Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 February 1877 — ASSASSINATED, [ARTICLE]

ASSASSINATED,

R(sbld, and Horribly Muti- . fated by Fire, XnaXonely Cabin on the Wild Kankakee. Tragic Fate of Jimmy Cotton, the Handsome Young Trapper. ▲ Deed that *o*ll* An* attribution. Kia 1 ■■ «mn HU Knaytrahaadad. ’-MSffIffiKSWRKSK.HI 1 '" Sometime in the latter part of last fall onthe early days of winter two young men named Jay Frants and James Cotton commenced hunting and trapping in Union township, about twelve miles north of Rensselaer, in the neighborhood of Jaoob M. Troxell, Ephraim Sayers and John Shields. Frants is about twenty-fire years old; Cotton was about twenty two. Both were from White county, and Cotton has a married sister living near Reynolds. Cotton was also aeousin of Mr. Frank L. Cotton, of this town. Both are represented to be young moo of good habits, agreeable manners, who made friends wherever they went. While the weather permitted during the earlier part of the season they camped out of doors. When severe weather set in they boarded in the neighbor hood, first with one family and then another as was convenient to their hunting and trapping grounds, becoming welcome favorites with all. Several weeks ago they moved from that region and established their headquarters twelve or fourtesn miles further north, between twenty-five and thirty miles northwest of Rensselaer, in Keener townshin, near the Kankakee river, -on a drift bar called Grape Island. Here they built a cabin of aspen or cottonwood saplings, twelve by seven feet in size, six or seven feet high, which was roofed with sheeting boards, and lad a door of pine and oak boards made to swing outwards, fastened by staple, chain and padlock on the inside. On one side of the door post was an aperture through which to reach an arm and lock and unlock the fastening. This aperture was about four inches wide and six or eight inches long, made by sawing out one of the poles of which the cabin was constructed. This domicile was furnished with an old cookstove which served for heating and culinary - uses;trunk in which was kept their underclothing and finer articles of apparel, a alate, school books, papers, magazines, ambrotypes of friends, stationery, writing material, and a fruit can holding a pound or more of gunpowder. Hanging against the walls were a shotgun, rifle, thirty or forty muskrat and mink traps, heavy winter etc. A pile of mink, rat and raccoon peltry lay in a cupboard in the corner; Thelrbedding rested on a rude bedstead formed by driving crotched stakes in the ground and laying small poles across tht?m. In the cabin were also articles of provisions and an earthen jug of kerosene oil. Near the cabiff was a booth for bousing their team, and by it a stack of hay; these only two or three rods distant. On Wednesday of last week, January 31st, Frhfltz took the team and came down to dohn Shields’ for their boat and some ether effects. He found the roads unexpectedly bad, and remained over night. Upon returning to the eamp next day he discovered the roof of the cabin burnt off, th* walla charred, the oaken board of the dopf hanging by the chain and padlook, the pine boards being burnt away, and young Cotton stretched prone on the ground dead. He immediately unhitched one of the horses, mounted, drove to the nearest neighbor and gave the alarm. The settlement was soon aroused and promptly assembled on the ground. Justice Dan Fairchild organized a jury and held a hasty v and imperfect inquest A verdict of death from an unknown cause was returned. Franu then came to Rensselaer and related the tragic •tory to theoouain of the deadman, who dispatched a team for the oorpee and telegraphed to the brothers and other relatives of the deceased. The corpse when taken up was fobnd to bq in a horribly mutilated condition. The clothing was nearly all burnt off and the glands, i¥et, trunk Mod a portion ,of

the head were deeply burnt; the hands -and arms were l consumed and the bones calcined nearly to the elbows; the feet burnt off; md the bowels partially f protruding. The remains were placed in a box and taken to Remington. Dre. Patton, Hood, Tribby and Traugb were requested to make a thorough examination for marks of violence. They discovered a hole in the throat through the veins aad arteries, but were unable on account of the charred condition of the flesh to determine whether it had been made by a gun shot or a knife. Back and a little above one ear the skull showed evidence of having been crushed in by some blunt instrument, a splinter of the bone : being driven into the brain. They were further ot the opinion that the body had been covered with hay and saturated with oil. This examination was made on Saturday j last. On Monday, Sheriff Robinson, Deputy Prosecutor Miller, and half a dozen others went up to ! make a, more minute examination of the camp. One of the roof boards was found a short distance ' away, uninjured by the fire. The guns were found to be in their places against thq, wall. The jng 1 of kerosine oil was empty and undamaged by the fire save a slight crack. The haystack bad not been j burnt. There were no traces of a ' heavy woolen overcoat and other woolen goods known to have been i in the cabin, nor of the pile of; peltries that, lay in the cupb.Qar.tL A dog that was kept in the cabin , was found under the bed'dead and ' partially burned, but not nearly as much as the young man, seeming to show that special pains had been taken to consume the body of the I latter. The trunk had burnt down where it. was standing leaving welldefined traces of the books, stationery and magazines kept in it, showing most conclusively|that the can of powder had been taken out. or otherwise an explosion would have resulted and scattered the contents ot the tiunk in every direction. i Cution was known to have had between $75 and SIOO in greenbacks in his possession and between $3 and-Sa in silver quarter and half-dol-lar coins. He also had a heavy : silver ring on one of his fingers. ! Careful search was made among the ashes and no trace of the metallic buttons and buckles of the clothing that hung against the cabin were found in the cinders and ashes. Two small globules of silver were discovered which have been the ring, but it is more probable were dime and quarter coins. A theory ia tlqit Cotton was murdered Wednesday night after darx. That he was sitting astride of his ‘ trunk, eating from a dish on the trunk before him; the murderer ’ came to the door, put a rifle or re-i volver through the aperture left for the hand, shot as young Cotton : looked up, he sitting in a position 1 facing the door and not more than six or eight feet distant, the bullet 'I taking effect in Cotton’s throat. The assassin then removed one of the root boards, thro wed it on the ground, cliitibed through, struck his viutim with the poll of a hatchet or some other blunt instrument on the side of the head as he lay on the ground. Then opened the trunk, took out the money and can of powder, took she coms from Cotton’s pocket,took the pelts out of the cupboard, and the overcoat and I new clothing from their places against the wall, aud' either passed them out to a confederate or carried them to a place ofsufety. Then, j to cover up traces of the crime, hay J was piled under the bed, on the body, and about the room; the jug of kerosine was emptied over the body of the victim, and fire set to the combustibles. A vigorous effort is being made to discover the perpetrator of Jlie deed but no per•oo has yet been arrested. All the lattei* week of January and thy first two days of February this year were mild and springlike. The mercury indicated as high as eighty degrees of temperature. In many places along traveled roads the frost was put so that horses and .wagons broke through. The ground hog might have seen his shadow yrixhom the light of a candh?, and probably returned to hiberpate Jor six long, weeks.