Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-12-23

DIR. HARVEY BURDELL WAS SEEN STANDING
ON HIS FRONT STEPS.
he was 46 years Of age at tho time of his
death. He was brought up on a farm and
had few educational advantages in early
life, but, having unusual force of charac-
ter, he determined to acquire an education,
and this he did in the face of obstacles
that would have intimidated man of less
strength. In those days the profession of
dentistry was not SO firmly established as
it is at present, but young Burdell, by
careful study, mastered all there was to
be known in the theory and practice of
dentistry, and, coming to New York in
his twenty fourth year, he soon found him
self on the way to fame and fortune.
In early life DIR. Burdell was engaged to
q beautiful young girl in tho interior of
the state, but her parents objecting to him
because he was poor he lived bachelor
all his life, unless indeed we are to believe
the story of Mrs. Cunningham, who sub
sequently became his housekeepcr. While
his moral character was not of the best
the fact that he attended closely to busi-
ness and accumulated $50, 600, which was
then thought to be a large fortune, gave
him good standing in the community,
and even in middle life designing mothers
thought him an eligible match for girls
not one-half his age.
While close and even penurious in bust
ness, Dr. Burdell did not deprive himself
of the luxuries of life. He belonged to a
number of clubs whose members were
noted for fast living, and he was said to be
fond of wine and all thereunto pertaining,
though he never gambled. About i've
years before his death DR.. Burdell pur-
chased the large dwelling house then
known as 81 Bond street. The premises
being much larger than he required for
his personal use, he retained q bedroom,
q reception room and an operating room,
and rented the rest Of the building to Mrs.
Cunningham, who was known as his land
lady.
Mrs. Cunningham was a large, florid
woman Of 40, whose husband had died q
few years before in California. She had
four children-two boys, aged and 10,
and two girls, aged IA and 10. She was the
daughter of Christopher Hampstead, a re-
spectacle business man of Brooklyn. On
the trial 1t was pretty clearly shown that
Mrs. Cunningham never had been mar
ried to the man whose-name she bore, and
doubt that her character, both before and
after the alleged marriage, was not, like
that of Caesars wife, above suspicion.
Among Mrs. Cunningham dodgers
there were two men who figured conspicu.
Ously in her trial, one of whom, John j.
Eckel, good looking man of 40, had the
reputation of being n fast liver. The trial
showed that the relations between Mrs.
Cunningham and Eckel were of the most
intimate kind. Indeed she confessed that
she was his mistress, and, to use his own
language, "a very expensive one" An
other lodger that figured in the trial was
young man of Is, named Snodgrass, whose
relations with Mrs. Cunningham Oldest
daughter were, it was shown, the same as
those Of Eckel with the mother.
The other dodgers were irregular and
did not figure in the trial, but Hannah
Conlin, the cook, was q most important
witness.
Friday, Jan. 80, 1857, was a stormy,
disagreeable day. The rain froze as it fell,
and the walls of the houses and the pave
ments were covered with an armor of ice.
AT p. m. on that day Dr.. Harvey Burtell
was seen BY people living at SO, on the op-
posite side of the street, standing on the
front steps of his house, buttoning up his
overcoat and raising an umbrella. This
was not an unusual occurrence, for he was
q man of very regular habits, and at that
hour always went to the Metropolitan
hotel, near by, for his dinner. Whether he
went to the Metropolitan hotel this even
ing or not has never been asccrtained, for
he was never again seen alive.
At half past 10 on the night Of the 30th
the people in the house 80 Bond street.
who were playing cards in the parlor,
were startled by hearing the CRY, "Mur-
derP' They sprang to their feet and bent
to listen, for they could not tell the direc-
ton from which the cry came. II was not
repeated. That one short, sharp, thrilling
cry WINS all they heard. Then, thinking
IL was the exclamation Of some person who
had stumbled ON the slippery street, they