Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1872-03-21
CY, MINNESOTA, THURSDAY, MARCH 81, 1872.

svVsSO NVs3 "SuU VUHnBU
'TY, MINNESOTA, TT
THE DAYTON TRAGEDY.
Iatervievv With tho Prlsoner-st~tc-
ments OF tho Maniac NIur1lercr.
From tho Dayton Journal, March II.
The maniac husband and father was
in q cage in the 3ation house asleep.
when he awakened to tell his story to
us. When aroused lie struck us at
once a. q deranged m1n, although his
naturally red face suggested intemper-
ance. But his story disabused us of
that impression. At the close he said {:
II drank more yesterday than I ever
drank in one day in my life. and I did
not feel it at ALL" We Thought him a
man at least fifty years old. His orig.
inally dark brown hair was grizzly, like
q foolishly fashiohably powdered head,
though not as powdery as fashion die
tates to her votaries. His hair was
long and lank, particularly on one
side; his face red, long, and thin,
with . strong, straight nose; fore
head low. eyes gray and small
witha Wild, sharp outlook. He was
respectfully dressed; said he chad on
his good clothes, and though q work
ingman, the feeling and shake of his
hand was like woman's. He said his
story would take an hour. Late as it
UNA vvo to16 him ~, M m NJ .o:1
his name is Leonard Marquardt; is a
Hessian, 35 years old came to this
country when he was 18: has sister
residing near Newark, N. j.; married
Catharine Walter, in this country, when
he was q, and separated from her be-
cause she had q child after they were
married a little over four months.
Eight years ago he married Mary
Miller, q German woman, at Beaver.
town, who had been separated from her
husband for about the same reason
that had caused the divorce between
him and Oatbarine Walter. He loved
Mary, and she loved him, and they
had been true to each other. They
had six children in eight years, the
youngest only months old, being one
Of the three that were murdered. "Go.l
knows" he said, II don't know how
he died." He and Mary had not lived
-unhappily, but then there were differ
ences. She believed in witches, and he
believed in her. They first got to
"playing the fool about heaven. -
Both were Lutherans, though neither
went to church, nor saw o clergyman,
and r,nuou ho1 n~~,$1,s~~ IN 4.
spiritualism. She had notions that she
must do as God and the devil told her.
If God did not answer her after three
appeals, the fourth answer was from the
devil, and she thought-his story
that she must do what both
God and the devil told her. They
both prayed. He was devout !;
she, according to his story, didn't have
faith. They had children rapidly, ana
she told him how to record their names
in the Bible. Both read the Bible, and
their first controversy was about heaven.
Their first child, now over seven years
old, was named Elizabeth, after the
mother of John the Baptist, at his
wife's dictation; the second after Ha-
bakkuk, the prophet; the third after
John the Baptist this child dying when
eight months old); the fourth Leah ::
the fifth Samuel; the sixth Magdalene.
Leah, Samuel, and Magdalene were the
three who were murdered, Elizabeth
and Habakkuk escaping.
The unhappy wretch told long story
about his discussions with; his wife about
witches, God and the devil. He said
she urged him to take fire to the woods
and burn the cloek and looking glass
on it, because God had told her to.
She had taken things from her relations
Cher father died several years ago)
which she thought bewitched, and
wanted them burned. She told him
that bundle of rags were her mother,
and insisted that she should he burned
in crock. He knew God-in whom
he "believed, had not ordered these
things to be burned, because they
wouldn't burn. Meantime the children
got to be believing in witches. They
said that their mother taught them so,
and they persuaded him that he could
catch the witches in his hands and
squeeze them to death. "Mary," -"
he said, "would ask three times of
God, and if she got answer, all right;
if she didn't, then it was
tho devil When the devil answered
then I would quit, and say it was fool
cry. Then Mary would get mad, but I
couldn't have had better wife. We
were both kind to each other through
all this foolery." The pathos of this
poor fellow in this recital was extreme.
" touching, especially when he went
over F." Mary was 4 good wife; I could
mt have better. I didn't intend to
kill her, but I did," Then he went on
to describe wild dance they had had
to kill witches how they killed them !;
then that Mary had a ha1lucination that
she ought to cut off his head; that she
took knife and cut through his neck
handkerchief into his skin until he bled.
when she said that his neck was hard
as iron, and that God didn't intend
that his head should be cut off. "Oh
how We hollored!" said the poor luna.
tic. "Then we butted our heads
against the wall, and I told Mary to
hit me on the head with q hatchet. She
did, but it didn't do any good. IT was
sore next day, but is we'll now" This
was last week some time; the poor fel'
low could not remember: "It seemed
to me-" he said, "that as Mary COULDN'T
cut my head off with q sharp knife
when I told her to cut away, that moth
ing could kill me. I felt that as lon1
a. believed in God Almighty nothing
could hurt me. 1 did believe in Him
read my Bible day and night, and
believed in God Almighty with all m,
SOUL"
THE LAST DAY.
We inquired about the childre1
again. He said they believed in witche
as strongly as Mary did. They wer
not afraid of him, but always when h
came home they met him with q shout
But Mary would have spells. On Fri
day last, she went to bed, and laid a.
If she were dead, and he couldn t arous,
her. She said she saw vision of he
own coffin, and the coffins of the chill
dren, but not his. She said the ent
was soon coming. She did not under
stand it. He didn't want her to 20 t.
Heaven without him, "but if Coz
Almighty said SO, it must be So" Sh'
had one of these spells. Sh'
went to bed, and wouldn't re
up. He thought she was dead
She didn't feed the children
and wouldn't have o fire. They bott
sat up in bed nearly all night. Some
times he would get up and read th
Bible. In the morning she wouldn'
have a fire. He told her he was ''tiret
of this foolery," and if she didn't qui
it he would leave her and never com
back. But he added, pathetically. ("