly ex-
phed. His trembling comrada stopped not
IN instant, aroused no one, either ut the next
honse, or at Crystal Lake, but drove straight
to Woodstock with ull- speed, and told his
story. In the course OF the morning, Rut-
ledge. Harris, Who fired the shot, came to
Woodstock and offered to surrender himself,
hut .he net being deemed perfectly Justita-
ble, was not taken into custody. The Coro-
ner's jury rendered verdict in accordance
With the above facts.
While we think the associations ut Har1is'
house are not entirely without reproach, 1t is
crfacnt that this Is clearly case Of 1ustifla-
bio homicide. Dolan merited the fate he re-
not more 60 than many others
Who hare escaped unscathed- and ret, It
secm5 En1 to hare him thus cut off In early
when he might have proved The
solace Of his aged mothers declining years:
For, dcpIaved Us be was, he VAS hFs mothers
only child and, With MI his recklessness,
was her pride and hope: His mothers sor.
row is not less poignant than tho grief Of
those who move In higher circles, The les
son ought not to pass BY unheeded by tha
people OF this community. The drunken
trip Of John Do1an Is no exceptional case. !.
It's tragic end alone distinguishes it.