The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-09-15
MUnDER IN COLD BLOOD.
Two Old Persons, Jacob and Elizabeth Har-
per, Savazciy Butcaercd Near Midway, Ky. =
Great Excitcmcnt in tho Nsiahborhood-
Theories OF the Murder Two Colorcd Boys
yru6cr Arrcsf. :. &

morning by the reception oil. the intelli-
cence Of most cruel deed Of blood that
had been pcrpetratcd during the dark hours
Of the night. The old and feeble brother
of John Harper, the owner Of Lon2fellow,
was murdered in his bed, and his scarcely
les irtrm and aged sister was cut and
hacked with Ratchet until there Is no
hone Of her recovery.
The two brothers, John aud JACOB, and
the sister. Elizabeth, have lived in the same
house together almost since infancy. They
are all between seventy-tvc and eighty
wears Of age. and rs none of them ever
married or formed lasting friendships, or
cultivated their less thrifty kinfolk In their
youth. they have been consigned to q sort
of social isolation in their old age, ind
chung tendcrly and aifectionately to each
other FOR that reason.
Their home Is about fourteen miles from
Lexington. Here they have an estate of
some fourteen OF fifteen hundred acres of
the richest land in Kentucky; enjoy the
reputation OF being worth over half mil
lion. and live in the plainest and most
economical manner, in an old weather.
beaten house that cannot be said to be
much more than shelter.
Here il was that the murder was COM
mttcd here it was that Jacob and his sis
ter retired ut their usually early hour last
evening, aud here it was that the old man
was this morning found cold aud stiff in
death, and his sister bloody and inscnsi5lc
from cruel wounds.
John Harper was at Lexington, looking
after his race horses, or he, too, probably,
would have been Il victim. The old people
were the only occupants OF the houSc-thc
servants sleeping in Il little frame house
some fifty or sixty feet back OF the main
dwelling.
| The murder was not discovered until
these servants went to the house, about SIX
O'clock, TO get breakfast. The doors being
&ll securely locked, and no one answering
the loud and otten-repcated summons, the
people became alarmed and burst into the
house with axes.
| A bloody sight met their gaze within. In
one room lay the body of the old man,
flung dia.onally across the bed, bcssneared
with dark coaguluted blood, his head
| beaten to jelly. His right hand was
clcnchcd, Is il he had made Il struggle for
lie, and one foot nearly touching the floor
! showed that he was trying to rise when he
| was iuug back to die. The bed.clolhnS
were saturated with blood, and on the pill
| low that had hardly been pressed was the
| crimson outlines of hatchet.
The sister was found by the terrified COL
| ore! people lying straight in bed, covered
, with blood, and still bleeding from five hor-
rihe wounds in the head. These wounds
had evidently been made with the same in
strumcnt that hGd been used upon Mr..
Jacob but in his case, however, only the
butt end of the Ratchet was used. On Miss
ElizahctRs unprotected head the sharp
edge bad descended several times. The old
lady was cold and unconscious, but showed
Signs Of some remaining vitality.
The neighborhood was Immediately
aroused, and it was not long before the
whole country around WIS appraised of the
0.cldful occurrence. A score of men stood
ready to go to almost any length to appre-
bend the perpetrators OF the foul deed, but
the mysterious and singular circumstances
rt the affair prevented the adoption of any
thing like 4 settled theory as 10 the plan of
he murder or The Object Of the murderers,
and nobody knowing where to look for the
criminals, it was Il long time before any,
body looked. Some thought tue object was
plundcr; others revenge.
The economical, almost pcnurious habits
Of The llarperS were we'll known. They
were known TO have boarded up great
wealth in bonds and money. Some said
they had accumulated as much rs $50 600.
Aud the impression WAS general that they
kept their treasure concealed about the
house. against the theory of robbery, it
was urged that the house had not been
r.nSacked, rs roOb2rs III quest OF hidden
treasure would have rarSackCd it.
Some OF the c!othCS-pTeSSeS and bureau
drawers had been opened and searched,
bat the places where the family really kept
their raluablcs were overlooked, which
cculd not nave been the case with thieves
working upon prcmedltated plan. The
only money taken was distracted from Mr..
49,, IL, H..
containing more than Il little loose change,
lie carefully pinned ut the top alter deposit
ing there.
1t is not known whether the old man had
any money on him at the time, bu1 from
the TACT that the Notwithstanding pin
was gone il was supposed that he had,
and that it WAS stolen. Besides, il rlunder
alone had been the object, what was the
necessity OF dispatching the old lady, who
had none about her, and was loo much
wasted with consumption to have given
any alarm, or in any way intcrtcred with
the robbery OF murder OF her brother il sue
had become aware Of 1t!
The robbers could not have feared ident-
lication, for there were no candles in either
OF the rooms, and no lights were seen from
outside. Against the theory of revenge or
spite it was urged that the old people,
though very close III all their dealings, were
thoroughly fair and honest, and too intirm
and inOtiensiYC to engcnder hatred. So the
good people who fockcd to the old house
were puzzled. They could make nothing
Of the case whatever.
The coroner OF the county came and held
an inquest, but neither he nor his jury
could clear up the mystery. The testimony
proved next to nothing. One OF the wit
uesscs, young negro by the name Of VIM,
Pryor, got himself into trouble 10y CONTRA
di,liug himself u couple Of times IN the
course OF a rigid and rather brow-beatlng
croSs-eXamination IS to what clothes be
had wcrn the day before, and some other
insignificant points, and one of the jurors,
basing suspicion that be was IN the secret,
on these diverse statements, mad hun sent
to the Versailles Jail for further eXamina-
ton.
. Suspicion also attached to another COL
ored boy by the name of Tom Scott. whom
Old John engaged TO work on tue place for
his board and clothes the preceding Satur-
day, and who left the farm early this morn
Ing Scott was sent to Jail also. Neither
of the boys had bad regulations, and really
appear too young, dull-bralned, ana mex
perienced to hsye made the showing OF IN
nocence they made to-day, with fresh blood
on their hands and mangled corpse still
unburied and almost in their sight.
A further search for the criminals will
have to be made, and it will probably re.
suit in the arrest of the men employed
about the place, or something more tangi-
bic than appears against the TWO boys now
i'll Jail.
The fact that the Ratchet used was one
that had been lying about the kitchen and
wood house for SOME time would seem to
indicate that somebody employed on the
premise. did the deed. IL the murder had
been plotted by outside and expert robbers
they would have been apt to Use their own
tnnlS