366 - HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

CHAPTER XXXVII

A CHAPTER OF TRAGEDIES.

MURDER AT MILLSBOROUOH-JOHN WELCH KILLS HIS WIFE-THE BOWLAND-BARKER. AFFAIR-A NEGRO KILLED-- RETURN J. M. WARD -THE MURDER OF HALL AND THE PEDDLER-WARD'S CONFESSION - THE STEINGRAVER MURDER-KILLING OF MOCK BY POOL-MURDER OF MRS. LUNSFORD - A BOY KILLS HIS BROTHER -MURDER OF WILLIAM S. FINNEY -THE KILLING OF ALFRED PALM-HOW MANSFIELD TREATED HER THIEVES AND BLACKLEGS.

RICHLAND COUNTY has riot been free from murders and crimes of every description, and though it is an unpleasant task to record these and equally unpleasant. perhaps, to read them, yet they are matters of record, and fall properly within the province of the historian. They will be hastily reviewed without regard to minutiae. and are collected into a chapter, that those who care not to read of these things may pass on.

In an early day, the frontier was infested (as it is to-day) with a class of "roughs " and criminals. who had perhaps escaped the clutches of the law in the older settlements and come to the wilds of the West for greater safety. This fact, together with the fact that whisky- was in general use in those days. rendered the border rather unsafe ; fighting was frequent and killing occasional. The taking of life in this way was not always, indeed seldom, considered as murder. A few only of the most prominent of these crimes are here considered. One of the earliest murders occurring in the county, caused by whisky, was that of Samuel Crispin, who killed a man named Lintholm in a drunken brawl in Hillsborough, in Springfield Township Crispin, who was a powerful man, struck Lintholm with his fist, killing him almost instantly. Crispin was cleared.

The Bowland-Barker affair occurred about 1846. People generally were surprised when Robert Bowland stepped up to Frank Barker on the street; in the broad light of day and stabbed him to death, though, to the immediate friends of the parties, it was not perhaps unexpected. The trouble grew out of remarks continually made bu Barker derogatory to this character of Bowland's wife. The two men were brothers-in-law, young and full of the fire of life It was a, premeditated murder. for Bowland put a dagger in his pocket before leaving home and started out in quest of his victim, while yet his brain was in a whirl of passion and when in this condition the deed was done. He found Barker talking to a friend on the street, and stepping up to him he touched him on the shoulder to call his attention. and, with out a word, plunged the fatal dagger into his heart.

He was found guilty of murder in the first degree and sentenced to be hanged; but the first degree was commuted to imprisonment for life, and, after a few years in the penitentiary, he was pardoned. He went West and there died.

In 1848, a murder was committed in front of the North American Hotel. The trouble originated with two colored employes of the hotel-cause, jealousy. A mulatto, named Broadwell loved the wife of John Brown, not wisely but too well; and if the latter did not premeditate murder he at least sought revenge. Broadwell was rather a stylish darkey, better looking, perhaps, than Brown, which fact served to increase the admiration of Mrs. Brown and the

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jealousy of Mr. Brown. Broadwell in order to make his manly form symmetrical wore a very tight belt which proved the cause of his death. The two met one day on the pavement when an explosion took place and Brown struck Broadwell with a cane on the tight belt, causing the rapture of a blood-vessel and death followed. Brown was tried and sentenced to the penitentiary but, after serving out part of his sentence, was pardoned and disappeared from this vicinity.

In 1851 or 1852, John Welch was convicted of killing his wife. It was proved on the trial that he threw her into a well; the jury found a verdict of murder in the first degree and Welch was sentenced to be hanged. A motion for a new trial, however. prevailed, but the case was put off for some reason from year to year meanwhile the prisoner lying in jail. Before the case could again be brought to trial, the prisoner died in jail. The murder occurred in Jackson Township.

One of the most terrible of the early murderers lived in Planktown, a small village at present within the limits of Cass Township.

The name of one of its citizens about and before the year 1850, was Return J. M. Ward. It is a well-remembered name by the older citizens. This Ward was a tailor by trade but seems to have engaged in keeping a hotel called the Eagle House, in Planktown. Just when he came or where he came from has not been ascertained and matters little. He was a living personification of the ogres of the fairy tales-being a large, broad-shouldered man, bald with a little ring of Black wiry hair around his head; thick neck, broad, high forehead; clean shaven, except a large goatee ; and a sinister forbidding countenance.

