The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1879-03-27
srlret story.
THE MIDNIGHT CRY.
BY T. G. HARBAUaH.


that we shall here transcribe them.
They present the most remarkable in
stance of young man sealing his lips
when his own life was in jeopardy, in
order to conceal petty vice--the most
remarkable instance of the kind on rec
ord.
One night in March, 1881, a farmer
named Buskirk, left a thriving town,
where, during the day he had disposed
ofa lot of hogs. he rode sorrel horse,
and carried the proceeds of his sale in
heavy leather saddle-bags. The money
was mostly in silver coin of the dollar
denomination, and the amount therefore
was quite weighty. Buskirk, a fearless
man, did not 90 armed, but rode unCon'
cernedly from the town little under the
influence of liquor, but not drunk enough
10 call attention to the fact.
As he lived but twenty miles from the
market he expected to reach home about
midnight, But when morning dawned,
Zimri Buskirk was still absent from his
farm. His horse stood at the stable door
neighing for admittsnce. The well-known
saddle bags were missing, which fact i'm
mediately gave rise to suspicion of foul
play, and search for the farmer was at
once instituted.
At distance of FIVE miles from home
the body of Buskirk was found lying by
the roadside, and not far away lay the
saddle bags, riAed of their contents. The
villain, in his haste to get at the money,
had cut his way to it, instead of unbuCk-
ling the heavy straps. The farmer was
found to be quite dead; one side of his
skull had been crushed as if by blow
from bludgeon or some murderous
weapon of that sort, and his pockets, like
the saddle bags, had been despoiled of
their contents.
Though the country was secured for
the perpetrator ofthe deed no traces were
discovered; but clue was suddenly fur.
nished In startling manner.
The body of the farmer had been dis
covered not far from farm house oCcu
pied by family named Milliken, which
consisted of the parentE and two children
son and daughter, who had passed their
majority While the excitement still rag
ed, Ellen Milliken came forward to make
a statementwhiCh she said had tortured
her ever since the murder. She said she
was the possessor Of guilty secret which
she could no longer keep; she could not
sleep for it, and it was the specter Of her
walking hours.
The girl then proceeded to state that
Bhe was up at the hour of half past ii or
thereabout, on the night of the -th, and
that she heard horse coming down the
frosty road from the direction Of P.
Not regarding the sounds of any moment
she was about to re.enter the house,
when she heard an oath followed by
dull thud and groan. Then she heard
q name uttered twice in tone Of mingled
agony and supplication.
A moment later the sounds of hoofs
came again to her ears, and the horse
seemed to be galloping toward the Bus
kirk farm.
The excitement that followed Miss
Milliken's narrative may be imagined, for |
it cannot be described. 1t was believed
that the name which she had heard was |
that of the murderer which had fallen |
from the lips of his victim before insensi
bility rdeath followed the blow. The |
young girl visibly hesitated when asked |
by the magistrate to pronounce the name,
She covered her face with her hands,and |
in all probability would have fallen ifshe |
had not been supported by her brother |
Hiram. She did not like to utter the |
name that might doom one of the young |
men of her acquaintance to the gallows,
for she could not believe him guilty, |
yet she had heard Zimri Buskirk call
on him to spare his life on that awful !
night.
Ellen Milliken was pressed to mention |
the name and further the ends CT justice, |
in which the whole country was interest |
ed, and at last her lips parted.
"God help him and pity me !" she said. |
"The name heard was Abner Ten
ney's."
If tbunderbolt had fallen into the |
breathless crowd astonishment would not |
have been more complete. Men started |
at the name, and women uttered cries |
that added to their confusion.
Standing near the witness was young |
man of five and twenty, the only son of
the minister who watched over the little |
flock of believers:that worshipped in the
church hard by, and a youth of exem.
plary habits to the outer world. His |
face was pale as death, and at the men
ton of the name he started back with |
cry and found the eyes of all fixed upon
him.
His name was Abner Tenney
He made no effort to fly, and when
strong hands were laid upon him, he
smiled and told the people that he wo'd
face the accusation.
The young man was formally arrested
on Ellen Milliken's statement and bro't
to the bar of justice. He denied the crime
but astOnished everybody with his an.
BWer to the inquiry concerning his where
abOuts on the night of his crime:
Il admit that was not at home, but
where | was l will not tell"
This answer was twisted, as it could
easily be by the excited community, in
to broad strands of guilt and the young
man was remanded by the magistrate
for regular trial at the next term of
court.
There were few who believed that he
might be innocent. When it became
generally known that he had been
Buitor for Eva Buskirk's hand without
the sanction of her father, revenge was
added to the motive for the murder. ELL
On Milliken's word was believed; she was
a girl of violent passions, but her Veraci-
ty in this case was not dragged into ques-
tion. She acknowledged that she loved
Abner Tenney-hence her reluctance to
testify and after the preliminary examin-
ation she said thstsshe regretted having
revealed the secret,
But it was out now, and the young man
living in the countv iail reiterated his in