In 1913, Benjamin M. Glass was involved in litigation involving a couple who had previously worked on his farm. The husband accused him of improper behavior and after obsessing over it for some time he attempted suicide. He was unsuccessful due to Emma’s intervention. Unfortunately, two weeks later he was successful on his second attempt. His poor little daughters, Edna and Cora, found him hanging in the family barn! The woman, Bessie Martin, was 35 years old when she ran off with an 18-year-old to Indiana leaving her 4 children. She came back, flirted around with Benjamin causing her husband to retaliate. Interestingly, after Ben’s death–she left with the 18-year-old again! One of his obituaries makes it clear that most people in the area did not believe the allegations. But it obviously had a huge impact on Benjamin.
Obviously, there were several newspaper articles published about this and one wonders if Benjamin wasn’t falsely accused since Mrs. Martin had a history of cheating on her husband. It may have been true or it may have been a misunderstanding of his intentions or it may have been an attempt to become $10,000 richer for William Martin. Benjamin’s reputation was stellar prior to this incident and he was a good husband and father. His children and grandchildren have all passed on at this point so we will probably never know what the true circumstances were.
Mrs. Martin was named Bessie and she was married to William L. Martin. Initially, I was concerned that Mrs. Martin might have been related to my Martins who were in that same area and interestingly, Benjamin’s son, Arthur, married a Martin. That would have been awkward! But I have found no connection to the family at all. The young man she absconded with was named John Hoffman.
Benjamin Metler Glass Home
Probably the barn that Benjamin was found hanging.
Here are the articles that I could find on this tragedy:
Note that Benjamin was not buried at El Paso. His parents are buried in the Kappa Cemetery which is close to El Paso and he had many cousins buried in Evergreen Cemetery in El Paso. However, he is actually buried at Riverside Cemetery in Prophetstown, Illinois, next to his wife and some of his children.
It seems rash to commit suicide over a lawsuit–it’s difficult to tell if he was concerned about the money or his reputation. I like to think the latter as he was quite wealthy.
Ironically, his half-sister, Catherine Teresa Glass committed suicide on April 10, 1915, a couple months after her husband’s death.
Last Updated on November 12, 2024 by rootie