The Daily Notes from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania • Page 1

nil Vn DAILY We do the right kind of printing at the right price. MOT T7 7717- i ii ii The Notes, 5c a month, delivered at yUP home. CANONSBURG, TUESDAY EVENING, JULY 31, 1906 Price One Cen Thirteenth Year No. 3796 DEMPSTER TO ACCUSED MEN ELMER DEMPSTER TELLS HOW BODIES OF MURDERER'S VICTIMS BE ARRAIGNED DENY STORY Will Be Taken Before Judge Patterson and Rucher Claim ARE CONSIGNED TO THE TOMB Funeral Services Over the Remains of Mrs. Pearce and Children Held Today at Millers Run Church THREE TO REST IN ONE GRAVE Taylor By the District That They Did Not HE COMMITTED FOUL CRIME Behind Bars of CountylJail He Tells How He Shot Down the Defenceless Pearce Family BELIEVES HE WILL BE HANGED news of the murder startled the community.

The services were in charge of the Rev. J. M. Work, pastor of the Central Presbyterian church of Canonsburg, who was assisted by the Rev. H.

Coulter, D. also of Canonsburg, and consisted of prayer, singing and addresses, the principal address being made by the Rev. Mr. Work. The bereaved husband and father, who came early to attend the service, was unable to control his feelings.

Near him sat his brother. Dwight my mother that I would go up in the morning. I ate some apples and went to bed and went to sleep and did n-f hear anything until I was called ou' tf bed about 3 o'clock by the officer- "I went up with the officers to tno house and looked about for some time and tried to help the men find the re-vcivu that had been used in killing the family. After going up I was a little afraid to go into the yard, as I felt that I had committed a terrible deed. The officers then accused me of killing the family and I was taken into the house to see the bodies as they lay where they had been shot.

1 he men questioned me afid I finally said that I had killed Mrs. Pearce, but had not fired the shots that killed tb.3 children. "I was taken over the ground several times and finally could not stand it any longer and confessed to having killed the family and am sorry for it, although it cannot be helped now and I know that I will never get out this trouble aix' expect that it wi'l be my last, as I know I should suffer for it and will have to abide by the consequences." Dempster was interrupted several times in his confession by questions on certain parts of the crmif wMch he did not touch upon. At all times he stoutly declared he was tell'ug the truth, as he had so far confessed 1 is crime and knew that he would be Fearce of Houston, and other rela-! tives and several close friends, In the cemetery, east of the church, a grave had been prepared large enough to hold two caskets. In the larger of the caske's rested the re-t mains of Mrs.

Pearce and little slx-! months-old Dwight. In a small white C1C ie oi uie mue nopVrtf n.nHn ii gin, iuargaret mstner. me grave was an shape, seven feet in length. Following the service, and after the crowd had left the church the re- mains were carried out and lowered to their final resting place Yesterday afternoon the bodies of Washington, July 31. Elmer Dempster, the negro who was brought to jail yesterday oh a charge of committing one of the most fiendish crimes in the history of Washington county, and who confessed his crime to the officers yesterday morning, made a second confession last evening in the jail, in which he repeated much of what he had told before, together with several additional facts.

The confession made last evening was as follows: "I had been working for the Pearce family for the past three months and had been about the house quite frequently. On Sunday evening I took a horse and buggy from the Pearse barn to drive to Midland. I was accompanied on the trip by my brother William and after reaching Midland my brother remained there and I went on to Arden, where I won $2.45 and disposed of a large amount of whitehorse, whisky and beer. 1 returned to Midland and took my brother and started homeward. "I reached home about 5 o'clock and about 20 minutes after that tims I returned the horse and buggy to the Pearce barn and fed the other horses about the place.

When I went to the barn little Margaret came out to the barn' and remained about five minutes, and I remained about ten minutes. I then went to the house and was there met by Mrs. Pearce, who was in a bad humor, and accused me of having improper relations with li tie Margaret, the four-year-old daugh ter. I said nothing back for a few minutes, then began talking loud but di'd not swear. Mrs.

Pearce then hit me on the nose and hurried Km an and secured a revolt er an 1 started toward me. I quickly jumped itito the room and wrenched the weapon hrr and in the tussle the in was discharged and the buhe entered the arm of Mrs. Pearce, and 1 grabbed the gun and she ran into the back room, where all the Attorney Today MAY HAVE NO TRIAL Washington, July 31. Elmer Dempster, the self-confessed murderer of the Pearce family, will be taken be fore Judge Taylor by District Attorney Owen C. Underwood to day and arraigned on a charge of murder.

