Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1876-03-01
Shocking Tragedy,

leit his mono, III thht part oil Barre known rs
" Brookline for the hotel in Barre, at about half
past six or seven =. NJ, on Sunday, the 9th ut
Mr. Downing remained at the hotel until half
past nine or ten r. NJ, when he returned home TO
find his wife and babe gone. lie Immediately
started over to the house Of MIR. Charles Carpen-
ter, supposlng that his wife had gone over there
to spend the evening Mrs Downing was not
there; but MIR Downing was informed that she
had probably gone over to Mr. Hosea Pattersons.
Mrs Downing was young woman only twenty
one years old, and her husband supposed that she
had taken the infant Ia girl about three months
old over TO Mr.. rattcrsons TO obtain advice from
his wife a. to the treatment Of the Group from
which the babe was suffering somewhat When
Mr. Downing arrived at Mr. patterson's house, he
found II dark, and concluded that the family had
retired Tor the night. lie supposed that his wife
at Mr. latterons, suspicion OF the iacts
never entering his mind. lie Immediately re
turned home aud went 10 bed himself
In the morning he started of over 10 patter-
sons TO bring his wife and baby home; but found
on his arrival that size was neither there nor had
been there Even then he not alarmed. lie
naturally supposed that she was at some Of the
ueighbors, and ON account Of the baby having the
Group, had remained there over night
1t has been stated that Mrs. Downing fondness
and anxiety for her baby were 80 great that she
refused 10 visit her parents in Chelsea for fear Of
smothering her infant on the journey. Mr.. Down
ing $ apparent want Of apprehension will not APP
pear 80 unaccountable from the fact that his wife
had frequently consulted the neighbors on her Ia
bys account
After Mr. Downing discovered that his wife was
I Ia a. I.ff.
son. started out in search Of her They visited
several Of their friends aud relatives, only 10 find
that they knew nothing Of her whereabouts.
Then returning home, MIR Downing went ia, bnt
Mr. Patterson started to follow some tracks lead
! ing from Downings house to the river On arriy-
ing at the banks Of the river, Mr. Patterson, look
| ingaronnd discovered the remains Of Mrs. Down
ing with her head and part Of her body under the
ice aud the body Of the babe from four to six feet
below her Both bodies were badly frozen Mr.
Patterson hurried up to Downing house and In
formed him Of the calamity Mr. Downing was
30 thoroughly astounded and Mortified 10y the in
| tellgence that AT first he could only eXclaim " My
| God, my God my Cod Recovering himself In
a few moments, both he and Mr.. Patterson ran to
the river and at first did not perceive any thing
OF the remains, but after a moment search discoy-
erod them in the place in which Mr. Patterson
first found them.
| Al. pa,,o..o, tbeu started riyht over for Mr.
,,a.ut ,ho 1o,,rt, sberiY ON whose arrival the
,,r,,sos ,,oro renewed IN Mr. Downinr's house.
All i.,a an, for hural bv the neinhbors and
friords ,,bo kindly volunteered to perform these
sad oa,.es Tor their denarted ueighbor
1v,o Ice whore the snieide was per,etrated
,i,,to ,,,,o ,l,e bopse and a little below the
.,l, f,.,or, 1an an the same side Of the river as
,,o honso The river VA. omen in the middle Of
IN. stream and there was considerable current.
nv, -. 30, ,,,. o,er t,,ree foot deem anv where
-. ,I,, Ell io,,, .,s made ar where the
-, 80 ,,,go,re,od rbere were nm tracks
- ,.,. 60, ,i,, ri,er ana Inn, the tr,c. Of
~ -, io.,in, 4, II 80 tbe ro.sibnitv Of
s.-ti..,,.' ,.,is,g,., a. ohsoi,tel, pre,lnded
~, ,,,',s 49,, nd ,.rse. have bcon ASSIGNED
-, h,,, Tho mos, nro,,ble one is that Of
,asar,,, Ne pn,,er.on saws that Mrs. Down
-, ,.,,ter ,rt,rn,cd him mat she had been in.
=. ,.,. .,,,,,,.,or doys and tho neiohbors
,a.,st.trs :, Ne ro,na-i,atle actions
o,,,,. .h,r, time 400 Mr.. Downing it il alleged
- a,,,o,,,, =, ham, herself lint did not suc-
-, AZ, n,,,,,i,,, re,nrni,, shortly after the
.,,o,,,,., ,oldl hin, that she nearly choked
saaa,t' >, IIo ,s,,ed her what she meant. and
=. -, no. .ho d. nearly cholsed Tn death
-, l., 3D., tho han, In consideration OF
an ~ evidence ve naturally infer that the wo
,,,,,,o,,,,.,ti,. i,s,ne
po,.,,,s have beep circulated to the effect that
,to Id ,,as indnced nv the NEGLECT aud dissipa
,,on M n,uning with how mnch foundation
go arc n, a loss IN determine Mr.. Downing has
,ndo,b,edly besn somewhat dissipated in pas
veor. hnt ali nj. nephbors assent that he Ia,
toor ,,er1i,, nj. ,yavs latelv and doing better
altopetber
1T,ero Il. ma donbt that there has been some do
pestie troube In the household of MIR. Downing
There IA n iory. that last fall NJ Downing put hi,
wife ont of his house. and maltreated her in othe
ways. but the universal opinion is that lately
things have been improved
In testimony Of this. Mr. Downing had made al
the arrangements for attending a dance at soutl
Barre ON Tuesday evening. in company with hi
.ife. and although there has been considerabl,
,r,rile IN tho mast there seems TO have been it'll
or none lately ugly rumors to the contrary not
x,tbstapding Mrs Downing was native o
chelsea and a daughter of Mr. George Robbins
She 4. described AS a very beautiful woman an,
,or attachment for powpipe was considered a
4 | If tloeF iupNu1canle Attachments 10 Mhtl
ooned,n, y,onauhood is especially prone. Tn
4, r,o,,l ,r,s o,nosed by her friends very siren
,o,si, lint IN all ORGANIZATIONS she turned dea
ear. saying that she would 90 through hire an
+ water 10 marry him, d" and undoubtedly believing
,h. ,,,or+s of n,,vninq's character which came /
% her ears as doing him injustice. Beyond doubt
she has led q somewhat unhappy life as his vile
but we are inclined to think that her unhappines'
u though il may have been primary cause OF tn
act was not a sufficient reason TO account for il
consummation
There was something sadly pathetic, beyon
81 description, in Mrs Downing's appearance as sh
" Law in a room Of her house after being remove
g from the watery bed Of the river Her EXPIRE
y sion was perfectly calm, and seemed to indica
, sought. one Of her hands was somewhat scratche
a as from the ice or crust, but farther than til
~ there was Disagreement.
:, The touching pathos OF the scene was heighten'
I, by the presence of the remains OF her little bab
~ who was laid beside her. The head OF the infa
- was somewhat scratched by ice Its face Wi
:, slightly turned toward its mother, and il SCENT
to gaze up to her with some anxiety, while Il
mothers countenanee expressed no socitude
l., disturbance-only sweet sense of perfect rest.
~ As we gazed ON the beautiful countenance Of Il
- denarted woman. the ines of Hood 50 approp