(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) 950 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. the expiration of his second term, he was. in January, 1875, appointed governor of the territory of Utah, by President Grant, but a few months later was transferred to New Mexico, of which territory he was governor between three and four years. Still later, in May, 1882, by appointment of President Arthur, he became chief justice of that territory, which position he filled with acknowledged ability for three years, tendering his resignation to President Cleveland, May 1st, 1885, to take effect on the 25th of the same month. On June 1, 1885, Judge Axtell accepted from the Southern Pacific railroad, the position of solicitor of that road for New Mexico, with headquarters at Santa Fe, which position he held until his death, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Charles M. Phillips, in Morristown, New Jersey, August 6, 1891, at the age of 71 years, 9 months, 22 days. RUSSELL A. ALGER, was reared and educated in the township of Richfield, graduating with honors from the famous old Richfield Academy, some 35 years ago. Soon after his graduation he entered, as a student, the law office of Messrs. Wolcott & Upson, in Akron. On the completion of his studies, he was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court, at Columbus. Practicing for a short time in Cleveland, he established himself at Grand Rapids, Mich., with fair prospects of the most eminent success in his chosen profession. On the breaking out of the War, however, the young lawyer forsook his clients and his briefs, and entered the Union Army as a private soldier, retiring therefrom, in 1865, with the well-earned title of Brigadier General. After the close of the War, he engaged extensively in the lumber and shipping business, accumulating a speedy fortune, which he is liberally dispensing in benevolent and business enterprises, one of the ventures in the latter line, being his joint-ownership, with Hon. J. A. Kohler, of Akron's beautiful Arcade Block, on South Howard street. In 1884, he was elected governor of Michigan, holding the office through 1885 and 1886, and, declining a re-election, retired from that high office with the reputation of having made one of the very best governors Michigan ever had, his name also being prominently mentioned as a candidate for President before the National Republican Convention for 1888. [See portrait on page 555]. THE BIG SLEIGH RIDE OF 1856.—The Winter of 1855, '56, was one of considerable severity, accompanied by much snow and long-continued sleighing. Local sleigh-rides were frequent, engendering much neighborhood rivalry, soon extending to township and finally to county contests for the prize banner—a piece of common muslin, with the figure of a young negro rudely painted thereon, with thumb on nose, and extended digits, with the legend issuing from between his ivory teeth and protruding lips," You can't come it !" Starting in Solon with seven four-horse teams, followed by Twinsburg with sixteen teams, Bedford with thirty-two; Brecksville, forty-four; Royalton, sixty-three; Boston, sixty-six; Independence, sixty-five; Hudson, seventy-one, the flag had finally come to Richfield, with seventy-three teams. By this time the excitement had become so great that it was determined to make it a county affair, between the three contiguous counties of Cuyahoga, Medina and Summit. Richfield being already in possession of the prize, and being, withal, the most central township in the territory involved in the contest, it was decided that the triangular THE BIG SLEIGH-RIDE OF 1856 - 951 gathering should be held there. Accordingly, on Saturday, March 15, 1856, the great trial took place, four and six-horse teams, only, being counted. The marshals reported Medina one hundred and forty, Cuyahoga one hundred and fifty-one, and Summit one hundred and seventy-one teams, making a grand total of four hundred and sixty-two four and six-horse sleighs, though quite a good many one and two-horse teams, bearing witnesses and spectators, were present from all parts of the adjacent country. After the count had been declared, the banner was formally presented, first by James W. Weld, Esq., on behalf of Richfield, to Hudson, as having furnished the greatest number of teams, and then, by Dr. Charles R. Pierce, in behalf of Hudson, to Summit county, to be preserved among her most cherished relics, until some rival county should wrest it from her by a larger display of horseflesh than she had made. It was estimated that from 10,000 to 12,000 persons, men, women and children, participated in, and witnessed, the magnificent pageant, and the utmost harmony and good feeling prevailed throughout. Summit's triumph, however,̊ was of short duration. Medina's spirit--if not dander—was decidedly aroused, and on the following Tuesday, March 18, 1856, she drove into Akron with one hundred and eighty-two four and six-horse teams, thus fairly winning the "flaunting rag" from Summit, which—notwithstanding the quite prevalent rumor that a number of her teams had been recruited from "just over the border "—was cheerfully yielded to her; the championship remaining with her to the present time, though by the time her procession began to wind its slow length through the streets of Akron, about noon on the 18th day of March, the sleighing was in a very liquefactious condition, indeed, while the homeward journey had to be performed through a literal " sea of mud." RICHFIELD'S GREAT RE-UNION.—Though Richfield has always been noted for its spirited public gatherings—agricultural, military, political, patriotic and otherwise—her crowning glory in that direction was her great pioneer re-union, on the 11th day of August, 1880. Invitations had been extended to all former residents then living, who had gone out from among them, to return to the home of their nativity, or early adoption, to renew old friendships, and to enjoy the hospitalities of their compeers and successors, and on the day named there was a gathering of which Richfield people should ever feel proud. The meeting was in a beautiful grove, on. the premises of Mr. John Kirby, one mile south of the West. Center, and besides many old residents from abroad, there were large delegations from neighboring towns, while almost, if not quite, every man, woman and child of the township of Richfield was upon the grounds during the day. Governor S. B. Axtell presided, and delivered an eloquent address of welcome, which was supplemented by an appropriate poem, written by Richfield's poet laureate, Dr. A. E. Ewing. Responses were called for, and brief addresses were made by George Howlett, Esq., of Cleveland, and Mr. F. Wilcox, former sons of Richfield, Ex-County Treasurer Schuyler R. Oviatt, Sheriff S. A. Lane and General A. C. Voris, of Akron, Dr. Sumner Pixley, of Peninsula, Hon. Myron C. Hills, of Medina, Rev. J. A. McKinstry, of Richfield, and others. Splendid music and a magnificent dinner, and genial good cheer, generally, rendered the occasion 952 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. one of the brightest epochs in the history and memory of ever reliable Old Richfield. RICHFIELD'S MORAL STATUS.