The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1898-08-11
DEATH FROM A BLOW
William Meyers Skull Fractured by
His Wife. The Injured Man
Lives Five Days.
Fatal Termination Of a Family Row.
The Coroner's Jury Says 1t
Was Self Defense.

y
Bogus Brook, died on Sunday morn
ing from the effects of blow dealt
with club in the hands of his wife.
Meyer and his wife came to this county
from Elk River, where they had lived
about four years. Their quarrels since
coming to this neighborhood have been
hard and frequent, both seeming to be
endowed with uncontrolla BILE tempers.
+Ihes cflsis--Was reached on Monday,
August l, when they had quarrel in
Stherye field and the wife struck her
husband over the head with a club:
th:ssis admitted by both parties as
fact. Meyer had his wife arrested for
assault and on Tuesday the trial came
of before/J. S. Bouck. At the trial
Mrs. Meyer. admitted that she struck
Meyer. Her evidence in substance
was that she went into the field where
Meyer and Stock Reems were working;
that Meyer ordered her to leave and
chased her away with rake; that she
returned and he again chased her
away: that she returned the second
time and that Meyer then struck her
near the temple; that she then struck
him the blow Of which he complained:
Stock. Reems' testimony agreed with
Mrs. Meyers in regard to the chasing
with the rake, but did. not see Meyer
hit his wife. A girl about fifteen years
corroborated Mrs. Meyers testimony.
The woman was released and the fam
lily went home. Meyer was in town
Thursday. That was the last the
townspeople heard of the trouble until
Sunday night, the Sth inst, when word
was brought that Meyer died that
morning. On Monday a coroner's jury
was summoned by Coroner O. G. Tar
box and an inquest held. An examin-
alton showed that the blow dealt
Meyer by his wife took effect over the
right eye, causing two fractures of the
skull and that the immediate cause of
|deathsWas septic meningitis. The evil
dence at the inquest regarding the
striking did not differ materially from
that at the trial with the exception
that Stock Reems was not present and
gave no evidence. Mrs. Meyer testi-
fed that Meyer had been around at his
work much the same as usual until he
arrived home from Princeton at 4
o'clock P. M. on Thursday: he then
went into the house and told some one
to put the team up, as he was sick. On
Friday medical help was called from
Milaca, but the man grew worse, his
mind was affected and he died at 5
O'Clock Sunday morning. The ver-
dict of the coroner's jury was as fol-
lows: ''That said William Meyer came
to his death from a blow inflicted by
his wife on the first, of August, 1898,
and we: the said jury do further find
that in our opinion said blow was
given in self defense and not with
felonious intent. '"The members of the
jury were W. Morehouse, B. nj. Van
Alstein, VIM. McCuaig, J. G. Herd
liska, E. NJ. Chapman and I. r. South
ard. ;... ..- 49,. ..
The above are the facts as shown to
the justice and to the coroner's jury,
but the UNION has interviewed Mr..
Reems aud he tells a story which
would undoubtedly have caused a diff
ferent verdict by the coroner's jury if
it had been told at the inquest.
The body was lying outside of the
house and Mrs. Meyer showed no
emotion over the occurrence. She
said that she could do nothing toward
burying it, had no money and so on.
The men from town made arrange
ments to have the body decently in
tered and if the county willnot pay the
bill they will pay it themselves.