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Show HGIIJ 0 AN OLD TKV(iEU. MlaTKIir O A 3IIRDFK I" 1S2S I ltUltABLV CURCU Cf. Hopkintim. Sept. 23, 159J. A Irsniy of 1 St lias jut been brought to llRhuaaJa misiiry of C7 year ago In?, withitia u tv t, Iittt tolvej. lieatli liaj clit-teil titer law of a murderer, mur-derer, Uita.cae which puziletl tbe r.-sitlnits of libp!nton, Achlaud, Conlaville nud hurrouiitlitt; l laces for ttioutlu iu lt has licru ex-plilncJ. ex-plilncJ. Tito fbrUton found recently by work nun on laj-In 5 of the Iloslon water 'worloi at Aehl-tn 1 tra the tray, and the rnetnories of Kinie of the "oMet Inliabitltlls" the lllratts, th-t brought tlila mult about. And in the explanation of this almo-t historical cis-1 an Ititer.-i-tingttori of tlio work, of agtn; of cut tttroils in the wes'ern part of JttJJIt-x County, and the deUili of hour' the law -abiding ciUieu of Ho;ikinton rtd tlitir town of t!te Uir.tccful Umliu),a of thife jicrtoas. The diiprcram-e of a peddler named Judron or Jameron In the spring of l5- the bc-luulnr; of tlioca; Ute fimllcy of the skeleton, skele-ton, which U that of the mi'slng rnau,be;ond reatronable dcubt,Is the finis. John Clements and his sister Prudence, or ltlcnee whichever it a. IiovtLVer. became Miorttued to "I'jtch" moved Into a houe known as the Ttlxby place Rtnie-Hhtrelit-tween lSlI and ISIS. This dwelling waseltuatcd In the m!dt of Ihu woo-Js about Ii)J rods from the JItl Intoi Athlatid lurt.pike, which wai b-jdt iDitg before the highway lietHrttu the twu towns wa thought of. The houe was therefore secure from Intrusion b prying eyes, and for a lout; lima the respectable residents resi-dents of the two towns knew only f the character of the plac- from the tound of revelry- which occa-tionally occa-tionally on a quiet night were wafted across the tops of the trees to the earn of a solitary traveler 01 Hie turnpike, who never failed to recount what he had htard to the cltinsof the little tillage. Originally the dwelling had ln erected by a fanner. The cart pith whlcn led to the turnpike when Clemmls lived there ran through the wootls to another cart path leading lead-ing to Ashland. Whin the Urn-pike Urn-pike was utilt, it was found iucon-venlent iucon-venlent to aprroach this houe, to it was left practically in the wools, with bnly n little clearing rurround-ing rurround-ing it. For th refsan it offered exceptional advantages t John Clements and hissUter "Itcli." Where this worthy was Lorn and bred na one knows today. If anyone any-one kueu In 1S) they failed to hand it down to the generations which followed. They, however, told their children of the occupants and their character, and that is how a Herald reporter happened to nx-ure the story which follows from a kiodly old laJy In Ashland aud wveral old geutlemen, including Deputy SbeniT Jonathan WUtttmorc, in Uopklnton. With the exception of Mr. Whlttemore, the patties related the tale "as their parents had tsld them " In 1SJ0 Clements' loco had became be-came the bine of two towns, JI01-kiuton JI01-kiuton and Ashland. It was to well knonn then that the proprietor adopted for it the name of a tavern, and although legltij-telioardirsor transient r cats vera few an I far LeVwcin, his rooirs vtre tilled nightly wllhounmen aud tome-tim-i younj women from neighboring neigh-boring f tr.s anJ villages, partjes, it is sail, often coming from Hoi-lis'in Hoi-lis'in and Upton, aix and eight mllej away. Once la a while a belated traveler would seeka lodging place, if overtaken over-taken by night ou tne lonely turnpike, turn-pike, butbUvitit was never repealed tfhecoull h-lp it. Clements and his i'ter conducted the place alone, but ai time progressed two or three loafers gathered about them, and they veiK iiermttted to remain to 'keep the pea ir," it was Said. Thesj men finally made up a gang, which plundered right and left in a quiet way tbe visitors to the heutc, when the latter had Imbibed too freely to know they were beins plundered, itut even when the victims found out that they had been robbed they were generally too aahsmed of their actions to announce an-nounce it to any of their Mauds, and it is doubtful if any good would hive come of it it they had, for few would have dared go