Dubuque County IA Archives Obituaries.....Lawton, Thomas J. July 20, 1876
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Daily Herald, Dubuque, Iowa July 1876
Daily Herald, Dubuque, Iowa - Thursday, July 20, 1876
PATRICIDE
Mr. Thomas Lawton's Body
Pierced With Four Bullets.
From a Colt's Navy Revolver
in the Hands of His Son.
The Father Had Just Returned
From a Funeral.
Insanity Supposed to be the
Cause of the Rash Act.
The Patricide Attempts
Suicide in Jail.
And Afterwards Talks Rationally
About the Attempted Murder.
The Victim Still Lingering
Between Life and Death.
About half-past 4 o'clock, Wednesday afternoon (yesterday) the good people of
this city were startled by the announcement that a son had attempted to take the
life of his father. The whole community was thrown into a fever of excitement,
and were all rushing to the scene of the patricide attempt. In a few moments
the residence and store of Mr. F. C. Moser, on Main street, were besieged by an
anxious crowd eager to obtain the particulars of so horrible and unnatural a
crime, as that of a son perforating his own parent with bullets. It was too
true - the deed had been committed, and the excited people were wrought to the
pitch of lynch law, but better councils prevailed.
The circumstances of the crime are these: Mr. Thomas Lawton came to the city on
Wednesday to attend the funeral of Miss Carrie Moser, who was buried in Linwood
in the afternoon. He was accompanied by Mrs. Lawton and other members of the
family. Samuel, the patricide, remained at the house of Mr. Moser during the
day, objecting to go to the funeral on account of the hot weather; and, in
consideration of Samuel being an invalid, he was left behind to take care of the
house and the children. After the last sad rites were administered to the
inanimate form of the dead daughter, the family returned filled with
heart-rending bereavement, and endeavored to console each other over the loss of
the young girl who had just been laid in the tomb. They found Samuel in
apparently good spirits, better in fact than at any time during the past few
months, although he seemed somewhat overcome with the heat and very thirsty.
Mr. Lawton, ever solicitous for his children's welfare, suggested that they go
somewhere and take some lemonade, as that was a cooling and refreshing drink in
hot weather. At first Samuel hesitated, and sat down in a dreamy mood. His
father finally urged him to accompany him across Main street to Mehlin's
confectionery establishment for the purpose at first suggested. Arriving in the
store, the father concluded to eat a dish of ice cream, while the son drank a
glass of soda water. After drinking it, he took a chair at the table with his
father, and there waited until Mr. Lawton had eaten his ice cream, in the mean
time talking of the distressing affair of the death of Miss Carrie Moser, and
the circumstances of the funeral. Samuel exhibited the greatest sorrow at the
death of the young girl and so expressed himself to his father. Both arose from
the table and walked into the street, the father being a little in advance. Mr.
Lawton was wiping the perspiration from his brow as he stepped upon the
sidewalk, immediately in front of the gate leading to the upper part of Mr.
Moser's building on the corner of Main and Eleventh streets. Samuel was a few
feet behind his father, and, taking a Colt's navy revolver from the breast
pocket of his vest, held the muzzle to his father's left shoulder and fired, the
ball passing through and lodging in the breast. Quicker than it takes our
reporter to describe it, the murderous patricide again cocked the pistol and
fired, the shot entering his father's back "[several sentences of unreadable and
damaged text]" deliberation with the weapon of death still aimed at his
prostrate form. The father raised his right arm , as if to shield himself from
the fatal aim of his son, and received a bullet in it which lodged in the upper
part of his shoulder. As if determined to make sure of his inhuman work, the
son again fired, the ball entering the abdomen. The son exhibited the most
abject coolness and did not attempt to escape.
As soon as it could possibly be done, the would-be patricide was taken into
custody by officer Farrell. Mayor Burch drove by the place a moment before, and
hearing the shooting turned his horse and drove back in his buggy, supposing at
first that the reports came from shooting dogs. But he saw his mistake, as he
witnessed the firing of the last two shots.
While kind friends raised the bleeding form of Mr. Lawton, and carried him into
the residence of Mr. F. E. Moser, the mayor, assisted by Officer Farrell, took
the son, who was now a prisoner, into his buggy and drove to the court house for
the purpose of putting him in jail. He attempted to jump from the buggy at
onetime, and refused to utter a word until he was being searched in the
sheriff's office.
