Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-26
AN AoCURsED HOUSE.
NEIGHBoRs DECLARE THAT IN
DIANs PUT A BAN ON IT.
Two Inmates Have Gone Insane and
Seven Have Been Killed or Com
mitted Suicide.
,ster tInd.) Cor. New York Herald.

yealed by the GRIPPE family who lived on
farm two miles south Of this place The
latest death was that of Samuel Horn jr.,
who was killed while hauling logs He
was found beneath his wagon with his
head crushed. To old residents of the
community this tragedy recalled the fact
that the boys mother and grandmother
had been murdered, that his father had
committed suicide, that two uncles had
met violent deaths in an insane asylum
and that seven others of his ancestors had
been killed or murdered or had died at
their own hands.
The homestead which had been the scene
of SO many tragedies is now deserted and
summed by chance travellers. Farmers OF
Fulton county coming to Rochester refuse
to pass the place, and will travel by out
of-the-way roads to avoid it. Cattle will
not browse on the long green grass that
surrounds the house, Because of the
odium that attaches to the homestead an
effort is being made by residents to COM
pensate the owner sufficiently to induce
him to have it torn down.
A curious visitor who enters the house
may on every hand evidence or the
strife that has made the home infamous;
In one door is the mark made by a pistol
ball which buried itself in the wood. The
ceiling of the dining room Is perforated
with buckshot, which came from the gun
of Wilson Burns when he committed triple
murder. and the trimmings OF one room
Abraham Grippe, who fired the house after
attempting suicide.
On Indian Graves.
The record of crime dates back sixty
years when Abraham Grippe and his wife
located on the farm and built the home
stead from the logs felled in the forests.
Grippe was German, who had come direct
from the fatherland The country was
new and infested by Indians, while the
nearest white neighbors lived a mile away
Hardly had Grippe laid the first logs of
his future home than he was visited by
Indians. who asked that the location OF
the house be changed. The building, they
explained, was being erected over the
graves of Indian braves who had been
buried on the hill When Grippe refused to
abandon the location he had chosen for his
home the Indians hurled curses at him. !.
Less than a year had elapsed when 1t
was demonstrated that the curse which
hung over the house was to reap harvest
of death. Mrs Grippe tired of living In the
wilderness and longed to return to her ma
tive home. GRIPPE objected. He was making
a comfortable living from his fishing,
hunting and trapping, and he refused to
leave his new field. Mrs. Grippe beseeched
him to return to Germany, put ner en-.
treaties fell on deaf ears. Then Mrs. Grippe
became morbid, and brooding over her
loneliness planned self-destruction
One day, while her husband was away
with his FOQ ana gun, NILE. tlipc WSii' w
stairs and saturated the bed clothing with
kerosene Taking butcher knife she got
into bed and pulled the saturated covers
about her. Then she ignited the bed cioth-
ing and a the same time siasheo iief LII oe1e
with the knife.
Her Youngest son, Loran, twelve years
old, was playing in the yard when he saw
smoke issuing from his mothers bed room
Rushing upstairs he forced open the door
and there saw his mother. He rushed to
the bed and, grasping the form OF ms
mother who was now unconscious, carried
her downstairs and into the open air, where
he extinguished the flames by rolling her
In the grass. .
Mrs, Cripe was in q dangerous condition
from tho wound in her neck and from the
burns but her life was spared. with re
coyery however, she began again to plot
to end her life. Waiting until all We're
awav from home save Loran, she went to
the barn and built an altar of hay. Then
she locked Loran in his room: returning
to the barn, She ignlted the nay ana lay
down to die.
out In the field was her husband return
ing from hunting trip. Seeing his barn
on fire, he rushed home. Approaching the
barn he saw his wife standing At the door
heckoning for him. Fire was about her on
all sides. Just as he reached the barn the
roof fell in.
! sister-iu-law fell dead while raking leaves
in the front yard. The woman and Mrs.
| Grippe had quarreled and the latter had
hurled a milestone, which struck the Wo-
| man on the head at the place where an
artery subsequently broke.
More Tragedy.
| For a few months the hand of misfortune
| was stayed, and GRIPPE began to think the
| curse which hung over his house had been
| removed Then the son Loran began to
| show signs of insanity. His disease took
| the form of acute mania, and at times he
| had to be restrained from doing violence.
He lived until he was twenty-five years
| old Two years before his death he was
struck by limb while walking through an
| orchard during storm. From THAT time
he never left his bed.
| Murder then visited the Inflated family.
| Elias Cripe, son of Abraham Grippe, was
| fine victim On his death the father left
| his estate to Elias, who sold part of the
! farm. The morning after his return from
| Rochester, where he had been paid money
! for part of bis land, he was round uncon-
| scious In the hayloft of the barn, built on
| the site of the one fired by Mrs. Grippe.
| His skull was crushed and his body badly
| bruised He died without regaining con-
| seriousness, and the identity of his assail-
| ant was never discovered.
| Tragic deaths in the family then followed
| in rapid succession. George Grippe was
| killed by tree falling across his chest
| while he was clearing timber land, and
|
| Longclifr Asylum, where they had been
| confined because of insanity.
| The series of deaths eliminated last De-
| cember in a triple murder and suicide
| Goaded by jealousy William Burns, who
| married one of the daughters of Abraham
| Grippe was the murderer.
| Burns and his wife had quarreled fire.
| uuently. They had separated and become
| united time and again. During one of their
periods of strife Burns returned home and
| asked his wife to live with him again. She
| refused.
| When he left the house 1t was with the
| understanding that he should hear from
| his wife in few days He remained away
! a week Returning home one night with a
| gun over his shoulder, he found the family
| at the supper table Aiming the gun at
Mrs. Burns. he fired. but the shot went
| wild, killing Joseph Grippe. Firing the sec
| ond barrel he riddled the bodies of his
/ wife and Mrs Braham, an aunt, who had
| covered in a corner to escape the muir
| derer's wrath. Leaving the house, Burns
! took TO the woods, where he blew off his
| head.
Then came the accidental death of
| Samuel Horn, jr., the last but two of the
| family.