Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1882-03-22
The Waterbury killing.

OF last week, was received in Montpelier at an
hour too late for obtaining a circumstantlal ac-
count of the affair for the last issue Of the
WAToBMAN. Horrible rs was the brief outline
which the WArcHMAN was able to give the de-
tails OF the bloody deed are far more shocking
than the main features Of the crime at first
seemed to Indicate Indeed, the appalling enor-
nifty Of the murderous occurrences on that remote
and lonely hillside on that fateiul Sunday morn
ing was not fully disclosed till late on Tuesday
night, and then only to the few whose official
duty compelled them, against the strong repug-
nance Of nature, to enter the "charnel vault"
beneath that deserted farmhouse and bring its
ghasty secrets to the light The story Of this
tragedy needs no livid cooring to arouse feelings
OF adherence for the wretched man who slew his
wife and venerable mother, or of compassion for
the mangled victims OF his demoniac fury The
simple facts are more narrowing than language
can depict them.
THE FAMILY.
The Mccartney household consisted Of ten per-
sons,--Matthew Mccartney, aged about forty
five years; his wife, thirty-eght; their children,
John, fourteen; Martin, ten; Ann, nine; Terissa,
FIVE Mary, three the little twin sisters, about
eleven months old; McCafrey's mother, aged
eighty-two and Peter McCue, brother to Mrs.
Mccartney, man between thirty and forty, who
had lived in the family several years. and as
sisted in carrying on the farm.
BEFORE THE TRAGEDY.
A few days before the tragedy McCue went to
Greensboro with McCaffrey's horse and Sleigh
taking with him the boy Martin, to visit relatives
there. No especially noteworthy incident seems
to have transpired in the family till Saturday,
the 18th instant. In the forenoon of that day
McCaffrey mounted horse, with no other trap
pings than headstall and chain around the an
imal's neck and started for Waterbury Center,
about six miles distant. He carried a stout stick
about three feet long in his hand His daughter
Annie says he took the chain to have 1t mended
On the way TO the Center he met Samuel Parcher,
with whom he had some conversation Mr. Nc
Caffrey explained that he held himself on by tn
chain around the horses neck, and the stick was
for the dogs For you know" he said, "l'm
death on dogs" lie complained to Parcher that
he had lost his horse, sleigh and little boy; his
"hired boy" had run away with them. He
wanted Mr.. Parcher to go back with him and help
him find his team and son. Mr.. Parcher told
him that Peter would come back with the team
all right, and that he need have no fears on that
account. After they had parted and driven
along several rods, Mccartney turned and called
to Parcher and, returning to within three or
four rods, said; 81 met a donkey up there on the
hill He has lost his father. II you see him tell
him he has gone along" He passed the time Of
day with Ralph Barber, who lives near the meet
| ing-house, and who made some talk with him on
farm subjects. McCaffrey walked along short
space, when he turned and shouted: &c am in the
| r.. l. IL
years" and, a little further on, My grandfather
was doctor, and so am L. He then stuck his
| legs out, leaned back, turned his face up to the
sky, and, swinging his club began to halloo 30
loud he might have been heard throughout the
neighborhood and kept it up till he had gone
| past the Westinghouse At the Center he called
on Frank N Smith, town clerk and postmaster,
who says: "McCaffrey came in and spoke as he
| always did and | noticed nothing unusual in re-
gard to speech or actions. gave him his mail
and the mail for his neghbors Helooked it all
over and sorted 1t, putting each ones by itself
then taking his own paper, the Boston Weekly
Journal, read several minutes, reading some little
| items aloud, and asked me to explain them
| what they referred to, etc. turned round from
my desk, and facing him, talked with him sew
| eral minutes. Daring the conversation he spoke
and said, { | have lost one Of my boys. He said
Peter had taken him and gone away; had been
gone six days and was disappointed in not finding
| a letter from him (Peter) He talked some min
utes in regard to the boys coming home and how
Peter had misused him during the past two years.
and rising to go out, taking his cane and thump-
ing it on the floor, said And | won't stand it any
| longer. There Is going to be an invasion. Inno-
cent women and children shall be protected, but
| some Of the men will be hurt He said that Pc
ter never could live with him any more; he could
come and bring the boy back, but il he tried to
come in he would get hurt, and perhaps shall
kill him. didn't notice anything hut that he
was as usual until he got up to go out; then /
begun to think be was not Just right After he
went out of the office he spoke to several, and
none OF them noticed anything unusual but
that he appeared as he always did" On his
return to his house he was met by DR.. washburn
on the calder brook road Mccartney was
leading his horse by the bits in the middle of the
road, from which he did not turn to give the doc
tor chance to pass. The doctor gave him the
whole Of the road, and received in passing, the
salutation of an inimical glance. 1t is generally
understood that Mccartney had been drinking
cider very freely during the winter that he had
urahh cluef pelOre going 10 tHe Stuttri anu again
after his return yet it does not appear that there
were any mutterings of the coming tempest when
night descended on that doomed household.
Since the birth Of the twins, Mrs. Mccartney had
slept with one of them in small bedroom, a little
| more than ten feet square, opening out OF the
| kitchen, her mother-n-aw sleeping with the
other in a bunk in the same room in a corner
| diagonally opposite. There was space about
| three feet wide between the two beds, and space
of about four feet between the walls and the foot
| Of each bed Mccartney had generally slept with
the child Mary in an adjoining but not connect
| ing bedroom. On the night in question Mary
slept with the older children in the chambers, but
Mccartney seems to have occupied his own bed,
as the little girl Annie says her mother made the
| bed in that room Saturday, and that 1t was tum-
| bled Sunday morning, as IL some one had slept
| in it,
THE TRAGEDY.
During the night Annie was awakened by
screams from below. She heard her mother cry
ing, "Don't, Matt; DON'T" She aroused her
brother John, and the two made their way down
stairs There in the bedroom, in the clear moon
light they saw their father in his night clothes,
above the form of their mother PROSTATE on the
floor In the narrow space in front of her bed his
hands clutching her throat and alternately raising
her head and dashing it against the floor with all
his strength. Then he released his grasp of her