KILLED HIS FATHER.
John Zimmerman Maltreats and Threatens His Son While In a Drunken Frenzy and is Shot By the Latter.
Coroner's Jury Exonerates the Boy
Last Sunday evening between eight and nine o'clock occurred the most shocking tragedy in the history of this community. John Zimmerman while crazed by drink made a furious attack upon his nineteen-year-old son, Robert, and was shot by him. A charge of No. 6 shot entered the abdomen above the right groin, resulting in death in a few minutes.
The tragedy was the culmination of years of tyrannical and brutal treatment of the wife and children by the husband and father To the casual acquaintance and to most of those with whom he came in contact throught business transactions John Zimmerman was a gentleman in every respect, always courteous and punctual and faithful in fulfilling every obligation, but it is the unanimous testimony of those who were in a position to know, that in his own household he was an iron-handed tyrant. We were never more surprised than upon hearing that he was a drinking man. It seems, however, that he did his drinking at home, and often kept it up for weeks at a time. He always staid close during his sprees, working off the effects of the liquor by raising Cain with the family, his displeasure usually falling with extra force upon Robert, whom it seems to be his special delight to torment and abuse. Three years ago the oldest son was driven from home at the muzzle of a gun, and there are numerous instances of specially cruel acts to members of the family which, to spare the feelings of the wife and children we will not relate. Some will wonder, perhaps, why the neighbors did not interfere long ago, but a little reflection will show why. Half-way measres would only have recoiled upon the heads of the sufferers. When you thin it over, there were only two ways of solving the problem and one of them was put in effect last Sunday night. The other would have been fully as terrible, and probably more so. The heart-break and pity of it is that the famly could not have been delivered out of its hell in some other way. When asked why de did not leave home, Robert said he had thought of it, but could not bring himself to leave his mother and the other children.
The events which led to the shooting are related by Robert as follows: Mr. Simmerman had started in on one of his peridical drining spells on Monday The week passed with about the usual manifestations til Sunday. On Sunday evening while he was feeding the stock his father came out into the feed lots, and noticing one of the cows refused to eat, flew into a towering rage, accused him of having foundered the cow, and seizing a pitchfork gave him a mauling with it. Instead of being relieved by this outbreak he seemed to get uglier. When Robert finished the chores and returned to the house his father sent him to Price after a harmonica, which was a mere whim, of course, but the son went obediently upon the errand. He had been gone but a short time when the father began to curse and rage, saying he had been gone eight house, that he had ran away and wanted measures taken to notify the sheriff to arrest and bring him back. When he returned his father was just coming out of the cellar where he had been to get another drink. He assaulted the boy with a volley of imprecations and vile epithets, followed him into the sitting room and began beating him with his fists. This did not seem effective enough to suit him and he seized a chair. Mamie, who is next older than Robert, had always had some influence over her father, but in this supreme moment her power failed She had been trying to pacify hi all this time but without avail, and when he raised the chair to strike, she caught hold of it from behind and hung on with all her strength, and quite possibly saved her brother's life by so doing. As it was, Robert received a blow from the chair which gave him a scalp wound and the arm which he threw up to save his head was badly bruised. From the room in which this occurred, owing to the relative position of the parties when the chair was brought into play, there was but one way to escape for Robert--into a bedroom on the west. He ran into this room which has no other exit except upstairs. He started upstairs, when the thought occurred to him that if he went upstairs he would be cornered. He then thought of hiding behind the bedroom door and as his father passed in, dodging out behind him. As he stepped behind the door, he saw the gun, which it afterward transpired had been loaded and placed there by his father. Up to this momemt he says the thought of shooting his father, or even of resisting him in the slightest degree had never presented itself. From then thought was of escape, and the gun seemed a means to that end. His father was hurling frenzied threars at him and commanding in to come back and be killed. He picked up the gun, cocked it and stepped in the doorway. As he did so his father drew back the bhair which se still held as if to throw it, and he fired. The lights went out with the concussion of the gun. His father groaned and seemed to sink to the floor gradually. He did not speak, but groaned several times and expired in a few minutes. Mamie and Mrs. Zimmerman were the only witnesses of the shooting, the smaller children having gone to bed, John Jr, having gone to Bern to attend churh, and the oldest daughtr being away from home, Mrs, Zimmerman and Mamie corroborate Robert's story in every particular ecept that Mamie cannot say as to the attitude of her father at the moment of the shooting. She was looking at Robert and imploring him to put down the gun. The neighbors were notified at once, and Mr Stoltseimer, who works for D Bookholdt, was the first one to get there.
