BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1907 BLOOMINGTON PANATAGRAPH (Contributed by Sandy Clippinger) FOUR PEOPLE SHOT TO DEATH NEAR ARROWSMITH Thomas Baldwin of Colfax Murdered Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kennedy, Mrs. Simeon Eiseman and her daughter Cora Eiseman, All Residing in the Same Neighborhood Victims Were All Witnesses or in Some Way Connected With Recent Indictment of Baldwin - Scenes of Shocking Bru- tality Accompanied Killings - One of Victims Mere Child - The Prisoner is Now In Jail. ____________________________ THE DEAD. MRS. SIMEON EISEMAN, AGED 49, MISS CORA EISEMAN, AGED 14, CHARLES KENNEDY, AGED 31, MRS. CHARLES KENNEDY, AGED 27. THE SLAYER THOMAS BALDWIN, AGED 68, OF COLFAX. What will stand on the records for many years as the most cold-blooded and atrocious murder in the history of McLean county, was perpetrated yesterday between the hours of 10 and 11 o'clock on the farms of Charles Kennedy and Simeon Eiseman, three miles northwest of Arrowsmith. At that time and place Thomas Baldwin, of Colfax, shot and killed Mrs. Eiseman and her daughter Cora and also Charles Kennedy and his Wife, Elsie Eicher Kennedy. Revenge the Apparent Motive. From all the circumstance surrounding the deed, the four murders were committed by Baldwin to avenge himself on the victims for their testimony before the recent sitting of the grand jury which resulted in having him indicted for criminal assault on the Eiseman girl. The alleged assault took place two months ago while the young Eiseman girl was on her way to visit at the home of Baldwin. She was at that time working in the home of the Kennedy's. The Eiseman and Kennedy farms being located within a quarter of a mile of each other. Had Been Drinking. The appearance of Baldwin immediately after the shooting indicated that he had been drinking heavily and on his person was found a bottle of whiskey containing some white substance, which was reported to be a poison. What his intentions with the liquor were is not known. Baldwin was in a morass and uncommunicative mood, and was supposed to be brooding over his fancied wrongs at the hands of the families from whom he selected his four victims. Might Have Been Others. Soon after the quadruple shooting it was the current report in the neighborhood that Baldwin was seeking still another victim, and that he carried the poisoned liquor with the intent of committing suicide when the work he had set out upon was finally finished. _________ DELIBERATE AND DEADLY. The Murderous Work of Baldwin With His Pistols Showed Atrocious Pur- pose Carefully Carried Out. --All too successful results crowned the efforts of Baldwin to exterminate his enemies in the two mentioned families yesterday morning. He took with him two 32-caliber revolvers and with them he did the fearful deed. He evidently started out from his home in Colfax with this purpose in mind, driving to the region of the four-fold crime in his buggy. He first went to the home of the Kennedy's and killed the man and his wife. Then he proceeded to the home of the Eiseman's a quarter of a mile west, and shot and killed the mother and daughter after a parley with them relating to the charges previously published. Double Murder Unseen. What happened in the Kennedy home no living person except Baldwin knows. The two other persons in the house are now cold in death each with two bullet holes in their bodies from the pistols of Baldwin. Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy were alone at their home when Baldwin called and whether they engaged in altercation prior to the fatal shooting was not developed yesterday. There were ample evidences, however, that there was a terrific storm of passion raging when the fatal shots were fired. Aside from the pitiful gaping wounds in the chests and heads of Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy, there were evidences of the firing of several shots, both from the pistols and from a shotgun. The latter weapon standing against the kitchen stove when the bodies were first discovered. Mr. Kennedy's body lay upon the kitchen floor, his head toward the stove and the feet toward the middle of the room. He was shot in the chest and neck. Mrs. Kennedy's body lay in the same room, she also killed by two pistol shots and her feet lying in the opposite direction from those of her husband. Evidences of struggle were about the room, but mainly in several bullet holes through the doors and walls, and one charge of shot from a gun having torn a large hole in the walls of the sitting room. Killed in the Road. At the home of the Eiseman's the double killing occurred in the highway, where the unhappy victims had fled in a vain attempt to get away from the murderous designs of Baldwin, who had called _____ during the morning and engaged Mrs. Eiseman in a parley. The members of the family had seen Baldwin coming to the house and had fled to the cellar and upper rooms to escape him. They had been unsuccessful, and when Baldwin displayed a gun the mother and some of the children flew from a cellar window across the fields toward the road. Baldwin pursued them and overtaking Mrs. Eiseman and Cora in the highway he shot them both to death. Children's Shocking Discovery . Sadie Eiseman and little Ivan Kennedy, who fled by another way across the fields and out into the road, managed to escape the wrath of Baldwin, only to reach the Kennedy house and find the dead bodies of the Kennedys lying stretched upon the kitchen floor. ______ Thomas Baldwin Made a Prisoner and Disarmed by William Spencer and Son Near Eiseman Home. --Having killed four people within the short space of perhaps half an hour, Baldwin fled down toward the East, and within a quarter of a mile of the Eiseman house he was taken prisoner and disarmed by William Spencer and his son William, Jr., who had already captured Baldwin's horse and buggy and started to look for him. The First Alarm. Otto Flescher, who owns the farm where the Eisemans lived, was the first living person to give the alarm of the murders. He had gone down the road to get the mail from the rural mail box, and while he was absent the advent of Baldwin at the Eiseman house and the parity took place. When Mr. Fleacher returned to the house he heard of the shooting of the two women. He went to the telephone and dialed up the Spencer's house and told the family of tragedy, stating that Baldwin was heading toward Spencer's house on the public road. Mrs. Spencer answered the telephone and she at once took the startling news to her husband and son, who were in the barn lot. Baldwin Sighted. Mr. Spencer looked down the road and saw a horse and buggy coming east without a driver and at the same time could see the head of a man walking in the road over a rise in the ground. The Spencers jumped into the buggy and turned it around and drove toward the man. On coming up to Baldwin they asked if this was his rig. He said yes, and said at the same time that some one had shot some of the Eiseman women. Denies Crime. When Baldwin mentioned the shooting Mr. Spencer told him that he (Baldwin) had done it. Baldwin quickly answered that he had not done it and further he did not know who was the murderer. He stuck to this statement and repeated it several times. The Capture. Mr. Spencer and his son lost no time in getting into action. Mr. Spencer jumped from the buggy and went up to Baldwin, who by this time stood by the wheel. The son, who had been riding on the back part of the vehicle, also jumped to the ground at the same time. With most courageous action and prompt judgment, young Mr. Spencer stepped behind Baldwin and grabbed his arms, holding them to his body, so that his hands could not be used. At the same instant, Mr. Spencer, the father, made a like motion and two had Baldwin a helpless prisoner. The Guns Taken. Baldwin evidently was trying to get his hands in his pockets and suspecting that he might be reaching for a weapon of some kind Mr. Spencer stuck his hand in the overcoat and pulled one 38-caliber revolver from his pocket. Another similar weapon was taken from the other overcoat pocket. In searching his pockets the Spencers found a large bottle of whiskey, which was about one-half full, and in the liquid floated some white substance. The weapons and the bottle were promptly confiscated by the captors of Baldwin, and they all got into the buggy and started for Arrowsmith. _______ OFFICER TO THE SCENE Deputy Sheriff Thompson of Colfax the First Representative of the Law to Get Hold of Baldwin. --In the time while the above events were transpiring, the news of the awful tragedies had spread throughout many miles of territory in the eastern part of the county. This is mainly due to the fact that the section is netted with a system of telephones, and nearly every farmer has one in his house. One of the first alarms of the murders was sent to Colfax, and word was gotten to "Jack" Thompson, the deputy sheriff for that part of the county. Mr. Thompson was as quick in thought in taking the trail of the murderer. He secured a livery rig and with Fred Ingram as driver set out for the scene of the crimes. Overtaken at Arrowsmith. Meanwhile Mr. Spencer and his son with their prisoner had driven to Arrowsmith and had reached that place within half an hour after their capture of Baldwin, the distance being three miles. The roads are in good condition and the going was pretty fair. The prisoner was held at the office of Justice Bain to await the arrival of Officer Thompson from Colfax, who was on his way to the scene. _____ TAKEN TO ELLSWORTH. Murderer Baldwin Put Aboard a Lake Erie Train There -- Crowds Watch Him Quietly. --After Deputy Sheriff Thompson of Colfax got possession of Thomas Baldwin at Arrowsmith, he at once began action to get his prisoner into Bloomington and in the custody of the sheriff. Deputy Thompson, Fred Ingram, the Colfax liveryman who drove him to Arrowsmith, and the prisoner first started to go east, expecting to make Saybrook and then take the 2 o'clock westbound train for Bloomington. He had hardly got fairly started when Deputy Thompson got the report that there was a crowd at Saybrook looking for the prisoner, and fearing trouble, Officer Thompson and his charge turned right about face and went west to Ellsworth, which is five miles west of Arrowsmith. In Ellsworth Depot. The entry of Deputy Sheriff Thompson and his notorious prisoner at Ellsworth was entirely unheralded. But a half dozen people at first noticed their coming, though the news of the awful murders had preceded them to the village. When the men reached the station the officers at once took Baldwin to the depot, for that was considered the best place to keep him, and the west bound train was then about due, which it was expected to board to Bloomington. It took only a few minutes, however, for the news of Baldwin's arrival to spread around the streets of Ellsworth. Every person who heard it hurried to the depot, and before ten minutes had elapsed there was a crowd of several score of people craning their necks through the windows of the station trying to get a glimpse of the prisoner. Bloomington Deputies Arrive. Less than a quarter of an hour after Baldwin and his captors reached Ellsworth the east-bound Lake Erie train reached there with Deputy Sheriffs William Kennedy and John Ryan aboard. They had been sent by Sheriff Moore to safeguard the conduct of Baldwin to this city. The deputies had expected to go to Arrowsmith and get their prisoner, and the sudden change in Deputy Thompson's plans was entirely unknown to them. Officers Ryan and Kennedy therefore barely had time to grab their coats and jump off before the train sped on to Arrowsmith. Three in Charge. Deputy Sheriff Thompson was glad enough to see his fellow officers from Bloomington. It was then 2:00 in the afternoon and he had been on the hot-foot after Baldwin since 11 o'clock in the morning. Ryan and Kennedy at once took charge of the prisoner in the depot, while Mr. Thompson took a stroll for some fresh air. When the train arrived on which they were to take Baldwin to Bloomington, all three of the officers surrounded Baldwin and he was got on board the train without incident or demonstration. Crowd Angered but Orderly. All the time that Baldwin and the officers remained in the depot, and the west-bound train was an hour late, the crowd of a hundred or more townspeople and farmers surged around the platform and talked of the crime and its perpetrator. Expressions to the effect that lynching would be none too bad for him were heard on all sides and such comment as "We ought to hang him now and same the county expenses were frequently heard. The cases of Chism and others were cited to the effect that Baldwin would get off as easy in spite of his quadruple crime. When the officers and prisoner boarded the train the spectators drew close to the cars, but no one made a move or uttered a word. __________ STORY OF THE ONLY EYE WITNESS Miss Mabel Eiseman, daughter of Mrs. Eiseman and sister of Cora Eiseman made the following statement to Coroner Rugless: I live in Arrowsmith township. This is my home. It was about 11 o'clock a.m. when Thomas Baldwin came to our house. I locked the door and he knocked and tried to open the door. Mamma went to the door. I told her to, after putting Sadie and Ivan and Cora in the cellar. She opened the door. He said, "Good mornin', just as pleasant. 'I was down to see Mr. Bach and he told me was willing to settle it, and I have come to ask if you are willing to settle it." Mamma says, "I do not know anything about it. "Is Simeon home?" Mamma says, "No he is not here. Mamma says, "We are not willing to settle this. You know you are guilty. You know you tried to ruin my life when I was a young girl and now you have tried to ruin my daughter's life." "You know I never done such a thing in my life". Baldwin then pushed the door partly open and leaned against the door and put his hands in his pockets. I knew what was going to happen after he said he was not guilty. Mamma picked up a clothes stick and said, "we told you never to enter this house again. I want you to get out or I will take this stick to you". He says, "I want to speak to Cora one minute". Mamma says, "she is not here " but she was. I said she was not here because I did not want him to see her. He drew his pistol and said, "Jennie, you are a liar; you bring her to me". I screamed. he pointed the pistol at me and said, "you keep still". Then he turned the pistol on mamma and said "you bring Cora here; I want to see her just one minute". Mamma want to the cellar and told all the children to go out of the cellar the other way. The two youngest ones went to the corn field and ma and Cora went down the lane toward the road and all this time I was talking to him (Thomas Baldwin). I asked him if he will hurt Cora and he said, "I won't." He told me to go in the cellar and tell them to hurry up. He took me by the arm and we started toward the cellar. He looked out the window and saw them going down the lane. He ran outdoors and got in his buggy and started after them. I ran to the door and locked it. I went to 'phone Charles Kennedy, but did not get them. I then heard a shot and I screamed. I was at the 'phone and central asked me what was the matter. "He has killed my sister", and central did not understand I explained to him. I will send some one out". Then I heard two other shots. I then hung up the receiver and looked out of the window and saw Otto Fleacher turn and go toward the road. I saw my mother and sister running and Thomas Baldwin raised his revolver and shot and Mr. Flescher came running back towards the house. I ran out and asked if they were dead and he said, "I think they are". I went down where they were and my mother and sister were both dead. I knew that my sister Cora and my mother came to their deaths by pistol shots fired by the hand of Thomas Baldwin. "MABEL G. EISEMAN." OFFICER THOMPSON'S STORY. Colfax Deputy Sheriff Relates His Experience With the Murderer Enroute to Bloomington. --Deputy Jack Thompson, who had the distinction of making the arrest of Baldwin, talked intermittently of the part he took in the tragedy last evening. He said that he was first advised of the crime at Colfax about 11:14. He immediately jumped into his buggy and accompanied by Squire Fred Ingram drove hurriedly to the scene. They found Baldwin in the telephone office at Arrowsmith in the custody of Justice of the Peace Lanes of Arrowsmith. The first thing that the officer did was to lock all the doors, as the crowd was gathering and he could tell from the angry remarks said that only a leader was required to pull off a lynching. The Two Guns. He asked for the revolvers carried by Baldwin and they were given to him by Mr. Lanes, in whose possession they had been placed. There were two revolvers, one of 38 caliber and the other 32. Both were new. The 38 had every chamber full. The 32 contained one load and five empty shells, showing that the smaller weapon had been used for the fatal work. It developed later that Baldwin had purchased the larger gun at a Bloomington gun store on the day before the murder and when he was here to consult his attorney about the grand jury indictment. The smaller gun had been secured in a trade at Colfax. In taking a search of the prisoner's pockets, the deputy found a large quantity of cartridges of both calibers, showing that Baldwin had gone prepared for a wholesale bombardment if necessary. Carried Poison. Among the other things in Baldwin's pocket was an ounce phial marked "strychnine" but without the name of the druggist upon it. The bottle was empty. In another pocket was found a bottle of whiskey. When asked what he did with the strychnine, by