St. Landry democrat., 1882-07-08
4 TERRIBLE TRAGEDY.

Her -Four Children and then Takes the
| Poison fierSelf-Five Dead Bodies and
| some Quaint. Pathetic Notes Tell the
sad and Terrible Story.
The Chicago papers of the llth give the fol-
lowing particulars of the recent terrible tr.lye-
dy in that city:
The family lived on the second floor of a
house Finnell street, near Wentworth ave-
! nue., occupying two small rooms. The front
| one was the kitchen and dinng-room and that
in the rear the sleeping apartment. In tho
latter were two beds and II cradle. On the bed
in one corner was the body of Il girl-thc eldest
child; III the other which was on the opposite
side of the room, were the remains of tho
mother and boy aged seven; while in the cra-
die, in the center of the room, were two girls
one three and n half years and the other
three months old. The children were ready to
| be placed in cofiins having been washed and
had clean underclothing put on them. Their
| hands were crossed on their breasts. The
baby had an artificial flower in one hand,
| whiio a wreath lay beside the Oldest girl.
| Pieces of red ribbon were affixed to the gar
| mcnts of all.
| How long the three youngest children had
been dead no one knows. When their father,
| Casper Seybold, returned home the mother and
eldest daughter were alive He is journey.
man baker, and works for James B. Cam pbelL
| His hours of duty from three p. III. to four
a. H., and he usually left home at two i'll the
afternoon and got back about five in tho
| morning. When he knocked on the door at
| the customary hour yesterday it was opened
| by his wife, who had on a new chemise
| trimmed with lace and blue ribbon. She threw
her arms around his neck and said: Look
what have done. am sorry for it. but it is
too late now. Forgive me- The children are
all dead, and am going to die, too Seybold,
| completely horrilietl, staggered into the bed
room, where he saw the corpsts of the three
! little oneS-Toncy. Annie and Agnes. His
wife again asked him to forgive her He said
he would not; that, if there God in
! Heaven, He wouldn't, because she so
wicked as TO poison the children Seybold
noticed that the oldest daughter was still
| alive, and. as his wife lay down on the bed and
| began to groan, he ran out for a physician.
! Seeing @rocery-Secpcr named Louis Martin,
! who was standing in front of his store on the
! opposite side of the street he shouted to him:
'For Gods sake, go to the house, she has
| poisoned the whole family Martin hurried
| over, and going to the bedroom found Mrs.
| Seyboli conscious, but i'll great agony. She
| said sh" thought the poison would put her to
| Sleep but 1t gave her the cramps, and she was
| suffering SO that she asked him to get an AK
| and kill her. She and the oldest girl and boy
We're in one bell and Martin took the girl out
and put her into the other bed. She was in
| great pain and coudn speak. In a few mo-
! mcnts Dr.. Moe arrived. \ glance at the bodies
! told him that Strychnnc had been admlnls-
| tered and an examination Of the mother and
/ girl satisfied him that they could not live.
! Presently Drs. Moore and Lackner came III,
| and they, too said death was inevitable. The
! girl expired first, and the mother breathcd
! until after eight O'Clock.
| The confession Of Mrs. Seybold explained the
| cause of death, but the motive which prompted
| her to murder the children and commit suicide
| is not clearly understood She had been sick
since the birth of her last child, and, as is not
| at all uncommon her mind may have been af-
| fccted by her illness. Her husband is Il steady
| man, seldom drinking heavily, and their do
nestle life was not marked by many Guarrels.
| They had had disputes and according to one
neighbor, he had slapped her face. Wedncs-
| day Mrs Seybold was washing, and dinner
| wasn't ready when Seybold wanted it. This pro-
voked him, and he "jawed' her some, and she
| threw diSclOth at him. Neither spoke to the
| other afterwards until yesterday morning. He
! left home at two o'clock Friday afternoon.
| His wife started out an hour or so later and
| went to drug store to procure some strych-
| nine. Having gotten the drug She went home,
and, Judging from some notes written by the
| oldest daughter, must have taken this
child into her confidence How she adj
milistered the poison can only be
conjectured She may have put it
into food or water. The three youngest child
! rem, of course sooR died. The eldest how
| ever, spent some time in writing to her papa
and plGymates, and exhibited surprising reslg-
nation. Her name was Matilda and her age
twelve She attended the Moseley School and
| ln,.n Th11n flo
which is addressed to Mary Murphy, Il little
! playmate who lives on the first floor of No. 81
! Finnell street, was as follows. s-4-ss ss-....
| 81 will tell you the story Of our trouble. My
mother always sick, you know, and
thought of dying often, and thought, if she
thought it best for all of US to die at once, and
bought something to kill US. The babe
first, Anna second. Toney third, after and
/ then my mother. We do not suffer much, and
now we are all out of trouble. No pain nor
sorrow must we bear. Remember me to the
family. Good-by. Please tell Rosie Morris
! school. 1t is not mine. 1t is the history of the
United States. Take it Room 5 to George Ca
! prom. 1t is ON the lower shelf of the closet"
Two other notes read as follows:
| "1his is Tor Mary and Nellie Murphy. my
dear playmates. wish you better and far
happier time than have had: Good-by.'
| MARY MURPHY: Please tell Lizzie Murphy,
Minnie Orion and Lizzie Reynolds that have
forgotten their dispute and forgive them. 1
guess they will feel sorry for it, May they
'-'' : - ' "T1Ln1E sEYBoLD."
| The following were for her father:
| DEAR PAPA; Forgive US. We will have to
| part from you. Mamma said it was the best
that could te done. We are going into bet
| ter land, where we will all live in peace to-
gether. Farewell. Thy daughter.
~ =. 4 'MATILDA.'
~ DEAR PAPA: Buy Toney flower and An
ma one also from this money. [Some in a box.l
1T is what have saved The knife in the box
| is yours.
"DEAR PAPA: Please let us be buried decent
| ly in Wunder's burying-ground so that we
shall all be together. That is all we wish OF
you"
( #Seybold didn't see these notes until they were
! found by Lieutenant Shay and a Tribune re-
] porter while searching for poison Three