LIE E, 
/. - ■ 
TRIAL AND EXECUTION 
OIB* 
EDWARD H. RULOFF, 
THE PERPETRATOR OF EIGHT MURDERS, . 
NUMEROUS BURGL'ARIWAND OTHER CRIMES; 
WHO WAS RECENTLY HANGED AT BINGHAMTON, N. Y. 
A MAK SHROUDED IK MYSTERY! 
A LEARNED RUFFIAN! 
WAS HE MAK OR FIEND.. 
PUBIISIIED BY 
BARCLAY & CO, 21 N. SEVENTH STREET, 
P-BiILADeIiFHIA, ZE3 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S72, by 
B A R C L A Y & C 0., 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. LIFE OF 
EDWARD H. RULOFF, 
THE 
PERPETRATOR OF EIGHT MURDERS. 
This man, Edward II. Ruloff, passed through a career which has few 
parallels in the calendar of crimes. He was born in 1819 at Hammond 
River, in New Brunswick. His parents were Germans, who were re- 
spected in the community where they resided. During his youth he was 
only remarkable for a passion for desultory reading; but it does not 
appear that at this time of life he acquired any special branches of know- 
ledge in this way, or that any were taught him. As he grew older, 
however, he achieved a local celebrity for the variety of accomplishments 
which he developed. 
The lad studied pharmacy in a drug shop at St. Johns; but the mis- 
fortunes of his employer obliged both to relinquish that business, and 
Ruloff turned his attention to the study of law, with a somewhat noted 
Canadian barrister, Duncan Robertson. With an almost incredible 
rapidity he mastered the details of common law, and qualified himself for 
the highest practice at the Canadian bar. In the beginning of his success 
Ruloff gave the first indication of his lack of moral restraint. With all 
things possible to him, having the most brilliant prospects before him, he 
deliberately turned aside to do the meanest kind of theft, and, when 
chaiged by his former employer, who held the proofs, he insolently re- 
pelled the offer of clemency, and was sentenced to the St. Johns Peniten- 
tiary for two years. 
Ruloff next appeared in New York City; but, unsuccessful and dis. 
gusted, he shook the dust of the Metropolis from his feet, and, penetrating 
inland, before the days of railroads, late in 1842, he halted in the little 
town of Dryden, Tompkins County. Vastly superior in mind and body 
to the people thereabout, he very soon obtained a favorable reputation, 
and, by specious and well-timed tales, he made himself the particular 
favorite of the honest country people. From an humble toiler on the 
canal he was promoted to a remunerative clerkship in the town apothe- 
cary shop, and he did his work with good temper and address. Deserting 
19 20 
LIFE OF EDWARD II. RULOFF. 
this uncongenial trade, he became teacher of a High School, and, as 
usual, acquitted himself with great credit. Here he fell in love with one 
of his scholars, Harriet Schutt, a girl of 16 years, of most exemplary con- 
duct, and the daughter of respectable parents. The young man was 
distrusted by the relatives of the girl, and every effort was made to break 
off the engagement; but, as the young lady was determined, all opposi- 
tion was finally withdrawn, and the marriage ceremony was performed. 
Before a month had passed, the young man was revealed to his new 
kinsmen as a thief and a coward. lie made a slave of his wife, and he 
insulted and reviled her friends. When the place had grown too hot for 
him, he removed to Lansing, within a few miles of Ithaca, and practised 
medicine. After suspicion had been disarmed, he poisoned the babe of 
his wife's kinsman, Mr. W. II. Schutt, of Ithaca. Then he tried the 
mother, and she, too, died in convulsions-unmistakably the results of 
poison. His learning was so great, and his character, at the time, so 
unsuspected, that no taint of suspicion rested upon him. 
MURDERS HIS WIFE AND CHILD. 
These were the events that preceded the most inexplicable of his 
crimes. On the 23d of June, 1845, Ruloff attempted to poison his child, 
and when he was prevented by the mother, he insisted upon her taking 
the potion herself. She consented, but suddenly changing his mind, he 
snatched the stuff from her hands and threw it in the fire. This scene 
took place before a witness; who was called in by Ruloff himself. The 
n ext day the blinds of the Doctor's house remained closed, but curiosity 
was for a time set at rest when Rulofij at 9 o'clock, came forth, and 
going to a neighbor, a Mr. Robertson, whose daughter had witnessed the 
altercation of the previous day, he borrowed a horse and wagon. His 
wife's uncle, he explained, had visited them late the previous evening, 
ä nd had taken the wife and child home with him on a visit. The uncle 
had been obliged, however, to leave behind him a heavy box, and he 
(Ruloff) was now to take it over to Mott's Corner's, where his wife's 
relative lived. The confiding neighbor was happy to comply with the 
request, and helped the husband to lift the box, which, no doubt, con- 
tained the remains of his wife and child, into the vehicle. Without the 
slightest tremor the murderer went through this ordeal, and when Mr. 
Robertson returned to his home, he had no suspicion of wrong. Ruloff 
got lightly into the wagon, gaily bade his neighbors good-bye, and drove 
down the dusty turnpike, whistling softly as the horse moved along. 
Meeting a group of children on the road, he invited them to take seats in 
his wagon, and passed the time with gay songs. He drove during the 
whole of the day, and arrived at Ithaca as evening came on. He calmly 
unharnessed his horse, and enjoyed himself at the inn. 
At midnight this man arose, and drove to the shore of Cayuga Lake, 
and there, unaided and alone, transferred the box from the wagon to a LIFE OF EDWARD II. RULOFF. 
21 
boat, and cast the bodies into the centre of the lake. Subsequently he 
boasted of having securely wrapped the bodies in untempered wire, so 
that they could never become unfastened, and that, by the aid of a heavy 
mortar and a flat iron, they were both securely anchored at the bottom 
of the lake. Some, however, doubted this monstrous story. It was, and 
is stoutly maintained that the bodies of the victims were sold to the 
Geneva Medical College, and some circumstances seemed to attest the 
truth of the revolting charge. Ruloff returned home the next day, and 
lifted the empty box from the wagon, without the aid of his somewhat 
astonished neighbor. The murderer then made his way to the kinsmen 
of his wife, braved the danger of detection, and invented a trivial tale to 
account for the absence of his wife. The matter soon became the subject 
of common conversation. Yet Ruloff, with that singular assurance that 
has marked his whole career, calmly remained at the house of his brother- 
in-law. Finally he announced to the mother of his wife that her daughter 
was in Ohio. Suspicion had taken hold of the public, however, and the 
fiction which quieted the mother did not impose upon the people at large. 
A committee visited him and demanded that he should produce his wife 
and child, or tell where they were to be found. He promised compliance, 
and when the party had left him, he fled from the town and ran all the 
way to Auburn, a distance of forty-five miles, between sunrise and sunset. 
With feet blistered and swollen he got aboard the train at that place, and 
came face to face with his brother-in-law, who had been sent on to arrest 
the fugitive. A master of deceit, Ruloff removed the suspicions of his 
captor, whom he actually induced to accompany him on a pretended 
visit to his wife. At Buffalo he gave the slip to his credulous relative, 
whom he left to go on the steamer to Cleveland, while he, himself, re- 
mained at Buffalo until the next day. 
TRIED AND SENTENCED. 
After a journey to the town in Ohio where the wife and child were 
alleged to be, the brother-in-law returned to Cleveland, and, with the aid 
of the police, seized Ruloff in a low den on the wharf. He was taken 
back to Ithaca, tried for the abduction of his wife and child, and sentenced 
to ten years in the Auburn State Prison. This was in 18-16. No testi- 
mony could be produced to convict him of the murder of his family. 
The lake was dragged for weeks, but the bodies were never discovered. 
In prison, a new phase of character was developed. The man of blood 
became a patient, amiable book-worm, and pursued with a tireless zeal 
all the volumes of science and art that the kindness of his jailer would 
allow him, and his own limited means could procure. lie was employed 
in every department of prison industry. To every mechanical task, no 
matter how trivial, he applied some new principle. He finally became a 
pattern designer, and some beautiful specimens are the result of his 
genius. In 1856 his term expired, and he was released upon society. LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
22 
The people were more bitter than ever against the learned murderer, and 
he was confronted with a new charge of murder instead of abduction. 
Skilled in the intricacies of the law, he laughed in the face of the sheriff, 
and, with great, good humor, accompanied him to the Ithaca jail. He 
set to work diligently to prepare the argument for his own case, and 
when the day of trial came he astounded Bar and Bench by his familiar- 
ity with the principles and rulings of the legal tribunals. It did not need 
the elaborate arguments of the accomplished criminal, however, to con- 
vince the District-Attorney that the charge of murder, after the former 
trial, was untenable, and reluctantly the criminal was ordered to be set at 
liberty. 
AGAIN SENTENCED-AN ESCAPE. 
But the people pertinaciously referred to the charge in another form. 
He was indicted for the murder of his child, and was remanded to jail. 
In time he was pronounced guilty, and sentenced to be hanged. Here ho 
practised the same arts for which he had always been distinguished. Ho 
so worked upon the feelings of the jailer that his escape was a matter of 
no difficulty. The son of the jailer, a promising lad of twenty years, was 
put in charge of the prison to receive instruction from Ruloff in Latin 
and other studies, and in time fell completely under the influence of his 
teacher. The two fled in May, 1857, and for months Ruloff wandered 
through the mountainous districts of Northern Pennsylvania. Here his 
career differs in no essential feature from that of any vulgar criminal. 
Petty thefts and deceits carried him on until 1858, when, sick of the con- 
tinual torture of the charge hanging over him, and, perhaps, fully 
conscious that the law could not take his life, he gave himself into the 
hands of the law, and, after an exhaustive trial, he was again released 
after a thirteen years' combat with justice. The people of Ithaca were 
enraged beyond expression by this final triumph of the murderer, and in 
March, 1859, a turbulent mass assembled before the prison, resolved to 
tear the monster in pieces before permitting him to escape them again. 
The sheriff had anticipated something of the kind, and removed the 
prisoner before the appointed time. At this time suspicion pointed to 
the first murder committed by Ruloff, and the bodies of his victims were 
sent to Prof. Doremus for analysis. The report exasperated still further 
the public mind, and the criminal wandered about in secrecy and con- 
tinual fear. 
' HIS LAST CRIME. 
Prom the date of his release, in 1859, to that of his arrest in Bingham- 
ton, in 1870, for the murder of Frederick A. Mirrick, he alternated in 
the role of a professor of languages, a lawyer, etc., between the metropolis 
and the western district of Pennsylvania, where his brother, Ruloff 
Ruloffson, a respectable citizen of Ridgeway, resides. On the night of 
the 16th of August, 1870, the store of Messrs. Hallock, of Binghamton, 
was entered, and a quantity of silks stolen from the shelves and bundled LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
23 
up as for removal, by a party of men wearing masks. Two of the party, 
there being three in all, busied themselves in securing the goods, while 
the third stood guard at the bedside of two clerks who slept in the 
building. The clerks, awakened by these operations, arose and attacked 
the watcher, whose cries caused his companions to abandon their designs 
on the goods, and come to his rescue. In the ensuing struggle two of 
th« burglars received injuries, and Frederick A. Mirrick, clerk, was 
killed by a pistol shot in the head, at the hands of one of the gang. The 
surviving clerk ran to the street and gave an alarm; the burglars escaped 
to the rear and fled, leaving behind them, among other things, a pair of 
shoes, one of which was ill-shaped and fitted by long wear to a deformed 
left foot. A cordon of pickets surrounded the city, and maintained a 
vigilance for three days and nights. The banks of the Chenango River, 
near which the premises are situated, were searched above and below the 
scene of the murder, but to no purpose. On the second night following 
the occurrence two pickets, stationed at the Erie Railway dry bridge, on 
the eastern border of the city, saw a man approaching from the town 
along the railway track. On being ordered to halt and questioned as to 
his character, and how he came to be travelling on foot at midnight, he 
stated that he was cn route for New York, had been ejected from the 
train at Union, ten miles below Binghamton, for lack of money, and had 
concluded to walk to New York. The pickets stated their business, and 
said they must detain him for examination. While engaged in the 
parley a freight train, eastward bound, arrived opposite their standing 
place on another track. The stranger dashed across ahead of the engine 
to the peril of his life, and before he could be reached the long train 
rushed between the pickets and their man, and all trace of him for a time 
was lost. After a long search he was found in an outhouse near by, 
examined, and taken to the city jail. No tools or weapons were found 
upon his person, nothing but an unused ticket from New York to 
Batavia, which attracted attention. 
BEFORE THE CORONER'S JURY. 
On being summoned before the Coroner's Jury, then engaged in taking 
evidence in the case, Ruloff maintained a stolid indifference of the bur- 
glary and murder of which he was suspected as an accomplice. He 
repeated the story of his unfortunate ejection from the cars at Union, but 
refused to state why he was travelling toward New York, with a ticket 
from the latter place to Batavia in his possession. The attention of 
Judge Balcom of the Supreme Court, residing at Binghamton, was called 
to the prisoner, who had assumed a haughty, professional air, declaring 
that there being no good grounds for suspicion, he could not be held 
legally for examination. The Judge, after a moment's short scrutiny of 
the man, said to him: "You are Edward H. Ruloff; you murdered your 
wife and child at Lansing, in 1845; you escaped the gallows, but were 24 
LIFE OF EDWARD II. RULOFF. 
sentenced to ten years' imprisonment;" then he said to the jury: "This 
man understands his rights better than you do, and will defend them to 
the last." Nothing abashed by this accusation, the prisoner maintained 
that he left the cars at Union. His business, he said, was that of a 
lawyer; he resided in New York under an assumed name, and was well 
known in the courts, where be had practised for years. At this juncture 
the District-Attorney was called from the room, and Ruloff* was allowed 
to pass out, discharged for want of evidence. 
THE CROOKED SHOE. 
When the news of the prisoner's real character became known on the 
streets, which at this time were filled with an excited crowd, the Treasurer 
of the County, Mr. A. C. Mathews, an old resident of Broome, came into 
the court-room to obtain a nearer view of RuloffJ whose case he remem- 
bered in connection with the Tompkins County affair. On learning that 
Ruloff* had been allowed to depart, he procured a conveyance, and, with) 
the deformed shoes left by the burglars on the night of the murder in his 
possession, accompanied by Deputy-Sheriff* Brown, succeeded in over- 
taking the fugitive five miles east of Binghamton, which distance the 
latter had traversed in less than an hour after leaving the court-room. 
On this, his second arrest, Buloft* began to show signs of uneasiness, and, 
being ordered by the sheriff* to remove his left boot, producing at the 
same instant the tell-tale shoe, he sank to the ground overcome with 
emotion, and when stray bits of cloth stuffed in the boot to fill the cavity 
of a deformed foot were removed, and the foot slipped to its place natu- 
rally in the crooked shoe, sweat literally poured from his brow. A 
second time he was remanded to custody, with small hopes of another 
release. Still there was room for doubt. The deformed foot might be a 
coincidence, and one of the escaped burglars might yet be found to be 
the doomed wearer of the crooked shoe. But the morning of the third 
day after the murder, the bodies of two men were discovered floating in 
the Chenango, near the scene of the tragedy, the one badly bruised and 
scarred with open wounds, in stocking feet; the other a tall, burly fellow, 
with feet encased in rubbers, both answering to the description given by 
Burrows, the surviving clerk. Neither of the drowned men had a de- 
formed foot, but one of them did have on his person a ticket from New 
York to Batavia, bearing the same date as that of Ruloff*. These bodies 
were subsequently identified as those of Albert Jarvis and William T. 
Dexter, of New York, and the fact of Ruloff's intimacy with them was 
established beyond contradiction. On trial he was proved to have occu- 
pied rooms with Jarvis for more than a year on Third avenue, in that 
city, where burglar's tools were found. IIis intimacy with Dexter was 
also established unmistakably by proof that he was in Dexter's company 
in that city frequently ; that he did business for Dexter as an attorney 
under several aliases; that he was often at Dexter's house in Williams- LIFE OF EDWARD II. RULOFF. 
25 
burgh, and that Dexter sometimes was at the house of Ruloff. The pair 
of shoes were identified positively as belonging to Ruloff, and it was 
shown in evidence that Ruloff was seen in Binghamton on the afternoon 
and evening before the murder, wearing those shoes. The testimony was 
relied on that he was there in company with his friends, who wero 
wounded while engaged in the burglary and murder, and afterward 
drowned. 
In the face of this testimony, the prisoner, after he was convicted 
asked that sentence be deferred, and time allowed him to review the evi- 
dence, and to ask for a new trial. The penalty of death was pronounced, 
notwithstanding, and the third day of March last was fixed for execution. 
The trial was conducted in the midst of an excitement among the popu- 
lace equal to that during the trial of the prisoner for his former crimes, 
Citizens from Tompkins, Tioga, Cortland, and other counties adjoining 
Broome, thronged the city during the course of the trial, and so eager 
were the crowds to obtain a view of the prisoner, and give vent to their 
indignation, that it was with difficulty he was conducted from the court- 
house to prison. During his incarceration, the mother of the missing 
wife visited his cell, and received a shock that resulted in death a few 
days afterward. The motion for a new trial, made by Ruloff's counsel 
on a writ of error, was argued in the February term of the Supreme 
Court at Albany, and the decision of the Court of Oyer and Terminer 
was affirmed. Judge Rapello, of the Court of Appeals, gave hearing, on 
the 29th day of February last, to an application for a writ of error and 
stay of proceedings, which was granted, and the case placed at the head 
of the calendar for the loth day of March. The Court held, that tho 
points presented were matters of fact upon which the jury that con- 
victed Ruloff had passed, and could not now be reconsidered; that the 
statements of the prisoner's counsel were not borne out by the evidence 
taken, and it was a matter of surprise that objections should now be made 
to portions of the rulings of the Judge at the Oyer and Terminer, which, 
at the time, passed without challenge or comment. The prisoner's coun- 
sel claimed that the feelings of the people at the time of trial were so 
intense that it was impossible to obtain witnesses, and that the doctors 
who made the post-mortem examination of the murdered clerk were not 
cross-examined; that they confessed they were afraid to state their real 
'opinions in the face of the angry mob that filled the court-house; that the 
experts who were summoned as witnesses for the prisoner asked to be 
excused, because of their dependence upon the people of the city, and* the 
certainty of their ruin if they testified in the prisoner's favor. A strong 
argument was made; but the fact that the points relied on were facts 
entirely within the province of the jury to decide, settled the case against 
the appellant. In accordance with this decision, Ruloff was resentenced, 
by the Spring Term of the Supreme Court at Elmira, and the 18th of 
May fixed as the day of execution. The Court listened to an address by 
Ruloff, in which the midnight melee was faithfully portrayed, the prisoner 26 
LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF 
laboring at length to show that not he, but Jarvis, the younger of the 
drowned burglars, fired the fatal shot; that it was done at a time when 
Jarvis's own life was in imminent peril; that neither Ruloff nor Dexter, 
the other burglar, were in a position to ward off the danger threatening 
Jarvis, and to prevent the shedding of blood. 
Ruloff's Theory of Languages.-As regards the theory of lan- 
guages for which Ruloff obtained so much notoriety, it may best be 
shown in his own language as follows: 
Binghamton, Jan. 1G, 1871. 
I have never yet published one word in refutation of error or of falsehood circu- 
lated by the Press in connection with my name. It is not my purpose to do so now. 
I prefer, if it so please, to remain as heretofore, misunderstood and unknown, an 
object of indiscriminate slander, reproach, and execration. But, strange as it may 
seem, no man this day upon God's earth has lived with a higher object than myself, 
and few have accomplished a more desirable result. Though laboring under every 
disadvantage, I have steadily persisted; and even now a few words may be said by 
way of insuring success to the work upon which my health, my strength, and all the 
best energies of my life have been expended-that is, my work upon " Method in the 
Formation of Language." Th&t wrork may now have to be published without being 
completed. It contains, in the form of a regular treatise, most of the leading princi- 
ples connected with the formation of methodical language. Its design was at once to 
furnish 5000 illustrative examples. But the examples not being as yet arranged, the 
application of the principles without the examples may not be easily seen; and to 
prevent the rejection of the work on that or any similar account is the object of the 
fo 11 o w in g rem ar k s. 
