Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 February 1901 — SAYS HE WAS PERSECUTED. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SAYS HE WAS PERSECUTED.

Reason Given) by Samnel Moser for Murdering His Family. A murder trial which is of more than ordinary interest, not only because of the enormity of the crime charged to the defendant, but on account of the revelations it is expected to bring forth concerning the peculiar customs and beliefs of the Amish community in this country, has been in progress at Pekin, 111. The j defendant is Samuel Moser, who last May murdered his entire family, consisting of his wife and three sons. Moser is the son of Benedict Moser, a luau worth. SIOO,OOO and .a. leader among the*

Amish people. The elder Moser refused to aid in his son’s defense, declaring that lawsuits are against the principles of the church. In an Amish community the church expects to regulate the conduct of its members. One of their characteristics is that they do not. believe in the expression of emo-

tion in any way, and it is in connection with this peculiarity of their belief that Moser got into trouble with the church, which led to his expulsion, to persecution, according to his statements, nnd eventually to crime of a most horrifying nature. One Sunday, in church, he dandled his child on his knee and caressed it, to stop its restlessness. He was rebuked for this “idolatry” by the preacher and later told to confess his fault liefore the congregation. He refused and was expelled. •‘Then, he claims, persecution began. He says he was not permitted to eat at the table with his wife, that his father nnd mother would not visit at liis home, that

his wife and children were away from hint all day long Sundays at the church. These, with other persecutions, he says, made life so intolerable for him that there was only one thing left to do, and that was to end the lives of all his family and seek a new home or else death for himself. Moser shot himself, but without fatnl result, and was arrested before he could repeat the attempt upon his own life. The Amish people, of whom the Mosers

are a part, are mainly of German or Russian descent. Their invariable rule is to settle in communities nnd buy ail the land they can in one uninterrupted stretch. Then they build their big church in the village in the center of the settle-

ment. The village of Morton is the largest Amish community in the country. The marriage customs ore more sharply in contrast with American ideas than any thing else about the people. Bride and groom arc selected for euch other by the church, with a view to equalizing the future generation. The bright and promising young man must take to wife the slothful, dull girl, and the most wideawake, gay, industrious maid gets for her helpmeet the worst lout in the congregation. During the ceremony bride and groom stand on opposite sides of the church, and nfter it each goes to his nnd her own home, not to see the other for a week. 'Phe dress of the people is very plain, nnd the women's dress particularly so. The hair is worn combed straight back nnd wound in n knot, and adorned by a blue or black sunbonnet on all occasions. The people associate with none hut members of their community, wear no jewelry, hare no entertainments or parties, allow no wall paper or ornaments in their homes, nnd no musical instrument?. None of them is poor, and many are wcqlthy far beyond their wants. The troubles and dissensions in the Amish Church and Society are causing many members of this faith to dispose of their farms and belongings in central Illinois and seek new homes in the far West. The largest party of that society yet moved left Peoria the other day in special tourist ears for their new homes in Utah. Twelve earn of their household effects nnd farming implements have herti sent on ahead.

Emeralds have Itecn discovered in Arizona, and, it is said, in North Carolina. They are, however, very small.

SAM MOSER.

THE MOSER HOME

MRS. MOSER.