Said he could no farther travel,
Wanted Cobb to stay beside him
In the rain and dismal darkness
While his friends, Calhoun and Balcomb,
Went to see this Tollgate Keeper
In the bed room of his cottage,
Where they slew him in the darkness,
Slew the aged Tollgate Keeper,
"For a dead man tells no stories,
Tells no stories, tells no stories,
For a dead man tells no stories."
Thus they murdered Uncle Barnice,
March the thirtieth it happened,
In the year of eighteen fifty.
In the meeting house in Colebrook—
Meeting house in Colebrook River—
Where the people gathered weeping,
April third of eighteen fifty,
Sadly spoke the aged parson
Of the death of Uncle Barnice;
Praised his many deeds of kindness
In the Colebrook River Village.
In the graveyard is his tombstone,
By the church in Colebrook River,
Where we read the fearful story—
"BARNICE WHITE
was murdered
Mar. 30, 1850.
Aged 69."
To Elizabeth, awakened
On the holy Sabbath morning—
March the thirty-first, at sunrise—
Of the year of eighteen fifty,
Came the sad and fearful story
Of the awful deeds of Henry,
Son of Solomon, the Mossock,
And his friends, Calhoun and Balcomb.
Then she wept in shame and sorrow.
Said it was a thing of evil
Ever to have seen this Henry,
Ever with him to have spoken,
For he acted like the Ruler,
Of that dread and awful kingdom,
Where the savage sinners gather,
By the Tunxis in New Hartford.
Quickly Henry was arrested,
With his friends, Calhoun and Balcomb,
Tried and led away to prison,
Prison by the Central River.
Later Henry won a "pardon"
When 'twas found he only acted
As a helper in the murder
Of the aged Tollgate Keeper,
And he died a helpless beggar
In the Farmington red Town House.
Thus we find it in the records,
Records of the ancient Light House,
Records of the Town of Colebrook,
Written by the early settlers,
Telling of the roving Mohawks;
Telling of the forts they builded
For protection 'gainst the Indians
Ever hunting in the forests,
Fishing in the streams and river,
Dwelling in their summer wigwams
By the sparkling Colebrook River,
Storing food and furs for winter.
In the homes along the river-
Peaceful flowing Colebrook River—
Children listen to the stories
Of the bears and wolves and wild cats,
And the Mohawks on the meadows
Living in their summer wigwams.