The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-07-23
A STARTLING STORY
The Clearing up of a Wholesale
Murder.
Mother Is Said to Have Confessed to Having
Assisted In Killing Her Husband
and Four Children.
Especial to THE HERALD-Examiner Dispatchl

Especial to THE HERALD-Examiner Dispatchl
AUSTIN, Pa, July 2s.-A startling story
comes from one of the lumber camps at
Kettle Creek, this county, the truth of
which interested parties have started out
TO investigate. In April, 1889, the people
of all this region were Mortified by the
news that Frank Hancock, a lumberman
living at Blue Run, near the Tioga and
Potter county line, had murdered four of
his children and committed suicide by hang
ing himself in his house. The news was
made known by Hancock's wife, who had
been absent from home on the night Of the
tragedy. Her story was that she had gone
home and found the four children lying
dead, some in the house and some in the
yard. They had been stabbed and fright
fully mutilated with big butcher knife.
AT the coroner's inquest IL was developed
Hancock was jealous of his wife with good
cause and that he had frequently upbraided
her for her unfaithfulness. Many who
knew Frank Hancock well refused to be
| lieve he could have committed the shock
| ing crime. On the strength of the evil
dence submitted a verdict to the effect that
| he had murdered his children and himself
was rendered. Mrs. Hancock left Blue
Run after the investigation was over. She
was soon heard of as an abandoned hanger
on of the lumber camps living with this
and that rough lumberman- 1t Is not known
what disposition she made OF the babe that
escaped the fate of its brothers and sisters on
that bloody night at the Blue Run cabin. a
| few days ago a messenger from Kettle
Creek camp went TO Coudersport, the
county seat Of Potter county, with START
| ling story that Mrs. Hancock had died in
camp and that before dying she made a con-
fession which not only acquitted her hus-
band of the murder OF mis- children and
himself, but which declares that she her
self and two Of her paramours, whom she
named, but whose names are not known to
the pubic, murdered her husband and
children. The confession is to the effect
she had become alarmed at the threats her
/ husband had made against her because OF
her persistent unfaithfulness and urged
on by the two men, she resolved with their
aid to put Hancock out of the way. The
plan was to chloruform him while he vas
asleep, hang him to a rafter, place note
| in his pocket as If written by himself,
stating he had committed suicide and why.
Mrs Hancock succeed in chloroforIning
her husband while he was asleep and the
| two men who were waiting for the signal
entered the house and were hanging Han
cock whed the oldest child awoke, rose up
| in bed and seeing strange men made an
outcry. The mother herself seized a
butcher knife and tried to brighten the
child into silence, and falling she stabbed
| il to death. The other four children being
awakened by the noise were all butchered
as the first had been TO silence them. The
babe being too young to be dangerous was
not harmed. She and the two men went
and the next day she made an announce
ment of the frightful discovery she made
on coming home.