Coroner Murdock hld an inqust Monday, and the evidence dicited was in accordance with the foregoing account. The jury, consisting of J. L. Mowder, H. B. Lahr, E. Avery, R. L. Bird, E. B. Norrie and Wm. Quinn, returned a verdict in accordance with the facts, and adjudged the killing not felonious.
Coroner Murdock did not swear out a warrant and Sheriff Murray concluded to make no arrest.
There is a unanimous feeling in this prt of the county against any prosrcution of Robert for the killing. The county attorney has sent a petition here asking that there be no prosecution, and it is being signed by everybody. We presume that will end it. In the present temper of public sentiment there would certainly be great indignation should the authorities conclude to prosecute. The poor boy told us he had always obeyed his father, trying to do what was required of him and enduring his punishment with what fortitude he could summon. In answer to a question and without knowing that Robert had been interrogated upon this point, Mamie confirmed this statement emphatically and without hesitation. Such of the neighbors as we have asked confirm it too, and they feel that this last desperate act, when the pent up soul rebelled under accumulated the wrongs of years and the present fear of deadly harm was entirely justifiable, and should not have the punishment of a prosecution at law added to that which nature will entail and from which there is no escape.
John Zimmerman was a native of Prussia, and was born November 11, 1815. He served in the Union Army in the civil war. He married Clara Dennin in Sabetha July 4, 1868, and may the Lord have mercy on his miserable soul for the way he treated her. Twelve children were born to them of whom eight survive. In the order of their ages being Nellie, John, Mamie, Robert, Samuel, Emma, Herman and Minnie. The funeral was held at the U. B. church Tuesday afternoon, conducted by Elder Atkinson and the remains were buried in the Sabetha cemetery.
---The Sabetha Republican Herald, Thurs. March 4, 1897
John Zimmerman Maltreats and Threatens His Son While In a Drunken Frenzy and is Shot By the Latter.
Coroner's Jury Exonerates the Boy
Last Sunday evening between eight and nine o'clock occurred the most shocking tragedy in the history of this community. John Zimmerman while crazed by drink made a furious attack upon his nineteen-year-old son, Robert, and was shot by him. A charge of No. 6 shot entered the abdomen above the right groin, resulting in death in a few minutes.
The tragedy was the culmination of years of tyrannical and brutal treatment of the wife and children by the husband and father To the casual acquaintance and to most of those with whom he came in contact throught business transactions John Zimmerman was a gentleman in every respect, always courteous and punctual and faithful in fulfilling every obligation, but it is the unanimous testimony of those who were in a position to know, that in his own household he was an iron-handed tyrant. We were never more surprised than upon hearing that he was a drinking man. It seems, however, that he did his drinking at home, and often kept it up for weeks at a time. He always staid close during his sprees, working off the effects of the liquor by raising Cain with the family, his displeasure usually falling with extra force upon Robert, whom it seems to be his special delight to torment and abuse. Three years ago the oldest son was driven from home at the muzzle of a gun, and there are numerous instances of specially cruel acts to members of the family which, to spare the feelings of the wife and children we will not relate. Some will wonder, perhaps, why the neighbors did not interfere long ago, but a little reflection will show why. Half-way measres would only have recoiled upon the heads of the sufferers. When you thin it over, there were only two ways of solving the problem and one of them was put in effect last Sunday night. The other would have been fully as terrible, and probably more so. The heart-break and pity of it is that the famly could not have been delivered out of its hell in some other way. When asked why de did not leave home, Robert said he had thought of it, but could not bring himself to leave his mother and the other children.