the deputy, Baldwin replied that he had emptied the poison into the whiskey. "It makes it taste better." He replied that his horse had run away and he did not have a chance to do so. The only mark of any kind on Baldwin's body was a small abrasion on the third finger of his right hand. The skin had been knocked off and the wound had bled slightly. Just when the skin was broken, Baldwin did not state. It is presumed that he injured himself in clambering in or out of the buggy. Planned to Write Letters. Another interesting find by the deputy was that of two plain white envelopes, each containing a blank piece of white note paper to correspond. The envelopes and paper were not soiled, showing that they had been in Baldwin's possession but a short time. On the back of one envelope was written simply. "Mr. Simeon Eiseman." That was all. It is presumed that he had planned to write a note to the father of the dead girl but whether before or after the crime, could not be positively determined. Walked to Ellsworth. The deputy did not consume much time in making a search of Baldwin's pockets. He did not find anything additional except the pocket-knife belonging to the prisoner. The deputy decided shortly afterwards that the place was getting too warm for him and when he heard the crash of broken glass he decided to leave with his prisoner. Accompanied by Mr. Ingram and Bert Thompson, the quartet left through the back door and got away unobserved. They walked through corn fields and over stubble, and by using a round-about route, finally reached Ellsworth. Baldwin was handcuffed as soon as Thompson reached him and walking was a painful operation for the prisoner. He made so complaint, however, about slow progress. Approaching the Lake Erie & Western track when a train was heard, the deputy tried to flag it. The train was a freight and the signals of the men were ignored. There was nothing to do then but to walk to Ellsworth and the party after reaching there, waited in the depot until the west bound train arrived. They were joined by Deputies Ryan and Kennedy some time before the east bound train was due. Deputy Thompson remarked last evening that he was never so glad to see any one before in his life as he was to see the two stalwart officers jump from the train. He knew that it was only a question of time until the angry residents of Arrowsmith and vicinity would locate him and he dreaded the consequences of an attempt to take the prisoner away from him. Arrival in Bloomington. The west bound train finally rolled in and the party rode as far as the "Y" southeast of this city. There by direction of Sheriff Moore, the train was stopped and the party who were joined at the "Y" by the sheriff and Special Officer Reynolds of the C. & A. and carriages were used to convey the officers with their prisoner to the county jail. They drove to the back entrance thereby again eluding a big crowd numbering perhaps 1,000 which had assembled to greet them. There was no serious demonstration at the jail here but the sight of the throngs aroused some concern among the officers. Baldwin Will Not Talk. Deputy Thompson remarked that the mind of Baldwin did not dwell upon the crime. He did not discuss it and when asked about it, talked instead about something else. He constantly referred to his buggy and horses and all the time on the walk from Arrowsmith to Ellsworth, he kept looking around and asking plaintively about his rig. This appeared to work upon his mind more than anything else. When pointedly asked why he killed the four, he replied with emphasis that he did not do it and in fact knew nothing of the crime. THE CORONER'S INQUEST Story of the Killing at the Official Inquisition Was Not Completed Up to Last Evening. --Corner Rugless went out on the afternoon train and impaneled the jury for the official investigation of the four killings. After the jury had viewed the bodies of the dead and the two houses where the tragedies occurred, they returned to Arrowsmith and met in Justice W. W. Lane's office. The testimony of Mabel Eiseman, which is printed in full in another column, had already been taken at the home of the girl. The following were the other witnesses examined and their statements: William Spencer, Sr. is a farmer living northwest of Arrowsmith near the home of the Eisemans and Kennedy. He said he was at his barn when his wife yelled to him that Tom Baldwin had shot some of the Eiseman family and wanted witness to stop him, as he was coming down the road. My wife did not know which ones of the Eisemans' had been shot. I and my son ran down the road and saw a horse and buggy coming down the road from the west, without a driver. Son and I caught the horse, turned around and drove back to the west till we met Baldwin. When we met him didn't know whether he could see who was in his buggy. Baldwin got to Gilmore's gate and went in and was talking to my daughter. As he turned to come out, I met him with the horse and buggy. I asked him if his horse had got away from him, and he said yes. I stepped out of the buggy, and as Baldwin stood by the wheels, my son, who had been on the hind part of the buggy, came up and grabbed him around the waist. At the same time I seized him in the same way. He did not resist. Baldwin said some one had shot Cora and Mrs. Eiseman, and I said, "yes, you done it." He denied that he had done it and said he did not know who had done the shooting. He did not at any time acknowledge doing the shooting. From what I have since learned, I am sure that Baldwin did do the shooting and killed Mrs. Eiseman and her daughter Cora. Am also satisfied from what I learned that he killed the Kennedy's. My son and I took two guns and a bottle partly full of whisky from Baldwin. Mr. Gilmore arrived and with my son and I found another revolver. Four shots fired out of one revolver. The other revolver was full of cartridges and we found 7 or 8 cartridges loose in his pocket and took possession of them. Told him to get in the buggy and he did and brought him to Arrowsmith. Revolvers and cartridges were turned over to Deputy Sheriff Thompson. William Spencer Jr., told the story much the same as his father. Baldwin wanted his overcoat. It contained a bottle of whisky and a box of Smith & Wesson 38 calibre cartridges. Otto Flescher owns the farm and Mr. and Mrs. Eiseman and family reside there and kept house. He told the coroner that he saw Baldwin driving rapidly down the lane toward the road, up which Mrs. Eiseman and her daughter were fleeing. Baldwin drove down the road after them and drove past them when he got out of the buggy and began shooting. Cora Eiseman, when he passed them started to go through the hedge on the north side of the road into March's orchard, but Baldwin fired one shot and she ran back to her mother. Mrs. Eiseman stepped between her daughter and Baldwin and he shot them both. The bodies fell to the ground side by side face downward. R. E. Larimer resides one mile north of Kennedy's. Mrs. Larimer heard over the telephone that Baldwin had been at Kennedy's and Mr. Larimer at once got on his horse and went over, suspecting trouble. When he got there William Eicher, father of Mrs. Kennedy, and Ray Gilmore, were there. Mr. Larimer pushed open the door and found the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy lying on the kitchen floor. Beside the stove stood a Winchester pump gun. Mr. Eicher grabbed it but was at once disarmed as he was terribly excited and it was feared he might do himself harm. The gun contained four loaded shells and one empty. Frank Kruger testified that he was at Kennedy's when Baldwin arrived and they all engaged in conversation, Kruger went to get a grain dump and Baldwin helped him load it onto the wagon. Baldwin arrived about 10 o'clock. He and Kennedy went into the driveway of a shed and held quite a little conversation in a low tone. It was about 10:05 when Mr. Kruger left. He noticed nothing unusual in the actions of Baldwin and did not suspect that such a tragedy would follow so soon. After hearing the testimony of Mr. Kruger, it was decided to adjourn the hearing until Friday at 10 o'clock, when it is expected other witnesses will turn up. The jury was composed of James McMackin, W. W. Lane, Bryce Reid, Charles Brown, Joseph Smith and H. B. Ruggles. After hearing the above testimony the hearing was adjourned till today. AT THE EISEMAN HOME Scene at the House Where Mother and Daughter Met Their Deaths. --It was a desolate scene which greeted the eyes of a Pantagrapher when he entered the Flescher house where Mr. and Mrs. Eiseman and family had resided for several years. The house stands on a knoll, about an eighth of a mile south of the main road leading east and west, two miles north of Arrowsmith. A narrow lane leads to the house. There is but one door giving admittance to the residence. This is at the south side of the kitchen which forms a sort of an ell on the east side of the house. Many sympathizing neighbors were there to aid and comfort the stricken family. Mabel Eiseman and her sister, Sadie, sat on a couch in the sitting room which is just west of the kitchen. Simeon Eiseman, the bereaved husband and father, occupied a chair and his large frame was convulsed with sobs and he refused to be comforted. The orphaned children were denied the tears which would have lightened their load of sorrow. To the south of this sitting room is a bed room and in a bed lay the bodies of the mother and daughter side by side, just as they had been carried from the roadside. Their Wounds. There were two bullet holes in Mrs. Eiseman's breast, either of which would have caused instant death. They were close together and showed the clear eye and steady hand which had sighted the revolver and pulled the trigger. Three bullet holes in the daughter's body showed that Baldwin's aim was true, the five times he pulled the trigger in the road. One bullet entered just back of the right ear, another penetrated her left arm and entered her side and a third entered her back near the kidneys. Her hair was matted with her life blood and the two bodies, lying side by side, told gruesomely of the bloodiest tragedy that has been recorded in the annals of McLean County. WHERE THE KENNEDYS DIED Evidence of Frightful Carnage in the Home of Dead Husband and Wife. --Half a mile further east and an eighth of a mile north of Eiseman's is the place where Mr. and Mrs. Charles O. Kennedy had spent many happy days with their prattling little son, who will know no more the loving care of a doting father and mother. Here, too, the deadly aim of Baldwin was manifested in the two bodies which lay on the floor in the kitchen. The house is just east of the barn and corn cribs. The farm is owned by Sain Welty of Bloomington. Mr. Kennedy's body lay with the head to the north and but a few inches from the cook stove. Mrs. Kennedy's body was at the west side of the room, her head being to the south.
There were four bullet wounds in Mr. Kennedy's body. One had entered just under the right ear and had probably severed the jugular vein as the wound had bled profusely. Another was in the left wrist, a third in the left breast just above the nipple and a fourth an inch below the left nipple. These latter two had evidently penetrated the heart. Mrs. Kennedy had been shot twice. One bullet entered her left breast and the other had entered her head just under the right ear. Bullet Missed Mark. One of the leaden missiles had evidently missed its mark. A bullet hole was found in the door leading out of the kitchen to the east. The bullet had also gone through a door to a smokehouse or summer kitchen ten feet east of the kitchen and then embodied itself in the wood at the farther end of the smoke house. Shot Through Partition. Standing by the cook stove when the bodies were found, was a Winchester pump gun. One shell of this gun was empty. Where the load had gone was easily told by an immense hole in the partition between the sitting room and bedroom. The gun had evidently been fired from the kitchen as a portion of the door casing between the kitchen and sitting room had been torn away. The charge buried itself in the foot of a bed in the bedroom at the extreme west side of the house. The Gun Theory. The Theory was freely expressed that the shotgun had been fired by Baldwin in an attempt to fix up a self-defense theory to save himself. However, it was apparent to all that Charles Kennedy nor his wife would have been able to place the gun as it was against the stove after they had been shot. It took several minutes yesterday afternoon to replace the gun in position, and certainly Kennedy could not have so placed it with Baldwin shooting at him. Killed at Close Quarters. Evidently Charles Kennedy was shot at close quarters. His wrist, where the bullet entered it, was powder burned, showing that Baldwin must have been but a short distance from him when that shot was fired. Telephone Wires Cut. The first arrivals at the Kennedy home found that the telephone wires had been cut. Mrs. Kennedy had telephoned neighbors that Baldwin was there and he had evidently heard her. The wires had been cut inside the home just above the instrument. Those who arrive first spliced the wires and telephoned the news of the tragedy throughout the neighborhood. Blood on Doorknobs. Leading from the sitting room of the Kennedy home is a door in the south side. Over this on the outside to keep out the cold had been nailed oil cloth. The murderer had evidently gone out this door after his bloody deed, as the inside and outside door knobs were each marked with blood and the oil cloth had been violently wrenched from its fastenings, the slayer having evidently dashed from the room. __________ SAW THE EISEMANS KILLED. Mabel Eiseman Witnessed the Visit of Baldwin to Her Home Before the Shooting --Yesterday morning Cora Eiseman, who worked at Mr. Kennedy's, went home to assist her mother, as her sister, Mabel, was suffering with a sore arm. Little Ivan Kennedy accompanied her. Mr. Eiseman departed early in the morning to shovel corn for James Pike, who resides four miles southeast of the Eiseman home. To a Pantagrapher, Miss Mabel Eiseman told her story as follows: About half past ten they received a telephone message that Baldwin was in the neighborhood. They then went upstairs to watch for him. In a few minutes they saw him come driving in his buggy. Mrs. Eiseman took Cora and Sadie Eiseman and Ivan Kennedy to the cellar. She and her daughter, Mabel, remained in the kitchen, and had locked the door. Baldwin came up and demanded admittance. Mrs. Eiseman told him he was not wanted there and for him to go away. He said he had seen States Attorney Bach and wanted to settle the matter. Mrs. Eiseman told him she would not listen to a settlement, that he had tried to ruin her when she was a girl and then had tried to ruin her daughter. He denied the charge, and then insisted on seeing Cora. Mrs. Eiseman went to the cellar and started Sadie and Ivan Kennedy out the outside cellar door, towards the corn field at the west of the house. Then she and Cora started toward Frank Marsh's place, which is just across the main road north, and probably a quarter of a mile west. _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ SKETCH OF SCENE OF MURDER NORTH WEST EAST Road to Kennedy's Spencer's Colfax + + + ___________________________________________________________ + + + Road to Eiseman's Road to Ellsworth Arrowsmith SOUTH ----The above rough sketch of the scene of the four tragedies near Arrowsmith shows the relative position of the houses. Both the Eisemans and Kennedys live on an east and west road about midway between Arrowsmith and Ellsworth and about a mile and a half north of these places. Eiseman's house is a quarter of a mile east of Kennedy's and the house of William Spencer is still further east of Eiseman's. At Spencer's home Thomas Baldwin was captured by the Spencer men _______________________________________________________________ --------------------------------------------------------------- They had secured a good start while Baldwin was parleying with Mabel Eiseman. Just as he started into the house to look for them he spied them hurrying toward the main road. He darted out of the house, jumped into the buggy and followed. He met Otto Flescher who had been down the road to get the mail out of the rural free delivery box, but Flescher did not attempt to stop him, as he did not know anything was wrong until attracted by the screams of Mabel Eiseman, who at once divined Baldwin's purpose. Baldwin, when he reached the main road, turned west. Mrs. Eiseman and Cora were hurrying in the same direction, evidently having determined to take refuge at the residence of Mr. Marsh. Just as they were opposite Marsh's orchard Baldwin passed them in his buggy, stopped and jumped out. Cora darted for the hedge fence on the north side of the road, evidently hoping to get into the orchard and out of his way. One bullet stopped her and she ran back to the south side of the road where her mother was standing. Mrs. Eiseman stepped between them, when four more shots rang out, and mother and daughter lay dead side by side. Baldwin then started east on foot, his horse having gone on east alone until stopped by William Spencer and his son, who also stopped Baldwin when he came up. Bodies Taken Home. News of the shooting soon spread throughout the neighborhood, and neighbors carried the bodies of Mrs. Eiseman and her daughter to the home and placed them, just as they were, on the bed to await the arrival of the coroner. A blue sunbonnet dropped by one of the women in their haste, lay within a few feet of where the tragedy occurred, all the afternoon. Where the bodies were picked up, the brown grass was