Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-01-28
0bIo .Statesrlrar.
fREMARKABLs SUICIDE.
10 anaea HimseIR for The q rnYo. n

a
D6esses Himself for the Grave. 7.
BY suppressihg names aud location, we
violate no confidence in giving publicity to
some strange facts that accidentally came
| into our possession yesterday. The occur
renee which we shall relates happened I'm o
hamlet, not one hundred miles from this
city, and was, we imagine, an anomaly in
| sensation annals. Itseems that Mr.. b. set
tied in -, some ten years ago, upon a
| Small farm. He was a man of INTEL igence
| and energy, and, from. time to time, pnr
chased adjoining pieces of land and ADDED
them TO his farm, until the latter numbered
Within its bounds between two and three
hundred acres. So superior was his intel
| ligence, and SO upright his character, that
| he became one Of the most influential men
| in his community. Mr. b. had family of
three daughters and two sons. All of his
family were afforded extra advantages in
the way of acquiring fashionable and sub
! stantial educations. One of the sons gradu-
| ated at an Eastern college, and the. other
holds responsible position in a Cincinnati
| mercantile house. ' h'l' '"e-H.
Trouble was lurking near, however,
| Some, two years since Mr.. b, indorsed q
| brothers note, to the amount of ten thous-
and dollars. His better judgment opposed
the act but the brother was deep in iinan-'
cial trouble, and in no other way could he
be relieved. Wen, the note fell due, no ex-
| tension would be granted, the brother could
not pay the amount, and Mr.. ID. was oblig-
ed to mortgage his farm to satisfy the de-
mands upon him as indorser of the note.
So sudden and unexpected a reverse in his
hitherto prosperous career, caused him to
become moody and detected. This grew
more intense, as the feeIing crept on him,
that he could never lift the mortgage, and
that his family and himsefwould probably
have to descend from their proud position
in society, and be subjected to want and
penurY. In vain his family tried to give
the future cheerful look; in vain the sons,
promised to lend their entire energies to
the work of clearing the debt-the father
grew more and more detected. and was evil
IDENTIFY sinking into settled despaif, that
must berett him of life or reason. r.... .I.r.
About month since, his family became
aware that some mysterious task was claim
ing his attention, In a tool and work house
near one of his barns. 10 all inquiries rs
to the nature of his work, he returned an
evasive answer, but kept steadily on. A
| good deal ofcuriosity was excited by these
| actions, but no thought that anything of an
| untoward character was transpiring, or
that Mr., B. contemplated any harm to him
self, for an instant occurred to the family.
| Thus matters passed on. sometimes Mr.. b.
would occasionally allow two or three days
to pass by, without visiting the shop; but
during such times he would be more than
usuallvv vacant and cast down. .
On Friday last he suddenly appeared be-
fore his family, dressed with more than
usual care, and stated that he intended
paying a business visit to his brother--to
be absent two or three days. He would
listen to no suggestions that some of the
family should accompany him, and went
away. Next morning, curiosity prompted
peep into the tool house., to see what had
made Mr.. b. so busy. The mother, accom-
panied by one of her daughters and the
hired man, accordingly forced open the door,
when, horror of horrors! ""st vas the
sight that met their eyes? Mr.. B. stone
dead, and laid ont in coffin! "A. mother
fell to the floor in a swoon, and the daugh-
ter and hired man ran terrified from the
spot. A speedy investigation brought to
light note on the shop bench, which stated
that the deceased had taken his own life,
by swallowing prusSic acid, and that the
coffin was the work of his own hands,
Trouble had rendered his lite unendurable,
and hence the rash act. Death must have
been very speedy, for the body could hardly
have been ''laid outp with more precision.
Such methodical GOODNESS in the work of
self-destruction was never before recorded
"a man constructing his own coffin, and
dressing himself for tile grave! fdj t 7.
An effort was made to keep the manner
of his death a secret, but it soon got abroad
creating, of course, a great sensation
Plain Dealer. D ". .ot