Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1883-06-16
The Poor House Matter.

INTl
The Poor House Matter.
The Intelligencer of last week contained
this paragraph:
"a young lady who lives in the neiRhbor-
of the county p~oor-house, whom We
know to be worthy Of all confidence, tells tho
1ntelligencertha 2 few days aso q oia M We
p~oor-house. Mr.. Howsare was absent, but .
hired man he has there followed the old wo-
man, and overtaking her got a large, heavy
switch and gave her an unmerctful beating,
wearing the switch out, and hat he procured
q second switch but did not use 1t. Mrs.
Goodhue is said to be about 70 years Of age.
We should not print this charge without what
we think to be the best of authority. II there
is any reply to make to it we shall print that.
But whatever the ~provocation was, nothing
can justify the beating of an old woman. The
%poor-house is in q secluded place, away from
general observation, but tits not go hidden
that its conduct can violate the laws OF hui
manity. The people sustain 1t because they
are humane. They do not propose to have
any Tewksbury doings in their midst. MI.
Howsare, the keeper Of the poor, owes it to
himself to investigate this matter. He should
promptly file an information. against the
man for assault, and then dismiss him from
his service
1t is unnecessary to assure our readers that
the I~ntelligencer does not desire to print SEN
sational news. That it published the above
was because it thought its authority unim-
peachable. Since the publication Mr.. Mark
Howsare, the keeper OF the poor, and h. +.
Burkett, who is the person implicated, have
called on the Intelligencer. Mr.. Howsare
felt aggrieved that, as he thought, the poor
house had been called Tewksbury. That
was simply a misrepresentation, on his part.
What the In~telligencer did say was, that the
people here do not propose to have any
doings in their midst, neither do
they. As for Mr.. Howsare we have always
regarded him as an efficient and honest public
servant. On Thursday last we went up to
~poor-house. We found everything there
neat, clean and comfortable. In such csndi-
ton as to prove great care and industry on
the party OF Mrs. Howsare, who impressss us
q kind woman and q hard worker. We were
careful to observethat things had
not been fixed up especially. for our inspec-
ton. The demeanor of the inmates md the
oho = ihb0AASChs SAV06A W
questioned show that they are well fed and
kindly treated. They are well clad, housed,
and have clean, comfortable beds. All this is
said in justice to Mr.: and Mrs. Howsare, but
it is all separate and apart from the matter In
hand. ! an 80. .e-4.
In regard to that question Mr., Howsare
submitted to us the following written state
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"whereas, An article was published in the
stating hat Mrs. Goodhue was trying to
escape from the county house and was badly
whipped and beaten by q hired man in Mr..
Howsare's employ, I will state that there is
not q word of truth in the article published. +
am the only maj employed by Mr.. Howsare,
sibly have bean referred to in'the publication.
q. F. BuRkErr.n
Poor FARM, June u, 1888.
Having seen q publication Ia the Intelligen-
Ger, stating that q hired mar In the employ of
Mr.. Howsare, last week beat and whipped,
me in y cruel manner I will state that there
is not a word of truth in the statement. No
one has ever whipped or beaten me nor have
| ever attempted to escape from the county
Mrs. ANNIE GooDHuE.n
',-- - 4 - " L. '-
Whereas, 4 publication appeared in the
last issue Of the lntelligencer stating that old
Mrs. sGoodhue while attempting 10 escape
from the county house, was, followed and
by q hired man In Mr.. H0wsare's
employ and most cruelty beaten,-sc. we.
wish ito make the following statement in
Justice to all. We saw y woman going across
the poor farm, aud a man whom we took to
be one employed on the place, overtake her,
who seemed to be trying to get her to go
back. The woman resiste1and the man made,
stop and go back: We did not see him
whip, strike, nor abuse her in anyway, nor
have we e.er-so stated to any one. Miss
to contradict any other persons
and merely wish to state what we
saw ourselves. LEILA Y. WRIGHT"
This paper when handed to US was signed
by Mrs. Mary L. Lee. who was u witness,
with Misses Grady and Wrlkht,of the trans
action. This lady came to the office, yesterday,
her husband requested to see the paper,
desired her signature to be erased from it,
and made another statement which appears
bel9w.. Ed I'M. lUeu 10 us, int ne was the
only hired man at the poor farm. That Tues
day Of last week, a little after noon, he was
lying down resting and asleep, when Mrs.
called him. Mrs. Schoup,- one Of
tho inmates, was going across q field f. 8
northwest direction, apparently with the OBJ;
ject of leaving the place: Hg pursued her.
When within 80 yards Of her she got on tn,
top of a high, seven plank fence attempting
to cross it, when the top plank broke and she
received a severe fall. When he got to her
she was lying in the road hallooing as loud as
she could. He asked her where she was GO
ing, and she replied, to Lexington. He told
her she could not do so, as Mr.. Howsare- was
absent, and she could not leave in his alb
sence. He took her by the hand to pull her
back to the house. She jerked away and
started to leave again. Whenever he At
tempted to make her go back she would strike
him with both fists in the face. She then laid
down, and he lifted her up and pushed her
along before him. After she laid down he
broke off q little lap of an apple limb, leaving
the leaves on it, thinking to scare her with it,
but she would not scare. He did not strike
her except to tap her with it on the fingers.
AS for hurting her with it he did not. He
did not beat'or kick or in any. way maltreat
her. This is his statement.
Mr.. Howsare says. that Alice Hall, an in
mate, saw all that occurred, and says that
MI. Burkett did not abuse Mrs. Sehoup. Mr.,
Howssre says Mr.. B. has been In his employ
for two years, and that he has never had any
cause Of complaint against him. ,
We will add that Mr.. Burkett seems to be
a very decent young man, and appeared to
feel deeply wounded that he should be &C.
cused of beating a woman. Mr.. Howsare
seems to believe that Mr.. Burkett did not use
undue force.
We have freely and fully given their side. of
the case. We will now present the other. It
will be observed that the woman in the case
In Mrs. Schoup instead of Mrs. Goodhue,
both being inmates Of the p%oor-house, and q
mistake having arisen as to the name.
Mrs. johanna Schoup is German woman,
aged about go years, who is well known to
Messrs.' Jacob K1ee and J. r. Jordan, of this
city, from whom she rented houses when she
had some means of her own. She is SAID to
be dyspeptic, hard to please and excitable.
Some of this was evident to US in our inter-
view with her. She exhibited to us q dis
celebration on the upper part of the right arm,
and a mark upon her left forearm which
she said were inflicted by a switch in Burk-
ett's hands. She says he whipped her severe
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