Judge Taylor is out of town today, but will return some time during the afternoon or early evening. The court will appoint counsel to defend Dempster, provided he should enter a formal plea of not guilty. However, Dempster today still continued to admit his guilt, and has told his story with but little variation to all who have visited him and to a number of the prisoners with whom he has talked. The Notes correspondent visited him in jail today. Dempster slept well last night, and this morning appeared to be in good spirits.

He also eats well. Dempster waived a hearing, s'atlng to Tiistioe Reese, who came here from i canonsburg. last evening, that he did not want a hearing. "I am guilty," he then added. Should Dempster stick to the testi mony admitting his guilt, he will not ibe glven a hearing, but will appear before the court merely for the pur- ipose of having the degree of his crime clpr capes taken lip at the Allst term 0f criminal court.

Should the counsel! appointed by court to defend the pris oner ask for a continuance the district attorney will oppose such request. District Attorney Underwood's office is a busy place today, and preparations for the coming term ofcourt are being made. The names of witnesses wanted by the commonwealth are be- jathered and everything being gotten in readiness for the coming trials. A There was some talk about the court house this afternoon that in the event Dempster should plead not uilty a change of venue might be asked as is believed that it would jCimty the case' is believed by some of the attorneys, however, that it is extremely doubtful if the court would grant such a change. I i i i I muveu irom me fixed.

The court offlcers. however, Pearce home and taken to the homeprefer to have (he prisoner pleacl not of Mrs. Pearce's father, Hamilton Bell, 'gHiltv in onler that he mav have a and from there taken this afternoon jnry trial. to Miller's Run church. The Pearce Should Dempster demand a trial it home is closed, and after the scenes jwm probably be the first of the mur- tiwciea tnere less man 48 hours ago, it is doubtful if it will be occupied AfT'INFR fiF J1A it VUJLL Ul CRIME OF MURDER Unusual Number of Homicide Cases Await August Term of Criminal Court i udbuuigiou, juiy six prisoners charged with the crime or muraer are confined in the countv iail awaiting Kill Koboda DEMPSTER IS BLAMED Washington, Jul 31.

The Notes representative had a talk today in the jail with Gus Patterson and John Rucher, the two negroes who are accused by Elmer Dempster, murderer of the Pearce family, wth the murder of John Koboda in1 Independence township on May last. The men deny emphatically that they had anything to do with or know anything of the crime with which they are charged. They admit that for a time Dempster roomed with them, and say that he gave evidence by hs talk that he was a bad man. They say that very frequently he would suggest to them that they all go together and knock a few Hunkies in the head and get some money. But these suggestions were never agreed to by them.

Patterson and Rucher say that they are inclined to believe that Dempster is the man who killed Koboda. Besides confessing to the bruta murder of Mrs. Samuel Pearce and her two infant children, in Cecil township, Sunday evening, Elmer Dempster, the negro now confined in a cell in the Washington county jail, has exposed another brutal murder which was committed on May 1 lat, in Independence township, near the Twin tunnels, on the Wabash railroad, when John Koboda was instantly killed by being struck on the head with a stone which crushed his skull and caused almost instant, death. Dempster confessed his knowledge of the crime last eveuine in the iail anr julso during the early morning hours when he was being sweated by the olficers in regard to the murder of the Pearce family. He told the officers of his knowledge of the crime committed in Independence township.

Dempster gave the names of the men who committed the deed and yesterday Officer Dick Conley went from the scene of the murder in Cecil township to Cherry Valley, near Bui-gettsiown, where he placed under arrest two negroes, Gus Patterson and John Rucher, who, Dempster says. committed the crime were locked up at The two men McDonald last the action of the August grand jury on a charge of murder. Yesterday mornins while Coronpr Sipe and Officer Conley were sweat-! Dempster was seen in his cell last night and made a complete confession of all he knew about the Independence murder. He said: "I was living in Cherry Valley with Patterson and Rucher in a small hut the time the crime was committed. they killed him and took all the money, which was a very good sum, as it amounted to over $130.

"After the deed had been committed the two men returned to the hut and rejoiced over their plunder and told me of their good luck in tapping the skull of the western foreigner. They told me of how they slipped up behind the man as he sat resting in a secluded spot along the Wabash and struck him from behind with a large stone, i which crushed his skull almost to pulp. After this had been done they dragged him off to one side and left him in the bushes, which is one of the most lonesome places in the township along Cross creek. The men returned and thought they had completely covered up their tracks and were about to escape justice as no other person knew of the crime but myself." Quick Service. Use State Mutual Telephone.

I I clustered about her dress 'and did not try to pour any of the eying. I fired the second shot at her, lump into the dipper." tben and the ball hit her in the brea "Did Mrs. Pearce make any state- murder three of these beinbe almost to select twelve evening and taken to Washington tote Canonsburg section. Henry i UDPreJudited in Washington day and placed in the county jail to tne lanonsburir scetinn Honrv i Funeral services over the remains of Mrs. Samuel D.

