The Grange advance., 1873-11-26

derer. That Stephen had told him the
previous winter that he (Stephen) and
Colvin were hoeing in what was called
the " Glazier lot," that they had a
quarrel and Colvin attempted to
run aawy; that he struck him on
the back part of the head with
a club and fractured his skull; that he
(Jesse) did not know what had become
Of the body, but mentioned several
places where it hight be found. Wheth-
or it was to save himself, or some other
consideration, that induced Jesse to
make this statement. was never known.
but it added immensely to the fuel
which was already in a blaze of excite
ment. The next day, Sunday, nearly
all the people for miles around turned
out to search for the remains of Colvin.
Stumps were overturned, cellar-holes
examined and the side of the mountain
back Of the premises carefully searched, :,
but all to no purpose nothing resem-
bling human remains was found"
In September following, an indict-
meDt was found against both Stephen
and Jesse, the principal witness being a
man who was confined in the Jail with
them, and who testified that Jesse made
confession to him. It was said to
have been made in the night when
Jesse awoke appearing much disturbed.
When they were in Jail, they were
visited by many persons, and were told
by men Of character and influence, and
by officers Of the law, that the case was
clearly against them, that to confess was
the best thing they could Go,
and that if they confessed, an attempt,
would be made to have their sentence
committed. Thereupon, Stephen made
written confession, that he killed Col
vim, but claimed that it was done in a
quarrel, and that Colvin struck him
first. The confession coincided SUBJ
stantially with what circumstantial evil
dence there was.
The trial took place in November, be-
fore Chief Justice Chase and Judges
Doolittle and Brayton. States attor-
ney Sheldon appearing for the prosecu
tion, and Richard Skinner, Wellman
and Leonard Sergeant, for the respond
ents. The evidence against the prison
ers was entirely circumstantial, and
mostly unimportant, with the exception
Of the confessions, which were objected
to by the prisoners counsel on the
ground that they were extorted by un-
due influence, but they were admitted.
The case was ably argued by the various
counsel, and submitted to the Jury.
The jury, after an absence of one hour,
returned verdict of murder against
both prisoners, and they were sentenced
to he executed on the 28th of January,
1920.
Strenuous efforts were made to secure
communication Of sentence but failed.
The Boorns thereupon protested their
innocence, and urged that efforts be
made to discover the missing man. An
advertisement was inserted in the Rut-
land Herald; and widely copied by other
papers, asking information Of said Col
vim. The notice was copied in the
Eveni'.g Post of November 29th, 1919,
and came to the attention of Mr..
Chadwick. of New Jersey, who recog-
nized the description as that of a. man
living with his brother.in-law, at Dover,
in his State He communicated the
fact to the parties in interest, and the
man was identified as the lost Colyin.
He was brought back to Vermont, and
was fully recognized and identified by
scores Of those who had known him.
He was partly insane, and had no ex-.
cuse for his absence, but freely admitted
that the Boorn brothers had neither
hurt him nor frig ghtened him away. Of
course, the Boorns were released, al
though the court was at loss to know
what course to pursue, to effect the dis
charge.
There we're many who pretended to
believe that Colvin was really murdered,
and that the man supposed to be him
was an imposter, but no one who exam
ines the proofs of the identity Of Colvin
can believe it for moment.
The confession of Jesse was no doubt
made with the purpose ofscreening him
self and of casting the guilt upon his
brother, and that Of Stephen was de-
signed to save them both from the pun
ishment which they were assured would
certainly follow unless the confession
was made. "Out Of thine own mouth
will judge thee," is popularity consid-
cred the very highest species of judg-