Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-11-20
A Reminiscence of Undertook.
How Mis- Crime .Clouded With
Gloom the Lives OF Two
Persons.
From the Cincinnati Commercial

Persons.
From the Cincinnati Commercial.
II LEBANON, Ono, November A..
leading physician and surgeon ofth
! place was visited q few nights sint
: by strangely excited old man, wh
requested his immediate attendanc
at . large and valuable farm res
dence, situated between Waynesvill,
Warren county. aud Harveysburf
Your correspondent was requested I
bear him company on a jourue
which proved very full of startlin
revelations. The night was yer
bright; the old Doctors carrisg
bowled aud ratified through sma
villages and past isolated little tay
erns lining the road. Directly ahea,
of us, and tearing on like mad, wen
another vehicle.
At last we drew up In front of
house that stood out boldly by th
light of the moon. As the good oil,
doctor and myself entered the hall
way we encountered . wretched look
ing object In the shape of An old man
His appearance was frightful-hi
hair unkempt. his clothing disorder
eo, ana 2 wild light came from hi
eyes. We ascehded q long pair o
stairs, that creaked and shook 40 ou
deet came down upon the boards
turning sharply to the right, the oil
man tnrew open the door OF . room
!nat seemed 70 front upon the garder
Immediately In front OF the house. L
was wa . large, oid.fashioned room
Wnere the moonlight, shining through
the branches OF gigantic old tree
crept IN At an open window looking
out upon the road, there was Z
oeo, and from this bed Issued
grOans.
by tne side OF the BED knelt wo.
man, VINO proved to be young and
handsome. Inc Doctor moved quiet.
~ toward the bed, while the old man
ana stopped IN the background
as soon rs the door was closed the
ola man sank down to the foor, and
ietting MS head drop down between
MS knees, ne was as Silent as was ever
tne Lone Fisherman In "Evangeline.'
! went 10 tne bed and looked upon
the race OF q man who might have
ooen snyWnere between twenty-oight
ana tnlrty-two years OF age. Across
nls race were the bloody marks of
cruei blows, and into the pillow and
sheets the crimson fuid had soaked
until lne sight was sickening to be-
noid. Inc young woman who knelt
Dy the mans bedside was the old
farmer daugh and seemed to be
giving the Doctor trouble, as he wish
60 he' 10 leave the room, and she did
not want to 60.
Inc physician attended as best he
could the wounded man, but the pres
once oi the girl seemed to agitate the
Patlent' ana 1t was not until after the
DOCTOR used many arguments that she
agreed to quit the room, even for q
snort time. ! assisted my friend af-
ter the departure OF the strange girl,
unui looking out OF the window I no.
tlced ner pacing up and down the
walk, Ia the moonlight. The Doctor
instructed me that l had better keep
an eye 10 her, and 30 | made my way
70 the front door, and stood directly
oeiore Inc girl as she paced up to
wne!e was. ny walking with her,
putting In word here and there, and
letting her do nearly all the talking,
got from ner the following strange
story. What she said was uttered in
Irsgmentary p rts and In disconnec-
tea manner. A Dickens could scarce
~ DO justice to that wild manner,
those swiftly uttered words, that
frenzy OF despair at times, and again
thaa Joyousness OF hope.
Ihey nad lived before coming to
ohio al W estchester, ia. Her moth
or had died many years aLo, and an
aunt had lived with her father and
nerself up to the time Of their remov-
al to Ohio. The aunt had refused to
accompany them TO the West. There
nad always been insanity in their
Iamliy. she remembered to have
seen this aunt on her fathers side act
ing as would . mad dog, fOaming at
the mouth, barking, &c. As the
young woman proceeded to speak at
last OF herself and lover, her voice
became subdued che took hold Of my
arm, ana looking squareiy into my
face, enunciated every word with
much ciearness. She had loved .
young man who had lived at Will
mlngton, Del, and who loved her in
return. Her father and her aunt
were willing that these young people
should love each other, and they
wonid long ago have been married
ana happy had not something terrible
happened. The young man whom
she loved was related to man nam.
ea william Udderzook. and William
udaerzook was hanged at Westches-
Ter TOT the murder of man named
toss.
When the father learned that he
was relative OF the famous Under
zook ne forbade him to come to his
house or his daughter to have any
thing TO 40 with him. Then COM
menced in the young woman the
strange workings OF the poisonous
insane blood then commenced in the
young man, who bad before borne an
irreproachaoie character, a career OF
dissipation that led him gradually
aownwaro. The old man seeing that
MS daughter was on the verge Of
plunging into that terrible abyss
where reason is lost, and there is
nought but the darkness Of insanity,
determined to divert her mind, III pos
slble, from her trouble. So the Penn
sy'vanla home was disposed Of and
the settlement In Ohio made. He has
some relatives who had preceded
him to Warren county, so he came
to this section After time had worn
the sharp edge somewhat off her
trou oies the Young woman improved
slightly, but the recurrence of the
Old gentleman's attacks were more
frequent. From the time she had
left PENNSYLVANIA she had not heard
from her lover, and, although she
might nave ~ q u score of the stal.
wart sons OF The county Of General
Dnrbin Ward at her feet, she paid
no attention to them.
On Friday afternoon. when she
opened the Kitchen door to knock,