The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1912-02-16
ANNIVERSARY
OF Event
That Stirred Up The People
af Knox County
More Than Anything Occur.
ring Within Its Limits
v. h. Smith Recalls History
OF The Lost Boy
Eddie Berger, Who = .Strayed
From Home AT Bangs
And Whose Body Was Found
Two Months Later
Mt. Vernon, O., Feb, Is, 1912.

Mt Vernon, o., Feb. Is, 1912.
Editor Banner:
AS this is the anniversary of an
event that stirred the people of Knox
occurred within it's limits, and as / was
in position to know all about the dis
tressing affair, l thought l would give
your readers full history of the oc-
currence.
l was keeping a store at Bangs at
the time and there was a shoemaker
shop right at the side of the store. On
the morning of February Is, 1876, thir-
ty-six years ago this morning a little
boy, nine years of age, named Eddie
Berger, came and opened the store
door and asked for the shoemaker
told him that he would be at the shop
in little while. He was a very bash
full boy and, although it was stormy
and the snow flying, he stood out on
the platform and waited for the shoe
maker to come. He then got piece Of
sole leather put on the sole OF the toe
of each one of his boots and started
across the fields to school. The school
house stood on the Ward farm in Mill
er township, and was then known as
"the lost school house" on account of
it's being nearly surrounded by woods
and being SO far from any other
house.
The Berger family lived in a tenant
house on the Dana Miller farm, now
owned by l.. e. Mahan. The family
consisted of Mr.. and Mrs, Berger, Ed
die, aged nine years, and Charlie, aged
seven years. 1t being a stormy day.
MIR. Miller and Mr.. Berger worked
in the barn all day cleaning wheat
through windmill. That night when
Charlie Berger got home from school,
he told his mother that Eddie had not
been at school that day. Mrs. Berger
was alarmed and told him to go and
tell his father. Charlie went to the
barn and told his father that Eddie
was not at home and that he had not
beer at school that day. Mr.. Berger
had a half bushel of wheat in his
hands at the time. He put it down and
started at once.
That night, awhile after dark, Mr..
Berger came and opened the store
door and asked If Eddie had been
there that day. / told him he had
been there in the morning and got
his boots mended and then started to
school. Mr.. Berger said, well, he is
lost" and then shut the door and went
away. There were a number of men
In the store, as usual, and they talked
about the matter and all agreed that
the boy had gone to some neighbor's 8
house, and nothing more was thought
about it that night. After Mr.. Ber-
ger left the store, he travelled all night
in the storm, going from house to
house wherever he thought his boy
might be.
The next morning the news came to
Bangs that Eddie Berger was lost and
could not be found. A searching par
ty was organized at once and started
on the hunt for him. We followed his
tracks where he had wandered through
fields until he got to the Newark road
He then started south on the Newark
road. We could tell his track when
ever we saw 1t on account OF the
marks in the mud the pieces that had
been put on the soles of his boots
would make. He must have turned
and come back toward Mt. Vernon, as
a woman living near Mt. Vernon, Oh
the Newark road, reported that she
saw him little while before dark go
ing toward Mt. Vernon, and when he
got where he could see the town, he
stood and looked a little while ant
then turned and went back. He mus
have gone across onto the Martins
burg road and then gone east on the
road that leads to the Robert Mille
farm.
Searching parties started out da!
after day in search of the boy until l
seemed useless to search any longer
The boy had disappeared as myster
iously as though he had been stolei
or spirited away. In three or fou