The Newtown bee., 1888-06-15
Andrew J. Peck,

The murdered man, was born December 9, 1891. He was son of Judson Peck, who lived in a house sonth of MT David Summers, near where Andrew J. was shot; the house is now gone. Judson
 had three wives and the Hattertown tra-
 dition is that a woman scrape caused hlm
 to move to Poultney, Steuben county, N.
 Y. Il the testimony of Andrews frst
 wife is to be believed, Judson was as re-
 lentless and cruel to Andrews mother as
 Andrew himself came to be with his own
 wife and other women. Andrew was
 married on his 21st birthday, December
 9, 1855, his wife being young girl of l6
 years. Twin boys died, but daughter,
 Mrs Meta E. Shuart of Rochester, N. N., survives. Andrew left Poultney
 three years after his marriage, but de- serted his wife, who was about to be- come a mother, on the cars, November 15, 1858. Andrew came on to Connecti-
 cut to the home of his brother, Abel
 Peck, of Judd district, where Isaac Wells, the mason, now lives. The broth
 CTS disagreed and Andrew went to live with Widow Hannah Wheeler Bennett of | Good Ridge, a spot east of Redding Ridge and about mile south from where
 he was killed. Mrs Bennett afterward
 ed and she is now in Danbury hospital,
 an old woman of over S0years. Andrew
 held life interest in her place. He was
 divorced from his wife in 1861, but,
 though notices were legally published,
 she knew nothing of the proceedings,
 which went against her by default. The
 traitor got divorced on the plea that his
 wife had deserted him, but he invited heI
 to his home in 1882 and then introduced her to neighbors as his wife. He finally
 bought the house where he met his death
 of Mrs Ellen Stillson. It is pleasant
 looking house, located on back roaC
 running from llattertOWn to Reddins
 Ridge. Though within the limits O1
 Newtown, it is but a quarter of mile t'
 the EastOn line on the south, half mile
 to the Bedding line to the southwest anC
 about mile to the Monroe line on th'
 southeast. It is a lonely spot and Peel
 was so isolated from neighbors, all o
 whom either hated or feared him, tha his nearest neighbor had not spoken t , him since last Fall. Here he spent al , unprincipled, thoroughly selfish life, pil , inc up so much of this worlds store tha , he bragged, last Fall, that he was wortl S75. .O0O. The officers found $S,0O0 il l western land bonds under q lounge in hi house afterhe died and he owned proI erty in Bridgeport. But, though sue , cessful as a miser, he was miserabl failure as d man. His taste for womel was lecherous and one mistress succeed | ed another as his housekeeper, until h l died amid his possessions with only . mistress about, full of morphine an | whiskey. Surely, "The wages of sin death." Mary Lyon, victim of his lus' } once brought a suit fol abortion, but sh was missing when the trial was duo - His money covered his nefarious tracks = Andrew got into trouble with Jame l. Price over right of way and fired : o him, but his hate, though braggart, wa d cowardlv. He could talk loud, but W. s q craven at heart. He could shoot C neighbours cattle when no one was abo' 5, and killed dog of Rudolph's that cha 'r ed his cattle, about yearago. This al le gered Rudolph and he threatened Peck t, life. Spirits, as he called his liquo is m de Peck ugly, and he lived in hot W er ter, but was too shrewd to get caugf le Lawless and regardless of God or ma r. he was detested by all. There are dc i'll en or more with hatred enough in tho le hearts to wish him dead and this adds ne the perpleXity of the case; so many n h. tves might be brought forward to p al him out of the way on the part of the Is- whom he had wronged or angered. Pe ot was about six feet tall and light co ct, plexioned. The only surviving memt al of his family is a brother, Asher Peck ng Nashua, Iowa.