Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1871-11-16
From the Lima (Ohio) Gazette.
A DESPERATE CHICAGO REFUGEE.
He Attacks a Farmer and Gets Killed.

He Attacks a Farmer and Gets Killed
| The fire in Chicago has begun to
make itself felt in the rural dis
tricts. Additions are daily made
to the population of the country
towns. These additions consist
generally of men with SCARED faces
and sinister looks, who are looking
around for some opening in the
way oil business and trade. ..
On last Saturday, Oct. %, one of
these enterprising unfortunates Wis
tied some of our farmers in Amanda,
German, and Marion Townships, in
this county. He was in the horse
trade. Wherever he went he want
ed to buy horses. All day Saturday
was consumed in fruitless attempts
to buy a horse, Night found him in
Marion Tp., about 3 miles west of
Elida.
Between and 8 o'clock in the
evening he entered the house of An
drew Stever. Stever is about sixty
years old, a bachelor, and has the
reputation of owning considerable
of this worlds goods. He lives alone
in small log cabin, is the owner of
the farm on which the house is sit
uated, and has. resided here for
twenty years past. He has the re-
putatiOn of being a peaceable,q quiet,
and inoffensive man.
After entering the house of Ste
yer, our horse buyer from the burnt
district introduced the subject of
horses, and proposed to buy one
from Stever. Stever had none to
sell. He then inquired for matches,
and requested Stever to furnish him
with some. This Stever proceeded
to do. The matches had scarcely
passed from his hand before the
stranger drew from his pocket a re-
volver, and presenting it at Stever,
asked him 'if he saw thatY Stever
replied that he did, but that this
was no place for it,. Stever in the
mean time had observed that the
features of his visitor were disguis-
ed by daubing mud in his mustache
and whiskers, which were of not
more than weeks growth. Stever
therefore,, by the way of precaution,
(and which precaution had probably
been quickened by the sight of the
revolver) opened the blade of a
pocket.knife, and kept it in his hand
his hand in his pocket.
A motion on the part of the strang-
er to present his revolver was the
signal on which Stever acted. Grasp
ing the hand that held the pistol
with his left hand, he told the man
he must leave the house. A terrible
struggle ensued. Tables were turn
ed over and broken, and everything
movable in the house was dis
placed. Stever kept his hold upon
the pistol arm, while the stranger
strove to beat him over the head |
with the pistol as severely as was
possible under the death grip of Ste
yer. While this was going forward
he continued with his right hand to
ply the knife. This he continued to
do, although he was under, to so
good purpose that to use his own
language, he made him 'grunt.' His
hold upon Stever relaxed, when Ste
yer raised from the floor, the strang
er rising with him.
On getting to their feet the
stranger reeled and fell in the portal
of the door, when Stever jumped |
over him and ran to a neighbor-a
Mr.. Carr. With Mr.. Carr he
returned to the house, where they
found the nocturnal visitor where
he fell. He gave one or two gasps
after they got to the house and was
dead. The Coronor's inquest on
developed the following
facts: Before entering the house he
had visited the stable and procured
n bride. This, with his hat, over
coat, and shawl he left near stack
Of straw. On his person was found
six watches, two revolvers, one sin
gle barreled pistol, and $S3 so in
His arms were tattooed
with India ink, was apparently about
Is years old, with as forbidding fea-
lures as one seldom sees. There
was nothing on his person to mark
who he was or whence he came. The
,oroner's jury examined Stever, land
,he body of the unknown was dis
posed of by the coroner.