New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-05-26
SHOT HIS SON AND HIMSELF
A BROOKLYN LAWYER COMMITS MUIR
DER AND SUICIDE.

A STATEMENT GIVING REASONS FOR THE DOUBLE
CONGRATULATIONS STAGE PEOPLE HIS
RELATIvEs-DEsPAIR OVER HIS IIFEs
FAILURE AND FEAR FOR HIS
SONS FUTuRE-IDLENEss
LED TO MADNESS
Charles Kemble Hillyard. Brooklyn lawyer,
who began life actor and was relative
Of Charles and Anna Kemble Mrs Scott Siddons
and Algernon Sartoris. took the life Of himself
and of his thrteen-ye -year-old boy either on Mon
day night early Tuesday morning. His own
failure in life, his inability to obtain clients or
In the social world to gather friends to himself
through the bonds Of sympathy, had been BROOD
ed over much that 1t had become mono
mania with him. When there was added to this
the melancholy into which the death Of his wire
threw him. his unbalanced mind turned 10 sui
eide as a relief. Unwilling to have his boy race
the world that had proved bitter to him, Hill
yard took the lad with him into the great un-
known.
The double tragedy occurred In the sleeping
room Of the father and son. on the second hoor
of their home at No. 212 Greene-ave. A re-
volver. with two empty chambers. Whlch was
found near the body Of the father. and bullet
holes In the heads OF the father and son. just
above the right ear in each case. tell how the
deed was done, though II is not known that any
one heard the shots.
Among the letters. schedules and statements
written by Hillyard in explanation OF his con-
templated deed. there Is remarkable sort Oh
brief or argument for the tragedy which he was
planning. There is reason to peleVe 'ha' '''''
was written about April II, more than
n poli
The no,nt OF the double crime. Additions ana
,r..r,,reat,ops IN some Of these statements make
II probable that the killing Of his boy was an
afterthought. Taken altogether. the Brooklyn
no,ico are of the opinion that this tragedy Is
moro deenlv fraught with interest than any thae
hoo hannened I'm that city, at least since the
Henry murder case.
H,llvard was ffty-four years old, ana, al
,,ougb q graduate of the Columbia Law Scnooi
and with twenty years Of attempted practice Oh
law behind him, desk room In an oflce Oh '"e
Arbuckle Building was all he needed ior coi'
ducting the legal affairs Of his handful OF cieh's
On Monday evening he returned home IN par
ticularly fretful. uneasy frame OF H'i'o'
! Throughout supper his manner was eXceeu'iie'S
nervous and when he arose from the taoie h7
told his son 20 come upstairs Win Hiih' Du'
the la a happy. talented youngster. was re-
pairing his bicycle for ride which he intended
taking and said:
"Wait papa; / want to clean my bicycle.
The father consented. but went upstairs him
self At s o'clock. the boys usual bedtifne'
Hillyard called down for the boy, and the lat-
ter went up. After the boy had retired MISS
Catherine Men, Hilyard's sister-in-law, en-
tered the with basket or appies' anu
found Hiyard writing. Then she went to her
room on the third floor, where also slept the
servant. the only other person in the house.
Miss Mein. at 8 o'clock yesterday morning,
knocked at the door of the room, and, hearing
no a,swer. entered Just far enough to see the
body of the boy She thought she saw the lad
move but II must have been the wind blowing
the covers Fearing to arouse the irritable nat
ure Of her brother-in-aw, she withdrew
FINDING THE BODIES
It was after the luncheon hour when suspi-
cions were aroused by the non appearance or
the two Miss Mein again went to the room
and this time went In far enough to see that the
heads Of the man and the boy were covered with
blood She rushed across the street to the house
of Mrs Leonard. the head Jf the Christian
Scientist Society to which the family belonged.
Mrs Leonard had the police called by telephone,
and the police and Coroner Coombs were soon
at the house.
The body of the boy was lying in his little
brass bed in the alcove Of the sleeping-room. 1t
was lying on the left side and the placid coun-
tenance indicated that there was no return OF
consciousness when the father leaned over and
fired the shot that changed the sleep OF life to
the sleep OF death.
The fathers bed stood beside the boys. Hill
yards body lay across this. and the revolver was
an ,ba door He had evidently the edge
of the bed to shoot himself over his nightgown
was a dressing gown, and his slippers were on
his feet The gas was not burning. Some Of the
apples had been eaten.
Hillyard's face strangely resembles that or
Secretary Of State John Sherman. except that 1t
IS neither so strong original. The hair and
heard are close cropped and gray. The hair Is
thin on the forehead.
On the centre e-table were found the statements
and letters which he left, and some unpaid bllls
on stand at one side rested arge Biple' open
at the twenty-th third Psalm. In the closet was
H;IIvard's hat with a mourning band on 1t, and
a dress suit.
Tho room, IN the rear had belonged to the boy
IN his little workbench was a model sloop yacht
cIeverlv made. and in another part OF the room
another sloop. In the wise was a hull. music
rack and a violin, a pair OF dumbbells ana
bookcase filed with Juvenile literature showed
what tastes the boy had and how they were graf
fled by a watchful, affectionate father
A REMARKABLE DOCUMENT
The following is the principal statement which
Hillyard left:
Sunnoee I should kill my boy and myself. would
II make any great difference to ANYBODY: S il5
mother is dead, his Uncle John would be relieved ei
~ The necessity of taking care of him In case oi
nv death, and / hardly think the care ne wouu ui
.iyye 10 the poor boy would be very great, ana MS
1ncle Robert would be most reluctant TO nave
him in his keeping AS 10 the odium of ms kIillng
and suicide-wha would II amount 10! lhe'e
might be no funeral service . -
We'll what OF It? There would be no flowers or
,r,ands or reverer ce Well, what then? Willie
would be AT peace forever; no future no tears no
egonies no temptations. no sins He would be IN
Poradise And that would be all ! ask. For my
se,f what matter ceremony or regret! cou1d not
be in a greater he'll than am now In ,,