Old Case of Murder by Arsenic (Part Three)

                                                     

 

 

 Syracuse Daily Courier and Cortland County Democrat, October 1879.

      As has been stated, Frances Shrouder, who is now confined with her husband, George Shrouder, in Morrisville jail, awaiting trial for the murder of her mother, is also suspected of having poisoned her father, Charles O. Barnard, and her great aunt, Mrs. Lovina Pope. Mrs. Pope, who was living at the house of the Barnard's, in Chittenango, died very suddenly in July, 1876, under what now appears to be peculiar circumstances. The sickness of Mrs. Pope was attended with violent retching which indicated poisoning. Her death occurred on Saturday afternoon at four o'clock, and the next morning, Sunday, at three o'clock the old man Barnard crowded the remains into a coffin, and hitching one horse to the dilapidated old village hearse drove to Truxton, where he arrived at eleven o'clock in the forenoon. A grave was hastily dug and the old woman was put under the ground without any ceremonies.

     When Barnard arrived at Truxton he took the body to the residence of Alvah Risley, upon whose property Mrs. Pope held a mortgage. He said that services were held at his house the evening before, and it was not necessary to hold further exercised. Barnard did not want the coffin opened, saying that the weather was warm and that the remains were partly decomposed. Mr. Risley would not permit the interment until he saw the body, and Barnard was compelled to unscrew the coffin lid.

     The sudden and mysterious death of Mrs. Barnard gave rise to the suspicion that Mrs. Pope was poisoned, and two weeks ago today, the grave was opened and a portion of the remains removed and submitted to Dr. Wm. M. Smith, the chemist, of Syracuse, for examination. Dr. Smith's analysis disclosed traces of arsenic which confirmed the opinion that Mrs. Pope did not die a natural death.

     After Mrs. Pope's demise the Barnards were noticed to have money in quite large sums. Mrs. Pope held a mortgage of over a thousand dollars and possessed $800 in United States bonds, and it is surmised that the Barnards disposed of her to obtain her property. As Frances at the time spent considerable money it is thought she was implicated in putting the old lady out of the way.

     Shortly after 11 o'clock yesterday the inquest conducted by the coroner of Cortland county. Dr. H. C. Hendrick, of McGrawville, was resumed at Truxton, with the following gentlemen as jurors: Amos L. Kenney, Joel Call, D. W. Carr, G. W. Towle, John Wheeler, W. S. Maycumber, Willard Pierce and William Jones. The inquest created considerable excitement in Truxton, and when the Courier reporter arrived at the village, the hotel, the "Truxton House,", where the investigation was held, was filled with an inquisitive crowd, who had collected to hear the testimony. Every seat in the room in which the inquest was conducted was occupied and the doors opening into the apartment were blocked by village people, who stood with uncovered heads and conversed in whispers and nods as the proceedings progressed. District Attorney John E. Smith, of Madison county, was present and conducted the examination for the people.
      Alvah Risley, upon whose property Mrs. Pope held a mortgage, testified that, when the remains of Mrs. Pope were brought to Truxton, Barnard told him that she died at his house. The last correspondence between Mrs. Risley and Mrs. Pope occurred the latter part of December 1875. It was with reference to the mortgage. Mrs. Risley bought the Pope farm of a man named Hughes and assumed the payment of the mortgage. One payment was made to the postmaster and the others to Mrs. Pope personally. Barnard did not say when he brought the remains to Truxton that the mortgage had been sold. Three payments have been made at the Truxton post-office and none of these have been taken up.

     Last Saturday Dr. Billington and Bickner C. Walwrath, of Chittenango, came to Truxton. They had the mortgage and the bond accompanying it, and the doctor stated that he was the administrator of the estate of Charles O. Barnard. Dr. Billington, as administrator, claimed the payments. Dr. Billington said that the in presence of three witnesses Mrs. Pope gave the papers to the Barnards. It was not stated to which one of the Barnard family the mortgage was presented. The assignment was not a written one, but simply verbal. Dr. Billington was paid no money. Mrs. Pope was over 80 years old and a sister of Barnard's mother. Barnard, when he brought the body to Truxton remarked to Mr. Risley that Mrs. Pope "dropped off suddenly." The reason that Barnard gave for wanting her buried so soon was that the weather was so warm the body was decomposed. Barnard left Chittenango about three o'clock in the morning, and stopped at Fabius on the way to Truxton and fed the horse.
     Dr. William Manlius Smith, to whom a portion of the remains of Mrs. Pope were given for analysis, was sworn, and said the arsenic most common was known as white arsenic, and when chemists spoke of the drug as arsenic, they referred to the metal. Arsenic, the doctor stated, was a mineral, and very easily oxidized, and when oxidized was poisonous. From two to three grains of arsenic would produce death. The poison distributes itself throughout the body and is quite as likely to be found in the heart as in any other part. The arsenic, after it dissolves in the system, can be gathered and re-crystalized. After the remains have become decomposed the presence of arsenic can be discovered. Cases have been reported when arsenic has been found as late as ten and eleven years after death.

     Dr. Smith said that he came to Truxton the 14th of September, and secured a part of the body. The stomach was gone and the back-bone protruded. The skin was entirely gone. The first portion of the remains taken was from the pelvis. A quantity of the decomposed matter was removed also, some not completely decomposed tissue from each side of the spinal column and a portion of the clothing that lay directly under the abdomen. In the situation of the liver, a piece of tissue that was not entirely decomposed about two inches square was secured. Three jars were taken, one containing clothing and two tissues. Arsenic, Dr. Smith informed the jury was a preservative of the human body, in the measure.
     The inquest adjourned at half-past twelve until a quarter past one, when Dr. Smith resumed his testimony. He made an examination of a portion of the remains. The part taken from the abdominal cavity, a granular mass, he diluted with distilled water and placed it in a filter. It took two days for an ounce to pass through. The liquid was boiled with hydrochloric acid and copper. a slight discoloration of the copper was produced. The copper was placed in a small glass tube, which was heated over a flame. A slight sublimate was obtained and under a microscope proved to be of a crystalline character. The quality was so small that it could not be tested other than by the microscope. Dr. Smith was positive it was arsenic and was willing to swear that poison was in the body. He could not give any idea of the amount in the entire body and that which he had obtained could not be weighed as the quantity was so small.

