Layne, Walter - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

A tragedy with a romance connected with it occurred Saturday night about 10 o’clock at the residence of George Layne, just beyond the Monon fill. Walter Layne, aged 19 years, is the son of George Layne, and previous to Saturday had been working at Darlington in the timber. Although Walter was in Darlington, his heart was in Crawfordsville and on all possible occasions he brought it to pass that his whole physical and spiritual anatomy was here. Walter, it seems, was desperately in love with Miss Maude Brooks, a 16 year old morsel of femininity with large melting brown eyes, who resides in his father’s immediate neighborhood. But Miss Maude, like others of her sex, was not prepared to be taken without a struggle, if, indeed, at all, so the course of true love did not run exactly smooth. George, it is said, attempted to make engagements with Maude last Sunday and last Wednesday, but on each occasion suffered the mortification of seeing her whisked off by an impudent rival. When he arrived in town Saturday, he went to Thompson & Cates’ second hand store and purchases a revolver, and then at another place secured cartridges to fit it. The weapon was a heavy 32 caliber, but when he purchased it he gave no intimation of his awful purpose. Walter loafed about town in the evening and, it is reported, saw the object of his affection meander along the street with another young man. About nine o’clock he met Charley Britton, a neighbor’s son and had a short conversation. They took a beer apiece at the Maud S Saloon on North Green Street, and then passed out. To Britton, Walter gave no hint of his intention to take his life, but a short time later he turned up at the Monon station and engaged Til Hampton in conversation. Mr. Hampton states that he appeared perfectly sober, but looked quite sad and melancholy. He declared to Mr. Hampton that he was tired of living and had purchased a revolver to blow his brains out. To give currency to this somewhat startling assertion he drew the weapon from his pocket and fondly patted it a few times with his hand. Even then Mr. Hampton would not believe him but advised him to go on home and throw the revolver in the fill on his way. The boy stood a few moments as though struggling with doubt and then thrusting the murderous revolver in his hip pocket and started for home. It was a quarter of an hour later, perhaps, that his father was aroused by hearing a neighbor’s dog barking furiously. He opened the door and stepped out into the yard to investigate the disturbance. Under a cherry tree about 12 feet from the house, he perceived a dark form lying prone upon the ground. He walked up to it and found his son, Walter, lying with his face hidden in his hands. He gave no response to inquiries as to what affected him, and for a minute his father stood irresolute about the evidently suffering boy. Even while he did so the lad suddenly started half up and in an instant, jerked the revolver from his pocket, placed it to his head and fired. He then staggered to his feet and fell against his father who placed out his arms to support him. Mr. Layne carried the senseless body into the house and soon the whole excited neighborhood was on the scene. Mr. Hampton and other undressed the lad and he was in bed when Dr. Ensminger arrived. It was found that the ball had entered the right temple, destroyed the vision of the right eye and lodged somewhere about the nose. The wounded lad called several times to those about him to help blow that member and also exhorted those present to “stay with Cleveland,” a piece of advice, by the way, which he was not bent on observing himself. The wound had not been intensely fatal because the weapon had been held at too high an angle, but the purpose of self destruction is indisputable.

Eli Jones and Bert Ezra stayed with the boy all night and after he became conscious endeavored to learn from him his reason for the rash deed but could get no satisfaction.

Yesterday a Journal representative called at the home and found the young man resting easily. Miss Brooks was there, with just a suspicion of a tear in her large brown eyes, and an interesting coterie of ladies of the neighborhood occupied seats about the premises, enlightened by the present of Mr. Eli Jones. The boy’s father, with his shirt all stained with his son’s blood, stood in the doorway and stated that he intended to prosecute the firm selling the revolver. During the morning Walter had asked for his clothes and when handed him, he had searched the pockets. When asked what he was hunting, he said the revolver was the object he desired and he wanted to know what had become of it. It was evident that he wanted to finish what he considered a bad job, so his father stated that the weapon was where he would never see it again. Young Layne is reported today as thriving on his dose of lead and he will probably recover. – thanks to S for this one

Source: Crawfordsville Daily Journal Tuesday, 17 January 1893