15 Minutes of Infamy

  Neighbors hadn't seen Willian Druse for days, but little did they know that his wife and daughter were exacting their revenge with rope, a hatchet, a revolver--- and several cauldrons of boiling water. On December 18, 1884, a man named Eckler noticed plumes of black smoke rising in the direction of the home of William Druse, a Herkimer County farmer who lived with his family about three miles from Richfield Springs. Other neighbors noticed the smoke, which carried with it a foul odor and lasted nearly two hours. They also noticed something very strange-- all the windows had been covered with newspaper.  Concerned neighbors knocked on the door asking for William, but his wife, Roxalana, said that he had gone to New York City to take care of some business matters. From that day forward, William Druse was never seen again.  Charles Pott and Mrs. Eckler, neighbors of the Druse family, eventually pulled aside 14-year-old Frank Gates and asked about the mysterious smoke. Fran...