At the door of the court house he again attempted to escape by running through
the hall, but Officer Farrell was took quick for him, and caught him by the arm.
A scuffle then ensued, which necessitated the officer to strike him a light tap
with his billet in order to subdue him.
As is usual, the deputy sheriff searched his pockets, and took therefrom,
several articles usually carried, among which were a vial labeled "Tinct. Yellow
Jasmine - Poison - be careful" which he had procured at the drug store of
Juckermann & Hass; a box of some other kind of medicine marked poison, two
pocket books, a bunch of keys, a watch, and other articles. When his watch was
taken from him it caused him to speak, the first time since his arrest, and
wanted to know what was intended to be done with it and expressed an earnest
desire to retain it.
Deputy Sheriff Salot then took him in the jail, and not having an empty cell
below, took him up stairs. While unlocking the cell door, young Lawton was
leaning over the banisters looking at the stone floor below, and before Mr.
Salot could prevent it, he threw himself over the railing, and fell with a crash
on the stone pavement, alighting partially upon his feet and side, the position
of the fall being caused by his retaining hold of the railing too long, thus
turning a complete sommersault. This was a deliberate attempt at
self-destruction, engendered, no doubt from the consciousness of the horrible
and unnatural crime he had attempted upon his own father. He was finally
secured, where he now remains to answer for the crime he has committed.
Mr. Lawton, the father, in a state of intense agony, was carefully placed upon
a bed in the front part of the house, and messengers dispatched for a physician.
In a short time doctors E. A. Guilbert, Waples and others arrived, who examined
the wounds and probed for the bullets. Two wounds were discovered in the back
at the center part of each shoulder blade. The ball which entered at the right
shoulder blade passed through and was extracted from the front of the upper
chest. One wound was discovered in the abdomen, a little below the pit of the
stomach . The whereabouts of the ball that entered this wound could not be
discovered, neither could the whereabouts of the ball which entered the left
shoulder blade be detected, but the indications are that it penetrated the
chest. Another wound was found on the underside of the right arm, midway
between the shoulder and elbow. The ball from this wound was detected on the
opposite side, the bones being uninjured. The bullets were the size of minnie
balls. During the operation by the physicians, Mr. Lawton was in great agony,
and was suffering from the loss of blood. Up to a late hour last night they had
not succeeded in detecting or extracting the bullets, but left the wounded man
in as comfortable a situation as medical skill could devise.
There are all sorts of rumors as to the cause of this rash and damnable act,
and the most charitable is that of insanity. The community hopes that the law
may so determine, and from what our reporter can learn there is evidence that
such is the fact, although of late years the plea of insanity has covered up the
root of too many crimes.
Young Lawton has been in the city since last Monday. He left his father's farm
in Mosalem township for the ostensible purpose of going to Alden with his
sister, Mrs. Simpson, and brought his trunk with him, containing all his
clothing, expecting to make an extended visit. But soon after arriving in town
he changed his mind and concluded to return home again.
The young man has been laboring for a long time under the hallucination that he
has got the liver complaint and heart disease, and that at times his ailments
affected his head. During the past year and a half he has at times exhibited
flights of insanity, and so bad that his father desired to send him to the
asylum for treatment, but was opposed by Mrs. Lawton and other members of the
family, fearing that it would make him worse. From what we can learn he has for
some time been a monomaniac on medicine, buying and taking every nostrum that
was recommended, or that came under his notice, and that he has enough medicine
at his home to stock a drug store.
The pistol he used in the onslaught upon his father, has been in his possession
for a long time, he keeping it to amuse himself in killing birds and shooting at
a target, when having nothing else to do. A very dangerous plaything it has
proved to be.
Mr. Thomas Lawton is a gentleman very highly esteemed by those who know him,
and is an old resident of the county. He is about 60 years of age, and has a
family consisting of a wife and seven children. Samuel, the patricide, being
the oldest of the family. Mr. Thomas Lawton is postmaster at King, in Mosalem
township, on the Bellevue road, and is related to many prominent families in the
city, either by consanguinity or marriage. Mrs. Judge Burt is a sister of Mr.