Pearce and her two small ehildren.JVIargaret Esther and Dwight, were held this afternoon at Miller's Run church, not very far from the scene of the tragic events of Sunday evening, when a revolver in the hands of Elmer Dempster put an end to the lives of three members of the Pearce family. The historic church has been the scene of large crowds at various times in the past, but it is doubtful if there was ever assembled within and around its walls a larger number of people than gathered there this afternoon to attend the funeral of an innocent woman and her defenseless infants, who were shot down in the very frenzy of wantoness by a cold-blooded murderer. The whole countryside appeared to have turned out, and when a Notes reporter reached the scene some time before 2 o'clock, the hour set for the funeral, church and churchyard were jammed. Many people from Canons-burg, Houston, Venice and other towns and villages were present, and the crime which was the cause of the gathering this afternoon was the one subject discussed. The farmers took the afternoon off and accompanied their families to the church.

Indeed, many of the farmers in the vicinity of the place where the crime was commuted have done little work since the WOUNDED BOY IS STILL IMPROVING Little Robert Pearce Has Fight-ing Chances For LifeNurse From City Arrives Little Robert Pearce, wiio was snot by the negro, Elmer Dempster, at the time of the murder of the child's iu other and her two children, is still living and it is believed by the attending physician, Dr. Charles L. Harsha, that the little fellow has a chance to recover, He rested during last night as well as could be expected, and this morning still showed slight improvement. The little boy is still at the home of George Thompson, who lives not far from the desolate Pearce home, and is being cared for by Miss Hooper, a trained nurse from the Allegheny general hospital, who arrived from Pittsburg this morning. Until the arrival of the nurse the child was cared for by Mr.

Thompson's sisters, Lizzie and Etta Thompson, who remained up with the little fellow all of -Sabbath night and practically all of last night. They have done everything possible to relieve the suffering of the child, and it is 'believed that his so far favorable progress is largely due to the care given by the Misses Thompson. Things That Did Not Occur. The assertions made by several of the Pittsburg papers that the mob at this place yesterday morning twice took Dempster out of the car and that he was taken some distance up the street and a rope procured before the-, officers got him away from the would-be lynchers; and also that the car was stoned and the windows broken out, and that a procession of IS vehicles followed the car to Washington, are without foundation in fact. Those things simply did not happen.

Not a window in the car was broken, the man was never taken out of the car, no procession followed the car to Washington. These stories were simply the product of the imagination. Petition in Bankruptcy. John R. Wilson, who has conducted a grocery store in Jefferson avenue for several years, yesterday afternoon filed a petition in voluntary bank ruptcy.

A trustee will be appointed i by the creditors. A meeting of the Women's Guild of St. Thomas Episcopal church will be held Wednesday evening in the church at 8:30 o'clock. All members are requested to be present. Mid she fell to the floor.

i was then so excited that I didj rot know what I was doing and I i stood in the door and fired a shot at each of the children, who were at that time crouching on the floor. The baby was not in the crib, but, had ben laced on a mat on the hearth, where trial for lrom Mull of Midland is awaiting trial for murder of his wife, Mrs. Annie Mull, at Midland on April last, and John Lucas is held, charged with being an accessory. Lucas is a nephew of Mull. Elmer Dempster will, be given a trial should he enter a plea of not guilty; otherwise there will be no trial.

Gus Patterson and John Rucher, lodged in jail today charged with the murder of John Koboda on the Wabash railroad, may be tried together, but should they demand separate trials, the court must grant them. ing young Dempster they also touched CORONER MAKES STATEMENT on the nuirder in Independence town hip, as they knew young Dempster Denies That Officers Threatened Death i was a personal friend of the two col- to Elmer Dempster. ov.d men. Young Dempster soon fell Coroner W. H.

Sipe called at The the snare set for him and told all Notes office this morning to ask the crime as it was committed to say that the stories in circulation Patterson and Rucher, although he with regard to the confession madejnad not been implicated in the mur-bv Demnster haviniz been forced from der. ue otner children tad been playing, 'floor fronting the grate." "I cannot say what made me com-j "Was the six-months-old baby stand-mit the crime, as I had no intentions ling beside its mo'her when the shots of doing anything wrong when I went were fired?" to the house to get my handkerchief "it may have been, but I cannot that I had left there the night before, tell." After firing a bullet into each of the "What did you do after the shoot- punished to the full extent ot the law for it and wished to withhold nothing, When asked if he set fire to ths house after committing the crime, he Laid: "No. I never set fire to the house ana never thought of such a thing and it it was on fire it must have been ig- nited from the gas." "Did you have any oil about th room after the crime or did you attempt to pour oil from a lamp on the mantelpiece into a small tin dipper which was found under the bed?" "Xo. I saw no oil about the plac jment to you after you shot her?" "Yes; she said: wish Sam was here and I know von would not have done "What child did you shoot firs! after killing the mother?" "I cannot tell which one I shot first as they were all three lying on the "I ran out the back door and up over the hill." "Did you not go through the corn patch?" "No. I had been through the patch before anything had happened and the track seen there was made previous to the shooting." "Did you not set fire to the house?" "Xo.

