44 



(S:i)c laxmtfs illontl)li) bieitor. 



it is said, when he first eiitereil that neighburhoofi 

 nnd inadi' known Ids intention to pnicliase, a Ijnni 

 \\Uf^ on tlie upper side of ilie icjad was otli-r-ecl 

 iiiiM, hilt he declined the pnrchase, saying, "that 

 lie wonid never pnrehase a linin l^iiia; on top of 

 the road,'" and accoidin}.'ly he purchased one on 

 the lower side of the road, and we have no doiihl, 

 that the wash iVoni the road alone since that time, 

 has been worth to hini and his heirs half the 

 value of the original purchase. 



Mr. French has recently liiiilt him an an elegant 

 and convenient house, ami finds the host fanning 

 implements most profitable. These we saw care- 

 fully housed, as they always should be, and in or- 

 der for sprinjr work. 



Let your tools, seeds, scions, &c., all be in rea- 

 diness for spring work. Calculate how yoi; can 

 get the greatest crops at tlie least expense and 

 labor. Be not ambitions to cultivate a great deal 

 of land, but rather to get large crops from little 

 fields. 



" 'Tis folly in the extreme to till 



Extensive fields and till them ill. 



Shrewd common sense siis laughing by, 



And sees your hopes abortive die. 



For more one fertile acre yields 



Than the liuge breadth of barren fields." 



Fifty bushels of corn from one acre will give 

 yon a li\ ing profit, while fifty from three acres, 

 if it does not rnii you in debt will give yon hut 

 your labor for your \)a\ns.— American Traveller. 



For the Farmer's Monthly Visitor. 

 The Stonehain Murder. 



Mr. Editor: — It may not be uninteresting to 

 some of your readers to have an account ol' the 

 awful tragedy which stands at the bead of this 

 article. I extract it from an unpublished inanu- 

 .script lunv in my possession, which will proba- 

 bly he given to the public iii the course of the 

 season. 



".\iiioug the early settlers of Stoneham, M.s. 

 there were some by the name of Gould. The 

 name lias now become quite common in that 

 town, and in the adjoining (own of Sonlh Read- 

 ing. There were two families of that name set- 

 tled near to Spot pond, on the old roa<l leading 

 to Maiden and Medford. One of the (liniilies, at 

 the lime in which the murder look pini-e, con- 

 sisted of two brotliers, who were bachelors, a 

 sister, who was a maiden lady, and a widow 

 VVinship, hired help. The names of the broth- 

 ers were .(acob and David ; and ilie sister's name 

 was Molly. Jacob was the oldest, and owned 

 the real estate ; hut Daviil and Molly were mi- 

 sers. Sonietiiiies they would let money, where 

 there was very good security, but gener.illy pre- 

 ((■rred to keep it in specie. Some of their gold 

 pieces were so ancient, (having been handed 

 down from several generaljnn.s, in whom the 

 miser principle existed) tliat their true value was 

 not known. It was generally understood among 

 the people that there was considerable specie in 

 that house, and many a thiefi no doubt, had 

 longed to get bold of it. At leiiglli the time 

 came for the hoarded gold and silver to get into 

 circiilatiiin. 



" A noiorious rogue by the name of Dalton, 

 who had formerly rcsiiled in Stonehain, was an 

 inmate of the State |irison at Cliarleslowii, Ms. 

 when the niiirder took |ilace. It was ascertained 

 afterwards, that this Dalton inli>rined some con- 

 victs, who were about grailmdin^, of this slore 

 of money, anil instructed tlii;iii how lo get it. 

 (At that lime there were oppoi nmiiies for ihe 

 convicts to converse with each other.) 'I'lic 

 name of one of these graduates was D.iiiiel.<, 

 who had formerly been a shoe-dealer in Hosiou. 

 About two weieks betbre this murdei-, Daniels 

 passed through that part of the town in wliic-h 

 the Goulds lived, or. a tour of disemery. He 

 made inquiries of two boys, wlioiii he met sepa- 

 lately, relative to the condition of ihe lliinily ; 

 '-whether they lia<l money; had they ttmis, or 

 dogs, or were they pretly (tonrageuns ?'" The 

 boys' answers (irobably satisfied him that there 

 colild be lillle difticnity in the way of making aii 

 effort to get hold of the iiiorey. 



