John Joseph Schneider of 508 Adams street, 60 years of age, a bricklayer by trade and for 52 years a resident of Quincy, hanged himself in the hay loft of his barn, about 125 feet in the rear of his house, some time yesterday afternoon.
There can be no doubt from Mr. Schneider's actions for the past two months that he was mentally unbalanced and the only reason that can be given for his self-destuction was that the act was committed while the old gentleman was not accountable for his actions. He had a happy home, loving children and a sufficiency of this world's goods. He had been worrying since February about some bottom lands for which he possessed the deeds, but which had been recently surveyed and off of which the old man thought a portion had been deducted. He frequently spoke about this and grieved over the supposed loss of a few acres and it is this, it is thought, that unbalanced his mind.
The members of the family say that they noticed nothing unusual about Mr. Schneider yesterday. A brother-in-law, Henry Bergmann, says that Schneider came to his place in the morning, but that as he (Bergmann) was going to church he did not speak with him at any length and Schneider left saying he would be back in the afternoon.
Three o'clock in the afternoon all the members of the family went to church. They left Schneider sitting at the table reading the papers. He had attended the services in the morning and did not wish to go in the afternoon. When the family returned from church the old gentleman was not to be seen, but it was thought that he had gone down to his brother-in-law's and even when Schneider did not appear for supper, the family felt no uneasiness. When, however, 10 o clock came and he had not come, they searched for him and made inquiry at his brother-in-law's, but without result.
Then one of the girls remembered that her father had spent one Sunday afternoon in the hay loft, sleeping on the hay and she thougth that he might possibly have gone to sleep there again. Accordingly, Mrs. Schneider and Tony Heckenkamp, a young man who lives at Eighth and Monroe streets and who had been spending the evening at the Schneider's went to the barn with a lantern. They found the little door leading to the stable latched from the outside. They opened this door, right above which, as one enters, there is a trap door leading to the hay loft. This trap door was down, but young Heckenkamp pushed it up and saw as he supposed, the old man just rising from the hay.
"What are you doing up there? come on down." he cried, but just then he noticed, as his eyes became accustomed to the gloom and by the assistance of the lantern rays, a rope around the man's neck and that he was hanging from a rafter.
"My God, Mrs. Schneider", he said to the widow in the stable below him, "he has hung himself!" and then the boy jumped from the ladder leading to the loft and was just in time to prevent the woman from falling.
The neighbors were hastily summoned and Dr. Wells, the family physician, the coroner and the police authorities were also called. As soon as the neighbor men arrived, they made an examination of the body and found that it was quite cold, so it was allowed to hang until it was cut down by directions of the coroner.
The rope with which the deed was committed is an ordinary piece of three eighths hemp. It was fastened to a rafter with an ordinary bow knot and a small box was placed beneath where the rope hung. Schneider's feet were resting on the ground when he was found and it appeared that he must just have stepped off the box after placing the rope around his neck. The rope had been fastened around the neck with a slip knot, the knot being to the back and it had burned a deep black mark into the flesh.
Mr. Schneider was 62 years of age last March. He was born in Germany and was a veteran of the civil war, having served in Company H of the Forty-third Illinois infantry, from which he received his discharge in 1865. He had been a member of the G.A.R., but not in recent years. He was a devout member of St. Mary's Catholic Church, of St. Joseph's society and of the Building and Loan. Mr. Schneider was a man who was esteemed by all who knew him. His is one of the best known and most respected families on the South Side. He leaves the widow, one son, five daughters, four brothers and two sisters. The son and daughters are:
The brothers are John and William of Quincy, and Chris and Ed in Missouri. One sister, Mrs. Henry Bergman, who has been in the asylum at Jacksonville for several years, and Mrs. Louisa Bangert of St. Louis.
The only witnesses at the inquest this morning were F. George Schneider, the dead man's son and Tony Heckenkamp, the young man who first saw Schneider hanging in the loft. The son said that his father had, apparently been out of his mind for some time; that he had once been found wandering around town by Police Officer Hildebrand and had been taken home. The young man also said that his father was very afraid of company and of visitors. He was always thinking that someone was going to arrest him. He was also afraid to go down to his farm in the bottoms. Heckenkamp testified to seeing the body hanging according to the facts above, and the jury found a verdict to the effect that the deceased had come to his death by hanging in his barn, on his home premises, 508 Adams street, Quincy, Illinois, on Sunday, April 20, 1902, that the hanging was with suicidal intent and that the deceased at the time was delusionally insane.[1]
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Categories: Grand Army of the Republic | 43rd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, United States Civil War