The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1877-04-24

Ing as SOOU AB he saw tne bynpLOHlb.-
After few moments OF examination Of
the patient, the doctor said the case was
hopeless, owing to the corrosion of the
walls of the stomach, which had al
ready taken place, that he could aiiay
the pain while the sufferer lived but that
was all Upon the mipistration Of the
anodyne the patlentrecovere his speech
and lived several minutes in a conscious
state, during which he made coilfes-
sion, and called the doctor and other
nelghbors who had come in to witness
the facts as above stated. A post Dtortens
was held, and verdict rendered by the
coroner's jury In accordance with the
confession of the dying man and the
testimony of the physician and other
witnesses. The facts are of judicial
record in Judge Mackey's court. If they
had been put in the form of plot in
romance, critics would have declared
them too incredible TO be made the basis
of fiction protesting to represent the
| possibilities of poetic justice in real life.
7 Another incident was even more re-
markable. One morning, said the judge,
as 1 was opening court, Colonel In
graham, planter whom had known
for many years, stepped up to the bar,
accompanied by his nephew, boy of
thirteen. This boy was the son of Ma
| jor Crawford of the Confederate army,
who fell at Gettysburg. He was pale,
slender little fellow quite effeminate and
unusually bashful. Indeed, said the
judge, he acted more like girl than a
boy. Colonel Ingraham addressed the
court and said Z" 1 am here for the pur-
pose of surrendering this boy into the
custody of the officers of the law. He
shot and killed his stepfather last night"
The judge then proceeded to state the
circumstances as follows: Some time
after the close of the war Mrs. Craw-
ford, the boys mother, married for her
second husband q man named Legge.-
She had daughter two or three years
older than the boy who was before the
court. They lived pleasantly enough on
the plantation owned by Mrs. Crawford
until the girl became about fourteen,
when Legge effected her ruin.
After the intimacy had continued
some time Mrs. Legge discovered that
her husband had seduced her daughter,
but, to prevent scandal, the affair was
hushed up on condition that Legge
should leave the State and never return.
He left, and after he had been gone some
time Judge Mackey granted a divorce
upon petition of the lady, who resumed
her widowed name of Crawford. About
year and a half after these events
Legge returned suddenly and presented
himself at Mrs. Crawford's residence
just after dark. The house stood at some
distance from any other dwelling, and
on the occasion of Legge's return Mrs.
Crawford had no one with her except
this boy, the unfortunate girl and an old
negress Legge entered the house, and
said he had come to get the girl and take
her away with him. He displayed re-
volver, and commanded the negro ser
want to pack up the girls trunk imme-
diately, as he Intended to take her away
with him that night, he having brought
a carriage for that purpose.
Legge paid no attention to the boy,
who, while his mother was expostula-
ting with the wretch, quietly went into
his mothers room. On shelf in an old
secretary in that room were several
mementoes of Major Crawford. Among
them was his old revolver, which had
been preserved just as it was unbuckled
from the body of the dead officer upon
the field where he fell. Three barrels
had been discharged at Gettysburg, and
the other three remained loaded with
the same charges and capped with the
same caps that had been put there by
Crawford before he went into battle. In
this condition the revolver had lain thir-
teen years, and now it was in the hands
of the dead soldiers son-who,I believe,
Judge Mackey said, had been born after
Crawford left his home for the last time
to avenge the wrong that had been
done to his little girl. The boy crept
out of his mothers room, and, as soon
as he saw Legge, shot him through the
head, killing him instantly.
Judge Mackey heard the boys state
ment and then said:
You may go back to your mother, who
needs your protection. You will be in
dicted by the Grand Jury, and when
your trial occurs will let you know,
because it is necessary that prisoner on
trial for homicide should be present dur
ing his trial"