"The widow who lived with this family was 

 Unowiuff to their having a considerable sum of 

 money, as she had heard them talk about it; and 

 being a woman of not a very reputable charac- 

 ter, and moreover being on pretty familiar terms 



with an infamous man by name of C , (who 



was suspected of being one of the robbeis) it is 



very reasonably supposed that she was part wid 

 parcel in the horrid tragedy. She had been 

 known to make Irequent visits at the house 

 where this man lived, previous to the tlital 2.5th 

 of November. On that night she acted strange- 

 ly, looked at the watch, and went out twice, as 

 though something nncomtnou was on foot. She 

 had never been known to look at the watch be- 

 fore. But her conduct farther will be noticed 

 hereafter. 



"On the 25th of November, ISIH, Jacob went 

 lip to town to get some rum, as be was intending 

 to kill his hogs the next day. Pooi' man ! he 

 little thought of being butchered himself He 

 had come home, and between eight and nine o'- 

 clock, while he sat either drinking some sling, or 

 taking his supper of milk, (which it was is not 

 now recollected) in rushed three ruftians with 

 their faces blacked, and with dirks in hand, and 

 demanded bis money. The widow had just been 

 out and left the doors ajar, so that they came in 

 without noise. Jacob attempted to defend him- 

 self with his chair, but they overpov;ered him. 

 He fell, being stabbed in several places; and one 

 of the wounds, which reached the region of Ihe 

 heart, proved mortal. David, through I'right, 

 passed by an axe which stood near him, and 

 seized upon a billet of wood ; but the fellows 

 left Jacob and fell upon David. He received 

 three wounds; one in his side, or abdomen, one 

 against his heart, but which was preieiited from 

 reaching it by the dirk's passing through the 

 thick part of his left arm first; and Ihe third 

 stab was near the left shoulder-blade. 



" As no farthsr resistance was made, the rob- 

 bers proceeded to bind the hands of David and 

 Molly, which they tierl so tight as to c.iu.<e the 

 cords to cut into the flesh. The fourth man 

 stooil at the door to keep watch, and to prevent 



escape, and was no doubt the notorious (' , 



who had consulted the widow upon the matter 

 belbre-hand. When they were about to tie ihe 

 hands of the widow, the ruffian at the door 

 cried out, 'don't hurt the widow.' The robbers 

 called them all by their names. The widow's 

 hands were tied so slightly, that she said, in a 

 laughing manner, 'I can get my hands out;' but 

 they charged her not to do it. 



"After their hands were secured, David and 

 Molly were compelled to go u\> stairs to hand 

 over their money. In going up the stairs, the 

 light went out in the dark lantern which they 

 had with them, and in Ihe sciifHe to secure llieir 

 prisoners, Molly's bands were badly cut wilh a 

 knife, as well as one of the fingers of a r(diber. 

 This robber was evidently Daniels, who was af- 

 terwards detected, partly by means of this wound. 

 When they had lighted up again, they led David 

 to Ills money, which consisted of about two 

 hundred dollars in silver and gold. 3Iolly got 

 hers next, which was about eight hundred dollars 

 in gold and silver, hoarded up in a large stocking. 

 Jacob had but one five dollar bill. He was not 

 a miser. 



" \i\er they had secured the money, they threw 

 the poor creatures down cellar, and set a table 

 against the door. The widow walked down 

 among the rest. They then drank upon the riini, 

 divided the money, and finally left, threatening 

 that they would kill tliem all, if they attempled 

 to come out of the cellar till morning. But .la- 

 cob's dying groans aroused the feelings of David, 

 and at about eleven o'clock he ventured to go 

 up, went to a neighbor's and gave the alarm. 

 Three men started out immediately with their 

 guns, and went to the Ininse with him. The 

 robbers had probably been gone two hours. 



" By daylight the whole town was aroused, and 

 many were in |.nrsuit. Jacob died at daylight, 

 and bis last words were said to be, ' the w orsi 

 devil is in the house,' referring, as was supposed, 

 to the willow. David was so much frightened 

 that he did not know of bis wounds, till lliey 

 brought a light and took up the others from llie 

 cellar. When he recovered himself a little, and 

 saw the blood flowing ti-oni his own wounds, he 

 began to liiint, and it was several days belbre the 

 surgeon gave encouragement that he would get 

 well. 



"Though the most diligent search was m.ade, 

 nothing of the robbers could be tbiind. That 



old scoundrel C had fled, and no trace of 



him was left. 