Fundamental facts in relation to the subject are these: From the four and twenty 
letters of an ordinary alphabet, without some special method, such elegant, copious 
and euphonious languages as are now in use cannot possibly be formed. At a very 
remote period the wants of advancing civilization begetting the necessity for such a 
language, a corresponding method was devised. That method was in the highest 
degree elegant, philosophical and artistic. Admitting of numerous applications, and 
being the only truely philosophic method of which the subject is susceptible, all the 
leading languages of the human race have since been formed upon it; as the ancient 
Greek, Latin, Sanscrit, Hebrew, Arabic, Celtic, German, French, English, etc., etc. 
The knowledge of the method was for a long time preserved as a secret. It was 
peculiarly in possession of the priests. It was known only to the initiated, and never 
taught to the people at large. Unless still preserved in some secret order, it is now 
entirely unknown. My manuscript is probably the only work in existence which 
contains anything like a connected statement of its leading principles. '1'he know- 
ledge of these principles is of the utmost importance to the cause of education, 
entirely changing the character of philological study as a means of mental discipline. 
In languages formed upon this plan, words are not merely arbitrary signs. They are 
signs, each of which is specially and appropriately significant. Their significance de- 
pends upon certain artistic relations, everywhere pervading their structure. The 
possibility of such a structure depends upon roots susceptible of change, without loss 
of identity. Such roots and the mode of their manipulation are certainly unknown 
to the modern philologist. Bopp and others merely observe the presence of similar 
forms in different languages, or they merely trace the course of such forms from one 
language to another. They do not show their origin in any. By the knowledge of 
these roots the very origin of particular words is rendered as perfectly plain and 
familiar as if we had made them ourselves. 
The foregoing examples are here unavoidably presented in a detached form, but 
they show the great fact of a remarkable recurrence of the same elements in numer- 
ous words of analogous meaning. When mature consideration has convinced that 
the etymology of these words is precisely as here stated, and that we do in this way 
attain to the very origin even of such words as are here given, the mystery of the 
formation of language is at once and forever dispelled. And when it is realized that 
these same words are on every hand connected with others by artistic relations dis- 
tinctly assignable, and that these relations are everywhere in harmony with logical 
relations in the world around us, profound admiration is felt for the union of philoso- 
phical propriety and of artistic elegance; philological study is placed in a new light; 
and the restored art is seen to be capable, now, as in days gone by, of exciting the 
deepest interest even in the youthful mind, and hence, of subserving the highest pur- 
poses in the cause of education. Respectfully, E. H. Ruloff. LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
27 
THE GREAT RULOFF TRIAL! 
THE ECCENTRIC MURDERER-HISTORY OF A VETERAN OUT- 
LAW-MYSTERY OF FELONY BACKED BY ASSASSINATION 
-RULOFF THE PERPETRATOR OF EIGHT MURDERS- 
FEARFUL CHAIN OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 
The old and usually quiet borough of Binghamton, N. Y., was greatly excited with 
the dawn of the new year, by a murder trial that had in it enough of the terribly 
dramatic to move even a community accustomed as New York to such horrors from 
the even tenor of its daily life. It is not strange, therefore, that the Binghamton 
court-house should have been the centre of attraction to all classes, luring the farmer 
from his fields, the lawyer from his briefs, the physician from his patients, the artizan 
from his bench, and the scholar from his studies. No more cruel crime than this was 
ever committed, and no criminal -was ever surrounded with more of the tragically 
romantic than Edward Ruloff, alias Edward C. Howard, alias Edward Lenrio, the 
culprit lately put on trial. 
WORKING UP THE CASE. 
Captain Hedden and Detective Reilley beginning with most slender clues, worked 
patiently and shrewdly for many weeks upon this case, until they at last unravelled 
many mysteries and laid bare lives of crime cloaked by assumed respectability. 
Such signal success as crowned their efforts rarely falls to the lot of detective experi- 
ence, because such patience and common sense in dealing with isolated facts is rarely 
displayed. It is not proper to state exactly how the information received was obtained 
by Hedden and Reilley, and the reader must be content with knowing that by the aid 
of these officers Mr. Hopkins was enabled to present an almost impregnable case 
to the jury. He was prepared to prove who the dead men were, and to trace them, 
step by step, for months prior to the tragedy, and to show how Edward Ruloff was 
for years the confidential associate of Charles N. Jarvis, alias Curtis, and William L. 
Dexter, who were drowned in the Susquehanna river on the night of the 17th of 
August, one of whom had the tell-tale mark of the iron bar on his forehead, and the 
other the condemnatory bit in his pocket, and both of whom had been recognized as 
two of those engaged in the crime. 
Mr. Hopkins was ready to show that, for eighteen months prior to the Binghamton 
murder, Ruloff, under the name of Lenrio, and Jarvis under that of Curtis, held pos- 
session of a furnished room at No. 170 Third avenue, rented of a family named 
Jakob, during which time they were several times absent for some weeks, and upon 
.their return gave out that they had been engaged in real estate operations in the 
West. But, during all this time, the ostensible regular business of Ruloff w'as a 
teacher of languages, of several of which he was a master; and it was also understood 
that he was preparing a comprehensive and exhaustive work upon language, 'which 
was indeed the fact. Mr. Hopkins was able further to show that the mother of 
Dexter owns a house in Brooklyn, and that for some time Ruloff, under the name of 
Edward C. Howard, collected the rents to satisfy a mortgage. He was able to show 
that Curtis was confined in a Pennsylvania prison for a robbery of silk thread in 
Philadelphia, and that shortly after that crime was committed, Ruloff, under the 
name of Howard, had a lot of silk thread dyed in Thirty-fifth street, by which its value 
was depreciated $300. Having thus established the former acquaintance of the 28 
LIFE OF EDWARD II. RULOFF. 
prisoner with the dead men, he was able further to show that Ruloff left die house in 
Third avenue at 8 o'clock on the morning of Monday, August 15th, and Curtis an 
hour earlier, since which time neither of them have been seen there. But, still more 
important, two of the pairs of shoes found in the store were positively identified as 
having been worn by these two men when they left that house on that morning. 
But, not content with this array of damning proof, the prosecution was able to prove 
that one of the old man's feet was malformed, so that one of the shoes found in the 
store was shown to fit that foot, and no other in the world. Further, the two carpet- 
bags were identified in Court as the property of Ruloff and Curtis, which they hadf 
with them when they left No. 170 Third avenue on their last predatory expedition. 
THE ONLY CLUE, AND HOW IT WAS FOLLOWED. 
Crime has rarely been more completely cloaked or more patiently unmasked than 
in this remarkable case. When Mr. Hopkins went to New York, he had nothing but 
six keys, a drop letter addressed to one Henry Wilson, and a scrap of paper bearing 
the name of Wm. Thornton, attorney, at No. 9 Court street, Brooklyn, as clues by 
which the identity of his prisoner and the dead men were to be established. With 
Detective Reilley he first tried the Wilson letter, but it ended in utter failure, as it 
led only into the labyrinths of illicit love, and the parties to it were in no way con- 
nected with the dark tragedy to-.be unravelled. The Thornton clue was next ■worked 
with much greater success, as it proved the key which unlocked the mystery. M r. 
Hopkins had learned before he left Binghamton that Dexter, one of the dead men, 
had once been tried for a criminal offence in Tompkins County, and had been defended 
by the lawyer whose name was found on a scrap of paper in his pocket. But Mr. 
Thornton denied that he had ever been in Tompkins County in his life, and it will be 
shown that he was personated at the Dexter trial there by Ruloff, who defended the 
accused with signal ability and success. But from this starting point, Mr. Hopkins 
and Detective Reilley, by the aid of a good deal of patience and shrewdness, finally 
found the tumble-down Dexter-house in the suburbs of Brooklyn. No one was there 
but an old woman, who unsuspectingly answered the careless questions put to her 
until the officers learned that Billy Dexter was the putative owner, but that she paid 
the rents to Edward C. Howard, agent, who had, unaccountably, not appeared for two 
months to claim it. Groping still in the dark, Mr. Hopkins asked her how it hap- 
pened Howard was agent for the property, and received the important answer that 
Billy Dexter was all the time getting into scrapes, and Howard was the shrewd 
lawyer who had got him out of them. The picture of Ruloff, taken after his capture 
at Binghamton, was then shown, an.d she instantly exclaimed, " Why, that's the 
agent." 
The identity of Ruloff with Howard, and his acquaintance with Dexter, was thus 
discovered, and the overjoyed but also overworked District-Attorney Hopkins came 
back to his office, leaving the further working of the case in New York to Captain 
Hedden and Detective Reilley, with whom he left two keys fitting the doors in some 
house in Third avenue. During an interview with John Dexter, brother of the 
drowned burglar, forced upon that person at the tumble-down house at the dawn of 
an October morning, Reilley forced from him the address of a woman known as 
Maggie, living at No. 75 Canning street, who had been housekeeper for Ruloff, and 
knew where he lived. Captain Hedden and Reilley instantly visited her, and, failing 
by subterfuge to get any information from her, as she was then aware of the murder, 
finally declared their true character, and demanded the important fact, which she 
then gave, by telling them that Ruloff and Jarvis, alias Curtis, lived at No. 170 Third 
avenue. The officers instantly proceeded thither, and to their great joy opened the 
street door with the night-key taken from Ruloff's pocket, and amazed the Jakobs 
family by announcing their mission and the true character of the late lodgers. Upon 
searching the rooms they found many burglars' tools, including jimmies, dark lanterns LIFE OF EDWARD II. RULOFF. 
29 
and masks; but Maggie had removed, two days before, some articles which Mr. 
Hopkins had much desired to get. One was a shoe which had been worn by Mr. 
Ruloff; but all of these she had cast into the street, and they were irreparably lost. 
The other was the manuscript book on language, written by Ruloff, under the name 
of Lenrio, which she had removed to her house in Carmine street, where Captain 
Hedden seized it. 
A DRAMATIC TRIAL. 
With these discoveries and seizures, all absolutely essential evidence had been 
obtained. The keen lawyer and erudite philologist of sixty-five years in the Bing- 
hamton prison had been changed by the detective's art into a marauder, at war with 
society for forty years. The bloated bodies cast out by the Susquehanna had been 
proved to be those of apt pupils of the great master in crime, and the quiet retreat 
of the sedate and gentle linguist in Third avenue was shown to be a den of outlaws. 
The lines of three lives were found to cross and interlock through years of knavery, 
and these three lives were those of the aged prisoner and of his two youthful associ- 
ates, Dexter and Jarvis. As a case of circumstantial evidence, it is complete; and 
the presence of Hon. M. B. Champlain, Attorney-General of the State, who comes to 
lead the prosecution, is more a matter of eclat than necessity. The industry and 
zeal of Mr. Hopkins has so thoroughly prepared the case that there is little left for 
eminent counsel to accomplish. There was a belief, however, that the trial would be 
intensely dramatic. That Ruloff would fight hard for his life, and although he had 
counsel engaged, would, it was thought, take the lead himself in his defence, as he did 
many years ago when arraigned upon an indictment for abduction and murder, which 
was the only time in his life he was ever compelled to confront the law until now. 
Then he was successful in warding off punishment by the interposition of legal 
quibbles, and it was thought certain that he would not now allow an atom ®f testi- 
mony to be introduced against him which is not warranted by the rules of evidence. 
Public feeling was arrayed with singular intensity against him, but he would not, for 
that reason, be abashed or cowed. Almost every inhabitant of the city believed him 
to be a principal in the murder of Mirrick, but he would not, for that fact, the less 
stubbornly assert his perfect innocence. The facts which have been dug up in the 
path of his tortuous career have an ugly look, but he would not, therefore, be likely 
to be lukewarm in his endeavors to convince Judge and jury that his life has been 
free from stain. Shrewd, experienced, in a certain way, and to some extent learned, 
he prepared to do better battle for his life than any indicted burglar-murderer ever 
did before. 
The case was called for trial on Wednesday, the 4th of January, 1871, at Oyer and 
Terminer, before Judge Hogeboom, of the Supreme Court. Mr. George Becker, 
counsel for the prisoner, moved for a postponement of the trial, which was denied by 
the Court. The case was then set down to proceed on Thursday morning, the 5th 
of January. 
OPENING DAYS' PROCEEDINGS AT BINGHAMTON. 
STARTLING FACTS AND SAD EPISODES-THE SORROWFUL STORY OF AN INNO- 
CENT BOY. 
The great sensation of the populous and prosperous region of which Binghamton 
is the centre became intensified, but in no degree satisfied, by the events of the day. 
The prisoner, Edward II. Ruloff, charged with the double crime of burglary and 
murder, emerged from the obscurity of the jail, where he was hidden for four months, 
and hundreds eagerly sought to catch even a passing glance of him as he walked over 
the few rods of ground between his prison and the court-room, where he was placed 
on trial for his life. Even in that room he was throughout the day the centre of 
hundreds of curious eyes, for the room was deeply crowded during every moment of 30 
LIFE OF EDWARD II. RULOFF. 
the protracted proceedings. Those who achieved the felicity of an entrance into the 
room-to which many hundreds failed to obtain admission-saw a man far advanced 
in life, but one who, thanks to art and the remarkable kindness of Sheriff Martin, 
showed few outward signs of age. When dragged from that out-house in the suburbs 
of the city, in the gray dawn of an August morning, Ruloff, alias Lenrio, alias 
Howard, was not of a pleasing aspect. lie was, indeed, fully dressed, but his clothes 
bore marks of rough usage, and his demeanor was so disturbed that he looked fully 
sixty years of age. Now, however, he might be supposed a man of forty-five in ex- 
cellent preservation. Then his beard was full, straggling, and mixed with gray; but 
now it is upon the cheeks only, is closely cut, and of a dull brown color. Then his 
hair was long and unkempt, but now it is of proper length and arranged with 
scrupulous care. Then his clothes were soiled with recent rough usage, and now the 
damages inflicted during that desperate epoch in his life have been repaired, and 
there is no man in all the audience whose garb more closely adheres to the estab- 
lished standard of respectability. But the man's face, his singular eye, his usual ex- 
pression, no time or art have changed since the long years ago when he was tried for 
his life in 1843 in Tompkins County. A man of small stature, heavy frame, broad, 
short face, heavy chin, firm mouth, broad projecting brow, heavy eyebrows, hazel 
eyes, shallow complexion and large head, squarely and firmly set upon his shoulders 
by a short, thick neck. There was nothing diabolical in his expression, but a great 
deal that was furtive and suggestive. To the casual observer this man of an extra- 
ordinary career seemed only a man of weak character, but of proper motives. Keen 
scrutiny, however, discovers something painfully unpleasant in the massive face. 
There is not villiany in it, but the possibility of villainy is in the lines of the mouth 
and the secretive, inquiring eyes. Seen in the ordinary affairs of life, Edward II. 
Ruloff would be taken for a cunning lawyer in small practice, but seen on trial for 
murder there was nothing unnatural in his position. 
His demeanor throughout the preliminary proceedings of his trial justified the 
general opinion of his natural shrewdness, and unmistakably showed the strong inte- 
rest he had taken in his case. He was brought into Court at 9 o'clock, and took his 
seat with his back to the large audience, but without having been in the least cowed 
by the concentrated gaze of the multitude during his walk to it. When he had sat 
down he looked anxiously around. When Judge Hogeboom and associates entered, a 
look of dismay overspread his features, which a moment later was intensified when 
District-Attorney Hopkins and Attorney-General Champlain came in and took their 
scats. But the next moment a sudden change swept over his face, which was at once 
illumed with hope and confidence, as his counsel, Mr. George Becker, entered, accom- 
panied by Hon. Charles F. Beales, of Hudson, who had been secured to assist in his 
defence. With the appearance of these gentlemen, the wearisome duties of the day 
began. The first task was, of course, the selection of a jury, and owing to the great 
excitement the case caused through all that region, it was one involving a great deal 
of time. Everybody had heard and read of the case, had formed and expressed an 
opinion, so the rigid rule was not adhered to. Judge Hogeboom sensibly remarked 
that in this age of the world it is impossible to find men of any intelligence who have 
not read the newspapers, and learned something of any important case. Juries worth 
anything must be got from such classes or not at all, and the rule, therefore, must be 
that when any one summoned as a juror is found to have no settled opinion of the 
merits of the case, and believes himself to be without bias or prejudice, he is competent, 
notwithstanding any opinion he may have previously formed or expressed. Thanks 
to the adoption of this sensible rule, to which the defence took no exception, the jury 
was completed without the prisoner's exhausting his right of peremptory challenge by 
5 o'clock, by the selection of the following gentlemen: Hiram A. Mosher, Emory 
Truesdale, John C. Ronk, William Ross, Leonard M. Decker, George Crouch, Ebon 
Hawkins, John Perry, Edgar 0. Smith, Frank Plunkett, Isaac W. Heath, John W. 
Travis. LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
31 
During the seven hours of monotonous labor consumed in this task, the audience, 
which was largely composed of ladies, waited with unwearied patience for the more 
interesting aspects of the case. But the proceedings were occasionally enlivened by 
outre replies of jurors and the strong wit of Judge llogeboom, provoked by more than 
usually dense stupidity. For instance, a juror having answered the question, "Has 
what you have heard or read left any bias for or against the prisoner ?" with " I don't 
know that it has," Judge llogeboom instantly rattled out, "I don't know that it has, 
nt has it?" and under the terse putting of his indecision the juror became confused 
1 nd was rejected. The panel was exhausted when eleven of the jury had been obtained, 
nd the twelfth man was obtained with the summoning of three talesmen. 
At precisely five o'clock, and after the Court had been in session seven hours, Dis- 
trict-Attorney Hopkins rose to open the case for the prosecution, and most thoroughly 
did he perform that duty. Beginning with a few general remarks usual on such occa- 
sions, regarding the sacredness of the duty resting upon the jury, he rapidly presented 
the facts of the murder, as they have been given to our readers, and passed to the 
circumstantial evidence against Ruloff. First, he detailed the capture of the prisoner 
under most suspicious circumstances, in the outhouse, where he had crouched for 
two hours after he was seen walking, at the dead of night, on the railroad track, and 
covered by a passing freight train at the moment he was challenged by the guard, 
had mysteriously disappeared. Then he proceeded to tell how the bodies of the two 
men, east up by the Chenango river-not Susquehanna, as I had it heretofore-had 
been identified, in various ways, as those of Charles N. Jarvis, alias Charles G. Curtis, 
and William T. Dexter, alias Davenport. Then presenting the indubitable proofs that 
these men were two of the three burglars who entered the store of Halbert Brothers, 
and killed the clerk, Frederick A. Mirrick, he passed to the connection, prior to the 
tragedy, of the prisoner with the dead men. 
In coining to this vital point in the case, Mr. Hopkins said that, for the purpose of 
showing when and how the acquaintance between Jarvis and Ruloff commenced, and 
not with the intent of reviving the memory of an old crime to the prejudice of the 
prisoner, he must go back to the year 1843. Instantly Ruloff half rose from his chair, 
and, plucking his counsel, Mr. Becker, by the sleeve with spasmodic energy, whis- 
pered rapidly in his ear, and before Mr. Hopkins could begin another sentence, Mr. 
Becker rose and objected to the prosecution going beyond the case on trial. Judge 
llogeboom said it was impossible for him to prophesy what the District-Attorney was 
going to say, or to decide a question before it existed, but he presumed it was the in- 
tention to keep within the rule. Mr. Hopkins having thus compelled the defence to 
show to all the world how little the prisoner can afford a scrutiny of the past, went on 
to narrate one of the saddest episodes of crime ever told in a Court-room. Having 
said that Ruloff, in 1843, was confined in the jail of Tompkins County on a charge of 
abduction of his wife, he showed how the prisoner speedily so won the sympathy and 
confidence of the jailer, Jarvis, and his wife, that they trusted their son, then a prat- 
tling, innocent, ruddy boy, in his company. The prisoner whiled away his time in 
•»aching the son of his jailer in the language, and then and there began the companiwn- 
S ip which ended with the horror in Halbert's store, when Jarvis flitted away a few 
rods to meet his death in the dark Chenango waters, and Ruloff slinked through by- 
ways for a few hours on his road to his doom. The origin of the companionship with 
Dexter was not so clearly alleged, but the fact was as distinctly stated, and the Dis- 
trict Attorney stated the various facts detailed in my last letter. 