I have told you the truth. I never fired the house." "Did you hide' the revolver after committing the crime?" "No. I placed it in my pocket and after getting away from the house about yards I found that I had lost it as I had taken a course up around the oats field fence." FAMILY HAS FLED the house in which the Demnsters lived, notified James Dempster, the ther, to vacate the premises. It is The sixth man charged with taking i mm linder threat of dealh are not a human life is Frank Sclregner, who correct- The coroner further said is alleged to have killed Mike when was taken from at Chewtown, near West Brownsville I his home t0 the Pearce home by m' cer niey lie at nrst cienieu an Know ledge of the crime, but. later, on be- ing taken into the kitchen, and after children I placed the revolver in my pocket and went ou- the kitchen door and went up over the hill to the orchard to get some apples.

After getting the apples in my handkerchief 1 went home, which was about one hoti'-; f'cr the shooting took place. "I went to the house and my mother said: 'Elmer, did you hear of the terrible thing that has happened up at Pearce's while Mr. Pearce was I said, 'No, I wonder who could have done such a horrible Mother then said: 'Had yon hetter not go up. las you have been working there, anl see if you can do anything to hel them? I walked out of thedoor and only went a short distance and re turned and ate some apples and toll THE DEMPSTER having been told that his shoe had i The two men had been in McDonald been fitted into the tracks in the corn 'drinking in a saloon and saw the for-field and that it fitted exactly, he etener come into the bar and order a showed some signs of weakening, and (lrink- ne then flashed a roll of bills then Sipe told him that he undoubted- before the two men and they then set ly was the guilty man, and he sweated to work to secure the roll. The two him by telling him that if he did not followed the foreigner, who went tell what he knew he would not trou- toward Avella on the Wabash, where ble himself to keep him from the intended to get work in the mines At the same time another officer pariat that Vce and it was near there on May 26.

I Coroner's Inquest Is Set For Friday Coroner W. II. Sipe announced today that he would hold an inquest on the death of Mrs. Samuel D. Pearce and her children, Margaret Esther and Dwight Pearce, at the council chamber in Canonsburg Friday afternoon next at 1 o'clock.

Inasmuch as Elmer Dempster has confessed to the triple murder and is locked up somewhat less importance attaches to the formal inquest than would be the case, perhaps, were, the murderer still at large. In assisting in placing Dempster on a street car in Canonsburg Monday morning when the crowd was jostling the prisoner, Coroner Sipe lost his hat and it was trampled to pieces, necessitating the purchase of a new "dicer." Yesterday afternoon Ern Welter, the photographer, went out to the Pearce home in Cecil and took views of both the exterior and the interior of the house, also of the surroundings. This work was done for District Attorney TTnderwood, who will make use of the views in court in case Dempster should plead not guilty and decide to stand trial. Parents and Other Members of Self-Confessed Murderer's Famiiy 3 Leave For Parts Unknown and House is Fmpty The Demnster family, including the parents of Elmer Dempster, the self- nathoA nn tw tially opened the door, while another said: "For God's sake -don't let the mob in." Dempster then said that if he were protected from the mob he would tell all and he did. But at that time there was no mob whatever around the Pearce home, and the talk of a mob was only a put-up story to induce the prisoner to confess.

Mr. Sipe says the story that an officer held a revolver at Dempster's head and threatened that in case he did not confess he would be immediately shot is not correct. Mr. Sipe further said he wrould have lost his own life rather than that the prisoner should have been taken from him. Funeral of Robert M.

Thompson. The funeral services of Ftobert M. Thompson will be held at his late home in Houston tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon at 2:30 o'clock. Interment in Oak Spring cemetery. not believed that anv one of the fam- household goods last evening and lly were in any way connected with heir home on the Tannehiil niurder) excepting Elmer, but the 'ear the Pearce home, and tne house feeling in the neighborhood being such which they have occupied is deserted ins it is, Mr.

Tannehiil concluded that oday. No one appears to know where he would order them to move on. he family has gone, but it is rumored it is thought that William Demp-hat they went to Carnegie, while ster, who was arrested yesterday ome think they are located in one of morning and sent to Washington jail ie mining villages in the Miller's Run to be held as a witness, does not alley. know anything about the murders, and Yeserday N. R.

Tannehiil, owner of he will likely be released soon..