The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1921-11-12
SENT To PRISON
FOR MURDER THAT
NEVER HAPPENED
Strange Occurrence in Early His
tory of Bennington County
WEIRD STORY Is REVIVED
Stephen and Jesse Boorn Confess
fessed to Supposed Crime
They Knew Nothing of
STORY Is REVIVED


the narratives are revived from
time to time to substantiate the asser
[ on that truth is stranger than fc-
tion.", More than century ago ire
town Of Manchester furnished the
setting for one OF these strange stor-
les, the trial and condemnation OF
stephen and Jesse Boorn for muir
der that was never committed. This
strange happening has been made
the subject OF one Of series of
stories under the title OF mysterious
Disappearance" and which nave
been appearing in the Boston Globe
Barna Boorn had little money, a
very small farm and large family to
support To make matters worse,
Russell Colvin, the chalkfaced, sandy.
haired simpleton who had married his
daughter Sail, had decided, at the age
OF 80, that work was damaging to his
health and had parked himself, his
wife and large family under the
| father-in-lawful roof
Good-natured Barna smiled and
made the best Of his burdens, though
his neighbors in the little village OF
Manchester Bennington County, Yer
mont, all were agreed that he should
rave kicked his sonin-law out of the
! house.
Barna's sons, evidently. had inherit
ed very little OF their fathers good
nature Stephen and lesse were
their name%the one tall, gawky
lout with a Violent temper. the other,
thick set and sullen and known for
the iewness of his words. To these
fell the privilege of doing the extra
farm work which kept Colyin and
family in food, and they were pleased
neither with the idea nor with the
carrying out OF 1t.
They hardly ever spoke to their sis
ter and her husband. when the tribe
sat at dinner about the family board,
trey would give but scant answer to
Colvin's inane questions esse's
were usually gYunts; Stephens
sneers.
AS the years went by- this domestic
discord became the talk OF the tewn.
Jesse, it was noticed, always scowled
and gave no further answer when
asked concerning the health of His
hrother-in-law Stephen was quoted
as having said:
Il wish Russell and Sail were
dead; would kick them into He'll II
| it burned tseir legs Oft"
| On May IL, 1912, Russell Colvin
disappeared. But he had often done
this before, stayed away months,
even taken his young son, Lewis,
with him; so no one paid much at
tention to his absence. There were
! few signs OF grief OF anguish heard
! coming from the house. of ,sie Doorns.
But many months went by and Col.
vim did not return. T;len an old bat
tered hat was found In pasture and
identified as Colvin s. Nathaniel
Boorn, Barna's brother, had dream
the same one, three nights in q
row. In the pasture where the hat
had been found, said the dream, Rus
sell was buried-10 PAGES south of a
4 lone oak tree Stephen and Jesse
Boorn his noThews, were the murder
ers OF Colvin the dream had told
him.
He led a crowd of people TO the
pasture, he measured off the 10 PAGES
and dug.
A knife and some torn bits Of
clothing were found, but no body
Then for seven years Manchester
whispered whispered a violent split
into the Boorn family whispered
Jesse and Stephen out of town; final
ly whispered The alleged murder into
the courts of the State and the tovn
OF Manchester onto the map.
Jesse. il was said, had admitted
that his brother committed the muir
der Mrs. Colvin told people. thai
when she had wished to swear hei
son cut as prentice. and had founc
that she could not do so without hel
husbands consent, stephen anc
Jesse had assured her that Russell
was dead. Lewis Colvin said thai
ne had seen Stephen hit his father
with club on the day of the disap
pearance, had seen his father fal
and had then been sent away. The
Boorn boys moved to New York
State
In the summer of 1919 the whisper
ing broke into open accusation. Jesse
and Stephen were arrested and com
m.tted to the county jail at Benning
ton. Both protested their innocence
They were urged to confess thai
they might get out of it with theil
Lives ii they did, Jesse gloweret
and sad nothing: Stephen went In
to an indignant rage and FINAL!
wrote out confession.
He had murdered Colvin on May 10
1872, he admitted, deposited the body
in barn, burned the barn and re
duced the remaining bones to pulp OF
a rrindstone
But when, in November, he was
committed for trial in Bennington
before justice OF the State Supreme
Court, he repudiated his confession.
The whsperers OF Manchester
however, were too many for him
for all Of them appeared as witnesses
against Stephen and his brother. TIL,
defense was helpless. The Jury
stayed out an hour and returned
finding of guilty
, They were sentenced to be hange'
on Jan. 2S, 1920.
But their friends did not give then
! up A petition to the Legislature
brought the Communication of Jesse
/ sentence to life Imprisonment. 4
newananer NJ Rutpers VI advprtis