Two facts to prove the presence of the prisoner at the scene of the murder were 
brought into bold relief, but the most convincing was the shoe found in the store, 
which exactly fits the malformed foot of Ruloff, and which Mr. Hopkins claimed 
would fit no other foot in the State. But beyond this startling fact, he said he would 
prove that the prisoner left the house No. 170 Third avenue on the morning of the 32 
LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
15th of August, 1870, wearing the identical pair of shoes found in the store. The second 
fact was equally conclusive, for it was claimed that in the cast away carpevbag found 
in the remote field wac a copy of the New York Times, with an article a column long 
cut out of it, and that in the desk of the prisoner, in Third avenue, a slip was found, 
which, being an article on the Persian policy, exactly fitted the space. The mention 
of this fact was evidently a revelation to the prisoner, for he started in his seat, and a 
spasm of dread passed over his face. The shoe fact he had long known, and admitted 
its force against him, but this newspaper slip was a link in the chain of evidem: 
against him which had been forged without his knowledge. | 
We have heard many addresses to juries on occasions similar to this, but none more 
effective, compact and powerful than that concluded by Mr. Hopkins, after speaking 
fifty-four minutes, with another stab at the reputation of the prisoner, by a reference 
to his trial for the murder of his child, in Cortland County, some years ago, when he 
was finally acquitted, after protracted litigation, upon a legal quibble-the body of 
the child had never been found, and conviction could not be had. " In this case," said 
Mr. Hopkins, " there will be no reversal of your verdict because the body of the crime 
is wanting." With terrible force, and a great effect upon the jury, Mr. Hopkins as- 
sumed as a fact that the prisoner had murdered his own child, and dwelt upon what 
might have been but for the rule of law requiring the production of a body before 
conviction for murder. The young, innocent boy, Jarvis, would not have been led 
into temptation, and to a felon's death at last. Frederick A. Mirrick would not have 
di«d as heroes die, defending his trust, and his widowed mother would not have been 
bowed with the weight of an untimely sorrow. But more than all, Ruloff would not 
to day be occupying the attention of his Honor, Judge Hogeboom, of the jury, and 
of the vast audience, as he would long ago have begun to test the realities of the world 
beyond human life. Having thus adroitly informed the jury that Ruloff would have 
been hanged long ago, but for the interposition of a legal technicality, Mr. Hopkins 
sat down. 
Upon the conclusion of his speech the Court adjourned, after a session of eight 
hiurs, until the following morning at nine o'clock. Chief Flinn, from the hour the 
m order was perpetrated until the day of trial, was aetive and intelligent in the per- 
formance of the duty falling to him, and it was chiefly by his promptitude in placing 
large guards of special policemen at every outlet from the city, that Ruloff did not 
es:ape from it. For this great service, without which the great criminal would proba- 
bly have escaped, Chief Flinn has the public thanks. 
DRAMATIC SCENES IN THE COURT-ROOM. 
INTENSE INTEREST IN THE TRIAL-TESTIMONY OF THE EYE-WITNESS OF THJ 
TRAGEDY-THE PRISONER TAKES THE LEAD IN HIS OWN DEFENCE. 
Thousands of eager applicants for places to witness the proceedings of the 
besieged the doors of the court-room, long before the hour appointed for the assemblin 
of the Court, and the doors were no sooner opened than every inch of available spac 
was instantly filled. As on the previous days, a large portion of the audience was 
composed of ladies, hundreds of whom stood patiently for hours listening with seeming 
unwearied interest in the details of evidence, with the outlines of which they had long 
been familiar. The character of the whole audience was most remarkable, and it 
presented a most favorable contrast to any assemblage ever collected by a similai 
occasion in New York. There was not a man present who bore any resemblance to 
roughs, nor one of the hundreds of women who did not seem a lady in the true mean« 
ing of that much-abused word. The demeanor of the audience was in keeping with 
its appearance, and Sheriff Martin was never called upon to do more than suppress LIFE OF EDWARD II. RULOFF. 
33 
occasional ripples of subdued conversation which, injarger cities, would pass without 
rebuke. So the decorum proper to the occasion was easily maintained, and the pro- 
ceedings never delayed by disorder. 
STORY OF THE SURVIVING CLERK. 
The presentation of the evidence for the prosecution began with the opening of the 
Court, the first witness sworn being Mr. Gilbert S. Burrows, the surviving clerk. 
He told the story of that desperate encounter in the store of D. M. & E. G. Halbert, 
about half-past two o'clock on the morning of Wednesday, August 17th, with three 
burglars, which is now familiar to the public. In some details, however, he corrected 
certain inaccuracies in the published statements. He showed that at the time of the 
burglary an extension of one hundred feet in length was at the time building on the 
rear of the store, and the rear wall having been taken out, this portion of the store 
was left'unprotected, except by lath and plaster, and a door fastened by bolts. 
Holes had been bored through this door and pieces taken out, so that the bolts con'd 
be reached and pushed back, as had actually been done. His narrative of the fight c J 
the two young men with the three burglars was direct, forcible, interesting, dramatic?, 
and so clear that every person perfectly understood every event from the moment the 
two clerks, waking up, saw the three burglars standing near their bed. and at the head 
of tl*e stairs leading to the basement, up to the moment when the third man, coming 
up the stairs to the rescue of his imperilled comrades, fired three shots at Burrow», 
and then, rushing up to Mirrick, who had a burglar in his grasp, put his left hand cm 
Mirrick's neck, and holding a pistol close to the back of his head, fired the fatal shed, 
and then with his comrades went out by the back door. 
RULOFF OBJECTS. 
The witness was in the middle of his story, and was identifying the various masks, 
bits and other burglarious appliances found in the store, together with the shoes, hats 
and other articles, when the prisoner RulofT suddenly arose, and fully justified what 
we have said of him, by interposing a legal objection to the introduction of this testi- 
mony. Ignoring his counsel entirely, and stepping forward, in a voice slightly quav- 
ering with age, but in no way moved by excitement, he stated the rule of common 
law, that he was not answerable for the acts of others until he had been clearly con- 
nected with them; and, therefore, until it'was shown that he was one of the three 
men who entered the store, it was not admissible for the prosecution to produce 
before the jury any of the articles found in the store. If the claim had been allowed 
it would have been impossible to prove either the burglary or murder, but Judge 
Hogeboom, in his lucid way. instantly got the case out of the difficulty by saying that 
District-Attorney Hopkins in his opening had stated that it was intended to clearly 
connect the prisoner with the other two burglars, both remotely and very shortly 
before the tragedy, and the evidence was, therefore, entirely admissible. Ruloff 
persisted with resolute determination in his attempt to enter upon a lengthy argu- 
ment of the point, but Judge Hogeboom said the principle was too familiar for dis- 
C ission and directed the examination of the witness to proceed. 
RULOFF CONDUCTING THE CROSS-EXAMINATION. 
When Mr. Burrows was turned over to the defence, Mr. Becker said that Ruloff. 
would conduct the cross-examination, which he accordingly did, and very soon devel- 
oped the line of defence to be simply an endeavor to reduce the degree of crime,1 by. 
showing that the shootin* by the burglar had been provoked by the unneecessary 
violence of Burrows and Mirrick. Mr. Beales stated the rule of law to be that,, 
under such circumstances, persons are justified in using only so much violence-as 
may be necessary to secure the person of the burglars, and if they go beyond that, 
and inflict deadly injuries, they arc amenable to the law for the death, just, as .though- 34 
LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
the person killed had not been engaged at the time of receiving the injuries, in the 
commission of a felony. The State did not care to dispute the proposition, and RulofT 
conducted the cross-examination chiefly to this point, and succeeded in showing that 
the two clerks made as plucky a fight as employes ever did for the property in their 
charge, and for a time so entirely disabled Dexter that they could have done as they 
pleased with him but for the return of his two confederates. He showed, further, that 
the clerks did not use any great care to avoid injuring Dexter alias Davenport, when 
he was left in their hands by the retreat of his two comrades. 
When the clerks awoke the three burglars stood near the bed. Mirrick attempted 
to fire his pistol, but it snapped twice. Two of the burglars ran down stairs, the other 
struck Burrows with an iron bar; the struggle followed; Burrows threw lhe 
burglar, struck him with the bar which he had wrenched from him; the burglar cried 
for help, the other two ran back, and the murderer followed. There was one small 
gas-light burning in the store near the scene of the conflict, and Burrows, in his 
examination in chief, stated that he distinctly saw the person and face of the burglar 
who fired the shots at him coming up stairs, and afterward murdered Mirrick. and, to 
the best of his knowledge and belief, that person was the prisoner. There was the 
large face, full, straggling beard, short, broad figure of RulofT. as he saw them after 
his arrest; but, as always before, he refused to positively identify him. RulofT, going 
to this point in the cross-examination, asked very many questions tending to confuse 
and break down this testimony. Among the others, RulofT asked, " How much light 
was there in the store ?" to which Burrows naturally and innocently replied. " Well, 
I can't say; you know how much light there was." This assumption tliat 1 ;s ques- 
tioner was present at the scene, and had equal knowledge of the facts with the witness, 
was taken by the audience, and a loud, long roar of applause followed, which Judge 
llogeboom sternly rebuked. RulofT confronted this manifestation of the popular 
delight at his supposed discomfiture entirely unmoved. Not a muscle of his face 
moved, and when the uproar had subsided, he returned as steadily as if nothing had 
occurred to the point. The only signs of agitation he exhibited were drops of sweat 
beading his forehead and thick neck, but as these could only be seen by those near to 
him, he seemed utterly unmoved by his trying position to the distant observers. 
THE CHAIN DRAWING CLOSER. 
The only other witness examined before the recess was Judge Boardman, of Ithaca, 
who identified a large number of documents written at widely separated intervals of 
time, and signed by several different signatures, as being all in the handwriting of the 
prisoner. After the recess the first witness was Mr. Joseph Fettredge, of New York, 
who testified that he had negotiated a loan on behalf of Isabella Armstrong, upon 
property in Brooklyn, E. D., to Wm. T. Dexter, ■which was first applied for by 
Albert N. Jarvis, and that during these transactions he had met the prisoner, RulofT, 
with these two persons, but always under the name of Edward C. Howard, and acting 
•as the agent of Dexter. Other witnesses were examined as to events at the scene of 
the tragedy immediately subsequent to it, and Mr. Ingolesby, reporter of the Supreme. 
Court at Rochester, testified as to the character of certain short-hand writing, the key 
of which had been found on the person of one of the drowned men, and both of which 
had been proved by Judge Boardman to be in the handwriting of the prisoner. 
RULOFF AGAIN PLEADS. 
RulofT, at this point, again ignored his counsel, and urged in another speech the 
legal point he had advanced in the morning. When he began, there was a marked 
difference from that of the morning. His voice was weak, unmanageable, and his ner- 
vous system was so plainly shaken that the fact was observable to every one. He 
was himself fully aware of it, as he began with an apology for his condition, and by 
pleading in excuse for it that he was battling for his life, elicited the first spark of LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
35 
sympathy he had obtained. Being then heard respectfully, he went on to urge that 
the papers were inadmissible, because the prosecution had not proved, or offered to 
prove, when, or under what circumstances, they left his possession and went into that 
of the dead man. The conspiracy, he said, had been fully proved. The State had 
established that three men were feloniously in the store of Halbert Brothers, and for 
what they did there they were answerable, but the question was who were those three 
men ? He denied the right of the State to claim that he was one of them, because a 
paper in his handwriting was found upon the person of a drowned man, "who was as- 
sumed to be one of the burglars. Certainly, he said, it would be taken as evidence 
against him if the paper left his possession five years, or even five weeks before the 
crime; but as the prosecution were unable to show when it left his possession, it was 
clearly not competent. The nervousness of the prisoner increased as he proceeded, 
and he at last seized three law books, with which he sought to illustrate the relative 
legal position of the three burglars, only one of whom was upon trial. Judge Hoge- 
boom answered the argument by admitting the testimony for what it was worth, saying 
it was one of those circumstances by which the State sought to show some sort of 
connection or intercourse between the prisoners and one of the drowned men, who 
was assumed to have been one of the burglars, and it must, therefore, go to the jury 
for what it was worth, which it did, with the exception of Ruloff noted. 
IMPORTANT POINTS MADE. 
One of the principal witnesses of the afternoon was Mr. James Flinn, Chief of the 
Binghamton Police, who detailed his extraordinary exertions to capture the burglars 
after their escape from the store, by stationing guards at every outlet from the city, 
and large patrols on every street and lane. The principal part of his evidence, how- 
ever, was when he came to identify manuscripts, burglars' tools, false faces, and many 
other articles, which had been delivered to him by Detective Reilley, of New York, and 
which the latter had taken from the room of Ruloff, at No. 170 Third avenue. Among 
these articles was the slip, seven-eighths of a column in length, cut from a copy of the 
New York Times, of July 18, 1870, which had been found in a valise found in a field 
here, and identified as belonging to the prisoner. The mutilated newspaper caused a 
profound sensation. It was exhibited, and the jury shown how exactly the slip found 
in the prisoner's desk fitted the space left by cutting out the article. One of the 
claims of the State was thus made good, and it was established that a valise belonging 
to the prisoner had been found near the scene of the murder, which contained a copy 
of the Times which had been mutilated in the room of Edward Lenrio, at No. 170 
Third avenue, by the cutting out of an article which had been left behind in the desk 
of the philologist. Captain Hedden was the next witness, and testified to the finding 
and search of the rooms of Lenrio, at No. 170 Third avenue, and Identified the news- 
paper slip, the large quantity of burglars' tools, all first-class, and the many other arti- 
cles which he had found in the desk of the prisoner, and sent to Mr. Hopkins. 
THE DROWNED MEN. 
Witnesses from Cortland County were introduced, who swore to the identity of the 
smaller of the drowned men with a man lately held in that county for burglary, and 
defended by Ruloff, who is proved to be Wm. T. Dexter, there known as Davenport. 
RULOFF'S LAST EFFORT OF THE DAY. 
Edward C. Jakob was then introduced, and identified the prisoner as a man who 
had rented a floor in his father's house, at No. 170 Third avenue, under the name of 
Lenrio, and by a photograph shown him identified the drowned burglar Jarvis as the 
man who had lived with Lenrio under the name of Charles G. Curtis. Upon these 
important points young Jakob was not shaken by cross-examination; but upon the 
identity of the shoes and the valise he was not equally pesitive. The prisoner, he 36 
LIFE OF EDWARD IL RULOFF. 
said, had usually worn Oxford ties similar to the shoes found at the scene of the mui 
der, and the valise found here was like one he had seen in the prisoner's possession 
prior to his leaving the house. Long ago, it is reported, Ruloff said, in conversation, 
that if it were not for that shoe he would beat the District-Attorney, and he certainly 
showed himself of that opinion to-day by his vigorous and earnest cross-examination 
of this witness. His efforts were principally directed to making Jakob state that he 
had worn boots when last at the house, and at last stepping close up to the witness, 
and speaking in a voice so low that no one heard him but the person addressed, he 
asked, " Will you swear I did not have on these boots when you saw me last at the 
house?" to which Jakob answered that he could not so swear, nor could he swear to 
the contrary. The manuscript-book on language was exhibited to the witness and 
identified by him as in the handwriting of the prisoner, and the work on which he had 
seen him engaged for a long time while in the house, and, with the conclusion of this 
evidence, the Court adjourned, after a session of five hours, making the labor of the 
day nine hours. 
THE STATE MAKE A FAIR CASE. 
During the examination of the last witnesses Ruloff steadily adhered to his practice 
of letting his counsel, Mr. Becker and Mr. Beales, rest in idleness, while he conducted 
his own defence. He several times again insisted on the point of law he had presented, 
and was as often overruled by Judge Hogeboom, when he would enter an exception 
and go on. Twice he produced a decided sensation, once by exclaiming, when Capt. 
Hedden left the stand, after identifying the large and complete assortment of burglars' 
tools found in his desk, " The next witness will be one who knows me ninety-days in a 
hundred;" in which, however, he was disappointed, as the witness knew no good 
whatever of him. The second sensation was his cat-like approach and whispering 
question to young Jakob, when the vast audience arose and bent forward as one man 
to see and hear. Altogether, his demeanor during the day has damaged his interests, 
and it was generally admitted that the State had made out a fair case so far. 
FOURTH DAY OF TRIAL. 
The fourth day of the trial began like all the rest, with great numbers of people, 
far beyond capacity of the room, waiting for admittance. 
THE TESTIMONY. 
The first person on the stand was Edward Jakob, who was recalled to prove that 
the watch and spectacles found upon the larger drowned man belonged to Charles 
G. Curtis, alias Albert Jarvis, who had lived at 170 Third avenue, with Ruloff, 
alias Lenrio. The watch he swore to, to the best of his knowledge, and the specta- 
cles he swore to positively, as he identified them by a flaw in each of the glasses. 
Mrs. Brady was the next witness, and testified she rented the two upper floors 
of the house No. 10, Graham avenue, Williamsburgh, which belonged to the Dexter 
family, Mrs. Dexter, John N. Dexter, and Wm. T. Dexter (Ruloff's "pal"). She 
paid her rent always to the man they called Jim Howard, and pointed out the 
prisoner as the man. He always came to the house on the first of the month for the 
rent, and came last on the 7th of August, 1870, since which time she had never seen 
him until she saw him in court. She then paid him the rent for August, and since 
that time no one had called for the rent. She last saw Wm. T. Dexter on the same 
day; he was at home on the 3d, went away for four days, came back, changed his 
clothes, and went away, since which time she had not seen him. Miss Pauline 
Jakob, fifteen years of age, was next sworn, and testified that she lived with parents, 
and knew that the prisoner, as Edward Lenrio, rented a floor in the house, which he 
occupied with a man whom her family knew as C. G. Curtis, but who is proved to 
be Jarvis, the drowned burglar. She identified the prisoner as Lenrio. and the LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
37 
picture of the drowned man as that of Curtis. John A. Dexter, a brother of one of 
the drowned men, was sworn, and testified that he knew the prisoner as Jim Howard, 
and knew that he was acquainted with his brother, William T. Dexter, and he recog- 
nized the smaller of the drowned men as that brother. He had frequently seen his 
brother in company with the prisoner, and had once seen both of them with Jarvis. 
Jointly with his mother and brother, he had executed a mortgage on the Graham 
avenue property to Isabella Armstrong, to secure a loan of $500, obtained for them 
by Jarvis. He knew this mortgage was held by the prisoner, Ruloff, who collected 
the rent for the portion of the house occupied by Mrs. Brady. Witness knev/ 
Jarris as Charles Thompson, the same name by which he was known by Mr. 
Fettredge, through whom the mortgage was negotiated. Mrs. Helen Wardwell, a 
sister of Jarvis, who lives at Hearts Falls, twelve miles from Troy, N. Y., identified 
a letter directed to "Albert Jarvis, 170 Third avenue, New York City," which 
arrived at that place the next day after Lenrie and Curtis left the house, as testified 
to by Miss Jakob, who had received the letter and kept it in charge unopened until 
Captain Hedden and Detective Reilley seized all the articles in the room on the 
evening of October 15th, 1870. Mrs. Wardwell testified that she wrote the letter on 
the 14th of August, mailed it following day, and had never received any answer to 
it, or heard of her brother alive since that date. 
The time of the departure of the prisoner and Jarvis, alias Curtis, from the house 
No. 170 Third avenue, was thus fixed by this letter, and the testimony of Pauline 
and Edward Jakob, as Monday, August 15th, 1870. Miss Jakob swore they left in 
the morning. 
ANOTHER INCIDENT IN THE PRISONER'S LIFE. 
A new phase of the ease as to time and place was presented in the testimony of 
Orlando B. Welsh, of the Ithaca Hotel, in Ithaca, Tompkins County, in which house 
Albert T. Jarvis had been a guest four different times in the months of February and 
March, 1869, under his proper name. He identified the larger of the two drowned 
men positively as the man Albert T. Jarvis who was such guest. With the next 
witness, Isaac W. Brown, late Sheriff of Cortland County, the prisoner of multiform 
names and aspects appeared in yet another capacity, and with still another cognomen. 
