Dealings With The Dead Volume I Part 29

It is not wonderful, that, upon such evidence, the daughters of Manchester should begin to prophecy, and the young men to see visions, and the old men to dream dreams. In the language of one, who has briefly described the condition of that village, during this period of intense excitement--"_Every house was haunted with the ghost of Colvin_."

At length, a respectable man, a paternal uncle of the Boorns, began to dream, in good earnest. The ghost of Colvin appeared to him, and told him, upon his honor, that he had been murdered; and indicated the place, with unmistakable precision, where his body lay concealed. Like a bill, which cannot pa.s.s to enactment, until after a third reading, the declarations of a ghost are not ent.i.tled to the slightest regard, until after a third repet.i.tion. Every sensible ghost knows this, of course. The ghost of Colvin seems to have understood his business perfectly; and he manifested a very commendable delicacy, in selecting one of the family, for his confidant. Three times, in perfect conformity with acknowledged precedent, the ghost of Colvin announced the fact of his murder, and indicated the place, where his body was concealed.

To put a slight upon a respectable ghost, in perfectly good standing, who had taken all this trouble, was entirely out of the question. Accordingly, the uncle of the Boorns summoned his neighbors--announced these revelations--gathered a posse--proceeded to dig in the hole, so particularly indicated by the ghost--and, after digging to a great depth, succeeded completely, in discovering nothing of any human remains. Indeed he was as unsuccessful, as our worthy friend, the Warden of the Prison, in his recent search for hidden treasure--excepting, that it does not appear, that the ghost made the slightest effort to bury him alive.

This movement was productive, nevertheless, of additional testimony, against the Boorns. In the hole, were found a jack-knife and a b.u.t.ton, both which Mrs. Colvin solemnly declared to have belonged to her husband.

In regard to the location of the body, the ghost was certainly mistaken; perhaps Mr. Boorn, the uncle, being dull of hearing, might have misunderstood the revelation; and perhaps the memory of the ghost was treacherous. Evidence, gathered up by piecemeal, was, nevertheless, gradually enveloping the fate of these miserable men--evidence of a much more substantial material, than dreams are made of.

Thomas Johnson, the witness, above referred to, having purchased the field, where the quarrel took place, between Colvin and the Boorns, the children of Johnson found, while playing there, an old mouldy hat; which Johnson a.s.serted, at the time, and afterwards, at the trial, swore, positively, had belonged to Colvin.

Nearly seven years had pa.s.sed, since the disappearance of Russell Colvin.

Stephen Boorn had removed from Manchester, about five years after the supposed murder; and resided in Denmark, Lewis County, New York; at the distance of some two hundred miles. Jesse still continued in Manchester; and _neither of these wretched men, upon any occasion, appears to have attempted flight, or concealment_.

Stephen Boorn, who, as the sequel will abundantly show, seems not to have been entirely deficient, in natural affection, had discovered, after a bitter experience of five long years, that the burden of his sins was not more intolerable, than the oppressive consciousness of the tenure, by which he lived, and moved, and had his being; which tenure was no other, than that, by which Cain walked upon the earth, after the murder of Abel.

Stephen Boorn gathered up the little, that he had, and went into a far country--not hastily, nor by night--but openly, and in the light of day.

Jesse, who was, evidently, the weaker brother--the poorer spirit--remained behind; deeming it easier, doubtless, to endure the continued suspicion and contempt of mankind, than to muster enough of energy, to rise and walk.

Well nigh seven years, as I have stated, had pa.s.sed, since the disappearance of Colvin. A discovery was made, at this period, which left very little doubt, upon the minds of the good people of Manchester, that the Boorns were guilty of the murder of this unhappy man, and of attempting to conceal his remains, by cremation.

No. Lx.x.x.

At this period, about seven years after the disappearance of Russell Colvin, a lad, walking near the house of Barney Boorn, was attracted, by the movements of a dog, that seemed to have discovered some object of interest, near the stump of an ancient tree, upon the banks of the Battenkill river. This stump was about sixty rods from the hole, in which, upon the suggestion of the ghost, the uncle of the Boorns, and his curious neighbors had sought for the body of Colvin. The lad examined the stump, and discovered the cavity to be filled with bones!

Had the magnetic been then in operation, the tidings could not have been telegraphed more speedily. The affair was definitively settled--the bones of Colvin were discovered; and the ghost appeared to have been only sixty rods out of the way, after all. Murder will find a tongue. Manchester found thousands. The village was on fire. Young men and maidens, old men and children came forth, to gaze upon the bones of the murdered Colvin; and to praise the Lord, for this providential discovery! Whatever the value of it might be--the merit seemed clearly to belong, in equal moieties, to the dog and the ghost.

