Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1869-03-25
The Stnrp Teller,
WILL MURDER OUT ?

UM S1org WRllRE.
Will MURDER OUT a?
In the Galaxy, for March, We find the following
records of murder, which are equal to romance.
De Quincy said murder was one Of the fine arts
and cases like the following almost corroborate that
assertion:
THE BUCKsoN CASE.
In the year 1851, Captain John Buckson lived,
with his wife Nancy in handsome cottage in the
village of Seakonk, near Providence, Rhode Island,
in the enjoyment of competence acquired by
many years of frugal industry. He was, however,
often absent from home, as he still pursued his vo
cation, and was master of the sloop "Oregon,
rlying between Providence and Norfolk, Virginia.
He had then reached his iftieth year and his
hard seafaring life had not made him look younger
than be was. He was tall, gaunt and angular,
weather-stained and storm beaten. His short stit
hair was grizzled, and his long narrow face, fur
rowed by deep lines, but his physical powers ap'
peared to be still untouched, and he seemed as
sured of long continuance Of active life.
His temperament was favorable to lusty lon
gevity. He was patient and apparently so pas
soness that he stared at the cares and troubles Of
life, as at strangers with whom he could not posi-,
bly have dealings He avoided quarrels and all
unseemliness with scrupulous care, and was known
on his vessel and in his village only as sedate,
God-fearingman, kind d-hearted and even-tempered.
But be had positive points in his character, and
the requisite friction would produce the natural
glow As in all equable men, his anger burned
with dim light but intense heat, and hence, with
him, knitting of the brows, or twitching of the
hands, meant more than the widest signs of pas
sion in other men, and his word OF wrath was
weightier than the brawlers blow. But he SO
loved peace and so sedulousy courted it, that bis
most intimate associate remembered as memorable
epochs the rare occasions when his temper had
given way. ~ =, -.
own hearth-stone. Mrs. Nancy Buckson was
many years his Junior in age, and in important re-
spects his opposite in character. 10 her youth
she added comeliness of person. Though thor
oughly good woman at heart, she yet embittereo
her life and his by constant efforts to do more thar
her duty. Nervous and irritable, she became fret
fully volube in her assertions of her own merit:
and his short comings. Soin the summer of 1851
the neighbors began to pity poor Captain John a:
henpecked husband, and the inroads Of the wife
upon the domestic quietude were noticed as OF con
stantly increasing frequency and bitterness. Cap
tain John, however, bore the infction with his &C
customed patience.
But the end was at hand. One evening in the
last week of July, a neighbor, James Pauls, ir
passing the house. heard Nancys tongue going al
an unusual rate, and glancing through the window
saw Buckson standing before her. He seemed
reused at last, and although Pauls could not heal
his words, he saw the knitted brows and twitchine
hands, in one of which stout whipcord was con-
vulsively grasped. The scene was indeliby stamp
ed BY after events, upon the memory of the acci
dental witness, and he could always see, even tt
the most minute details, the enraged woman, con
fonted BY that quiet, concentrated man, struggling
with his passion, and fdgetting with whipcord
At the time, however, Pauls gave no especla
weight to the circumstance, and stopping at the
village inn on his way home, only casually remark
ed to the inevitable loungers, that he ''reckonec
Nancy would keep on naggin' of Captain Johr
until she riled him."
The next morning the cottage was closed and de-
serted, but the circumstance did not excite remark
Buckson, it was presumed, had gone to Providence
to prepare bis sloop for sea, and Nancy had hab
it of making sudden pilgrimages to the neighbor
ing towns. The event, then, was so far from be-
ing suspicious, that it was not even unusual.
In those days magnificent forest stretched tt
the northward from the little town, interspersee
with patches of open land where the blackberry
grew in great abundance This wonder and de-
light of the American gades had fully rpened un
der the hot July sun, and the children of the vii
lage were busily employed in gathering the fruit
That afternoon the patches were unusually crowd
ed. One group of children started home just be-
fore sundown, taking their way direct through the
wood without regard to beaten paths. They had
gone but short distance when the little dog that
was with them stopped and began to sniff eagerly
at a spot of ground which appeared to have been
recently disturbed Giving long mournful howl
the dog scratched furiously with his paws in the
sand, and in moment had uncovered human
hand Howling more mournfully than before, he
bounded off couple of feet, andtore at the ground
with redoubled energy. He soon completed bis
task, and the children saw woman's face, pale
and rigid, imbedded in the moist, clayey earth
With but one glance at the horror, they dropped
their pals and fled to the village The dog detec
tive remained yelping over the crime he had un
earthed.
Every village, probably has its sensation at some
time, and that Of Seakonk came with the story Of
the children. As the tidings spread from house
to house the people gathered at the inn, and ca
gerly discussed what should be done and who
should do it. At last, all the male inhabitants
headed by the Squire bearing a lantern, and pi
loted by the children started out to investigate thu
matter But the pilots were not needed, as tht
dog still maintained his watch; and with his mourn
full howlings echoing through the dim woods, thu
party could not 90 astray. Reaching the spot
they all gathered around it, and the Squire ad
vanced and, kneeling down, wiped the dirt from
the face of the dead woman with the skirt Of hi
coat Then he held the lantern over it.