A man calling himself Davenport, but who has been identified to be the same person 
as Wm. Dexter, spent nine months of the year 1869 in charge of Brown, in the Cort- 
land jail. During his incarceration a letter was received by one of the deputy- 
sheriffs from a person signing himself James E. Dalton, who claimed to be an 
attorney, and made inquiries in relation to the case of Davenport. Shortly afterward 
a man whom the witness recognized as the prisoner presented himself to the sheriff 
as James E. Dalton, and at one of his interviews with that official attempted to bribe 
him by the offer of $500 to permit Dexter, alias Davenport, to escape from prison. 
The attempt to introduce this evidence brought Ruloff to his feet for the second time 
during the session-as he had before interrupted Mrs. Brady-to object to it as irre- 
levant, and it was excluded, after the jury had heard it. Ruloff was strangely excited 
by this reviver of one of the facts of his fortunate life, for when Mr. Hopkins said 
that his object was to show that the prisoner took more interest in Davenport than 
attorneys usually do in clients, as he was ready to spend money for him, Ruloff testily 
replied: " I would do as much for my client as you, provided I had the money of a 
county at my command," and he ended the episode by remarking, sotto voce: " D-n 
such evidence." The testimony as to the identity of the Cortland prisoner Daven- 
port with the drowned burglar Dexter was further strengthened by Charles Brown, a 
young son of the sheriff, who had bought off Davenport, while a prisoner of his father, 
a copy of the fortune-telling book called "Napoleon Oculum," which, or one exactly 
like it, was found on the body of Dexter when it was dragged out of the Chenango 
River. 38 
LIFE OF EDWARD II. RULOFF. 
CASE FOR THE PROSECUTION CLOSED-THE MUTILATED HAT AND SHIRT. 
Public curiosity increased with feeding, and although the main portion of the evi 
dence of the State had been produced and the facts bearing against the prisoner fully 
known, there was no diminution in the crowds demanding admission to witness the 
proceedings of the fifth day of the Ruloff trial. The Court had adjourned at 7 o'clock, 
Saturday night until 10 o'clock next morning, when Judge Hogeboom, with his 
associates, Justice Finch and Miller, took their seats, and the taking of the evidence 
of tire prosecution was resumed by recalling Benjamin Keirns, who testified he saw 
the prisoner when he was before the Coroner, immediately after his arrest, and then 
he had full beard, which was white, under the chin, and much grayer on the sides, as 
well as longer than it is now. This evidence was rendered necessary by that com- 
plaisance of the sheriff, which had permitted Ruloff to shave off a portion of his 
beard, and, perhaps, dye the remainder, so as to materially change his personal 
appearance. 
MEDICAL TESTIMONY. 
At this very stage of the trial, Dr. David P. Jackson was called to establish the 
cause of the death; Dr. Bassett had been previously examined, but he had admitted 
on cross-examination that a person with such a wound as that of Mirrick might have 
survived. Dr. Jackson described the wound in the head, the bullet entering the left 
ventricle of the brain, where it was found in three pieces, as though it had been split 
by contact with the skull, which was, of course, perforated and fractured. The wit- 
ness declared that the wound had caused death, but upon cross-examination admitted 
that he knew of cases of gun-shot wounds in the head where they have lived. The 
defence asking whether it was not possible for sudden shock to produce death where 
there was organic disease of the heart, Dr. Jackson answered affirmatively, but on re- 
direct said that he saw the deceased before death, and he exhibited none of the symp- 
toms of a person suffering from heart disease, but he did show all the signs of a person 
dying from comnression of the brain, caused by a pistol-shot wound. 
DEMEANOR OF THE PRISONER. 
Robert Brown, Deputy Sheriff, was present when the prisoner was first brought 
before the Coroner, and noticed that he sat all the evening with his hat on his knee, 
crown up, and also saw that the next morning his hat had been cut in two, and the 
lower part of it was gone, and all the lining of the hat gone. Witness knew that 
Ruloff was discharged by the Coroner about eleven o'clock on Saturday, and about 
an hour later he rearrested him on the Erie Railway track, four miles east of Bing- 
hamton. Witness saw him for some time before he came within hailing distance, and 
saw that he was walking very fast, about one hundred and ten steps to the minute, 
having his coat off, carrying it on his arm, and his cap off occasionally. When he 
called to him to halt, the prisoner obeyed, answering, when Brown said, " Mr. Ruloff, 
we have concluded not to let you go just yet," with, " What's up now, what new dis- 
coveries have been made?" Brown only answered by requiring him to take off his 
left boot and sock, and exhibit his deformed foot, which he did without remonstrance. 
When taken to the jail he was required to try on the shoes found in the store, which 
were found to be a perfect fit, even to the protuberances on the left foot. Ruloff said 
that he had seldom worn shoes, and had worn the boots he had on when captured, 
all summer, and also called attention to the fact, that there was no depression at the 
toe of the left boot, but the officers discovered that he had filled up the place, left void 
by the want of a large toe, with cotton. Witness was also present when the prisoner 
was confronted with the bodies of the drowned men, and could not see any emotion in 
his face, but witness, keeping his hand over the heart of Ruloff, thought he detected 
an increased breathing when he was viewing the bodies. LIFE OF EDWARD II. RULOFF. 
39 
RULLOFF'S FEET. 
Dr. N. S. Burr examined the feet of the two drowned men, and found them perfect. 
On cross-examination by Mr. Becker, he said the eyes of the smaller man were hazel, 
and of the larger man (Jarvis) were black. It had been repeatedly testified that the 
eyes of Jarvis were blue, and witness said that the color of the eyes might change 
after death, under such circumstances, though he had met with no mention of such 
facts in medical works. Mr. Becker also brought out-The witness had administered 
chloroform to the prisoner, in order that his photograph might be taken, after they 
li id tried for three quarters of an hour to get a picture of him without result, because 
of Ruloff turning his face and distorting his features. This was done with a view to 
eliciting sympathy for the prisoner because of this usage, and also by the fact that 
before he was chloroformed, the operators endeavored to keep Ruloff still, by taking 
hold of his ears with a pair of blacksmith's tongs. 
Edward Jakob was recalled-Testified that the middle drawer of the desk used by 
Ruloff at his house, in which the burglars' tools were found, had a Johnson rotary lock. 
He never saw the burglars' tools in it before Captain Hedden and Detective Reilley 
came and took them out, which he saw them do. 
Miss Jakob Aas recalled, to show that the boots were in Ruloff's closet when he 
and Jarvis left, but had subsequently disappeared. 
SUSPICIOUS CONDUCT. 
Sheriff Martin testified to the prisoner cutting up his hat and tearing his shirt up. 
Also to the interview between Ruloff and Borrows, when the former complained 
that the latter was not permitted to say whether he recognized him as one of the men 
engaged in the struggle in the store; but there was nothing new in his testimony. 
Thomas Johnson, a constable, testified to finding tracks leading from the rear of 
Halbert's store into the Chenango River, some being made by a man in his stocking 
feet, and the other by a man with rubbers; the tracks began on the soft earth of a 
new. road, about 100 feet beyond the rear of the extension. 
Philip Reilley, being sworn, said : That he resides in New York, and is a police 
officer attached to the Fifteenth precinct. Being shown a bundle of small keys, taker, 
from the body of the smaller of the two drowned burglars, he said on finding and 
visiting the house No. 10 Graham street, Brooklyn, E. D., occupied by Mrs. Brady 
and the Dexter family, he found the larger of the three keys unlocked a bureau 
drawer, the next largest unlocked a small trunk in the drawer, and the smallest a 
port folio, also in the drawer. In the trunk he found a letter, which has been identified 
as in the handwriting of the prisoner, and addressed to William T. Dexter. The state 
offered the letter in evidence to prove the former acquaintance of Ruloff with one of 
the burglars whom he had said he had never Seen, and the defence objected because it was 
dated in 1865, but the letter was admitted by Judge Hogeboom. Detective Reilley 
then went on to state that he had visited the house No. 170 Third avenue with Capt. 
Hedden. He unlocked the street door of the house with a key given him by District 
Attorney Hopkins, and the door of the room with another key, also given him by 
that gentleman. On searching the desk in the room of Ruloff, alias Lenrio, he found 
in the middle drawer a ratchet drill, two skeleton keys, three lock picks, a dark lantern, 
a box opener, and other articles for a felonious purpose. 
AN EXPLANATION. 
Upon cross-examination, Ruloff himself fastened upon Reilley to explain the ratchet 
drill, and the witness said it had the general appearance of that implement, although 
without teeth, and the prisoner then with permission explained that the instrument 
•was valuable and interesting as the model of a new invention, but it appeared upon 
redirect that in the same drawer were two dozen bits which fitted this " model.' 40 
LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
Mr. Reilley further testified, on cross-examination, that he knew a great many thieve 
and their haunts in New York, but had never heard of either Ruloff or Jarvis, and the 
place where they lived, No. 170 Third avenue, was a highly respectable neighborhood, 
and the Jakob family, from whom they rented their rooms, are of the very best repute, 
and held their lodgers in the highest esteem as men of pure lives and domestic habits. 
Mr. Reilley, however, said that he did not pretend to know all the thieves in New 
York. With the testimony of Seneca Burrows, who took the photographs of the tw 
drowned men, and swore that the pictures by which they have been identified durin 
the progress of the case are accurate likenesses, the case for the prosecution was closet 
OPENING FOE THE DEFENCE. 
At half-past three o'clock Mr. George Becker opened the case for the defence in a 
speech which made the very best of a very bad case. In the beginning he referred to 
the great learning, ability, and industry of his client, the prisoner, who, he said, had 
during his career met every sorrow and calamity. He referred to the great activity 
of the District-Attorney in gathering witnesses, for which he has had the treasury of the 
county of Broome at his disposal. His client, he said, had not only tQ encounter the 
energy of Mr. Hopkins, backed with money, but also the highest legal authority in the 
State. Attorney-General Champlain having been summoned to assist in hurrying on 
a verdict against the prisoner. He further had to encounter a popular prejudice, 
more intense and general than any prisoner he ever was called on to confront before. 
Mr. Becker then went on to draw a flattering picture of his client, as a mild, inoffen- 
sive old man, of studious and reflective habits, spending his evening in the bosom of 
the Jakob family reading and writing. The difficulties of the defence, owing to the 
absence of witnesses and addditional counsel, having been enumerated, Mr. Becker 
proceeded to review the testimony for the State, and claimed that the killing of Mir- 
rick. by whoever done, was not murder, but at the worst only manslaughter in the 
second or third degree, because Mirrick himself, when killed, was in the commission 
of a felony, in using unnecessary violence upon an intercepted felon, and that the 
slaying was done to suppress that violence. In declaring what the defence expected 
to be able to prove, Mr. Becker said that it was almost wholly upon the testimony of 
J. B. Lewis before the coroner that the prisoner was held. On that occasion Mr. 
Lewis swore that on the evening of the 16th of August a man in laboring dress entered 
his store and asked for the best whiskey without regard to price, which man he held 
to be Edward H. Ruloff. Since that time, however, and while Ruloff had been in jail 
the same man had appeared in his store, and proved to be a drover from the West. 
Further, Mr. Becker said they would be able to show when the prisoner left New 
Vork, and that he went to Batavia, Buffalo, and other places, so that it was impossible 
that he should have been in the city of Binghamton on the night of the 16th of Au- 
gust, 1870. 
Several witnesses were then called for the defence, most of whom did not answer 
Francis L. Farnham testified that during the morning succeeding the tragedy Bur 
rows had told him in the store he could not identify either of the burglars. Mr. Hop 
sins, in cross-examination, brought out the fact that Burrows was not in the stor 
when Farnham swore he saw him there. Further to show the confusion of Burrows 
md his inability to give an intelligent account of what happened, Lyman Clark was 
sworn. who testified he was sitting at the door of the American Hotel, a few doors 
ibove and on the opposite side of the street from Halbert's store, when he heard two 
pistol shots fired in quick succession; he got up, walked down the street, and heard 
another shot, just after which Burrows opened the front door of the store, came out, 
and heard the cry "murder." He gave an account of what followed, which is unim- 
portant, until Chief Flinn and Clark were about to go into the store, a moment or 
'.wo later, when Burrows told them they would have to go around to th® back door, as LIFE OF EDWARD IL RULOFF. 
41 
he had come out that way, and the front door was locked. Clark said he had just seen 
Burrows come out the front door, and knew it was open, whereupon the front door 
was pushed open and they went in ; after they went in Burrows then remembered that 
he did enter by the front door. After a number of other witnesses had been called 
and found wanting, the defence put Mrs. Martha Brady, of No. 10 Graham street, 
Brooklyn. E. D.. on the stand, and Ruloff proceeded to question her as to her know- 
ledge of a woman named Haggerty, who, it presently appeared, had annoyed Mrs. 
Brady by dissolute conduct in the house, and caused her arrest, whereupon Ruloff was 
annoyed, and reproved her sharply, as he had just procured the discharge of the wo- 
from the penitentiary. The object of this testimony was to show malice on the 
YP.Tv of the witness who had been sworn for the prosecution against the defendant. 
SIXTH DAY OF THE TRIAL-ABSORBING INTEREST MANIFESTED. 
As was expected, from the remarks made at the close of the fifth day's proceedings, 
that this day would be the last, the defence was prompt in bringing forward such 
scraps of testimony as they possessed. Mr. J. B. Lewis, who was expected to testify 
how he had been mistaken in the identity of the man who purchased liquor of him, as 
stated the day previous, was called. Before the coroner he swore the man was Ruloff, 
but he had since seen a man, who said he was a drover from the West, and who called 
himself Baxter. Mr. Lewis said, however, that he was not sure whether he was the 
same man who was in the store on the evening of the murder; and, upon cross-exami- 
nation, said he was yet convinced that it was the prisoner who entered his store and 
bought liquor. Thoroughly discomfited by this first effort of the day to prove some- 
thing favorable to the prisoner, Mr. Becker travelled off into a discussion as to the 
possible relative position of the burglars and their antagonists during the struggle, as 
judged from the holes of the pistol shots in the walls, desiring to show that one which 
struck the wall six feet from the door had been fired from the front door, and not from 
the head of the stairs, which fact would invalidate Burrows' evidence. When Mr. Lewis 
E. King was stating emphatically that when himself and Burrows stood before the door 
of Ruloff's cell the prisoner unhesitatingly picked out Burrows by the direction of his 
voice and eyes, a round of applause burst from the audience for the third time during 
the trial. Mr. Beales at this arose, and in a few eloquent remarks referred to these 
manifestations of popular prejudice, and asked the protection of the Court for the 
prisoner. Judge Hogeboom, in reply, said that he could apologize for the indignation 
of an honest public, not, as he believed, against the prisoner, but at the enormous 
crime; yet this was a Court of Justice, not a popular assemblage, and a place where 
the auditors were not privileged in any way to participate in the proceedings. He 
was therefore compelled to reprove these manifestations of public feeling, and to insist 
that they should not be repeated. 
RULOFF AGAIN ARGUING. 
A long pause ensued, caused by the absence of witnesses called by the defence ; and, 
with the understanding that certain medical testimony should be taken when the phy- 
sicians arrived, Ruloff arose, and returned to his pet idea with a motion to strike out 
all evidence as to the identification of Dexter and Jarvis, because there was no testi- 
mony of a conspiracy between him and them to commit the crime. Reading the case 
of The People vs. Thorns, in Third Parker's Criminal Reports, he proceeded to argue 
the point. Judge Hogeboom speedily interrupted him, and referred to the evidence 
of Burrows that the prisoner, to the best of his knowledge, was one of the three bur- 
glars, and that the evidence of the shoes also connected him with the crime. Ruloff 
was utterly unabashed by this revelation of the appearance of the opinion of the Court, 
which was fatal to his hopes, and went on with such calmness and clearness that a 
stranger could not have supposed that he was arguing for himself. 
j[r, Beales then followed in a masterly, eloquent, and affecting speech in support LIFE OF EDWARD II. RULOFF, 
42 
of the motion, at the conclusion of which Judge Ilogeboom denied it, saying that all 
the evidence must go to the jury, and upon it they must pass on the life or death of 
the prisoner. Ruloff then moved that the prosecution be stopped, and the Court order 
an acquittal, because the facts do not show a murder or any general form of man 
slaughter, and the indictment does not charge the special form of manslaughter which 
it is claimed the facts show. Mr. Beales argued the point, reviewing the facts that 
\he attack was begun by the clerks; that two of the burglars fled, and the third was 
overpowered by the clerks who were engaged in despatching him, and in so doing 
were committing the crime of manslaughter in the second degree, which reduced the 
offence of the person who killed Mirrick to the same rank. Judge Ilogeboom denied 
the motion peremptorily, saying that the indictment was broad enough to cover all 
the grades of homicide, and that he did not feel at liberty to withdraw the case in any 
of its aspects from the jury. In referring to the conduct of the clerks, Judge Iloge- 
boom asked what they were to do, and stated plainly that they had the right to kill 
all three of the felons to prevent the commission of the felony in which they were en- 
gaged. And further, the Judge referred pointedly to the fact that the two felons ran 
back into the store, and asked why they did so. 
CLOSE OF THE DEFENCE. 
The defence then called Dr. Burr, who examined the foot of the prisoner, in the 
presence of the jury and audience, with the view of showing that it was not a malformed 
foot, but the examination showed that the large toe was gone. With this testimony 
and that of a few others to equally trivial facts, even to having a witness exhibiting a 
malformed foot, the defence rested, without having disproved a single particle of the 
evidence of the prosecution, or without attempting to explain any one of the suspi- 
cious circumstances surrounding him. Upon such a case as this, with an immense 
audience confronting him with an intensely bitter feeling against his cause. Mr. Beales 
arose to address the jury in the closing argument for the defence. His argument was 
commenced with an enumeration of the difficulties encountered by the defence, promi- 
nent among which he ranked the popular prejudice against the prisoner. Having 
dwelt upon these topics, he passed to the testimony, admitting, while attempting to 
explain away the facts of the arrest, that the prisoner was acquainted with and an asso- 
ciate of Albert T. Jarvis and William 1'. Dexter. He also admitted that the proof 
was sufficient to show that these two men were two of three burglars engaged in the 
crime. The greater portion of his address, however, was devoted to depreciating the 
evidence of Gilbert Burrows, the only eye-witness of the crime. His statements were 
analyzed in detail, and many of them claimed to be not only conflicting, but improba- 
ble in themselves. Counsel claimed further, that Burrows was in such a condition of 
frenzy that he was unable to give a true, coherent account of what passed in the store. 
Mr. Beales then passed on to attempt to explain many other suspicious acts of the 
prisoner, including his singular recognition of Burrows when the latter was first taken 
to his cell. After a pause of a few minutes, Mr. Beales went on to sketch the quiet, 
harmless, domestic life of the prisoner at 170 Third avenue, his great natural ability, 
his high self-acquired literary attainments, and* being utterly unknown to the police 
of New York, he claimed thatit was absurd to suppose that this man had such a dou- 
ble character that he could be the thief, burglar, and murderer asserted by the State. 
The presence of the burglars' tools in Ruloff's desk was attempted to be explained by 
the alleged fact that they had been put there after Ruloff left, and were placed there 
for the purpose of affording the required proofs of criminal habits. The question of 
the shoe was then taken up, and it was claimed that there was no positive evidence 
that the shoe for the deformed foot, found in the store, had been worn by the prisoner. 
The testimony of Mr. Spaulding, who met the prisoner on the Chenango bridge on the 
afternoon of August 16th, was then taken up, and counsel claimed that the story was 
extraordinary and improbable in itself as to be 'utterly unworthy of credence. Upon LIFE OF EDWARD II. RULOFF. 
43 
ths legal aspect of the case, Mr. Beales claimed that the offence committed in Hal 
bert's store, by whoever committed, was only manslaughter in the second or third 
degree. The facts showed that there was no malice toward Mirrick, who was a stran- 
ger to the slayer, and that there was no design to take life, as the only purpose of the 
intruder firing the shot was to secure the release of his comrade, then held by Mirrick. 
Mr. Beales continued his review of the testimony at great length, and did not conclude 
until he had spoken four hours. 
His speech as a forensic effort was admirable, but as an argument it was without 
value. Mr. Beales seemed to feel the hopelessness of his cause, for he concluded with 
the beautiful allegory of the creation of man at the prayer of Mercy; and picturing 
the lonely, friendless, penniless prisoner at the bar, asked the jury to temper justice 
with mercy. 
