The Spaulding Tragedy

            On the 15^th day of November, 1882, a double murder and suicide occurred in York Township, of which the Oxford Tribune gives the following account: On the 14^th inst., James P. Spaulding, of near Raub, Ind., murdered his wife and child, and then committed suicide. Spaulding had sold his farm recently, and received cash in consideration. This money was deposited in the Bank of Kentland, where it now is. On the previous evening, he was heard to complain of selling the place too cheap, and seemed very morose in consequence. He was seen in the morning with lantern in hand, doing the chores about the barn, where later the horses were found with harness on. The cows had been milked, and wood chopped for the day. The bodies were discovered by a relative. The lamp was burning on a table; the mother and son lay side by side, while the father lay across them, face downward. Spaulding was thirty-five years of age; his wife, thirty years of age, and the boy four years and six months. At the time the murder was committed, the wife was engaged in making bread, as her hands were covered with dough, and all preparation had been made for baking. From what investigation has been made, it is firmly believed that the husband first came in from the barn quietly, and knocked his wife in the head with a singletree that was found on the floor covered with blood and hair, and then cut her throat with a razor which was found covered with blood, and identified as his own. The door knob had finger marks, showing signs of a struggle. The little boy ran out into the back yard, whither his father pursued him and knocked him down with the singletree. He then cut the boy’s throat from ear to ear, dragged him into the house, and laid him alongside the mother. Spaulding then cut his own throat, and fell across the bodies of his wife and child. It is plain that the murder was not committed for the purpose of robbery, as Spaulding’s purse, containing a considerable sum of money, was found on his person, while his watch was taken from his vest pocket, and the crystal found to be covered with finger marks and blood. The foregoing newspaper article contains the facts in the case, except as to one or two particulars. The Coroner’s report shows that the tragedy occurred on the 15^th, instead of on the 14^th of the month, as stated in the article. It also shows that Spaulding’s name was Jasper, and not James K. as stated in the article. The Coroner’s report discloses the further facts that Mrs. Spaulding’s name was Georgia, and the little boy’s Harry.

Source: Counties of Warren, Benton, Jasper and Newton, Indiana by F.A. Battey & Co., 1883.