Noah Hall was a resident of the town at the same time. He came in 1849, was a bachelor, boarded with Ward, and kept a store; carried a general stock, such as country- stores were compelled to carry in those days. Hall went East occasionally to buy goods and was about making such a trip in March, 1851, when the little village was startled one morning by finding him dead in his storeroom, where he was in the habit of sleeping. He had been collecting money for some weeks, which he carried on his person: but just what amount was not known. Two men. Myers and McGravy, brothers-in-law. Irishmen by birth, were suspected of being the murderers; the grand jury found an indictment against them and they were put on trial for the crime. The evidence was not sufficient and they were acquitted. The real murderer might have been suspected but was never publicly charged with tile crime and continued to ply iris avocation and live among the neighbors of the murdered man as if nothing had happened.

Some time after this a peddler who had stopped at the Eagle House overnight, then kept by R. J. M. Ward and Thomas Griffith, disappeared suddenly and was never afterward heard from: but as he had no friends, and as Ward had said that lie went away early in the morning. nothing was thought of the matter; it was not investigated. and if anybody suspected the peddler had been murdered. they kept their own counsel. Among those who suspected Ward of murdering the peddler, was his (Ward's) wife, who worried over the crime so much that site became insane. and was sent to the asylum. Ward became so odious in Planktown. that he finally rented the hotel and went away. In February, 1857 R. J. M. Ward was arrested and tried for the murder of his wife (lie seems to have married again) at Sylvania, a little town west of Toledo. He was convicted of the murder and sentenced to be hanged. His Planktown murders were yet unknown to the public, but when he knew he must be hanged that there was no longer any hope of reprieve, lie made a confession, of which the following is the substance

"Of the crime of murdering Noah Hall, I alone am guilty. On the night of the -

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day of March, 1851, I entered his store secretly, by the door, while he was asleep, unseen by any human eye, and committed the deed. Knowing he was about starting for New York, to purchase goods, and that he had collected a considerable sum of money, I laid my plans and resolved to take his life, as the only means of possessing myself of the coveted treasure. Before dark, on the previous day, I went to his store, and, in his absence, unfastened the back door, and left it in a condition to be opened easily. At midnight, I left my house, entered by this door and found Hall sleeping soundly. I was armed with a heavy iron poker, square and large at one end, and tapering to a rounded point at the other. Having carefully ascertained his position. I struck the point through his skull, on the left side, above the ear, and then gave him a violent blow with the heavy end of the poker, on top of the head. He then began to struggle, and I seized his pillow and held it tight over his mouth, to prevent any sound from escaping, and, with the other hand, grasped his windpipe strongly, and held him thus till he ceased to struggle and life was evidently extinct. It was a fearful struggle, and felt a sad relief when it was over. There was no great flow of blood from the wound, and no stain on my clothes.

" When I was satisfied that he was dead, I dragged the body to the back part of the store and commenced my search for the expected treasure. On going to the money drawer, I found only a little change, and began to think my crime was to be without reward; but, on searching the hammock where he slept, under the bolster, I discovered his pocketbook, which I found contained over $800 in bank bills. I immediately left the store and buried the pocket-book and contents in the back end of my lot, and they remained there, untouched, during the next six months.

"When the excitement about the murder died away, I dug up the pocket-book, and

used the money in small quantities, as I needed it.

"Before leaving the store the night of the murder, I locked the back door and left by the front door, which I locked after me, and buried the key, so as to create the impression that the business was done by regular burglars. I was among the foremost to charge the crime on Myers and McGravy.

"I used an old tin lantern, which I covered up with a towel, to prevent the light being seen. With the aid of this light, which I placed at the head of the sleeping man, I accomplished my purpose."

