, 1879-05-03
INSURED AND MURDERED,

! the accused, all but one OF them woodchonpers
and grossly ignorant men, have been convicted
| Of murder in the first Degree
Ihe scene Of the murder was 1ndlantown Gan,
lying fifteen miles from here In the backwooas
country ut the foot Of the Blue Hills It Is wild
and barren forest country, inhabited by wood
choppers, backwoodsmen. and Ignorant labor
ers, who burn charcoal for a living. Inliantown
Greek, shallow stream, members lazilv
through swamp. Back OF it stands high
range OF hills. Between the creek and the
mountains runs public road, and by this
stands log cabin, over whose door are the
words, st. Joseph's Hotel" Israel Brandt
was the proprietor. He is a onc-armed man,
with q sbrewd face and sharp ewes, tall and
portlV. Back OF the hotel Is famous well OF
water, surrounded by four lofty cedar trees.
This well is known as "St. Joseph's Well," aud
hundred years. The Surroundings resemble a
}: scene in the Holy Land. There are tall cedars
] all: about, an1 the cabins have low thatched
roofs. Three hundred yards farther On in the
forest stands the cabin that, up to Dec. Of last
man who was murdered. It is roughly built OF
logs, und the roof is Of hickory poles, covered
with grass and mud. It has no floor; and
simple board-bunk, containing q few fthy
quilts, is the bed Everything here indicates
ELA
strange to say, this cabin was the home OF q
man upon whose life insurance-policfes were
held amounting at one time 10 S30,U00.
Joseph Raber was about % years OF age He
was penniless and without friends. He did what
work be could at coal-burning aud wood chop
ping; but most OF his time was spent tranpi1,v
from place TO- place, begging and in iGleuess
Tie instigntion to the murder OF such man was
this: All about here prevailed q reckless mania
for life-insurance speculation. Everybody seem
cd to be going wild on the subject. Young men
invested their surplus earnings in insurinu Lie
lives Of old people. And it happened once that
number Of men came tugethcr aud selected
old Joseph Rabcr as desirable man to insure
for their benefit.
In the rude inn known as St. Joseph's Hotel,
four persons living in the neighborilood decided
to insure the old hans life. Those men were
Israel Brandt. the landlord Of the inn; Henry
. F. Weise, Josiah Hummel, and George Tech
man, A number Of mutual compa1ies were
found to take thevarious risks, and at one time
policies we're held by the four amounting to
$780, 600: These men had the policies assigned
to them, they paying the premiums, and prom
ising old Raber that when ho died they would
provide him decent burial.
On the, afternoon Of Dec. of last year,
the dead body of the old man was found lying
in the 1ndtantown Creek, near d small foot
bridge, about125 yards from st. Josepn's Well.
1t was given out that, while the old man was
vertigo, fell into the shallow water OF the CREEK
and was drowned. This was on Satur-
day afternoon. The ncighbors saw the
body, but no., one removed 1T from
the a water; , It was left t., there 9, all
noon, when tue Coroner came. The Coroner
.Eel an inquest hurried]y, and rendered yer
Gict in accurdance with the statements made,
that the old 1nau had fallen into the stream !
body wus hurled, and the holders of the lfc-in-
surancc policies had proofs Of death made out |
and applied for their insurance money. |
About thirty yards from st. Joscph's Hotel |
stands the humble cabin OF an old man named |
Charles Drews. He was veteran soldier in |
Scdgwck's Sixth Corps, and was rewarded for |
great bravery on the Peninsula: He is known
a. Charley Drcws, and has wide acquajnt- I
nnce. HIS wife and six children lived in that
little cabin on the day when Ruber was found
She Is married to young man named Joseph
F. Peters. Peters visited Dr.ws: house about
the first Of last DECEMBER. He came there on
q ten days turloush, being a private in the
Adams, Newport. On the day that Raber was
found drowned, Peters and his wife were up
stairs III DrcWs' cabu.' From the front window |
can be seen the neighboring inn, the we'll, and
the ioot~brldge across the lndiantown Creek;
and from a rear window can be seen the old
cabin OF Raber. Several weeks after the funeral, |
the young solaier, Peters, went before country
Justice ulld swore positively that old mau Kabcr
had been murdered. The peopIeWere still more
when they learned that Peters bad |
sworn that bis father-in-law, Charles DreWs, was +
QUO Of the murderers; und that the daughter OF
Drcws herself (Pelers' wife) was willing to cor
rohorate her h,sbAnd's testimony. The hume
Co1)stables took the case in band, and from au-
Lilrional evidence were led to arrest Charles
Drtws, Frank Stechlcr, Weise, Brandt, Hum
mel, aud Techman, oil OF wnon we're lodged IN
the Lebanon jail. Drews and Stcrhicr were
cnarged with having committed the murder d.
rect, and the other four (whgeheld tte lite
insurance policies) were arrested as conspirators
ind accessories before and after the TACT.
The trial OF the prisoners lasted more than q
week. The principal witnesses against then,
we're Peters and his wife. the son-ln-iaw and
OF Drcus. Peters swore that, on the
AFTERNOON Of the day old Raucr was found
he was upstairs With his wife. lie
had heard considerable talk about The INSURANCE
M zbt. old pun's lie, and had been offered
money to kill Rabcr. On the afternoon in
nlestson he heard lsabcr. Drews, aud Slechler |
raYi1lr the house. He watched them from tue
window They went down toward the creek
single file, StechIer first, Raber second, and |
,id man Drews Inst When they reached the |
(oot-bridee crossing the creek, and when old |
nan .Raber was about in :: the middle Of 1t,
stcchlcr turned quickly around. caught the old |
nan by the shoulders, kicked his iCct from un-
icr him, and threw hiu sideways into the creek. !