----- Original Message ----- From: "Betty Burdan" <bjburdan@ptd.net> To: <ddavis@logicsouth.com> Sent: Friday, May 11, 2001 7:10 PM Subject: PML Search Result matching Keim > ===================================================================== > A result of your requested PML search. To refine or cancel this > search, please visit http://pml.rootsweb.com/ > ===================================================================== > Source: GC-Chester Co. Pa Obituaries Forum > URL: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Pa/ChesterObits/10285 > Subject: Andrew Sassaman d.Oct 1881 > > > Surname: Sassaman, Fritz, Eisenhower, Ashenfelt, Bossert, Griffith, Frick, > Hause, Hunsberger, Schively, Keim, Funk, Savidge, Jones, Benner > ------------------------- > > Montgomery Ledger, Pottstown, Montgomery Co., PA > Tuesday, October 11, 1881 > > A HORRIBLE DISCOVERY IN A MADISON DWELLING > Andrew Sassaman Found in His Humble Tenement with Life Extinct > > A few hundred yards east of Madisonville, Chester County, there stands > a dilapidated house on the Schuylkill Canal, close by a bridge which spans > the canal, leading to a ford. In this house for the past three years there > lived alone an old man named Andrew Sassaman, who is well known to many > of our readers he having lived at one time near the borough limits in Pottsgrove. > Alarmed at the continued absence of her father, his daughter, Sarah Eisenhower, > and her little girl proceeded to the above home about half past nine o'clock > Friday morning. Upon entering the dwelling she could find no one, but upon > opening the door leading to the cellar stairway a horrible sight met her > gaze, and one which also startled a Ledger reporter shortly afterward. > Lying prone upon his back on the stairs, with his feet downward with a > glassily countenance, eyes wide open and fixed in death, and with the bowels > protruding, lay Andrew Sassaman, dead. In his right hand he grasped a cane, > and he lay partially on a coal scuttle. Dr. W. J. Ashenfelter, who also > gazed upon the dead man, gave it as his opinion that the man had received > a cut which caused the bowels to protrude. Should this prove to be the > case it is undoubtedly a case of murder. > > The appearance of the first and second floors was one of confusion, and > indicated a depth of poverty. On the cook stove lay a lot of kindling wood, > and on the cook stove and floor were strewn about several pans and kettles > and things looked as if the old man was about preparing for a meal and > was in the act of going into the cellar for coal, when death overtook him. > The clock had stopped at a few minutes before one o'clock. All the doors > were locked, except the one leading into the basement kitchen, which was > unlocked. > > The man had evidently been dead several days. He was last seen about his > poverty stricken tenement on Monday. Thursday forenoon Mr. John Bossert > tax collector, called for his tax, and could find no one about the house, > although the door was open. > > Deceased was about 73 years of age, and had the reputation of taking things > occasionally that did not belong to him, but his neighbors say he conducted > himself with commendable propriety while living in their midst. > > Deputy Coroner Charles M. Griffith has been notified and will hold an inquest > this afternoon, when the truth will probably be reached. We are inclined > to the opinion that he died a natural death as his daughter informed us > he was not in good health for some time. She however, believes that her > father was murdered. If so it is hard to find a motive unless it was revenge. > He frequently harbored tramps and they had a rendezvous in a field near > by. Robbery could not have been the object, for there was absolutely nothing > to steal. > > Sassaman has seven children living, and his wife has been dead for about > twelve years. He was a tinsmith by trade, and formerly lived in Phoenixville. > In the afternoon David Savage, Esq., of East Coventry Township, Chester > County, reached the scene and empanelled the following Jury of Inquest: > John Frick, David Hause, Samuel Hunsberger, Franklin Schively, George Keim > and Jacob Funk, who proceeded to view the body and then take testimony. > > Dr. A. R. Savidge made an external post mortem examination on the body > and testified that in his judgment, deceased came to his death through > natural causes, and that the body had been attacked by rats, which caused > the bowels to protrude. There had been no hemorrhage and the jagged edges > of the aperture conclusively proved that the orifices had not resulted > from the cut of a knife. Witness was of the opinion that Sassaman had been > dead for three or four days, having probably died on Tuesday. > > Mrs. Sarah Eisenhower, a daughter of deceased was the next witness. [She] > Resides on Cherry Street, Pottstown and becoming uneasy at the continued > absence of [her] father, walked, in company with my little daughter to > see if anything was wrong. Upon arriving at the house, [she] found one > of the doors unlocked and entered, but no one answered any summons. [She] > Finally opened the door leading to the cellar basement, when [she] was > horrified to find the dead body of my father lying near the top of the > stairs. Think he was murdered. > > Mr. Geo. W. Jones, a near neighbor, testified to the finding of the body > as above described. After a short deliberation the jury unanimously agreed > upon the following verdict - "We find that Andrew Sassaman, of North Coventry > Township, Chester County, came to his death through natural causes and > not other wise." Deputy Coroner Savage then remanded the body to the custody > of Mr. Daniel Benner, undertaker who buried the remains in the Mennonite > burying ground, East Coventry, Saturday afternoon at 2 o'clock. > > Deceased served a period in the war of the Rebellion, having enlisted in > Co. A. 53rd PA Regiment on September 18, 1861. During the service he contracted > a disease, for which he vainly applied for pension. Mrs. Catharine Fritz, > residing on West King Street, this borough, is a sister, and David and > Henry Sassaman, who removed to Ottowa, Kansas, in the spring of 1878 are > sons of deceased. He was offered a home with some of his children but the > old man preferred to live alone. > >