Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-11-25
WAS MOST REMARkAsLE cR4Ml-
MAI
Edward n. Ruioff Committed Many
Robberies and Murders.

| Inc ISilne OF Eugene sArdm, such as il
is. promises to be inperishable. He
lives N the encyclopedias, as well as
in the poem of Hood and the romance
of Bulwer and re is perenniauv use
FIJI when we wish to point moral OF
adorn a tale.
Edward H. Ruloff was far greater
criminal than Aram. and quite as great
| a scholar, and his igneminious death
| was a comparatively recent matter yet
| he is I'll but forgotten. With the recol-
| lection of men now living, his name
was a household word throughout the
| country But there was no Hood to en-
| balm him in song, and no Bulwer to
make him the central character of a
| novel; other murderers came forward
| and did their devoir, and Ruloffs menu
| DRY died the death.
This remarkable man was born in
| New Brunswick in 1919, and was a
| booI5worm from earliest childhood. His
thirst for knowledge amounted to a
passiea. He Tapped up information as
| eagerly as a warm dog laps up water.
He was an omnivOrous reader. Any
| thing in the shape of a book attracted
him. aud he had the faculty of absorb
| ing everything that was worth know
| ing in a volume, and then remember
| ing it His memory was abnormal In
| his advanced years he could quote
| books he read when a child, and hadnt
seen since.
The study of languages was his fav-
oritc pursuit, and he knew nearly all
| tbc Tongues of the Garth His knoWl-
edge was profound, and it was all ae-
| duired without the aid of teachers.
| Had he been blessed with moral
character he surely would have been
| numbered among the great men of this
country. but he had nothing of the kind
He was born without a conscience. and
crime was to him at once a vocation
and a recreation.
| AS a boy he worked in a New Bruins
| wick drugstore and stole things as he
needed them. Later he studied law ana
refreshed himself by various small
| crimes during his leisure hours. For
one of these he was sent to prison for
| two years. and while locked up he read
| everything i'm the prison library. After
| his release he went to New York state
| and located in the. small town of Dry
| den. There he became teacher in a
| sehoo! for girls and married one of his
pupils, a girl Of 16 years.
| w. II. Schutt, q relative of the girl,
| made a fuss over it, and this annoyed
! RaIof greatly, SO, to be revensed, he
| poisoned Schutt's wife and child. This
| crime was not suspected at the time,
| ana it was only after several years
that the facts We're known. In his
| home he was a tyrant and bully, and
made life a burden to his unfortunate
| y5ung wife His conduct at last be-
| came SO outrageous that the neiShbors
rose as one man and talked with some
| enthusiasm of tar and feathers. so Ru-
loft removed to the village of Lansing,
near ithaca, where he began the prac-
tice of medicine.
Meanwhile he began work upon a
book that was to be his masterpiece
| and make his name Immortal II was a
treatise On philosophy, and scholars
who examined fragments of his manu-
script, long afterward, declared that
| the erudition of the author WAS SIM
| nly astonishing. His wife wasn't in
SYMPATHY with his work. She eouldn' 1
find it possible to love and admire a
man who wrote profound essays dur
| ing the daytime and then burglarized
| henhouses at night. Perhaps this Is
| why he murdered her. No better rea-
son has ever been discovered.
| On June "a, 1Sd5, Ruloff went to a
| neiehbor and borrowed a horse and
wagon. Tee neighbor helped him to lit
| n large box into the wagon, and he
| drove away. He journeyed to Ithaca,
which town he reached at shutdown,
| and spent several hours in tavern
| holding wassail with sundry loafers.
| He seemed boisterously happy and the
| loafers declared him a prince of enter
tainers. After while he paid his score,
| hitched up his horse again and drove
| to Lake Cayuga. There he secured a
boat and rowed away with the long
| box aboard
| The next morning he drove cheerily
| back to his home, and when the neigh
bors asked where his wife was, he told
| them she rad gone TO Ohio on visit.
| This satisfied. the neighbors, but II
| didn't satisfy Ruloffs brother-ln- law,
who began an investigation, with the
| result that Ruloff was arrested, charg-
| cd with the murder of his wife. The
| body Of the victim could not be found,
| SO he was arrested and convicted on a
\
| ten years in the penitentiary. He was a
good prisoner. and all his spare time
was given to study. The little money
he was able to earn was all invested In
books. He was so quiet and gentle
that his iailers found it difficult TO be-
| lieve him a criminal, and were convlne-
| ed that lie was the victim of judicial
| error.
| Immediately upon his release he was
rearrcsted, charged with murder, but
| he made such an eloquent speech IN MS
| own defense that he was acquitted.
| But the people didn't want this man at
| large They considered him a monster,
and as dangerous as rattlesnake. 80
he WIS again arrested, charged with
| the murder of his own child. He was
convicted and sentenced to be hanged.
| After his conviction he made a sue
cessful effort TO gain the admiration
and confidence of the jailer's son, q
| youth named Jarvis. He told great
stories Or buried treasures to such Sood
| effect that young Jarvis helped him TO
! t11 the reached the noun