Thomas Lawton. Mrs. F. G. Moser and Mr. Keller are also relatives.
Last evening we visited the unfortunate young man in jail, and ascertained that
he felt very sorry for his rash act, and seemed solicitous as to the welfare of
his father. He was quite rational, and to the question as to why he committed
the deed, he said he did not know; had no idea; never contemplated such a thing,
and did not know it had been done until he fired the last shot, and then did not
think he would kill him. He wondered how his mother would take it, and how his
sister felt, and wanted to know what effect it had on the people. He said he
had been sick at times, and a little flighty in the head, but had not
experienced any insanity, except a terrible pain in the head.
The affair is distressing and the whole community are hoping for the best, and
in sympathy with the almost heart broken family.
Daily Herald, Dubuque, Iowa - Friday, July 21, 1876
HIS AGONY OVER
The Death of Mr. Thomas Lawton
Occurred at 7 P. M.
Thursday Evening.
The Parricidal Son Desires to
Attend His Father's Funeral.
He is Interviewed by a Herald Reporter
The very sad occurrence related in yesterday's Herald, has terminated in the
death of Mr. Lawton, who expired at 7 o'clock last evening. In the morning he
rallied a little from the prostration of the night before, and the physicians
were hopeful of his recovery, until noon, when he began to sink rapidly, and
continued to do so until 4 o'clock, when a change for the better again took
place. But at 6 o'clock his pulse became weak, and he slowly sank, until death
relieved him of his sufferings at 7 o'clock. The result was not unexpected, as
three of the wounds were, either of them, sufficiently fatal, and to his strong
physical energy and healthy constitution is attributable his living as long as
he did after the fatal shots were fired.
Yesterday morning he slowly became unconscious, and barely recognized his wife
and most intimate friends. Before he became extremely prostrate, he exonerated
his son from any intention of murder, by stating that "that the poor boy was
insane, and knew not what he was doing."
Mr. Lawton was 56 years old, and came to this county in 1856. He has resided
most of the time in Mosalem township, and at the time of his death was
postmaster of the office called King. He is the father of nine children, all of
whom are living, two of his sons being in business in the city of Louisville.
Samuel, the prisoner, is thirty-one years of age, the oldest of the boys, but
not the oldest of the family. One of his daughters is married to Mr. George
Simpson, who is doing business in Alden, Iowa, wither the parricide was going on
the evening of the day on which he shot his father.
The event has cast a gloom of sadness throughout this community, and the
horrible and unnatural circumstances is the theme of conversation among all
people. It is frightful to contemplate, that a father, whose every act was
kindness, should be thus ruthlessly stricken down in the very prime of his
manhood, and that too, without cause or provocation. There is scarcely an annul
in the history of crime that equates it for cool and deliberate cold-blooded
murder. Whether the son is afflicted with idiosyncrasy, monomania or
hypochondria, he has no sympathy with the community, much less commiseration;
and were the feelings of the people appeased, he would now be dangling at the
limb of a tree.
Mr. Lawton's funeral will take place at 9 ½ o'clock this morning, from the Main
street Methodist church. The remains will be conveyed to Linwood, where we hope
the body of the good, kind and affectionate man will rest in peace.
THE PARRICIDE
Young Lawton seems to be the only person who is not shocked to the heart at the
foul deed committed upon his father, although to all intents and purposes he
appears to be perfectly sane. On Wednesday night he slept but one hour, so he
informed the Herald reporter, and during the day, yesterday, he appeared to be
anxious about his father, but exhibited no sorrow whatever. At one time he
stated to his cousin that he had private reasons for committing the deed, and at
other times insisted that he had none.
Last evening our reporter had an interview with the murderer, and found him
perfectly calm and communicative. In a succinct and deliberate manner he
explained how he committed the deed, but said he had no motive; told of the
friendly meeting in Mehlin's store; that he drank a glass of soda water, and
that his father ate a dish of ice cream. He minutely explained how he drew his
pistol and shot at his father when he was going on the sidewalk, the number of
shots fired, what part of the body the bullets entered, except the one in the
arm. He remembered how his father raised his arm in supplication and begged of
him not to shoot, and afterwards took deliberate aim and again fired. He was
asked:
Q: What motive had you for shooting your father?
