Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1871-06-01
Rull0f.


THIS name has appeared almost every
day in the New York papers for some
months past. The wretch who bore it
was hung at Binghamton, N. Y, few
days ago.
The case was of more than ordinary in
terest on account of Rulloff's being STU
dent, and the author of essays and works
on languages which displayed a large
amount of erudition. He was engaged on
a pathological treatise in his prison CELL
and continued his work upon it with the
utmost GOODNESS up to the morning of the
day on which he sufferd the extreme pen
atty of the law for the crime of murder.
All these facts excited great deal of
curiosity, but very little sympathy for the
condemned man. There has been nothing
like his case in the annals of crime since
Eugene Aram, whom he seems in some
respects to have resembled. Edward III.
Rullotf was fifty years of age. At sixteen
he had learned all the English branches
and entered lawyers Office, and studied
Greek and Latin in addition to law. Af-
ter this he studied medicine, with the in
tention of becoming doctor, but had long
cherished an idea that he was destined To
make some great discovery in philology.
which would make his name ring the
world over. This seems to have been a
mania with him. He was poor, and was
Obliged to engage as a canal driver at one
time for maintenance. He rose from this
to be the master of select school, and
among his pupils was a girl of sixteen
with whom he fell in love, and who mar
red him much against the wishes of her
parents. At this time he was a shining
light in the town where he lived and lee
tured on phrenology, history, the sciences,
and every imaginable subject. lie after
wards commenced the practice of medicine
and was unsuccessful as a physician. He
quarreled with everybody, including his
wife, and il is supposed murdered her and
child, boxed them up and sunk them deep
in Cayuga Lake. The bodies of his victims
were never found.
lie was tried for the crime, found guilty
on circumstantial evidence, and sentenced
TO death, but broke Jail and escaped. He
was afterwards in Jail for burglary and
robbery, and again effected his escape. He
then appears under various aliases as a
German inguist and portrait painter, and
again gets into jail, and gets out. He af
forwards lived in New York city, pursu-
ing his studies, and was the leading spirit
of a band of robbers. His next public ap-
pearance was at Binghampton, where he
was tried for the murder of Frederick A.
Mirrick, clerk in the dry-goods store of
the Halbert Brothers. The outlines of
this case are as follows:
At about two o'clock in the morning of
August II, 1870, this store was entered at
the rear by three burglars, who were dis
guised in the usual way. They entered on
the ground floor, crept up stairs to the
general sale department, in which two
clerks, named Gilbert S. Burroughs and
Frederick A. Mirrick were asleep guard
ing the premises. The burglars were
noiseless, and in short time had removed
quite an amount of goods to the yard but
suddenly the clerks awoke, and instantly
a struggle took place. Neither of the
boys were over twenty years of age, but
the disfigured and hardly recognizable
bodies of two of the burglars, who after
wards were found dead in the Chenango
River, which flowed near the store, showed
how terribly well they. fought. In the
struggle, Mirrick mastered one of the bur
glars, and was choking him, when
another, afterwards shown TO be Rulloff,
crept up behind him and blew his brains
out. The three then retreated, and Bur-
roughs, rushing into the street, gave the
alarm, and when people came to the store
AIirrick was found bloody and dead but
there was no trace of the murderers ex'
cept pair of shoes which were picked uI
| near the door.
The usually quiet city of Binghampton
was then in the widest excitement; bells
were rung as for fire, and as soon as pos
sible guards were stationed about the
town, whose duty it should be to question
all persons, and arrest all who could moi
| give satisfactory explanation of theiI
business. Nothing, however, was found
which could shed light on the case, until
late in the next night one of the picket
saw man retreating rapidly along the
track of the Delaware, Lackawanna &
Western Railroad He hailed him, but he
refused TO stop, and before Stockwell could
reach him, a coal train passed between the
two, and when it had gone by the man
could not be found. Shortly afterwards
MIR. Chauncey Livingston, who, with pis
tol in hand, sat on his stoop, ready TO cap
turc anybody he might see prowling about
dragged Rullof from behind his barn
door, where he was crouching in abject
terror. When questioned he said that his
name was Charles Augustus. He carried
a satchel and an umbrella, and was respect
ably dressed. He failed TO give satisfac
tory account of himself, and finally was
handed over to the chief of police. The
murder and burglary had been committed
on Wednesday, and on Friday morning
two dead bodies were seen in the Chenan
go River. They were dragged out. Theil
faces showed evidence of severe strug
gle, and on their persons were found bur
glars tools-notably, a bit which exactly
fitted holes bored in the floor of Halbert'S
store. They were removed to the court
house, and there Rulloff was made to look
at them for Identification, but he steadfast
ly maintained that he had never seen them
before. In the evening he was taken be
fore the coroner and district attorney,
questioned and discharged. AS he was
leaving the room, he was recognized by
Judge Balcom as a man who had been
tried before him some years before. With
astonishing presence of mind Rulloti
said: Gentlemen, you see now why
have acted so strangely; the judge would
easily recognize me, and thought best to
keep dark when a murder had been com
mitted" He was permitted to depart in
peace, but was afterwards rearrested, ant
the shoes found on the premises where the
murder had been committed were tried Oh
| his feet-thev fitted exactly