Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1901-12-14
MARX REACHES HOME
An Authentic Account Of the Oak
Grove Shooting.
A NEW VISION OF THE TRfGEDY
The Night Attack on the Young New Yorker
Was Unprovoked and the Shooting
Clearly Done in Self Defense.

killed William Taylor and William
Hefllin and seriously wounded James
Q. Stiff at his fathers plantation house
near Oak Grove Va, has reached his
home, 139 Sixth avenue, Brooklyn. He
left Oak Grove Immediately after his
exoneration by the coroner's jury and
reached Washington on Thursday. AS
10 his Whereabouts since Thursday
nothing was obtainable.
Abel Il. Blaekmar, 1914 Bergen
street, Brooklyn, of the law firm of
Baldwin a. Blackmar 81 Nassau street,
Manhattan, gave out the following
statement of the affair:
"wednesday morning / received a
telegram asking me to come to Virgin
la at once and stating that Herbert
Marx was in trouble. | started at
once, accompanied by Herberts broth
er Ernest. We reached Fredericks-
burg on Thursday and found that Her
bert had come up the RappahannoclS
on a steamer sYe found him on board
the boat and took him to the hotel.
After hearing his story of the shooting
we decided that it was best for him to
go to Washington and call on Repre-
sentative Jones of his home district
and give him a full account of the mat
ter. This he did and placed himself
in the care OF Mr. Jones.
Ernest Marx and myself drove to
Oak Grove and called upon the com
monwealth attorney, Colonel Robert j.
Washington, a descendant of the half
brother of George Washington. After
a conference with Colonel Washington
we decided to thoroughly inspect the
premises where the shooting occurred.
The next day we went over to the place
and found several things not before no
ticed. We found that Taylor evidently
had fred two rifle shots through the
window. One Of these had passed
through the window of the back room
on the ground floor aud the other
through the second story.
"When the first shot was fired, Her
bert secured his revolver, threw open
the door and confronted man wearing
a mask. He called upon the man to
speak and say whether the affair was
joke. Receiving no answer, he fired.
The man, who afterward proved to be
Stiff, fell on the porch. Stiff is said to
have stated that he was shot by one
of his own party, but Herbert says that
he shot him. Hefilin fell next, and aft
er his second shot Herbert started
across the front yard toward a fence
about go yards away. After climbing
the fence he turned and saw another
man. carrying a rifle. Herbert fired
and this man also fell. The third man
afterward proved to be Taylor, who
apparently had crossed the yard and
climbed the fence on a parallel course
with Marx. Herbert ran half a mile to
Griffith's. the nearest neighbor.
Securing lantern, a party fastened
back to the scene of the shooting and
found that Hefllin and Stiff had crawl
ed into the front room. where both lay
on the floor unconscious One mystic
rious feature of the affair was that the
lamp which had been burning in the
back room had been removed to the
front ROOM
''Marx secured a horse and hurried
away to the home of DR. Washington.
five miles distant, and soon returned
with the physician. Taylor's body was
not found until an hour later, Upon
searching further about the premises
n bag of straw, a large bundle of rags
and a bottle of kerosene We're found,
together with a large braided whip.
A quarter of a mile down the road two
buggies We're found, in which were q
can of tar. rope twenty feet long and
several rifle cartridges. a man known
as Douglas was found in one of the
buggies. He ran away and. together
with a man known as George Thomp-
son, was caught later. Both declared
that they knew nothing of the matter
both had been pressed into the affair
upon the assurance that there was 10
be no shooting. An examination of
Taylor's rifle showed that the maya,
zine contained thirteen undischarged
cartridges. The ejector of the rifle was
down. and cartridge was found jam
med in ;he brooch. preventing further
use Of the weapon.
"MarX remained that night In the
house in the custody of Mr.. Griffith
who had been deputized as special
constable. Next morning an inquest
was ] "a over Taylors body Thomp
soa s., t,G tl0t ha la3 understood
the larty intended to chast,5e Marx
He had been picked up on the road
and he knew nothing else about Tho
matter. Douglas told similar story
10 the jury, on which were two rela
tives Of one of the dead men, Colone
Washington told Marx he could MAKE
statement to the jury if he desired
and Marx did so. A verdict of justifa
bic shooting was at once returned
Prominent Bay state Man Dead.
FALL RIVER, Mass, Dec. Oval
Tor q Durfpp onp of thA most r,rotni