The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1873-01-16
THE DERBY POIsONER.
Confession or Mrs. Lydia sherman,
the Murderer Of Three Husbands
and Four Chill dren.

The Hartford Cozrant gives from
} special correspondent the substance Q
the confession recently made by Mrs
Lydia Sherman, the Derby poisoner, t.
the iailor in New Haven. 1t is a feal
full story of crime, and is as follows:
Mrs. Lydia Sherman was arrested il
June, 1871, at New Brunswick, New
Jersey, on the charge Of having mur
dered her husband, Horatio n. Sher
man, in Derby, in this State, in the yea
1871 She was also charged with
numbering two of his children, but wa
only tried for the first crime. Beside
these she wac said to have poisoned tive
other husbands and several Of thei
children. The trial took place il
March, 1872, in New Haven, anc
was noticeable among poison trials fol
the very clear testimony OF Professor
Barker, OF Yale College, who had ex'
amined the remains OF the three frs
mentioned victims. His evidence wa
az conclusive as crcumstantial evidence
could be. The only question was al
to the motive that could lead a sane
person to such step. The trial re-
suited in a verdict of murder in tn,
second degree, the jury uniting in con-
sidering her guilty, but allo wing thai
the circumstantial nature Of the evil
dence permitted Of q reasonable doubt
and 90 did not call it OF the first degree
After she was found guilty she va.
sent to the Jail in New Haven, and she
will be taken from thence 10 the Su-
per;or Court to receive her sentence
some day this week or next.
Since she has been imprisoned her
mind has BEEN seriously troubled, and
recently she has made full confession
of her guilt, and expresses herself as
much relieved thereby. On the 2Sth
day Of December, 1872, she began her
story to the jsilor, Captain Webster.
Mrs. Sherman is a very ignorant
woman. She can scarcely write at all
and, like many persons who have done
less than herself to make history, she
is unable to remember dates with any
accuracy, 80 that in parts her narrative
ia vague. All through her trial, in
court and to her own counsel. she
positively denied ever having poisoned
anybody, aud she begged 10 be allowed
to take the stand and swear thereto, but
she was not allowed to by her counsel.
Mrs. Sherman's story is as follows:
She was born in New Brunswick, n.
j., in 1925, and was early left an or
phan. At the age of seventeen she
Joined the Methodist Church, and at q
love feast there she met Edward S.
Struck, to whom she was subsequently
married. Struck in time became q
policeman in Yorkville, one Of the
suburbs OF New York City. One night
there was q row in a saloon on his
beat, and q detective was killed.
Struck was of without leave. He was
reprimanded and disgraced. 1t troub
led him very much, and finally it
weighed 80 on his mind that he became
crazy and had softening OF the brain.
He was then discharged. When he
recovered it was only TO be very feeble
physically and unable to get any work,
90 that be was only a burden to bis
wife. One day male friend Of hers
suggested that she could get rid Of the
man by poison. She took kindly to
the idea, and gave MIN arsenic in his
food, and she also, with the same poi
son, killed their youngest two child
rem, 80 that they also should not be
burdens to her, and should not have,
as she says, to grow up to lifes cares.
She was not suspected OF this mur-
der, and soon after it went to Litch-
field, in this State, to live. Here she
met one Dennis Hurlburt and married
him, but she did not get along par
ticularly satisfactorily to herself with
him, and 30 she poisoned him.
Soon after his death she was told by
q friend that there was a man in Derby
named Horatio \. Sherman who had
plenty OF money, and had lost his wife.
and that by skillful management, if
she wanted third husband, she could
probably get him. Accordingly she
went there and applied to him for thu
place OF bousekeeper in bis family, and
be engaged her, and subsequently, she
succeeded in marrying him. He had
two small children-Ada and frankie,
and these she determined to poison,
| and did poison; but she did not plan
to poison Sherman. She intended to
EN- mploy the arsenic upon the rats in the
house. as we'll as to kill the children,
and she purchased it in New Haven, a,
Peck's drug store, with the first men
tened object. She took the package
home and put it on shelf beside a
similar package Of salaratus. Mr.
Sherman used to drink q great deal oi
cider. into which be would pot SAHARA
tus to make it foam. This was his
tsvorite drink. The salarstus and the
arsenic on the shelf became mixed in
some wsy, but she did not mix them
but saw they were So One night some
friends were present and they had some
"toddy" TO drink. Her husband in.
vited her to take some, but che preferred
to drink some OF his cider prepared to
foam. Soon after che took itshe went out
Of the house to call upon ueighbor
and was taken suddenly very sick, &c
badly that she was utterly unable to dc
anything for herself and bad to be car
ried into the house. But she rallied in
IA little while. She thinks this sickness
was due 70 the arsenic that had been
mixed with the sslerstus, and tha,
when be died. il was because OF taking
more Of similar preparation At late,
period. In no other way did she know
Of his obtaining poison, and the talk Of
the prosecution about her putting ar.
senic into bis tea and into "slings and
other hot drinks was all expended on
a wrong track. This was not, there