Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1884-07-23
THE STORY OF A HUMAN SKULL.


Sold to Junk-Dealer by Boys, and Con.
nected with Mystery oil Thirty Years
Age.
A few days ago Norwalk junk man,
who travels through the towns in the
western portion of Fairfield County
buying bones, was in Westport, says
Norwalk, Conn letter to the New
York Sun. The boys in that place an
ticipate his coming, and make it a bust
ness to collect every bone they can
find, as they are sure of the cash at J q
cent pound the moment the goods
are weighed and delivered. In the
"poor-town" the dealer fell in with two
Patterson boys, of whom he purchased
bones that had evidently laid in the
ground for some time, and had become
bleached and moldy. The boys said
they had collected them from dooryards
in the neighborhood. The dealer, by
long familiarity with his business is
able to detect instantly the kind of
bones he is handling, and while throw
ing the bones into the wagon he said
"This is an OK bone, this is a cows,
these belong to sheep, and these to
SWAAOs OApAdAAAhS oliO POSOtAA"AAotOo "a
each. Then he came to bone larger
than the others, and said: "That is a
human bone and came from the thigh
of man." A moment later mans
skull came to view, and the boys were
Mortified. On examining the skull a
hole was found between the eyes, which
looked as though it had been made
with bullet. The skull indicated that
the person to whom it once belonged
must have been about 80 years of age.
The boys were not aware until that
moment of the existence of the skull,
and had no idea where they picked it
up.
On his way to Norwalk the dealer
stopped at Ephraim Osborn's market
on the west side of the bridge in West
port, to whom he told the story of the
skull. Osborn said that the store he
occupied was grocery and liquor store
many years ago, and that thirty years ago
Robert Raymond, a shoemaker, visited
the store one Saturday night and was
never afterwards seen. AZ the time of
his disappearance it is alleged that he
had considerable money, a portion of
which he had received from William E.
Dikeman, large shoe manufacturer.
Raymond lived in Norwalk near Peat
swamp. He worked at home, and on
the last day of each week took his shoes
to Dikeman and got his pay. On the
night in question he went to the village,
but did not return. The Wednesday
following Mrs.s Raymond, who had an
infant 4 weeks old, called on Dikeman,
much agitated, and wanted to know ii
he had not seen her husband. He had
not, nor had Solomon Gray, his fore
man. The last they had seen of him he
was walking toward the village. Search
was made, but no traces of him could
be found. It was known to many, how
ever, that he had entered the liquor
store.
Time ran on, and the story of Ray
mond's disappearance was often told, and
many theories were advanced as to the
cause. Some said there was little doubt
of foul play; others that he had COM
mitted suicide. The general opinion
was that he met his fate in the liquor
store. It was a place where stolen
goods had been received, and many
dark deeds had been transacted there.
ieved, that a man was murdered there
at the time Raymond disappeared, and
was buried in the cellar.
The theory is that Raymond was
shot in the store, his pockets rifed, and
his body loaded up with offal from the
shambles, and taken to the Poor town
district to place where refuse was de-
posted, and there thrown into hog
pen or buried in shallow grave. The
date of Raymond's disappearance, the
character of the place, where he was
of it, the further fact that the propri-
etor soon afterwards spent almost his
entire estate to save himself from state
prison, and, finally the skull, which
bears resemblance in form and size to
that of the missing man, all seem to
strengthen the belief that the junk
dealers purchase contains clew which
may lead to the solution of the mys-
terry of Raymond's disappearance.
Mrs. Raymond still lives in the house
where she last saw her husband, and,
though tottering with age, is still anx-
ious for intelligence of the long miss
ing man. The proprietor of the liquor
store lives about four miles north OF
Westport. A man named Downes, OF
Cranberry Plains, in Norwalk, was in
the store the night that Raymond dis
appeared, and, while he will disclose
nothing of what is alleged to have &C.
Cured there, he makes free to say that
if the walls could speak, each particular
hair of the listeners would stand on
on end.