marked by two splotches of blood, and two tortoise shell hair combs reposed nearby. Ivan Kennedy's Tale. Pathetic in the extreme was the brief but tragic tale lisped by little Ivan Kennedy when he and Sadie Eiseman returned to the Eiseman home. When they fled to the corn field, as told by Miss Eiseman, they wandered on through it out upon the road and then to Charles Kennedy's. After viewing the tragedy there, they trudged back to the Eiseman home. Ivan was asked by neighbors, who knew nothing of that tragedy, why he came back and he lisped "papa and mamma gone". He was told they must have been somewhere about the place, and he replied "no, they gone like them" pointing to the bodies of Mrs. Eiseman and her daughter. Then only was it known the full extent of the murderous career of Thomas Baldwin. Significant Remark Explained. The remark of Mrs. Eiseman to Baldwin that he "had tried to ruin my life," when a girl. She was a sister of Baldwin's wife. Once, Mrs. Baldwin desired that she come and assist her in some work and Baldwin went after her. It is alleged that on this trip he tried to take advantage of her but was repulsed. ________ FORERUNNER OF TRAGEDIES The Troubles of Baldwin and Eisemans and Their Attempts to Settle It. --The cause of the dreadful tragedy can be distinctly traced to the charges recently brought against Baldwin and which has been told of at length since his recent indictment by the grand jury. The charge of rape brought against him by Cora Eiseman followed several months during which the matter had been an open secret in the Baldwin and Eiseman families. The facts and family relations which preceded the event that led to the killing are these: Thomas Baldwin and Sim Eiseman married sisters. The families were intimate as would be usual under such circumstances and there was a constant visiting back and forth between the children, as well as the older members of the family. Mrs. Baldwin died last summer and Baldwin made his home with his youngest daughter who is about 14 years old. The offense against Cora Eiseman is alleged to have taken place on the 24th of October last. On that date Baldwin visited the Eiseman home and asked Cora, 14 years old, to go home and spend Sunday with his daughter. This was on Friday. Cora Eiseman went with him. She returned home on Monday. Baldwin bringing her and there being no apparent change in their friendship. Within a few days, Cora is said to have told Mrs. Charlie Kennedy of the assault made upon her and which she said took place while on the road when she was going with Baldwin on the preceding Friday. Mrs. Kennedy told Mrs. Eiseman and within a few days Baldwin received a letter from an attorney in this city asking him to call at his office. Baldwin did so and found Eiseman there and was confronted with the story told by the little girl. Baldwin denied it entirely and was very heated in his argument over it and in his denial. Sim Eiseman, it is understood, agreed to settle with him for $1,000. This was gradually lowered to $800 and to $600 and finally an agreement was entered into which read as follows: December ?, 1906. Received of Thomas Baldwin, of Colfax, Ill, the sum of $525 and in consideration of the same I hereby release and discharge the said Thomas Baldwin from all damages suffered by me on account of a claimed assault committed by the said Thomas Baldwin upon my daughter Cora Eiseman on or about the 24th day of October 1906. signed: S. Eiseman. witness: Sain Welty It is said that Baldwin at that time said that he was innocent of the charge but that he would pay his money because his daughter begged him to do it, to save the family from the strain of such a charge. Baldwin had supposed the matter ended and when he was arrested on the indictment, found by the grand jury he was almost violent in his rage. Spent Day Here Wednesday. Thomas Baldwin spent much of the day Wednesday in this city and visited the office of his attorneys Gillespie and Franklin. He left their office just before supper Wednesday night after a long talk with them in which the charge was discussed. He made no threats but he said once "they must not get up and tell lies about me," He had not been drinking Wednesday and while remaining adamant about the charge against him, said nothing to lead his attorneys to suspect that he held such desperate intentions. He believed that he was being prosecuted and said to his attorneys that he had settled once with Eiseman and that the grand jury had passed the charge against him once and that it had been presented a second time, showing malice from someone. He said that he had heard that Eiseman had said that he would "get a home out of Baldwin on this charge". Thomas Baldwin was formerly a man who drank heavily. Some few years ago he was elected alderman of Colfax on the whiskey ticket and the following year had taken the pledge and ran on the temperance ticket and was again elected. He was popular and the mass of the people and during his long residence in Colfax was known as a man violent in his temper but likely to be just. Shocked at Arrest. It is said that Baldwin was surprised and shocked at his arrest on the charge. He at first refused to go with the deputy saying that the matter had been fixed up. When convinced that he must appear he appeared dazed and extremely nervous. This continued during his visit to this city when his bond was given. Since then he has spent much of his time here in consultation with his attorneys. ________ FATHER GETS THE NEWS. Supervisor Kennedy, Father of One of the Victims, Tells How He Learned of His Son's Murder. --Thomas F. Kennedy, for many years supervisor of Martin township, was at the home of his dead son yesterday afternoon and related to a Pantagrapher how he received the first news of the awful tragedy. He told it with dry eyes, for he said that the full impact of the affair was not realized, and he could not weep for very bitterness. He said that yesterday morning he received a telephone message that some one had been killed down in the vicinity of his son's home. He at once started for the scene and on the way learned that his daughter-in-law, Elsie, was a victim of the murderer's aim. Then a little later Mr. Kennedy said he heard there were four dead people, and his son Charles was one of them. He could not realize the fact even when he reached the home of his son and saw the bleeding bodies of the couple lying on the kitchen floor. Tells Story of Trouble. Mr. Kennedy related the story of the troubles between Baldwin and the Eiseman girl, which occurred several months ago, much in the same way as it is told else where in this issue. He said that when the Eiseman girl had told Mrs. Kennedy about the alleged impropriety of Baldwin, Mrs. Kennedy had told the girl to at once tell her mother, but Cora seemed reluctant to do so. Mr. Eiseman had also wanted that it be kept from the grand jury if possible, and he and Mr. Eiseman asked the Arrowsmith member to refrain from bringing it up, owing to the notoriety which it would bring on all. However, the final day of the session it all came out in the jury room and they were not responsible for it. ___________ SKETCH OF THE VICTIMS. Life Histories of the Four Murdered People Recounted in a Brief Way. --Mrs. Charles Kennedy was but 27 years of age. She was born in the city of Bloomington on June 15, 1880. Her name was May Elsie Eicher and she was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Eicher. The family lived in Bloomington until Elsie was 13 years of age, when they removed to Arrowsmith. Elsie was married to Charles Kennedy on February 14 nine years ago, and there was one son born to them, Ivan, who is now 6 years of age. Besides her parents, Mrs. Kennedy leaves three brothers, Lawrence, Melvin and Parke, the last two living in Bloomington. Mrs. Kennedy was a member of the Christian Church from early childhood and was a very highly esteemed woman in all the circles where she moved. Mrs. Eiseman. Mrs. Eiseman was 49 years old January 17 last. Her maiden name was Jane Smith. She was married nineteen years ago to Mr. Eiseman and three children were born to them. Mabel, aged 17; Cora aged 14, one of Thursday's victims, and Sadie, aged 11. She was a member of the U. B. church, but had been prevented from attending regularly of late by ill health. The arrangements for the funerals of mother and daughter have not yet been made. Three brothers, Isaac Smith, of Gibson City; Andrew Smith of Jefferson, Iowa and Steve Smith, residing in Nebraska also survive. Charles Kennedy. Charles Kennedy would have been 31 years old next August. He was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Kennedy of Colfax and a most ostensible young man. Seven years ago February 14 he was married to Miss Elsie Eicher of Arrowsmith. To them, was born one son, Ivan, now about 6 years old. Mr. Kennedy is also survived by two brothers, Ora and George, of Colfax, and two sisters, Mrs. Harry Smith of Cooksville and Mrs. Frank Harman who resides five miles south of Colfax. _____ HOW THEY CAME TO JAIL Great Throng Gathered to Greet Baldwin on His Arrival in This City Yesterday. --When the train reached the "Y" with Baldwin a carriage with officers was in readiness to remove the prisoner as it was thought unsafe to unload him at the regular main street station on account of the crowd that had collected there. The news of the awful crime had spread about the city with wonderful, rapidity and a large mob had gathered at the county jail, all eager to get a look at the murderer. The gathering at no time looked particularly dangerous, but there was no way of telling what might materialize. The carriage containing the prisoner was driven around by a circuitous route and came to the jail from the rear. Baldwin gave his captors no trouble in the least and he was taken hurriedly from the carriage into the jail, all the time maintaining complete silence and seemingly in a dazed condition. The crowd that had gathered around the jail about a thousand in all, made no attempt to interfere with the program and all the danger was past. Had Picture Taken. When once within the county bastille, the criminal was hurried to the cell room and locked up. A Pantagraph reporter was admitted to the jail and a flash light of the prisoner was taken. The sheriff, the reporter and the photographer entered the cell room and found Baldwin in one of the corridors with several other prisoners. He was walking around at the time, but was saying nothing. "Come and have your picture taken", said Sheriff Al Moore, opening the door. Baldwin replied, "all right" in a cheerful manner and came out into the small room to be snapped. Baldwin was smiling and did not show any trace of excitement, although he kept shaking his head from side to side in short quick jerks, and his face had a blank, dazed look. He was extremely nervous and all of his movements were of a jerky nature. He was attired in a common black suit and he wore no collar. His hair was not even ruffled, and to glance at him one would take him for a prosperous farmer who had worked hard all his life and was now living cozy on the fruits of his labor. He sat up straight for the picture and when the flash light exploded with a loud noise he gave a quick jump and let out an exclamation but immediately relapsed back into the chair. Settled Down to Prison Life. The sheriff said to him that was all, and with a pleasant smile the murderer of four people walked back to the cell corridor. He sat down on a bench and looked around him and was still gazing abstractedly when the reporter left. No one was allowed to talk with him, but his attorney, Mr. Gillespie, who was to defend him on the charge of rape, saw him late in the afternoon. Quite a crowd hung around the jail for some time after the prisoner had been taken in, but the number gradually decreased until all was quiet. Baldwin's Property. It was stated last evening by a well known merchant of Colfax that Baldwin was not a rich man. Mainly his property consists of real estate in Colfax and $10,000 would probably be a safe estimate of his holdings. He had run a grocery store in the village for some time, but this has been disposed of. Move for a Conservator. Deputy Sheriff Thompson, who arrested Baldwin yesterday, also arrested him last Thursday when he was indicted by the grand jury. The deputy while in the city a week ago remarked upon the queer actions of Baldwin and had his doubts at the time if the prisoner was responsible. He remarked to a friend that he believed Baldwin to be "nutty". In fact, a movement had been under way for some time to have a conservator appointed for him as some of the residents of Colfax did not believe that he was quite right in his mind. Attorney Gillespie stated last evening that he had planned to go to Colfax today and circulate a petition to have a conservator appointed as he believed that some one should be appointed to look after the affairs of the old man. Had he gone yesterday morning, the tragedy might have been averted. Mr. Gillespie remarked last evening that Baldwin was a man of peculiar temperament. It was not safe to argue with him or cross him. It required diplomacy to handle him and it was best to let him have his own way apparently and then carefully advise him at any point where he might go wrong. Talk With Prisoner. Attorney Gillespie visited his client at the jail after his arrival yesterday afternoon. The old man was apparently somewhat dazed and did not talk at length about the case. He told the attorney when asked why he killed the four, that he did not do it. He then referred back to the criminal assault case and appeared to be anxious to talk about that. "I am not guilty." he asserted. "They swore lies about me but I was not guilty." The lawyer realizing that the prisoner was in no condition of mind to talk about the case, did not press matters but left him stating that he would be back and see him today. ___________ ORPHANED BOY'S SAD STORY Only Child of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kennedy Restates in a Childish Way What He Saw. --It would have touched a heart of stone and brought tears to the eyes of a battle hardened soldier to hear the words of little Ivan Kennedy yesterday as he told with childish simplicity of the dreadful events of the day, which had taken away from him a father's strong arm of support and the loving care of a mother, and left him an orphaned baby. For scarcely more than a baby is he, his round ruddy cheeks and his frank, innocent face; his head of flaxen hair, neatly combed, all formed the parts of a picture of pathetic interest. He little realized what the day had brought him, though he knew that his father and mother were no more. Little Ivan came into a room at his Grandmother Eicher's house, where a Pantagraph reporter was sitting, and when asked some questions about his experiences, at first only nodded his head. Then as his embarrassment wore off he told in short sentences how he had run home from Eiseman's house to escape the murderous assault of Thomas Baldwin and had found his own father and mother dead upon the floor of the kitchen. When asked how he escaped from Baldwin with his pistols, Ivan said, "Oh Sadie and me run around another way and went to the corn field. He followed the story to the time when he said the Eiseman girl reached the Kennedy house and he was asked what he saw there. "Just them dead people." Sadie went in and when she saw them came out crying then we run back to the house". Asked if the sight frightened him, Ivan shook his head for a moment to answer and answered, "but Sadie screamed when she saw her mother lying by the road." These two children had to pass the bodies of Mrs. Eiseman and her daughter on the road and then reached the Kennedy house and found two other corpse. When little Ivan got back to the Eiseman house he told the family that his father and mother were "gone". They asked what he meant and the boy replied. "Gone, just like the people out in the road" (referring to the corpse of Mrs. Eiseman and her daughter). Thomas Baldwin's Family. Thomas Baldwin has six daughters. At his house with him are two daughters aged 14 and 16. There are four married daughters. Mrs. Lotta Williams, Mrs. Emma A. Gran and Mrs. Scott Horner, all of Colfax, and Mrs. James Harris, living in the country near Colfax. All are well to do and respected people. Tribute to Charles Kennedy. Mr. Sain Welty last night in speaking of Mr. Kennedy said his wife, who were tenants of his said: Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy were the finest of people. They had lived thee years as my tenants and Mr. Kennedy had just signed a lease for another three years. He was a capable and honest gentleman and his death is a distinct shock to those who knew him. Mrs. Kennedy formerly lived in Bloomington. She was a cultured young woman, and the death of these two young people is a loss to the community. PANTAGRAPH: BLOOMINGTON, ILL. SATURDAY MORNING, MARCH 2, 1907. SCENE AND PERSONS IN THE ARROWSMITH TRAGEDY THE HOME OF THE EISEMAN'S. This is the house where lived Mrs. Eiseman and her daughter, Cora, who were shot by Thomas Baldwin, Thursday, as they were trying to escape from him after he had called in a threatening mood to talk over the trouble between the families. At the corner of the house on the lower right hand corner of the picture is the cellar door through which Mrs. Eiseman and Cora, as well as Sadie Eiseman and Ivan Kennedy fled in their effort to escape Baldwin. He pursued the mother and daughter to the road, where he shot them. Sadie and the Kennedy boy ran around another way and reached the Kennedy house. THE KENNEDY HOUSE. This is the home of Charles Kennedy and his wife, Elsie Eicher Kennedy, who were both murdered by Thomas Baldwin. The bodies were found lying in the kitchen on the north side, the opening off the porch leading into the kitchen. The view here shown is from the south. One of the bullets fired, presumably by Baldwin, went through the kitchen door and also through the two doors of the summer kitchen, shown on the right of this picture. The oilcloth had been torn off of the porch doors in Baldwin's mad assault on the house. WHERE THE EISEMANS WERE FOUND. This is a photograph of the spot alongside the public road where the bodies of Mrs. Eiseman and her daughter, Cora, were found after the shooting. Their hair combs were lying on the white pieces of paper shown in the picture when the photograph was taken. Under these pieces of paper were large blotches formed by the life blood of the victims of the murder. Directly opposite from this spot, on the north side of the road, is a hole in the hedge fence through which cora Eiseman tried to escape from Baldwin, but after being shot by him she returned to where her mother lay, and their bodies were found together when the first witnesses of the tragedy arrived on the scene. THE EISEMAN CHILDREN. Here is a picture of the Eiseman children, taken a few years ago, when the daughter, Cora, who was murdered on Thursday, was about 8 years old. She was 14 at her death. Cora, is the one standing at the left of the picture. In the center is seated Sadie, the youngest daughter, and the one who fled with Ivan Kennedy when the shooting occurred on Thursday. To the right is Mabel, the oldest daughter, who relayed to the coroner the only story of the shooting which was told by a living eye witness of the murders of the Eisemans by Baldwin. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- BLOOMINGTON, ILL PANTAGRAPH SATURDAY MORNING MARCH 2, 1907 FUNERALS OF THE FOUR BURIAL OF THE ARROWSMITH VICTIMS Eiseman Funerals This Afternoon and the Kennedys on Sunday - Other Developments of the Day. --The funeral of Mrs. Jane Eiseman and her daughter, Cora, will be held at 3 o'clock this afternoon from the Greenwood United Brethren Church, three and one-half miles northeast of Arrowsmith and the burial will be at Greenwood Cemetery, near there. Rev. J. W. Baker, of the Christian Church of Arrowsmith, will have charge. The funeral of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kennedy will be held at 10 o'clock Sunday morning from the Christian Church in Arrowsmith with Rev. Mr. Baker also officiating. The interment will be in the Wiley Cemetery at Colfax. The bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy were taken to the residence of W. T. Eicher in Arrowsmith shortly after the murder and will be conveyed from there to the church tomorrow morning. Both funerals Saturday and Sunday will be attended by a very large company of friends, all anxious to pay a final mark of respect to the victims of Thursday's tragedy. Report of Former Killing. Thomas Baldwin is reported to have killed a man in southern Indiana twenty years or more ago. This was common talk on the streets of Colfax yesterday and some of the older residents recalled a report that reached their ears shortly after Baldwin first took up his residence there. According to the best recollections of those who discussed the story yesterday. Baldwin, while a resident of southern Indiana, was served with a warrant by a deputy sheriff. He declined to accompany the officer and in the struggle that followed it is said he killed the officer. He then fled and made his way across the Ohio river in a boat. This was according to report some years prior to his location in Colfax.
Deputy Sheriff Mahoney also recalled yesterday an incident connected with the grand jury which was in session two years ago. A Mrs. Nance, a poor widow, of Colfax, was indicted on a charge of blackmail. As the story was told, Baldwin had been accused by the 14 year old daughter of Mrs. Nance of making an improper proposal to her. She told her mother and the latter told a neighboring woman. This neighbor upon the request of Mrs. Nance, who could neither read or write, wrote a letter to Baldwin demanding $10 and threatening to expose him if he did not remit. Instead he had Mrs. Nance indicted. When Deputy Mahoney went to serve the papers, he found Mrs. Nance in great poverty and did not have the heart to serve the papers and bring her to Bloomington. He told her of the circumstances and she voluntarily accompanied him although without a cent of money. After coming to Bloomington, Sheriff Edwards released her on her own recognizance and the attaches of the sheriff's office raised money to pay her expenses while here and her fare home. The case was never prosecuted and was forgotten by all until the murder was committed this week. State's Attorney Active. State's Attorney W. R. Bach was actively engaged yesterday in an effort to counteract a possible defense of insanity. He sent representatives to Colfax, Arrowsmith, Ellsworth and other places where Baldwin is known to secure statements from persons intimate with Baldwin and were inclined to disbelieve any theory that he was insane, either previous to the murder or at the time of the killing. Mr. Herbert S. Thompson, the Arrowsmith attorney, represented the state's attorney at the coroner's inquest. Had His Nerve to the Last. A story showing Baldwin's nerve and possession of mental faculties was told yesterday by Deputy Sheriff "Jack" Thompson. When the carriage arrived at the jail, Baldwin coolly surveyed the crowd and remarked that if he had a gun, he could keep those fellows off. In the south he said one man was worth as much in a case of this kind as twenty northerners. Inquest Ended. The coroner's inquest was ended after a fifteen minute session yesterday. No material evidence was brought out. The verdict is printed in full elsewhere, holding Baldwin for the four murders. Actions in Jail. Baldwin spent yesterday in jail in a morose and untalkative mood. He has nothing to do with any of the other prisoners and sits by the hour pondering. The other men in jail watch Baldwin like a hawk, fearing he may attempt suicide. There is a superstition among prisoners as to suicide in jail, and they would be the first to prevent such an act if possible. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- BLOOMINGTON, ILL. PANTAGRAPH SATURDAY MORNING, MARCH 2, 1907. SPEEDY TRIAL FOR THOS. BALDWIN States Attorney Bach Takes Action to Mete Out Justice In a Legal Manner to the Slayer of the Four Arrowsmith People. ____ Special Session of the Grand Jury for Next Week and Trial at the February Term -- Coroner's Jury Holds Baldwin on the Charge of Four Murders. The Coroner's Verdict. "We, the jury sworn to inquire into this case, do find that Jane Eiseman, Cora E. Eiseman, Charles C. Kennedy and his wife, Mrs. Elsie Kennedy, came to their death by a pistol shot from the hand of one Thomas Baldwin, with murderous intent, and we recommend that the said Thomas Baldwin be held to the grand jury for the murder of Jane Eiseman, Cora Eiseman and Charles Kennedy and wife, without bail." --With nothing happening to balk the present plans, Thomas Baldwin will, within a few days, answer to a court of justice for his fourfold murder. It is quite possible for all preliminaries to be made that the present term of court may dispose of the murderer, and such are the plans that are being perfected. State's Attorney Bach said yesterday that as far as he could make it possible there should be no delay of justice and that if the Baldwin case had the benefit of any delays it would be after he had fought with all the means that lie in his power for a speedy trial that the residents of the county outraged and horrified by the tragedy may have nothing to criticize in the working of the law that will mete out justice to the murderer. Grand Jury Monday. Today the state's attorney will present a petition to the court asking that the grand jury as at present still empaneled, be summoned to report for duty Monday morning. The members of the grand jury appointed at the December meeting of the board of supervisors have not been discharged and can be brought into special session at the call of the court. This call the court will be asked today to make, and it is altogether likely that the grand jurors will again assemble on Monday for the legal indictment of Thomas Baldwin. Their Names. The men drawn on the grand jury last December have had a strenuous time. They had, before the Baldwin murder, an unusually large list of important indictments and the history of the county presents no other similar body who at one session has dealt with so many unusual and important matters. The John B. Wren matter, the various charges against Helen R. Dixon, with their sensational features, and the previous indictment against Thomas Baldwin, made a record-breaking list, without the last and most tremendous situation which will come to their official ears Monday. The men who will return and serve in this duty are: J. A. Cusey, Heyworth. William Sigler, Sr., Leroy. John L. Clayton, Leroy. James Hale, Glenavon. John Trotter, Bellflower. David Bierbowen, Arrowsmith. J. W. Weldner, Leroy. Alf Hawes, Downs. E. E. Jones, Bloomington. Julius Dietrich, Bloomington. E. L. Houghman, Covel. P. C. Baird, Stanford. John W. Vance, Danvers. C. J. Strimple, Bloomington R. R. A. C. Fairfield, Normal. Ellis Watson, Colfax. John Kerber, Anchor. W. A. Curry, Lexington. J. D. McKinney, Hudson. William G. Gradis, Hudson. T. Jay Andrews, Gridley John F. Wightman, Chenoa. Trial at This Term. The indictment of Baldwin will be the work of a few hours, and it is, according to the state's attorney, quite probable that the case may be tried before the adjournment of the February term. Mr. Bach intends to insist, as far as lies in his power to have the hearing set for the week of criminal cases, which will begin at the end of the civil suits now pending. Doubtless the attorneys for Baldwin will ask a continuance, but the state's attorney believes that the court will recognize the demand of the people for a speedy trial and a quick serving of the sentence, whatever it may be. Delays of the law are proverbial in such cases, and Mr. Bach hopes to push the present case through with no such charge as that to be made by the public. Feeling is high and the public are entitled to consideration when they demand that swift justice follow the man whose desperate acts have shocked and startled the community. Flowers for the Dead. A Cooksville popular subscription has been sent to the home of Charles Kennedy in earnest remembrance, a floral design of beauty. Mr. Kennedy was last season a member of the Cooksville ball team and was popular and had hosts of friends. Mrs. Kennedy was also well known there and in their memory the handsome design has been made and sent. CHARLES O. KENNEDY MRS. CHARLES KENNEDY Who With His Wife Was Murdered She With Her Husband Was by Thomas Baldwin. Shot to Death by Baldwin. ----------------------------------------------------------------- MRS. SIMEON EISEMAN DEPUTY JACK THOMPSON Whose Body Was Found on the Colfax Officer Who Took Roadside, Killed by Baldwin. Charge of Baldwin After Arrest. He is the bright-looking little boy who is now an orphan, both of his parents being taken away from him by the mur- der of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kennedy by Thomas Baldwin on Thursday. The Kennedy lad is 6 years of age. He is now staying with his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. William Eicher, in Arrowsmith. and the picture (on the right) shown was taken for the Pantagraph on the porch of the Eicher home. ----------------------------------------------------------------- THE MC LEAN COUNTY TRAGEDY TWO DOUBLE FUNERALS. Probably not before in the history of this country have so remarkable scenes been presented on two successive days as those connected with the funerals of the four victims of this awful tragedy. Saturday and Sunday the people of the eastern tier of townships in this county practically gave themselves up to the rendering of the final rites for Mrs. Eiseman and her daughter Cora and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kennedy. No other topic was discussed on the days when the mortal part of the unfortunate four were to be laid in their last resting place. Mrs. Simeon Eiseman. Mrs. Eiseman was 49 years old January 12th last. Her maiden name was Jane Smith. She was married nineteen years ago to Simeon Eis(e)man and three children were born to them, Mabel, aged 17, Cora, aged 14, one of last Thursday's victims, and Sadie, aged 11. Mrs. Eiseman was a member of the U. B. Church, but had been prevented from attending regularly of late by ill health. Besides Mr. Eiseman and Mabel and Sadie, she is survived by three brothers, Isaac Smith of Gibson City, Andrew Smith of Jefferson, Iowa and Steve Smith, residing in Nebraska. The joint funeral of Mrs. Simeon Eiseman and her daughter, Cora Eiseman, was held last Saturday afternoon at 2 o'clock at the little Greenwood Church of the United Brethren faith, located about three and one-half miles northeast of Arrowsmith. The occasion was one of the saddest that has ever been the fortune of Arrowsmith to bear. The bodies of the mother and daughter laid low by the hand of a murderer were followed to the grave by one of the longest processions that has ever been seen in the eastern part of the county. The services at the Eiseman home were held at 1 o'clock and the residence was not of sufficient size to hold the people who came in an effort to show their sympathy for the living and their love for those who were cold in death. The services were in charge of Rev. P. Baker, the pastor of the Christian Church at Arrowsmith, and his utterances were given with deepest feeling. He spoke but briefly on the crime itself, but stated that crimes of that sort show a bad condition in the community. A need of strengthening the ties for the safety of the home is apparent. Those of the community should take steps at all times to render the sanctity of woman more safe. The beautiful example of the fall of the sparrow and the marking of the same by God on high was sighted to show that even in this dark hour that there is a guiding hand that rules the lives and destinies of man. The remarks of the speaker, delivered as they were, made a deep affect on the hearers. The Greenwood Church did not hold one-half of those who attended. The majority of the women were able to get inside and the men formed a dense crowd on the outside of the church edifice. The interment of the ill-fated daughter and her mother occurred in the little country church yard beside the Greenwood Church. Here the mortal clay was carried by loving hands. The pallbearers of the daughter were all young girls, as follows: Misses Leta Talmadke, Rose Smith, Nellie Crawford, Belle Fliuspach, Mamie Pike and Gershie Curtis. The pallbearers of the mother were the following friends of the family. Messrs. R. Teagler, Will Dysert, C. Gilbert, D. P. Kauffold, John Jacobs and Harvey Wipp. The singers who sang the hymns for the sad services were: E. E. Lawrence, Miss Maud Cline, Miss Eva Spencer and Wallace Johnson. MRS. SIMEON EISEMAN, Mother of Cora Eiseman and sister-in-law of the man CORA EISEMAN who committed the murders. MR. AND MRS. CHARLES KENNEDY. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- BLOOMINGTON ILL PANTAGRAPH MONDAY MORNING MARCH 4, 1907. BALDWIN'S WEAPONS OF DEATH: --Sheriff Moore had a picture taken the other day of the two pistols with which Baldwin shot to death the Kennedys and Mrs. Eiseman and her daughter near Arrowsmith. The above engravings are from the photographs taken for the sheriff. It has been repeatedly stated that two revolvers were taken from Baldwin when he was met in the road by William Spencer and his son and disarmed. One of these was a 32-calibre and the other a 38. In the above picture the 32-calibre is the upper one shown. This is the weapon with which it is supposed that Baldwin did all the shooting, and which caused the death of the four people. When it was taken from Baldwin this revolver contained only one unexploded shell, and the others were empty. The 38-calibre gun was full of shells, none of which had been fired. The latter weapon was also clean and unsmoked by powder, giving the appearance of never having been used. All this leads to the opinion that all the shooting was done with the smaller gun. Baldwin told conflicting stories about the smaller of these guns. He related to Deputy Sheriff Thompson at Colfax that he traded for the weapon in Colfax. When he reached the jail here he said to some of those around him that he got the gun while in Bloomington on the day preceding the shooting. The effects of the shooting on the bodies of the victims showed that at least ten different bullets had been fired by Baldwin. This shows that if all the shooting was done with one gun it must have been reloaded at least once. How many shots were fired which went entirely astray and hit nothing will never be known. A box of 38-calibre shells was found on the person of Baldwin when he was captured. The bottle of whisky with the white powder in it which figured prominently in the testimony before the coroner's jury is now in the possession of the coroner, while the pistols are in the possession of Sheriff Moore. No analysis has been made to ascertain whether the white powder in the whisky is poison, as it was supposed to be or not. This fact would have no material bearing on the case, hence it is useless to go to the trouble of having analysis made. