The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1869-07-01
The HagertY Massacre.

Andrew Thompson is about 4O year
fage, hasa wife and eight chiidren.-
He is n farmer and reputed 10 DO wort
from Sl5, 900 to so, 200. His farm is !
Monono township, about twelve mile
westof He " iespectaAl
connected, and by nearly all who kne,
him, was supposed to he Il moral, we
disposed citizen.
Mrs. Hagerty, the murdered woman
was about 30 years Of age.-She was tn
wife Of john Hagerty, a man wei
known in McGregor before the war. ant
at the time Of his enlistment in th
Bulls Head, Girard township, six ant
Il half miles west of McGregor. At thi.
saloon Andrew Thompson was an Occa
sional visitor. After Hagerty's enlist
ment Mrs. Hagerty continued the sa
loon,, and Thompson increased his Wis.
its; While Hagerty was in the army
runiors Of an Intimacy between his wife
aud Thompson became rife, aud on
Hagerty' = return he was informed of
the situation by sympathising friends.
The matter WAS settled somehow be-
tween himself and Mrs. H., and for Il
while they lived together, but Thomp-
son still visited the saloon aud Hagerty
expecting continued undue intimacy
between him and his wife, left her and
his three children, one girl--the eldest
and two boys, with his property and
went to the gold mines. We believe, mt
a subsequent period, Hagerty returned,
but Mrs II. refused to have anything To
do with him, having during his absence
with Thompson's aid, procured a di-
vorre, but she desired him to turn over
his real estate at Bulls Head to her
This he consented to do If she would al
low him to stay one night with her
She asscnted; lac stayed, and in the
morning executed the necessary in-tru
ments conveying in full the property to
his wife, now divorced from him. AT
ter this he left the country and has
since kept away. Andrew Thompson
now, rs Mrs Hagerty's agent, sold her
saloon property, retaining the money,
and, we believe, giving her Il note for
the amount. lie c0nstructeda small
from his own dwelling, and thither he
moved Mrs. II. and children continuing
his intimacy under the eyes of his par
cnts and family, much tothe annoyance
and scandal of the immediate neghbor
hood, but withal so quietly that but
few, out of the immediate locality, knew
of the scaudalous proceedings. Last
spring Mrs. Thompson left and refused
to rcturn while Mrs. III. remained there,
which fact convinced the most charita-
Bile that she was not what she should be,
and made II necessary for Thompson to
devise measures to relieve himself Of
her presence in the ncighborhood. Ac-
cordlngly, he took her to PoStville, and
on the 9TH of December, Thompson or
some one for him, hired rooms in this
city, and bought some furniture, among
which was Il stove, and Mrs. Haycrty
under an assumed name prepared for
housekeeping. These rooms were on
the second floor, adjoining the Nrnrs Of.
flee, and entered 10y the same stairs and
from the same landing as the Ncirs Of
flee. The writer by request assisted
her in getting her stove in place. aud
while doing so observed the family to
consist Of besides Mrs. H. bright,
1.-the, graceful girl Of fourteen Of fifteen,
and two smart, active boys, one 10 or T.
and the other S or 10 years Of age The
day after, the oldest boy came into our
office and asked if we would not buy
their wood aS his ma was going IT, move.
We went to the door with him Mrs. II.
said she did not like McGregor, it cost
too much to live here an d she had deter
mined to move to Michigan or Illinois,
we do not distinctly remember which,
and requested Us to buy the half cord Of
wood she had purchased the day before.
We paid her for the wool returned to
our office and saw her no more. The
weather was extremely cold, and that
night, it seems, ThompsOn's sleigh.
driven by himself or hi, agent, took her,
her family and good from their home of
II day, out on the cold, dark, gloomy
journey, whose end was death. We let
The testimony given at the preliminary
trial thi, week tel! the balance of the
story.
CATER giving the testimony at great
length, the NctrS proceeds:
FROM Tie above testimony it viii b.
seen that the murder of this fami'y
was one OF the most cruel to be found i'm
the annals OF crime. They were drag.
Seu about IN intensely cold weather du-
ring three or four days, sleeping out
doors. sick, cold. hungry beWIldered,
beiie\lng that they were being taken to
some place "lahoie, hat har>hiy treated,
the mother Probably in the early stages
OF rarturltioh, the young girl sick.
lal'itiiS from Exposure or poison, the
little boys freezing and 'efuseI permits
SION to warm, untl all hcuummed, per-
maps 70 insens!b'llty, by the cold, they
Were thrown into the icy waters
At the close of the examination the
counsel for the defence inter, o,cd no
objection to an order that Thompson
he ned to answer amy charge that may
be preferred by the grand Jury. He
Was taken to. GarnaNi.lo Jail Tor safe
keeping until action of the grand ju-
~.
The man who acted As guide to-
Lieut.. Iebulon NJ. Pike, at the time of
his discovery Of Pixies Peak in 1906, j.
now living at C"ncio>, Colorado, and Is
one hundred years old
NtfltE is hereby given that Nathan Frink