The events which led to the shooting are related by Robert as follows: Mr. Simmerman had started in on one of his peridical drining spells on Monday The week passed with about the usual manifestations til Sunday. On Sunday evening while he was feeding the stock his father came out into the feed lots, and noticing one of the cows refused to eat, flew into a towering rage, accused him of having foundered the cow, and seizing a pitchfork gave him a mauling with it. Instead of being relieved by this outbreak he seemed to get uglier. When Robert finished the chores and returned to the house his father sent him to Price after a harmonica, which was a mere whim, of course, but the son went obediently upon the errand. He had been gone but a short time when the father began to curse and rage, saying he had been gone eight house, that he had ran away and wanted measures taken to notify the sheriff to arrest and bring him back. When he returned his father was just coming out of the cellar where he had been to get another drink. He assaulted the boy with a volley of imprecations and vile epithets, followed him into the sitting room and began beating him with his fists. This did not seem effective enough to suit him and he seized a chair. Mamie, who is next older than Robert, had always had some influence over her father, but in this supreme moment her power failed She had been trying to pacify hi all this time but without avail, and when he raised the chair to strike, she caught hold of it from behind and hung on with all her strength, and quite possibly saved her brother's life by so doing. As it was, Robert received a blow from the chair which gave him a scalp wound and the arm which he threw up to save his head was badly bruised. From the room in which this occurred, owing to the relative position of the parties when the chair was brought into play, there was but one way to escape for Robert--into a bedroom on the west. He ran into this room which has no other exit except upstairs. He started upstairs, when the thought occurred to him that if he went upstairs he would be cornered. He then thought of hiding behind the bedroom door and as his father passed in, dodging out behind him. As he stepped behind the door, he saw the gun, which it afterward transpired had been loaded and placed there by his father. Up to this momemt he says the thought of shooting his father, or even of resisting him in the slightest degree had never presented itself. From then thought was of escape, and the gun seemed a means to that end. His father was hurling frenzied threars at him and commanding in to come back and be killed. He picked up the gun, cocked it and stepped in the doorway. As he did so his father drew back the bhair which se still held as if to throw it, and he fired. The lights went out with the concussion of the gun. His father groaned and seemed to sink to the floor gradually. He did not speak, but groaned several times and expired in a few minutes. Mamie and Mrs. Zimmerman were the only witnesses of the shooting, the smaller children having gone to bed, John Jr, having gone to Bern to attend churh, and the oldest daughtr being away from home, Mrs, Zimmerman and Mamie corroborate Robert's story in every particular ecept that Mamie cannot say as to the attitude of her father at the moment of the shooting. She was looking at Robert and imploring him to put down the gun. The neighbors were notified at once, and Mr Stoltseimer, who works for D Bookholdt, was the first one to get there.
Coroner Murdock hld an inqust Monday, and the evidence dicited was in accordance with the foregoing account. The jury, consisting of J. L. Mowder, H. B. Lahr, E. Avery, R. L. Bird, E. B. Norrie and Wm. Quinn, returned a verdict in accordance with the facts, and adjudged the killing not felonious.
Coroner Murdock did not swear out a warrant and Sheriff Murray concluded to make no arrest.
There is a unanimous feeling in this prt of the county against any prosrcution of Robert for the killing. The county attorney has sent a petition here asking that there be no prosecution, and it is being signed by everybody. We presume that will end it. In the present temper of public sentiment there would certainly be great indignation should the authorities conclude to prosecute. The poor boy told us he had always obeyed his father, trying to do what was required of him and enduring his punishment with what fortitude he could summon. In answer to a question and without knowing that Robert had been interrogated upon this point, Mamie confirmed this statement emphatically and without hesitation. Such of the neighbors as we have asked confirm it too, and they feel that this last desperate act, when the pent up soul rebelled under accumulated the wrongs of years and the present fear of deadly harm was entirely justifiable, and should not have the punishment of a prosecution at law added to that which nature will entail and from which there is no escape.
John Zimmerman was a native of Prussia, and was born November 11, 1815. He served in the Union Army in the civil war. He married Clara Dennin in Sabetha July 4, 1868, and may the Lord have mercy on his miserable soul for the way he treated her. Twelve children were born to them of whom eight survive. In the order of their ages being Nellie, John, Mamie, Robert, Samuel, Emma, Herman and Minnie. The funeral was held at the U. B. church Tuesday afternoon, conducted by Elder Atkinson and the remains were buried in the Sabetha cemetery.
---The Sabetha Republican Herald, Thurs. March 4, 1897
KILLED HIS FATHER.