on an avowed errand of enmity to the Clement) House. In time, however, theso things crorpcJ out, and they were stored up, to be ued as a basis for action later. There were two or three ces of repsted dUipjxurances in the neighborhood previous to IS but the people were Iow to follow the stories up and endeavor to ascertain the facts of the rumored crimes. In thatyeir, however, a distppearauce was retorted to llopkintnn residents resi-dents which satUQel them beyond doubt tint a murder had been committed, com-mitted, and, although there were 110 detectUes to follow up tho ca.ee, the details were kept fresh in the minds of the people, and went a long way toward arouing their feelings to the extent which, eight years later, resulted re-sulted in an organized niou attacking tbe old houe In the night time aud tearing it down, practically, over the heads of the occupants. That was the disappearance of the pedd'erjudson or Jameson. There Is no town record of the dlsappeat-ance, dlsappeat-ance, and the name nas gone from thej-indsof the old residents who talked with a Herald reporter. Iu tlio-e days farmers' wagons era the principal method of transportation, trans-portation, although ttages were In U3e between most of the larger towns, reddlers, however, footed it, starting from Boston and Worctttcr with heavy packs and returning uilh well tilled pockets. Some of tbe roads they emerged were most Ionesome,boues not being met with at times for miles. The Uopklnton Ashland turnpike turn-pike was one of the loneliest; It Is the same today. From tho bridge of the New York &. ew Knglaml railroad, on the outskirts of Uopklnton Uopkln-ton centre, to the lieauiuartera of the basin 5 workmin In Ashland a distance of about three miles the re are at the present time Lut three duelling place, aud thoeareeijite close together, so that for a dUUitce of two miles ucthlog but wild stretches of second growth timber and (cuture lands can be seen on either si Jc of the turutlkc. It Is a constant succeiou cf inclines and decline?, and in some placra the road rkes for a ilbtatice of 103 feet or to, nt an angle of -15 degrme. It was along this road that the peddlt r trudged one afternoon iu the spring of 1SJX lie had left Uopklnton in the middle of tlie afternoon Intending to re-aeh Ashland as the night fell, liut a violent storm arose, aud it was uptioed that on ae-couut of it lie sought refuge at Clcmenti' I lace. The man was quite well acquainted along this route and In Uopklnton and Ashlaud; that is lion ills disappearance Ite-canie Ite-canie Known. Half a hundred other peddlers might have been di.-px-e-J of In ten Jean, aud tbe -op!e would never have uils-e-d them, itut Judon,-s It will bottafetocall him, had visited the places for two or Ih ree yean, once iu three months, and a. number of farmers wives traded with hint regularly. The fact of his dUai pearautx came about through a Uopklnton woman telling tell-ing hint to call on an AshLiud acquaintance. ac-quaintance. Two day's afterward site fouud that he hadn't called there, and enough interest was liken in the matter to trace the-peddler's the-peddler's movement. He hail called at the Cl.llin Hou-e, the first to bmetbejoud Hopklutop Centre, and a few minutes min-utes after he bad left there the sXerm came up. and. as Clements' was the next place, it ww rai-oi able to suppose that ho bad gone there. The pioprictor of the disreputable hou-e admitted as much, but said that he went away the uext morning. morn-ing. Tho man who made the inquiry, however, fouud a cap iu tbe wood-1 wood-1 short distance from the house, uhich was subsequent Identified as the. peddler'. Latcra joung man of the illage mentioned thai he had seen Clements ashing blood from a flannel shirt the ulght the peddler dlsa pearcd. This ienun dle-d suddenly at thu place Hi ree years later, and although the selectmen decided that it was a case of over-indulgence In alcoholic beverage, some eopieM.rtcd that Clements got rid of him Iwcausc he talked too much of tbe p-ddlei'4 disappearance. dis-appearance. That ioung man' name was Perkins, and a number'of Uopklnton residents reen lUerthelr parents telllug of the eensatiou his uemio created. There were also two new ltand-kerchlefs ltand-kerchlefs fouud on