was but a bird of passage on his way from the scene of one crime to that of another, and happened to find shelter here till whisky and his fiendish nature asserted themselves as there told.
The murder of Samuel Porter is the only one that may be laid to residents of the county. Even that was from family troubles, and implicated no member of the community other than those under the roof of the murdered man. The very singular facts and confessions developed by investigation are as follows:
On the Porter farm, the title to which had been previously placed in Elizabeth, the wife of Samuel Porter, and situated in Section 12, of Indian Creek Township, occupied by Porter and his family, Samuel Porter's body was found in the fields, about noon, October 29, 1882. There were gunshot wounds in the back and in the face. The discovery was made by a lad eleven years old, named George Pointer. He was employed on the farm, and, with George Porter, a son of the murdered man, was herding the farm cattle on some grass that was enclosed in a field of corn. It was Sunday. The cattle had not been grazed on this ground previously, and the circumstances indicated that young Porter directed the lad's movements to bring about his discovery of the body. It was found near a willow fence-row. An old gun was fixed among the willows in a very bungling way, with a cord and wire attached, with the evident thought that this would indicate suicide. But the circumstances very plainly showed that the death did not occur at this spot; that the body had been dragged to the place ; and bloodstains and other evidences pointed to a murder at or near the house.
The post-mortem examination showed that the wounds in the back were not fatal, and that death was caused by the wounds in the face. It was also clear that death occurred from seven to ten days before the body was found. It was also shown that Porter had not been seen alive by others than members of the family after Friday, October 20. In the ten days intervening the work of the farm had been done much as usual. A nephew of the murdered man had paid a visit of some days, and his uncle's absence was accounted for without exciting suspicion of foul play. The members of the family on the farm during this time, and also on the Black Friday, were Elizabeth (the wife) and the two sons, George and John Edward. The latter stated his age at fourteen years.
The ghastly find caused much excitement. It was known that Samuel Porter, a man of about fifty-five.years of age, without any notable traits to cause unkind remarks among his neighbors, was accustomed to take his occasional glass of intoxicants. He was industrious, thought to be peaceful, and not improvident. The family assumed that his death was by his own hand. One fact after another was gradually brought to light that showed a guilty knowledge and concealment of the death on the part of the wife and both sons. It was developed that parts of the clothing found near the body had been seen in the dwelling after his death. It was clear that much falsehood was indulged in to maintain the false theory of self-destruction. In short, there was no room for doubt that Porter's life had been taken by his own family, and that each member was implicated in the crime. When arraigned and tried in the district court, the chain of evidence was such that the accused thought best to make confession. They stated that the killing was done by the boy aged fourteen years; that his father was assaulting his mother, who cried out for help; that the boy fired the shot which entered his back ; that Porter then turned upon the boy, who was in a corner