Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1882-11-10
A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY.

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MRS. Seguin, Vito Of the Celebrated New
York Physician, Blindfolds and Pinions
Her Three Children, and Shoots Them
Alternately-She Then Puts a Bullet
Through Her Own Brain-The Husband
and Father Almost Insane from Grief
and Despair.
NEW YORK, October 81.
Mrs. seguin. aged thirty-six, wife of DR.. Ed
ward C. Seguin, the noted specialist on
diseases OF the brain, killed her three
young children this afternoon and then
killed herself at No. Al West Twen-
teth street There is no other cause
known for the horrible tragedy than the in
sanity OF the mother. The children were Ed
ward D., aged six years; John Van Duyo,
AGED nve years, and Jeanette, four years
IEey were all shot through the head and in
stantly killed. The mothers death was as
sudden as theirs. The frigh,ful feature of the
sragedy Is the manner of the murder Mrs.
oeeuin took the children TO an empty spare
room at the top of five-story house, in the
absence of her husband, and while the SER
wants were engaged in the basement, and
locked herself in with them. The servants
peheved they had gone out for walk.
What happened in the room will never be
known, but when DR.. Amidon, Mrs. Seguin's
brother, called at five o'clock, and, with his
suspicious aroused by the long absence of the
family, made q search of the house. the
mother and children were found dead, all shot
through the head. The childrens hands were
lied behind their backs with whip cord They
were blindfolded with handkerchiefs, and
rom all appearances, they must have been
shot while playing blindman's buff with their
executioner. They had been dead for at lea At
An hour and a half, and were quite cold when
e~~seA
;oom, all of heavy caliber, and all had been
used.
Mrs. Seguin had been respondent from
pnysicat causes for some time, but she had
SHOWN no evidence Of insanity. She was a
small slim woman Of nervous temperament
Her domestic life was very happy, and there
was no family trouble.
DR.. Seguin returned home about seven
o'clock, and upon hearing the dreadful news
was utterly Frustrated. He is in a state of
mental distress, and under the care of ply
sicians
Dr. Seguin Is a noted specialist in cases of
insanity. His father was equally so. His
wife was the daughter of Massachusetts,
farmer. The couple moved in the best society.
Inc family lived in u five-story brown-stone
front English basement house, elegantly fur
nished. The room in which the tragedy took
used by the family.
The three servants in the house noticed dur
Ing the day that Mrs. Seguin was in the moody
condition she had been in for several weeks.
and which her brother, DR.. Amidon, termed
the blues" About eleven O'clock he called
upon her, and she said she did not feel well
and had written to DR.. Henry Draper, who had
been invited to dine with the family, to defer
his visit. This note she asked her brother to
send. He took it, jokingly, and told her they
would all enjoy themselves.
Dr. Amidon called on his sister at three
o clock, and was told she had gone out for a
walk. He returned at five o'clock, but Mrs.
Segun had not yet returned. The hall-boy in.
c1dentally mentioned that the door of the spare
room was locked and the key gone. A sudden
suspicion seized the doctor that Mrs. Seguin
mad gone to the Central Park and drowned
nerself and the children. He could not ey-
plain why he thought this. He immediately
went up stairs and burst the door of the room
open. A horrible sight met his eyes. Almost
in the middle of the floor lay the dead body of
the eldest boy, Edward, in pool Of blood.
Partly in closet lay Mrs. Seguin, grasping in
her right hand big pearlhandled revolver.
Inside the closet lay the boy John and the girl
Jeanette. There could be no doubt that the
mother had taken the children into the
$500 ~ NV PhSSOAoO VI pay DLnQmun
buff. She had led the two youngest into the
closet, and locked them in while she murdered
the Oldest boy. The pistol with which he was
shot was targetpractice weapon, with a bar
rel eleven inches long. 1t lay beside him. and
the bullet lay on the floor. 1t had passed
through his head. The maniac mother then
proceeded to the closet, and with heavy thir-
ty-two-caliber revolver, with which she after
ward blew out her own brains, shot the other
two children.
DIR. Am.don cut the strings that bound the
childrens hands and laid them on the bed.
The police and Coroner were notified at once.
Nothing was found in the room to explain the
motive for the terrible crime.
The maniac had held the weapon close to her
victims heads, for the handkerchiefs on their
faces had been burned. The face of the little
girl wore look of innocent surprise that cut
more deeply than any other feature of the
dreadful deed. On the table laid box of
cartridges and a third pistol.
DIR. Segun, when he returned, was taken to
bis Office and physicians summoned He acted
as though his faculties were gone He caught
sight Of tho picture of his children on the wall
and broke into horrible, wailing c-y that
wrung the hearts OF the listeners The phys-
clans fear he VIII lose his reason None of the
servants heard any noise.
Sudden insanity is the only motive known
for the deed. Mrs. SeRuin was neatly dressed.
The children were lovely little things, and
all the family she had.
- 80