John Caswell Prather was married three times:
1. Elizabeth Kimberlin Spurgeon, Oct. 13, 1853, Bartholomew Co., Indiana
They were parents of six known children. Divorced about 1869.
2. Mary Randall, Jan. 4, 1871, Jackson Co., Indiana.
They were parents of two children. Prather was accused and tried for Mary's poisoning death in 1876. Despite convincing evidence, he was acquitted of the crime.
3. Alice Hartman, Dec. 19, 1879, Bartholomew Co.
No issue of this union. Divorced in 1882.
While the circumstantial evidence was very strong that J.C. Prather murdered his wife for insurance fraud, and the jury deliberated at length, the division was 7 for innocent, and 5 for guilty; and the five finally capitulated. Prather was exonerated. The trial at Brownstown ran two weeks, February 10-25, 1877.
Prather was also widely suspected of murdering his brother Albert, in Jan. 1876, also for financial gain. He was never charged for this death.
John C. Prather married third to Alice Hartman in 1879, and was residing with her in Jackson Co. in 1880, along with his daughter, Patience Prather, age 9, his child by Mary.
In 1880, he was arrested for counterfeiting, convicted and sentenced to seven years in the state prison at Jeffersonville. He lamented that he did not think he would ever survive this imprisonment. (He was about 51 years old at the time.) His wife, Alice, divorced him in Oct. 1882. It appears he did, in fact, survive imprisonment, and return to Bartholomew Co., although the only evidence for his death is this brief notice, inexplicably in an Akron, Ohio, newspaper.
Akron Beacon Journal
Akron, Ohio
Sat., Aug. 16, 1890
Caswell Prather, guilty of abandonment of his family, two murders, handling counterfeit money and numerous other crimes, died a natural death at Columbus, Indiana.
1. Elizabeth Kimberlin Spurgeon, Oct. 13, 1853, Bartholomew Co., Indiana
They were parents of six known children. Divorced about 1869.
2. Mary Randall, Jan. 4, 1871, Jackson Co., Indiana.
They were parents of two children. Prather was accused and tried for Mary's poisoning death in 1876. Despite convincing evidence, he was acquitted of the crime.
3. Alice Hartman, Dec. 19, 1879, Bartholomew Co.
No issue of this union. Divorced in 1882.
While the circumstantial evidence was very strong that J.C. Prather murdered his wife for insurance fraud, and the jury deliberated at length, the division was 7 for innocent, and 5 for guilty; and the five finally capitulated. Prather was exonerated. The trial at Brownstown ran two weeks, February 10-25, 1877.
Prather was also widely suspected of murdering his brother Albert, in Jan. 1876, also for financial gain. He was never charged for this death.
John C. Prather married third to Alice Hartman in 1879, and was residing with her in Jackson Co. in 1880, along with his daughter, Patience Prather, age 9, his child by Mary.
In 1880, he was arrested for counterfeiting, convicted and sentenced to seven years in the state prison at Jeffersonville. He lamented that he did not think he would ever survive this imprisonment. (He was about 51 years old at the time.) His wife, Alice, divorced him in Oct. 1882. It appears he did, in fact, survive imprisonment, and return to Bartholomew Co., although the only evidence for his death is this brief notice, inexplicably in an Akron, Ohio, newspaper.
Akron Beacon Journal
Akron, Ohio
Sat., Aug. 16, 1890
Caswell Prather, guilty of abandonment of his family, two murders, handling counterfeit money and numerous other crimes, died a natural death at Columbus, Indiana.
John Caswell Prather was married three times:
1. Elizabeth Kimberlin Spurgeon, Oct. 13, 1853, Bartholomew Co., Indiana
They were parents of six known children. Divorced about 1869.
2. Mary Randall, Jan. 4, 1871, Jackson Co., Indiana.
They were parents of two children. Prather was accused and tried for Mary's poisoning death in 1876. Despite convincing evidence, he was acquitted of the crime.
3. Alice Hartman, Dec. 19, 1879, Bartholomew Co.
No issue of this union. Divorced in 1882.
While the circumstantial evidence was very strong that J.C. Prather murdered his wife for insurance fraud, and the jury deliberated at length, the division was 7 for innocent, and 5 for guilty; and the five finally capitulated. Prather was exonerated. The trial at Brownstown ran two weeks, February 10-25, 1877.
Prather was also widely suspected of murdering his brother Albert, in Jan. 1876, also for financial gain. He was never charged for this death.
John C. Prather married third to Alice Hartman in 1879, and was residing with her in Jackson Co. in 1880, along with his daughter, Patience Prather, age 9, his child by Mary.
In 1880, he was arrested for counterfeiting, convicted and sentenced to seven years in the state prison at Jeffersonville. He lamented that he did not think he would ever survive this imprisonment. (He was about 51 years old at the time.) His wife, Alice, divorced him in Oct. 1882. It appears he did, in fact, survive imprisonment, and return to Bartholomew Co., although the only evidence for his death is this brief notice, inexplicably in an Akron, Ohio, newspaper.
Akron Beacon Journal
Akron, Ohio
Sat., Aug. 16, 1890
Caswell Prather, guilty of abandonment of his family, two murders, handling counterfeit money and numerous other crimes, died a natural death at Columbus, Indiana.
1. Elizabeth Kimberlin Spurgeon, Oct. 13, 1853, Bartholomew Co., Indiana
They were parents of six known children. Divorced about 1869.
2. Mary Randall, Jan. 4, 1871, Jackson Co., Indiana.
They were parents of two children. Prather was accused and tried for Mary's poisoning death in 1876. Despite convincing evidence, he was acquitted of the crime.
3. Alice Hartman, Dec. 19, 1879, Bartholomew Co.
No issue of this union. Divorced in 1882.
While the circumstantial evidence was very strong that J.C. Prather murdered his wife for insurance fraud, and the jury deliberated at length, the division was 7 for innocent, and 5 for guilty; and the five finally capitulated. Prather was exonerated. The trial at Brownstown ran two weeks, February 10-25, 1877.
Prather was also widely suspected of murdering his brother Albert, in Jan. 1876, also for financial gain. He was never charged for this death.
John C. Prather married third to Alice Hartman in 1879, and was residing with her in Jackson Co. in 1880, along with his daughter, Patience Prather, age 9, his child by Mary.
In 1880, he was arrested for counterfeiting, convicted and sentenced to seven years in the state prison at Jeffersonville. He lamented that he did not think he would ever survive this imprisonment. (He was about 51 years old at the time.) His wife, Alice, divorced him in Oct. 1882. It appears he did, in fact, survive imprisonment, and return to Bartholomew Co., although the only evidence for his death is this brief notice, inexplicably in an Akron, Ohio, newspaper.
Akron Beacon Journal
Akron, Ohio
Sat., Aug. 16, 1890
Caswell Prather, guilty of abandonment of his family, two murders, handling counterfeit money and numerous other crimes, died a natural death at Columbus, Indiana.
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