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- BLOOMINGTON, ILL PANTAGRAPH TUESDAY MORNING MARCH 5, 1907. WILL DEMAND DEATH PENALTY THE STATES ATTORNEY'S ACTION County Prosecutor Says Nothing Less Will Satisfy State in Case of Thomas Baldwin. EVIDENCE OF BALDWIN'S SANITY. Developments of the Day in the Case -- Grand Jury to Meet Tomorrow. --State's Attorney Bach announced yesterday that he intended to make a fight for the death penalty for Thomas Baldwin, the four times murderer now in the county jail. Mr. Bach repeatedly stated his firm opinion that Baldwin was perfectly sane at the time of committing his crimes and reiterated his determination to use every effort in his power to secure his legal execution. Mr. Bach said that he believed that Baldwin could be brought to trial within three or four weeks at the longest. A prominent professional man stated yesterday that he thought the extreme penalty should be inflicted in the case of Baldwin. "A dangerous precedent seems to have established itself in this county" he said. "For years there has been no legal hanging, although murders have been frequent enough, heaven knows. It is my firm conviction that a single hanging would have a most excellent effect in reducing the number of homicides in this county." Theory of Kennedy Killings. The horrible crime of last week continues to be an absorbing topic of conversation to the exclusion of almost everything else. Of the many theories advanced as to the exact manner in which Baldwin killed the Kennedys, for there were no eye-witnesses to the first tragedy -- the one originated by Herbert Thompson, the Arrowsmith attorney, who represented the state at the coroner's inquest, seems the most plausible. Mr. Thompson has figured the sad affair out as follows: Baldwin had been talking with Mr. Kennedy and his hired man before he entered the house and destroyed its inmates. He had been assisting the two men, who were loading a piece of farm machinery in the barn and drew Mr. Kennedy aside to talk with him privately. The two entered a big corn crib and conversed quietly for a few minutes. Then they came out and the hired man inquired of his employer as to what Baldwin wanted. "Nothing much but he doesn't want to hang around here long", Mr. Kennedy is said to have replied. It developed at the coroner's inquest that Baldwin talked with Kennedy and his man for some time before the killing. He conversed rationally and commented on the fine team of horses the men were hitching to a farm wagon. You could get $500 for them in the Bloomington market," Baldwin said, "and I've a good notion to offer you $400 and take my chances." Shot From Behind. Then, Mr. Thompson thinks, Kennedy and Baldwin went into the house. Here Baldwin shot Kennedy from behind, the bullet taking effect in the back of the head. Kennedy reeling turned and faced his murderer. As the latter raised his pistol again Kennedy threw up his left hand and Baldwin fired again. The wounded man fell, the second bullet having clipped his wrist and passed into his neck. Just then Mrs. Kennedy opened the door into the room and was greeted with a bullet through the heart. She fell on her face and Baldwin put another bullet through her body. Kennedy was lying near his wife and in his death agony this fact was proven by the bloody marks where his fingers had scratched on the floor. Thinking, perhaps, that the man was not yet dead, Baldwin walked over and fired two more bullets through Kennedy's chest. Frightened by Dog. Then Baldwin was frightened at hearing a scratching on the door through which Mrs. Kennedy had entered and which had closed of its own accord. Crazed with fright Baldwin whirled around and fired through the door at which "Sport", Kennedy's dog, was pawing. Then, still following Mr. Thompson's theory, it is thought that Baldwin walked over to the corner of the room and cut the telephone wires, using a pair of scissors he had found in the room of death. Standing beside the telephone was Kennedy's repeating shotgun. Seizing this weapon Baldwin discharged it through the partition of the room and then leaned it still smoking against the cook stove. Then he left the house to continue his murderous career. How the Eisemans were killed is well known. Mr. Thompson's theory seems, under the circumstances, a plausible one. Shows Orderly Mind. Some evidences of the fact that Baldwin's mind has been in a perfectly orderly state since his incarceration in the jail have come to public knowledge. Among these is the report Baldwin is said to have sent to his daughter at Colfax a check covering his balance in the Colfax bank, to the very penny. It is reported that Baldwin's bank book had not been balanced up for several months and if this be true the fact that he carried in his head the exact sum due him on his account, for which he made his check to his daughter since he has been in jail, is regarded as remarkable under any circumstances. It certainly goes to show that Baldwin is not suffering with any great amount of "brain storm" at the present time. Another fact of similar nature is related to the effect that Baldwin sent to his daughter at Colfax an order for $4. which was the sum due him for four days attendance and work on the town board, of which he was a member. He seemed to have a perfect recollection of this matter. Reputation in Colfax. A citizen of Colfax who was in Bloomington yesterday made the statement that Baldwin was generally regarded there prior to the present trouble as being a man of more than ordinary intelligence, and that he was considered a man of good business judgment and well balanced in his mental capacity. People who have been dealing with him for many years have had no reason to think him unbalanced in mind, or in any way different from scores of other citizens in the ordinary walks of life. Seeks Lost Uncle. The postmaster at Colfax has received a letter from one L. S. Fisk, of Emporium, Pa., in which the writer says he had noticed an account of the crime of Thomas Baldwin. He had an uncle of that name, whom he had not seen for thirty years, and he wrote to inquire of the Colfax man is not his long-lost uncle. Scents Millionaires' Plot. One of the most curious things which have come out in connection with this whole affair is a letter received by Chief of Police Lang. This letter was written by some person in St. Louis, who did not sign their name, though the post mark shows that it was mailed at St. Louis. The writer signs himself "Fair Play," and he tells his version of the murder of the Kennedy's. He says that Martin Maloney was a multi-millionaire of St. Louis who was killed some years ago, and that since his death a conspiracy has been formed by some of the other millionaires of St. Louis to get Maloney's property. This they are seeking to do by killing all the heirs, or putting them in insane asylums. Some of the heirs were named Kennedy, and lived in Illinois and the number of violent deaths among them, the writer says, is sufficient proof of the plot. The Arrowsmith Kennedys, he thinks, are among those marked for death. A peculiar feature of the letter is that it was sent to Gov. Deneen at Springfield though it was addressed to Chief Lang on the inside of the envelope. Gov. Deneen forwarded the letter to Chief Lang. It is presumed that the letter was written by some insane person. The Faithful Dog. A good deal of sentiment attaches itself to "Sport", Charles Kennedy's dog. The faithful animal refused to leave the house after the murder of his master and mistress and he kept faithful watch over their bodies until they were removed for burial. When little Ivan Kennedy told the neighbors of the tragedy that had entered his home he said among other things: "They're all dead over there, except Sport." Grand Jury Tomorrow. The grand jury will convene at 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon to consider the case of Thomas Baldwin, the Colfax murderer. There have been twenty-five summonses issued for the witnesses that will appear. These will include Mabel and Sadie Eiseman and their father, the Spencers, who first laid restraining hands upon Thomas Baldwin and others of the neighbors and friends. The testimony will, much of it, be the same in substance printed in the Pantagraph Friday morning, as told to the coroner at that time. Practically no new material features have been developed since the publication of the coroner's inquest testimony. One of the witnesses will be little Ivan Kennedy, the 6-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kennedy. The child was the first to discover the dead bodies of his father and mother and while not understanding the tragedy, he can tell in his childish way of the scene of the crime. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- BLOOMINGTON, ILL PANTAGRAPH WEDNESDAY MORNING MARCH 6, 1907. GRAND JURY MEETS TO HEAR STORY OF MURDERS TODAY. Sitting of the Special Body -- Administration of Estates of Victims is Begun in Court. --At 2 o'clock this afternoon the grand jury, in special session, will convene. The jury, as has been stated, is brought together to consider the Thomas Baldwin and his crime of last Thursday. There have been twenty-five witnesses summoned and it is unlikely that there will be a report tonight, although the indictment is a foregone conclusion and the proceedings of today a formality. Possible Change of Venue. Already the belief is spreading that the attorneys for Baldwin will begin their fight with an attempt to secure a change of venue. If successful, this change probably would not have any result on the ultimate verdict, but it would make delays of the case more possible and put off the hour when Baldwin must face a jury. Motions for continuance might be of more avail in another county and possibly that will be the prime consideration that will move Baldwin's attorneys in making such application. The state's attorney has announced that he will try the case as speedily as he can and that there will be no delay even beyond the present term, unless it is forced upon him. This statement by the prosecuting attorney will act as a stimulus for those attorneys having the Baldwin case in charge. No Fifth Victim. As if the tragedy at Arrowsmith were not horrid enough as it actually happened, some unfounded reports have sought to make it worse than it was. One of these was to the effect that there was a fifth victim of the shooting, it being an unborn child. There is no foundation for this assertion, as reporters of the Pantagraph were assured on the day of the tragedy by members of the family of the unfortunate victims after the report was first started. This report was of the same sort as a sensational statement printed by a local paper that there were 3,000 or 4,000 surrounding the jail at the time when Baldwin was brought in, when the most liberal estimates of people who were present placed the crowd at between 500 and 1,000. TO ADMINISTER ESTATES. Guardian Also Named for Only Son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles O. Kennedy --Relatives Appointed. --Another chapter in the tragedy of last Thursday, when Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kennedy were shot to death by Thomas Baldwin was shown yesterday in county court with the application of the administrator for the estate of Charles Kennedy and for a guardian for the child, Ivan Kennedy, the little son of Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy. William P. Eicher, father of Mrs. Kennedy, will receive the appointment of administrator of Charles Kennedy's estate, and Thomas F. Kennedy, by request of Mr. Eicher, will be made guardian of little Ivan, 6 years old. The child will have property to the amount of $4,000 and a bond of $500 was given by Mr. Kennedy. Both Mr. Eicher and Mr. Kennedy were at the court house yesterday. Mr. Kennedy talked a little of the tragedy to his friends, but both men were still too much impressed with the horror of the tragedy to talk much of it. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- BLOOMINGTON, ILL PANTAGRAPH THURSDAY MORNING MARCH 7, 1907 CAPTORS OF BALDWIN THE SPENCERS TELL THEIR STORY. Father and Son Who Caught and Disarmed Murderer Here to Testify Before Grand Jury. --Among the forty or more witnesses who were summoned to appear before the grand jury yesterday none had a more interesting story to relate than did William Spencer and his son, William Jr. who were the men credited with the capture of Thomas Baldwin after he had shot his four victims near Arrowsmith last Thursday. The Spencers were not particularly anxious to talk about their part in the tragic affair, for they considered that they did nothing more than their common duty under the circumstances. However in the mind of the public generally they have been considered heroes in a way ever since the occurrence, and many of the people in and around the court house yesterday asked that the Spencers be pointed out to them for they wanted to get a glimpse of the men who had taken and disarmed Baldwin when he had all the opportunity for still further carrying on his murderous work. In view of the visit of the Spencers to the city to tell the grand jury of the capture of Baldwin, the story may be recounted, it being related to the grand jury in much the same manner as told to the coroner's jury on the day of the shooting. The first word of the tragedies came to the home of the Spencers by a telephone message from Mr. Fleacher, who owns the house where the Eisemans lived, and who reached his house soon after Mrs. Eiseman and her daughter had been shot. Mrs. Spencer answered the telephone, and she at once rushed to the barn lot where Mr. Spencer and his son were and told them that Tom Baldwin had shot somebody at the Eiseman house and that his horse was then coming down the road toward the Spencers. Mr. Spencer and his boy ran out to the road and saw Baldwin's horse and buggy coming from the west, with no one in the buggy. At the same time they saw the head of a man just visible above the rise in the road. This they presumed to be Baldwin. The Spencers soon had charge of the horse and buggy and turning it around they drove west to meet Baldwin who was walking down the road. Sr. Spencer was in the seat of the buggy and his son had got on behind. When they came up to Baldwin they asked him if this was his rig. He said yes, and at the same time announced that someone had shot Mrs. Eiseman. Mr. Spencer quickly answered: "Yes and you did it".
Baldwin emphatically denied that he had done the shooting. At the same time Mr. Spencer jumped from the buggy and went toward Baldwin who had by this time come up so that he almost touched the wheel of the buggy. The Spencer youth had jumped from his place at the back of the buggy and while his father and Baldwin were parleying, he got behind the murderer. Seeing that something ought to be done quickly, young Spencer sprang up to Baldwin and grabbed him in such a way as to pin his arms down at his sides. The father promptly seconded the motion, and he then got hold of Baldwin. Together they had him fast, where it would have been impossible for Baldwin to use the weapons which he still carried in his coat pockets. It took but a few seconds for the Spencers to take away from Baldwin, first the bottle of whiskey full of the white power which he carried, and then the two revolvers and a box of cartridges. At this time Baldwin was protesting that he had not done the killing at Eiseman's. After disarming Baldwin, the Spencers took him in his buggy to Arrowsmith, where they kept him till the arrival of Deputy Sheriff Jack Thompson, of Colfax. Mr. Spencer and his family have lived for many years in their present home, which is on a farm about a quarter of a mile east of the Eiseman place in Arrowsmith _________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- BLOOMINGTON, ILL PANTAGRAPH FRIDAY MORNING, MARCH 8, 1907 INDICTED FOR THREE MURDERS TRUE BILLS FOUND ON BALDWIN Special Session of the Grand Jury Ends and is Let Go. Subject to Recall. NO SENSATIONAL INCIDENTS SEEN. Time of the Colfax Man's Arraignment Not Announced How Jury Presented Papers. --The grand jury called in special session to consider the crime of Thomas Baldwin made its report to the court yesterday afternoon and returned three true bills for murder against the prisoner. The coming into the court room of the jury with the indictments followed a two days' session during which forty witnesses were examined. The inquiry into the killing of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kennedy and Mrs. Eiseman and her daughter Cora was exceedingly thorough and while there was no doubt in the minds of the jurymen from the beginning as to the indictments, yet the details of the crime were made clear to them before the bills were found. Jury Not Discharged. The course of the trial of the Minonk Coal Company was checked yesterday when word came to the court room that the grand jury had finished its deliberations and was ready to report. The twenty-three men who had just heard the details of the horrible murder that shocked the community last week filed into the court room and took their places before the court. In answer of Judge Harris as to whether or not they had agreed upon a verdict the foreman, A. C. Fairfield, stepped forward and presented to the court the papers that made the formal and legal charge of murder against Thomas Baldwin, once a leading merchant of Colfax. The jury was instructed to disband and to hold themselves in readiness to be called at any other time before the close of the present term of court. The Indictment. There was nothing in the papers placed in the hands of the court that indicated that a man's life depended upon future actions laid down upon the base supplied by them. In the usual legal phrasing the papers state that Thomas Baldwin, of legal age, is in the opinion of the jury, guilty of the crime of the murder of Charles Kennedy, Mrs. Charles Kennedy and Miss Cora Eiseman. The papers were very small and quiet looking to hold such possible consequences. The Fourth Indictment. The indictment of Baldwin for the fourth one of the murderers will be returned later in case it is deemed necessary or in case three murders are not enough to secure the sentence which the prosecution will ask for. The Arraignment. Within a short time Thomas Baldwin will be brought into court to be arraigned. The time that has been set for that purpose will not be made public, as there will be an effort to avoid the crowd that would congregate should the day and hour on which Baldwin will be brought into court be made public. There will be little time lost and this formality will be gone through with as soon as the records are written up. At that time there may be some action taken which will give a sign as to the time that the trial of the case will commence. There was no crowd at the close of the grand jury's deliberations when the report came in, as the result of the sessions had been a foregone conclusion. