The Oskaloosa herald., 1901-03-21
IT WAS SUICIDE
So Decides Coroner Cheesman in
the Case of 81. Fl. Drake.

II. H. Drake, who was found dead A
1T his home nsar Rose Hill Sunday
came to mis- death by his own
hand, was the opinion of Coroner
Eugene Cheesman after having made
4 careful examination of evidence in ia
The case. The evidence of suicide ht
was so strong in the mind of the cor ey
and the same opinion being gu
concurred in by all the neighbors, it
was not thought necessary to hold
an inquest. The body vas prepar I
for burial'and was buried tod ed
Wymore cemetery by the 81 y in
40 OF d
The story of the indi'
differs in some resr gofthe oooy
sent out from p yects from that
morning. A .ose Hill Sunday
roved somet .eighbor having Dor
urdav and -ools returned them Sat
ro+nro, found no one at home. He
c,,nS d again for the same purpose
lay afternoon with the same re-
sult. A companion suggested that
!, they return again at ''chore time, 1"
which they did. They were attracted
to the stables by the Whitney of the
l horses and on releasing the animals
2 they ran to the water trough and
! drank as though they were almost
: dead from thirst. The men went to
} the house but could arouse no one.
They thought something was wrong
and went among the neighbors tell
ing what they knew of the affair and
; a party of nine of the neighbors went
to the Drake place and forced an en-
trance by NEAR of a window. A
. ,s%ickeniDg sight greeted their eyes.
, The old man was half seated, halt
Y reclining on the bunk bed that was
{, built against the side wall of the
I room. He was covered with blood
a and the room was spattered and
8 daubed with the same, The empty
d revolver lay within a few inches of
the outstreched hand and the old
! mans head was thrown back against
= the wall. Five balls had assisted in
{, the work of death, There were W
I; wounds on the Forehead where the
b. bullets had glanced from the skull.
There was another wound in the
= right cheek abouth ali an inch from
a the nose. A wound was found in the
d left shoulder and a fifth which pro-
badly completed the work entered
the rightly eye, passed through the
brain and out at the lett side of the
back. The man had been dead a
number of,days. Decomposition was
a~dyancedgand it was difficult to care
for the remains.
Old man Drake was a wealthy farm
err residing'on his farm near Stony
Ridge Mill. He owned a farm of one
hundred and twenty acres, which in
|. cluded what was called "the old
goose pond" His lind, %chattels,
notes and cash form an estate that
will be worth in the neigbborhood OF
$40, 900. He lived in a miserly man
ner and spent very little. His cabin
: was little better than a dugout in the
side OF a hill and was wholly without
the ordinary comforts of a home.
= The bed was a bunk nailed to the
wall upon which rested a couple OF
straw ticks, black and almost filthy.
3, The room was unwholesome ano
/, dark. The old man had covered the
windows. He locked the door ano
then doubly secured it by mailing 9
= block OF wood TO the floor and plac'
IN ing a board against this and under
4 the door, knob, but he was not dis
4 turbed in his work of self destruction
II. II. Drake was a married MAJ
n and has a son somewhere in the
q north. He was formerly a professor
in a college at Sheboygan, Wisconsin
= but his present address is unknown
3 The address of a brother was found
~. L. Drake of LIE Sueur, Minnesota
!. He was telegraphed concerning th'
= affair and replied to bury the bod,
/. in Wymore cemetery.
. The old nan had lived all alone foI
years in this semi dugout He was
lonely, misery and u%nsocial being
= whose society was summed on &C
: count of his unclean,iness and un
couth habits. 1t is thought that h
was crazed by his lonliness and com
: mitted the act while demented. HI
= left no note or will. He had aboul