THE CLOSING PROCEEDINGS. 
At the conclusion of Mr. Beales' address, it being then six o'clock, the Court 
adjourned until nine o'clock the next morning. The terrible character of the crime, 
combined with the previous career of the prisoner in the section of the State where 
he was now the sole object of interest, enlisted a public feeling in the outset, which had 
been deepened and extended by the dramatic character of the evidence and of the 
incidents of the trial. Mr. Beales did, indeed, reprobate this public opinion in the 
most scathing terms, even going so far as to say that the matrons and maids of New 
York, crowding to see this aged man on trial for his life, and manifesting their pleasure 
at the tightening of the chains of evidence around him, did not compare favorably 
with the Roman women gazing upon the gladiatorial sports, or the Spanish females 
gloating over a bull-fight. The speech of the counsel stated no more than the truth 
as to the universal interest felt in the trial, and his charge of vindictiveness against 
the people was not merely rhetorical. 
THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL'S ADDRES 
Attorney-General Champlain began his appeal to the jury upon the opening of the 
Court at nine o'clock, by saying that the allegation of the counsel for the defence that 
he brought to the case the great weight of his official position was uncalled for, as he 
came in no official robes, and appealed only to the reason and best judgment of the 
jury upon the law and the facts. The claim of popular predjudice was equally flimsy, 
because the popular indignation was not and is not against any particular individual, 
but against a horrible crime which some one had committed, and which unsettled the 
very foundations of public order and personal security. In reference to the presence of 
ladies at the trial, the District-Attorney said their curiosity was to see the most extra- 
ordinary man of the age in the prisoner at the Bar, who has had no cause in the past 
to complain of the administration of justice, nor of the conduct of the present trial, in 
which he had been accorded every right, nay, every privilege, even to that of his 
personal participation in the proceedings. Nor was it now intended, nor had it ever 
been, to try the man on public prejudice, but upon the law and the evidence. Thus 
tested, the intent of the person who shot Mirrick was a primal consideration, and it was 
the theory of the prosecution that the murder was premeditated from the very start, 
as burglars have always the latent design to slay any one who may attempt to intercept 
them. In examining the incidents of this crime, it was apparent that the murder was 
premeditated and malicious, if ever murder was. As to the conspiracy, the prosecu- 
tion claimed it had been thoroughly established, and the legal result was that each and 
all engaged in the crime were equally guilty, no matter who actually fired the shot. 
The Attorney-General then began a review of the testimony, beginning with the 
boon companionship of Ruloff and Jarvis, at No. 170 Third avenue, where they were 
known as Edward Lenrio and Charles G. Curtis, but beyond the portals of that home 
they were known as Edward C. Howard and Charles G. Thompson. The prisoner 
farther becomes James E. Dalton in Cortland County, where Wm. T. Dexter is Wm 44 
LIFE OF EDWARD II. RULOFF. 
Davenport. Here is the starting-point, and from here begins that chain of damning 
evidence wound around the prisoner by the skill and energy of District-Attorney Hop- 
kins; Captain Flinn, Chief of the Binghamton Police; Captain Hedden, of the New 
York Police; and of officer Reilley. The prisoner stealing out of the city at the dead 
hour of the night, himself gave evidence of the presence at the scene of the tragedy, 
and the Chenango river gave up its dead to prove that Jarvis and Dexter were also 
present at the scene, in connection with which the many articles by which the bodies 
of the two men were identified were rapidly enumerated. The scrap of stenographic 
writing in the hand of Ruloff found upon Dexter was claimed to be a means of com- 
munication between the conspirators, as the expert on the stand had sworn that it was 
unlike any one of the two hundred systems he had examined, and it was claimed that the 
cypher was the invention of this learned and mysterious prisoner. With all the proofs 
in the case, it is incontrovertible that Dexter and Jarvis were two of the burglars, and 
the great question that Rulofi' was the other is answered affirmatively by all the facts 
and circumstances of the case, but most of all by the shoes found on the premises, and 
by the fact that he had not attempted to prove where he was when the tragedy was 
enacted.. The prisoner was a man of great learning, shrewdness, and legal acumen, 
knowing perfectly the weight of circumstances, and would have destroyed them by op- 
posite testimony if it had been in his power to do so. Mr. Champlain, having thus 
shown that Dexter and Jarvis were in the store, said it was possiole now to do justice 
to the evidence of Burrows, who identifies Ruloff as the third burglar, for who else 
would be there but this strange, fascinating master of crime, with his two pupils and 
accomplices ? The testimony of Burrows was then analyzed with great force, and 
shown to be consistent, intelligible, and coherent, in the course of which the claim of 
the defence that the clerks had used undue violence was scorned as a legal fact, for lhe 
burglars were outlaws, and there is no rule of law to measure exactly the degree of 
violence proper to overcome such outlaws on such occasions. The evidence of Bur- 
rows was convincing; but even without it the prisoner had been bound to his crime 
by circumstantial evidence stronger than was ever forged before, and the crime was 
murder in the first degree. Having spoken an hour and twenty minutes, Attorney- 
General Champlain concluded one of the most powerfully cogent arguments ever de- 
livered in a murder case, with an impassioned appeal to the jury not to stay the 
avenging hand of the law uplifted over the head of the prisoner. 
THE CHARGE. 
Judge Hogeboom then proceeded to charge the jury. Having given the statutory 
definitions of the various grades of homicide, he said that the consideration of the 
facts in every case where murder in the first degree is proven, is always solemn and 
interesting, but was peculiarly so in this case. The character of the prisoner, his pre- 
vious history, the sudden appearance of the felons at the bedside of the awakened 
clerks, the grapple for life and the retreat of two of the felons, their quick return, the en- 
counter with Mirrick, the shot, the death, the flight, the retreat to the river, the un- 
seen but probably instantaneous gulphing of two of the felons in Chenango river, the 
retreat of the third burglar and his non-appearance, unless he has come in the person 
of the prisoner, the flight of Ruloff under cover of night, his arrest, his confronting 
with the bodies of the dead burglars, the scene on that occasion, all the guilt of Ru- 
loff, were then reviewed with great force and impartiality. Upon the claim of the 
defence that Mirrick and Burrows were using undue violence, the Judge said it was a 
question for the jury to consider whether it was the duty of the clerks to wait until 
the premises had been robbed and themselves killed before attempting any resistance 
to the burglars. There is no doubt that a person who unnecessarily kills another 
engaged in the commission of a felony is guilty of manslaughter in the second degree; 
but it is for the jury to determine the fact in all such cases. As to circumstantial 
evidence, he said that it was often the most satisfactory kind of proof, and is sometimes LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
45 
irresistible when it comes from widely different quarters, and converging to a single 
point. "Truth," concluded Judge Hogeboom, "is mighty, and will ultimately pre- 
vail. It may be overcome, obscured for a time by falsehood, ignorance, or sophistry, 
but it will come forth at last with undimmed brightness. Coming from God as her 
source, and returning thither as her ultimate home, she meantime walks majestic and 
serene in the pathways of human action, bringing light out of darkness, order out of 
confusion." 
The Judge having concluded at 12 o'clock, first Mr. Beales, and after him Mr. 
Becker, proceeded to reargue the case at length in the form of numerous " requests to 
charge," some of which were purely matters of fact, and all of which, with most of the 
others, were denied by the Court. At 121 o'clock the jury retired to consider their 
verdict. 
VERDICT OF THE JURY. 
MURDER OF THE FIRST DEGREE-EFFECT ON THE PRISONER. 
After an absence of four hours and a half the jury returned into court at 6.20 p. m. 
The prisoner having been brought in from jail, Mr. Joseph L. Johnson, the Clerk of 
the Court, said: "Gentlemen of the jury, have you agreed upon your verdict?" 
Hiram A. Mosier, foreman, replied : " We have." Mr. Johnson then read the verdict; 
" Guilty of murder in the first degree; " and, being polled, each member answered that 
the verdict was right. The scene was solemn in the extreme. The court-room was 
dimly lighted, and the great audience breathless to catch the verdict, which was fol 
lowed by a slight burst of applause, promptly suppressed by Judge Hogeboom. When 
the verdict was announced Ruloff, who had stared intently and with open mouth a* 
the jury during the preliminary proceedings, sank back in his seat, seemingly for the 
first time overpowered and exhausted. He recovered himself, however, almost imine 
diately, and in a few minutes was led back to his prison, undismayed by the words of 
doom, walking with a firm tread and uncowed demeanor. Mr. Becker, counsel for 
defence, asked for a stay of proceedings until to-morrow morning to present a bill of 
exceptions, and Mr. Hopkins, the Distriet-Attorney, saying it was proper a delay 
should be granted, it was accorded. The great case had now finally ended in tne tri 
umph of the people over the most remarkable malefactor of the day, for it was the gen 
eral opinion that there were no points of law or fact upon which the verdict could b( 
reversed upon appeal. 
FINALE OF THE GREAT CASE-RULOFF SENTENCED TO BE HANGED ON THP 
THIRD OF MARCH. 
The Court opened at 10 o'clock on Wednesday morning with even more than the 
large crowd present which had attended during the trial. Ruloff sat at his table care 
lessly looking at some law books, apparently the most unconcerned person in the 
house. The District-Attorney moved that the prisoner be sentenced, whereupon Mr 
Becker asked that sentence be deferred, and the prisoner allowed sufficient time t« 
'•eview the testimony and move for a new trial; but Judge Hogeboom said that as the 
next General Term of the Supreme Court was to be held on the 6th of February, i* 
would be better to sentence the prisoner at once, as it would be time enough to ask 
for stay of proceedings at the General Term. After some discussion between 
Ruloff's counsel and the public prosecutor, the Judge ordered the prisoner to stand 
up and be sentenced. When asked if he had anything to say why the sentence of 
death should not be passed upon him, he replied in a firm, quiet tone, " It is not 
deemed advisable to say anything at present." During the Judge's remarks prelimi 
nary to pronouncing sentence, Ruloff stood coolly, with one hand resting on the table 
and the other in his pocket. He smiled several times, especially when reference was 
made to the necessity of his preparing by devotional thoughts for the future life. He 46 
LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
was sentenced to be hanged on the 3d day of March next at the county jail. As he 
sat down he laughed with his counsel. When the court adjourned the prisoner vras 
removed, and a large crowd followed him to the jail, where he was locked up. 
Ruloff's respite was until May 15th, when he was hanged, instead of the 3d of 
March, as originally intended. 
RULOFF'S CONFESSION! 
The following is the substance of a confession made to Mr. E. H. Freeman, of Bing- 
hamton, by Ruloff respecting the murder of the latter's wife : 
On the 23d of June, 1845, Ruloff told his wife that he had got hold of a little money 
and was going West to find something to do. She said she would never go to Ohio, 
so far away from her family, and that if he went she would take her child and go 
home. She was tired, she said, of living with him anyhow, and her mother was anx- 
ious for her to go home. This made Ruloff angry, and words arose between them, 
lie accused Harriet (his wife) of wanting to see Dr. Bull, and told her that she thought 
more of Bull than she did of him. She said that she had a right to do so if she wished, 
and that Bull was her cousin. He told her that she might go where she pleased, but 
that she should not take the child. He attempted to take the child away from her, 
but she clung to it. In his passion he reached for the pestle of the mortar in which 
he pounded medicines, and 
STRUCK HER WITH IT OVER THE LEFT TEMPLE. 
The blow broke her skull. She fell with the child in her arms. [See Engraving.] 
Ruloff took the child and laid it upon the bed. He gave it a narcotic to stop its 
crying. He raised Harriet, and placed her so that he could examine the wound. He 
tried to bring her to life. He administered every restorative he had at hand, and 
dressed the wound carefully. In his despair he did not know what to do. He finally 
decided to kill himself, and prepared a poison for the purpose. He passed the night 
alternately adopting and rejecting various plans. When daylight came he realized 
the fact that something must be done at once. He pulled out and emptied a large 
chest. lie wrapped his wife's body in strong bed-ticking, and then in two sheets. 
With great difficulty he crowded her into the chest. He also placed some flat-irons 
and mortar in the chest. About 11 o'clock he went over to a friend's and borrowed a 
horse and wagon. He put the chest with the body in it into the wagon, and went 
toward Cayuga lake. It was at one time his intention to drive into Ithaca, procure 
potash, and 
BURY THE BODY SOMEWHERE. 
lie travelled by unfrequented roads into the town of Ulysses. He drove into the 
woods near the lake, and, being tired, fell asleep, and was awakened by hearing two 
persons conversing. After they had passed he went to the lake and looked about 
cautiously for a boat. He found one after a long search. He returned to the wagon, 
opened the chest, and took out the body. He tied the iron and stones in the clothing, 
and the clothing around the body. Then he placed his charge in the boat and rowed 
into the lake. He lifted the corpse over 'he side of the boat and dropped it into the 
water. HE ATTEMPTED TO TAKE THE CHILD AWAY FROM HER. SHE CLUNG TO IT. IN HIS 
PASSION HE STRUCK HER WITH A PESTLE OVER THE LEFT TEMPLE. THE BLOW 
BROKE HER SKULL, AND SHE FELL WITH THE CHILD IN HER ARMS. PAGE 46. 
Sr yerfud)te, baa .ftinb von itjr fortjuneljmen. Sie Ijiclt ea fcft. 3« feiner 
Sßutl) fdjluß er fte mit einer SKorferfcuIe in tie linte ©djlafe. SDcr Sd)Iag 
brad) tie unb fte fan! nieber, mit bcm Äinbe im 5Irme.-Seite 46. LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
49 
Our own reporter pays 
A VISIT TO RULOFF ' 
Not since the day of the tragedy had the town of Binghamton been in 
such a state of excitement. The trains during the day previous (Wednes- 
day, May 17th) came in crowded with country folks anxious to see the 
end of Ruloff. Before nightfall the hotels were all overflowing, and the 
midnight arrivals were forced to put up with the best extemporized beds 
to be obtained. People from Tompkins county, where Ruloff' first began 
his murderous depredations, came in large numbers, and indicated by 
speech and gesture their joy at the coming fate of the murderer. Among 
others was Schutt, the brother-in-law, who tried so hard to bring his sis- 
ter's murderer to justice twenty years ago. * 
The Last Day but One.-Until midnight Ruloff kept up high spirits, 
jesting in the best possible spirits. He was watched by three men, lest 
he should commit suicide. He, however, gave no indication of restraint. 
As the spirit moved him he read or chatted, and no man, outside of his 
legal advisers, who has spoken to him has elicited from him an avowal or 
confession of regret. On Wednesday and Tuesday several efforts were 
made to have him see clergymen, but he scouted the suggestion, and to a 
Roman Catholic priest, who approached him, crucifix in hand, he cried, 
angrily, " Take away that damned thing." To the sheriff he said that if 
it was necessary a minister might be present at the hanging, but he'd have 
nothing to do with them. As to his body, he added, boastfully, " he 
didn't care a damn what became of it." Such conduct served to exaspe- 
rate still more the feeling against him, and for a time even lynching was 
thought not impossible. All day Wednesday he conducted himself with 
the greatest recklessness, shouting and singing so that he could be plainly 
heard outside his prison walls. 
A Midnight Visit.-Shortly after midnight I routed the sheriff, and 
after an animated parley, aided by my credentials, I was shut into the 
prison by the much-pestered prison minister of death, the County Sheriff. 
Passing through a short, well-lighted hall, I stopped in front of a grated 
door, and was formally introduced to the condemned. He sat carelessly 
on a low pallet, half dressed, his white shirt thrown loosely back from the 
neck, displaying an ox-like framework of muscles and tendons, indicative 
of ruddy life. He wore also a spring pair of black trousers, hung from 
the waist with one suspender, and caught up in slovenly neglige at the 
ankles. 
When my name was announced he leaped briskly from his pallet and 
accosted me courteously. Of his own accord he took up the conversation, 
and, contrary to my expectation, entered into an animated exposition of 
his views and theories, touching only distantly on his immediate circum- 
stances. He set out in much the tone and manner of an elderly gentleman 
comfortably established in his parlor, enthusiastic to convince incredulous 50 
LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
youth or doubting age. As he grew warm with the theme, his utterance 
became thick. Alluding to a recent article in one of the New York jour- 
nals touching his own fate, Ruloff laughed softly, and expressed some 
distrust of the writer's good faith in recommending his being permitted to 
finish his great work on the language. 
LAST WORDS ABOUT HIS STUDIES. 
Remarking that several gentlemen of the press had visited him through 
the day, he said he had nothing to say; he was compelled to make short 
work with them. "If you are interested in science, however," he con- 
tinued, with animation, " I shall be glad to discuss the subject with you, 
and, if you like, my linguistic labors." 
He sat before me, the gas in his cell flaring out a light bright as noon- 
day, his meaningless small brown eyes dancing good nature. " My works," 
he continued, earnestly, "have not met with proper appreciation-particu- 
larly when you recall the charlatan theories'that gain credence now-a-days. 
I have done that which will make this epoch illustrious to other genera- 
tions, but I go to my grave unrecognized and unrewarded. A work of 
beauty-a triumph of genius must have educated recognition. For 
instance, an Indian takes more readily to a highly-colored daub than to 
the most delicately-tinted and exquisitely finished painting-so with this 
lingual science which I have brought to completion. Learned idiots make 
ridicule of it, while ignorant alike of its fundamental truths and the beau- 
tiful and symmetrical principle involved. My system has rationalized the 
complex system of primitive derivation and roots, and can be used for 
every known tongue. If I could have had time"-absently looking about 
the cell and clasping his neck with significant anguish-"you know.'' 
The sentence died out in an inarticulate guttural. 
Suddenly looking at me, he exclaimed, with harsh eagerness, "You see 
that every statement in my affidavit has been confirmed; the two barmen 
were drowned, as I stated, and the testimony of Burrows is wholly dis- 
proved. It is a shame to deprive me of life just now, when I might 
confer such a lasting blessing on mankind. I shall go satisfied, though. 
I have nothing to regret. I have done a great work." He fell to musing 
-listlessly biting a pine stick lying on his little table. Suddenly starting, 
in answer to a question, he exclaimed, with ferocious bitterness: 
"No, I have no hope of intervention now. Governor Hoffman has 
gone off to Virginia, and nothing more can be done for me." 
The Idiots of the Schools.-In answer to my inquiry as to whether 
he attended the Philological Convention at Rochester last year, he replied, 
disdainfully: "No! I demeaned myself by submitting my great work at 
Poughkeepsie, but was treated shamefully, and washed my hands of the 
sleepy hinds. I have, however, given some valuable papers to Prof. Lewis; 
and I imagine that he will have justice done to my memory. I have 
made use of French's valuable little work, which I believe is most useful LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
51 
Grant White is too shallow to treat such a subject with originality, or 
even honesty. I was simple enough to call on him once, but my plummet 
was too heavy for him, and I quit him in disgust. He is an unread cox-' 
comb, and such as he ruins the noble structure of our mother tongue. 
White is filled with little conceit, and hopelessly wed to his own primer 
idea of language. 
" My great work, carefully arranged and ready for publication, is in the 
hands of my brother, who, though nb scholar, will, I trust, see to it that 
the result of my life is not lost to the world that rejects me in my hour of 
need. I have sent beside some interesting manuscript to the local press, 
which will appear after-a-Friday." 
His voice thrilled with the merest semblance of a tremor. 
Waiting for Daybreak.-In reply to my inquiry, he said: "If you 
please, I should like to retire. I am glad to have been able to say any- 
thing of interest, I am sure." The prisoner did not, however, retire. He 
seemed restless, and walked the limits of his apartment, laughing and 
joking with the two men who watched with him inside his cell. Soon he 
sat down on the couch and stared at the walls, watching the daylight 
breaking through the grates. A loud crowing of cocks roused him from 
his reverie, and he asked facetiously what the rooster had to crow for at 
that unseasonable hour. Presently he fell to explaining a trivial mathe- 
matical puzzle, and entered into the exposition with all the ardor of a 
school-boy. For full an hour he was employed with this figure: 
PLACE THESE FIGURES EACH WAY TO COUNT 34. 