At the same time, this monster made another confession, as follows:

"While Thomas Griffith and I were keeping tavern at Richland, an event took place which is vivid in my recollection, but which I wish I could forget. Griffith was away for the night, and was not expected home for several days. Toward evening, a peddler-I think his name was Lovejoy-arrived, on foot, with two large tin trunks full of goods; said he wanted his supper, breakfast and bed for the night, if I would take the amount out in trade. I looked over his goods, and, finding he had such articles as I could use in my family, 1 made a bargain with him, had his boxes taken care of and gave him his supper. After supper, he walked out for awhile, and when he returned, took a seat in the bar-room with me and we talked for a couple of hours. He complained of being very tired and much in need of sleep, as he had been walking all day. When ready to retire, I went with him to his room, which was on the second floor, in the corner of the house. At this time, I had no idea of injuring him, and went -to bed wholly innocent of any intention of disturbing him.

I awoke about midnight, and the thought struck me that the peddler might have money about him, and there was a good opportunity of getting possession of it. I knew there was

PAGE 369 - PICTURE OF MRS. ELIZABETH C. BAUGHMAN

PAGE 370 - BLANK

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no lock on the door, and it appeared to me I must, at any rate go and see if he had thought to stick his knife over the latch so as to keep me out. Accordingly, I sprang from the bed, and, on going to the door, found it was not fastened and I could open it without noise. So I opened it went softly to the side of the bed and, as I expected, found him fast asleep. The room was almost as light as day; the moon was shining and the windows had no curtains. Everything was so favorable that the temptation seemed irresistible, and leaving the door open, I went down into the bar-room and got an old ax that I knew was kept there, and went back to the peddlers room. He was still sound asleep and lying in a favorable position; so I took hold of the ax with both hands, and dealt him a tremendous blow on the top of the head. I struck him only once: he scarcely struggled, and in a few minutes he was dead. The blow caused but little flow of blood, which was mostly at the nose and mouth, and with a little care on my part, the bed was scarcely stained. He made no noise whatever, and all I had to do was to dispose of the body. This I had not sufficiently considered beforehand and it presented serious difficulties, but they were soon surmounted. I went down-stairs and got a dry-goods box, and as the body could not bestowed in it whole. I unjointed the legs at the thighs, and knees, and after wrapping the various parts that were bloody in sheets and blankets, so as to prevent the blood from oozing out, I packed it all safely in the box, put on the cover, and took the box to my bedroom, where it remained that night through the following day and the next night. Having disposed of the body, I commenced a search for the money, but found only about fifty dollars. I took such goods out of the trunks as would not be likely to expose me, left the rest in and put them also under my bed, covering them up with an old quilt, and left the bedroom, where the peddler had slept, but little deranged in consequence of the dreadful scene that had just taken place.

"The next morning I arose as usual and took breakfast with the family. Some inquiries were made after the peddler at the table, and I said he was up and off by daylight, not choosing to wait for his breakfast, because he had a long way to travel. During the day I made up my mind how I would dispose of the body. I gave out that I was in need of some money, and that I would go to my father's, at Milan, and see if I could not get it of him, and that I believed I would take the wagon and start early on the following morning. So, before daybreak, I got up and harnessed the horse. \o one was stirring about the house and I had ample time and opportunity to load the box and other things into the wagon without being observed. I traveled through the whole day, directing my course toward the residence of my father, and in the night, about 10 o'clock, reached the neighborhood of Huron River. When within about half a mile of the river, I turned off and went through a lot to the river, so that I might not be seen while unloading. I had previously filled the box with various irons in order to secure its sinking, and finally tumbled it into the river, about a mile and a half above Abbott's bridge. It sunk to the bottom, and, getting into the wagon, I returned homeward as rapidly as possible. I never heard that the box was found. I should have mentioned, that, on the night I killed the peddler, there were but few persons about my house, and no one in that part of the house where he slept. The whole proceeding was conducted very quietly, and there was no noise sufficient to awaken those who slept in the house, even if they had been much nearer to his room. The blow sank into his head with no reverberation of sound, and, as I had taken the precaution to shut the door, it could scarcely have been heard in the next room. Indeed, I was surprised

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that a life could be taken with so little disturbance "

Ward was hanged at Toledo June 12, 1857.

