Omaha daily bee., 1888-05-04
MARTIN BEEM'S SAD SUICIDE
Particulars Showing the Act Was a
Case of fSelf-Destruction
FAMILY TROUBLES THE CAUSE.
a Distinguished Union Army Officer
and Prominent Figure i'm Chi
cago Legal Circles-General
Nebraska News.
stanton,s Prominent Suicide.


STANTON, Neb., May 3.-!Special Telegram
to the BEE IL send you further particulars
Of the suicide of Martin BEEN. The coroner's
jury found verdict of instantaneous death by
pistol shot from some unknown hand. MIR.
BEEN arrived at Stanton Sunday at o'clock,
hired livery rig and drove to the Case
ranch that night All day Monday he seemed
to act very strange, wanting pistol to go
out in the valley to shoot wildcats and seemed
to want the family to stay away from the
house. He was apparently on friendly terms
with his wife. Tuesday right after dinner he
told his wife she had better lay down and take
a nap, which she did in her own room. Mr.
Case and son went to the barn to take care
of the stock, and Mr.. BEEN said he guessed
he would go to his wifes room and lie down
too. He went to the room told his wife he
would read q while before lying down and
sat down in a chair by the side of the bed.
Shei in few minutes had fallen asleep. She
testifies she did not hear the report Of either
of the two shots of the pistol. There were
two shots fired about three or four seconds
apart. The first shot did not take effect
but passed over the head Of the
bed and entered the wall The
second entered his bo1y Just
below the heart, killing him instantly. The
noise of the falling of her husband
and other persons coming to the
room awakened her. Her father,
Mr.. Case, found her standing at the head Of
the stairs with her hands pressed against
her ears. She seemed to be almost out of
her mind. Her husband had fallen face
downward across chair. He made two or
three gasps when moved by Mr.. Case and eX-
pired. Mr.. and Mrs. BEEN have not been
living together for some years, their married
life pDt hninu a plnoSnnt The
will be shipped to Alton, ILL.,, for interment.
Mr.. BEEN was veteran soldier and a dis
tinguished lawyer Of Chicago.
CHICAGo, May 3.-[Special Telegram to
the BEE. Deep sorrow as well as great sur
prise was created among the many friends
of General Martin BEEN in Chicago by the
receipt of the dispatch from Stanton, Neb.,
stating that he had committed suicide there
Tuesday. General BEEN was greatly re-
| spected here, and during the war was con-
| spcuous for many deeds of personal daring.
He enlisted as private at the age of
| eighteen AND left the service captain at the
close of the war. AT the battle of Shiloh he
| saved flag from being captured by wrap
| ing it around his body; and that flag now
| hangs in the trophy room ut West Point. He
| further distinguished himselfin that battle by
rallying the center Of the line when it was
| yielding by selling battle flag and rushing
| alone in the face of the enemy, and thus turn
| ing the tide of battle.
Il always supposed that the relations OF
NI6ncTdl beeIl duu Ills WIG were OF inc ulOSU
| friendly and loving character" said one of
| his clients talking to reporter this morning,
"till about couple of months ago when l
went into the generals office. 1t was just
about the time that Mrs. BEEN went to
| Europe the last time. l found him reclining
| on sofa. He lay with handkerchief in his
| hand which he held to his mouth, as he was
! taken with severe coughing spell. l asked
| him If he was sick, and he replied, Yes, both
| in body and SOUL Look at that, he re-
| sponded, showing me his handkerchief which
| was saturated with blood. l asked him what
| was the matter, and he told me that his wife
| had taken her business out of his hands, and
he expected she was going to sue for q di-
vorce. | asked him what was the matter and
why she wanted to get divorce. He replied,
Il do not know; she has no grounds in the
world unless she manufactures them. / have
done everything on earth | could for her. /
cannot stand much more of this. This trou-
| BILE is going to kill me or am going to kill
myself l never knew of any family diff
Guilty before that conversation with him.
When his wife came back saw him again.
| and he told me it was all right His wife
was not going to apply for a divorce, and it
was all right. He said was the only one he
had ever told of his family troubles, and he
| was sorry now he had told me. He would
not have done so if l had not called Just
| then"
"Was his wife jealous of him, or what was
| the troublei"
'He did not think she loved him, and that
| was the cause OF all the difficulty. He said
| she had no cause to be Jealous but she simply
| wanted TO get rid of him, and if she applied
| for divorce she would have to manufacture
grounds"
"Was there anything in his business ar
| rangements to cause him troublei"
''That is where the whole trouble began.
| His business affairs bothered HIM, and
| he wanted her to help him out
| and she would not. She had plenty of prop
| erty, but she took the management of it out
| of his hands, and went Off TO Europe. She
| back last summer Then she spent a large
part of her time out at the rancho, and when
| she came back from there she went right
back to Europe again. He left here Satur-
day, and have learned that when he got to
Nebraska his father-in-law told him his wife
had come to Chicago.
WahOo's Drought,