The sun., 1880-12-13
A STORY OF A MANNED HAND
THK CLUE 1T ~ BELIEVED TO GIVE
TO HERF BRUTAL MURDER.

Miss Hannah Brewer OF Tnppnu.
The story OF the killing OF Miss Hannah
NJ. Brewer OF Tappan. In July last. and OF the
recent arrest OF some young men In that VII
LACE on suspicion OF being guilty OF the MUIR
der and the accompanying outrage. and also
some OF the testimony given nt the examina-
tion that was held last week before JUS
tico Meeker OF Nyack. have been published
in The SUN. There is enough Of interest that
has not been published, however. to warrant
brief review OF this remarkable case. On tho
morning OF July 10 Hannah NJ. Brewer. Aunt
Hannah" as she was called by many. was
found dead In her bed. Sho was maiden Indy.
SO years old. delicate in health and slight in
stature. She lived with her bachelor brother
David. her maiden sister Sarah O.. and her
mother. In a comfortable farm house. just
out OF the village Of Tappan. and
not q mile from the Andre monument.
Mise Brewer slept in the first story. There
were two windows In her room. and many OF
the panes OF glass. which were small. about
seven inches by nine. were fastened In their
place by tncks on the outside. The lower sashes
were usually fastened down by n stick braced
from above. The person or persons who killed
Miss Brewer carefully pulled out the tacks that
held pane OF glass. placed the glass against
fowerpot on tho ground. removed the stick
that was used ns a brace. lifted the window. and
fastened 1t open. There stood that night under
tho window a basket OF little turkeys just
Matched. and few feet away was another has
ket OF young turkeys. Both baskets were cnre
fully removed and placed under n cherry tree.
twonty feet from the window. As the window
was high. this led to the supposition that more
thnn one person was concer erned In the murder
Miss Brewer lay motionless on her bed tho
next morning when her sister Sarah went To
sicians showed that she had beon choked to
death, and also that she had been assaulted
There was nothing, missing from the house.
Coroner Westervelt Of Spring Valley was sum
moned. and he that day held an inquest. There
Sered verdict aSst Hannah S Brower sS' came sa
TO her death at the hnnds of some person or
saulted before her death. Two days later the
body was buried and i seemed likely that this
Distriet Attorney N % WhesTsr 81 G Of Haverstraw did
not hear OF the murder until after tho In
fS'i fore the . BockIsnd County SUPERVISORS W f' and
said that the natter ought not to be permitted to
hs. should H Se
skill. II was two weeks before the Rockland
pfiaiion. Thsn this District Attorney cansuitsd
win Ro6eGt a. Pinkerlon; who sent to Tappan
On the 14th OF August, month after th. muir
der tho detective began work, and on Thurs
Van Vaen. and Thomas and Boeert Parcells
we're arrested on a warrant issued by Justice
mooker on complaint Oh luNlu DrOWeF Iu6
charges on which the men were arrested wero
for criminal assault and murder. The Van
hor The vsn S S VseB
Tune con egnsidsrsd wsai!Gs. S ~ The In,Ssr p @ ins
spoken Of. The mother is living, and her sons
have lived with her. and tho residents of Tnp-
much @ II trouble. they are % known so as hard boys.
Frank IN particular. and the reputable citi-
and daughters from being out uftsr dark in
places where they would be likely to meet
dmrnr his sHS ani %fD D T"pp@n ee''e
When the Van yalens were arrested i was well
understood tha, Frank r was ,s suspected Of being
left handed and had only three fingers on his
left hand and it was said that there were marks
finger was gone. So there was no surpriss
prise at the arrest OF Jacob. What the PARCELS
had to DO with 1t " wns e. matter 9aia OF eon",'vTre &
Vaen Soy. NnS PSo Parcels 'Ve were discRarsed 3
soon aiterward.
counsel and so sheIifr Christie put them in the
county Jail at New City until Tuesday
when the examination was begun. As most OF
WINS held there For lack OF a better place II was
held in the little lecture room OF the old brick
the spy Andre was tried and condemned to
death, and within a stones throw Of the old
The scene in the lecture room WAS pecu-
liar. In front CT the little pulpit sa!
the detective and divided from them by n NJ r
row table were Lawyer C. p. Hoffman OF NyacE
aa cd. to fso n or 80 STH aer
with coarse face, thick lips, a retrcaing fore
head. and brown eyes whose expression was II,
wceks' growth covered his cheeks. Jacob Van
Yalen sat b., his side. His features are more
are%osn Ss'a'afsS She mSsn nray s@s
down. The little chapel was iliied with neigh.
bors among whom was Dominic Blanvet
ns s am shon wq T
tho big Bible. Behind it was map OF Palestine
and rack on which was = huge sheet Of pa pnr
School. coronation q. NJ" Then ppi pfoiIo1"d i the
words Of the old hymn in letters that could be
wsrs Illuminated sunday school notices. s.' "
tho Justice taking all the testimony in Ions
hand with great careulness and neatness. Mr.
funeral July Is, he examined tho body Of the
murdered woman for marks which might at
ford clue 70 the murderer. Upon the iett side
made by the pressure Of thumb, and on tn,
right side three marks OF like character a.
marks were made by the left hand OF mar
who had lost tho middle finger Of that hand. ,
attention was directed to the marks on Mis-,
Browsr's neck. and she thought that they wer'
made by thrce-nngored hand Both Of tn,
witnesses said that at the time they did no
know that any one In that neighborhood heC
such hand. Mr.. Falkenhurg titled that IL
looking for clues he discovered in field o
oats rat lay directly between the houaes OF tn,
Brewers and the Van yniens two paths through
the grain. as IL man had walked across anc
back for tho grain was trampled toward III,
Brewer house In one Instance and toward th
Van Valen house in tho other. and the path
were in q direct line betweon the two houses.
Then came some testimony from little Jerome
Bolmer. a 9-year-old boy. The boy said that oi
the morning OF the murder he and Willie Har
ing and Davie Riker were on the bridge noa
the Van Valen house. Tho water WAS high an,
they were watching 4. Jacob Van Valen wa
with them. GeOrgle Martin. another little boy
came down and said that Aunt Hannah Browe
was dead. and that they thought she hnd beeI
murdered. Jacob Van Valen said yes. that sh
had been choksd 10 death by some one VINO tool
out a pane Of glass to get in the room. but VIII
did not intend to murder her. Jerome raj
right homo and told his mother. The mOthe
eorroborated hnr sons testimony IA to what h
said to her. 1t il nv"rred that this WAS about
o'clock in the morning when no ono except th
Brewer family and Mrs. Martin knew OF tn
murder. and sone Ot the circumstances men
toned by Jacob Van Vn-n had not bssn talk q,
about even by Them. Lawyer Hoffman gave tn