The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1896-05-28
murdered by Chinaman,
DaushteF and Grand Daughter of Manassah
sleeper Killed In California.

daughter and Grand Daughter of Manassah
Sleeper Killed in California.
One of the most horrible crimes that ever
occurred in California was committed Nav
loth' the victims being Mrs. Julia Eliza
ochwatka of Butte Creek and her little
daughter Irene. Mrs. Schwatka was daugh-
ter OF Manassah Sleeper, formerly of Belfast.
ou1 was born after the family moved to
Calfornla. From long account in the
1reka, Cal, Journal we take the following
particulars:
Chlnaman called Charlie was employed
as a cook on the Schwatka ranch. and on the
morning OF the murder he prepared break
last as usual about ) o'clock. Harry Schwat-
ka, husband and father of the victims, left
nome about o'clock to attend to some bust
ness on the ranch leaving his wife and the
children before they had breakfast Two
men, who were on their way from the State
OF w ashington to Scott Bar on mining busi-
ness, called at the house to buy hay and no.
tlclug blood on the floor saw at once that
something was wrong. AS they were strang-
ers they feared suspicion would rest upon
them II they entered the house. so they i'm
medlately notified the nearest neighbor, Mr.
lruaX, but before he was able to get back
Mr. Schwatka, the husband. had reached
the house, and found his wife and child bru-
tally murdered, and the Chnaman dead in
his bed from the effects of a dose of strych-
nine.
coroner was notified and an inquest was
held. From the testimony given it ls thought
that the Chinaman must have become anger
ed at and attacked the daughter and
when the mother interfered he struck
her over the head with a piece of wood
and inflicted a wound on her wrist, She
finally got away from him and reached
her room, where she locked the door and
dressed her wounded wrist, as we'll as the
cuts on her head and the bruises on the head
of little Irene In the meantime the China
man procured an AK and Winchester rifle
and returned, broke IL the bedroom door
and shot the poor woman through the body,
the bullet entering the right side under the
arm, going clear through the body, cutting
the seventh rib, passing through the lungs,
her arm and on through the head of the bed
and wall into the open air.
Mrs. Schwatka had revolver in her room,
and had evidently fred one shot at the
Chinaman, as one chamber was empty. In
defending herself she had also struck him on
the head with something, probably a small
hatchet which was found in the room with
blood on it. The room in which the woman
had locked herself and children was the
sitting room, with an alcove which was
| used for bed room. The Chinaman had
knocked the panel of the door out, and then
evidently shot her through the hole, as she
was trying to get out OF his range around
/ the partition.
After killing the mother, the tiend took
the rifle and murdered little Irene by crush
ing her skull with the muzzle of the weapon.
The little girl must have crawled under the
| bed by direction of her mother, for the pur-
pose of hiding from the Mongolian. He dis
covered her there and must have thrown the
mattress and bed clothing back, and sep
| t1.S lots ~ RI,
rifle through and drove a CHASTITY hole in the
| back Of her head
| The three-months-old baby had been
| thrown under the bed, the infurated China
man having doubtless thought he had killed
| her also. The little boy was in the house
| and witnessed the crime, the murderer, for
| some unaccountahe reason having spared
his life. After committing his awful murders,
| he Went to his room, got into bed and took
| his own worthless life with a dose of strych-
nine.
The same paper has the following to say
| of the victims and their family
Julia Eliza Schwatka was born IN Yreka
in September, 1861, and would have been 30
years OF age next September. She was the
| daughter of eX-Supervisor NJ. Sleeper, one
1 of the oldest and most highly respected p-
oneers Of this county. She was a woman of
great refinement, possessing a sweet and
| amiabe disposition, which made her many
| friends. She spent most of the winter in
Yreka with her father, and on the 29th of
| last February gave birth to a little daughter,
| the same which the Chipaman left for dead.
! She leaves one sister, Mrs. A. Wallis
whose husband was a former resident of
| Yreka, and now chief operator Of the Postal
| Telegraph Company at Los Angeles. She
also leaves two brothers, Henry Sleeper
who is now living in San Francisco and
| William Sleeper, whose home is in Yreka,
but has been in Eugene, Oregon, for several
| days past. Irene, the little daughter, would
| have been eight years old next September,
and was a bright and promising child, her
| sunny disposition winning the love of all
around her.
| This is the most fiendish crime ever com
mitted i'll California. and the thought of the
awful struggle that poor, brave, little
: woman made in defense of her life and that
of her little one, which was even more dear
| to her than her own, causes the heart to
| turn sick with horror.
| To the aged father, whose love and devo-
tion to his family has always been remark
able, the sympathy of the entire community
goes out. The weight of his terrible atf1ic-
| tion seems almost beyond human endu-
| rance The anguish and suffering of the
husband and the sorrow of the brothers and
| sister can never be realized by sympathiz-
| ing friends. 1t is a scene from which the
| Creator alone can draw the veil and heal
| the wounded minds and lacerated hearts.
The funeral was held the following Satur-
day, under the auspices of Hope Rebekah
Lodge, l. o. o. F., of Yreka, of which Mrs
Schwatka was an honored member.