The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1872-09-05

WHOLE ,Asn SLAUGHTER. tee,
Murder Nest Peal and DTuseA leci
PARTICULARS Of the Nodd,cay County do,
HO1voT' the
Of the Mo. 2epubhcan. -;
MARYv1LLE, Mo-, Aug. -. "a
Onr community was thrown into the ~
ELDEST excitement day before yester- Is
ay by the startling intelligence shas 9
nj murder had been committed, -
Wholesale slaughter, SO cold biooded -
nd revolving, that the annals VI ciilio II
urnish no parallel. ,p, :.
THE FACTS. II
Last Tuesday, Mr.. John Grifey, VINO II
nad been attending camp-meetng q
few miles below Maryville, was r. 4
to his home near Clearmont. q
when few miles distant from the G
above named place, he came upon
man with two-horse, covered wagon, I,
the wagon having mired inhis attempt
tn CROSS a slough in the road. The
man was slightly intoxicated, and APP
peared greatly alarmed and excaseo
upon the near approach OF Mr.. GrMey;
Mr.. Griifey Immediately tenaefea
his services to the stranger and ofiefed
to aid him in extricating MS wagon
from the slough. He discovered ON
near approach to the wagon most
disagrceable smell, and asked the man
"what smelt So" The stranger rePiiou
that at was quarter Of beef, wnicn1
| was tainted and nearly spoiled. When1
asked why he did not throw the peel
out and thus tighten the load, ne re,
!. piled that "they,n his horses, could
| s'easily pull it out"
II He very strangely declined the prof
fered aid of Mr.. Grifey, and COM
j menced to urge his horses to their ut
J most strength. The horses after re-
peated efforts, finally succeeded u
) pulling the wagon from the slough
e but in doing SO. cracked the neck yoke
8 when out Of the slough he drove q
/, fast as possible In the direction Q
v Clearmont, evidently trying to dis
1 tance Mr.. Grifey, who having HI
j. suspicious aroused by the strange &C
le lions Of the man, followed in pursuit
Clearmont was soon reached an
,oil here the stranger stopped for the pul
Is pose of repairing the neck-yoke. a
A. before stated, he was under the innt
4. ence of liquor, and acted very strang'
oflly. giving q little girl Ave dollars
bring him drink Of water. The M
then left the wagon. Mr.. Crime
M and others now having their suspl
!. ons fully aroused by the strfnge col
duct Of the man, and the fearful stent
vs. that came from the wagon, determine
D. to make an examination ofits content
a. which they did. 4.
ry HAIL, HORRORS, HAIL!
No pen can do justice to the feari
IN sight that met their gaze. ImaSi
me their feelings reader, If yon can, VII
The we draw the picture as they saw
The Within that wagon lay five human
* ings, covered with blankets. Tn
no were piled promiscuously together g
IA were partly decomposed, PRESENT.
.re- one Of tho most fearful sights that
the eye Of mortal ever TIT
eIy The victims were two men one
he man and two small children, all W
TIL their throats cut from ear to ear. Tn
lws were probably sleeping in
Qlls / WdkOH ~ tuO tliC VI Vic Ill
md der, for they were found in their nii
lis- clothes. The body Of one of the m
emit was cut nearly in two, and bore e
ere dences of hard struggle for life.
ar; The good citizens Of Clearmont w
,rsl not slow to act. Many advised
of immediate lynching of this living I
ub- ample Of total depravity, and thou
ebt all agreed that enough was alrea
t il known to condemn him to spec
,ral and righteous death, he was spar
the that he might tell who his acco
tics piiccs were, If any, in this fear
his tragedy.
! to Upon being asked for particulars
Use, to what he knew of the crime, he
ted first feigned ignorance of having |
e. dead bodies in the wagon, and v
lay non. conlmittal and evasive. Bel
ore told that unless he revealed the tru
be- he would be strung up at once, he
of NAMED silent and refused to COME
our The citizens then proceeded to ia
he matters into their own hands, a
the We're about to carry the threat
cen lynching into execution, but the wre,
cen by this time became alarmed, and
of gan to pray, thinking to beg of. Tw
the he was strung up, and not until he v
We let down the second time, did he ma
o. the following statement, which / CO
an from the Nodaway Democrat, publ
hat ed this day:
MIS-
in me fiENps CONFESSION.
He said his name was Osburn: n
his wife and wife's mother lived n,
Mt. Aver, in Ringgold county, Io1
He said his mOther-in-law's name v
u'y Delilah Ayers, and that he had
Tue, five years old. He said the name
the murdered family is Ormes: Il
they went to Kansas from Minneso
ew last spring; that the name of the oil
murdered man was Daniel Dickersc
that he had accompanied the murd
ed family from Minnesota to Kans
ON and was cousin to Mrs. Ormes.
ON said that Joseph Williams murder
the party on last Thursday night, n,
MS Holton, Kansas, and hired him, 70
consideration of 500, to conceal
bodies that he started to do 40, inter
-" ing to secrete them in the brush pate
me that there was keg of whiskey IN /
wagon, from which he had freely i
bibed, and had been drunk ever sine
nc that he desired to put them in the M
the souri, river, but that he got to VIII
Cloud in the day time, and could +
do SO. He states that he could i
yer find any suitable place to hide the
dies; that it appeared to him that Pl
in violence was against him, and smote i
,e's conscience SO that he was not conscio
~. of what he was doing.
'o He stated that Williams followed /
sss. Ormes family from Minnesota, for /
It purpose of numbering them that I
cause OF his hate was an old love aft
Its between himself and Mrs. Ormes I'll
an Williams had sworn to slav Orm