A: None. I don't know why I did it. I wanted to shoot something.
Q: Were you aware that you might kill him?
A: Yes.
Q: Do you suppose you were in your right mind at the time you shot your father?
A: Yes; but I suppose I was overheated.
Q: Did you know you were about to shoot him when you left the ice cream room?
A: No; not until I drew my pistol. I was overcome with the heat. Had a pain in
my head.
Q: Did you always carry the pistol you used in shooting your father?
A: No; not always. I used it to kill birds around the house. Put it into my
valise when I came to Dubuque; took it out while the folks were at the funeral,
and put it in my pocket.
Q: Who, or what did you expect to shoot, when you did that?
A: Nothing; I expected to go on the cars that night, and put the pistol in my
pocket because I was going on the cars.
Q: Where did you get the pistol?
A: In Louisville about a year and a half ago. Was there with my brother doing
business for him.
Q: Are you aware of the penalty attached for the crime of murder?
A: Yes; for murder in the first degree it is hanging.
He was informed that the law had been changed in this state, and that the
penalty was imprisonment for life.
Q: Yes; I would like to look at him again. Can you make some arrangement so that
I can do so? How does mother take it? What does sister think? What do the
people say about it?
These interrogatories were answered, and Young Lawton then explained the nature
of his sickness, and why he took medicine. He said he used tincture of jasmine,
with which to bathe his temple in neuralgic pains, and that he took pills for
other maladies that he was subject to. He also stated that he and his father
never had any angry words or disputes, except once in a while they would talk
about the medicine.
Young Lawton was interrogated upon many subjects, to all of which he gave the
most rational answers, and it was the opinion of those present that there was
not a more sane man in the jail at that time than he was.
All in all, it is one of the most singular and remarkable cases of murder on
record.
Daily Herald, Dubuque, Iowa - Saturday, July 22, 1876
CORONER'S INQUEST
Upon the Body of Mr. Thomas Lawton
According to the law, made and provided. Coroner Coakley held an inquest upon
the body of Mr. Thomas Lawton, who was killed by his son Samuel. The inquest
commenced at 10 o'clock yesterday morning.
Messrs. John H. Thompson, J .N. Hill and Geo. M. Raymond were summoned as jurors.
Witnesses subpoenaed were: G. B. Burch, B. Pettibone, F. Darling, John
McCarthy, A. G. Mehlin, Prof. Dangerfield, Drs. McClure, Gullbert and Waples.
Mr. Pettibone, in his testimony, said that after the son had fired the first
two shots, he lowered the muzzle of the pistol and waited, perhaps a minute,
apparently to see if they took effect, and then fired two shots more.
Mr. Mehlin said that when he caught hold of the son he held the pistol as if
preparing to shoot again.
Prof. Dangerfield said that while Mr. Lawton was lying on the sidewalk and
pleading for mercy, the son coolly and deliberately cocked the pistol, aimed it,
fired the third shot, and, after changing his position to the front of his
father, fired the forth. Asked the father, "Who is it?" and he answered
"it is
my son; he is crazy."
The other witnesses testified as to the facts already published in the Herald,
and the physicians testified as to the wounds inflicted by the pistol shots.
The inquest terminated about 4 o'clock, and the coroner made out the legal
papers necessary to hold the accused to answer for the crime of murder in the
first degree.
Daily Herald, Dubuque, Iowa - Sunday, July 23, 1876
FUNERAL OF MR. LAWTON
The funeral of Mr. Thomas Lawton was largely attended by people from both
country and city, and the remains were deposited in Linwood Cemetery. His son
Byron, of Louisville, arrived in time to follow his father to his last resting
place, and his son William, of Philadelphia, failed to arrive in time, although
he engaged a locomotive in some instances on the route to reach Dubuque in time
to attend the funeral. At the appointed hour the remains were taken to the
Methodist church, and Dr. Rhea delivered a most fervent and impressive
discourse, which brought tears to the eyes of the many mourners who filled the
church. At 10 o'clock the cortege left the sanctuary and the body of Mr. Lawton
was laid beneath the sod. The subject is too sad for comment.
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