Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 February 1903 — EDWARD PRAIRIE INSANE. [ARTICLE]

EDWARD PRAIRIE INSANE.

Walker Township Farmer Goes Violently Insane and Is Committed to the Asylum. Last Friday Justices Spriggs of Walker and Robertson of Wheatfield, held an insanity inquest over Edward Prairie of Walker tp., and pronounced him insano. He was brought here by team Friday night and placed in jail. He was very violent and destructive at times and tore up everything “tearable” in his cell and pitched it out of the window, breaking the glass and frames and raising Ned generally. He tore his iron bed all to pieces by main strength, tore up his clothing, twisted off an iron water pipe and thus armed defied his captors taking it away from him. He was finally dispossessed of his weapons. Application was made for his reception at Long Cliff on a ‘‘hurry up call,” and the papers came Tuesday. Wednesday he was taken there by Bruce Hardy and Ed Duvall, Sheriff Hardy having been laid up for repairs in a set-to had with him Wednesday morning. It seems that during the previous night or small hours of the morning Prairie had set fire to his bedding, presumably by twisting a paper into a roll and passing it out to the stove which stood near his cell door to keep him warm, it being impossible to keep any clothes on him. One of the jail roustabouts sleeping near by gave the alarm and the sheriff and roustabout went in to put out the fire. The jail corridor was filled with smoke and Prairie was either choked up or feigned so, and lay on the floor of his cell or cage. The sheriff opened the door thereto and dragged him out, when he soon recovered and proceeded to make it interesting for the sheriff, his roustabout and draft worker Wempe, who got into the fray with a fire shovel, but succeeded in getting in about as many raps on the sheriff’s head as Prairie’s. Several heavy blows from the insane man landed on the sheriff’s head and face, and one eye and his nose was quite badly injured before Prairie was finalliy overcome. But little trouble was experienced in taking the man to the asylum. Prairie is 42 years of age, about 6 feet tall and weighs 160 pounds. He is of French descent, was born at Kankakee, 111., and has a wife and two children. He is a farmer and resided with his family in Walker tp., near - Asphaltum. Signs of insanity first developed Feb.B, when his talk becamo rambling and bo wanted to buy the Chicago stock yards; thought he was a prize-fighter; wanted his 19-year-old son to marry a rich old maid iu Kankakee, etc. Ho wanted to kill Alva Hershman and a man of the name of Hutchinson, and actually made an assault on one or two people. Dr. Shwier called upon him one night last week and when Prairie heard the sleigh-bells he ran out to the road, jumped into the sleigh, jerked the lines from the driver’s hands and wanted to go to Michigan City. It is said that Prairie’s worrying over a land deal that failed to go through is the cause of his mental collapse. He is probably the most violent insane person Jasper county has ever had anything to do with, and it is really remarkable that he did not kill some one before he was finally confined.