In one of the most gruesome mass murders in Philadelphia history, Anton Probst, a Union veteran employed as a farm hand at the Deering Farm on James Lane in Point Breeze, then on the southern outskirts of the city, murdered the entire Deering family one by one, seven people in all, on April 7, 1866. After his arrest, Probst confessed to the crime and a Philadelphia court sentenced him to death this day. He was executed on June 8, 1866. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
J. Thomas Scarf and Thompson Wescott (eds.), History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884 (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1884), 833-834.
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Crime/Disasters
