July 3, 1901: Body of John Edwards Found; Wife and Lover Arrested for Murder

By Margaret Leidy Harner from her book One Day at a Time: A Social History of Boyertown, PA.

July 3, 1901: The body of John Edwards has been found by his daughter Mary in a dry cistern on their farm, his head covered in blood, having been terribly gashed by a knife, with a trail of blood from the farmhouse porch to the well.

There was evidence that Edwards had put up a struggle: a clump of light brown hair, four to five inches long, was found in his right hand and his clothing was bloodied. A grubbing hoe with blood stains on the handle has been found in the wood shed.

A county detective investigating the case has learned that Edwards and his wife Kate, age 40, had frequent quarrels; he apparently objected to Samuel Greason, a “colored man” who worked at a stone quarry nearby, frequently visiting their house, presumably when Edwards was not home.

Kate was arrested for the murder as she and their five children were leaving their place, headed for a relative’s home. She has denied knowing who killed her husband, testifying that she last saw him alive the night before his body was found, when he told her that he intended to sleep on the porch because of the heat.

She claimed to have heard no noise during the night, but it was noted that she was “very illiterate” and it was “hard to get an intelligent story” from her. Greason has also been charged with the murder and jailed.

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