How p.r.o.ne we are--the children of this generation--to reason upon the philosophy, before we weigh the fish! This was a case, if there ever was a case, for the recognition of the principle, _cuique in sua arte credendum est_. Accordingly the medical magi of Manchester and of its highly excited neighborhood were summoned, to sit in judgment, upon these bones. The question was not--"_can these dry bones live?_"--but are they the bones of the murdered Colvin? One, thoughtful pract.i.tioner believed there was a previous question, ent.i.tled to some little consideration--are these bones the bones of a man, or of a beast? Never were scruples more entirely out of place. Imagine the indignation of the good people of Manchester, at the bare suggestion, that they had wasted so much excellent sympathy, upon the bones, peradventure, of a horse or a heifer!

The doubter, as might have been expected, stood alone: but he st.u.r.dily persisted. The regular faculty, with the eyes of their well-persuaded patients riveted, encouragingly, upon theirs, expressed their clear conviction, that the bones were human bones, and, if human bones, whose--aye whose--but the murdered Colvin's! This gave universal satisfaction, of course.

It was evident, that some of these bones had been broken and pounded--the quant.i.ty was small, for an entire skeleton--some few bones had been found, beneath a barn, belonging to the father of the Boorns, which had been, previously, consumed by fire--and some persons may have supposed, that the murderers, having deposited the dead body there, had destroyed the barn, to conceal their crime--and, finding a part of the body unconsumed, after the conflagration, had deposited that part, in the hollow stump, to be disposed of, at some future moment of convenience.

A very plausible theory, beyond all doubt. But the doubting doctor continued to turn over these bones, with an air of provoking unbelief; now and then, perhaps, holding aloft, in significant silence, the fragment of a cranium, of remarkably sheepish proportions.

This was not to be endured. Anatomical knowledge appears not to have made uncommon strides, in that region, in 1819; for, when it was finally decided to compare these bones with those of the human body, there actually seems to have been nothing in that region, which would serve the purpose of the faculty, but the leg of a citizen, long before amputated, and committed to the earth. I will here adopt the words of the Rev. Mr.

Haynes--"_A Mr. Salisbury, about four years ago, had his leg amputated, which was buried, at the distance of four or five miles. The limb was dug up, and, by comparing, it was universally determined that the bones were not human._" This was a severe disappointment, undoubtedly; but not absolutely total: for two nails, or something, in the image thereof, were found, amid the ma.s.s, which nails, says Mr. Haynes, "_were human, and so appeared to all beholders_."

Let us now turn to the murderers, or rather to Jesse, for Stephen was two hundred miles away, entirely unsuspicious of the gathering cloud, which was destined, ere long, to burst upon his devoted head.

When the discovery of these bones had excited the feelings and suspicions of the people, to the utmost, it was deemed proper to take Jesse into custody. An examination took place, on Tuesday, May 27, 1819, and continued, till the following Sat.u.r.day. This examination was conducted, in the meeting-house, as it appears, from the testimony of Truman Hill, upon the subsequent trial; who says of Jesse, that--"when the knife was presented to him, in the meeting-house, and also when the hat was presented to him, his feelings were such, as to oblige him to take hold of the pew, to steady himself--he appeared to be much agitated--I asked him what was the matter--he answered there was matter enough--I asked him to state--he said he feared, that Stephen had killed Colvin--that he never believed so, till the spring or winter, when he went into William Boorn's shop, where were William and Stephen Boorn--at which time he gained a knowledge of the manner of Colvin's death; and that he thought he knew, within a few rods, where Colvin was buried."

Such was the evidence of Truman Hill, upon the trial; and he related the facts, very naturally, at the time, to his neighbors. The statement was considered, by the community, as tantamount to a confession. At this time, the examination of Jesse Boorn had nearly closed--no ground for detention appeared against him--the bones, discovered in the stump, were acknowledged to have belonged to some brute animal--it was the general opinion, that Jesse should be released; when this declaration of his to Truman Hill, turned the tide of popular sentiment entirely; and Jesse Boorn was remanded to prison.