John Zimmerman Maltreats and Threatens His Son While In a Drunken Frenzy and is Shot By the Latter.
Coroner's Jury Exonerates the Boy
Last Sunday evening between eight and nine o'clock occurred the most shocking tragedy in the history of this community. John Zimmerman while crazed by drink made a furious attack upon his nineteen-year-old son, Robert, and was shot by him. A charge of No. 6 shot entered the abdomen above the right groin, resulting in death in a few minutes.
The tragedy was the culmination of years of tyrannical and brutal treatment of the wife and children by the husband and father To the casual acquaintance and to most of those with whom he came in contact throught business transactions John Zimmerman was a gentleman in every respect, always courteous and punctual and faithful in fulfilling every obligation, but it is the unanimous testimony of those who were in a position to know, that in his own household he was an iron-handed tyrant. We were never more surprised than upon hearing that he was a drinking man. It seems, however, that he did his drinking at home, and often kept it up for weeks at a time. He always staid close during his sprees, working off the effects of the liquor by raising Cain with the family, his displeasure usually falling with extra force upon Robert, whom it seems to be his special delight to torment and abuse. Three years ago the oldest son was driven from home at the muzzle of a gun, and there are numerous instances of specially cruel acts to members of the family which, to spare the feelings of the wife and children we will not relate. Some will wonder, perhaps, why the neighbors did not interfere long ago, but a little reflection will show why. Half-way measres would only have recoiled upon the heads of the sufferers. When you thin it over, there were only two ways of solving the problem and one of them was put in effect last Sunday night. The other would have been fully as terrible, and probably more so. The heart-break and pity of it is that the famly could not have been delivered out of its hell in some other way. When asked why de did not leave home, Robert said he had thought of it, but could not bring himself to leave his mother and the other children.
The events which led to the shooting are related by Robert as follows: Mr. Simmerman had started in on one of his peridical drining spells on Monday The week passed with about the usual manifestations til Sunday. On Sunday evening while he was feeding the stock his father came out into the feed lots, and noticing one of the cows refused to eat, flew into a towering rage, accused him of having foundered the cow, and seizing a pitchfork gave him a mauling with it. Instead of being relieved by this outbreak he seemed to get uglier. When Robert finished the chores and returned to the house his father sent him to Price after a harmonica, which was a mere whim, of course, but the son went obediently upon the errand. He had been gone but a short time when the father began to curse and rage, saying he had been gone eight house, that he had ran away and wanted measures taken to notify the sheriff to arrest and bring him back. When he returned his father was just coming out of the cellar where he had been to get another drink. He assaulted the boy with a volley of imprecations and vile epithets, followed him into the sitting room and began beating him with his fists. This did not seem effective enough to suit him and he seized a chair. Mamie, who is next older than Robert, had always had some influence over her father, but in this supreme moment her power failed She had been trying to pacify hi all this time but without avail, and when he raised the chair to strike, she caught hold of it from behind and hung on with all her strength, and quite possibly saved her brother's life by so doing. As it was, Robert received a blow from the chair which gave him a scalp wound and the arm which he threw up to save his head was badly bruised. From the room in which this occurred, owing to the relative position of the parties when the chair was brought into play, there was but one way to escape for Robert--into a bedroom on the west. He ran into this room which has no other exit except upstairs. He started upstairs, when the thought occurred to him that if he went upstairs he would be cornered. He then thought of hiding behind the bedroom door and as his father passed in, dodging out behind him. As he stepped behind the door, he saw the gun, which it afterward transpired had been loaded and placed there by his father. Up to this momemt he says the thought of shooting his father, or even of resisting him in the slightest degree had never presented itself. From then thought was of escape, and the gun seemed a means to that end. His father was hurling frenzied threars at him and commanding in to come back and be killed. He picked up the gun, cocked it and stepped in the doorway. As he did so his father drew back the bhair which se still held as if to throw it, and he fired. The lights went out with the concussion of the gun. His father groaned and seemed to sink to the floor gradually. He did not speak, but groaned several times and expired in a few minutes. Mamie and Mrs. Zimmerman were the only witnesses of the shooting, the smaller children having gone to bed, John Jr, having gone to Bern to attend churh, and the oldest daughtr being away from home, Mrs, Zimmerman and Mamie corroborate Robert's story in every particular ecept that Mamie cannot say as to the attitude of her father at the moment of the shooting. She was looking at Robert and imploring him to put down the gun. The neighbors were notified at once, and Mr Stoltseimer, who works for D Bookholdt, was the first one to get there.