the turnpike, absut a mile and a half from Clements' Clem-ents' place, which were supposed to liavo dropped from Judson's pocket or from that of the man who had plundered him. For months the nij stery was talked of, and despite ominous remarks directed toward Cieaieuts and his gang, nothing was done about the matter then. There was no doubt in the minds of the people that n murder had been committed, but how, when aud where to go to work to ferret out the cruetrators was a question to which no one vouch1 fed a satisfactory satisfac-tory answer. A short time ago, sixty seven yean alter tbe commisslou of the murder, aud forty-five years after the death of the mm who Is generally gener-ally believed to have been the murderer, mur-derer, the necessary fact In all cases of homlclJe, the dead body, was discovered. dis-covered. On the skull of a skeleton dug from a grave only twenty Inches deep are marks v, hlch show beyond 3uestlon that thu man was mur-crcJ. mur-crcJ. Men employed by the ISos-Ion ISos-Ion waterworks at ItasiuS, Ashland, discovered the skeleton on a little hillock which live jr-ira fro-u now will be covered by a broad expanse of drinking nater for the people of llolon. The skeleton was found by laborer Daniel Sullivan rs he drove his p'ck into the ground an I turned over tbe rail. He calleu Foreman Proatyand the latter Supt, John Arthur, and carefully the bones wcri tnkeu front the p'ace where for slxty-ven j ears had ltn con-cealeU con-cealeU the evidence of a crime. Supt. Arthur gave the remains to Storekeeper Crane, who boxed them up and has had charge of them slucc. Today, however, the skull, which gives eldence of a fatal b'ow, was cent to the Herald oflice. There Is nothing ntxrut the skeleton, skele-ton, of course, to ctttblMi lis IJcnti-ty, IJcnti-ty, excej t the locality w here it was found. This was about one and a half miles from Clement's houe, very clore to a dwelling occupied afW 1SJ3 by a man tiamed Double-dale. Double-dale. The hillock was Just at the junction of tne oil Cordavillo and Uopklnton turnpikes, which for tnt-rly led to Ashland. It rose abruptly fro the turnpikes, and a f rsou approaching on either road could not see the otlit r. The Double-dale houe-, which at the time of tiie tragedy was occu-p'ed occu-p'ed by another party, is situated also at tbe Junction, opposite to and facing the bluff". Farmer Double-dale Double-dale tilled tho junction end of the bluff, but next to his property was a lot of three-fourths of an acre, which In IS-t wai used as pasture land by CJements. Ho knew that tills piece of land would never be tilled while he rented the prorty, and the skeleton lay within three feet of the lot, which was planted every year. At the lime tbe murder was committed com-mitted It would have been Impossible Impossi-ble to find the body In tho lonely spot In which it was placed. In fact, according to the stories told, no ouo thought of looking there. There was a suspicion that the body ot Judson might have been buried in the cellar of the house, but no one ever looked there, although several persons suggested that It would be a good idea to explore It. Too much was known of the char-acter char-acter of Clements and his assistants for any one to follow such, a move. Several of thu old residents who saw the skeleton at onrervmtm-' onrervmtm-' liered the circumitiuces of tbe case, and examined the worn and discolored dis-colored boms. There U notlcubt In their minds that the remains represent repre-sent Judxon. Iho icddler. The handkerehlif', a Horklnton rcau sild, were found very near ti e place, and the skeleton, o far as posolble, represented the peddler's build and nnkc-ltp, he having an exceptionally largtt head fur a man of Ills height and size of frame. The clincher, howevrr, was the Ji-covir of a piece of tLvue papt r, cut round, aud oncu cvideutl having hav-ing been fitted to a liat or cup, In tiie hastily made grave und-r the skull. When tho Uopklnton inquirer in-quirer lisco.reU Judson's trip In Clements' yard nt the time the former dlapiieared,oiie erson asked where the pa-er was lie oniln.trll More In iU No one could tell. It was, howevir In the grave, although al-though how It uascirrleU Die distance dis-tance it must liave In-eti with