The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1882-11-15
MRS. SEGUIN'S TERRIBLE DEED.
The Insane Act Of n New York Physician
Wife.

WIG.
The killing of her three children by Mrs.
Seguin, wife of one of the most prominent
physicians in New York, followed by her
self-murder, was ono of the most terrible
tragedies that has ever occurred in q city
was n handsome woman of thirty-two
years, intelligent n refined, and
wanted for nothing that wealth could bring.
She resided with her husband and three
small children on West Twentieth street.
Her children were Edward D., John Van Duyn
and Jcanncttc, aged, respectively, six, five
and four years. For some days the mother
had been suffering from depressed spirits,
and in the hope that Il change of scene would
take her and the children on a trip to Niagara
Falls. On the afternoon of the tragedy DR..
Amidon, her brother, called, and was told
that his sister vas out with the children. DR..
.Amidon went away, saying that he would be
back i'll an hour. At the appointed time he
returned. The chambermaid, who let him
III, said that her mistress had not returned
from her walk. On account of the damp,
foggy and disagreeable weather, DR.. Anidon
thought il strange that Mrs. Seguin, if she
were ill, should be out so long. He ques-
the probability of her being in the house.
Suddenly, as if she had thought Of some
thing unusual. the girl said:
1.-The door of the spare room is locked, and
when l tried to get in there a short time ago
| could not. Tho key is turned.on the i'll
side. 1 did not hear anything inside, how
ever"
That the spare room should be locked on
the inside WAS indeed strange, and DR..
Amidon did not hesitate at the foot of the
stairs a moment. He said afterward that his
heart was filled with foreboding as he ran
up tile flights of steps. 1t was rather dark
and the doctor impatiently ratified the knob
of the door. 1t was, as the girl said, locked
and the key was turned inside. The doctor
burst in the door with q kick of his boot. It
WIS then AGO o'clock, and the light in the
room rendered objects almost i~ndistinguish-
able. But scanty as was the light the sight
that met the gaze of the doctor almost froze
the blood in his veins. The girl who followed
him took q single glance into the room, and
then ran into oneof the small rooms scream
ing with fright.
A policeman who afterward saw the same
scene said that it was the most awful sight
he had ever witnessed during his whole cx-
p%erience on the police force. The room was
4 large one, carpetless andscantily furnished.
There were only a bureau, q table and a small
bed in the room. In one corner was O small
closet. Two feet to the left of the closet
door, rs one enters the room, and within five
feet of where tho doctor stood, the
bod. of Mrs. Seguin lay, face down
ward, with her arms and head bent under
her. Her right hand clutchcd the barrel of
Il pistol. In the center OF the big room was
He lay, like his mother, face downward, but
his hands were tied behind him with Irvine,
and his eyes were blindfolded with q hand
kerchief. After the first sensation of horror
had passed away, tho doctor examined
the body of his sister. 1t was cold
and had been dead apparently about two
hours. Her brown hair was matted with
blood which flowed from q bullet-hole in the
left side of her head, Just over the temple.
Dr.. Amidon removed tile Remington pistol
with its blackencd muZzle from the dead
woman's grasp and laid it on the bed. He
then examined the corpse of the little boy.
His head lay in a pool of blood, while his
brains were oozing from the track of the
pistol ball, which had plowed a furrow along
the side of his head.
The Mortified physician looked next for
the bodies of the other children in the deep
cning gloom of tho room. Inside the closet,
lying side by side, both with their eyes
bIindfolded and their hands tied with tape
behind their backs, lay the bodies of little
Jeanette and John Van Duyn. A terrible
bullet wound in the head of each one showed
the deadly accuracy of the insane mothers
shots.
The appearance of the room showed thatno
struggle had occurred when the death scene
was taking place. Mrs. Seguin's countenance
had a peaceful and almost smiling look. She
wore a dark cashmere dress, which was
spotted with blood. The three children
were prettily dressed; their clothing was
bedabbled and spattered with blood.
The crazy mother had in the opinion
of the witnesses, with the shrewd
cunning Of an insane person, made
her children play ut blindman's buff that
bandagc on the head of Jeanette was
burned by the flash of the powder. The
body of John Van Duyn had fallen forward
after he was shot and his head lay on the
sill of the closet door. There were pools of
blood on the walls of the closet as if he or
the little girl had rolled over two or three
times after they had fallen. In the room were
in addition to the one which was found in
the dead woman's hand. One was q target
pistol with q barrel eleven inches long. 1t
had only one chamber, and the smut on it
showed that it had been used by Mrs. Seguin.
A double barreled, nickel-plated dcrringer
was found to be loaded in both barrels. The
other three shots fired by Mrs. Seguin we're
from q tire-chambered thirty-two-calibcr
Remington, with which she killed herself.
The most painful of the immediate duties
that followed from the triple murder and sui
eide was to convey the new to DR.. Seguin,
who had been thus suddenly bereft of an en-
tire family. During the whole of the after
noon the doctor had been absent attending
to his professional duties, and it was within
few minutes of 7 o'clock before he
returned to his homo. The news
was broken to him by DR.. Amidor.
DIR. Seguin sank into a chair, and for the
greater part of the evening he remained sit
ting in the chair in his office with his eyes
fixed and staring, and seemingly unable to
believe or comprehend what had taken place.
The gricf-stricken physician was put to bed
afterward. Later in the night q parlor and
bedroom in tho Fifth Avenue hotel were
engaged, and he was taken there. 1t is said
that ho looked like q man ip whom only a
little life remained.