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Murder- It is rare
indeed that the inhabitants of any part of
Litchfield county have been witnesses to such an
atrocious act as was perpetrated in Norfolk on
Saturday last. We have not learnt the full
particulars--nor would it perhaps be proper to
publish them now if we had, as a judicial
investigation will undoubtedly be had at the next
term of the Superior Court in this town.
Suffice it to say, that an aged man name Amos
Root was on Saturday last most horribly
beaten by a club or some other weapon, which must
have caused his almost immediate death. A
young man of the name of Jeremiah Octon,
about 25 years of age, we understand, at a
gathering of a number of people to raise a coal
pit, in the south-west corner of Norfolk, near the
Canaan lie, had had a quarrel with a son of Mr.
Root, at which he interfered adn separated
them. On the breaking up of the party,
Orton, who was armed with a heavy club, asked old
Mr. Root to go off with him on a different path
from the rest of the company, to come up with them
in a short time, which the former did, but without
the latter. Root no returning home that
night, nor Sunday, on Monday morning search was
made, and his body found near the by-path with his
head mangled as above stated, and his neck
broken--and marks of blood discovered upon the
ground where the body appeared to have been
dragged a few rods. Orton was apprehended,
underwent an examination before Judge Pettibone,
and has been committed to prison to await his
trial in February next. Both parties at the
time of the alledged transaction it is said were
in a state of intoxication.
[Litchfield Enquirer, Nov 8, 1831 -
Transcribed & submitted by Nancy
Washell]
Dr. Shew, of the Middletown insane asylum,
appeared before the committee on humane
institutions, Thursday afternoon, in favor of the
release of one John Evans of Barkhamsted, where he
was convicted in 1868, of murder in the second
degree, sent to state prison and subsequently
transferred to the insane asylum. Dr. Shew
represents that he is not now insane, and that his
brothers in England, who are wealthy are desirous
that he may be released and go to that
country. His wife is yet living in
Barkhamsted, and has remarried.
[Daily Constituition, July 10,
1875 - Transcribed & Submitted by Nancy
Washell]
The Course of True
Love
A Burrville widower has been seeking a wife in
Barkhamsted of late. A prepossessing widow
pleased him, and he agreed to give her $1,000 and
the deed of a farm, which she accepted; but
unfortunately her daughter put in an appearance
and was so much more attractive that the ungallant
wife seeker offered her $2,000 and the farm,
backing down from his offer to her mother.
Being repulsed, he renewed his attention to the
mother, who indignantly spurned him. Since
then all the widows within a radius of two miles
have been approached with offers, from the deed of
the farm and $500 up to $2,000.
[New Haven Register, May 5, 1879 -
Transcribed & Submitted by Nancy
Washell]
Edwin Plant Kills His Wife and
Babe
and Later Shoots
Himself.
CANAAN, Conn., May 4.
- Edwin Plant, of Clayton, Mass. three miles from
here, to- day shot and instantly killed his wife
and then fired a bullet into the breast of his
two-weeks-old child, killing it. Plant fled to a
swamp near Karkapot river and was surrounded by a
posse. He refused to surrender, and for a time
held the crowd at bay,
but after a lively
exchange of shots with his pursuers, Plant killed
himself. He was married April 16, and the same day
his wife gave birth to an infant.
[The Indiana
State Journal, (Indianapolis, IN) Wednesday, May
6, 1896; pg. 5](Contributed by Candi H.)
Five Houses
Burned
Big Fire up at Hotchkissville
Caught From a Brush Heap
The
little settlement in Hazel Valley, a mile and a
half from Hotchkissville, on the road to
Washington in the
town of Woodbury was wiped out by fire
yesterday.
The fire was caused by sparks flying from a
bonfire which was started by George Rowe, a farmer
in the valley, who was burning up a lot of
rubbish.
The wind which prevailed at the time
carried the sparks to the woodland nearby and the
flames spread through the brushwood to the farm
houses in the vicinity. The old
building, used as a sawmill, caught fire and from
this building the flames were carried over to the
residence of Theodore Jepson, 30 yards away. A
barn on the premises was also destroyed with a
large quantity of hay and farming
implements.
The
wind fanned the fire and the flames spread to the
dwelling houses of James Osborne and a house on
the Judson estate and one belonging to George
Brown.
The barns on both estates were destroyed.
The owners were driven away by the heat and were
unable to save much of their property.
A
bucket brigade was organized and the people of the
valley made heroic efforts to save their homes,
but the fire burned fiercely and their efforts
were unavailing.
The
fire started about 12:30 o’clock yesterday
afternoon and raged until 4 o’clock when it had
burned itself out. Over 30
acres of woodland were destroyed besides the
dwelling houses. The
locality is far away from fire fighting apparatus
and it was because of the lack of facilities that
the people were unable to subdue the flames. The
buildings destroyed by the fire were small wooden
affairs with the exception of the house and barn
belonging to the Jepson estate. This was a
brick structure and is practically in ruins. The Jepson
family saved very little of their household goods.
The loss is variously estimated at from $5,000 to
$10,000, being light because of the fact that the
buildings burned were of antique architecture and
ordinary farm houses. The owners
or occupants were forced to take refuge with
people in Woodbury, who opened their homes to the
fire sufferers.
Naugauck Daily News - April 3,
1897
Submitted by Nancy Piper
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