July 4, 1851, a most foul murder was committed by Charles Steingraver in Ashland County. The victim was Clarinda Vantilburg a blind girl, aged ten years. who had been left at home while her parents went to a Sunday school celebration at Perrysburg. Steingraver who had been in the employ of the Vantilburgs. was convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to be hanged. A motion for a new trial was heard but overruled, and the sentence ordered to be carried into execution January 30, 1852. A large crowd of people collected on that day to see the hanging it being the first case of hanging in Ashland which until 1846 belonged to Richland County. Steingraver appeared to be a hardened criminal and marched to the scaffold with a firm step and little apparent regard for his fate. When all was ready and a moment before the trap was sprung, the Sheriff asked him the question. Steingraver, are you innocent of the crime of murder as charged against you? " With apparent earnestness he replied. "Sheriff, I am innocent." In another moment, his guilty or guiltless soul was launched into another world.

The second murder in this (Ashland) county occurred December 17, 1853. The tragedy had its origin in a matter of 7 cents that had been used at a "raffle." The money belonged to one Noah Mock but had been appropriated by Thornton Pool and, in the controversy growing out of this trifling affair. Pool stabbed and killed Mock. The case was tried at the March term, 1854. Pool found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to the Ohio Penitentiary for ten years.

On the morning of March 12, 1870, Mansfield was startled and shocked by the news of the horrible murder committed the night before on Oliver street, in rear of the Atlantic Hotel.

The victim was Mrs. Mary J. Lunsford, a woman about twenty-eight years of age, who occupied the west part of a story-and-a-half wooden building. the east part of the building being occupied by a negro family named Harris. Each part of this house contained two rooms one above and one below. The murder was committed in the west room up-stairs. The woman's character was not good, it appearing that she was the mistress of Ansel L. Robinson, a foreman in the Blymyer, Day & Co.'s works.

It appears that Charity Harris, living in one part of the house, heard, about 1 o'clock at night smothered screams and groans issuing from one apartment of Mrs. Lunsford. Her husband went out to ascertain the cause, rapped at Mrs. Lunsford's and called several times, but as all was quiet, he returned to bed. The same noise was also heard by the watchman at the Aultman & Taylor works, who came over to ascertain the cause, but, finding all quiet, returned. In the morning, there being no signs of life about Mrs. Lunsford's room, an entrance was effected, and she was found lying diagonally across the bed in her night-clothes, with her throat cut, and other cuts and bruises on different parts of her body. Her arm was also bitten in several places, the prints of the teeth being plainly visible. The condition of the bed gave evidence of a terrible struggle, and there was a pool of blood on the floor under her head, which hung down through the head of the bed (the slats having given way) to within six inches of the floor.

The murderer had made his escape through a window on the lower floor, leaving bloody marks in different places.

Naturally the excitement was intense; and under this stimulus Ansel L. Robinson was arrested for the crime, though it does not appear that there was at that time nor at any subsequent time, sufficient evidence to cause his arrest. Robinson was from Cincinnati, where

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he was a local politician of some note and had been a leader in the workingmen's movement, which resulted in the election of Samuel F. Cary to Congress. During the Grant campaign, he was prominent in Mansfield and commanded a company of Grant Guards in the city. He had a good deal of influence among a large class of workmen here. It appears from letters that he became acquainted with Mrs. Lunsford in Cincinnati, and, after he secured his position here with Blymyer. Day & Co., induced her to come and reside in Mansfield. Robinson was tried and acquitted, after which he left Mansfield and has not since been heard of in this vicinity.

Several other parties were arrested and acquitted. and to this day the motive of the murder and the whereabouts of the murderer remains a mystery. There are opinions concerning this matter among the Mansfield people, which have assumed the importance of well-grounded belief. This belief has been strengthened since the trial and execution of W ebb for the murder of Mr. Finney. It is known that Webb was a frequent visitor to the negro family living in the same house with Mrs. Lunsford ; that he knew of the murdered woman; and, considering the brutality of the murder and the well-known brutality of Webb it is believed that he was the murderer, though he refused to confess the same before he was hanged for the Finney murder.