Truman Hill was the jailer; or, in his own conservative phraseology, he "_kept the keys of the prison_." Jailers are rather apt to look upon their prisoners, as great curiosities, in proportion to the crimes, with which they are charged, and themselves as showmen. Most men are sufficiently willing to be distinguished, for something or other:--to see Jesse Boorn--to catechise the wretched man--to set before him the fear of death, and the hope of pardon--to beg him to confess--nothing but the truth, of course--these were privileges--favors--and Truman Hill had the power of granting them. Thus he says--he "_let in_" Mr. Johnson; and, when Mr.

Johnson came out, he went in himself, and found Jesse "in great agitation"--and then he, himself, urged Jesse to confess--the truth of course--if he said anything--a.s.suring him, that every falsehood he told, would sink him deeper in trouble. It must have been evident to the mind of Jesse, that a confession of the murder would be particularly agreeable to the public, and that a continued protestation of his innocence would disappoint the reasonable expectations of his fellow-citizens.

Jesse confessed to Judge Skinner, that Stephen had, probably, buried Colvin's body in the mountain; and that the knife, found with the b.u.t.ton, in the hole, indicated to his uncle by the ghost, was, doubtless, Colvin's; for he had often seen Colvin's mother use it, to cut her tobacco. Judge Skinner and Jesse took an edifying walk up the mountain, in search of the body--they did not find it, which is very surprising.

About the middle of the month of May, 1819, Mr. Orange Clark, a neighbor of Stephen Boorn, in the town of Denmark, some two hundred miles from Manchester, entered his dwelling, in the evening. He took a chair, and commenced a friendly conversation with Stephen and his wife--for Stephen had married a wife--the sharer of all his sorrows--his joys, probably, were few, and far between, and not worth the part.i.tion. Shortly after, a Mr. Hooper, another neighbor, dropped in. He had scarcely taken his seat, before another entered the apartment, Mr. Sylvester, the innkeeper, who, upon some grave testimony, then recently imported into Denmark, had arrived at the solemn conclusion, that there was something rotten there.

Stephen and his helpmate were, doubtless, somewhat surprised, at this unusual gathering, in their humble dwelling. Their surprise was greatly increased, of course, by the appearance, almost immediately after, of Messieurs Anderson and Raymond, worthy men of Manchester. If the ghost of Russell Colvin had stalked in, after them, Stephen Boorn could not have been more astonished, than he was, when he beheld, closing up the rear of all this goodly company--no less a personage, than Captain Truman Hill, the jailer of Manchester--the gentleman, I mean, who "_kept the keys of the prison_."

To Stephen there must have been something not wholly incomprehensible in this. His ill-starred partner was not long left in doubt. The very glances of the party were of evil omen. Their business was soon declared. The gentleman, that _kept the keys_, kept also the _handcuffs_. They were speedily produced. Stephen Boorn must go back to the place, from whence he came--and from thence--so opined the men, women and children of Manchester--to the place of execution. But, when the process commenced, of putting the irons upon that wretched man--the poor woman--the wife of his bosom--for he had a bosom, and a human heart therein, full of tenderness, as the sequel will demonstrate, for her; however inconceivable to the gentleman, that "_kept the keys_"--and to those learned judges, who, in the very teeth, and in utter contempt, of the law, so clearly laid down by Sir Matthew Hale, of glorious memory, would have hanged this miserable man, but for the signal Providence of Almighty G.o.d--this poor woman was completely overwhelmed with agony.

The estimate of many things, in this nether world, is a vastly relative affair. That, which would be in excellent taste, among a people, without refinement, however moral, will frequently appear to the enlightened portion of mankind, as absolutely barbarous.

The idea of allaying the anguish of a wife, produced by the forcible removal of her husband, in chains, on a charge of murder, by _making her presents_, hurries one's imagination to the land of the Hottentots, or of the Caffres; where the loss of a child is sometimes forgotten, in the contemplation of a few gla.s.s beads--and no consolation proves so effectual for the loss of wife, as a nail or a hatchet.

And yet it is impossible--and it ought to be--to read the short and simple statement of that good man, the Rev. Mr. Haynes, without emotion--"_The surprise and distress of Mrs. Boorn, on this occasion, are not easily described: they excited the compa.s.sion of those, who came to take away her husband; and they made her some presents_."

"The prisoner," continues Mr. Haynes, "was put in irons, and brought to Manchester, on the 15th of May. He peremptorily a.s.serted his innocence, and declared he knew nothing about the murder of his brother-in-law. The prisoners were kept apart, for a time. They were afterwards confined in one room. Stephen denied the evidence, brought against him by Jesse, and treated him with severity."

