Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1881-06-24
The Body Of o. L. ROwen Probably
Found.


Friends in Westminster have received from
Mrs. Rowell the following newspaper accounts
| of the finding and probable identification of
body at Niagara Falls believed to be that of
| o. L. Rowell, formerly of Brattleboro, who
mysteriously disappeared last February:
tFinding Of the Body.I
THE seething waters of the Niagara, Just
below the falls, yielded up the dead body of
a man yesterday morning June 10 about 10
| o'clock, just opposite the ferry landing on the
Canada side. 1t was discovered by the ferry
man, who was rowing across the river in his
| open boat, with the guide, to Shadow of the
Rock. The men rowed up alongside, and
| towed their CHASTITY find to the shore Then
for the first time it was seen that a rope was
wound three times around the neck of the
| corpse and tied. From its appearance the
| body must have remained "A long time in the
water, for the features were totally unrecog-
| nizable. One leg was missing, the skull was
| crushed in, and the whole corpse was so hor-
ribly mangled that the theory was at once ad-
vanced that il was carried over the falls
months ago. and had been ever since knock
| ing about in contact with the rocks in the riv-
er bed. The news of the discovery spread
rapidly through the village of Clifton, caus-
ing an excitement not often felt in that com
munity. Coroner McGarry visited the land
ing and ordered the body left in the water
just as found. He then communicated with
the authorities at Niagara Falls, with view
to ascertaning il any record of a missing
man was in their hands. A crowd of men
| and boys collected on the spot, but no one
was able to offer a solution of the mystery or
to identify the remains. The presence of the
rope was looked upon as the most unaccount-
able circumstance, no rope being necessary in
case of suicide, nor yet of murder by drown
ing. A possible explanation may be found in
the fact that the body was entirely denuded
of clothing when found. 1t will be remem-
bered that one day in February last Mr.. Row
ell went to Niagara Falls, and the next morn
ing was missing, and a few days later his
clothing was found on the banks of the Amer
lean rapids, since which time nothing has been
heard from him."
1.-THE Coroner's Attempt at Identiheation.l
A Canada ooroner's jury decides that the
body found Wednesday, June 10th, is that of
o. l.. Rowell. The cloud of mystery sur
rounding the body which was found Wednes-
day below the falls, near the ferry landing on
the Canada side, was partially lifted yesterday.
During the morning the body was exhumed,
and an unknown lady from Toronto made
careful examination of it. Her investigations
were in vain, for she declared that the body
was not the one for which she was seeking.
She returned to Toronto last evening On
Friday night w. s. Thrasher of Dayton, Cat
taraugus county, a cousin of Mrs. O. l.. Row.
ell, whose husband disappeared from Niagara
Falls last February, Hon. N. M. Allen, also
of Dayton Thos. Curtin of Buffalo, repre-
senting A. o. U. W., and f. w. Wright of
Westfeld, who represents the Royal Arcanum,
arrived at Drummondsville and yesterday
morning examined the body. E. P. Higgins
and d. P. Boileau, from Bath, where Mr..
Rowell had formerly lived, were also sum
moned, and arrived yesterday. These two.
with Mr.. Trasher, were very sure that the
body was that of Rowell, the size, shape aud
general contour being similar to that of the
missing man. On Friday Coroner McGarry
empaneled jury of II. G. T. Ellis and G.
Mccoy were the only witnesses called. The
former thought he saw u body go over the
falls several days ago, but was not certain.
The latter was the man who found the body
in the water, and he testified as to its appear
ance when discovered. All the evidence of
yesterday was drawn out for the purpose of
identifying the body if possible. o. W, Pack
ard, chief of police of Niagara Falls, Higgins
and Boileau of Bath, Drs. Book and Oliver,
Cook and Dalton of Drummondsville, and Mr..
Thrasher of Dayton, were the witnesses yes
terday. The testimony of Messrs. Packard,
Oliver, Cook and Dalton was in reference to
finding and examining the body that of
Messrs Higgins, Boileau and Thrasher went
to show that the body was that of Rowell.
After considerable elaboration, the jury rem
dered the following verdict That the de-
ceased came to his death by pistol fred into
his brain by hands unknown, and we are OF
the opinion, from the evidence, that the body
is that Of Olivet L. Rowen."