The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1875-10-01
The BellefOntaine Tragedy!
THE MISCREANT TAKEN FROM HIS
CELL AND IYNCHED.
MRS. sCHELL THREATENED

lF rom tine Belleionlaine RepuoIiean-Extra.l
James Scheli. who has been working
OH Mr. Laughlin's place for several
years. is a man who has been in the hab-
it OF repaying his offenses in his own
way, returning evil for evil, and al
lowing no one TO get ahead of him." as
has transpired since his arrest. His mot
to was Revenge is sweet but his
tracks were so well covered that Mr..
Laughlin--a man so upright in character
as not TO conceive of Il character o tieud-
iSh- would not believe lie was the wick
ed man that a great many of the com
mrnitv believed him Having taken of-
Tense at Mr. l., h" - year or :" -IHc'
burned n fine residence that NT l.. had
put up and that was nearly ready for oc-
cupation. He had burned IL log house
for him previous to that. But It was
impossible to trace out the miscreant at
the time.
Being again offended, lie resolved on
reveng.l that would h,' sweeter because
mole terrini- a:d a couple of weeks
since resolved to murder Mrs. L.. using
tine same dccoy. prrSuadii'g iier to 90 to
the plum Iliick.-i al llt-. reservoir, with
him and hi, family Bat Mrs l., being
afraid to go away from the wagon, he
failed in his object and projected the
plot of numbering Alice tin only one Of
the family who had not been at the es-
ervoir this year.
On last Tuesday he proposed trip to
the reservoir. went To Mr.. Laughlin's
and asked if Allie wouId not like to go
along with him and his wife. All the
family having been there this season but
Allie The family gave their consent,
and the next morning at 7O'clock, Schel
welt to Belle Centre and hired a spring
wagon of Mr.. f. Z. Nafus, and came
back home, nearly mile where he took
in his wife and two small children, and
prepared himself with a butcher knife
and jack knife, and thence to Mr.. LIS,
where Allie got in, and they then depart
ell for the reservoir, some or s miles
distant, arriving there between IL and
~ o'clock, and camped about 80 rods
Southeast of the Scott House.
After eating lunch, Shell told his wife
(aside) that she must stay where he had
told her; that he was going to ravish
Allie and then kill her, and then pro-
posed to Allie that they go after plums,
saving that Mrs. Shell had the headache
and didn't feel like going then. So in
nocent and pure as to suspect no one,
the young girl started off with him, and
about two hours after he returned from
a different direction from what they
went out alone. His wife asked him
where Allie was and he motiOned her to
come to him and said: 81 have killed
her." and raising his finger said, if you
peep / will kill you. l will knock
your brains out with club" She said
60 my goodness, Jim, you haven't killed
her." and he told her that Allie had Of
fered to submit to him if he wouldn't
kill her, but he knew she would tell her
father and he would have trouble, so he
killed her.
The girl was found, however, with a
bunch of his hair in her hand, and the
ground around gave the lie to his state
ment, showing that she had fought for
her honor, and the inquest showed she
had sacrificed her life to save her honor,
and that she died the pure girl she had
lived, He Immediately started his wife
home in the spring wagon to tell Mr.. il.
that Allie was lost, telling her he would
kill her if she would breath or peep"
and said he would make a pretence at
search for her and get some of the neigh
borhood out Mrs. Shell then drove
home, and through fear of her life. as
she states, kept the secret. Mrs. LOughlin
met her near the house and asked
"where are Allie and jim" Mrs. Shell
said: 30, Mrs. Laughlin, Allie is gone,
Allie is lost, and Jim says for Mr.. l.. to
Jump in our wagon and come right
away. Mrs. l.. said, ''Oi she can't be
lost ~ Mr.. l.. coming up, jumped into
the wagon and drove to the reservoir
with his men. In the mean time Shell
had gone to the Scott House and told
Mrs. Bailey, and from there 70 the saw
mill, where he insisted on the men going
with him, saying that the girl was either
lost or murdered. They laughed at and
ioked at him, but finding he was in ear
nest. one of them said "whO would muir
der her; there is no One around here TO
murder her" ," when he said ''sle's lost
anyhow" The men then went with him
and searched, aud gathered the neigh
bors. who searched all night, riding back
aud forth and firing Off their guns, and
shouting her HaIue. Mr.. l.. and Shell
returned home about 10 o'clock at night,
to arouse the neighbors of Bellcentre,
and returned to the reservoir about two
advantage OF the time at home to
change his coat, pants and vest. Bat
the hands from Nafus' shop, where lac
had hired the wagon the morning pre-
vious, rememb red The overalls lac had
on when lie hired the wagon, and recOg-
nized that he had changed. ThiS, with
his manner and his insisting that the girl
had been murdered, were among the first
things that caused Shell to be watched.
When he told George Brandon that he
believed she had been murdered, George
said: ''Who in the thunder would muir
der herr" Shell said he didn't know,
but felt that she had been murdered.
Thursday morning line was formed
that swept the woods from Huntsville
pike to the creek some 80 rods and back,
but without finding her. Later, when
the crowd numbered some 200 men, a
line was formed, men 10 feet apart, and
another effort was made.
They wandered through the woods in
line, each man keeping 10 feet from his
left hand neighbor, and after going about
40 rods, Geo. Brandon discovered the
body lying partly in the swamp grass and
partly in the wOods-just where the
woods and swamp meet. The grass,
twigs and ground around gave evidence
of a terrible struggle for life, and the
boys set up a shout and fired of their
guns which soon brought in the rest of
party.
Shell had taken his position in the line
so as to be close at hand wheE she was
found, and was the seventh man to the
left when they came upon her; and was
about 80 or so feet from the spot.
Messrs. Brandon, Woolman, Huber Ma
fus and Shell being about the first ones
there.
When found, the young girl was lying
on her sun bonnet, her sauce bucket and
lineup some feet off with few plums
in it, her right arm bare to the elbow, her
dress and skirts pulled up to the knees
and cut down the left side The exami-
nation by the physicians revealed that
her underclothing was torn, but that she
had dared to meet death and fight the
villain rather than submit to him, and
that she had died as she had lived, pure
and spotless. Twenty one stabs were
found on her person, nine in the small
of her back, seven about the head and
neck, and five in the side, two OF the
cuts being in the face, one just below the
left eye. Besides these, the skull had
been crushed in by the heel OF his boot,
and her ear aiI1Oyt stamped or
Shell was not agitated al 81 Then lie
came to the body, though one man tes-
tilted to seeing him cry in the woods pre-
vious to finding her.
The crowd finding the body turhed
back to prevent the Laughiins from see