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- HORRIBLE TRAGEDY AT MADISON
A. W. PATTERSON SHOOTS HIS WIFE AND THEN KILLS HIMSELF
- A horrible tragedy occurred at Madison, Monday night in the
murder and suicide of
- Mr. and Mrs. A. W. PATTERSON. Mr. PATTERSON,
who was undoubtedly laboring under a spell of temporary insanity,
shot his wife and going to his daughter Jennie's room, he woke
her and requested her to come into the other room, and when she
did so he said to her, "look at your mother." Miss
PATTERSON suspecting nothing wrong, thought her mother
had fainted and she was just bending over her body, when her
eyes fell on a mirror and she beheld her father kneeling down
by the bedside with a revolver in his hand and pressed to his
temple, and before she could do anything to prevent him, he pulled
the trigger and sent a bullet through his brain. Miss PATTERSON
screamed "Murder, Murder" and soon brought the rest
of the household to the terrible scene of the tragedy. It was
found that Mrs. PATTERSON was shot in three places, in
the arm, in the side and back of the head. Mr. PATTERSON
died the next morning at 4 o'clock and his wife the following
day, without either of them having regained consciousness.
- A letter written by PATTERSON just before the deed
and addressed to his children
- states that he and his wife had planned suicide for some
time past. They agreed to die together. He left a will giving
his property principally to his three older children and she
gave hers wholly to the two younger.
- The letter written at midnight and left to the children was
signed by the father, and
- related mainly to the disposition of his property. No motive
was given for the deed, the letter only saying in this respect:
"Dear children, your mother whispers it is better for you
that we both die together, and for your sake and happiness we
go. Do right, deal honestly with each other and the world. Believe
in God, and I shall be happy, though not in the flesh with you.
Good bye, from papa - A. W. PATTERSON."
- Mr. and Mrs. PATTERSON came to Madison from Algona,
Ia., July 5 last.
- PATTERSON used to attend the state university years
ago, and he came back here to give his children the benefit of
it and the Madison public schools. He had five children, Albert,
22 years old, a merchant of Blairsburg, Ia.; George attending
the university; Jennie, in the high school, and Allie and Hattie,
the latter 11 years old, in the ward school. Albert came to visit
his parents a week ago, and intended to return to his home last
evening. His father dissuaded him from doing so, however, on
some slight pretext. The young man is a bright business man and
talked freely of his father's terrible deed.
- "I have not the remotest idea why my father did this
awful act," he said. "He and
- mother, Mr. and Mrs. STEVENS, George and myself attended
the Congregational church in the evening and heard Rev. B. Fay
Mills. We all came home in the best of spirits. After getting
home we chatted for a time, and George and myself retired to
our room. He neither used tobacco in any form nor drank intoxicating
liquors. He had always been of a quiet peaceful disposition and
appeared to think very much of his children. He was about 50
years old and was born in Ireland, and brought up in Exeter,
Green County. The present Mrs. PATTERSON was our stepmother.
She was about 40 years old and had been married to father for
the past two years. She was a Mrs. Hattie SWAGER and lived
formerly at Evansville, this state. She was a sister of my own
mother, whose maiden name was Julia MAGEE. They lived
together very well, as far as I know. Of course we children did
not get along with her, perhaps, as well as we would had she
been our real mother. However, this could not have been the motive
for the deed."
- The bodies of Mr. and Mrs. PATTERSON were brought
to this place on the 2
- o'clock train Thursday, and interred in the Evansville cemetery.
The survices were conducted by the Eastern Star Lodge, of which
Mrs. PATTERSON was a member. [p. 1, col. 3]
-
- Courtesy of Ruth Ann Montgomery.
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