The Indianapolis leader. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1879-1890, 1882-01-21

living about two and a half miles from Lam
caster, near the Danville pike, had muir
dered his wife, mother and two daughters
and then eliminated the awful act by hang
ing himself. Esquire r. Boyle, acting as
Coroner, Immediately repaired to the scene
of the tragedy, accompanied by large num-
Der of people, eager TO crafty their morbid
curiosity with glimpse of the horrible
sight. On arrival. several of the nearest
neighbors were already found there, but
none had dared TO touch the dead bodies
of the party named, and the truth of the in
formation was substantiated by finding the
lifeless body of James A. Wiimot hanging
in his barn. the dead bodies of Elizabeth
Wilmot, his mother. aged eighty-nine years.
Matte and Mary Wilmot, his daughters,
aged about nineteen and fifteen, lying In
their beds with one awful cut across the
neck and breast of each, made by a terrible
blow from sharp, new ak, found
lying on the floor of the room, and also the
body of Elizabeth Wilmot, his wife, lying
on her face on the floor with three or four
horrible gashes in her head and back, made
by the same death-deaiing ak. A Jury was
Immediately impaneled by Squire Boyle
The first witness was Miss Alice Calvin, who
had been doing some work for Wilmot and
was sleeping in the room up stairs during
the commission OF the deed. Her testimony
was that the family retired last night as
usual. Wilmot and his wife and little boy
about eight years old occupying one bed in
the family room and his two daughters
another in the same room. In an adjoining
room slept the mans aged mother, and in
one room up stairs a son, JAS j. Wilmot; in
the other the witness. About O'Clock this
morning she was attracted by some noise
below and going down met Wilmot coming
out of the room where his mother slept. 1t
was too dark for her TO see any of the objects
distinctly, but she noticed something in his
hands, supposed to be an ak. She asked
Wilmot what he was doing, and he
replied that he had killed the whole family
and was going TO kill himself. Horror
stricken the girl rushed through the other
room and, meeting the young boy, caught
him and took him out of the house, and
went to a cOlored mans house nearby. Just
as she was leaving the family room the older
son. James, twenty years old, who had been
attracted by the noise below, came down
stairs in night clothes. He testified that as
he reached the foot of the stairs he came IN
contact with his father, who had gun in
his hand. He asked him what he was doing,
and he replied that he was going to kill
himself and would kill him too. Instantly
his father grappled with him and threw
him down, but was unable to hold him. The
old man rose, grappled the gun, aimed to
shoot, but his son kicked it up and the ball
went into the ceiling. The young man
man following him to the steps over the
yard fence. then turned toward the barn.
The boy continued running until he had
aroused some of the nearest neighbors, who
hastily repaired TO the scene. None were
bold enough to enter the house
until daylight revealed the dead body,
dressed only in shirt and drawers, OF James
r. WilmOt swinging under the shed OF the
barn. He had taken a plow line and fast
ened it around his neck. climbed up the side
of the crib, fastened the other end to beam
or ioist under the shed and then jumped of.
The hanging was carefully done, and showed
determination to ayeid failure. The hor-
rible act which ushered so many souls into
eternity in few brief moments, was un-
doubtedly that OF ali insane man. For
some time past Wilmot has been brooding
over a security debt of $3.50, which he has
to pay for brother-in-law, and this had so
worked upon his mind that ii is believed he
finally went crazy. Day before yesterday he
talked rather strangely to his family, say ing
the stock was all going to die, and himself
and family also of starvation Two
days he expressed fear OF
death from starvation, and, acting under
this hallucination, it is believed that he
arose from his bed, took an ak, and, with a
single stroke to each of his daughters,
struck them dead in their beds, they never
knowing from whence the blows came. His
wife, no doubt was awakened, and. getting
out of bed, attempted to restrain him, but
was knocked down and terribly mutilated.
He then went into the adjoining room, and
there, raising the bloody ak on high, sunk
it deeply into the breast that had nurtured
him in infancy, taking away from her that
which she had given him-life. Happily
that aged and devoted mother never awoke
to realize from whom the cruel blow came.
Wilmot was about sixty years old and a
farmer by occupation He was an honest,
close, economical business man, and had
owned farm of about $50 acres, on which
he lived. He was in good circumstances,
being worth $1,000 or $4,000, and it seems
strange that he should have become so wor-
ried over small debt of $400.