Shepherd - John
Source: Waveland Independent newspaper, Waveland, Montgomery County, Indiana —September 23, 1910
John and Taylor Shepherd Newton Shepherd received a telegram on Friday afternoon saying that his brothers, John and Taylor Shepherd, had been found beaten to death in their beds at Newkirk, Oklahoma. He left on the evening train for that place. Mrs. Shepherd received a letter from him on Tuesday. It said that the two men had been struck in the head with a blacksmith hammer. Taylor appeared to have died instantly, but John lived for some time. Eva, the sixteen-year-old daughter of John Shepherd, had been assaulted and was unconscious when found. The bloody hammer was found near by. The brothers were buried in the same grave on Monday. John Shepherd was 67 and Taylor 64. Scott Shepherd, who lives here, is a twin brother of Taylor. John has two boys in Rhode Island. They were not able to get to the funeral. Mr. Shepherd’s letter gives no foundation for the story printed in The Terre Haute Star to the effect that the daughter, Eva, had murdered her father and uncle. A man suspected of the crime is under arrest. Before he died, John Shepherd spoke a few words that seem to point to this man. Mr. Shepherd wrote that if the evidence produced at the coroner’s trial were strong enough, there would be a lynching. Newton Shepherd returned Tuesday evening and gives these additional particulars. Taylor was struck with a hammer, as noted above, and while he did not move, he lived until one o’clock on Friday afternoon. John died on Friday evening. When his daughter revived, he was sitting on the edge of the bed and had dragged himself over the room. He did not become fully conscious but spoke a few words. Walter Cassidy is the man under arrest. He lived in the next house and he and John had had trouble about the Cassidy chickens. On the previous day, Cassidy had told him that he would “get him”. The daughter at home, Eva, as soon as she could, brought her married sister, Mrs. Jennie Ward. When they came back, they asked John if Walter had hurt him and he nodded twice. The wound on his head was evidently inflicted with an ax, which was found in the house. Eva is feeble minded and can give no account of the affair, but there is no reason to think that she had anything to do with the crime. -- kbz