| Notes |
- House Burns and Man's Body Found Roasting in Ruins
Albert Wesseley Meets Death in a Shocking, Mysterious Manner New Year's.
Early Sunday morning the dwelling house of Albert Wesseley was destroyed by fire and the charred body of Mr. Wessely was found in the ruins. Ever since the time of its discovery, the fire has been a source of much conjecture as to its origin; and the cause of the man's death is one of those mysteries which are left to conflicting deductions and theories.
The glare of the burning house was first noticed at about 4:30 a.m., and neighbors who ran to the place found the building already crumbling to ruins. Several small blazes had started upon a granary close by and these were extinguished in due time.
As Mr. Wessely was supposed to have been at home Saturday night, the non-appearance at the scene caused the neighbors to fear the worst and soon the news spread thru the entire community that a man had burned to death.
Many people of the village were amongst the throng which gathered there to look at the partially burned body of the man, which lay exposed to view amid the live coals and flaming debris which had been reduced to the cellar.
Dr. Moraux had been notified and, upon arriving there, ordered the body to be removed from the fire as soon as possible. Water was dashed upon and around it and thru heroic efforts one of the by-standers succeeded in dragging it from the bed of fire.
The gruesome sight caused many to turn away in horror. All of the body that was left intact was the (one or more lines is unreadable) -tached. No remains of the head could be found until in the afternoon when a piece of the jaw was discovered in the ashes.
The shape of the partially cremated body is shown in the following plate. The shocking details depicted in the original sketch - which is fit to hand in a Chamber of Horrors - have been omitted in the illustration.
The body - all that was left of it - was removed to the Debauch morgue and Dr. Moraux, coroner, immediately notified the district attorney and county sheriff of the affair.
The general supposition was that the man had been asleep when the fire started and had been overcome by smoke before he could leave his bed, and so no inquest was deemed necessary.
Many vague theories, rumors and intimations of suicide or foul play have since arisen and the meager facts which lead to these varied surmises are here given to satisfy a public demand.
The springs and remnants of the mattress of a bed were found directly underneath the burned body, showing that the floor sank evenly to the cellar.
Sunday afternoon when a search was being made for the head of the burned man, a breech loading (unreadable line) wooden stock was found ina ???? slowing the muzzles pointing toward and close to the head of the bed. In one chamber of the gun an empty cartridge was found with the fu???? Cap punched, showing that it had been exploded by the mechanism of the gun.
As no trace of the skull could be found, the supposition arose that it must have been shattered in order to be entirely consumed by the fire. Mr. Wesseley was an old hunter and it is said that he usually kept the gun under his bed when at home. But a hunter usually ejects the shell from a gun after firing, unless there is another loaded one in the gun.
Mr. Wesseley's wife died about two years ago. It is not known whether he was particularly despondent last Saturday, that being New Year's Day as he was not seen during one entire day.
It is supposed that Mr. Wesseley had money with him at the time, but the exact sum can not be ascertained.
The metal clasp of a burned pocket book was found where the porch used to be.
His daughter, Miss Julia Wessely who resided with him, was absent from the home at that time, being on a visit at her brother's home in Montpelier.
At about 9 o'clock Saturday night the occupants of the Kelliher home were startled by a strange and horrible noise which seemed to proceed from the Wessely place, about an eighth of a mile distant.
So hideous was the sound that Mr. and Mrs. Kelliher's little daughter Marie ran across the room and clung to her father's heel in fright. The uncanny noise was repeated at intervals of about twice a minute and did not seem to be caused by either man or beast. It would begin with a loud harsh wail and subside to something like a moan. Not wishing to leave alone his wife and child who were thoroly frightened and as the noise soon ceased, Mr. Kelliher was unable to investigate.
In some cases of mortal agony, human beings are known to emit (unreadable line) unnatural and can be likened to no other sound. This denounces to the worst of surmises. Was Mr. Wessely murdered that night and dragged to his bed so as to give the semblance of suicide and later, to more effectually conceal the crime, had the fiend or fiends returned and fired the house?
That the building was not yet ablaze at 3 o'clock Sunday morning is evinced by the statement of Joseph Haierl, Sr., a near neighbor, who had occasion to be up and around at that hour and who claims that he saw no signs of fire outside. About two hours later, the Wessely house was already in collapse.
Mr. Wessely was 68 years old and was a retired farmer having disposed of his homestead at Pilsen a few months ago and taken up his residence here. The house stood about one half mile south of the village limits. He is survived by three sons and five daughters who are: Jacob and John, of Montpelier; Joseph, of Wausaukee, and Miss Julis; Mrs. James Nemechek, Mrs. James Edlebeck and Mrs. Anton Edlebeck of Wausaukee; Mrs. John Strand of Crystal Falls.
The burial took place at Plson, Wednesday afternoon at 2 o'clock. Owing to a raging blizzard the priest who was to officiate and the undertaker were unable to be present.
Amongst the funeral attendants were the relatives from Wausaukee, John Strand of Crystal Falls, and Frank and Mitchel Nedjelo of Green Bay.
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1846 - 1910 (64 years)
, d. 23 Dec 1871, Pilsen, Kewaunee Co, Wisconsin 
