The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1874-05-14
THE BOY WITH THE WHITE EYE,
Frfghtful Record of Jessie Pomeroy, of
South Boston--Bis last Act the Con-
fession OF n Murder.

Frightful Record of Jessie Pomeroy, o
South Boston--Bis last Act the Con.
fession OF a Murder.
The story of the child murder in Dor
chester, Mass, is one Of the most ex.
traordinary of the period. The DO,
Jessie Pomeroy, known as the boy witt
the white eye, suspected from the first
as the murderer, confessed and is now
awaiting examination. Before his con.
fession chain of convicting circum.
stantial evidence had been formed
against him. When the boy was taken
at the house of his mother, respecta-
BILE dress-maker, in South Boston, a
knife was found on his person spotted
with blood. A spot of blood marked the
breast of the under-shtrt, and his boots
were covered with mud of that peculiar
hue and consistence that belong alone
to the soil of marsh lands. Officers
visited the scene of the murder, q spot
on the marsh land iuttiug into Dor
chester Bay, midway between Wash
ington village and Savin Hill, half a
mile from McKay's wharf. From the
wharf to the spot where the body was
found were two sets of footprints in the
marsh mud. OF both these plaster
casts were made, and they displayed
peculiarities which afterward proved
almost conclusively that the right per-
son had been arrested for the crime. A
detail of policemen kept off curious
crowd, SO that the tracks were not OBJ
liberated. The tracks showed plainly
that Pomeroy jumped off the wharf
into the soft clay, and then took his
little victim down, lending assistance
by swing of his arms. The boots of
the murdered boy exactly fitted the
smaller prints and correspond pre-.
cisely with the plaster casts taken of
the prints.
Detective Woods took the boy to the
undertaker's where the body lay, and
placed the murderer face to face with
his victim. Pomeroy turned away his
head. " Do you know that little boy?"
eyes, SIR" "Did you kill him ?" "I
suppose / did," "Well, how did you
get the blood off the knife? Did you
wash it off ?" "No, sir, I stuck it into
the mud" For the first time since his
arrest the boy showed some signs of
contrition, and expressed the desire
that his mother should not be informed
of his act.
The record Of this extraordinary boy
is terrible one. Early in 1872 there
was great excitement in Chelsea caused
by the horrible torture of number of
little fellows by this boy, who was not
discovered until a hundred or more
boys had been arrested, and he was,
after trial, sent to the Reform School,
at Westborough, for the remainder of
his minority. His victims were many
One was son of Mr.. Paine, of Chel-
sea, who was, about Christmas, 1871,
taken by Pomeroy to Powder Horn
Hill, stripped naked, tied to a beam,
beaten with rope, and left helpless.
Tracy Hayden, another boy, was, on
Feb. 81, 1872, stripped, tied up, and
beaten with board and ropes, by which
some of his teeth were knocked out, the
bridge of his nose broken, and other
more serious injuries inflicted. Johnny
Balch was enticed to Powder Horn Hill
soon after July 4, 1872, stripped, gag
ged, tied to a beam, beaten, and
then taken to a saltwater creek ..and
washed. Robert Gould, in September
of the same year, was taken from South
Boston to the vicinity of the Hartford
and Erie Railroad, stripped, tied to
telegraph pole, whipped and cut with a
knife in the head. Harry Austin, in
August of the same year, was, at South
Boston, stripped, beaten, and cut in the
back and groin with a knife. George
Pratt, about the same time, was enticed
in the cabin of yacht at South Bos-
ton, stripped and punctured with pins
and needles in different parts of the
body and left insensible and bleeding.
Joseph Kennedy was about the same
time taken to place on the Old Colony
Road in South Boston and maltreated
in about the same manner that the
Gould boy had been. These boys were
all of tender age, from seven to eleven
years old.
When arraigned Pomeroy confessed
that he was guilty, and assigned as the
only reason that he could not help it.
Considerable inquiry has been made as
to how Pomeroy, after his conviction of
so many heinous offenses, was pardoned
out of the Reform School, after being
there only year and five months. The
explanation is as follows: When boys
are sent to the Reform School they are
sent for their minority, unless previous
ly discharged. If, after considerable
stay, their behavior has been exempla-
ry, and they give promise of reform and
future good behavior, and if they have
a good home to which their parents are
anxious to have them returned, they are
often pardoned on probation. This was
the case with Pomeroy. His mother
petitioned for his being put on proba-
ton and allowed to come home, and as
his record while in the school was good
this was granted on Feb. 6. 1874.