Coroner Murdock hld an inqust Monday, and the evidence dicited was in accordance with the foregoing account. The jury, consisting of J. L. Mowder, H. B. Lahr, E. Avery, R. L. Bird, E. B. Norrie and Wm. Quinn, returned a verdict in accordance with the facts, and adjudged the killing not felonious.
Coroner Murdock did not swear out a warrant and Sheriff Murray concluded to make no arrest.
There is a unanimous feeling in this prt of the county against any prosrcution of Robert for the killing. The county attorney has sent a petition here asking that there be no prosecution, and it is being signed by everybody. We presume that will end it. In the present temper of public sentiment there would certainly be great indignation should the authorities conclude to prosecute. The poor boy told us he had always obeyed his father, trying to do what was required of him and enduring his punishment with what fortitude he could summon. In answer to a question and without knowing that Robert had been interrogated upon this point, Mamie confirmed this statement emphatically and without hesitation. Such of the neighbors as we have asked confirm it too, and they feel that this last desperate act, when the pent up soul rebelled under accumulated the wrongs of years and the present fear of deadly harm was entirely justifiable, and should not have the punishment of a prosecution at law added to that which nature will entail and from which there is no escape.
John Zimmerman was a native of Prussia, and was born November 11, 1815. He served in the Union Army in the civil war. He married Clara Dennin in Sabetha July 4, 1868, and may the Lord have mercy on his miserable soul for the way he treated her. Twelve children were born to them of whom eight survive. In the order of their ages being Nellie, John, Mamie, Robert, Samuel, Emma, Herman and Minnie. The funeral was held at the U. B. church Tuesday afternoon, conducted by Elder Atkinson and the remains were buried in the Sabetha cemetery.
---The Sabetha Republican Herald, Thurs. March 4, 1897
John Zimmerman Maltreats and Threatens His Son While In a Drunken Frenzy and is Shot By the Latter.
Coroner's Jury Exonerates the Boy
Last Sunday evening between eight and nine o'clock occurred the most shocking tragedy in the history of this community. John Zimmerman while crazed by drink made a furious attack upon his nineteen-year-old son, Robert, and was shot by him. A charge of No. 6 shot entered the abdomen above the right groin, resulting in death in a few minutes.
The tragedy was the culmination of years of tyrannical and brutal treatment of the wife and children by the husband and father To the casual acquaintance and to most of those with whom he came in contact throught business transactions John Zimmerman was a gentleman in every respect, always courteous and punctual and faithful in fulfilling every obligation, but it is the unanimous testimony of those who were in a position to know, that in his own household he was an iron-handed tyrant. We were never more surprised than upon hearing that he was a drinking man. It seems, however, that he did his drinking at home, and often kept it up for weeks at a time. He always staid close during his sprees, working off the effects of the liquor by raising Cain with the family, his displeasure usually falling with extra force upon Robert, whom it seems to be his special delight to torment and abuse. Three years ago the oldest son was driven from home at the muzzle of a gun, and there are numerous instances of specially cruel acts to members of the family which, to spare the feelings of the wife and children we will not relate. Some will wonder, perhaps, why the neighbors did not interfere long ago, but a little reflection will show why. Half-way measres would only have recoiled upon the heads of the sufferers. When you thin it over, there were only two ways of solving the problem and one of them was put in effect last Sunday night. The other would have been fully as terrible, and probably more so. The heart-break and pity of it is that the famly could not have been delivered out of its hell in some other way. When asked why de did not leave home, Robert said he had thought of it, but could not bring himself to leave his mother and the other children.
