The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1873-09-02
MORNING SEPTEMBER 2 1873

The RUTLAN
the case, which wc gather from various
sources, and which are entirely reliable.
indeed, Mr.. Sergeant, with here and there
important exceptions, tells substantially the
sam story. In the spring of 1912, the
family of one Barney Boorn. residing in
Manchester, consisted of, among others.
his sons Stephen and jesse Boom. and
Russell Colvn. who had married one of
the daughters. They were a low, BRITISH
quarrelsomc family, fighting among them
selves rs well, perhaps. as with outsiders
Colvin was partially insane, and was in the
habit of wandering from home, being alb
sent, at times, some eight or nine months
In May 1912. he suddenly disappeared. and
was unheard of until rs hereafter mention
ed. The subject finally rested. as pub
LEGATION Of the day had it. "untl the spring
Of 1919 when Mr. Boom aud some other
good citizens of Manchester had some
strange dreams. and unacrullnlahlc visions.
Soon after. hat. ihck-knifc. pcii-knifc,
two buttons and some bones we're found.
aud then everything was one way. The
Boorns were forced to confess, and indct-
mcnt trial, conviction, and sentence to the
gallows followed. The sentence of Jesse
was, subsequently, commutcd 10 mprison-
mcnt for life, but the legislature refused to
interfere with that Of stephen. Russell
Colyin WAS. however. alive all this time,
and by II somewhat singular chain of cir
cunistanccs was discovered, living with II
farmer in New Jersey. identified. returned
10 Manchester and the convicted fclous,
ultimately. released rs innocent men. He
was discovered hy a method which ii pur-
sued to-day would render The man 50 de-
inc liable to he considered insane \ no.
ticc, in The New York Eccaiag Past. was
read aloud in one Of the public hnr-ruom>
OF one of the hotels of New York city.
asking all persons to unite in efforts for
the discovery of Colyin AMI attracted the
attention of one of the individuals present,
who thought he recognized, in the dcScrip-
ton, the person Of Il half Wittcd man ut
work for his hrothcr-iu-laW in New .Irr-
scy, and such proved 10 he the case. What
would he thought, in these days of morn
ing and evening newspapers. of II man
standing up in one of the public rooms OF
the Fifth Avenue hotel monopolizing one
of the city papers and reading tie news to
the assembled crowd:
We have stated the main fact, Of the
case so far rs may he necessary to an I'M
dcrstandng of the ease, and will now. as
briefly and conciscly rs consistent, pay our
attention to this new contribution to his
tOrical and criminal literature ca. It COM
mcnccs with this remarkable assertion
published. although many circumstance.
- connected with it were soon after pub
" lshcd in the Biography Of Rev. Lcmuc
Haynes, thcu II clergyman Of Manchcs.
ter, also in Il work entitled Remarkable
- Events, published by Leonard Dcming
at Middlebuiy, VI, in 1925, to which
" works the author renders his acknowl
- ments for valuable information" Now
90 Remarkable Events which was pub
lishcd in 1925, was very mcagrc in its de-
tails, while Mr.. Haynes biography did not
make its appearance until twelve years
later. We doubt not, however, that The
facts contained in the pamphlet under cor
sideration were obtained mainly from thcs,
two works, with other - remarkable
events compiled mainly, AS the compiler
himself says. from :. loto edition of - Ran
on Facts" a valuable law book. in the pos
session of most lawyers. These two book.
do not, however, exhaust the literature Of
this remarkable case We have in our pos
session pamphlet OF thirty-two pages
published in 1925, containing all the facts
the indictment, testimony, confessions, adj
ycrtisements, letters, return of Colyin etc.
ETC., in full ; a second edition thereof, pub
lished in 1926, containing thrty-six pages
first and second cdition-both published
in 1S20--of ''thc mystery dcveloped or
Russell Colvn. Supposed to be murdered,
Ill iuIi lllt, tt'.. CONTAINING II iihidtlNt ny
Mr.. Haynes, IL sermon preached by him
and ''succinct account of the trial. etc
by Mr.. Waldo; II pamphlet of forty
eight pages. These, together. give II full
and complete account of the whole transac
ton, -even more perfect than is now giver
us after a lapse of more than n half century
and should all have been used in recount
ing. anew, the story. If il were worthy OF
being recalled at all. it should have beer
well done or let alone. In narrating tho
subsequent career Of the parties, grave mis-
takes are, also, made For instance: Jesse
was arrested for countoLttiting coin, and moi
for forgery as stated There are other in
accuraces, but we have already said more
than we intended. and have succeeded, we
think. in showing the unreliable character
OF the work. Ii correctly narrated, it il
an interesting story, valuable both to the
historical student and criminal lawyer, ant
we regret that with the abundant material.
at hand, or easily attainable some compe
tent person does not investigate the whole
matter, and give lis an accurate and reliable
account thereof.
Casualties In Rutland I773--IS73,