Was the Babe Strangled: Byrne and Asimov Genealogy and Family Histories

Source Information

Title	Was the Babe Strangled
Date	5 Jun 1888
Date Viewed	31 Jan 2025
Locality	Newspapers.com
Page	5
Periodical	The Evening World
Place	New York, NY USA
Source Type	Newspaper
URL	https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-world-baby-titus-mystery/164417255/
Source ID	S1480
Text	WAS THE BABE STRANGLED GLEN COVES LATEST CONTRIBUTION TO THE CRIMINAL RECORD. Secret Marriage and Now a Murder -- The Mother-in-Law In a New Role -- Damaging Testimony of Medical Experts--Coroner Hall Awaiting the Verdict Before Making Any Arrest -- Inquest Not Ended. Glen Cove has within the past few months made several contributions the record of sensational crimes, but none of them has caused such widespread excitement and general comment as the death of the male child born to Jacob Titus and his wife in that place on May 21, under circumstances which leave little room to doubt that the child was strangled. Jacob Titus is about thirty-two years of age and is a son of Samuel Titus, a wealthy farmer, whose handsome residence occupies a position commanding a view of Hempstead Harbor, the Sound and the shores of the Hudson. Mrs Titus is daughter of William Coles, who is a bookkeeper in the Protective Union Store in Glen Cove. The young woman's name, previous to her marriage with Mr. Titus, was on the tongues of the people frequently and connected with the names of several fast young men in the place. About Jan, 1 last young Farmer Titus appeared at the rectory in the village, accompanied by Miss Coles, and requested Rev. Mr. Middleton to marry them, but the rector, for reasons which he bas not explained, declined to perform the ceremony until he had been allowed an opportunity to make some investigations. The young people seemed anxious that the ceremony should take place, and the rector was urged to name an early date when he would perform the marriage. He fixed the date for Jan. 7, and on that day Miss Coles, accompanied by William Albertson, entered the Episcopal Church quietly, where the rector and Dr. Wright were awaiting them. Titus a little later sauntered into the church, and then the ceremony which made them man and wife was performed. There were no other witnesses. They left the church as they came. Mr. Albertson accompanied the young woman to her home, and the groom returned to his father's roof. It la said now that, the bride's family knew of the marriage, but no knowledge of the affair reached the Titus housenold until a month ago, when the truth came out. The Titus family declined to recognize the young woman as member of the family, and the son continued to live at home. The dénouement came on Monday, May 21, when Dr. Zabriskie was hastily -ummoned about 2 o'clock in the morning to tHe Coles residence to attend Mrs. Titus. The doctor left the house about 5 in the morning, after having delivered the young woman of a male infant. Young Titus was at the house during the doctor's stay, and after stepping into the room and inquiring the condition of the wife left the house with the doctor. It was 9 o'cloek when the doctor returned to the house. He was met at the door by Mrs. Coles, who told him the baby was dead. The mother was very weak, and demanded the doctor's attention, and he declined juat then to look at the dead infant, but when he did so he declined to give a burial permit, and after consulting 'Squire Frost decided to call in another physician, and Dr. C. J. Hall, who is also the Coroner, went to the house in him professional capacity. Both these medical men were convinced by external evidence that the child bad been strangled, and an autopsy was demanded by the Coroner, and the body of the little stranger, whose coming seemed to have been so unwelcome, was removed to the office of Dr. Zabriskie, and Dr. Henry B. Watson was called in to perform the post-mortem with the assistance of Dr. Zabriskie. The result of the autopsy strengthened the suspicions of the experts, anu Coroner Hall at once summoned a jury, consisting of the following gentlemen: James Pearsall, foreman; Henry Duryes, Thomas John Moltan, Jacob Zeller, Martin Stoll, Wilham' H. Harrold, T. J. Wood and Alfred Hendrickson. The fist witness examined was Dr. Watson. He testined to the result of the autopay. He said: "I found the lungs congested and gorged with blood. The right cavities of the heart contained black clotted blood. I found the brain congested. The surface of the scalp, face, neck and upper part of the chest down to about the second or third rib was darkly colored with extravasated blood. It was a perfectly healthy and well-formed male child. I should say strangulation was the cause of the death of the child. I do not believe the child was smothered. The discolorations on the neck and head would show that the child did not die a natural death. Death was caused by forcible strangulation. The child was not accidentally smothered." Dr. Zabriskie testided as to his professional visit to the Coles house and to the facts aiready outlined. He said: "The child born was a healthy boy, and made noise. Mrs. Coles asked several times if the baby was not dead. I told her finally that on the contrary the boy was a particularly bright and healthy little fellow, fully developed. I left the house at 5 o'clock. Before going I had placed the child on a pillow. and left its face uncovered. I returned at o'clock, and Mrs. Coles met me and said the child was dead. She said she left the child lying where I put it, while she went downstuirs to build a fire and get ready to care for it. She said she was gone two hours and a half, and that upon her return. she found the baby. lying on its face dead." The doctor testifled as to the autopsy and corroborated the statements made by Dr. Watson. He was of the same opinion concerning the child's death and equally as positive. "The child," he said, "had received no attention after I left it. The mother and Mrs. Coles were the only people in the room when I left." The doctor admitted the child might have been smothered by the bed clothes, but said he did not believe it possible for it to have been accidentally smothered with any one else in the room. Last evening Mrs. Coles, the grandmother of the child, was called and testified that when she returned to the bed where the child was lying she found it lying on its face dead. She added that no one saw the child except herself and the doctor. During the afternoon the Coroner called at the Coles house and took the testimony of Mrs. Titus. She said she was unconscious the greater part of the time after the birth of the obild and until 11 o'clock. The inquest was not conciuded last evening. Young Titus was represented at the inquest by Lawyer Edward Cromwell, and Mrs. Coles was represented by Edward Nicoll. The District, Attorney who, through a death in his family, was prevented from being present, was represented by F. B. Russell. To a reporter of THE WORLD who called at the Coles residence, Mrs. Coles said: "The terrible stories being told about me and my daughter are killing the poor girl. If she lives through the trouble it will be a miracle. The doctor is upstairs now. My daughter, it is feared, will die." She declined to talk about the death of her grandson, but seemed very much excited. It was learned later that the mother of the babe had fainted after the examination by the Coroner, and that he was present when the reporter called and that there was no other physician in the house. The people are very mach exercised over the case. The Coroner said yesterday that he would probably make an arrest during the afternoon, but later he decided to await the action of the Jury. The general opinion in the place la that a crime has been committed, but the belief is that the case will go the way of the other cases which have horrified the people in the neighborhood for a time and then been allowed to sink into oblivion. An old citizen said that within six years there have been, exclusive of the present case, five deaths 10 Gien Cove under suspicious circumstances. The first was that of an unknown man who was found on the roadside in a position showing that the body nad been dragged there. The body was interred in the Catholic cemetery and no investigation took place. Later Patrick Donobue was found murdered on the beach. Nothing was done to unravel this mystery. The death of Capt. Carpenter, is still unavenged, and the case of the murder of Paddy Mulstay's wife goes down on the record in the same style. The woman was murdered. She was left at her husband's door alive, and was the next morning found in the cistern dead, but with no water in her lungs, showing that she had been choked to death. Then came the Cunningham baby, whose horribly mutilated remains were found under the bed upon which the unnatural mother slept. The woman is still at liberty. A few weeks ago a chile was found in a post-hole, where it had evidently been buried a few hours before, and now comes the latest mystery, with all the horrors which usually accompany the heartless murder of an innocent babe. At 10:30 last night, the inquest was adjourned till Thursday next, at 11 A.M.
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