Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1889-11-19
C'ew to an Old Time Mystery.

Benjamin Nathan was murdered at HE resi-
dence in New York. Almast as !cvo!,ia E
as the murder itssif came tie shocking sug.
gesticn that oae of bis own hesh eud biocd
had perpetrsted the foul deed.
The Nathan family lived ip o hand sc:o 6
brown stone house on lwents third street,
next TO the corner of Fifth avenue The
extension TO the parlor was used for u sleep
ing room, while IL tho back parlor adjoining &
it stood tbe safe in which were kept not only
the family silver and jewels, but also u large
sum Of money and many valuable secuiiii's
II was in the mouth OF July, 1870, that The
murder Was committed. The family were
then at Lang Bra; cb. bat o;d Mr.. Ma han
had returned 10 New York TO axe part In
some Jewish ceremonies tica rsquled lis
presence. He retired at his GUST omaiy hour
| 10 mis- bed il he eXGeusioa g0d eerly TIC
| next morning his iI,cy ~as founa iyn2 C.osu
beside tue safe He bad been u'u.jcied
during the ni4bi, fer The uyd was qni t
cold, and toe caIpe; was stained vi /! Giotd
which flowed from ghassy "uGn IL his
| head. Beside hin, lay au lrCn cog, H.; in
! strument USED oy carprDiere, heavy IL tie
midG md taperiDg eff . i scrt OF prong
ut eth end Il WAS covsled with bood,
and hal been useG 20 crush the ole gan,le
mau'S skull.
The police were notified and when the
news spread through the city the street Wns
besieged by cro~d ofslR hs-seekets. SCper
ntendent CT Police Joordau made careful
inspection Of the body ans lis surroundings,
| and subjected each If he domes,cs to rig-
id cross.exa mnetion as TO his or her where
abouts on the night OF the murder. Wash
| ington Nathan, the son of the murdered
| gentleman, testified that he had rot been at
home at all that uieht, eGd then admitted
that be had been AT u disreputabe house.
Young Nathan was at this time one Of the
| best knowD young nan about town and
was enjoying lie with all the zsst Of youth.
The fact that be haG spent the night in
| question, as stated, excitsd q strong preju-
dice against him. O.hers however, argued
| that mis- being there at that time was mere.
| ly an accident, and if he had been pyivy to
| his fathers murder and aware OF the fact
| that he was liable 10 be called upon to
| prove an al!b ne would have taken particu
lar pains to be found in some place of un-
questioned respectabiii.y. Nevertheless,
the story spread, and in spite OF ell that
! could be done by Mrs. Nathan aud the eth.
er members of the f.mly who knew the
man to be innocent Wash Nathan was by
many believed TO be his fathers nurdeer.
Supt. Jourdan took The case in hand,
but although many arrests were made and
lunumeraole clewe foilowed up, the affair
remained complete mystery. Indeed, the
anxiety and trouble Incident to This mur-
der were the cause of Superintendent. Jour
dams death, in October OF that year
ut was perhaps a fortnight Utter the MUIR
der" says Mr.. a. HummeiI, of the well
known law firm of Howe & Hummel, ".bat
| Mr. Jourdan handed me letter which he
had received from z convict named George
| Ellis, who was then in Sirg Sing and who
declared that if he could be brought to the
| city be would establish the identity of the
Nathan murderer Ellis was brought 20 the
! city and lodged in the Sixth precinct sta.
| tiop. He told US that if We would show him
| the carpenters dog with which the murder
| was committed he thought he could Identify
| the criminal. Jourdan then procured about
twenty five iron dogs of all shapes and sizes.
These he smeared with blood and threw
| them on the table where the real instrument
lay. Ellis was brought into the room and
without an instants hesitation picked out
the one with which Mr.. Nathan had been
| killed. He said that some time before bis
commitment to Sing Sing he and g burglar
| named George Forester had planned 20 rob
| the Nathan mansion. Murder was 20 part
of the scheme, for they bs6 intended to COM
NIT the crime during ihe absence ofthe fam.
| lily, and it was a mere accident, be said,
which led his pal TO select night on which
the old gentleman happened to be at home.
His theory was that Forester, finding himself
surprised at his work by Mr.Nsthan aud fear
log that he would give The alarm. had killed
him with one vigorous blow of the deg He
knew the dog, he said, because it wss one
with which they had worked before Fer
rester was nowhere to be found, but the au-
thorites never relaxed the vigilance Of their
search, and at ast-it was sometime in 1872
-he was hunted down in remote part of
Texas aud brought back to New York
| NOW, on the morning succeeding The night
of the Nathan murder young Catholic
servant girl, while on her way to early mass,
saw two men come hurriedly down the steps
of the Nathan mansion and disappear.
When the news of the murder were made
known she communicated this circumstance
to Superintendent Jourdan. / was standing
directly by Forester in the court room
when she was hroughtin and asked ifhe were
the man that she had seen running down
the steps of the Nathan house. have nev-
er seen greater agony depicted on human
face than was shown in his as he subjected
himself to her searching gaze. The perspi-
ration stood out on bis forehead in great
beads and his hand clasped the back of g
chair before him with force that
almost shattered the frail bars. The
girl looked at him for fully ten min
utes and then shook her head in q
/ hesitating way, and said that although She be.
lieved him to be tho man, still, as two years had
elapsed since she SAW him, she could not be posi-
tive. As soon as this ordeal was over Forester
sent for me and confessed that be owed fifteen
years in Joliet, ILL., He begged mo to send him
/ back there, and so. at his instigation, notified
the authorities Of that prison and he was sent TO