     Dr. Smith took a piece of the cloth from between the limbs to ascertain if it contained arsenic. Dr. Smith has not concluded his analysis yet. He used but a small quantity of the tissues taken from the body and tried but one test. He will continue his examination and try other tests.

     At the first session of the inquest that was held on the day that the body of Mrs. Pope was disinterred, September 14, Mr. Risley said Barnard brought the remains to his house in July or August, 1876, one Sunday morning about 11 o'clock. Frederick Garner was employed to dig the grave. Barnard proposed burying Mrs. Pope without opening the coffin, but Mr. Risley objected, saying he could not consent to the burial without seeing the remains. The reason for this demand was that Mrs. Pope held the mortgage on his property. Barnard said that services were held at his house the evening before, and "the weather was warm and he was afraid that the body would not keep." The mortgage was for between $1,380 and $1,400.
     Delevan W. Carr and Frederick Garner were examined as to the burial and the remarks made by Barnard.
     Dr. J.C. Nelson testified in regard to the symptoms and indications of arsenical poisoning.
     Mr. Risley made three payments at the post-office, amounting in all to about four hundred dollars. Two of these were to the postmaster, K. C. Arnold, and one to J. C. Weigand, the deputy postmaster.
     Mrs. A. Hannahs, a niece of Mrs. Pope's, who resides in Utica, as soon as she heard of the arrest of Frances Shrouder for the murder of her mother, sent the following letter to the postmaster at Truxton:

Utica, October 6th, 1879.

P.M., Truxton:

Will you write me answers to the following questions in reference to the payment of the mortgage on the farm owned by Mrs. L. Pope? Has Charles O. Barnard (now dead), of Chittenango, collected any of the payments, and if so, when, and how many, and the amount? Of course you have the receipts. Also, has the mortgage been paid up? If so, when and to whom paid? If not, how much is still due? Mrs. Pope was my aunt, and Mr. Barnard and family coaxed her there by offering to board her for $1.50 a week. On account of the recent poisoning case, and owing to the very suspicious circumstances of her sickness and burial, I am trying to find out what I can, for no one has had any control of her property except the Barnards. She willed it to a benevolent society several years before she died, but as part of it was in Government bonds, and no one has the vouchers, unless they can be found among old Mr. Severence's papers (as he bought them for her), there has nothing been done about it. I am not benefited, but I am anxious that justice should be done, and so wrote to know whether she did collect the yearly payments.
Address, Mrs. A. Hannahs, 27 Cottage street, Utica, N.Y.

Mr. Weigand, the deputy post-master [of Utica] replied [to Mrs. Hannahs] and received the following in reply.

 

Utica, October 10, 1879.
Mr. J.C. Weigand.

Dear Sir: Your postal was received this A.M. If Mr. David Severence or Octavia, his sister, is still living in Truxton, I wish you would ask them if among their father's papers they remember ever seeing an account or memorandum of government bonds to the amount of $800. Aunt Pope lived in their family for a long time, and he used to transact business for her. I thought it barely possible there might be somewhere the numbers of those bonds. Aunt Pope as the Truxton people will remember was very saving (if not penurious) and always kept her own in her own control. Not one of her heirs was to be benefited by her will, but I always claimed if she paid her debts she had a perfect right to do as she pleased with what she had accumulated as she had no child or any one dependent upon her. Mr. Barnard offered to board her for $1.50 per week, and she went. As I could not afford to board her here in the city for less than $2.50. Her death and burial were very suspicious, as she died at 4 P.M. Saturday, and Mr. B. started before daylight Sunday morning for Truxton. They (the Barnards) admitted having given her morphine and keeping her under its influence constantly for several days before she died, but claimed the doctor ordered it. Mother was notified a week or more after her death. She was the only one left of the family and is still living. The last will was written here. She made no change except appointing an executor. It was not possible to compel Barnard to give up the property without a lawsuit and I did not have money to do that. One thing might have been done which was not. The legatee, a benevolent society in Philadelphia, should have been notified but was not. Now, I have done, so hoping they may get what she willed them in every will she ever made. I am very weak but as soon as I saw that poisoning case I resolved to do what little I could toward finding out about her property, for I am more and more convinced that aunt was foully dealt with. They admitted to mother and I that she was determined to leave them and no doubt would have come back here, but that Barnard promised to take her to Truxton to visit Mr. Severence and others and put her off from day to day until he carried her in a box. A traveling merchant, by the name of Payne told us a message she sent by him. These things are what compel me to try and see what can be done now justice has overtaken the family. I am sorry my writing is so shaky. I thought I would give you a brief sketch, as above. I know the payments were made annually at the post-office. Mr. Risley wrote me that soon after aunt's death.
Respectfully,
Mrs. A. Hannahs,
25 Cottage street, Utica, N.Y.

     The witness from Chittenango did not arrive owing to some misunderstanding, and after examining the five gentlemen referred to, the coroner adjourned the inquest to November 11th. The next move will be to exhume the body of the old man Barnard, and if arsenic or poison of any kind is found in his remains, Frances Shrouder will rest under the suspicion of having committed a triple murder, and will enjoy the reputation of a modern Borgia.