Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-07-19
THE MYSTERY OFT A PLANT,
Growing for Seventy Years on a Muir
dered Mans Grave.

Every year, at about the time wheat
begins 10 Tipsn in the Genesee valley,
writes Caledonia, N. Y, CORE
spondeut OF the New York Sun, a
plant which grows short distamce
from the road at q spot midway be-
tween Caledonia and Avon begins to
bud, and when the wheat is being cut
the buds have opened into light pur-
pie, wax-like flowers. The plant has
three stalks, and, although they have
grown, doomed and gone t. seed for
seventy years, not another plant of
the kind has ever appeared elsewhere
in all this region, nor was the
species ever seen here until be-
fote the mysterious appearance of these
| three stalks in the summer of 1915.
But for them it is more than likely
that the story of an old.time tragedy
in the Genesee valley would long ago
have been forgotten.
The road by the side of which the
strange plant grows ia one of the old
state roads, and in 1914 was the great
thoroughfare through this valley for
travel and trade between the lakes and
the E,st, and detachments OF troops
were constantly passing to and fro
along the road. One Sunday in O cto.
Der, 1914, number of American sol.
diers were on their way from Buffalo
to Ssckett's Harbor. The day before
bad been pay day, and there was more
or less hilarity among the soldiers.
This was especially noticed by the
residents Of the Vicinity when the
| troops camped for dinner in q grove
near Sylvester Hosmer's farm house,
midway between this village and
Avon. The soldiers had made very
merry, and two Of them had used
their canteens so freely that when the
| body of troops moved on they were
left behind to recuperate.
About o'clock in the afternoon Mrs.
Hosmer heard the report of gun. 1t
came from the direction of the camp.
In those times the sound OF firearms
was common thing to hear, even on
Sunday, aud no attention was paid to
that particular shot At dusk that
evening the deserted camp was visited
| by q member of the Hosmer family,
and lying near the still smoldering
campfire he discovered the dead body
Of q soldier, half concealed in clump
Of bushes. There WAS a bullet hole in
the dead mans temple. All the sur
roundings and circumstances showed
plainly that the soldier had been muir.
dered and robbed. Word was at once
sent to the commanding officer of the
detachment, and roll call of his com
mand showed that Privates John
Alexander and William Comfit were
missing. The dead man was Private
John Alexander. Comfit was cap.
tured, and as he had nearly twice the
amount of his own pay on his person,
he was held as Alexander's murderer
He was tried, convicted and hung. The
murdered soldier was buried near the
roadside, short distance from the
scene Of the murder. The next spring
a strange plant of one stalk was found
growing on his grave and the follow.
ing year two other stalks of the same
kim sprung up foot or two from the
first one. AS their like had never
been seen in the valley, there was
much speculation 90 to what thew
were. They never spread beyond the
surface OF the grave. Alexander was
from the vicinity fNew Haven, Conn
In the summer of 1917, the Hon
George w. Clinton OF Buffalo was ia
the locality. He had often wondered
what the strange plant on Alexander's
grave Was, and on his visit to Con
necticut he found it growing in pro
fusion about the dead soldiers native
pace. II was known there as "false
CROMWELL" How 1t came to grow on
the murdered mans grave is a mys
tery which has never been solved-s
mystery, however, which is no deeper
than the one that surrounds the fac
that the plant has taken root nowher,
else In the Genesee county.