The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1877-02-01

The st. Joseph (Mo,) Herald, of the 18Th
inst, gives an account of terrible
tragedy near Albany, Missouri, enacted
just across the line of Iowa. The paper
says:
About one year ago man by the name
of Phil Ames moved into that neighbor-
hood bringing with him wife, a little
child and his sister-in.aw. He secured
a small iece of land and erected upon it
a neat two'story dwelling For p time
all things appeared to go on nicely inside
the family mansion, but it soon became
evident to those who grew intimate with
the Ameses that there was a skeleton in
the house, and that all was not as lovely
as 1t should be, or, in other words, the
love OF the household was scattered
around among too many women. There
was a coldness growing up between hns-
band and wife only equalled by an ap-
parent warmth existing between the hus-
band and the sster-in-law. The neigh
boring women noticed that the wife APP
peared often in tears, was neglected and
left unprovided for while her sister re-
ceived the smiles and caresses of the hlls-
band. Whole days the wife passed
alone, having no company save the child
a bright, golden haired girl of five sum
mers, who clung to her, and in whose ex-
istence she appeared to live and have
her being.
At Ieogth, on the 10th of November,
the little echidsickened and died. II was
| buried next day-a rude country burial.
a bitter cold north wind, leafIess trees
and a Cheerless grave crushed the moth
er's spirit and broke her heart. Then it
was that the spirit of the first born Cane
appeared to take possession of the hus-
band. He frequently beat her, drove her
from bis bed aud forced her to occupy a
miserable straw and husk pallet on the
kitchen floor while the sister occupied
the place which belonged to her, At
length the wife, driven to despair, told
the story Of her wrongs to Mrs. Rosa
Mcclure, and she laid the situation in
the Ames household before her husband.
and he soon had the men of the neigh
borhoOd worked upto point of lynChing
the unnatural husband. They visited
the house and would have hung the
monster but for the pleadings OF his wife,
who went down on her knees before the
angry crowd and begged the life of the
man who had so wrOnged her, while her
sister, at the first sound of dan. er, had
sought safety in flight The neighbors lis
tened to the poor woman's appeal, remOv-
ed the rope from the mans neck and set
him free.
70 any but man possessed by the
devil this would have proved warming
that would have turned him into better
ways. But not so with Ames. S arcely
had the crowd dispersed when he went
to the barn, saddled his horse and return
ed to the house with heavy curb bride.
Up stairs kneeling at prayer, with pho
tograph of her dead child in her hand he
found his wife. In an instant he had
struck her to his feet with the curb bit,
dragged her to the head of the stairs, and
thrown her to the floor below, where he
continued to beat her with the bride
until life had departed. In the mean
time the sister had returned from her
hiding place Another horse was sad
died, the body of the dead woman was
thrown across the saddle, and the sister
riding one horse and leading the other
Ames walked alongside and held the
body in position until they arrived at the
river, where hole was cut in the ice and
the body thrust out of sight.
A young man returning home saw the
parties jOurneying to the river, and when
he reached the settlement told what he
had seen. A number of armed men
started in pursuit, and arrived at the riv-
er bank just as the murderer and his
partner we're mounting their horses.
They were called upon to halt, when
Ames drew a revolver and fred into the
crowd. The fire was returned by vol
ley, and the guilty woman fell dead from
her horse, shot through the neck The
man put spurs to his horse and attempted
to escape in the dark but a fortunate
shot brought his animal down and the
murderer was captured. A rope was
provided and all the necessary arrange
ments made for frontier funeral, when
| the wretChed man made a confession the
| chief points of which are incorporated in
the above statement, and he stated that
the sister of his wife had administered
| poison to her little niece in order to get
her out Of the way and that they were
planning the murder of the wife, that they
might live unmolested together. In this
way they were prevented by the mob of
a few hours before, and that he then
killed the wife as above stated. The
rope was thrown over limb, strong men
pulled at the end of it, and the next in
stant quivering body was suspended in
the air. A number of logs were then
rolled together, brush was piled upon
them and the bodies of the two inhuman
beings placed in their midst. match
was applied to the pile, and all that now
remains to mark the spot and tragedy is
a bed of ashes. The body of the mur-
dered woman was recovered on Satur-
| dav and hurried hv the side of her daad