The events which led to the shooting are related by Robert as follows: Mr. Simmerman had started in on one of his peridical drining spells on Monday The week passed with about the usual manifestations til Sunday. On Sunday evening while he was feeding the stock his father came out into the feed lots, and noticing one of the cows refused to eat, flew into a towering rage, accused him of having foundered the cow, and seizing a pitchfork gave him a mauling with it. Instead of being relieved by this outbreak he seemed to get uglier. When Robert finished the chores and returned to the house his father sent him to Price after a harmonica, which was a mere whim, of course, but the son went obediently upon the errand. He had been gone but a short time when the father began to curse and rage, saying he had been gone eight house, that he had ran away and wanted measures taken to notify the sheriff to arrest and bring him back. When he returned his father was just coming out of the cellar where he had been to get another drink. He assaulted the boy with a volley of imprecations and vile epithets, followed him into the sitting room and began beating him with his fists. This did not seem effective enough to suit him and he seized a chair. Mamie, who is next older than Robert, had always had some influence over her father, but in this supreme moment her power failed She had been trying to pacify hi all this time but without avail, and when he raised the chair to strike, she caught hold of it from behind and hung on with all her strength, and quite possibly saved her brother's life by so doing. As it was, Robert received a blow from the chair which gave him a scalp wound and the arm which he threw up to save his head was badly bruised. From the room in which this occurred, owing to the relative position of the parties when the chair was brought into play, there was but one way to escape for Robert--into a bedroom on the west. He ran into this room which has no other exit except upstairs. He started upstairs, when the thought occurred to him that if he went upstairs he would be cornered. He then thought of hiding behind the bedroom door and as his father passed in, dodging out behind him. As he stepped behind the door, he saw the gun, which it afterward transpired had been loaded and placed there by his father. Up to this momemt he says the thought of shooting his father, or even of resisting him in the slightest degree had never presented itself. From then thought was of escape, and the gun seemed a means to that end. His father was hurling frenzied threars at him and commanding in to come back and be killed. He picked up the gun, cocked it and stepped in the doorway. As he did so his father drew back the bhair which se still held as if to throw it, and he fired. The lights went out with the concussion of the gun. His father groaned and seemed to sink to the floor gradually. He did not speak, but groaned several times and expired in a few minutes. Mamie and Mrs. Zimmerman were the only witnesses of the shooting, the smaller children having gone to bed, John Jr, having gone to Bern to attend churh, and the oldest daughtr being away from home, Mrs, Zimmerman and Mamie corroborate Robert's story in every particular ecept that Mamie cannot say as to the attitude of her father at the moment of the shooting. She was looking at Robert and imploring him to put down the gun. The neighbors were notified at once, and Mr Stoltseimer, who works for D Bookholdt, was the first one to get there.
Coroner Murdock hld an inqust Monday, and the evidence dicited was in accordance with the foregoing account. The jury, consisting of J. L. Mowder, H. B. Lahr, E. Avery, R. L. Bird, E. B. Norrie and Wm. Quinn, returned a verdict in accordance with the facts, and adjudged the killing not felonious.
Coroner Murdock did not swear out a warrant and Sheriff Murray concluded to make no arrest.
There is a unanimous feeling in this prt of the county against any prosrcution of Robert for the killing. The county attorney has sent a petition here asking that there be no prosecution, and it is being signed by everybody. We presume that will end it. In the present temper of public sentiment there would certainly be great indignation should the authorities conclude to prosecute. The poor boy told us he had always obeyed his father, trying to do what was required of him and enduring his punishment with what fortitude he could summon. In answer to a question and without knowing that Robert had been interrogated upon this point, Mamie confirmed this statement emphatically and without hesitation. Such of the neighbors as we have asked confirm it too, and they feel that this last desperate act, when the pent up soul rebelled under accumulated the wrongs of years and the present fear of deadly harm was entirely justifiable, and should not have the punishment of a prosecution at law added to that which nature will entail and from which there is no escape.
John Zimmerman was a native of Prussia, and was born November 11, 1815. He served in the Union Army in the civil war. He married Clara Dennin in Sabetha July 4, 1868, and may the Lord have mercy on his miserable soul for the way he treated her. Twelve children were born to them of whom eight survive. In the order of their ages being Nellie, John, Mamie, Robert, Samuel, Emma, Herman and Minnie. The funeral was held at the U. B. church Tuesday afternoon, conducted by Elder Atkinson and the remains were buried in the Sabetha cemetery.
---The Sabetha Republican Herald, Thurs. March 4, 1897
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