Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 November 1886 — AN INHUMAN BRUTE. [ARTICLE]

AN INHUMAN BRUTE.

The Diabolical Deed for Which Samuel Purple of Kansas Was Lynched. .Killed His Wire and Children —A New-Born Infant Blown to Pieces. LLameil (Kan.) telegram.) Intelligence has been received here from 'Hodgeman County of a crime which rivals in inhumanity and brutality the butchery •of his family by Willie Sells, the boy murderer. The scene of the tragedy is near Marine, in the extreme south comer of Hodgeman County. About seven years ago a beautiful young lady named Lowber fell desperately in love with Samuel Purple, a man whose reputation for sobriety and mildness of nature was not by any means enviable. Against the wishes of all to whom the young lady was in any way connected, they were married and settled down near Marine. They never lived happily together, and Purple’s vicious.ness culminated Friday morning last in the murder of part of his family and in his own death at the hands of an enraged mob three days later. At the time of the murder his family consisted of seven persons—himself, his wife, his wife’s sister, and four little children, the youngest of whom was only three weeks old. Friday morning his wife arose as usual and prepared breakfast. She then went to awaken her husband, which so enraged him as to incite him to the heinous crime which soon followed. He sprang violently from his bed, and, seizing his shot his wife through the body, from which wound she died at once. The new-born babe was next fired at, with the same result. He next shot and killed another one of his children. His sister-in-law, Miss Lowber, was then selected and fired at, the ball passing through the arm aud lodging somewhere in the shoulder. As this emptied his revolver, he proceeded to load his shotgun in order to complete the work. A slight mistake in this was the only thing that stopped the deadly proceedings. The Eowder was poured into one barrel, and, y error, the shot into the other. With this he endeavored to blow off the head of another child, but as there was nothing except powder in the barrel the child’s face was only severely burned by the explosion. A heavy blanket was seized and wound around the suffering child and this securely wrapped with a heavy wire, in the hope that he'might accomplish by suffocation what he had failed in doing by the use of the shotgun. The child will recover, although fearfully disfigured about the face. The murderer then mounted a horse and started across the field to Marine, with the avowed purpose of murdering his wife’s father and mother. Before he could accomplish this, however, the wounded young lady had made her way to the village and notified the inhabitants of what had happened, and they had congregated ' for resistance. (Seeing that his plan was frustrated, the murderer hastened to Jetmore and surrendered himself to the authorities, where he was placed in jail, surrounded by a heavy guard. That night a mob of about one hundred men went quietly to the jail and demanded the prisoner, who was delivered up with little ceremony. He was then taken back to the scene of his crime and hanged to a tree. Only one member of the family escaped serious injury, and that was the murderer’s little boy, who had hid under his bed when he heard his father coming.