" .\n iiii|ue.-t was held upon the body of Jacob. 

 When the widow was examined,- she could not 



hold up her hand to take the oath, nor raise her 

 eyes to look upon the coroner. It was said that 

 she drank pretty freely of the rum that was left ; 

 but whether it was guilt, or because sire was 

 tipsy, which made her ilrop her hand and her 

 eyes, others must judge. Suffice it to say, that 

 though the people geuenilly ■■■inspected her of be- 

 ing accessory to the murder, she was never ar- 

 rested on this suspicion, but was suffered to run 

 at large, unhung. 



" A reward of five hundred dollars wag offeretl 

 by David Gould for the detection of the robbers, 

 and the Governor of the State added five hun- 

 dred more. This started out many in pursuit. 

 It was not long before I>aniels (the ntan spoken 

 of before) was taken up in Newport, Rhode 

 Island. There were many suspicious things 

 about him, all the particulars of which are not 

 now recollected. He had a cut on one of his 

 fingers, which looked as tboiigh it were done 

 with a knife, but which be declared was caused 

 by a sea-shell, while he was skipping it upon the 

 water. There Was blood in his pocket-book, and 

 on some of bis money, which he said came there 

 by his putting in his finger after a rag to wrap 

 around it. He bad also some gold pieces, re- 

 sembling those which had been descrilied by the 

 Gould.s, but which he said he bad taken in Bos- 

 ton, or somewhere else. The suspicions were 

 so strong against him, that he was brought on to 

 the jail at Lechmere Point in Cambridge, and 

 committed for trial. The two boys with whom 

 the conversation had been held (irevious to the 

 murder, were carried to the court-house and 

 were required to go into a crowd of men, among 

 whom was Daniels, and see if they could find 

 the man who had conversed with them. One 

 went ill and immediately pointed out Daniels as 

 the man. D. ilid not seem to be moved by this 

 iioy's story. The boy was then taken to another 

 room, and the other lioy brought in. He quickly 

 walked up to Daniels and declared him to lie 

 the man, at the same time telling him what he 

 •said to him at the time mentioned. Daniels then 

 turned pale, and began to sweat profusely. He 

 did not have his trial in full at that lime, and was 

 again committed. Just before his trial was to 

 take place he hung himself in his cell, thereby 

 confirming his guilt, though be made no coiifes 

 sion. 



"About this lime a iiign byname of Phillips 

 was taken up on suspicion of being concerned 

 in this murder. He was at a gambling house in 

 West Boston, and had money in his possession 

 w hich answered to the description given of that 

 lost in the robbery. Upon his examination, 

 though David and i^Iolly felt positive that the 

 money was theirs, yet they did not dare to swear 

 to it, and so he escaped. He left the State jirison 

 about the time that Daniels diil, and was nodouhl 

 an accomplice with him. 



"After this, another man was taken up at 

 Portland, Me. but probably he was innocent. He 

 was not retained. 



"Old C came home some years afterwards, 



but he was of such a malicious disposiiion that 

 the Goulds did not dare to meddle with him. 



"It is now twenty three years since this horrid 

 transaction took place, and nothing fjntlier has 

 been ascertained in relation lo the robbers. Da- 

 vid Gould is dead, and whether Molly still lives 

 is not known to the writer. If ' uinrder will 

 out,' it may yet come to light, but it is very iin- 

 nroliable. Possibly the murderers are all dead." 

 ' J. W. P. 



Pi.NXTUALiTy. — Method is the very hinge of 

 business — and there is no method without pum;- 

 tuality. Punctuality produces calmness of mind : 

 a disorderly man is always in a hurry ; he has 

 no time to speak to you, because he is going 

 elsewhere, and when he gets there, he is too 

 laie for his business; or he must hurry away to 

 another before he can finish it. Piinctiialily 

 gives weight to character. "Such a man has 

 made an appninlment ; and I know he will keep 

 it." This conviction generates punctuality in 

 you ; for, like other virtues, it propagates itself. 

 Appointments become debts. 1 owe you punc 

 tiialily, if J have made an appointment with you ; 

 and have no right to throw away your time, if I 

 do my own. Punctuality in paying the printer, 

 is a shining virtue, and is one of the requisites 

 to the character of a good member of the com- 

 iminity. — Selected. 



