Hyman, Mr. died 1891

HYMAN

Posted By: Reid R. Johnson (email)
Date: 1/19/2022 at 17:47:27

Elkader Register, Thur., 12 Feb. 1891.

The Dubuque Herald of Tuesday contained the following item of local interest:

A most horrible discovery was made Sunday night two miles southwest of Buena Vista, in Clayton county, near the Dubuque county line. A bachelor named Hyman has lived alone on a farm in the woods for several years. He was about 60 years of age. His house was in a lonely spot and his life has been almost that of a hermit. Last Sunday evening as some people were passing his house and not seeing a light there, as one had usually shone, they went to the door which they found locked. A dog inside barked but there was no sign of humanity within. Raising the window one of the men entered the single room and was horrified to see Hyman's dead body stretched in the bed. He was in his night clothes and under covers. But the worst of all was the fact that the fleshy part of his face and ears had been eaten to the bone, evidently by the dog and cat which were the only animals in the room. The covering of the bed probably kept the animals from eating more of his flesh.

The body had the appearance of having been dead four or five days. The fire had gone out, but the body was not frozen, as the weather had been quite warm and it was covered in bed. Decomposition had already set in and the fumes from the corpse were sickening. Heart disease is supposed to be the cause of death. The body will be buried to-day.