Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-09-14
WHO KILLED THE FAMILY?
Parents who Opposed Their Sons Mar
rLage Die in Agony,

rage Ntb ID = EphIs
ST.. JOsEpu, Ill, Sept. 12.-New and
startlinz revelations are promised in a
case OF Wholesale poisoning which oc-
CURED here about a month ago and which
at the time aroused great excitement IN
the village because Of the social standing
Of the victims and the sensational nature
of the affair. On Aug. . Mrs.
Hiram Peabody, of st. Joseph, WIS taken
violently i'll with what was SUD-
posed 10 be neuralgia Of the stomach
and died within a short time in great
agony. Two weeks later her husband be-
came i'll with the same symptoms and died
suddenly on Sept. /. Shortly after this
Miss Belle Hasty, p years old, VINO lived
with the PeabOdYs as u servant, died sud-
denly In similar manner. At The same
time young Cyrus Peabody, who was
known to be greatly attached to Miss
Hasty, was Frustrated in a like mysterl-
GUS manner. but subsequently recovered.
Suspicion was aroused and the whole
village took part in the investigation that
was at once set on foot. A hundred
theories were advanced as 10 the motive
OF the supposed murderer in killing the
whole family. That which finally pre-
vailed held Miss Hasty to be the poisoner,
and her desire TO marry young Peabody
was assigned as the cause OF the crime. 1t
was known that for several months before
the tragedy occurred Cyrus and Miss
Hasty had been engaged to be married,
and that their engagement was strongly
opposed by Mr.. and Mrs. Peabody. On
April 80 the young couple procured "a
marriage license In Urbana, but the pa
rents OF Cyrus prevailed on him to
postpone the wedding and eventually
70 break the match. During the
investigation 1t was shown that just be-
lore Mrs. Peabody's death Miss Hasty
purchased some ''ROugh on Rats at q
drug store, and after the young Woman's
death package of the poison was found
pinned to an undergarment belonging TO
her. 1t was also developed that on their
denthbed the parents called Cyrus to
them and eXacted a promise from him not
to wed Miss Hasty. In view Of these de-
yelOpments il was generally believed that,
driven TO desperation by her love for Cyrus
and the persistent opposition Of his pa
rents, Miss Hasty had administered the
poison to them in order to clear the way
for marriage with her lover, and that
being urged TO frenzy by the failure OF
her scheme she had finally tried to Kill
herself and her lover together
During the past week, however, the
sentiment Of the community In regard to
the murder has completely changed, and
many believe that Miss Hasty was an In
nOcent victim of the murderer, who is
thought to be still alive. 1t has been cir
substantially proved that in buying the
poison Miss Hasty had it charged TO Mr..
Peabody and afterwards used it about the
premises in killing rats. Ii ID affirmed
that the package Of the poison found
pinned to Miss Hasty's undergarments
three days after they were removed from
her body was not there when her clothes
were first taken of. 1t is also as
serted that Cyrus Peabody was not sick
at all from using the poison. In fact,
there has been so great a reVulslOn OF
feeling in regard to Miss Hasty's sup
posed connection with the crime that the
popular demand for a thorough inYestiga-
ton has become louder and more per-
sistent. In the face of all this the board OF
supervisors for Champaign county re-
fused yesterday TO order an investigation,
on the ground that as all the parties are
dead no one can be benefited by it.
Young Peabody is also Indifferent about
the matter, and refused TO have anything
10 do with investigating the evidence
recently brought to light The COM
munlty, however. will not let the matter
rest, and will at once take steps to cause
a thorough investigation Of the mysterl-
GUS case.