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- BLOOMINGTON, ILL. SATURDAY MORNING, MARCH 9, 1907. TRIAL ASKED FOR APRIL 1 TENTATIVE DATE FOR THE BALDWIN TRIAL ------ The Colfax Murderer Unexpectedly Arraigned in Court and Motions to Quash Are Made. ------ FIFTEEN COUNTS IN THE INDICTMENT. ------ Prisoner Was Very Calm During Proceedings in Court Yesterday--Further Moves Next Week. ------ -Monday, April 1, is the date that State's Attorney Bach will ask to have set for the beginning of the trial of Thomas Baldwin for murder. Before that time the attorneys for Baldwin will use their best efforts arguing motions to quash the indictments against Baldwin and will then make a plea for a change of venue. If the case comes to trial in this court the date of April 1 will be set by expressed desire of the state's attorney. Was Arraigned in Court. This decision followed the formal arraignment of Baldwin in court yesterday afternoon. It was shortly after half-past 2 o'clock when Sheriff Moore walked up from the jail accompanied by a short, stout and rather shabbily dressed old man, who was not manacled, but who sauntered along beside the sheriff as if he had been taking an afternoon stroll. There was nothing in his appearance to indicate that he was on the way to be arraigned for a crime which might cost him his life and the people who met the two passed them casually. Sheriff Moore goes in and out of the court house many times a day, and the man with him yesterday afternoon attracted no more attention than do the others who pass in and out any and all minutes of the business day. The couple proceeded quietly up stairs to the court room. Judge Harris and the clerk were there and the states attorney, Messrs. Gillespie and Franklin. Attorneys for Baldwin had not been notified of the action and there was a slight delay while they were summoned by telephone. Baldwin is Calm. The news that the prisoner was in court spread and people began to gather in the court room and by the time that the proceedings were over the room was half filled, but it was a crowd of those who had happened to be about and who had not been called there by any special interest that they felt in the case. There was no demonstration and no crowding, just a moderate curiosity. Baldwin said nothing throughout the proceedings. He stood in front of the court with his hand on the railing while the attorneys arranged the details of the orders that were made against him on the judge's docket. The quivering of his hands and head that was marked before Baldwin got into trouble, was present, but not noticeably increased. The murderer looked like a fairly prosperous farmer who had led an easy life, had three good square meals a day and most of the good things of life for which he cared. He was self-possessed and indicated no special stress of excitement. Motion to Quash. Mr. Gillespie, for Baldwin, stated to the court that he wished to enter notice to quash every indictment and each and every count thereof. He further wished to make no plea that might stand in the way of his making a motion for a change of venue for his client. This motion for a change, Mr. Gillespie announced, would be made, not on account of prejudice of the court, but on the second ground laid down in the statute, that of a prejudice of the inhabitants of the locality in which the crime was committed sufficient that the defendant could not have a fair and impartial trial. The court instructed Mr. Gillespie to file his motions to quash by Tuesday morning at 9 o'clock and allowed him until Wednesday morning to make ready for the argument of these motions. Arraignment was waived for the prisoner, which means that the formality of reading the indictment to him was dispensed with and the order entered recording the motions to quast. At the close of the proceedings, which occupied about twenty minutes, Sheriff Moore and Baldwin walked back to the jail as quietly as they had come and exciting absolutely no comment on the streets. Change of Venue. The attorneys for Baldwin yesterday stated that they can ask for a change of venue on the ground of prejudice at any reasonable time after it has been discovered, even if that should be after the trial of the case has absolutely commenced. They said that this they would certainly ask for their client if they ascertained anything that in their opinion made it the best thing to do for their client. There is no hurry about it and that motion is something that may drop almost any time. In all there are fifteen counts against Baldwin. Indictment 8357 charges murder in five counts and the name given in the indictment is that of Cora Eiseman. Indictment 8358 has also five counts and Charles Kennedy is named as the person against whom the crime of murder was committed. Indictment 8359 has five counts in the charge of murder, and Elsie Kennedy is named. The name of Mrs. Eiseman does not appear on any of the indictments and the presumption is that her name was reserved in case, through some technicality such as lurks around the corner in all litigation, the present indictments whould be set aside. Then there would remain one other charge from whence an indictment for murder could be made. There are thirty-seven witnesses to each indictment as given. Further Moves Next Week. There will be nothing further done in the Baldwin case until Tuesday morning when the motions to quash are filed. The arguments on these will follow Wednesday and the holding of the court on these motions will be of interest. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- BLOOMINGTON, ILL PANTAGRAPH THURSDAY MORNING MARCH 14, 1907. BIG CASES MUST WAIT ------ ARGUMENTS IN BALDWIN AND DIXON SUITS. ------ Trial of Damage Suits Temporarily Postpone Arguments on Motions to Quash Other News of the Courts. -The steady progress of the Carroll damage suit in the circuit court has temporarily crowded off the court program the arguments on the pending motions to both the murder case against Thomas Baldwin and the Helen B. Dixon cases. In the former the motions to quash have been filed and are on purely formal and usual grounds and the arguments on these motions have not yet had a chance to get the ear of the court. The same is true of the arguments to quash in the Dixon case. They were set for last Thursday and are now a week overdue, owing to the illness of Mr. Franklin, one of the attorneys, and to the fact that the attention of the court is occupied. It is possible that both these arguments may wait over until the first of the week and be heard by Judge Myers, who will be here at that time. ..... ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- BLOOMINGTON, ILL. PANTAGRAPH FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 1907 SUES BALDWIN FOR DAMAGES MOVE BY THE KENNEDY ADMINISTRATOR Action for $2,500 in Favor of Ivan Kennedy Begun Against Murderer of the Boys Father. ALLEGATIONS FOR VENUE CHANGE Details of the Statements Made by the Prisoner as Site of His Petition for Removal of Trial. --Two interesting moves were made yesterday in the case of Thomas Baldwin in the county jail on a charge of murder. A civil suit brought by the administrator of the estate of Charles O. Kennedy against Thomas Baldwin for the benefit of Ivan Kennedy, the boy 6 years old, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles O. Kennedy, was perhaps the most unexpected of the two proceedings. The other lay in the signing by Thomas Baldwin of a petition to be presented to the court for a change of venue, and which petition sets up in detail the reasons for the asking. The Civil Suit. There was filed in the office of the circuit clerk yesterday a suit in case, in which, William P. Eicher, administrator of the estate of Charles O. Kennedy, brings suit against Thomas Baldwin for $2,500 for the damage to the Kennedy estate by the death of Charles O. Kennedy. The Statute provides that in such cases whoever causes injury to an estate by wrongful action places himself in a position where there is a right of action by the administrator of the estate. The declaration in yesterday's civil suit will allege the killing of Mr. Kennedy by Baldwin and the damage that such killing has been to the survivors, from the standpoint of the estate. Little Ivan Kennedy depends upon the criminal case against Baldwin, to, as far as possible, right the wrong that has been done him in the loss of his parents, but the civil suit filed is a formal one, the damages of which are fixed in proportion to the value of the estate owned by Charles Kennedy. This is somewhat of an unusual proceeding, although within the letter of the statutes. The same character of suit, it will be remembered, was brought against Merritt Chism by Harvey Freeland, the son of Mrs. Chism, who met her death by her husband's hand. For Change of Venue. There has been prepared and will be presented to the court a petition signed by Thomas Baldwin asking for a change of venue. The reasons for the request are given and are briefly stated. Baldwin says that he believes that he will not receive a fair, and impartial trial because the inhabitants of Mc Lean County are prejudiced against him. The petition says that the news of the killing has spread over the entire county and has reached the home of friends and citizens in each township in said county. Two daily newspapers are published at the county seat of said Mc Lean County in the city of Bloomington -- the Pantagraph and the Bulletin have enough circulation throughout the entire county and central Illinois. The Pantagraph has a daily circulation of about 16,500 copies and a circulation of from 2,000 to 10,000 in the county. A weekly edition of the same paper has a circulation of about 3,900 for the state and is a paper of great influence and power. One of the other of said newspapers reached practically every home in said county. Immediately after the defendant's arrest for the offense charged in the indictments each of said newspapers published one-sided statements in relation to the homicide which were calculated to create and did create a lasting prejudice against the defendant among the citizens of the county. Newspapers Influence. It is further said that there are many other weekly newspapers published in said county, some of which reach every town and neighborhood in the vicinity. These weekly newspapers published one-sided and exaggerated accounts of the circumstances surrounding the killing which were calculated to and did create an undue prejudice in the minds of the people against this defendant. The feeling was so intense against him that when the defendant was arrested in the neighborhood where the crime is charged to have been committed that the officer who had him in charge barely escaped the violence of a mob of citizens who sought summarily to take the prisoners life. The defendant was being detained by an officer in a small building in the village of Arrowsmith in said county preparatory to being brought to the county jail at Bloomington. In said county, distant about twenty miles, and while the officer was there in charge of the prisoner in said building, the window lights were suddenly broken in and the life of the defendant threatened by the mob. The officer succeeded in saving the life of the defendant by an exit in the rear part of the building and escaped through fields by circuitous route to another railroad station, from which point he was brought to within two miles of the city of Bloomington, where the train was stopped to accommodate the officer and to give him a chance to secretly deliver the prisoner to the jail. The sheriff of said county was notified from time to time of the danger of the citizens organizing a mob to take the defendant forcibly from the jail and to hang him in defiance of law. To such an extent did this feeling and purpose exist that the sheriff arranged to call to his assistance the police of the city of Bloomington to resist the anticipated violence. On the evening when the defendant was placed in the jail, a crowd of hundreds of people congregated at said jail and many threats of violence were heard. Petitioner further shows that in both the said Bulletin and Pantagraph since defendant's confinement in jail, have been published many and diverse interviews, purporting to be had with the state's attorney of said county, all of which interviews have been one-sided, unfair and tended to create and have created an undue prejudice and was in the minds of the citizens of said county against the defendant. Quote From Papers. The petition further quotes from articles in various papers, saying that these were calculated to influence the people. The resolution of the board of supervisors relative to the payment of expenses of the Baldwin trial and the petition of States Attorney Bach that preceded the resolution, both of which were published in the Pantagraph during the recent board of supervisors proceeding, were contained in the petition in full. The Insanity Charge. Petitioner further shows that the state's attorney has learned that he will plead insanity as a defense against charges in the indictment and that in harmony with the state's attorney's request, and the resolution of the board of supervisors, the people have employed an attorney who resides at Arrowsmith where the defendant was sought to be mobbed and that said attorney has procured affidavits from citizens who saw the defendant and observed him on the 28th day of February, 1907. And that affidavits from each citizen at the time when the people in the vicinity were in a high state of excitement and anxious for revenge were procured on the question of the defendants sanity or insanity and many citizens were committed by said attorney and many affidavits have been procured that the defendant was sane at the time he committed the offenses charged in the indictment. Petitioner further shows that the procuring of said affidavits is highly prejudicial and unfair and is calculated to seal the doom of the defendant in advance of the trial and is most contrary to and against the administration of the law. The Affidavits. An account is also given of the affidavits placed at the voting places by the state's attorney and to be signed and returned to the states attorney for presentation to the court. The text of these affidavits have been published. The Churches Also. Further the defendant alleges that on the Sunday following the said 28th day of February, 1907 and on divers other times had occasions from the pulpit of various churches in the city of Bloomington and from pulpits throughout the county, the ministers have discussed the tragedy and have created an undue and very strong prejudice against the defendant and thereby further narrowed his chances to procure in said county a fair and impartial jury. Petitioner further alleges that Simeon Eiseman, the father of said Cora Eiseman, falsely and maliciously and for the fraudulent purpose of blackmailing this defendant and thereby obtaining from him a large sum of money, wrongfully, willfully, extortionately and maliciously charged this defendant with having made a criminal assault of his little daughter the said Cora Eiseman, on the 16th day of November 1906, and petitioner further says that such charge was absolutely untrue, false, maligns and without any foundation in fact and was made against him by said Eiseman for the sole purpose of extorting from the defendant a large sum of money; and that the said Simeon Eiseman attempted to extort first the sum of $1,000, then the sum of $800, then the sum of $600 and failed in the attempt, but did finally succeed in extorting from this petitioner the sum of $525 and receipted therefor. Time Too Short. Petitioner further shows that if he might have a fair and impartial trial, that such trial cannot be given him at this time; and he further shows that the State's Attorney has notified petitioner and his counsel that petitioner is to be placed upon trial immediately, within, to wit, the period of three weeks, which will be at a time the prisoner alleges when excitement will be as high and the prejudice of the inhabitants against this defendant will be as strong as it is shown to be at this time by this petition, and petitioner assigns that as any special reason why a change of venue could be granted him to an unprejudiced jurisdiction. The defendant alleges that all of the allegations and facts set forth in this petition are true and that on account of the existence of the facts herein set forth, the petitioner fears he cannot and will not, and will never receive a fair and impartial trial in said county because of the prejudice of the inhabitants of the county against him; that the facts