Owen N. Mathewson
Utica Saturday Globe, February 1914
Owen N. Mathewson
1884 - 1914
The death of Owen N. Mathewson, of Hamilton [Madison Co., NY], formerly of Norwich [Chenango Co., NY], was a shock to his many friends. He died at a hospital in Utica [Oneida Co., NY] Saturday, following an operation for abscess of the ear. The deceased was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Mathewson, who reside near the reservoir, east of this village. He was born in the town of Norwich May 17, 1884. He was an expert telegraph operator and had held positions in several towns on the line of the D.L.&W. Railroad, including Norwich, Greene and Earlville, and was for some time relief operator on this division of the road. About two years ago he engaged in the shoe business in Hamilton, and was also the agent for the Western Union Telegraph Company and the Bell Telephone company in that place. Mr. Mathewson married Miss Lucile Crandall, of Greene, about seven years ago. She survives with a little son, Robert. He is also survived by his parents, one brother, Oscar F. Mathewson, and two sisters, Misses Maude and Lydia Mathewson, all of Norwich. The remains were brought to Norwich and taken to the home of his parents, where the funeral was held on Tuesday, Rev. Paul Riley Allen officiating. The bearers were Charles Pudney, Ray Wells, Daniel Anderson and Burr McNitt, of Norwich; James Wells, of Oxford, and Truman Wedge, of Hamilton. The body was placed in the vault at Mt. Hope Cemetery awaiting burial later.
Catharine M. Richards
Bainbridge Republican, July 11, 1878
From the Utica Herald we take the following: The body of Catharine M. Richards of Plainfield Centre, in the northern part of Otsego Co., was found in a cow barn Tuesday afternoon of last week. The deceased was aged 14 years, 9 months and 10 days, a comely, well-developed young woman. She was the daughter of William C. Richards, a well-to-do farmer, and one of the leading men of the Welsh settlement of Plainfield. She was supposed to have been gored to death by a young bull, whose stand in the barn was directly upon the spot where the body was found. The ugly wound on her cheek and the contusions of the other parts of the body were supposed to have been caused by the horns of the animal which was found loose in the barn yard, although left fastened in the barn. That theory exploded and suspicion point towards Myron Buell, a young man employed by Mr. Richards who was known to be an unfavored suitor for the company of the girl.
The theory of the tragedy as far as it can be formed, is this. While at work in the field, Buell remembered that Catharine's parents were away, and no one but Miss Jones was with her. He left the field hoping to meet her by chance. He found Catharine in the cheese house, which he entered for the ostensible purpose of changing his boots. In the cheese house were kept old clothes, harness, etc. and there the girl went several times a day to play with the kittens. It is believed that Buell quietly slipped up behind the girl, threw a strap over her head and tightened it quickly to prevent her from crying out....He probably did not intend to kill. The strap was pulled too tightly probably in the excitement or by the girls' struggles, and she undoubtedly died from the effects of strangulation combined with fright The testimony of the examining physicians as to the exact cause of death was too indefinite to be satisfactory, as no one of the three would certify positively as to the real cause.
Dismayed by the result of his devilish intent, Buell immediately set about the task of concealing his crime. Within fifteen feet, in the cow barn, there was a young bull. It was but the work of a moment to grasp the body of the girl, enter the cow barn, release the bull from the stanchion, drive him into the yard, place the body of the girl on the spot where the bull stood, mangle her dead face with the edge of the milking stool, put the stool into the box with the strap which had already shut out her life, and then hasten back to the hop yard, where he rejoined Bowen and remained there until the supper horn was blown at 5 p.m., the time when Bowen and he found the body.
Buell--if he committed the crime--was too careful in his arrangement of the body of his victim to sustain the theory of accidental death. The girl laid as straight as if the body had been arranged by an undertaker, with clothes in their natural position and her arms carefully placed close to her sides. If the bull had gored the girl, her body would not have been in an orderly position, the wound on the right cheek would not have been sharp cut, but ragged, no purple mark would have encircled the neck and the clothing would probably have been torn or disarranged.
Buell was arrested Friday, on a warrant sworn out by the girl's father, and his examination was commenced Saturday. The body was exhumed Monday, and a second post mortem examination took place. [Buell is supposed to have] probably killed her, pounding and choking her to make her insensible before he was aware of it. Buell has retained Hon S.S. Morgan of West Winfield as counsel. Buell has been held to await the action of the grand jury, which meets next September. He is in jail at Cooperstown.
Death Notices
Chenango Union, March 25, 1875
CHASE: In North Afton [Chenango Co., NY], March 12, Ada [Chase], daughter of James W. Chase, 4 years.
WETMORE: In Butternuts [Otsego Co., NY], March 13, Mr. John Wetmore, aged 81 years.
PLACE: In Cincinnatus [Cortland Co., NY], March 6, Mr. Thomas Place, age 86 years.
Chenango Union, April 1, 1875
CRANDALL: In Norwich [Chenango Co., NY] March 26th 1875, Julia [Crandall], wife of William B. Crandall, aged 61 years.
GILBERT: In Norwich [Chenango Co., NY], March 30, Betsey [Gilbert], widow of the late Abner Gilbert, 2d, aged 83 years.
MYGATT: In Oxford [Chenango Co., NY], Hon. Henry R. Mygatt.
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