In this connection and in the light of today it is interesting to read the following printed in the Cincinnati Commercial in April. 1870-the month following the murder. It is from the pen of Don Piatt. then Washington correspondent of that paper: "I read the account of this mysterious crime to one of the most remarkable lawyers in the United States. and he said:

"In all eases of circumstantial evidence, the conclusion jumped at by the ordinary mind is apt to be erroneous, from the fact that the stronger links are generally the more delicate, and so escape consideration. Thus when Dr. Burdell was murdered, the fact of Mrs. Burdell being in the house over-rid the other facts, that Burdell a strong man, had made a vigorous fight for his life-so vigorous that an ordinary woman could not possibly have conquered him and the bloody track of a stranger feeling his way out of the house. When a woman premeditates killing, poison is her ordinary weapon ; if not premeditated, it was simply impossible.

"In this case, the struggle indicates something more than murder. Had Robinson or any other man set about the killing for that purpose and none other, we would not have the struggle that broke down the bed, nor the bites in the arm so much relied on. These indicate something more and more probably that some one, perhaps a negro, knowing the woman to be a loose character, entered the window by which he escaped. Infuriated at the resistance, he first bit and fought, then, probably fearing detection, committed the murder.

"When a man premeditates a killing, the caution attending it grows with the intelligence of the criminal, and, in nine cases out of ten, the crime is tracked by the very means used to conceal it. A vicious, stupid brute may strike down and cut to pieces his victim in a moment of blind frenzy, regardless of consequences and not unfrequently with a successful escape. This seems to be the case here."

The above reasoning is so clear that it seems like a prophecy ; and there is good reason to believe that it is a simple statement of the facts of this murder, though uttered years before Webb was known.

In the following September of the same year (1870), young Edward McCulloch was killed by Charles Hall, son of H. Hall, who owns a farm on which he resides, a short distance north of Mansfield. This was not a cold blooded or brutal murder, like the one just

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related, but was caused by liquor. A party, among whom were Hall and McCulloch, came to Mansfield in the evening to attend a circus, leaving their conveyance at a livery stable.

Before they were ready to go home, Charles Hall was partially intoxicated, having separated himself from the remainder of the party. When ready to go home, they could not find Hall, and drove away without him. Enraged at being left behind, he hired a livery team and drove after them, passing them on the road. At home, he accused Edward Townsend, one of the party, of leaving him on purpose. Some words passed. when Hall drew a pistol and fired at Townsend, the hall passing through his wrist. Edward McCulloch, a hired man living with the family, now interfered, and, in the melee, was shot by Hall, the ball entering the left face and penetrating the brain.

Hall gave himself up and was sent to jail. He was tried and acquitted. with a fine, of $150 and costs.

August 5, 1870, a sad affair occurred near Newville, by which a boy lost his life at the hands of his brother. Two sons of Mr. William Norris, an old and respected farmer of Worthington Township, became engaged in an altercation while driving some cows home from pasture, and John, the older brother, got the better of William. threw him down and punished him severely. After he let him up, William seized a billet of wood and struck John a tremendous blow on the temple, knocking him insensible. The boy lived but a day or two.

The surviving brother was overwhelmed with grief and remorse for the unlucky blow, struck while in a passion. He gave himself up and was admitted to bail in the sum of $5,000, his father going on his bond. He was tried at the September term of court, the same year, and the jury returned a verdict of not guilty.

The murder of William S. Finney, an old and respected resident of the county, residing on his farm, three miles southwest of Mansfield, occurred December 6, 1877, and in brutality was similar to that of Mrs. Lunsford. The supposed motive for this murder was for the possession of a small sum of money Mr. Finney was supposed to have in his house. The murderer entered the house in the night, when the family were sleeping, and commenced his search for the money. It does not seem to have been his intention to commit murder, but when Mr. Finney was aroused by the noise, the stranger, probably fearing opposition and detection, committed the murder. The weapon used was an old musket, known to be the property of Edward Webb, a negro, living on Pine street, in Mansfield. Mr. Finney was killed with this weapon, used as a club, and his aged wife also received severe injuries. Other members of the family were aroused by the noise, and the thoroughly aroused negro, who seems to have become a devil incarnate, attacked them also, seemingly bent upon murdering all who opposed him. Several members of the family were injured by his desperate and terrible blows, before they could realize the situation, make united resistance, or give the alarm. Before he could accomplish his terrible object, the house was thoroughly aroused; some of those occupying the upper parts of the house raising the window and crying, Murder! Finding he had a larger contract on hand than he could carry out, the desperate villain retreated through the window, and, strange as it may appear, ran across the fields directly to his own home in Mansfield; leaving a very plain trail behind him, in the light snow. On the following morning, Marshal Lemon followed this track, without any difficulty, to the house of Edward Webb, arrested that individual, who was quietly eating his breakfast, and who, as I clearly proved in the trial, was the murderer.