1 2 3 4 = 34 
5 6 7 8 = 34 
9 10 11 12 = 34 
13 14 15 16 = 34 
34 34 34 34 
In order to do this you must study the manner in which the figures 
should be placed. This is the manner in which to place them: 
16 15 2 1 = 34 
6 5 11 12 = 34 
3 4 13 14 = 34 
9 10 8 7 = 34 
34 34 34 34 
Thomas Johnson, the watchman, now entered, and Ruloff resumed his 
search at the dictionary. What a picture! This man, on the verge of 
eternity, quibbling with words as though it were some idle half hour, like 
that before a pleasant dinner-party, but really a mauvaise quart d'heure de 
Rabelais of the most terrible nature, with the grim figure of death stretch- 
ing his awful wings over his unknown future. The hours rolled on, one,; 
two, and still Ruloff chatted, read, told stories, in which levity; blasphemy; 
and obscenity were the features Then he turned to mapping* out mathe4 52 
LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
matical puzzles and showing them to his astonished watchmen, who looked 
on him with open mouth and eyes as either a prodigy or a monster, they 
could not tell which. « 
"Look at this, Tom," said Ruloff; "see what you think of it," showing 
him one of those mysteries of figures of which the rule has never been 
reached. Mark! always a mystery :- 
2 9 4 = 15 
7 5 3 - 15 
6 1 8 = 15 
? 15 15 15 
'You see, any way you read it, in a straight line or diagonally, it makes 
fifteen. I've been expounding the same puzzle to Barclay's reporter, 
but the other was perhaps not so easy to explain as the one I have shown 
you." 
The young man proved somewhat inapt, and he redoubled his efforts 
to show him the exact method. "The kink of the thing is," said he, with 
animation, "to develop an equal sum from the squares of each face-thus 
■and thus; then the whole thing is as plain as the nose on your face." 
Ruloftl then clasping his knees, rocked to and fro, and when quite forgetful 
-of the problem, broke into a low whistle, made up of lively old-fashioned 
airs. 
This mood presently changed, and, turning suddenly upon the Deputy 
Sheriff, he cried vivaciously, " I ought to make some great discovery this 
morning. The paper I gave yesterday contains the basis of all my 
science." 
This moment Sheriff Martin's parlor clock str.uck five. " How now-- 
*what was the hour, four ? " asked Ruloff, with a start. He fell back lan- 
guidly upon the bed, and taking the Book of Martyrs from the table by 
his head, made humorous comments on the primitive style of garments 
and much ridicule of the engravings. After this he fell into 
meditation, and did not move from his bed or book for fifteen minutes. 
At length the watchman broke the silence by remarking, "Edward, 
your business matters in this world ought to be pretty nearly fixed." 
Ruloff started up and said, thoughtfully, "Yes, I guess they are." He 
Was thoughtful for a minute, and then he broke forth once more into his 
levity and obscenity. 
"Edward," said the watchman, "did you murder that man, Mirrick, or 
not?" 
"I did not. It was Al Jarvis who did it. Stand up and I'll show you 
Row it happened. It was all Mirrick's fault." 
Here he went through a pantomime, showing the relative positions of 
the two young dry-goods clerks, his two accomplices, Jarvis and Dexter, 
and himself. His demonstration, without going into unpleasant details, 
tallied with his statement on the trial, but conflicts not only with the LIFE OF EDWARD IL RULOFF. 
53 
Statement of the surviving clerk, Burrows, but with itself, he, in fact, 
averring that Jarvis fired the fatal shot while grasped from behind by 
the murdered man, Mirrick. The impossibility of Ruloff's explanation 
will be seen in the fact that Mirrick was shot in the back of the head. 
Ruloff reverted to his books again, and while thus engaged six o'clock 
boomed out on the dawning day, which was to be the last that would 
ever dawn for Ruloff. The deep sound fell on his ears, and he started up 
with a look of anxiety. 
" What o'clock is that, Thomas? " 
" Six." 
" Ha! time is growing shorter! " His whole manner changed, and 
beads of perspiration stood upon his forehead. The shackles had been 
removed, and he paced up and down the corridor greatly agitated. The 
watchman now asked him a question: 
"Are you satisfied that you are going to die in a just cause for a crime 
you have committed ? " 
Ruloff replied quickly, with a scowl, "No, not by a damned sight!" 
" Have you ever given a true history of your life, Edward? " 
Ruloff: " The history of my life will be told in my book." 
Again he sat down to his books, as if in them he could find the charm 
against thought, prospective or retrospective. But this time it failed. 
The lexicons would be sometimes upside down, and he passed from one 
to the other nervously. Again he started to his feet, and gave way to 
the thoughts that forced themselves in with an increasing, pertinacity, as 
the blessed daylight forced its reluctant way through the thick window 
bars into the charnel semi-darkness of his dungeon. How long this 
hopeless agony would have lasted can only be conjectured, but another 
watchman asked him for his autograph to save him from any distressing 
thoughts. 
" Here's a book, Stillson," said Raloft'; "take this instead." 
The book was a little religious brochure for prison circulation, enti- 
tled, " The Cross in the Cell," which had been sent him by a pious old 
lady. 
" Won't you write your name in it? " 
" It's a book, Stillson, that I never believed in and never ordered. I 
won't. Here's a copy of my shorthand." 
He now sat down more composedly, and looked over an illustrated 
copy of " Fox's Book of Martyrs," dwelling particularly on the pictures 
of hanging. 
Ruloff's first visitor in the morning was II. L. Root, who called late on 
him the night before. He conversed cheerfully with him, but would say 
nothing about his crime. lie asked about several of his old acquaint- 
ances. Mr. Root said some of them were outside, and Ruloff asked if 
possible that they might be pointed out to him from the window which 
overlooked the crowd, now swelled to large numbers. As the crowd 54 
LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
outside caught a glimpse of him he was immediately recognized, but 
beyond pointing him out to each other no demonstration was made. 
His counsel was the next to call. Ruloff received him kindly, and 
appeared sorry for the affronts he had heaped the day before upon a man, 
who, whatever his course, had worked hard for him. Ruloff told him 
that he had nothing to say, and continued : 
" I am sorry, George, to see you feel bad; I guess you feel worse 
than I do." 
Becker (the counsel): Did you tell any one anything about this 
thing? 
Ruloff: No. 
Becker: I wouldn't advise you to, either. 
It would seem that whatever chance might have existed of a confession 
being made, the selfish tactics of rival parties effectually prevented it. 
In the conversation which followed, Ruloff bitterly reflected on what 
Dr. Sawyer said in the papers respecting his philology. On the subject 
of his imprisonment, he said : 
"I was arrested on the 18th of August; this is the 18th of May. Just 
nine months in prison." 
He shook hands with Becker, and thanked him and Mr. Whitney, who 
had just entered. 
"You have worked hard for me, and I hope you will obtain your 
reward in life. I have done my work-one which it will take genera- 
tions to appreciate." 
WHAT TO DO WITH HIS BODY. 
This endless theme ended, his counsel asked him what disposal was to 
be made of his body. "I simply wish it decently buried," he replied, 
quickly, and finally stipulated that it be placed in charge of his brother, 
who had promised to come on to-day. Afterward, however, Mr. Decke 
received a note from this gentleman, merely asking, " Is there any 
hope?" He mentioned an inclosure of $100, but nothing was found in 
the envelope. 
The family of Ruloff kept entirely aloof from the hapless monster. 
Ruloff Ruloffson, his brother, kept up a passing interest, sending 
careless notes of enquiry occasionally, but manifesting so little concern 
that even this day found him absent, and, informed of the contents of his 
brother's note, Ruloff manifested the only emotion observed during the 
day. With the hope of a personal communication with his relative, some 
of the bravado that had heretofore sustained him seemed to die out, and 
he seemed for the first time to mark with apprehension the narrowing 
span between him and eternity. 
The two lawyers now took their leave, and Ruloff was asked would he 
eat any breakfast. He said he was not hungry, but accepted a bowl of 
coffee, which he sipped from time to time through the morning. As the THE BRAVE CLERK MIRRICK SEIZED THE REMAINING BURG- 
LAR IN A FIRM GRASP, WHEN RULOFF CAME TO THE AID 
OF HIS "PAL," AND SHOT MIRRICK DEAD. 
Der bra»e Giert SRirricf parftc ten jurüdbleibenten Ginbredjcr mit fefter 
alö IRuli'ff jum SBeiftanbe feine«? Äameratcn unb LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
57 
police officers and others, of the town called on him to say good-bye, to 
one of the former, he said, playfully, "Sears, I've a mind to take that 
club of yours and knock you on the head with it." 
At nine o'clock they brought out some clothes to put on him for the 
execution. He had by this time, nine o'clock, assumed a perfect com- 
mand of himself, which, while he lived, did not desert him. 
Aaron Schutt, the brother of Ruloff's vanished wife, requested an 
interview. But this the latter tartly refused. 
Two well-meaning clergymen, one of them a Baptist, the Bev. J. D', 
Pope, and A. Reynolds, offered spiritual consolation through the sheriff. 
Ruloff again refused. He was now told that they would dress him. He, 
however, said he could do it himself, and immediately set about it. He 
•combed his hair before a mirror with great care; he adjusted his seedy 
black frock-coat as if it was of the highest importance, that it should set 
well. His feet were swollen from the shackles which he had been wear- 
ing up to the day before, and consequently his boots hurt him when 
drawn on. He took them off again, lay down upon the bed and lifted his 
feet for some minutes to bring down the swelling. He succeeded some- 
what in this, but not completely. He continued his repulsive jesting, 
thoroughly bearing out his defiant cynicism. The effect of this on the 
generally simple-minded men around him cannot readily be appreciated. 
With a creditable humanity they bore with it, and even helped to keep up- 
his grave-clothes jollity, repugnant as it was to their feelings. He asked 
that his books be given to his brother. 
Outside the prison the crowd by ten o'clock numbered thousands. 
There were a great many ladies and children among them, but since 
nothing could be seen, there was more harm in the intent than in fact. 
One citizen had run an upright ladder through the roof of the house and 
mounted on it. He was so far rewarded by this risk of life by just being 
able to see Ruloff pass through the door to the scaffold; that was all. 
At this hour the gallows was tested with a bag of sand weighing 120 
pounds. Chief of Police, James Flinn, with the entire force under his 
command, six constables, entered the yard about eleven, and pushed back 
the expectant witnesses of the coming tragedy so as to make way for the 
procession, and leaving a clear space in the corner on which the gallows 
beam, with its pendant rope, jutted out. The beam, the rope and a signal 
cord were all that was visible in the yard, the weight (200 pounds) hang- 
ing in Sheriff Martin's stable, as also, of course, the rope which was to be 
cut releasing the weight when the signal cord was pulled. Deputy Sheriff* 
Edminster was stationed in the stable, an axe in one hand and signal 
cord in the other. 
Now followed a tedious half hour to those in the yard, during which, 
however, the doomed man, with only forty minutes to live, was laughing, 
joking and cynical as ever. At a quarter past eleven Deputy Sheriff 
L. R. Brown entered the room where the prisoner was, with the halter 58 
LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
and the strap for pinioning the arms behind. When Ruloff saw these he 
neither quivered nor quailed. 
His face was paler than usual, but that was the only external sign of 
emotion visible. One thing in his dress now became painfully evident- 
viz., the colorless shirt, open at the bosom. As Brown approached him 
he submitted with a smile to the pinioning of the arms, and bowed his 
head as the fatal noose was thrown over and drawn in loosely round his 
peck. A procession was about to be formed, when Ruloff turned round 
and said cheerily: 
"Boys, I must shake hands with you all up here, for I'll do nothing of 
the sort down stairs." 
All present shook hands with him, and as they were again about to 
move, Ruloff said: 
"You won't have any clergymen bellowing down there, nor prayeis, 
nor any of that damned bosh, will you, Mr. Sheriff?" 
"No, sir," replied the sheriff who appeared much affected. 
The grim procession now moved slowly down stairs, Ruloff walking 
firmly, with only his habitual stoop of the shoulders and his hands in his 
pants' pockets. There was no appearance of braggadocio. He, the in- 
carnation of oyr/esu resignation to fate, or, as he would say, circumstances. 
There was a cap upon his head, but all in the yard stood uncovered as th-e 
party entered, and remained so, although a hot sun burned down upon 
their heads. When the gallows beam was reached Ruloff* was caused vo 
stand on the little square already marked out. The pinioning of the 
knees and ankles was quickly proceeded with, and the halter was fastened 
to the thick rope above. The sheriff* came in front of the wretched man 
and said: 
" The chief deputy will now read the warrant." 
Deputy Osborne hereupon commenced reading the warrant, which was 
a long document, reciting Ruloff's condemnation to be hanged on the 
13th of March last, the stay of proceedings, and the affirmation of the ver- 
dict and sentence in the Court of Appeals at Elmira. It occupied ten 
minutes in reading, and during that space of time the wording of the docu- 
ment was but little listened to, the bearing of the pagan prisoner being the 
centre of observation. Pale, but firm, the only noticeable gesture was 
once or twice a twitching of the lips, which were drawn down at the right 
corner, and a motion of the lips as if the tongue were dry. There was no 
trembling of the limbs. The face was as pale as compatible with life ; and 
its heavy, coarse under jaw and cheeks, with its short, grizzled hair; the 
small, half-closed eyes, apparently more stupefied and daunted, gave him 
a fearfully repulsive appearance. The irony of a man within a minute or 
two of a shameful death, standing with his hands in his pockets, added to 
the strange surroundings of the man. The effect was not lost upon those 
present. An expression of horror spread over all, and the steady voice 
of Deputy Osborne, while distressingly audible, was not listened to. At LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
59 
length the warrant was concluded and nervously folded away. The 
sheriff, still standing before the unrepentant murderer, said: 
" Mr. Ruloff, have you anything to say before the sentence of the law 
is carried into effect?" 
Ruloff answered, after about the pause of five heart beats, " Nothing 
at all." 
The sheriff moved round to the left side of the dying culprit and 
said: 
"It now wants twenty-six minutes of the time which I had fixed in 
my mind for carrying out the sentence of the law upon you, and if you 
have anything to say, you shall be given time to utter it." 
Ruloff clenched his lips, but did not speak. After about a minute he 
turned to Brown, who was at his side, and said, almost inaudibly, as if 
apologizing for the pinions on his limbs, "I cannot stand still!" 
When the tension of mind at length became something awful, the 
sheriff' said,u It is not your desire to say anything." 
Ruloff shook his head. 
"You do not desire any delay? " 
Another shake of the head. a 
The sheriff made a sign to Brown, who took off thb «hp on Ruloff's 
head and substituted the white cap, which was pulled down over his face. 
He then gently pulled the noose, which was run up taut. He then gave 
a smart pull to the signal cord, and the body was raised with a sudden 
jerk three feet from the ground, apparently dislocating the neck. The 
force of the upward movement threw his right hand, with a spasmodic 
movement, out of the pants' pocket, but, as if the stubborn will of the dy- 
ing murderer was resolved to assert itself in every defiance of the gate of 
eternity, after a few efforts to find the pocket the hand slipped in again 
and remained there. This was the only movement made until life was 
extinct. In nine minutes Drs. J. H. Chittenden and Daniel S. Burr dis- 
covered that the pulse was beating twenty-one to the minute. In twelve 
minutes it was imperceptible, and in thirteen minutes there was no pulse. 
At four minutes to twelve the body was lowered a little, and there was a 
very faint pulsation of the heart. After hanging twenty minutes he was 
pronounced dead. At the end of thirty-three minutes the coffin was 
brought out and the body lowered into it. On removing the white cap 
the face appeared as tranquil as if asleep. There was a red mark on the 
back of the wrists, where they had been pressed against the pants. 
Such is the last scene of all in the life of the most persistent and intel- 
lectual criminal who has ever paid the penalty of justice for manifold 
crimes-Ruloff, the murderer of a wife and child, the homicide of a sister- 
in-law and her infant, the assassin of his two " pals," and the slayer at last 
of a brave young man who simply stood in the way of his committing 
robbery. What intellectual attainments, linguistic learning, metaphysical 
subtlety, or defiant unbelief, sustained even unto death, can cover with a 60 
LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
halo of even sentimental regret such a continuous semi-century of in- 
famy ? 
The answer is found in the general relief felt in the unerring censor- 
the public mind-that one such life, in all its degrading incongruities, is 
cut short forever. 
Ruloff has left two letters-one in Greek, at present being translated; 
the other to his former landlord in Third avenue, desiring him to dispose 
of his effects. The body was disposed of according to Ruloff's wish, as 
stated in the interview with his counsel. 
Another Account of Ruloff's Last Crime.-So much has the in- 
terest excited by the peculiarities of Ruloff absorbed public attention that 
the facts of the crime which the old fox, after all his doublings, was 
trapped at, are but dimly remembered among the long list of his other 
and older breaches of the moral law. On the morning of the 17th of last 
August, the dry goods store of Halbert Brothers, Court street, Bing- 
hamton, in the State of New York, was entered from the rear by three 
burglars. 
There were sleeping in the store at the time, as guardians, two young 
men, Frederick A. Mirrick and George Burrows. The burglars effected 
an entrance without creating any alarm, and had packed up three bundles 
of silks before either of the young men was awakened. When some- 
noise caused them to start up, they found three men in masks bend- 
ing over them in the bed. One of the burglars told them to keep quiet, 
and one of the three began to make his way out. The two brave young 
fellows immediately leaped upon the remaining burglar, Burrows dealing 
one of them several severe blows upon the head with an iron instrument 
used for opening cases. This one then ran away, leaving the third burglar 
clinched with Mirrick. On hearing the struggle, the first burglar re- 
turned, and after firing three shots at Burrows, missing him each time,, 
advanced on Mirrick and shot him dead. , 
The burglars then made good their escape for the time - being. The- 
crime aroused the town of Binghamton to a state of fury, and parties 
were organized by James Flynn, Chief of Police; Eras Campbell, of the 
Fire Department; by Simmons, the mill owner; every citizen, in fact,, 
constituting himsölf an officer. At the end of two days two bodies floated 
down the Chenango river, and it was found from indisputable evidence 
that they were two of the burglars. Meanwhile an oldish man had been 
arrested, and telling a plausible story was released. He was again ar- 
rested, gave the name of Howard, and on a deformity of the foot being 
noticed, corresponding with a pair of boots left behind by the burglars in 
their flight, he was this time detained. 
This man was recognized as Ruloff, and finally, through a clever course 
of detective management, set on foot by Chief Flynn and District Attor- 
ney Hopkins, of Binghamton, and conducted by Captain Hedden and 
detective Phil. Reilly, of the Fifteenth precinct, the identity of the shoot* LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
61 
ing burglar as Ruloff. and his association with the drowned men, who 
turned out to be noted burglars, named respectively Jarvis and Dexter, 
was confirmed. 
THE HEAD OF A MURDERER. 
Ruloff's Brain-Its Weight, Measurement, Capacity-Next in Volume to 
Cuvier's and Daniel Webster's-Extraordinary Thickness of the Skull- 
Digging for the Body-Resurrectionists at Work-They are Disappointed 
-The Face of the Murderer to be Reproduced in Plaster of Paris-What 
the Doctors Say. 
On the morning of the 23d, the work of dissecting Ruloff's head was so 
far completed as to enable those having it in charge to ascertain the 
weight of his brain. The brain weighed 59 ounces, being 9| or 10 ounces 
heavier than the average weight. The heaviest brain ever weighed was 
that of Cuvier, the French naturalist, which is given by some authorities 
at 65 ounces, and by some at 64 ounces. The brain of Daniel Webster 
(partly estimated on account of a portion being destroyed by disease) 
weighed 64 ounces. The brain of Dr. Abercrombie, of Scotland, 
weighed 63 ounces. The average weight of men's brain is about 
50 ounces; the maximum weight 65 (Cuvier's), and the minimum 
weight (idiot's) 20 ounces. As an average the lower portion of the brain 
(cerebellum) is to the upper portion (cerebrum) as 1 is to 8 8-10. The 
lower, brute portion of Ruloff's brain and mechanical powers were un- 
usually large. The upper portion of the brain, which directs the higher 
moral and religious sentiments, was very deficient in Ruloff. In the for- 
mation of his brain, Ruloff was a ferocious animal, and so far as disposition 
-could relieve him from responsibility, he was strictly responsible for his 
acts. There is no doubt that he thought himself not a very bad man on 
the morning he was led out of his prison, cursing from the cell to the 
gallows. The measurement of Ruloff's head, around the eyebrows (supra- 
orbital), was inches. The skull was probably the thickest ever 
known. In no place was it less than three-eighths of an inch in thickness, 
and in most places it was half an inch thick. The usual thickness of a 
man's skull is less than one-fourth of an inch. 
