Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1872-07-11
TRIPLE MURDER AND SUICIDE.

| IloWnSnlp,elSnU miles from CleVe-
land a most terrible domestic
tragedy occurred. A mother,the
wife of Henry Y. Southworth,
killed her three children and in
flicted fatal wound upon her.
self. She had not been in her
right mind for some time past
owing to illness, and was heard
to say at one time that she was
only a burden and had it in her
mind to kill herself and stake
her children with her." No one
dreamed that she would execute
so terrible a purpose. Sunday
morning Mr.. Southworth left
home early to look for a servant
girl. He returned about four in
the afternoon and found his three
boys lying upon the parlor floor,
stiff and dead, and upon a sofa in
the hall lay his wife covered with
blood that flowed from a wound
inflicted in her throat. The It'd
ings soon spread through the
neighborhood, and friends hast
ened to the scene of death.
So sad spectacle as that in
the little parlor is rarely seen, and
none will wonder that it brought
tears to eyes longunused to weep
There lay the little dead boys,
each with pillow under his
head, napkin covering his face,
and his hands folded over his
breast. With feelings that none
could imagine or comprehend,
the mother had watched them as
they breathed out their young
lives, and then, before the final
act in the tragedy, she carefully
composed their forms upon the
floor.
The circumstances show that
the wound upon her throat was
made while standing before a
looking glass, in the dining room
just back of the hall. Upon a
chair under the mirror was
bloody case knife with which she
did the deed. The knife was dull
and nothing but the most des-
perate determination could have
nerved her arm. There was
large pool of blood upon the
floor where she stood. With a
singular carrying out of the me-
thodical ideas which mark the
tragedy in every stage, after the
wound was made she had gone to
an adjoining bedroom, (her path
way beng traced by the blood)
taken a sheet from the bed and
thrown it over a couple chairs in
such a manner as to conceal the
pool upon the floor. This done
her work was finished and she lay
down upon the sofa in the hall
to die. q.a ts.
Two letters were found in the
room in which lay the bodies of
the children, both addressed to
her husband. They were written
with the head of a darning needle
she having no pen in the house.
One of them was evidently writ
ten before she had entered upon
the work of death. In it she re-
preached her husband for unkind-
ness. to her in various ways and
declared that life had become
such burden to her that she
could no longer endure it. 4
The second letter, a brief note,
was written after the death of the
children. 1t begins: "My chill
dren are now In heaven! In this
note she bade farewell to. all her
friends, mentioning several by
name.
,Unquestionably the children
were killed by poison, but pre-
cisely in what manner will prob
ably never be known. 1t is stat
elk that she had had an ounce of
laudanum for aweek previous and
the vial which contained it was
found empty. Some of the physi.
clans expressed the opinion that
this amount was scarcely suffic-
lent to have taken the lives OF all
while the rigidity of the bodies
and limbs were of a character pc
culiar to strychnine, and it is be-
lieved that she must have admin
istered this fatal agent, probably
in their dinner. Her own ap-
pearance indicated that she had
taken a portion of the laudanum.
Without doubt the deeds were
committed while the unfortunate
woman was partially. insane, the
result of long continued i'll health
and great depression of spirits.
To what extent her mental condi-
ton was due to the conduct .ofthe
husband, as indicated in her let
ter, is a question on which the
neighbors and friends differ in
opinion. y3.I I'll. Aol -. yi