Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-10-11
AN EXTRAORDINARY NARRATION
Confession Of the Murderer OF a
Mother and her Two Children.
;. Pushed Through the Ice."

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From the Chicago Tribune
The most remarkable case of murder
which ever took placein this country was
that of the Hagerty family in Iowa, by a
man named Andrew Thompson. The
murder was Committed in December,
1868, and was discovered in May, 1863.
He was indicted in September, 1869, tried
and convicted in June, 1870, and SEN
fenced to be hanged on the 9th of Sep
tember following. The case, however,
has been taken to the Supreme Court of
Iowa on exceptions. In the meantime
the prisoner has made full confession
and statement of the whole transaction.
A copy of this statement, making thirty
nine pages Of closely printed matter, is
before us, and we condense the following
facts from its pages:
Maria Hagerty was an Italian by birth,
and, while domestic in the family OF
Governor Ramsey, of Minnesota, married
man named John Hagerty. She moved
to Bulls Head, Clayton county, Iowa,
but she subsequently obtained divorce
and left him She was uneducated, but
handsome woman, of great vivaclty
and very passionate. She was remark.
able for the taste shown in her own and
her childrens dress. At the time of her
death she was about thirty-fve years OF
age. She had three children-Anna,
aged II years; Andrew, IL, and John, 10
years. The last seen of them alive they
we're standing on the sidewalk in Nc
Gregor, Iowa, dressed and bundled up,
as If waiting for vehicle to take them
away. This was in December, 1868.
On the 2Sth of May following, a fish
erman hauled ashore, near Prairie du
Chen, in his seine, trunk, which
among other things. contained photo
graphs of Mrs. Hagerty and her chill
dren, and also of Andrew Thompson.
At nearly the same date, the bodies of a
woman, girl and two boys were found in
the Mississippi river, between Caseyville,
Wisconsin, and Dubuque, Iowa. The
bodies we're assumed to be those Of per
sons lost during the winter by the up
setting of ferry boat, and were buried.
Thompson appeared to be much mysti.
fied at the finding of the trunks. Several
citizens of McGregor went down the
river, and had the bodies of the woman
and children taksR up, and from the
clothing, the ear rings aud other partic-
ulars, had no difficulty IN identifying
.hem as the remains of Mrs. Hagerty
aad her children. They had their bon
nets, cops and clothing on, and were
generally wrapped up as for travelling.
Suspicion rested on Thompson, and he
was subsequently arrested, with the re-
sult we have stated. The defense mainly
was that the crime had been committed
in Wisconsin, aud not in Iowa. In Iowa
the punishment for murder is death; In
Wisconsin it is Imprisonment for life.
THOMPSON confession processes to be
candid statement Of his whole acquain-
tanee with the woman to the hour of heI
death. il is certainly as plain and as
ccld-blooded recital as ws have ever
read. 1t seeks 10 establish four points
That he woman iavsigled him into Q
criminal intercourse, which, atter several
years. ended in tse birth Of phlld
which she strangled and he burisd
knowing the manner ofits death. Z. lna'
he was in good circumstances, and had
large circle of respectable relatives, ano
thenceforward sought TO separate from
the woman; that he offered her money
and liberal support to go elsewhere
and live, and that she rejected all these
insisting upon his separating from his
wife and marrying her, or his abandon
ing his family and going elsewhere 70
live with her, and that, as part OF her
plan, she sought to poison his wife, and
held their guilty connection in ferr0reB
over him. 3. That at last she was in
duced, on his promising TO go to Cali,
fornia with her, to remove from his
premises; but, failing to go with her a
the appointed time, she coerced him tc
start with her TO Illinois, where, she said
they should live. 4. That, in pursuance
Of this plan they started, in an oper
sled, with their baggage and trunks
crossed into Wisconsin, and while OF
their way through that State toward Hi
nois, the deaths took place.
He hired her in June 1861, to helT
his wife, and for over two years she
worked occasionally for him athis house.
In December, 1863 she assisted his fam
lily duriug an attack Of scarlet fever, and
at the end Of that time, at the earnest
solicitation of his wife he consented tC
her staying there during the winter. and
in the spring Of 1864 he consented 10 hel
living in a house on his farm, with hel
children, and set apart several acres Of
land for their use, and gave them COW
At this time he admits that he became
intimate with her, and continued so unit
December, 1866, when the eh;la vas
born, as stated. # I
For two years the struggle continued
he 70 induce her TO 20 away, and she tC
force him TO substitute her for his wife
All the circumstances Of which he de
tails Finally, they left McGregor il
the sled. December 8, after dark. crossed
the river on the ferry, and went first t'