Telegram-herald., 1891-07-12
SIX CLANAI COGPSES
They Are Found IN q Farm House
Near Ellis. Nebraska
EVIDENCES OF Al AWFUL CRIME
Iadieafssas That j. a.. Patsrbsnxh Killed
a.. " lie Sna tsar thiidEss AID
Then Commtttsa ssiesas-
lasAnlky the Csass-

ELLIS, Seb.. July f1.-About q
O'Clock Friday afternoon Mrs Or. Al
lea, Of Beatrice, came 70 Ella On .
visit 10 her brother, John H. Puter-
'bangh, who lived a mile and . half
south Of town She was driven TO the
farm by Louis Periing and knocked ~
the doos, bat receiving NO response
entered tie house. the door not being
locked As she entered she saw her
brother on the door ncAg the door and
supposed he wss ssteep She spoke To
him. but there being 10 responss
looked more closely aud saw blood
snd her brothers. ghsesy tsce. Mira
AAea called ferIing In, who made
IN Investigation and found .
horrible ssAte of a&atA On .
bed ia the room iu which Ne husband
and father isy Wa no mother With =
bullet through her bead In bed with
hsr WAS = 2yesr-old bAbe. also shot
through the bead On q lounge in the
room lay Lad Of 10 yesys dead, shot
was another bed occupied By tive Young
girls. one Is aud ono Ia, both with bull
let holss in their hssdh. The deed
arc John ruterbaugh, his wffe
and four children How they met
their horrible fate u - get not known.
only by sur mise. The general belasf
n that the terrible dssd was tie work
OF the husband and father. The mo-
tive b not known. - Pvserbsugh was
peaceaole man in comfortable circum-
stances. and IL Is believed no trouble
existed IN the family.
Coroner Wells. Of Beatrice. arrived
on the scene shortly after 9 o'clock.
and the inquest Is in progress. 1t seems
certain that the terrible crime was
committed by Pu,erbaugh. By his side.
under his arm. lay . s2-csliber, six
cham bered revolver with all the cham
bers empty. The scene in the house
WAS . hoIble one and made the
strongest hearted turn away. The
faces of the dead. though covered with
blood. were calm IS though sleeping
No signs of fear were portrayed on any
of them and no evidence Of = struggle
was seen anywhere All seemed to
have been killed while sleeping and
ali were shot directly through the
skull In every case the pistol was
placed close to the head as powder
etain we've visible upon the pillows or
bed clothing
Puterbaugh was not . drinking man
and had the reputation of being an
honest and peacesble citizen He suf-
fersd from the grip last spring and
since then has not been In
the best of health. frequently
complaining of = pain IN his head.
Tie was = man about - or - years Of
age, and his wife was q year or
two younger. The murdered children
were Is follows: Carrie, Is years;
Mabel, Is years; Charles, 10 years;
Ralph, yearA One son. Allen, IL
years OF age, survives He was away
from home at work. having left
"Wednesday.
Puterbaugh was in Beatrice Wsdnes-
day and Is said TO have then purchased
the revolver with which the terrible
deed was committed In the b:rn near
the house were the two mules and
three horses Hitched to wagon
in front of the barn were
two more horses, and In the
field a NUN Der of cows The house was
fairly well furnished for . fern house.
and in the cupboard was an abundance
of good food. Puterbaugh owned $40
acres of land whish he purchased March
last from A. Wisnel1. of Beatrice. He
was liked by all who knew him here
and at his former home in Diller.