The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1865-01-05
"Stumpy Brown"
Justice Slow bal sure.
From the London "Once q Voc

sharp-featured, wiry little man, who appa
rently had no occupation, but professed tt
be farm laborer, and really got his living
principally by poaching, His proper narn
was Richard Brown, but the townsfolk o
Woodbridge, from SEINE fancy or other, pro
baby on account of his short stature, haC
changed the Richard to Stumpy, and by
that name he was always known. Every
one was afraid of Stumpy Brown; he lived
in the outskirts of the town, on the Martle
some road, and rarely troubled himself to
converse much with his neighbors. When
he did, it was generally to dispose of hare,
or game of some description, which he near
ly. always had in stock. His dress, in ad.
ditiou to the knee breeches of the period,
and the usually bright-colored vest, was q
long brown coat of very shabby. appear.
ance, and loose felt hat, which he wore
over his forehead, while his cold, grey eyes
glanced Indignantly from under its brim
| No one could say any harm OF Brown, BE
yond that he was a surly, lll-condltioned
! fellow, who stunned his neighbors, and
was known poacher, but yet there was
suspicious and rumors abroad about him,
which, if true, would have brought him ia
the gallows Some few years before the
time of which speak three murders had
occurred at various intervals in the neigh
borhood Of Woodbridge, which considering
the nature and size of the town, was very
startling circumstance. OF none of these
was the perpetrator known. An officer of a
regiment quartered in Woodbridge had
been drinking in the Red Lion public house
on the Martlesome road; he had been seen
and recognized here; on the following
merning he was found in ditch near by,
his throat cut and his pockets empty The
Captain Of Norwegian trading vessel, then
lying in the port, after he had been missing
for ten days, was found in a putrescent con
ditien at the bottom of the river, tied UP in
a sack, without the least clue as to where
or by whom he had been murdered, Last
ly farmer of the name eff Aighton, whose
property was in the neighborhood, was
known to have gone into Woodbridge on
the market-day she did not return home in
the evening, but on the following morning
his body was found in a barn by the side of
the road behind the town, which it was ne.
cessary for him to traverse on his way back.
His head had been battered III, apparently
by some blunt instrument, and his pockets
ritied. More attention appears to have been
excited by this murder than in the two for
mer cases. The Officer and the Captain
were strangers in the town, and with re-
gard to the Norwegian shippers case, it
was the general opinion that some of the
vessels crew were connected with the mat
ter. But in this instance the victim was
ne stranger Farmer Aighton was we'll
'caown and respected in Woodbridge, and
had been seen and spoken to by many of his
friends en- the very day of his assassination.
The inquest was held as in the two other
cases., but no evidence was adduced as to
the author of the crime. Justice appears to
have been tardy in those times, at any rate
in that quarter of the world; nowadays it
would indeed astonish us should three I'M
disco vered murders spread their dark shad-
ows of suspicion and fear over single small
town within the course Of ten years. Al
though no evidence had been brought be-
fore the authorities, tending to inculpate
any individual with the murder of Aighton, |
yet the finger of suspicion, as directed by
the good people of Woodbridge, pointed to |
Stumpy Brown. He was known to have
poached on the farmers grounds, and had
been prosecuted by him, and threatened |
d
sour nouthed fellow, and had been heard to |
say that he would ''do for'' any person who
interfered with what he considered his priv
lleges, and in consequence Of this, many
farmers and neighbors had RETAINED from
Brown, absolutely through fear
Hence it was thoughtno improbable that
Stumpy Brown had murdered Farmer Aigh-
ton to prevent his executing his threat of
second summons. Time passed on, and
people forgot their suspicious concerning
Brown. When ! was boy ia the town
about ferty years since, Stumpy was regard
ed by the more sensible folks as character,
a queer, sulky old fellow, but no credit was
given to the rumors of his being a murderer
was apprenticed to doctor in the town.
and being fond Of fishing or shooting when
ever could steal the time, managed to |
make the acquaintance of old Brown, who
always knew where hare was, or an old
pike. he seemed to take fancy to me,
and many summers evening have I spent
with him fishing in the river One evening
remember well walking with him at the
back of the town. | never gave the least
,redence to the reports about Stumpv, aud
therefore had no hesitation in referring to
she murder >, 4
''Ah,' said I pointing to part of the
road, that's where they murdered Aighton
sn't it p +as ..5.-- ..E. III. il
Brown started a little and said, 81 wish,
sir, you wouldn't talk on them sort Of !
things that arn't pleasant. l never heerd
much about it, never heerd much | sup-
pose that be the place, as they say so, but
my opinion is that that's farther along, not}
that should know about it." S's
eften heard him muttering to himself |
and once found him staring into Kyson
dock in very intent manner. startled |
him in my appearance, and he said, that s
deep down there, sir, very deep. That
would drown a man, specially if he wur
tied up" And then he laughed. i
] recall these circumstances now, but at
the time thought nothing of them. To-
wards the end of the year 1880, the small
pox broke out in Woodbridge with great
as it did in many towns of East
Anglia at that period. All the help and
care that could be obtained were required
for the hundreds of patients who were daily
carried off by this terrible disease. My
master and | had the greater part of the
work to do. A pest-house was established
chN oAS AhuANLduiiS stppOluIcu 10 Udk6
charge of 1T, to receive the patients and SUI
perintend the nursing, were Stumpy Brown
and his wife. Old Mrs Brown, whom I
have not yet mentioned, had been welded
to Stumpy for forty years. and I always con-
sidered her an honest old woman When
the pest broke out, Stumpy and his wife
were getting old folks, the marks of sixty
winters wear being upon them. !, how
ever, found Brown an excellent assistant at
the pest7house, as he seemed to possess a
very great amount of sang troid in dealing
with dead bodies, which is valuable quail
ity. Although, as we before said, among
the educated of the townspeople no more
was thought of the rumor that Brown had
murdered Aighton, yet the lower classes
still feared him. Mrs. Brown had all along
shared the same dislike, as her husband. =
1t was said that she had the ''evil eye,"
that she was witch, and various other dis
NTbay, Az