The Cairo bulletin. [volume] (Cairo, Ill.) 1872-1878, 1876-04-26

One morning early IN the summer OF
1872 there came 10 the BULLETS Office
an old gentleman who inquired for Mr..
Oberly, with whom he said he had i'm
portant and urgent business. Tie was
neatly dressed IN Il suit Of black BROAD
cloth, and was IN every way of exceeding
gentecl and respectable appearance, and
might have been mistaken for minister
lie was shown to Mr. Oberly's room
where after sOiDe commonplace remarks
he settled down to business. and in n
straight forward, frank manner made the
object of visit known. He said he
had been in the city several days, and
put up at the st. Charles hotel. That
morning the proprietor of the house
had called on him To settle his bill. which
he was unable to do, and being without
baggage, he was notified that he
must pay In advance, or leave the
house. lie said he had once been In the
newspaper business-if We remember cor
rcctly, he said he had once owned and
NN'SSN WV VI ttN iCabulk ''Ot-
gia, dailies. and wanted Mr.. Oberly to
give him employment for few weeks
that he might write to his friends for
means. MIR. Obcrly took the old man In,
gave him room in his own house, aud
boarded him, and in payment the old
man occasionally wrote articles for the
BULLETIN. He remained at Mr.. Oberly's
four or five weeks, and then took his
was at Cape Girardeau, where he was
married to n daughter Of Mrs,
| Branch. who was ut one time. lin lsGS),
proprietress OF the old American House
on Eighth street in this city. Now for
the sequel. Every body who reads the
daily papers. has read OF the cold-blooded
murder of Col. A. Spencer ut Linn, Mis-
souri,, on the morning Of the 10th OF the
present month. Col. Spencer was no
other than the old gentleman above re-
fcrrcd to.
As reported by the Linn correspon.
dent Of the st. Louis Tines, the
circumstances of the killing of Col.
Spencer were about the these On
the morning of the 10Th Col. Spencer
was standing in front of harness shop
in the little town of Linn in conversation
withsevcral gentlemen. While thus en-
gagged the door ofthe shop suddenly open
ed, and man with n revolver in his hand
stepped out of the door and said, "Col.
Spencer, where Is my wife aud boy p
Col. Spencer exclaimed, "Who are you /?
What do you want 90 And started to
90 across the street, but before he had
gone ten steps was shot through the
head, and died within few minutes.
The murderer. turning to the sheriff of
the county. who by This time had arrived
on the ground said. II am your prison.
err. Take this pistol have no further
use for it,
II seems that Mrs. Spencer had been
married twice before she married Spencer.
Her first husbands name was Murphy,
and he died some years ago. la 1865, at
Carbondale, Jackson county. Illinois. she
was married to Jeflcrs, who at that time
was known as Davis Jefferson. and under
this latter name::he wooed and won Mrs.
Murphy. Shortly after their marriage
Mrs. Jetiers ascertained that the man to
whom she was united had another
wife living and from whom he was moi
even divorced. Learning this she at
once LETT Jeilcrs. In 1872 she married
Spencer, though she had never OBJ
tanned divorce from Jeilers. Jcilcrs, il
appears, was fondly attached TO his wife
and could not brook the idea of seeing
her the wife of another, and hence tn,
murder. Mrs. Spencer was known 10
many persons in this city.