The Hot Springs star. (Hot Spings [Hot Springs], Dakota [Dakota Territory, i.e. S.D.]) 1886-189?, 1889-03-01
4 MICHIGAN TRAGEDY.

"A MlCIllGAN lkAGLUI.
MUIR q MYSTERY WHICH ls PROB
ABLY UNPARALLELED.
The Homlcldes oe tho Night Of Nov. ~,
1883. Near Jackson. Mich.-Other vio-
lent Deaths Growing Out OF the Crime
WIN the Mystery Ever He Cic red Up?
Chicago Daily Tribunel
The publication In the Tribune Of the
detective named Ballard claimed to have
discovered . clew which might result In the
apprehension Of the Crouch murderers. has
revived the interest In Q dark aud bloody
mystery which for five years has remained
unsolved. Tho night Of Nov. q. 1888. seven
miles from tho Village of Jackson. Mich. in
Crouch. his daughter. Eunice White. her
husband. Henry White. and Moses Policy.
Adrover. were murdered in their beds ut the
hon OF Crouch. Jacob ID. Crouch removed
to aichigantn 1880 from Orange County. \.
Y. settling two years later on the farm
where nfterward he was murdered. A
Keen. shrewd driver Of bargains In horses
and cattle. at the time of his death he was
worth $NO.O00. and. though "a years old. he
was still q vigorous: Woodworking man. In
1858 his eldest daughter cloped with u poor
young man of the n%eighborhood. Daniel s.
Holcomb. and. though the fathcr finally OK
tended his forgiveness; 1t was with reluc-
tancc. The old man. doled out to the couple
occasional pittances. so that outwardly they
seemed fairly prosperous. Mrs. Crouch died
in childbirth. Judd Crouch. a puny. crippled
infant. surviving her. Tho sight OF Judd
mans nature. and while still q babe he was
scnt to tho home of his sister. Mrs. Dan
Holcomb. where he grew up. his fathcr.
however. always seeming to cherish an an-
ttpathy toward him
There were three other chiildren-Eunicc.
ut tho time Of her mothers death Q years
old. and Byron and Dayton. who left home
and bccume Texas drovers. Thus Eunice as
;asss srsw SS a" took b tas es1nsaiIP sa plls ess. IN h sa
estate worth S50,COU. Byron bought his
fathers interest therein. and gave notes to
the extent of S3O.0OO to cover y part OF the
transaction. In 1850 Eunice asked pcrmis-
Nchant OF Jackson. The old man freely
consented to the proposed union. but 1t met
strenuous opposition rom tho Holcombs
and Judd and By. on Crouch.
Tho morning of Nov. %. 1883. Mr.. Crouch,
Mr.. n Mrs. White and Moses Policy. tho
latter u Pennsylvania cattle dealer who was
stopping at the Crouch homestead tcmpor-
arily while. on a purchasing tour. were
foundd dead in bed. Tho house was II roomy.
two-story country residence, standing back
some distance from the road. The old man
had a whim never to lock door or window.
He had been killed by q gunshot wound in
having been placed close to the body. In a
front bedroom his son-in-law and daughter
were found. Both had been shot in the
head and there were bullet holes elsewhere
literally dripped with blood. Policy had
almost identical with Crouch's death
wound. whilc another leaden missile had
entered his side.
Tho night had been wild. dark. and
my. Two servants slept in the house:
60. a negro boy. George Bodies. occupied
an up-st,irs room. above where the slaugh-
ter was committed. He heard repeated
shots and groans. and. paralyzed with ter
ror. sccreted himself In a trunk. Into which
he could scarcely press his form. The
stairway door was opened and some ono
the lad had been aroused. anu then. evil
IDENTIFY satisfied. closed 1t. The boy lay con-
cealed until daylight anne. andtren stepped
into Crouch's room. as had been his GUS
He Immediately Alarmed the %aeighbors.
Julia Reese. q domestic. had occupied a
back bedroom ind had slept undis-
turhcd throughout the tragedy.
facts. One was that. though Crouch. HIM
self had considerable money in the house
md the drovcr Policy also had several
thousand dollars in q pocketbook in his
). clothes. not n cent had been taken. but a
package of notes. mortgages. md other pa-
pers Of u family nature was missing. Be-
meath tho parlor window was q large,
plain track made by u rubber boot. as II
some ono had stoodthcro watching. Anoth.
or point brought out was through the testi.
mOny of q JucksOn merchant that he had
lsftyl to Dan Holcomb shortly before the
4 S<Ssr a pistol of the same calibcr as that
&,ich evidently the decd had beer
\ .ilcn tragedies crowded quick and fast
upon ono another. Mrs. Dan Halcomb wa.
found dead in her bed. tho victim of heart,
disease. aggravated by tho tragedy. though
her own life. A few days later james Foy
the hired man. stung ut an article in tn.
Union City Register. mistook Elmer Shulei
Tor ID: J. Easton. the newspaper editor. sho
him dangerously. returned home. lay low
on u lounge. and an hour later was foun.
dead. shot through tho head. and although
he grasped in his hand n pistol. physician
80 positively secuted the idca of suicid,
hands unknown The weapon in his han.
was of tho sumo .caliber as that witt
which the four people had been slain a
tho Crouch residence. Then Detectiv
mot at night on the highway by tw,
men. one Of whom. aftcr inquiring hi
name. shot him in his thigh. Both the
fled. but the detective ut once cnuscdthe ar
rcst Of Judd Crouch and Hugh McCallun
comb md Judd Crouch wcrc arrested
charged with tho quadrupple killing. Thrc
weeks later Lorenzo d. Bonn. u farmer. BIZ
came insane from brooding over the trag
cdy. and died after seven days Of terrlbl
suffering. Within tho two weeks followin
A. II. Leo imagined he was the murderer
aud killed himself. Ton days aftcrwnr
Joseph Allen was arrested in Canada ut til
Instance Of Henry Holcomb. who allcgc
that Allen had confessed. while both wer
tramping together. that he committed tn
crime. further telling where some of tn
papcrs were concealed. Allen was hel