The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1896-01-10
VARIOUS VERMONT MATTERS.
WAS BUFFUM MURDERED.

Tabor and DIR. II. Whlpple of Danb.
went Friday to the Barrett shanty,
a deserted logging camp in the tow
of Mount Tabor, where the body o
Chas. Buffum who disappeared tive
months ago, WIS found last week.
Buifum had been working on Thu
timber job of Hapgood Stiles il
the eastern part of the town of Noun
Tabor, about four miles from thu
Barrett shanty. His family lived il
Wallingford, and 1T was said when he
left work that he had started fol
W~allingfold upon hearing that one Of
his children vas sick. The Barrett
shanty is upon the road which Buifun
would naturally take in walking &c
Wallingford it being a short cut
through the forest over the mountain.
The finding of the body was as un-
canny as the surroundings Of tine pas
ture that held it. At sunrise on the
morning of New Years day Frank
Paola Coupola and an Italian friend
named Peter Patio set out hare hunt
ing. After shooting a hare, they noted
a movement in the top of a fallen
spruce and, looking up, saw a large
lynx crouching among the branchs.
The animal is the most %forocious to be
found in Vermont's forest, and it did
not attempt to escape. A simulta-
neous discharge of both guns brought
il to the ground. AS the men emerged
from the woods to the edge of the
pasture they came abruptly upon tho
body of Charles Buffum lying in the
open ground without the sign of stick,
stone or stump in the immediate To-
cality. A lantern was found in the
north side about 40 feet away. In
the pockets were found about 50, a
watch, a diary, a knife and some
other articles. The officials discovered
no evidence of any struggle or of any
one being with Buffum at the time of
his death. Between the vest and the
underwear on the right side 4 dead
mouse was found. The animal was
crushed and had probably laid there
for weeks. Outside that fact that the
garment did not have the appearance
of being long exposed to the weather.
The nostrils and mouth were bloody.
while Il ciot of blood was imbedded in
the hair at the side of the head.
Fastening home the men informed the
mill boss of their discovery. The fact
llltl III Idt Nv IhI vi I "tp
commented upon, as il was cold and
showing when he left Hapgood X
Stiles. The shanty was gnawed by
~hcdgehogs, but the animals had not
touched the body. This shanty which
is situated on Mount Tabor mountain
on land owned by S. l.. Griffith. is
about three miles from any occupied
house, and about eight miles from a
railroad. The last persons to see
Charles Buffum are said. on good
authority to be Charles Hart and his
son. These men. together with Mrs.
Hart, live four miles from the pasture
the body was found. Hart says
that Buifum, himself and his tHart's)
went to Weston on the afternoon
Of November 8. The bought some al
cohol, drank a little and returned to
house. While there, Hart
alleges, Butfum received word that his
child in W~allingford was i'll and that
he started TO 90 home through the
woods This would lead him near the
where he was found. This was,
be claims, the last time he saw
Buffum alive. Subsequently he told
several conflicting stories, and what
Is still more significant his wife says
that when Butfum left he had 1886 in
his pocket. She is positive that this
the amount. She also says that
RufTum had no oil in his lantern, a
fact that turned out to be true. Then
the good condition of the clothing, the
absence of deep rust on the lantern,
the crushed mouse, the position OF the
body, and, lastly, the appearance OF
the lynx, all go to show that the body
If Charles Buffum had not lain long
IN the pasture near the shanties. But
if these theories should prove
false. many people will tell you that
The very spot where Butfum as found
has been several times visited by
searching parties during the past three
Taking all things into consid
1~ration, it is thought the murdered
nan was killed ut some point not far
rom where he WAS discovered, and
that the body was taken and placed
n the pasture where it was evidently
it would be discovered with
he melting Of the snow in the spring.
Those who made the request, presuma-
DIV acting under the instructions of the
attorney, they refuse to make
public the results. Enough has been
aid, however, to reveal their belief
hat Butfum was murdered, and by a
blow on the head such as might have
given with an axe. The body was
in the open pasture, with no
stones or sticks near upon which he
night have fallen to inilict fatal inlur-
cs. No motive for the murder has yet
been brought to light, but no effort will
De spared to discover the perpetrator OF
he deed.
NJ. II. Alexander, a we'll known
Dung lawyer of Burlington, was ar
'ested Friday, and lodged in jail on
he charge of embe2zlement The
,harge Of embeZzlement and a dozen
'harges very similar have long been in
circulation in the community, and
were taken some time ago to
procure Alexander's disbarment. At
he last session of the supreme court
Tohn Young of Newport, ex-Gov.
Dillingham; and Col. A. A. Hall of st.
\lbans were appointed a committee to
investigate and report. The hearing
vas set for Friday and witnesses were
resent from various parts of the state.
however, filed a siipula
ion consenting to his disbarment and
he hearing thus became unneces
airy. His crimes are reported TO foot
10 &c, 600. X. r. Townshend, now of
Jhicago, in whose family Mrs. Alex.
nder had lived previous to her mar
iage, had in the Burlington Trust
Co's safety deposit vaults a certificate
4 deposit of sli00 and notes and
Mortgages aggregating s12O0-s260O in
Il. He agreed to loan Alexander 500
nd gave him the $1,000 certificate from
,hich Alexander was to deduct the
500 from the proceeds and deposit the
emaining 1900 10 gold in the safe.
ir. Townsend also left il 10 .Alexan-