These men, imprisoned in May, 1819, were not tried, until October of that year. The _evidence_, upon which they were convicted of murder, in the first degree, lies now before me, _certified up to the General a.s.sembly of the State of Vermont, upon their request, by Judge Dudley Chace, Nov. 11, 1819_. Let us now turn from _on dits_, and dreams, and ghosts, and doubtful relics, to the _duly certified testimony, upon which these men were sentenced to be hung_.

No. Lx.x.xI.

The grand jurors of Bennington County found a bill of indictment, against Stephen and Jesse Boorn, September 3, 1819, for the murder of Russell Colvin, May 10, 1812, charging Stephen, as princ.i.p.al, in the first count, and Jesse, in the second.

The facts, proved, upon the trial, by witnesses, whose testimony was unimpeached, and which facts appear, in the minutes of evidence, certified by Judge Dudley Chace to the General a.s.sembly, November 11, 1819, were, substantially, these. Before the time of the alleged murder, Stephen had complained that his brother-in-law, Colvin, was a burden to the family; and Stephen had said, if there was no other way of preventing him from multiplying children, for his father-in-law, Barney Boorn, to support, he would prevent him himself.

At the time of the alleged murder, Stephen and Jesse Boorn had a quarrel with Colvin. The affair, in part, was seen and heard, by a neighbor, from a distance. Lewis Colvin, then ten years old, the son of Russell, was present; and, when seventeen, testified at the trial, that the last time he saw his father was, when the quarrel took place, which arose, at the time they were all engaged, in picking up stones--that Colvin struck Stephen first, with a small stick--that Stephen then struck Colvin, on his neck, with a club, and he fell--that Colvin rose and struck Stephen again--that Stephen again struck Colvin with the club, and knocked him down--whereupon the witness, being frightened, ran away; and was afterwards told, by Stephen, that he would kill him, if he ever told of what had happened. The witness further stated, that he ran, and told his grandmother.

Stephen appears to have been gifted with a lively fancy. It was testified, that, before this occurrence, speaking of his sister and her husband, he had said he wished Russell and Sal were both dead; and that he would _kick them into h.e.l.l if he burnt his legs off_. This piece of evidence, after having produced the usual effect upon the jury, was rejected.

Upon another occasion, four years after the alleged murder, Stephen stated to Daniel D. Baldwin, and Eunice, his wife, that Colvin went off very strangely; that the last he saw of him was when he, Stephen, and Jesse were together, and Colvin went off to the woods; that Lewis, the son of Colvin, upon returning with some drink, for which he had been sent, asked where his father was, and that he, Stephen, replied, that Colvin had gone to h.e.l.l; and Jesse, that they had put him where potatoes would not freeze; and Stephen added, while making this statement to the Baldwins, that it was not likely he or Jesse would have said this to the boy, if they had killed his father.

When the body was sought for, before the bones were discovered, which were mistaken for human remains, a girl said to Stephen, "they are going to dig up Colvin for you; aren't they?" He became angry, and said, that Colvin often went off and returned--and that, when he went off, the last time, he was crazy; and went off without his hat.

About four years after his disappearance, an old mouldy hat was discovered, in the field, where the quarrel took place; and was identified, positively, as the hat of Colvin, by the witness who had seen the quarrel, from a distance, as I have stated.

Stephen denied, to Benjamin Deming, that he, Stephen, was present, when Colvin went off, and stated, that he was then, at a distance.

To Joseph Lincoln he said, that he never killed Colvin--that he, and Colvin, and Jesse were picking up stones, and that Colvin was crazy, and went off into the woods, and that they had not seen nor heard from him since.

To William Wyman, Stephen reaffirmed his statement, made to Benjamin Deming--called on Wyman to clear up his statement, that he, Stephen, had killed Colvin--a.s.serted, that he knew nothing of what had become of Colvin; and that he had never worked with him an hour.

The minutes of the Judge furnish other examples of similar contradiction and inconsistency, on the part of Stephen Boorn.

But the reader will bear constantly in mind, that, through a period of seven years, during which the suspicion of the vicinage hung over them, like an angry cloud, sending forth occasional mutterings of judgment to come, and threatening to burst upon their heads, at any moment; _neither of these miserable men attempted flight or concealment_. Two years before his arrest, Stephen removed from Manchester, as I have related; but, in an open manner. There was not the slightest disguise, in regard to his abode; and there, when it was thought proper to arrest him, he was readily found, in the bosom of his family.