Christmas 1887 – In Clinton County, Indiana, the John A. Horlacher family was celebrating Christmas. It was most likely a raucous celebration with four sons and two daughters in the family. One of the boys had received a new rifle for Christmas and the boys started arguing about whether a bullet made noise as it sped through the air. So they set up an experiment. One boy, John, would stand behind a tree while another boy aimed the shot to go by the tree. John took his place but something delayed the shot. While John waited he noticed that some livestock were getting out of their pen. Without thinking, he walked toward the animals just as his brother took the shot.
John M. Horlacher, age 17, was killed. This is the story as handed down to my father who told me. His grandfather was John’s brother. I haven’t found a report of John’s death or obituary in any local papers. The funeral home, Brinkof, Rothenberger and Kleinsmith of Mulberry, Clinton County, recorded that ”John Horlacher – shot accidental Dec. 25, 1887.” On January 7, 1888 the Frankfort Saturday Crescent Newspaper reported that “The Horlacher funeral was largely attended; at Bethel Cemetery, west of here.”
The search for newspaper articles turned up something surprising. The New York Herald carried a brief note in the column Telegraphic Jottings : “David Horlacher, son of John Horlacher, of Frankfort, Indiana., accidentally shot his brother Levi, aged eighteen years, while experimenting with a new gun yesterday afternoon.” Also reporting the story almost word for word were newspapers in Pennsylvania, Iowa and North Carolina, eight newspapers in all.
The details are mixed up. David was John’s cousin and the Levi could have been a cousin or his grandfather. Perhaps by changing the story a bit . . . Maybe the Christmas celebration was at the grandparents’ home with all the cousins, aunts and uncles present. The group of boys that went out to the barnyard with the new gun may have included John’s cousin David who fired the shot.
We still have the question ‘Why do newspapers from New York to Iowa care about the accidental shooting of an Indiana boy?’ Beginning in the mid 19th century newspapers underwent a major change. Increased competition for circulation led papers to fill columns with sensational human interest stories. The telegraph allowed papers to get news from across the country on a daily basis. Wire services such as the Associated Press had been organized and local newspapers were scanned for stories to fill up columns such as ‘Telegraphic Jottings.”
Connection: John M. Horlacher was my second great uncle.
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