Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-08-13
SUICIDE ON 4 HILLTOP
The Fate of Dr. Crawford Made
 Known at Last.
DISAPPEARED THREE YEARS AGO.

The Skeleton Was Found Many Feet Above
 the Sea Level, With a Bullet Hole In the
 Skull and a Revolver Lying Close to tho
 Bones of the Right Arm.
 HAvERsTRAw, N. Y, Aug. 13.-The skeleton of the lato Dr. John R. Craw- ford, q well known resident of this place, who mysteriously disappeared on Sunday, Feb 2l, 1892, was found on ledge of rocks on the High Tor mountain of the Ramapo range, just back of the village of Haverstraw, by two young men from New City, an adjacent town. The bones were lying on rock just big enough to hold the body of a man. Two trees in front of the rock and the precipice at its rear base kept the bones sheltered from the winds and storms. The point where the skeleton was found is 800 feet above the level of the sea. It lay upon its back, and an Is caliber revolver was in close prox- imity to the bones of the right forearm. The skull was perforated by n bullet in the right temporal region. A set of artifl- cial teeth, with a gold plate attachment, were found eight feet away Near by were the dead mans umbrella and overshoeS. The remains were identified by me; IS of the false teeth and the overShoes, which Dr. Crawford had borrowed of Plumber Crawford of Haverstraw a few hours be- fore he disappeared.
 Word was brought to the village of Hay crstraw by the two young men from New City late at night and early in the morning large party of villagers ascend cd the High Tor and put the bones in a bag. They were taken to w. T. Purdy's undertaking rooms in Haverstraw, and jury was summoned by the local coroner. The inquest was adjourned so that the widow might be able to be present.
 High Tor is one of the most picturesque of the lower mountains near the Hudson. As seen from the river it appears to be al- most a perfect cone.
 He Wrote Six Letters.
 On the Sunday morning of his disap- pearance Dr. Crawford went into his room. His wife was absent visiting in Stony Point, at the home of Mir. B. J. Allison of that place, and the servant had gone to attend mass in the Catholic church. He disrobed himself of his Sun day garments, laid his gold watch and jewelry on the bureau and wrote six let ters, addressed respectively to B. J. Ali son of Stony Point, brother in law; Dr. N. B. Bayley of Haverstraw, his physi- Cian; Lewis Chambers, hardware mer- chant of Havcrstraw; Corporal Tanner of Brooklyn. one to his wife and one to his
 little boy.
 When Dr. Bayley received his letter, he and posse of men searched everywhere in the village of Haverstraw where a man could be supposed to be able to commit suicide, but no trace was found of the missing man. The Hudson river was dredged with grappling irons as it was | thought that the man might have drown | cd himself down near Wilson P. Foss' dy- namite works, in the vicinity of Haver- straw. The Haverstraw lodge of Odd | Fellows also secured tho surrounding country and mountains but no clcws were | discovered except that tho doctor had | been seen by the tlagman of tho Clovo crossing of the West Shore railroad to cross the tracks that Sunday morning.
 Dr, Crawford was 56 years of age. He Iowa Volunteers. He was wounded at Helena, Ark in 1863 and was also 13 months in rebel prison during the war He had practiced dentistry in Dubuque, | Ia., and also engaged in mining ventures | in Colorado, which proved a failure and | broke down his health. He came to Hay l erstraw in 1880, opened dental office and continued the practice of his profession for ten years, Then, owing to the failNre | of his eyeSight, he bought out the hard ware store of the late k. J. Peck of Hay business, he sold it to l.. w. Chambers about u year before he committed suicide | wife and son survlve him.