Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1874-05-08
PITTSBURG, Apri, 80.

duout IOTty years, HVeu on tne LeDan0n
| road, about mile and a-half back of the
. village of Homestead, on the Monongahala
| river. John Hamnet came from England
! IN 1858, and was married some ten years
ago. He was considered well off, and was
supposed to have considerable money and
Government bonds in the house at all
tunes. lie was a good, quiet citizen, at
peace, so far as was known, with all his
neighbors, never having any quarrels, but
being, on the contrary, man whose chief
characteristic was the settled plan of mlna
ing his own business.
THE BUTCHERY ON THE THRESHOLD.
| Last night Hamnet and his wife had
been visiting the village of Homestead,
about mile and a half from their resi-
dence, and it was in all probability fifteen
minutes after II O'Clock before they return
ed. They must have been stricken down
Immediately on entering their house, as
from the appearance of their bodies they
had not yet laid aside their outer wrap
! P'HSe. LII 10 PUssioie that the murderers
were III the house on the return of the pa
rents, and finding themselves discovered,
Killed them also in order to escape. A
bloody hatchet was found which fitted ex-
| actiY to the wounds on the hnad 90. Al poy,
whose throat was also cut from ear to ear.
BURNING THE HOUSE AND THE DEAD.
There is a blank in the story from the
| time the Ilamnets left Homestead till 3
| O'Clock this morning, when Frank Acker-
man, coal digger, was awakened by n
bright light beaming in the windows of his
bed room. He aroused his companion,
and they both hurried to the scene of the
fire. When they arrived the roof had fall
len in, but the brick walls were still stand
ing, and out through the glassless windows
the glare of a bed of burning Goals within
gave forth an ertense heat and dazzling
light.
No living souls but these two men were
there, and they stood for some time in
silence, looking upon each other speechless
with horror. When they had recovered
| from the terror that for the nonce had al
most paralized them, they gave an alarm
and in few minutes the neighbors for
miles around were focking to the scene.
1t soon became apparent that the dread
| fears which had first fallen upon the minds
of the two discoveries were but too well
founded. The sickening stencil of burning
bodies till,d the air and gave an iudescriba-
] nf tn
DRAGGING OUT THE CHARRED REMAINS.
1t was daylight before the ruins cooled
off, and then as soon as possible a search
was commenced for bodies. The first body
dragged from the ruins was that of farmer
Hamnet. 1t was charred and almost
unacceptable mass of human flesh. Por-
tions of his partially consumed clothing
were, however, still in places, clinging to
the unconsumed remains. The face was
blackened and charred. The search was
continued, and in few moments the hor-
rOr of the people was increased upon the
discovery and the dragging out of another
body from the ruins.
This was Robert Smith, the apprentice,
who was badly disfgured. His right hand
! The left arm was dislocated at the shoulder,
The member lying across his breast The
feet were entirely burned Off the shin
bones protrrding from the burned and
steami-g flesh. The throat was cut i'm
three places the horrible gashes gaped open
at those who gazed upon the - Spe'
! tacle. 4 third BODY vas Dehe'eu 10 nave
been that of Emma lIamnet, four years of
ace. but her features were totally unrecog-
niz.bIe The lower members were entirely
5.suoyed, from the ends of the small ribs,
which protruded through the back, near
the spinal column.
A fourth body found was that of Agnes,
the wife of Mr. Hamnet. She was recog-
nized by portions of clothing which were
! still clinging to the remains. Her outside
dress had been burned, but the undercloth-
! ing was not entirely consumed. The wires
of her hoop skirt were still about the body,
/ furnishing the proof that she had not retir
/ ed to bed when she met her death. Ida
/ Hamnet, the eldest daughter of, eight years
old, is still missing, but it is supposed that
1 she also fell Il victim to the wholesale
/ slaughter.
THE AUTHOR OF THE TRAGEDY.
The supposed author Of this most unna-
/ tural tragedy is Ernest Love, a young Ger
man of about twenty-five years Of age, who
has been in the employ OF farmer Hamnet
from midwinter up till the time of the ira
gedy. He has not been seen to-day, which
is something, indeed, very unusual, and
though search has been made for him by
several detectives, up to midnight tonight,
no clew to his whereabouts has been OBJ
tanned. Love is a stout young man, with
a florid complexion, and whose dialect
would at once betray his nationality. He
has not been in this country any great
length of time, but he proved a valuable
assistant to IIamnet, who at all times spoke
well of the young man as being sober and
industrious.
The police and citizens in the neighbor-
hood of the crime are out scouting the
woods in search of the fugitive, and his
escape will prove a difficult undertaking.
THE ELDEST DAUGHTER MISSING.
When your correspondent left the ruins
of Hamnets house tonight all the charred
rubbish had been removed, and yet most
minute examination failed to bring to light
any portion of the bones of the eldest
daughter. What has become of her is now
a source Of much gossip. 1t is rum0red
that she was murdered and her body con-
cealed in the woods, and parties are in
hopes of discovering them. They are now
actively searching beneath the brush wood,
and are also exploring the river banks.
LATER.
PITTsBURG, May IA cOroner's jury
met this morning, and after hearing testi-
money adjourned until Tuesday evening
next, "in hope of finding further evidence"