the body tnd nut list is a mystery. It is and was generally thought that the eddlerwjs killed for lin money. He never would have gone to Clements' place unless compelled toand once there it is protinle tint lie was Induced to take a drink. Tl e rest was easy. The skull looks as though a brnvy, sharp instrument had crushed It in; not unlikely an axe or a hatchet. The bono was driven half an luch into the brain, and around the rut, which is about two Inches long, the skull wxs c-mckeJ mora or le-s. Perhsps two blows were struck. How e er It was done, the deed was 1 cruel one and pr lnbly the victim died instantly. He was struck from In front. With thedead body ou hi haudi Clements or his gang, ifler pliiudi r Ing their victim's pockets and pack, must have dragged it to IheioLely rrstlu-gplace, where a few sj defuls of cartli sttre hastily thrcwti u , a circular hole twenty Inches deep dug, and the remains unceremonl ouly thrown 111, there to re-t undisturbed, undis-turbed, the crime uudUcovercd, (r nearly three quarters or a century. The end of the Clements' estab lUhmeut came in Isal. The deaths of youug Perkins samewheru lw-tweeuIS5and lw-tweeuIS5and 1SN Mil a woman named Temple iu 1S1), b-ought matters to a focus. The residents of thu town determined that thty would put an end lo the establishment establish-ment aud they did. Perkins was about 27 years old, and came from one of the b I iiop-kiuton iiop-kiuton famllle. He got Into bad habits, however aud finally became a regular visitor at thu Clements' house. He spent all his money there, and In time became a sot. One morning he was found dead la a wretched shakedowu iu Clements' Cle-ments' attic Tiie greatest excitement reigned Iu tho village, aud the citizens demanded de-manded that an Investigation be made. It was, but nothing is developed, de-veloped, and tho selectmen made the official cause of death "alcohol ism." Itut a great many insisted that Perkins had been smothered to death on account of what he knew about the p-tldler's murder, an J, to back up this murder, said that Clements Cle-ments had lerrultted the young man to stay on his place and had practically supporteet him since the latter bad lost air his money, and despite the fact that there were frequent rows between the men Proof, however, was lacking. Tho death of the Temple woman was the catt-c of another sensatlou. She was said tobeallotklutoti girl, who had been led away by onu of the frequenters of Clements' tstab llshment, and when her reputation became such that she could uo longer long-er remain iu tbe town, she went to that house to live. She was found dead In a bed, Clements raid, but others claimed that she was discovered discov-ered on thu kitchen floor. This caw was also investigated, and the same verdict rendered as iu Perkins' case. The clout that lea I lieon gathering gather-ing for two or three years broke out in all Its fury iu March, 1S3I, at some new act of lawlessness ou the part of frequenters of the tavern. A special niccJng of the citizens was called one ulght, and then it was decided to take suainiiry rn-asurcs at once. At 12 o'clock the next night a party of from ten to twelve disguised men drove to within half a mile of tho "tavern." It s happened that but one man was In tho house with Clements and his sister at the time, and he managed to eet-. Itut the sister and brother were caught. A mattress contilnlug the former was carefully carried out and lildontha gras, and the woman was left to shift fur herself. Clements was given a short Pride on a nil and otherwise disciplined, und then the crowd tackled tho hcue. tuan hour there wasn't anything left of It but kindling wood. Fiirnllure was destroyed, de-stroyed, dishes and household ulcu slit broken and whisky and rum oured in tbe woods. It was a complete and thorough job, and the townspeople upheld the conduct of their fcllowmcn by uot doing anything In the matter, or making any arrests orattcmt tlcg to do so. Clements and ills sitter were told what they had better do. They did it. For tho rem tinder of their lives they lived coniiaratlvtly respectable respect-able In Uopklnton, doing nothing mora than sometimes getting Intoxicated. Intox-icated. They died. It Is believed somew here about IS 13. |