Webb bore himself, all through his trial and the subsequent period in jail, in a manner thal showed he did not realize his situation, or the

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enormity of his crime. He would alternately sing, pray, swear, and use the most obscene language ; was always ready to laugh, talk, joke, and seemed to be under an impression he had created an immense sensation, and was the hero of the hour. He was a great gormandizer and grew fat. while waiting to be hanged; seemed on the whole to be much more of a beast than a human being. The day of execution was Friday, May 31, l 878. A great crowd appeared at the place of execution in the old jail-yard on Third street. The execution was to be private, and a high broad fence inclosed the scaffold. As the time for the execution approached, the crowd grew boisterous and developed into a mob, determined to "see the nigger hung." The company of militia on duty as guard, was brushed aside with little ceremony and the enclosure about the scaffold demolished in a few moments. A characteristic smile played about month of the murderer, as he walked toward the scaffold; and knew that all this fuss was made on his account. He seemed, to the last, to have no comprehension of his awful doom, and was swung into eternity, without seeming to realize, know or care, what issues are involved in life and death.

In April, 1878, the people of Independence were thrown into a state of excitement by a murder in their midst. A man named Samuel P. Bowersox kept a saloon in the place to the great annoyance of the Independence people, who are generally strongly inclined to temperance. Bowersox was consequently considerably annoyed one way and another in his business. One night, a party of young men visited the saloon, and, after drinking more than they should, went out and created some disturbance on the street near the saloon, by hallooing, throwing stones, etc., which so enraged Bowersox that he took down a revolver, and, opening the door, thrust his hand out and fired into the crowd, instantly killing Alfred Palm. He was brought to Mansfield, tried, a nolle prosequi entered in the case, and he was acquitted on that ground.

Soon after the war, Mansfield was infested with thieves, blacklegs and confidence men. For a year or two, their presence was borne with patience, in the hope the law and law officers would deal with them as they de served. These men came to be well known to the officers of the law and citizens generally, but such was the dexterity they exhibited in their calling, they could not be caught, or if caught, no crime could be proven against them. Their outrages were committed almost nightly. Private houses and stores were burglarized; citizens were knocked down on the street and robbed, sometimes in broad daylight. It became dangerous to walk the streets alone after dark; and even in daylight, especially in the vicinity- of the railroad depots, men were not safe from robbery and outrage. So great had this insecurity become by 1867, that, finding the law could not reach these miscreants, the citizens determined to take the matter in their own hands. A company of regulators was formed, and, in March of that year, the following proclamation appeared

To thieves, blaeklegs, confidence men, etc.:Our city has been infested by, and our citizens suffered as long as they will bear, your depredations on person and property. You are all known to our Regulators. We therefore warn you to leave our city instantly and forever, for we will not tolerate you longer. You are watched and cannot escape. A short shift will be your doom if caught at your wicked business hereafter. Before issuing the above, the citizens met and passed the following

Resolved, That the city is in need only of honest men. Swindlers and confidence men are notified to leave or suffer the consequences. Our Regulators are authorized to enforce this resolution. All persona are warned against harboring or assisting these pests of society. We are determined to rid the community of them, and any person standing in the way will do so at their peril.

A squad of Regulators searched the saloons and arrested six or eight men who were well

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known to belong to the gang. whom they conveyed to jail.

On the afternoon of March 13, a meeting of citizens was held at Miller's Hall to consider what. was best to be done with these men. The hall was packed. The parties who had been arrested, and whose photographs had meanwhile been taken. were brought before this meeting; and the sense of the audience taken as to the disposition w be made of them. A few were for hanging, but, after much discussion, it was decided to escort them to the depot and place them aboard the first train. This happened to be a north-bound train on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. They were threatened with hanging if they returned. However reprehensible this plan may have been, it was effectual. Quiet and order were restored, and Mansfield has been comparatively free from there since.