Knox County resident Sam Sievers relates that the horrible Vacelet ax murders of 1878 entered the folklore of local residents. It seems that the Vacelet house not far from the railroad near Sievers Road in Vincennes was torn down and the boards were used to build a barn not far from the road. Though the barn itself has been torn down for several decades, it was said that upon occasion the boards of the barn would glisten with a blood-red hue, thus reminding neighbors of what may have been Knox County's most horrendous crime.
For information about the Vacelet murders and the resulting apparent suicide of the accused, see the following 1878 Weekly Western Sun newspaper accounts.
BRUTAL BUTCHERY, 1878. Vacelet Family Ax Murder Perhaps Knox County's Most Horrendous Crime
RETRIBUTION. The Quadruple Murder of the Vacelet Family Avenged by the Accused Murderer’s Own Hand.