The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1895-09-18
CAPTAIN TISSUE AGAIN.


Some people are hard to please so
much so that they are never satisfied
with anything. This seems to be the
case with "Dicher Ben," who again
comes To the front, doubling Thomas
| like, refusing to he convinced, without
seeing and knowing things himself.
''Dicher Ben" is too pessimistic; he
would be like the Irishnan who was
not satisfied when he was about to be
hanged. "Dicher Benz, however, is
right when he says, at is difficult
matter to write up events of local his
tory after hundred years have pass
ed" In the last year or so, different
| parties have been writing histories,
military and political, of Napoleon
Bonaparte, yet no one il living, in this
country at least, who ever saw NapO-
leon, or who can give any necessary
data. All history of local or national
events must necessarily be written, 10 a
great extent, from hearsay evidence /;
for not much is written while the act
ual participa nts are alive, n general
thing.
Ii the writer's father were living, he
would be nearly one hundred years old,
| and his mother would be nearly ninety
two, and they both knew Capt. Tissue
well both saw him scores of times !;
both heard from his own lips the story
of the dreadful tragedy which wrecked
his home. Some years ago, while the
writer's father was living, he wrote an
elaborate account of the murder, rs il
was told him by his father and mother,
both of them agreeing on all points a.
Capt. Tissue related il to them. That
account could be found among the files
of the paper in which il was published;
and in no particular does it differ, eX-
cept in the mere matter of detail, from
the recent accounts of the writer.
OF course, the writer knows nothing
about the matter personally, only as he
obtained the information rs stated, and |
believes it to be correct. The writer /
has explained how Capt. Tissue came /
to have the German "redemptionist" !
"Dicher Ben" will not deny that the |
murder occurred on the Sullivan farm, I
but he does not seem to be of one Opin- /
ion very long ; for, in former COM
munication, he said Isaac Tissue, Capt. |
Tissues son by his second wife, was a 1
son of Jacob Tissue, who he now says |
was his brother, in which last state |
ment he is, doubtless, correct.
Isaac Tissue is said by the History of /
Somerset County, which by the way is |
incorrect in a great many statements, |
to have been born in 1893. This state |
ment is likely To be about right, be I
cause the writer's father was younger \
than Isaac Tissue. Then, admitting 1
''Dicher Ben" to be correct, the murder |
could not have occurred many years !
after the war closed. Besides, in all |
probability, Isaac Tissue was not the |
oldest child indeed, the writer has no |
knowledge of any Older ones and he /
knew Isaac Tissue well, 80 that Capt. /
Tissue must have been married the I
second time soon after the war. But, /
all theories and accounts to the con- /
trary, the writer has been told the story /
great many times and it was always !
told him that the murder occurred while !
the Captain was in the army; that the /
German stayed in the barn several days /
with the little boys; that word was /
sent TO the Captain, who was in the |
eastern part of the state somewhere ; |
that he came home; that he took the |
German TO Jail in Bedford; that after |
wards he returned to the service, and /
remained until the close of the war. !
The writer does not know now what |
part of the state Capt Tissue was in at |
the time. Ii is possible he may have |
been no farther than Bedford, rs that !
may have been place of rendezvous
for the Continental troops. The writer
only gives this as possibility, and it
in no way changes the facts in the case.
The writer only knows that Capt. lis
sue was German by birth, or at least
of German extraction, in the same way
that he knows the balance of the story;
and he still has every reason to believe
that he was of German birth.
"Dicher Ben seems to feel hurt be-
cause the writer can not fix the exact
date of the murder. He certainly has
done IA well in that direction as ''Dich-
er Ben" for all he can say, even with
the assistance of Mr.. Israel Welfiey is,
that it was not very soon after the close
of the revolutionary war. Mr.. Welfley
| is not altogether right in his opinion
regarding the capture of the murderer
! soon after he committed the crime, be-
| eral days. The murder and burning of
| the house were known next day; but
the Germans hiding-place was not dis
covered until some time after; the
Captain having in the meantime been
sent for. There does not seem To be
anything especially wonderful in the
fact, for il is "A fact, that the Captain
was able to get home to avenge the
murder of his family and become the
captor of the murderer; indeed, il
would be much more singular ii he had
not come home. At any rate he did
come home. Suppose Capt. Tissue
had been at Bedford, or even two days
journey beyond, horseman could easi-
ly have reached him, and had him
home in less than week. Now
"Dicher Ben" must not pick the writer
up on this matter, because il is only
supposition and since the fact remains
uncontradicted that Capt. Tissue was
away somewhere when the murder oc-
Cured, and since the writer has proven
his side of the story i'm more direct
manner than "Dicher Ben" that is to
say, from persons to whom Capt. Tissue
told it, it would seem as though any
one, even more incredulous than
"Dicher Ben" ought to be convinced.
"Dicher Ben" certainly made the as
sertion in his former paper that Capt.
Tissue was of English extraction, al
though he now says he did not. OF
course, in this cosmopolitan country