upon which he founds such belief are those set forth in this petition, and your petitioner therefore pleads for a change of venue in this case in pursuance of the statute in such case made and provided. signed: THOMAS BALDWIN ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- BLOOMINGTON, ILL PANTAGRAPH - DATE NOT SHOWN. JUSTICE SHOULD BE PROMPT. In the name of humanity which is outraged and shocked by the horrible crime committed near Arrowsmith Thursday the perpetrator of that crime should be brought to speedy trial. The facts as to the tragedy are beyond dispute and there is no question as to the identity of the guilty person. Under such conditions the indictment and trial of the offender and final disposition of the case should not occupy more than a few weeks. There is no reason in the world why the grand jury should not act at once and the case be brought into court without delay. There is every reason on the contrary why this should be done. It is the common excuse for delay in such cases that the state of public sentiment following immediately upon the crime makes a fair trial difficult if not impossible. This is absolutely untrue. The fairest trial that could be given to this man Baldwin is the trial that is most prompt. The enormity of the offense is more fully and correctly realized today than it will be tomorrow, or six months, or a year hence. Men are prone to forget and while the innocent blood that has been shed would continue to cry for vengeance through a delay of a year or more and while society would continue as long to demand the protection of the courts the cry might not be heard as plainly as now and the demand would have less force through the dullness of memory and the common forgetfulness due to the thousand and one other matters that may come up to engross the attention of the people. As the good deeds of men ought to be acknowledged and rewarded promptly the evil deeds of men should be judged in the courts and rewarded with like promptness. Now--and not in the next six months or the next year--is the accepted time to proceed with this case. Grand juries and courts should not lend themselves to a policy that lessens the sharpness and certainty of justice. Those who oppose the speedy course of the law are not desirous of a fair trial. It is an unfair trial that they want. There was never a more misleading and false plea than the plea of delay in murder cases in the name of fairness. The public has been deceived, overreached and imposed upon by such pleas while the absolute fairness that should govern the case has not been secured but has been defeated. To put this case off through any pretext or excuse is to defeat the chance for justice in the outcome and to encourage and condone murder most foul. To charge this demand for a prompt proceeding with the case to the mere spirit of vengeance on the part of the public--the mere desire to see the culpert pay the penalty--is likewise false. The cowering wretch with his hands more than double-dyed is only one part of the problem. Behind the whole case stands the community--the innocent girls and women and men who make up society and who may be the victims of the next locherous and murderous scoundrel who may turn loose his devilish instincts upon them. The demand for speedy justice is primarily a demand for protection of all that is most sacred in this world against all that is most fiendish and wicked. If the people of McLean county who are menaced in their lives and in their homes every hour that this case is needlessly delayed actually believed that they would be put to the double burden of a long drawn out case--a burden upon their treasury and their lives--they would have a pretext for summary justice. They would have a pretext at least for battering in the jail doors and taking the murderer to the nearest telephone pole and disposing of the case in their original capacity. But no such pretext should be given. The people have created the laws and the courts to meet such cases and those should answer with a promptness and a vigor that will meet the imperative demands of the situation. In the name of the people, therefore, and in the name of justice and the God of justice to whom all must answer let the grand jury and the court proceed at once. The quickest judgment will be the highest vindication possible of the good name of McLean county and all its people, while every day that the case is delayed will add to their peril and their shame. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- BLOOMINGTON, ILL. PANTAGRAPH THURSDAY MORNING, MARCH 21, 1907 WILL BE TRIED IN THIS COUNTY TO BE NO CHANGE FOR BALDWIN Judge Myers Denies Motion of the Attorneys for the Arrowsmith Slayer of Four. ATTORNEYS IN HEATED ARGUMENT Statements in Newspapers Made Subject of Main Contention - Judge Myers Remarks in Denial. --Thomas Baldwin will be tried for the crime of murder in McLean County. This was decided by Judge Myers yesterday, when he denied the motion for a change of venue presented by Baldwin's attorneys. Baldwin made a plea of not guilty, which was entered. Nothing was done with reference to the setting of the date for the commencement of the trial and it is likely that the next move will be a motion for continuance. Baldwin sat in the court room for two hours yesterday morning and heard the story of his crimes and the events that led up to them. He was apparently unmoved. There was no crowd in the court room and it was not generally known that the hearing was taking place. Petition is Presented. There were a dozen people in the court room yesterday morning when Mr. Gillespie, for the defendant, presented to the court the petition for a change of venue in the cases pending against Thomas Baldwin. The petition as read to the court was the one printed nearly in full by the Pantagraph a few days ago. Mr. Gillespie at the close of the petition said: "This petition is our argument, your honor." and sat down, leaving the way open for State's Attorney Bach, who arose with his reply to the petition. This was also a typewritten document of some length. Resume of Contents. It will be remembered that the petition for a change of venue gave as the reasons for the petition that the people of the county were too much prejudiced against Baldwin to give him a fair and impartial trial. The influence exerted by the newspapers of the county were declared to have been against Baldwin and the articles published were said to have been one-sided and calculated to incite mob feeling. It was also declared that the state's attorney had given interviews to the papers in which he said that he would push a speedy trial and that he would exact the death penalty. Also, that the state's attorney had caused to have circulated affidavits to be signed by residents of the county protesting against the change of venue contemplated. Further, the petition set forth that the state's attorney, learning that the defense was to plead insanity, had secured affidavits from residents of the locality in which Baldwin had lived to the effect that he was sane. The remarks of ministers of the churches who had spoken of the crime also came in as reasons why the defendant could not have a fair trial.
Briefly, the reasons for the petition lay in the influence supposed to have been exerted by the newspapers and the clergy and by the work on the case that has already been done by the state's attorney. Main Points of Answer. The reply made to the petition by the state's attorney said that he opposed the granting of the petition. He denied that the people are prejudiced and that the defendant could not have a fair trial. He told the story of the alleged assault upon little Cora Eiseman which was the cause of the tragedy and told some details of that assault that had not before been made public. Mr. Bach said that the motive of the petition was to gain time. He said that delay was what the attorneys for Baldwin were attempting. He protested that Thomas Baldwin knew right from wrong when he committed the crime, despite the opinion of Dr. Wall, "a comrade of the defendant's attorney." Mr. Bach insisted that the articles published concerning the tragedy, instead of inflaming the people, counseled faith in the laws and belief that it would be promptly enforced. The Affidavits. There was a formidable looking bundle before the state's attorney and it developed that it contained the affidavit protesting against the change of venue. There were 964 of them, listed by townships, for the convenience of the court. These were supported by the statement of Mr. Bach that the presentation of such affidavits was sanctioned by the supreme court and that there was nothing unusual in securing them. Mr. Bach further said: "As for the newspapers, I don't want to try the case in the papers, but what can we do? We cannot keep from the papers and from the people records that the public demand. I have not sought publicity in this matter. The crowd before the jail when Baldwin was brought in, instead of being a bloodthirsty crowd, as the petition would indicate, was simply a crowd of curious residents. The people were curious nothing remarkable about that. Baldwin was not afraid. He walks back and forth from the jail to the court house and there are no crowds now; the citizens are conservative and are waiting for the courts to give him a fair trial. The people are confident. "The history of Mc Lean County shows that a man can get a fair and impartial trial here. There was no necessity of bringing into that petition details of that rape case. That is a case that can never be tried - the witnesses are dead - but by my answer I think I have shown that the charge of rape was well founded. I don't want a change of venue. The people don't want a change of venue. There is no necessity. They say that one-sided accounts of the tragedy have been published. Are there two sides to this matter? There never was but one side to this case." Mr. Bach ended by saying: "Give the defendant a fair trial, but also give the people one." Blesses the Press. Mr. Gillespie, for Baldwin, arose and said that he did not think that the answer, as read by Mr. Bach, answered the issues of the petition. He said that the issues of the petition were peculiar to the present case and authorities held no similar case where there had been interviews with the state's attorney before the case had been commenced. And there were no authorities that told of newspaper articles as incendiary as those published in the county papers. Mr. Gillespie said: "I don't suppose the Pantagraph meant to advise violence but the editorial on Baldwin was the most incendiary thing ever said in the county by a newspaper. If a conservative newspaper can say such things, a strong sentiment among the people is shown. Further, the state's attorney declares in the papers that he will try this case in three weeks. I would not want to make a play for popularity by rushing a man into his grave, it is customary that one term at least intervene and it is customary for the state's attorney to ask for the continuance that there may be time for a fair and impartial trial. Haste and deep feeling is shown on all sides and no man should go to trial in the face of these things. The Pantagraph and the board of supervisors have acted differently from their usual judicious conduct and I do not believe that the court will join the newspapers and the publications and go with the edited crowd." Wordy Encounter. Mr. Bach - cooling yourself is the issue of the petition, Mr. Gillespie." Mr. Gillespie - "If we are going to be hurried into a trial now, let us have a jury as cool as those people will be, when they have time to cool off. Mr. Bach apparently wants to try the case now, today. This is not the trial of the case. Mr. Bach doesn't know all sides that there may be to this matter. It is irregular and unusual to force us into a trial now in this jurisdiction. Mr. Franklin for the defense spoke briefly along the same line. Then Mr. Bach said: "I don't believe I have conducted myself in a precipitate manner. It is my duty to want a speedy trial of this case. This got offered by counsel ----". Mr. Gillespie: - "I want to object to that kind of talk." Petition is Denied. At this point Judge Myers stepped upon the battlefield. He said that there had been too much prejudice shown by the counsel on both sides. He said that one of the elements of a fair and impartial trial lay in a fair and unheated treatment of preliminary moves such as the change of venue motion, and that heated arguments on motions of that kind, were out of place. He said that the court must assume that the prisoner is neither guilty or innocent until the trial. The court further said that he wished that the trial of cases in advance in the newspapers could be avoided. He said that he realized that it was the duty of a newspaper to report facts, but it was without their province to discuss whether or not a man was guilty or not guilty. As to the complaint of delay the court said that such complaint had no application in courts of justice in this county. There had never been an unreasonable delay in the trial of criminals in this court. In closing the court said: "I don't believe there is that prejudice in this county that a fair and impartial trial cannot be given this man. I have respect for this county. There are thousands of men in it and I cannot believe that there are not 12 men to give a fair trial to this prisoner. As to the extreme measures taken by the states attorney, I do not approve of them. He is to be commended for his zeal and I do not intend this for a personal rebuke, but circulating affidavits broadcast at an election adds to the difficulties of this case as well as any newspaper articles have done. However, I believe a fair trial can be had in this county. "This petition is denied." Further Moved. It was all over and the crowd, that had been gradually gathering, dissolved and for the time the Baldwin case was out of sight. There is no appeal from the decision of the court on the denial of the petition and doubtless the next move will be a motion for continuance. This may be made at any time within the next two weeks, as the Baldwin case was not scheduled when the criminal docket was made up. Appearance of Prisoner. Baldwin and Deputy Kennedy were the sole occupants of the jury box during the proceedings of yesterday. Baldwin looked comfortable and in better condition than when he made his other appearance in court when he was arraigned. He was called to the bench yesterday and made a plea of not guilty and as he stood with his hand on the rail, the trembling of head and hands was noticeable but as he sat in the jury box, he was a calm and interested spectator. He sat, the most of the time with his head resting on his hand and did not follow with his eyes the movements of the speakers. But his eyes were alert and when the details of his trouble preceding the homicide were given, he moved restlessly in his chair. But at no other time did he give evidence of special anxiety. There was a general expression of satisfaction after the result of the hearing had been made known that the petition had been denied. The people are anxious that the trial be held here and are well pleased with the present conditions in the case. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- BLOOMINGTON, ILL. PANTAGRAPH FRIDAY MORNING, MARCH 30, 1907 SOLD KENNEDY GOODS AFTERMATH OF RECENT TRAGEDY. Personal Property of Victims of Arrowsmith Murders Went at Auction -- Boy at Grandfather's. --The latest chapter in the tragedy which three weeks ago shocked the entire county, when four persons near Arrowsmith were shot to death by Thomas Baldwin, was enacted yesterday, when the property of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kennedy, two of the victims, was sold at auction on their farm near Arrowsmith. The administrator of the Kennedy estate had advertised the sale of the farm implements and household goods of the Kennedys and in spite of the gloomy weather of the day there was a large crowd of people gathered at the farm. Many of them were perhaps attracted by morbid curiosity. The property as a general thing sold at good prices, and the bidding was spirited. One team of horses owned by Mr. Kennedy brought $502.50 and other stock and implements sold at corresponding figures. The farm which the Kennedy's occupied has been rented by Mr. Ellis Henline who will occupy it this summer. The farm belongs to Mr. Sain Welty, of this city. Ivan Kennedy, the young son of the couple who were killed, is now staying at the home of his grandfather, Thomas F. Kennedy, the supervisor from Colfax. The little fellow is becoming accustomed to the lot of a fatherless state and all that the loving hands of his relatives can do for him is being done. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- BLOOMINGTON, ILL PANTAGRAPH WEDNESDAY MORNING, APRIL 10, 1907 TRIAL IS ASSURED ------ THE BALDWIN MURDER CASE COMING ------ No Probability of Further Adjournment ------ -State's Attorney Bach announces he is ready for the trial of Thomas Baldwin on the charge of murdering Charles O. Kennedy and wife, Mrs. Eiseman and Cora Eiseman. Messrs. Gillespie and Franklin, Baldwin's attorneys announce that they are getting ready and that they will be ready for trial at the date fixed, the 22nd of April, which is one week from next Tuesday. It is stated that, at the present time, there is no reason for asking for another continuance in the case and that unless something develops before the time set for trial that both sides will be ready. Thomas Baldwin at the county jail is leading a quiet existence. He was visited a few days ago by his daughter, Mrs. Williams, and his daughter Bee. To them he talked of family matters. Baldwin's physical condition, his attorneys say, is not as good as it was at the time of the homicide. A few days ago he fell on the floor of his cell in a faint, from which it was difficult to arouse him. He keeps to himself in the jail and is watchful that he is not pointed out to callers. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- BLOOMINGTON, ILL PANTAGRAPH MONDAY MORNING, APRIL 29, 1907. BALDWIN CASE PUT OFF -------- FORMAL PROCEEDING ON SATURDAY -------- Physical Condition of Prisoner Said to Indicate Little Likelyhood of Recovery-Court Notes. ------ -Following the granting of a postponement of the trial of Thomas Baldwin for the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Charles O. Kennedy, Mrs. Eiseman and Cora Eiseman, the formal motion for continuance was filed by Baldwin's attorneys Saturday. The motion was a foregone conclusion and was arranged for when the postponement was granted. The postponement, as will be remembered, was made upon the report of two physicians who visited the jail and examined the physical condition of Baldwin. It was their opinion that he could not stand a trial at this time and that if the trial was commenced that it would likely be interrupted by a physical collapse of the prisoner. The trial of Thomas Baldwin is not quite as certain as the annual collection of taxes. It is now understood that his trial will be arranged at the close of the civil docket for this term and which civil docket will begin on May 8th. Before the extra venire of jurymen is made for that occasion, however, there will be another examination of the prisoner by physicians that the court may be assured that his condition is such as to make a conclusion of the trial likely. It is not desirable that there should be the extra and large venire made and the witnesses brought here at great expense to the county, and then it be discovered that the condition of the prisoner is such as to preclude the possibility of his going through a trial. That would mean a great expense and nothing gained. The physicians who examined Baldwin recently said that he was in worse condition than they had believed and if there is not a decided change for the better before the time for the setting of the case, it is certain that no trial will be entered into. Those with Baldwin at the present time say that he is failing all the time and predict that there is no recovery in prospect for him. A demurrer was filed by Baldwins attorneys yesterday in the civil suits brought against him by Simeon Eiseman for the death of his wife and daughter. No Court This Week. Court adjourned Saturday until next Saturday. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- BLOOMINGTON, ILL PANTAGRAPH TUESDAY MORNING MAY 7, 1907. DISCUSSED THE CASE OF BALDWIN ------ STATES ATTORNEY AND FRIENDS OF THE VICTIMS CONFER. ------ Interview With Prisoner Reveals Fact That His Condition is Not So Bad and He May Be Tried. -There was a meeting in this city yesterday, with the states attorney, of the three men most interested in bringing Thomas Baldwin, the man resting under the charge of murder, before the court. These men were W. P. Eicher, the father of Mrs. Charles Kennedy, who fell before the bullets of Baldwin. T. F. Kennedy, the father of Charles Kennedy, and Simeon Eiseman, the husband of Jennie Eiseman and the father of Cora Eiseman, the innocent cause of the tragedy. These three men met at the office of States Attorney Bach and went with him before Judge Myers, where a long discussion was had of the conditions that exist in the Thomas Baldwin murder case and of the prospect of a trial of the man at this term of court. Baldwin in Jail. Before visiting Judge Myers, the three visitors and Mr. Bach went to the jail. Thomas Baldwin was called to the bars and Mr. Bach talked with the man. Both Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Eiseman--Mr. Eicher was not then present--declined to speak to Baldwin. They watched Baldwin while he talked with Mr. Bach, but neither Mr. Kennedy or Mr. Eiseman wanted to speak to the man who had wrought the tragedy that had saddened them. Baldwin talked to Mr. Bach in his usual manner and the only discernable difference in his condition since he went to jail was an increase in the nervous shaking of the head. Mr. Bach said yesterday, following the interview with Baldwin, that he believed that Baldwin was in suitable condition to appear at his own trial. Mr. Bach said that he had discussed Baldwin's condition with the physicians who had made the examination some weeks ago and that the main symptom that appeared to be alarming, was that Baldwin had "nervous heart." Mr. Bach said that he was ready for trial and that he should use every effort to get a trial and to get it at this term of court. Following the visit to the jail, the interview with Judge Myers was had and Mr. Bach said later he believed that the trial of Baldwin will begin this term and the physical condition of the prisoner was such as to justify it. Last of May Possible. There are three weeks of civil cases to be heard and the Baldwin trial will be set immediately following the civil suits and preceding the rest of the peoples cases. This would bring the hearing of the case the last of May and unless there is a commission to pass upon Baldwin's sanity before that time, the prospect is favorable that he will be brought before a jury and that the case will be heard. .... ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- BLOOMINGTON, ILL PANTAGRAPH THURSDAY MORNING, JUNE 13, 1907. MURDERER THOMAS BALDWIN DIES IN THE COUNTY JAIL END CAME YESTERDAY MORNING Slayer of Eisemans and Kennedys, Near Arrowsmith, Succumbs To Physical Collapse. STORY OF HIS CRIME IS REHEARSED. He shot Charles Kennedy and Wife and Mrs. Eiseman and Daughter Had Gradually Grown Weaker. --The hand of the Almighty intervened yesterday to settle the account between Thomas Baldwin and the People of the State of Illinois who had charged Baldwin with the murder of four citizens of this county on February 28. While Baldwin was in the county jail awaiting the trial of a court on the charge lodged against him by the people, death came and took him away from the jurisdiction of bailiffs and courts. The death penalty might have been the extremist verdict of the law had his case come to trial, while among the alternatives might have been his incarceration in an asylum. Death Came Unexpectedly. While Baldwin had been steadily failing in health ever since his arrest for his quadruple crime near Arrowsmith, and had been rapidly sinking during the last few weeks, yet his dissolution itself was something of a surprise to the attendants at the jail and his fellow prisoners. He had been in the hospital department of the jail for the past couple of weeks. With him Tuesday were Charles Romans and Don Wilson, two prisoners on minor charges. Baldwin was very much weakened Tuesday and was on the verge of a physical collapse, but nothing unusual was noted in his condition Tuesday evening. Along about half past four yesterday morning Wilson turned on his bunk and looked toward Baldwin. He noticed that there was something strange about the mans appearance as he was lying on his back with his mouth open. He went to him and found that his hands were cold. Further examination easily showed that life was extinct. Had Been in Bed a Week. Baldwin had hardly left his couch in the hospital ward for the past week or ten days. It will be remembered on his appearance in the court room some two weeks ago he was then almost a physical wreck. People thought that perhaps there might be shamming in his case, but the doctors who had attended him were sure that his weakened condition was genuine, and in fact was almost at the end of his physical endurance. Shortly after he had been in court, Sheriff Moore put Baldwin in the hospital in the jail and from that day till the time of his death he only left the room once. That was on circus day, June 5, when there had been some wild rumors of a mob about to attack the jail. While the sheriff gave little credence to these reports he thought as a matter of precaution that he would take Baldwin down stairs for the time being. He was immediately afterwards returned to the hospital and remained there until he died. The cause of his death, according to the physicians attending him was a general weakness due to poor nutrition and failure of his physical powers, the effect of mental condition. When Baldwin was arrested he was rather a stoutly built man weighing perhaps 180 pounds; when he died he was a mere skeleton, his flesh having nearly all wasted away. He had practically eaten nothing for many days and the fire of life was kept going simply by consuming the tissues of his own body. His Crime Recalled. The crime for which Baldwin was awaiting trial is still so fresh in the public mind that its details need hardly be rehearsed. On the morning of February 28, of this year he went to the homes of Simeon Eiseman and Charles Kennedy, both located about three miles northwest of Arrowsmith, and there shot and killed Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kennedy and Mrs. Eiseman and her daughter, Cora. The shooting was done with a 32-caliber revolver, which was found in his possession along with another pistol when he was captured immediately after. It seems he had left his home in Colfax on that morning and driven first to the home of the Kennedys. Just what happened between him and the Kennedys will never be known, as no one heard the conversation which probably preceded the shooting. All that was positively known was that Charles Kennedy and his wife were both found dead in their kitchen immediately after Baldwin had left the house, he having shot each of them twice in the neck and breast. From Kennedy's house, Baldwin preceded to the home of the Eiseman's about a quarter of a mile east. Mrs. Eiseman and her children saw him coming and tried to hide from him. Some conversation was had between them and Baldwin insisted upon coming into the house when Mrs. Eiseman and her children ran down the cellar stairs and tried to escape through a window and across the field. Baldwin saw them running and followed Mrs. Eiseman and Cora. On reaching the highway he shot each of them twice and they fell dead by the roadside. Two of the other children, one of whom was Ivan Kennedy, the little son of Charles Kennedy, had escaped from the Eiseman place and ran to the Kennedy home where they found the bodies of Ivan's parents on the kitchen floor. Baldwin's Capture and Incarceration. After the quadruple tragedy at the two homes, Baldwin walked east for about a quarter of a mile along the road, and, when in front of the home of William Spencer, Mr. Spencer and his son, William Jr., having received word of the killing by telephone, came out on the highway and stopped Baldwin and accused him of the deed. They then took from him the pistols which he carried and the ammunition with which he was supplied. The Spencers then drove to Arrowsmith with their prisoner and kept him in a room there until Deputy Sheriff Jack Thompson, of Colfax, arrived to take charge of him in the name of the law. Thompson conveyed his prisoner, by a circuitous route, to Ellsworth, where he was turned over to Deputy Sheriff's Kennedy and Ryan who went out from Bloomington. They brought him in on the afternoon train and dropped off at the "Y" being conveyed in from that point by buggy. He was taken in the county jail by the back door, thus eluding a large crowd of people who had gathered out of curiosity to see the prisoner. There was no demonstration of any kind and Baldwin was put in the prison and took up his routine of jail life along with the other prisoners. Origin of the Trouble. The trouble which indirectly resulted in the quadruple shooting by Baldwin, was the charge made that Baldwin had assaulted Cora Eiseman. This charge had been presented to the grand jury at the February term and an indictment had been found. It had followed a series of quarrels between the Eisemans and Baldwin, out of which a monetary settlement had been arranged. The Kennedy's had, it is understood, appeared as witnesses before the grand jury in regard to this matter and on that account it is supposed had grown the bad feeling between Baldwin and Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy. Legal Moves in Case. A special grand jury was called in the case of Thomas Baldwin and three bills were returned against him on March 7. The taking of testimony in this session of the grand jury occupied two days and it was remarkable for the seriousness of those who were called and for the spirit of tragedy that pervaded the proceedings. The next legal act in the Baldwin case was the filing of a civil suit by W. P. Eicher, the administrator of the estate of Charles and Elsie Kennedy. The sum of $2,500 was fixed as the amount by which the estate of Charles Kennedy had been damaged by the act of the defendant. A motion for a change of venue was made on March 20th. It was set forth in the papers filed by Baldwin's attorneys that it was impossible for him to receive a fair trial in this court and the prejudice of the people of the county was commented upon. The case was argued at length before Judge Myers and the motion denied. During these proceedings Baldwin occupied a seat in the jury box in the court room and was an interested spectator. The nervous trembling of the hands and head were noticeable but he was alert and watchful of what was going on. An effort was then made for a trial of the case at the April term preceding the civil docket as is the custom of this court. A postponement until the end of the civil docket was asked and allowed. The time was then set for the hearing and a special venire of jurymen was summoned. A motion for a continuance was made in the case and argued at length. The motion was made on the ground of Baldwin's health, and as he sat in the court room he was the picture of physical distress. There was a striking contrast in his condition then and that of the short time previous when he had appeared in court. At this last appearance he was hardly able to walk alone and appeared unconscious of what was about him. The continuance was allowed on the affidavit of four physicians who had visited him at the jail and who gave as their opinion that he could not stand the strain of trial. That they were correct has been demonstrated by the finale of the case. The Baldwin trial was set for last Monday and had it been commenced there would have been two or three weeks of work in the case and the spectacle would have been as predicted by the physicians that of a dying man on trial for his life. Coroner's Inquest. An inquest was held over Baldwin's body yesterday morning at 11 o'clock. Coroner Rugless summoned the following men to form the jury: C. W. Perkins, Harvey Johns, W. O. Stimple, J. A. Stimple, George Lloyd and John Jewell. The body was inspected at Coleman and Flinspach's undertaking room and the jury then adjourned to the coroner's room at the court house where the testimony was taken. Mr. T. B. Williams, Dr. J. L. Yolton and Carl Lawrence testified that death was due to general paralysis and the verdict was so made. Burial in Bloomington. The body was taken to the vault in Bloomington cemetery and it is expected that funeral services will be held Sunday. The relatives are thinking of interring the body in Bloomington cemetery. They intend to exhume the body of Mr. Baldwin's wife, who is buried at Colfax and expect to bury the two side by side in this city. Final arrangements will be made when all the relatives have a conference. Hears of Objections. Yesterday, after the death of Thomas Baldwin had been reported all over the county, an unknown man called State's Attorney Bach up from Colfax and said that the people of that town would not stand for the burial of Baldwin's body there. At Colfax, last evening, no one had heard of any objections. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- BLOOMINGTON, ILL PANTAGRAPH - UNKNOWN DATE PROBABLY JUST AFTER JUNE 13, 1907. BALDWIN WROTE A LETTER IN DECEMBER HINTED THEN THAT HE WAS ABOUT TO DIE. Interesting facts Unearthed by State's Attorney in Search for Evidence Against Murderer. --When death stepped in and took Thomas Baldwin beyond the pale of justice, a great deal of work on the part of State's Attorney Bach was nullified. In the filing cabinet of the prosecuting attorney is a box filled with evidence, letters, copies of former indictments and other material that was to be used against the Colfax murderer in his trial for the killing of four. Now, of course, this information and proof is of no practical value and Mr. Bach knows things about Baldwin's past life that probably no one else does - or ever will. "Do Niostate niel nix bonum" does not apply to Thomas Baldwin, according to State's Attorney Bach. Mr. Bach went on to tell of how he had discovered in his search for evidence against Baldwin, the traces of a number of crimes. The Indiana Crime. He also had a copy of the indictment returned against Baldwin in Switzerland County, Indiana, for "assault with intent to kill." This case was decided against Baldwin, taken to the supreme court and remanded and tried once more. Baldwin receiving a three months jail sentence and paying a fine of $75. He served time in state's prison while this litigation was going on. The opinion has become general that Baldwin had been acquitted in this instance, but the facts secured by Mr. Bach say different. As will be remembered by those who read the newspaper reports, Baldwin was an officer of the law at the time of the assault for which he was imprisoned and fined. Continue reading about the murder Back to Bits and Pieces