The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1897-07-07
A Mountain Tragedy Recalled.

Mrs. Elizabeth Baughman expired at
the home of her son John, in Brothersval-
ley township, on June 18th, in the ninety
fiith year OF her age.
The death of this aged woman recalls a
mountain tragedy which occurred in
Elk Lick townships about the year 1879.
She was the widow of Henry Baughman,
German, who then lived near the top of
the Negro mountain, near one of the
roads leading to the Peek" settlement
Baughman was rather intelligent man
but somewhat hot tempered. One day i'm
April his cows which had been turned
loose failed to come home. and Baugh-
man with two of his sons-l4 and II years
old-started out in search ofthem. When
they returned home that night the young
est son was not with his father and elder
brother, but Baughman inquired whether
August had come home, saying that the
boys had run a race-That Henry, the
Older one, fell down, but that August
kept on running and that was the last he
had seen of him. When told that the lad
had not returned home Baughman did
not seem much alarmed, and remark ed
that the boy must have gone TO one OF the
neighbors and would probably return in
the morning. But when he failed to re-
turn search was made for him-eventual-
ly almost the entire township Joining in
the hunt-but without finding any trace
of the lost boy. People finally begun to
suspect that the lad had met with foul
play and one day Biaghman was placed
under arrest. 1t was noticed that he al
ways tried TO keep the older boy from
talking much with the people who were
engaged in the search.
Afler the arrest of the father an oppor-
tunity was presented to question Henry
the older boy, who said that his broth: r
become tired and Jagged behind, aud
that his father had become very angry
and struck him a violent blow with a
cane or stick that he had, the boy falling
To the ground and blood streaming from
his nose and mouth. The boy was sense
less and Baughman carried him some
distance from the road and laid him be-
tween two rocks-and compelled Henry
~ NNNf Ssteht obOut bAAC
Searehers under the guidance of Henry
visited the place but found nothing of
the boy. Near by the ground seemed to
have been freshly dug up, but when the
spot WAS carefully examined the body
was not there. Baughman was tried in
our courts before Judge Black for murder,
and was found guilty of manslaughter
and sentenced to the penitentiary for
eleven years and nine months. He
served his sentence and returned to his
family. Tie lived in Elk Lick for many
years and died there at an advanced age.
All his life he maintained that he did
not kill the boy and always said that he
would return home some day.
Ia the summer of 1855 part of human
skeleton was found in swampy place on
the neutrality-suspicious. it was thicket
of laurel-The skeleton was badly de-
cayed, bnt was pronounced from what
was left as being that of a child of ten or
twelve years. The distance from where
the skeleton was found and where Baugh-
man had carried the boy WAS about two
miles. and it il now supposed that the
boy had not been actually killed by the
blow given him by his enraged father
that after being left on the mountain top
he regained consciousness and sarted To
reach some house, got lost in the thicket
and perished in that way; that Baughman
had returned to the spot during the night
for the purpose of burying the body, and
after digging grave as was found-he
failed to find the boys body-the lad hav-
ing revived and LEFT the spot.