PREBLE_CO_OH-L Archives

From:
Subject: Murder in Preble Co
Date: Sun, 3 Dec 2000 22:07:40 EST

My greatgrandmothers cousin was murdered and here are some of the items from
the old newspapers in the library. I have a tintype of Benjamin Bourne as a
young boy.
Nina

John Marsh D'Camp and family joined the Quaker Church, in Preble County,
Ohio, in 1823, transfering from Hardwick, New Jersey. (Warren County) I have
pictures of the old homestead on Kill Devil Hills. In the 1850 census the
real estate was valued at $2,000.00. The original high baseboards are still
there and there is a large wooden door in the parlor. The peach, pear &
apple orchard that had been on the east side of the house is now gone and
there is a large pond behind the home.

Mary C. D'Camp Bourne died 5 days after the birth of Benjamin, the D'Camps
took Benjamin to raise. His brother John was raised by his father Ezra and
an uncle and when he was 24 he hung himself in the barn. Ezra died in
1906. Benjamin & cousins inheirited the home after the death of his
grandparents, uncle and aunts.

Josephine D'Camp Baker told of a cousin that had been murdered for his money
by a farm hand and buried in the orchard for a year before it was found. In
looking in all the counties as I researched I found it in Preble county. The
library in Camden has newspapers of the events as they happened and are in
other records but I will give some highlights. Benjamin Franklin "Frank"
Bourne was an Engineer, and while not wealthy was conceded as having
considerable amount of money which he carried with him, with the exception of
of the amount invested in bonds.

Elwod Davis went to great lenths in fabricating stories of Frank's
disappearance saying Frank had taken a job in Mississippi at a lumber camp.
Frank disappeared about Easter in 1912, and Elwood started selling off farm
equipment and other things from the farm. Davis told people that Frank had
returned late one night in the Fall with two men and left early the next
morning. In May 1913 Elwood Davis mailed letters from Hamilton, Ohio, to
himself and a cousin John Bourne living in Middleton, Ohio. The letters
implied he was a foreigner on his way back to his country and that Benjamin
"Frank" Bourne had been killed and robbed about three weeks ago. Davis was
seen in Hamilton the day the letters were mailed by a witness that had gone
to pay his taxes and could remember and prove the date. Davis was also seen
on the train that day and in a bar buying whiskey. Mr. McDonald reported he
returned home from a trip at 4:00am and seeing four men digging in the
garden about the time of Bourne's disappearance.

June 12, 1913, the paper described finding the body of Franklin Bourne,
wrapped in a blanket and buried about three feet deep in a garden in front of
his home. The body was covered with stocks of last years crop of corn which
proved he was buried in the Spring of 1912. Blood on the living room rug
indicated he had been on his stomach when hit in the back of the head with an
axe.

One old timer in town remembered as a young boy hearing the news and the
townspeople loading in wagons to go to the farm.

The agent tried to get the blood out of the floor and when he couldn't he
took a saw and cut out the area which started a rumor that the body was
buried in the cellar. The house was sold every few years and so much digging
was done in the cellar, for over twenty years, looking for buried money that
the stone walls had to be rebuilt. People still believe money is buried on
the property. The present owners bought the property in 1936 and refused all
offers to help find the money, with his answer, "We don't drink from the same
bottle".

Letter from the Editor of the Preble County New: B. Franklin Bourne, who met
such a tragic fate in his old stone house, was reared there by his uncle and
aunts named D'Camp. Their home must be situated where it was as close for
Frank to go to the Lowe School as to Dist. No. 4 and when Fall schools
opened, Frank could go to whichever place he liked the teacher best.
Consequently, he was a schoolmate of mine, several different winters. He was
several years older than I. He was a very bright scholar, always at the head
of his class. He was of a very reserved nature and after he was left alone
in his home, led a very secluded life, but never a hermit as the present
generation now termed him. His assailant was also his classmate each winter
he attended Dist. No. 4. I for one, would have no fear of ghosts and goblins
in that immediate neighborhood and I truly hope both Franklin and Elwood are
happy in the great beyond.

Elwood Davis was sent to Ohio State Penitentiary where he died in 1936.

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