Ruloff's head was opened in the usual way, by parting the scalp over 
the top of the head, from one ear to the other, and sawing off the top. 
The surgeons who performed the operation say it required three-quarters 
■of an hour to saw around the skull, and before it was completed they be- 
gan to think the head was all skull. 
With the protection of a skull half an inch thick, and a scalp of the 
thickness and toughness of a rhinoceros' rind, the man of seven murders 
was provided with a natural helmet that would have defied the force of 
any pistol bullet. If he had been in Mirrick's place, the bullet would 
have made only a slight wound; and had he been provided with a cutis 
vera equal to his scalp, his defensive armor against bullets would have 
been as complete as a coat of mail. 62 
LIFE OF EDWARD II. RULOFF. 
The cords in Ruloff's neck were as heavy and strong as those of an <>.x, 
and from his formation one would almost suppose that he was protected 
against death from the gallows as well as by injury to his head. 
Ruloff's body was larger than it was supposed to be by casual observers 
The sheriff ascertained, when he took the measure of the prisoner for a 
coffin to bury him in, that he was five feet ten inches in height, and 
measured nineteen inches across his shoulders. When in good condition 
his weight was 175 pounds. 
It was very well known that Ruloff's grave was opened, at different 
times, by different parties who wanted to obtain his head. One of those 
parties was from Albany, and twice the body was disinterred by persons 
living in Binghamton. One company would no sooner cover the body, 
which all found headless, and leave it, than another company would come 
and go through with the same operation. It is now known that the head 
was never buried with the body, but was legally obtained before the 
burial by the surgeons who have possession of it. 
The hair and beard were shaved off close, and an excellent impression 
in plaster was taken of the whole head. The brain is now undergoing a 
hardening process, and when that is completed an impression of it will be 
taken entire, and then it will be parted, the different parts weighed, and 
impressions made of the several sections. 
What Mr. Robert Bonner thinks of Cutting off the Head from the Human 
Body after Death to ascertain the Weight of the Brain-Something Horri- 
ble about it. 
A remarkably bad man, of the name of Ruloff, was executed recently, 
at Binghamton, in New York State. His crimes had been numerous, 
and of the deepest dye-including, beyond any reasonable doubt, more 
than one murder. But, while Ruloff was a man of indubitably bad 
morals, he was possessed of uncommon mental attributes and acquire- 
ments. He was an extraordinary linguist, and he even besought the 
Executive to commute his punishment to imprisonment, to enable him to 
complete a work on the origin and philosophy of language. He was an 
acute disputant upon both mind and matter, and by his letters and con- 
versations had attracted very general attention to himself, for some time 
previous to his execution. 
When Ruloff was hanged, there was a brisk competitio'n between mem- 
bers of the medical profession, in different localities, to get possession of 
his body for examination and dissection. 
A delegation of students came all the way from St. Louis for this pur- 
pose. But it seems that, upon exploring the grave, they ascertained that 
they had been anticipated by some of Ruloff's enterprising townsmen, 
who had already decapitated the body, leaving only the headless trunk in 
the place of interment. 
Ruloff's head was sawed to pieces; his skull was found to be one of DISMAY OF STUDENTS UPON FINDING THE BODY OF RULOFF 
Srfcftrecfen her (5tabenten, alö fie ben Seicfynant bon fRnloff topfloO fanben. LIFE OF EDWARD II. RULOFF. 
65 
unusual thickness, while his brain was very large. All the details are 
•served up in the public prints, as if they constituted some delicate bill of 
fare; and the competition between the successful and the unsuccessful 
"body-snatchers" is referred to as if it were one of the most entertaining 
jokes of the season. 
We fully recognize the necessity of post mortem examinations and dis- 
sections to the progress of knowledge in medical science and surgery. 
At the same time it is a painful, not a pleasant truth. If there be, as 
there unquestionably is, information to be obtained in this way which 
cannot be got in any other, there is no reason why such a pursuit of 
knowledge should not be conducted with a duo regard to propriety. As 
it is, the post mortem examinations-the after-death manipulations-seem 
to be looked forward to by some of the surgeons and medical practition- 
ers, even during the lifetime of the victim, with a sort of savage satis- 
faction, a feeling akin to that with which cannibals are said to regard a 
pet captive, whom they are pampering in order to fatten him, preparatory 
to feasting upon him. There is a sort of relish and gusto manifested 
about the whole performance, which, to us, is to the last degree unpleasant 
and revolting. Practice accustoms one to almost everything; but even 
if surgeons can mutilate and cut up the human form divine with no more 
sentiment than they experience in carving a piece of beef, we do not see 
why they should take pains to shock the community by parading con- 
stantly their own indifference to human flesh and blood. 
It is not murderers alone whose remains are treated in the heartless 
manner of which we complain. Even Boston, with all its boasted refine- 
ment, hardly permitted the remains of its greatest man, Daniel Webster, 
to grow cold, before its leading physicians felt constrained to announce, 
through the public journals, that the great brain which had so often 
shaken and controlled this continent, had been cut out and put in the 
scales, and been ascertained to weigh just so many ounces. And when, a 
little later, Amos Lawrence, one of Boston's rich men, died, the precise 
and the comparative weight of his brain had to be published also, as un- 
feelingly as rival farmers announce, through the village newspaper, the 
respective weights of the hogs which they have raised and fattened, and 
with the same sort of petty ostentation. 
We think the tendency of this is altogether bad. Those who have no 
fespect whatever for the dead, will not long retain much for the living. 
To reflect that inevitably, and in the course of nature, in a few years we 
shall have passed away, and shall have become again dissolved and min- 
gled with the elements of which we are composed, is a sufficiently sad 
reflection, without adding to it the consciousness that some of those who 
sit down with us to our feasts, almost before the breath shall have left 
our bodies, will be slashing us to pieces, and publishing to the world, as 
if it were something funny, just how we cut up!-New York Ledger, 
June 2Ath. 66 
LIFE OF EDWARD IL RULOFF. 
A keeper, who was in Auburn Prison during Ruloff's term of service 
there, some years ago, for abducting his child, called to see the murderer 
in his cell. Ruloff remembered him, and would not consent to his being 
admitted to an interview. The visitor peered through the wicket, and 
Ruloff at once covered his head with a blanket, and would not remove it 
until the visitor took his leave. He did not propose to gratify curiosity 
in the least, nor to receive anybody for mere acquaintance sake, espe- 
cially if that acquaintance was associated with his punishment for past 
actions. He said bygones must be bygones, and that he would show hia 
contempt for all who regarded him with contempt. 
Extra precautions were taken to guard against his escape or suicide. 
His cell thoroughly overhauled, bed, bedding, and clothing entirely 
changed ; and his books and manuscripts closely examined that no poison or 
instruments be concealed. The visits of many of his callers were stopped, 
with orders that they be not allowed to see him under any circumstances, 
or to have any communication with him. He was shackled and guarded 
by one watchman in the day time, and two at night. One of the latter 
remained in the outer hall to give an alarm if anything should happen; 
the other was stationed in the prisoner's cell. 
REMARKS ON RULOFF'S LEARNING. 
Ruloff is no more. The man who attracted attention everywhere by 
his great learning is dead, and such a death did he receive as he well 
merited, but in dying he carried many secrets with him to the grave that 
was of the utmost importance to the public; ten thousand times more 
valuable to the community than all his bosh about philological researches. 
There are secrets confided by a client to a counsel that should not be be- 
trayed, but in the case of Ruloff I think there is an exception. He is 
dead now, and no harm can be done him; what he told his counsel only 
affects the living, Ruloff's receiver, who is not a whit better than the great 
criminal himself. It is well known that at the time Ruloff was arrested, 
he was without funds at his command to fee a lawyer to defend him. But 
a letter to a first-class merchant on the Sixth avenue, near Eleventh 
street, brought the money up to fee a " mouth-piece." That man counsel 
must know, as the money was forced out of him by the learned murderer 
under threats of an exposure, if the needful was not sent to defend him. 
The receiver in Carmine street it is not known gave anything to defend 
Ruloff' as it is presumed the "swags" he "fenced " at Ruloff were bought 
in good faith. Not so, however, the other fellow, for he is privy to the 
murder that Ruloff' was connected with some time ago in West Thirty- 
fifth street, but a short distance from the station-house. It was his style 
of robbery, his manner of stealing, and the kind of goods he usually se- 
lected, as they were just the class of goods that his "fence" desired to 
purchase. There were in that robbery two men answering the descrip- 
tion of the men drowned, in their flight, after the murder at Binghamton. LIFE OF EDWARD II. RULOFF. 
67 
They were seen and described coming from the premises, but nobody 
then knew Ruloff or his associates, or his " fence," and they escaped de- 
tection. It was a silk dye-house that was robbed, and the goods stolen 
resembled that for which he held receipts from his Carmine street friend.. 
The goods found there, however, were the proceeds of a Philadelphia, 
"crack," not the Thirty-fifth street job. That robbery, which was accom- 
panied with murder, was one of the most bold and daring that was ever 
committed in that city. It was daring, because there was a private- 
watchman on the premises, and Ruloff and his companions knew that be- 
fore they entered the dye-house; it was bold, because they knew they 
had either to gag or murder the watchman before they could succeed in 
committing the 'robbery; and as it was almost within voice hail of the- 
station-house, if he raised the alarm, in less than twenty seconds as many 
officers could be there to surround the building. Boldly they entered 
the building, and once in they did not stop to gag the watchman, before 
he had the chance to raise the alarm. They then promptly packed up- 
lheir " swag," threw it into a wagon which drove up to the door, and sped, 
off with it. Not till the next morning did the police in the station-house,, 
almost next door, know anything of the murder and robbery. But the 
man that bought the "swag" could not but know of it, and, consequently,, 
was accessory to murder after the fact. That man, it is said, was forced 
by Ruloff to come forward with the money to defend him. Would it be 
any improper betrayal of such a monster's secrets, on the part of counsel,, 
if it would help to bring to justice a receiver who was the purchaser of 
goods that he knew were got at the cost of life ? I can have some mercy 
for a "fence" who is the buyer of goods that are stolen in a scientific 
manner, as the old school used to do it, by picking a lock, or digging 
through a brick wall, but I have none for the man who would trade with 
men that went purposely to murder every time they went to steal. I 
don't think there is any betrayal of trust in revealing to the police this 
relined philological's backers. His keepers, too, are much to blame in 
permitting him before his execution to destroy his private papers. They 
would have been of much service to the police. No doubt there is some 
valuable documents in the possession of the authorities, but there might 
have been more. It is impossible that a man guilty of the crimes, and 
engaged in the many amours in which Ruloff is mixed up, should have a 
forced shuffling off of the mortal coil without leaving behind him clues 
to his associates in guilt. lie was a vain man, had a strong penchant te 
talk and write, and was quite communicative to the various mistresses 
with whom he cohabited. His last mistress, with whom he lived but three 
months in Carmine street, knew much of his business; why should the 
police not use her to a good purpose? They know this sanctimonious 
Christian, Fagan; but what good is it to know the man of blood if they 
cannot reach him, and for the future make him powerless for evil? A 
greater burglar than Ruloff never was hung, and yet he was entirely un- 68 
LIFE OF EDWARD II. RULOFF. 
known to the police, for the simple reason that he never associated with 
professionals, or frequented their " slums." He tutored his own pupils, 
and then took them into partnership with him. Not only that, but he 
has been known to play the role of lawyer, assuming the name of a mem- 
ber of the bar in Brooklyn, and plead the cause for his 11 pal," and try to 
acquit him of a charge of burglary in which he himself was implicated. 
Ruloff's life to be so eventful is imperfectly understood. First known 
when he was tried and sentenced to a long term of imprisonment for the 
abduction of his child, which he had murdered with the mother. The 
authorities thought proper then to try him on that charge. After serving 
out his time they indicted him for the murder of his wife, and convicting 
him, sentenced him to be hanged, but as the body of the victim never was 
found, the Court of Appeals granted him a new trial. Pending this ap- 
peal he was permitted to open a seminary in jail for the young girls of 
the village. How many of his pupils he ruined is beyond knowing. It, 
is, however, well known that he seduced the sheriff's son into a life of 
crime, which terminated in death by drowning on the last eventful night 
when the three philological burglars wound up their night's marauding 
with murder. Scandal has it that the mother of this same boy gave the 
learned reprobate many unusual favors, which led to the deposition of the 
sheriff from office. AV hat a school must that have been that Ruloff 
taught! What manner of people were they that could intrust their ehil- 
dren blooming into womanhood into the cell of a man under the sentence 
of death for a double murder? In no other country would the most sci- 
entific man in the world, after being condemned, be permitted to become 
the public instructor of the young. And we see its results, after many 
escapades his pupils have: a sudden taking off; and ends his life igno- 
miniously on the gallows. There is but one regret connected with this 
extraordinary felon's life. He died what is called " game," that is, he let 
important secrets go with him. His philological researches nobody cares 
a rush for, except it may be a few book worms, whose life is in the dreamy 
speculations of the past; but practical men, who seek the safety of life and 
property, most earnestly desire that the secret backers, his receivers, who 
bought his stolen property, obtained at the cost of blood, and they know 
ing it, should be brought also to a short shrift. If that could be guar- 
anteed by the detective police, then the sequel to Ruloff's end would be 
as satisfactory as the end itself. 
The Boston Daily Advertiser had a moderate and well-considered article 
upon Ruloff's case, to many of the views of which we assent. But it ap- 
pears to us that the point was not well taken when our cotemporary said: 
" There would be infinite insecurity and danger if the absence of moral 
.sense were accepted as an excuse for crime." To this we agree ; but the 
question in future is, whether, when a man does not think it wrong to 
steal or murder, he shall be subjected to a penalty which presumes that 
he was capable of that malice prepense which is the essence of murder ? LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
69 
Another question is, Whether the absence of moral sense does not in 
some degree lessen moral responsibility? In the days of the old mad- 
houses, lunatics knew that if they committed certain offences they would 
be whipped; with this knowledge they went on offending, yet it was not 
less gross cruelty to scourge them. But in criminal jurisprudence, the 
moment the gibbet is put out of the question all becomes clear. Ruloff 
may have thought his crime justifiable, and, thinking so, he was so far 
insane that the right and duty of society to restrain him of his liberty 
could not be controverted. Because he knew that by his crime he would 
expose himself to the extreme penalty, it by no means follows that it was 
the duty of society to inflict it. If he had been guilty of the same act 
three hundred years ago, he might have been first stretched upon the 
rack, and then broken upon the wheel, or dismembered by horses, and he 
might have known beforehand that such would be his fate; but would it 
have been right to subject him to it ? And yet, comparatively, the rope 
is more merciful than the rack. We recognize the right of society to be- 
stow dangerous men securely; but the question of hanging them in cold 
blood is quite a different one. After all, however, the question of insanity 
was decided against Ruloff"; and, while the law makes hanging the pun- 
ishment for murder, that seemed the only question left. 
REPREHENSIBLE CONDUCT IN A CRIMINAL LAWYER. 
If the subjoined conversation really took place between one of his 
counsel, (Mr. Whitney,) and the murderer Ruloff, shortly before his 
execution, in our opinion neither the bars of Broome, or for that matter 
any other county, should longer tolerate the aspiring lawyer. If they 
do not fling him out of court, they ought at least to censure him in the 
most public manner possible. Perhaps his "youth* may be pleaded in 
bar of his indiscretion;( but nothing else, supposing the man to be 
endowed with sufficient sense to know when it is wise to be silent. 
Ruloff, some days anterior to his death, complained of the want of 
ordinary ability in his legal confidants; and, judging from the appended 
extract, copied from the Leader, published at Binghamton, we are inclined 
to believe he arrived at a just conclusion as to the mental force and 
prudence of at least one of them. Imagine a sensible counsellor-at-law, 
who, on visiting in his last hours the man he had unsuccessfully defended 
when placed on trial for murder, advising him to make no confession, to 
stand firmly at the foot of the gallows, and die without sign of repent- 
ance, or acknowledgment of the fairness of his trial or the justice of his 
sentence. He must not satisfy a "gaping crowd," even so far as t« 
arouse in them a feeling of sympathy for him-the culprit! 
Mr. Whitney may be possessed of a certain class of "ability ;" but we 
are inclined to look on him as an unsafe counsellor in questions involving 
life and death. He ought to have remembered that the "gaping crowd" 
©f spectators were not they who were clustered around the gallows, at- 70 
LIFE OF EDWARD II. RULOFF. 
tracted thither by morbid curiosity, but the whole civilized world, which 
had taken a deep interest in the fate of the condemned, because of his 
Teputed knowledge as a mathematician, philologist, added to his singular 
-career as a robber, convict and murderer. This "world" desired to 
gather all that fell from the lips of the culprit as to the character of his 
peculiar mentality, not to satisfy a childish desire, but to build on it 
something that might add to the scope of its "civilization," and the 
strength of its humanity. And behold the brilliant "youth" steps be- 
tween this " world's " desire, and peremptorily closes the mouth of him 
who held that something behind it more valuable than all the pearls of 
knowledge he had gathered, and for no profitable purpose-that some- 
thing which would satisfy it, in the interests of truth and society it had, 
through its laws, acted justly awd wisely. But, to the extract: 
Ruloff then took Mr. Whitney by the hand, and said, " I suppose I must bid you 
I expressed my thanks for your interest in my case, and for your many 
acts of kindness; you have had an unfortunate case on your hands this time, but I 
-expect you will be more fortunate next time." Thomas Jefferson remarked to Ruloff, 
"Mr. Ruloff, Mr. Whitney has been very earnest and faithful in his efforts for you.' 
Ruloff said, "Yes, I know that he has, and I told him so in the presence of th* 
sheriff." Ruloff then said, "Whitney, you are young yet, and can bear this defeat, 
you must not let it discourage you, you will live to see the decisions of the courts, in 
this case, reversed. It is not good law." Whitney said, " I regret very much the 
''unfortunate and unhappy termination of our relations, for they have been mutually 
-agreeable, I trust. As you said, I hope to see the rulings in your case reversed, and 
now one thing more-in addition to what Becker has said, I expect it of you, that you 
■will remain firm to the last." Ruloff said, "You won't be disappointed; 1 shall." 
Whitney, "And one thing more, don't please that gaping crowd down there, by say- 
ing anything at the gallows." Ruloff, "I shan't." Whitney, "Good-by." Ruloff, 
■"Good-by, Whitney, you have my best wishes for a more pleasant life than I have 
Siad, and for the best of success." 
PHILOSOPHY AT THE GALLOWS. 
Our new Eugene Aram, lately known in the State of New York as 
Edward H. Ruloff, has not been able to cheat the gallows. Notwith- 
standing the intense sympathy and admiration which was elicited in the 
average New York mind in favor of this brilliant scoundrel, the law 
relentlessly pursued its course. Ruloff' has paid the penalty of his many 
misdeeds. And, although it might seem to be a pity to hang a "smart 
man," a philologist and a philosopher, Governor Hoffmann was proof 
against the efforts made in his favor. Ruloff has been through life one 
of that class of persons who " live by their wits," and his wits were said 
to be of more than ordinary sharpness and ingenuity. He put them to 
the best use of which they were capable, if honesty and truth were ex- 
cluded from influence. He lived by depredating upon his fellow men. 
He was shown to have been a forger, a swindler, a burglar, and a mur- 
derer-one of those rascals who are apparently born for the prison and 
the gallows. The crime of which he was convicted was deliberate, and EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
ALBERT JARVIS. WM. T. DEXTER. 
RULOFF'S ACCOMPLICES. LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF 
73 
such as ought not to have been pardoned, and yet many New Yorkers 
hoped that he would be pardoned, because he was " smart." He had a 
smattering of languages; he had paid some attention to philology, and 
attempted to pull the wool over the eyes of the verdant New Yorkers by 
pretending that he had made immense discoveries in the philosophy of 
language, which knowledge he intended to take with him to the grave if 
the Governor of New York should persist in ordering him to the scaffold 
The trick was too transparent to deceive Governor Hoffman, but it had 
some effect upon our brethren of New York, who generally have a com- 
fortable opinion of their own judgments and powers of comprehension. 
