Morris tribune., 1884-10-29
GHOULISH ENTERPRISE
A Lawsuit Suggests the Theft of &
Rich Mans Corpse,
And the scheme As Carried Success"
fully to the breaking Open OF
the Coffin-An Excited
Comm unity.

BINGHAMTON, n. ", oct. 2I.-1ne Guy Is
wild with excitement over one of the most
daStardly crimes ever attempted here. The
mausoleum of the proud old Phelps family
was on Thursday night entered by body
| snatcherS, who Were scared away before they
had effected their purpose. The Phelps
family, consisting of the judge. doctor, tw1
sons, and the wife OF the eldest son, lave
been all dead within the last live years,
leaving the millions ir the hands of
the executors. Robert, the eldest SOP,
and last who died, was, as is claimed by Dr.
Henry o. Ely, embalm d by order cf his
wife Matte. then living, who agreed to give
Dr. Ely $1,000 for the job. Mrs. Phelps died
before the bill was presemed, ana when it
was presented to the executor OF her estate
her father, W. E. Taylor, refused to pay it.
A suit enSued for the money, all doctors
bill in addition, making altogether $1,000
This has been long time in the courts and
excited wide interest. The only thing that
seemed possible to settle the matter was the
examination of the body of Robert to see if
the process was perfect.
This must have attracted the attention Of
the body dy-snatchers to the immense value of
the body as proof, and they commenced
tampering with the mausoleum, one of the
in this state. Sheriff Brock, q shrewd officer,
became aware of the movement Of the
villains and set watch over the vault.
Thursday night the sheriff was called out Of
town on business, and departed, leaving two
deputies on guard. About midnight the men
saw in the deep gloom five men steal around
in front of the vault and, opening the double
doors, commence work in the catacomb of
Robert while one paced as guard before the
tomb. The deputies were 50 cowardly Is to
run away for help, and in SO doing they
aroused the dogs III the neighbOring streets,
which scared the robbers away.
The sheriff meanwhile had arrived in the
city, and when he learned of the cowariice
of the men hs became fairly wild with pas
sion, declaring that he would shoot the dep
uties if he saw them, and, bidding all the
help they had summoned to keep their dis
tance, the officer went alone into the tomb
and shut the door, where he remained alone
with the dead until morning. Not robber
appeared, however, and Fridays e1amina-
tiOn shows that the men in the brief
period had broken open the coffin with crow
bars and jimmies, leaving exposed the
feet and knees of the corpse, which were
in a perfect state of preservation as far UP
as the hips which is all that can be seen.
No power on earth short of dynamite or key
could have ever let the robbers in the tomb
Dynamite was not used, and no keys were
ever made except two, which were in the
hands of the litigating parties. No impression
of the lock could have been taken, as the in
door is slab an inch thick, with a great
lock inside, requiring key six inches long.
Hence one of the Keys in the possession of the
parties to the suit must have been used.
The sheriff has traced the purchase of a
certain lock of the outer door, which mys-
teriously replaced one broken by some one
unknown some time since, to prominent
parties here, and most interesting develop
ments are expected. The persons engaged in
the transaction are among the best known in
the northern tier, and one of the liveliest
sensations for years is promised. 1t is inn
possible at present to locate the persons who
have been guilty of perpetrating this out
rage, but as this officer has never yet failed
in anything he undertook, the immediate
hunting down of the parties to the crime is
looked for