The New York herald., 1871-09-09
ANOTHER MURDER MYSTERY.
Foul Play, in the Wilds Of West~
chester County. .rr
4 Crime Discovered Alter Twenty Years-Hcw q
skele.on Was Concealed Under Shoe
Shop-Position Of the Remains When
~ Found-suspscted Robbery and
Murder-An Official Inves- iaf
EEel tigation Comm ,nced -i,E Ior-

ll tigation Comm snced .,lg aor-
d As though lotn to sppear In the background DUR
ing the present epidemic Of ghastly sensations tho
adjoining county OF We5rchester furnishes indis-
putable evidences Of q murder mystery which has.
puzzled and perpexed many OF Its Inhabitants for,
the past twenty years. Z"
In the quiet hamlet OF Unionyille, situated about
thirty miles from New York. and Immediately on
the like OF the Harlem Railroad, journeyman shoe
maker, OF dissipated habits and quarres0me pro-
pensities, named Thomas Browne, suddenly.
disappeared from the neighborhood. and
under concatenatlonr OF suspicious circum-
stances which left an mdellble impression on
the minds Of the community that he had met with
foul play, 1t was well known that 'Tom" Browne
had been in the employ OF one Ephraim Jones for
o perion Of two or three years. during which ume.
several st.tt rrn os '.frr.1 oqf = al ..
BLOODY ENCOUNTERS TOOK PLACE =
between the employer aud his journeyman. both OF
whom were strongly addicted to the abuse OF In
toxlcating drink. Equally we'll has 1t been ascer-
tained that about the time Browne disappeared ne
had just drawn the accumulated wages OF several
months from Jones' who has never attempted
to disprove the damning cIrcumstance that 1t was
he who last saw the missing man in The netghbor-
hood either alive dead. Some eight or ten years
himselfin or about lsl5 and which occupied site
on the same lot as that on which his DWELL
ing stood, ana not more than perhaps twenty
nve feet from the latter. The snoe shop
now stands about half mile from the original ste
where 1t assisted in concealing for nearly quarter
Of century the results OF ,. q.
A DIABOLICAL MURDER.
Having abandoned the manufacture OF shoes,
JONES' in Orler to "make both ends meet"
- H.
dividing line running directly over the
spot formerly occupied by the shoe shop. Last
April the purchaser concluded to replace the dapi
dated fence denotng the boundary line OF his lot BY
o more modern and elaborate specimen OF wood
work, and while In the act OF digging q post hole,
one oi the laporers drove his spade through
THE SKULL OF i HUMAN BEING =.
at depth OF not more than eighteen inches from
the earth's surface. A rurther search revealed
almost an entire skeleton, which bore the appear
ance Of having been placed there IN sitting
RSs with the head ,s force:
Securing ss sssS ana other p0' me%sn as
the probable ownership OF the bones WINCH were.
fast commingltng with mother eartll. some Of them
in MS restdence, 70 take look at the remains bns
taatindvldua! pleaded Illness ana refused 20 leave
the bones were thrown bacR into the hole, which
was at Once filed up with earth. It is somewhat
declared, Dy those living In the rnelghbOrhood be
thai 81 the missing man. no one mad sumcent ap-.
IMPORTANT Discovery - ,
to promulgate the fact or cause any Of the county
officials to be ne!lfed 9 the suggcstive occurrence
When 1t IL considered that pablo graveyard. con.
tanning the dust or many generations. Is situated
but lew hundred yards from the spot 10 which the
perperared becomes almost an absolute oertatuty.l
AS the discovery Of the bones has since proved e.
n6sSsants Il Tnonve The try eacne she ear
OF q private detective IRON New York named Thomas
Slowey' Tno was On yisit 70 the hamlet lew days
called upon Coroner Meeks, who, On being informed
Ing an official investigation into toe mysterious
affair. Yesterday having been decided upon for the
& = -el ExHUMArION OF THs REMAINS, !o ~ -N
Coroner Meeks proceeded 70 iUnionvllle, accom- !
panied BY The defective already named Constable
william Watts and repfesentatye q the aSsALD
brought the party to the modest dwelling OF
Jones ana . the scene Of the recent sensational
naying been pointed out ~ the party VINO aug them
up in April one OF the Officers siepped over 10 call
SSsn Ss ss 5cs sa DrouaSs u
the light OF day. JONES' VINO Is q power.
iss sai @ syasScs sSs a ss sa
iron constitution and unusually muscular ability /
walked, or rather tOttered MECHANICALLY, to the l
place where his garden turnips were be ng rooted
up preparatory TO aexnumlng the mortal remnants
OF nlmanlty Wnlcn were decayiug beneath them.
While tile earth was being removed ana ever and
anon el I1l ~ -s il1 lsiaAi'a9 esf ,tAtt
3 PORTIONS OF A SKULL :. saliss "
some OF the larger bones occasional well.pre.
served tooth were being carefully placed In heap
Jones was closely questioned regarding lha disapl
pearance OF ms former empi0ye and many othe
circumstances conpected thereyith. the old man.
while Detrsying ll.ue emotion except .e~
10 A DEATHLIkE .PALL0R. ...... ..'. ~ y
which 0verspread MS features, looked calmly ct tn
bones and, after handling some Of the teeth, ex T
pressed MS Deliei tnat the body Of man mus
nave been buried there In REGARD to the mysteri0u
disappearance OF Browne, he was unable 10 ga
how or when ne left, although giving several COZ
Trajectory versions OF the affair. He also stated tina
he mad beaten Browne severely, shortly before TN
latter left for throwing fork at his tyonesb vile
Among The .st d
STATEMENTS MADE BY JONES N
was one setting forth thai che night before Browne
left he got up from has bed over the shoe shop AND
came 10 the dwelling house, where he said that ho
had been robbed OF Sill; that ut Brownies request
he took him TO Tarrytown early on the fol-
Sing Sing, since which time ne tJones, had not seen
him. When questioned closely, however. IN lew
minutes afterwards, the 0sd man asserted that he
last Browne standing In front OF the shop, hav.
Ing ON ms head "a nigh Topped hat. u
On cOnverslng with some Old citizens OF the place
Jones had murdered the unfortunate man and
then thrust his warm body into hole
hastily dug under the noor Of tho shoe shop.
IL was also said that the wife OF the
missing man came TO Unionvlle In search Of her
husband since his disappearance. No one appears
to Know her Whereabouts at present ,..-..,...lJ
The Coroner took charge Of the bones. and after
securing the attendance OF some important Wit ID
nesses, whose names were furnished MN, intends
holding an inquest Al an early day. =. "a