Ruloff was but partially successful in getting up something like a feeling 
in his favor, in the ultimate hope of his pardon. He did not finally 
succeed. A poor rogue in New York, unless he happens to be a ward 
politician, has generally few friends. A rich rogue can buy himself 
freedom. Philosophy in crime has hitherto made but few demands upon 
New York admiration, but Ruloff seemed to think that science might be 
successful in evading the law. Alas! although the commissioners to ex- 
amine into the case of the rascal were dazzled by the clever scoundrel, 
and reported that learning would suffer if he should be executed, the 
Governor was firm, and so this ingenious but bad man has found the end 
of his crimes, and science dangles from the gallows. 
ECCENTRIC CAREER OF RULOFF WHILE IN NEW YORK CITY. 
HIS LOVE OF LEARNING AND HI8 CURIOUS LIBRARY-THE "GREAT DISCOVERY" 
RELATING TO THE FORMATION OF THE LANGUAGES. 
We here group together some personal reminiscences about this re- 
markable man. 
There are facts in abundance on which to construct a theory-such as 
these theories go-that Ruloff, the Binghamton murderer, was insane. 
He had been somewhat notorious in certain literary circles in New York 
city, but his notoriety never brought him either the esteem or confidence 
of his casual acquaintances, most of whom regarded him as erratic, if not 
actually demented. Read in the light of to-day, the feeling which he in- 
spired may be understood. There was something unpleasant about him 
which people did not care to think of; indeed, so long as he allowed them, 
they did not think much of him at all. 
HE BORES THE ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
A newspaper man of New York met him in June, 1869, in somewhat 
more reputable society than he usually mingled in, whether under the 
alias of Lenrio or of Ruloff. A number of gentlemen interested in eth- 
nology had assembled at the house of a well-known gentleman up town to 
hear some interesting papers read before the Ethnological Society, for that 
learned body was then in the migratory condition, holding its meetings at LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
74 
the houses of its members. Ruloff, or Lenrio, as he then named himself, 
had happened to interest some of the officers of the society in a theory of 
language which he had invented, and which he maintained was the royal 
road to philological lore. He had been invited to this meeting to explain 
his views. The members who were present that evening will readily re 
member his uncouth and far from prepossessing appearance as he sat for 
ward in Dr. Thompson's handsome saloons distributing circulars concern 
ng his theory. These circulars, of which one is given in the letter of S., 
which is appended, were anything but a recommendation of his new 
theory. The proffer of the manuscript for sale at $500,000 created many 
smiles, which the opening paper he read speedily dispelled. It is needless 
to say that his theory made no impression on the philologists present, ex- 
cept one, of being unduly bored. His philological lore was, however, of 
some extent. He had a fair knowledge of philological principles, and an 
acquaintance with the vocabularies of various languages. The key to 
HIS GRAND THEORY 
was that the words of one language were to be found in other languages 
spelled backwards, or altered in some conventional manner, thus: Slate in 
English was etats in French. This was not one of his examples, but it 
illustrates the " method in the formation of language " which he had dis- 
covered. This method recalls the famous remark in " Father Tom and 
the Pope," to the effect that " with the figgors of spache, your howliness, 
you can prove anything." So it was with Mr. Lenrio, by bad spelling he 
was able to construct a very curious theory ; in fact, it is now suspected 
that by it he obtained his alias " Lenrio " from " Ruloff." He had col- 
lected in his manuscript numberless examples of this theory. He was 
voted a bore by those present, mentally at least, and the appreciation he 
desired was not accorded to him. He was referred to the Philological 
Convention, which was then to meet a few weeks subsequently at Pough- 
keepsie. After the meeting of the Ethnological Society was over, Mr. Lenrio 
followed the newspaper writer into a Sixth avenue car going down town, 
and, presuming on the slight acquaintance formed at Dr. T.'s board, pressed 
him to accept various courtesies, d la gin-and-milk Smith. He was most 
anxious to have his paper noticed in the press, but as its soporific influ- 
ence on his recent audience had been so great, a refusal was courteously 
made him on the ground that the typographical resources of a daily paper 
did not permit the proper illustration and explanation of his valuable 
paper. In the ride down town-he left at Carmine street-he displayed 
various 
ECCENTRICITIES OF MANNER, 
which had attracted attention in Dr. T.'s. In appearance he was like a 
seedy schoolmaster, and in manner-but that is best described by the com- 
prehensive word " peculiar." It was very striking; any one who had ever 
met Mr Lenrio would have a difficulty in forgetting him again. When LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF 
75 
lie spoke of his famous theory he was on the verge of maniacal enthusiasm. 
Still, to any one in the habit of meeting persons enthusiastic over theii 
own inventions or works, or having anything very deeply at heart, there 
was but a little that appeared absolutely unusual in his manner; his pecu- 
liarity was of that generic class, but his manner was none the less striki ngly 
different from that of persons in their sober senses. That he was of a low 
tvpe of character one might suspect, and this suspicion is merely con 
firmed, and not suggested, by his record, which has already been published 
in the report of his trial. How he ever exercised any 
MAGNETIC INFLUENCE OVER HIS PUPILS, 
as he is said to have exercised over the child of his former jailer-who 
perished in attempting to escape after the perpetration of their murderous 
crime-must always appear a mystery unless therö be a magnetism in 
crime. There was something repulsive in his cautious, suspicious, scru 
tinizing manner; still there was nothing to induce the belief that he was 
an absolute criminal. The most certain impression left by communication 
with him was that he was " book-mad," and highly suspicious as well a? 
anxious to grind an axe when he thought he saw a chance. 
His subsequent appearance at Poughkeepsie caused much amusement 
but although a committee was appointed to examine his work, and his 
extraordinary circular was reprinted in a special correspondent's letter, he 
never sold his famous manuscript it is, perhaps, needless to say. 
OUR REPORTER INTERVIEWS RULOFF'S LANDLADY. 
With a view to ascertaining something more in detail concerning the 
daily life of Ruloff during his stay in New York city, our reporter 
shortly after the trial called on Mrs. Conrad Jakob, at No. 170 Third ave- 
nue, where Ruloff rented rooms. Mrs. Jakob's husband keeps a fancy 
store on the ground-floor, and the rest of the building is occupied for 
dwelling purposes. 
The bell was answered by Mrs. Jakob's daughter, a young miss aged 
about sixteen, with a fair face and large dark eyes. The reporter was 
invited to walk up stairs and enter the front parlor; and Miss Jakob hav- 
ing spoken to her mother, who was in the store, soon appeared up stairs 
and said Mrs. Jakob would follow in a few minutes. The parlor was a 
well-furnished room, there being a piano, sofa and easy chairs, and the 
walls were adorned with paintings and engravings. Miss Jakob was full 
•of information concerning the great murder case, and had just commenced 
to tell about her trip to Binghamton, where she had been as a witness, 
when her mother, an intelligent Hebrew lady, entered the room, and the 
interview was begun. 
RULOFF'S DAILY HABITS. 
"I want you to tell me something about the daily habits of Ruloff 
during his stay in your house. First, however, how long did he remain 
here? When did he come, and when did he go away?" 76 
LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
Before Mrs. Jakob could make any reply her daughter, who had every- 
thing fresh in her mind, promptly answered that Ruloff came in July, 
1869, and left about the middle of August, 1870. 
" Where did he live before he came here ? " 
" I don't know; I believe the papers found in his room showed that he 
had once lived in Delancey street." 
' Did Ruloff board with you, or simply lodge ?" 
" Oh, no, sir, he did not board. He hired a suite of rooms and paid at the 
rate of $39. As long as his housekeeper remained she did his cooking, 
although they sometimes went out to a saloon and got their meals." 
RULOFF'S HOUSEKEEPER. 
" So he had a housekeeper ? What has become of her ? " 
Miss Jakob answered that after they had lived there for a short time thr 
housekeeper, whose name was Mrs. Graham, went off and got married. 
"On which floor were Ruloff's rooms?" 
"Thisflooi. This place where we are was his study. It wasn't fur 
nished the same then, you know. His furniture has been taken out." 
"How did he have it furnished ? " 
" Well, he had his bed, some chairs, a table, his secretary, and a few 
other things." 
Miss Jakob supplemented the answers by showing where the student's 
secretary stood in the summer time, and the place nearer the fire-place 
where it stood in winter time. 
" Well, now, what was your opinion of the man on the whole. Did 
he " 
A PERFECT GENTLEMAN. 
" He always acted like a perfect gentleman, sir. Very good, very kind 
very everything. Always paid for the rooms the first of every month 
except now and then when he couldn't get over to Brooklyn to draw his 
money." 
"You never saw anything peculiar about the man, and he appeared to 
be a gentleman ?" 
" He was very good, very good, all the time he was in the house. 1 
only know what he was in the house. I can't say what he did outside of 
the house, because that I know nothing about." 
" And how did he spend all the time in the house ?" 
A GREAT STUDENT. 
"Studying, sir, studying; he was always studying. He must havf 
known a great deal, that man. Why, sir, he studied day and night. He 
sometimes studied in bed. He studied at night, and he would be study 
ing in the morning." 
" What was his aim? What was he studying on so hard?" 
Mrs. Jakob was unable to answer, and looked at her daughter.. LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
77 
Miss Jakob (laughing)-He was changing Greek, Latin, and German 
into English and French, or else English and French into Greek, I hardly 
know which. 
" Did many friends call to see him ? " 
"No, sir ; he lived a very quiet and sober life. We called him a kind 
of steady old bachelor." 
THE CHILDREN ALL LIKED HIM 
" He used to play a good deal with the children about here, and they all 
liked him. Sometimes he gave them pennies, and they used to like to 
come and see him when he was not studying. He used to show us 
what he was doing. He would call us up and show us how many words 
he had translated. He would point with his finger, and say, ' See there; 
I have written so much to-day.' Sometimes he would ask our opinion 
about a word, and say if it didn't mean so and so." 
4 How did he pass his Sundays ? " 
"Studying, sir. He studied every day." 
4' Did he never go to church ? " 
" I believe he said one day that he and Mrs. Graham had been to Dr. 
Tyng's, and another Sunday they went to a colored church." 
" Where did you say that lady is now." 
"She lives at Bridgeport," answered Miss Jakob. 
" She was at the trial, but she was not called to testify. I guess they 
were afraid to call her. She is not very bright, I think. She has very 
little education." 
" So you never noticed anything very peculiar about Ruloflj or Mr 
4 Lenrio ' as he was then called, save that he was a very diligent student? n 
"We never did. He always appeared like a good, kind gentleman. 
Whenever we met him he had a kind word to say." 
" Miss Jakob, did you notice any change in the appearance of Ruloff 
when you saw him at Binghamton ? " 
" No, sir, except his whiskers. When he was here, he had a full, long 
beard." 
At this stage of the interview Mrs. Jakob's son, Edward, a young man, 
entered the room, he having just come from E. D. Jaffrey's, where he was 
employed as a salesman. 
" When Ruloff last went away from here, what did he say he was going 
o do ? " 
" Why, he didn't say anything. He went out as usual about eight 
o'clock in the morning, and the next day the affair took place at Bing- 
hamton. We thought it was strange that he did not return, and we went 
and told his old housekeeper, who lived in Carmine street. She came up, 
and she was almost frightened to death. The next we heard, the detectives 
came here to see if some keys found on a drowned man at Binghamton 
would fit our doors." LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
78 
" While Ruloff was here, what kind of a library did he have ? " 
" He had some books which he kept down there (pointing to a corner) 
Some of them are here yet. I tell you that man liked books. He was 
full of study. Sometimes he would be playing with the children, when 
an idea would strike him, and he would go right to his desk and begin to 
write." 
A PHILOLOGIST'S LIBRARY. 
" You say some of his books are still here? I would like to look at 
them, just to see what kind of a taste the man displayed in the matter of 
selecting a library." 
Mrs. Jakob's son thereupon went to a large box in the hall, and began 
to take out some ancient yellow volumes, and the reporter opened the 
musty leaves, and examined the title of each. The first volume was a 
work on Roman Antiquities, published in 1833. The rest of this portion 
of the eccentric student's library comprised the following entertaining 
volumes: "Elegantiae Latinae," London, 1816; "A Key to the Classical 
Pronunciation of Greek, Latin, and Scripture Names," by Walker, London, 
1824; "Sophocles' Greek Grammar," published in 1838; "Letters of 
Junius," Boston, 1826; "The British Botanist," London, 1720; Cornelii 
Nepotis " Excellentium Imparaterum Vitae," 1708; French grammar, 
1836; Ainsworth's Latin dictionary, 1796; "The Complete Arbitrator, or 
the Law of Awards." On the fly leaf of this last volume was the signature 
of " Charles P. Daily, 1836," and immediately under it that of " E. C. 
Howard, 1866." 
Mrs. Jakob said that Ruloff bought all his books second-handed. 
Besides the books mentioned above, there was one of Andrews' Latin 
grammars, a few old German books, and about half a dozen other works 
with later dates. 
RULOFF'S GREAT DISCOVERY. 
The following note, lately addressed to a morning paper, explains 
itself: 
Sir : Tne following facts relating to the man Ruloff may be interesting 
in connection with his conviction for murder in Binghamton, of which an 
account appears this morning. Under the name of "E. Lenrio," he was 
very persistent in his applications to literary and scientific men in this 
city, during the earlier part of 1869, for aid in publishing a great philo- 
logical work. He carried with him always a large folio MS., in which 
his linguistical studies and their results were embodied. There was some- 
thing extraordinary and repellant about the man, although it was clear 
that he had high philological knowledge and abilities. He professed to 
have made his researches while professor in some Western college, but 
always avoided giving its name. 
Along in June, most, if not all, the gentlemen he had applied to received 
the following remarkable circular: LIFE OF EDWARD H. RULOFF. 
79 
GREAT DISCOVERY-METHOD IN THE FORMATION OF LANGUAGE! 
TH« ANCIENT GREEK RESTORED-THE MYSTERY OF THE MODERN LANGUAGES EXPLAINED 
5000 EXAMPLES. 
Taken indiscriminately from the Greek, Latin, German, French, and English Lan 
guages, their very formation rendered as perfectly plain and familiar as if we had 
made them ourselves I 
Manuscript for sale. Price $500,000. 
This manuscript is one of peculiar interest, disclosing a beautiful and an unsus- 
pected method in languages spoken and read by millions of our race. It manipulates 
the formations of the ancient Greek as things of yesterday; shows the mode of forma- 
tion of the Latin, German, French, English, and other languages; and ushers in the 
day when it will be no longer necessary to teach in Philology what cannot be thor- 
oughly explained. 
Its possession is of the utmost importance to the cause of education. There is no 
other such mauscript in existence. 
This manuscript will be formally brought to the notice of the Philological Conven- 
tion, to meet at Poughkeepsie on the 27th of July, for such action or such recom- 
mendation as that body may incline to adopt. 
Its present possessor cannot afford to donate it to the public. It has cost him so 
dearly that the pleasure of producing it must be damped by the necessity of offering 
it for sale. 
Communications in regard to it may be addressed, E. Lenrio, 
Box 41 Amity street Post-office, New York. 
New York, June 1, 1869. 
As proposed in this circular, he duly made his appearance at the Philo- 
logical Convention in Poughkeepsie, where he insisted on the appointment 
of a committee to investigate his pretended discovery. The committee 
were not favorably impressed with the man and his discoveries, and made 
an evasive report, laying stress on the very obvious fact that the conven- 
tion did not have half a million of dollars at its disposal for purchasing 
the precious MS. 
Lenrio was indignant, and left Poughkeepsie in disgust, with strong 
denunciations of the impecunious ignoramuses who composed the con 
vention. The next we hear of him is his conviction for murder. He is a 
man of considerable acquirements, and, as now appears, as unscrupulous 
as able. Very truly yours, 
Poughkeepsie, Jan. 27, 1871. 
ATTORNEY GENERAL CHAMPLAIN 
Our report of the trial of Ruloff would be incomplete without a few extracts from » 
sketch which we find of the life of the distinguished lawyer, Attorney-General Cham 
plain. 
Marshal B. Champlain, Attorney-General of the State, is a direct descendant from 
the discoverer of Lake Champlain, and is therefore, on his father's side, of French ex 
traction. His mother's family were originally from Ireland. He unites in himself the 
ease and affability of the former nation with the fervency and ardor of the latter race 
His personal appearance and manner are calculated to impress a jury as but few 
criminal pleaders are able to do. Of medium height and erect carriage, piercing eye 
dark hair, and dark olive complexion, with a countenance expressing intelligence and 
confidence, when he arises for a forensic effort nothing can prevent a stranger fron 80 
LIFE OF EDWARD fl. RULOFF. 
expecting a superior display of oratorical ability and legal acumen. And no disap 
pointment follows. His voice swells full and clear, his statements of fact are concen 
trated, earnest, and plain, and as he warms with his subject, he becomes impressive 
and fervent, playing upon the sympathies and passions of listeners with a master's 
hand. 
Mr. Champlain has, during his official term, participated in many important trials. 
He has met in the forum the giants of the legal profession in the State, and has been 
able to cope with them. 
His first appearance in a capital case was on the trial of Joseph Brown before the 
Oyer and Terminer of Columbia County, in April, 1868. This case stands as one of 
the most celebrated in the annals of criminal jurisprudence. Brown had abducted a 
little girl, eleven years old, from Ohio; insured her life for $5000; taken her to an 
obscure town in Columbia County ; murdered her, then fired the house to conceal the 
crime, and buried the charred remains in the State of Connecticut. Three States were 
made the theatre of his crime, which involved abduction, fraud, perjury, arson, and 
murder. A charge involving such gradations of turpitude, and,to be supported by 
-circumstantial evidence alone, would call in its investigation for the highest legal 
talent and professional skill. Mr. Champlain, in his conduct of the case, in aid of the 
District-Attorney, more than justified the expectations of his friends. 
Brown was convicted and executed. 
A paper, opposed to Mr. Champlain politically, thus speaks of his effort: 
" 'Hie first appearance of Attorney-General Champlain in an important case was m 
the trial of the murderer Brown at Hudson. The trial excited great interest, and was 
concluded on the fourth day, resulting in the conviction of the accused. The papers 
«peak in the highest terms of the management of the case by the Attorney-General." 
The correspondent of the Poughkeepsie Eagle (Rep.) refers to the summing up as 
follows: 
" When Mr. Andrews, the counsel for the prisoners, had concluded, Attorney-Gen- 
eral Marshal B. Champlain then summed up for the prosecution. His was, indeed, 
an eloquent address. Step by step he followed the Browns from Dayton, Ohio, then to 
Cleveland, where the $5000 insurance was effected on Angie Brown's life; then to Canaan, 
where, in September, Brown hired a house for a month, and then to the tea-table half 
an hour before the fire and death of Angie Brown occurred. After that came the 
eloquence. The counsel, in harrowing language, pictured the remains of the dead 
child and the evidence of guilt so graphically that for a moment one-half of the audi- 
ence was in tears." 
He was appointed by Governor Fenton to assist upon the trial of Thompson, at 
Troy, a case that, from its attendant circumstances, excited great public interest. 
The Troy Times, the leading Republican organ in that county, paid him the following 
merited compliment in regard to his effort before the jury: 
" There was great anxiety to hear this gentleman, who sat by during the progress 
of the trial apparently quite an indifferent spectator of the scene. He spoke with 
great eloquence and power, and made some strong points in his analysis of the testi- 
mony. He said he did not come here to prosecute the prisoner, seeking his life's 
blood, but to preserve, if possible, the integrity of the law. and to see to it that th« 
public justice is administered. The jury must not permit sympathy for the prisoner'« 
wife and mother to exercise any influence upon their minds, and they must remembet 
that there is another widowed mother mourning over the desolation of her household, 
and a young wife waiting, waiting-not for the return of her husband-but for the 
time when she shall be called to him in the region beyond the skies. At times the 
Attorney-General was very eloquent, and more than justified the anticipations which 
bis reputation had created in the minds of those who heard him for the first tim« 
Judge Hogeboom was an attentive listener throughout to Mr. Champlain's address- 
• compliment rarely paid by the Court to counsel"