—Though not upon the line of the canal, yet upon her eastern border, contiguous to the crook infested territory of eastern Bath and western Northampton and Boston, her people were more or less drawn within the pernicious influence of the gang. Indeed, one of her very earliest settlers, Henry Mallet, with his two brothers, John and Daniel, are believed to have been among the very first parties in the neighborhood to " tinker with the currency," establishing their mint, however, just over the line in the jungles of northwestern Northampton. The locality and character of this establishment becoming known, much indignation was excited against the concern, and by the concerted movement of the better class of the inhabitants of Richfield, Bath, Northampton and Boston, this " money-shop," as it was designated, was raided, and with its entire contents destroyed by fire. This summary proceeding, however, by no means put a stop to the business. Other and less accessible quarters were secured, the infection spread, and the business grew and seemingly prospered for many years, though many of the operators were subsequently brought to grief, Henry Mallet at length finding a permanent home in the Ohio Penitentiary, where he finally died. In 1838, when a concerted effort was made, as elsewhere detailed, to break up the gang, among the eighteen or twenty persons arrested, were several residents of Eastern Richfield, their apprehension being brought about through the efforts of their more respectable neighbors ; a local Akron paper, under date of April 7th, 1838, in noticing the event, saying : "Much praise is due to the officers and principal citizens of Richfield, and adjoining towns, for their vigilance and aid in securing the experimenters on the currency." From that time on, however, Richfield has been as free from that class of crookedness as the average of her sister townships on the Western Reserve, though a number of other damaging and exciting episodes have taken place within her borders, in the intervening half century. THE LUNATIC HORSE-THIEF.—Late in the Winter of 1859, there came to the East Richfield hotel a well-dressed, gentlemanly-appearing man, about thirty years of age, giving his name as Myron B. Taylor. His luggage consisted of a grip-sack filled with personal clothing, and a small box containing an assortment of fine stationery, notions, etc., which he modestly offered for sale to the people of the village and the guests at the hotel. He was very reticent as to where he belonged, and though conversing coherently and intelligently, in what he did say, his talk and manner created the impression that he was a little "off " in his mind. A week or so after the arrival of the stranger, a horse, which had been hitched under the shed attached to Weld & Farnam's store, one evening, was found to be missing, and on following the track some sixteen or eighteen miles in a westerly direction, the horse was overtaken, with the stranger mounted upon its back. The pursuing party immediately took him into custody and returned to Richfield, where, believing that the quasi-peddler was a horse-thief in disguise, and as a number of horses had been previously stolen in the neighborhood, an excitement ensued that in a less RICHFIELD'S CRIMINAL RECORD - 953 orderly community would have resulted seriously, if not fatally, to the offender. Making no defense, or explanation, he was committed to jail, duly indicted and arraigned for trial at the March term of the Court of Common Pleas for 1860. To the question of Judge Carpenter : "Are you guilty or not guilty ?" the prisoner simply said : "I took the horse," and, declining to have counsel assigned to him, or to enter into any explanation of his conduct or antecedents, he was accordingly sentenced to the penitentiary for three years. On arriving at the prison (the writer was then Sheriff ), after examining the papers and looking at the prisoner, the warden shook his head, with the remark : "There's something wrong about this business, for that man is not a criminal." Some two months after his incarceration, an intelligent young lady, accompanied by a bright little boy about two years of age, arrived in Richfield, bearing with her papers and affidavits from, prominent citizens and high officials in the State of Vermont, not only testifying to the good character of the supposed thief, but that he was subject to periodical attacks of mental aberration, in which he had several times wandered away from home and friends and engaged in some business to which he was wholly unaccustomed at home ; on one occasion, in the State of New York, taking a school and teaching until his lunacy was detected and his friends and place of residence discovered. These proofs, added to the appearance of the man himself, were so satisfactory to the people of Richfield that the committing magistrate accompanied the sorrowing wife and her child to Akron, and laid the matter before the authorities here. Judge Carpenter and Prosecuting Attorney Henry McKinney, both addressed letters to Governor Dennison, expressing conviction of the lunacy of the prisoner, armed with which, and the papers brought from Vermont, the writer visited Columbus and submitted them to the governor. Governor Dennison immediately put on his hat and accompanied the writer to the penitentiary, and after a brief interview with the warden and the prisoner, he said : "Sheriff, you go home, and send this man's wife to Columbus, and I will waive the usual forms of advertising and petitioning for pardon, and deliver him into her custody." This was accordingly done on July 30, 1860, and being now in his right mind, and feeling very sensitive about returning to Vermont, after having been in prison for horse-stealing, they went west, settling in a small town in Iowa, where as the grateful wife, in a feeling and pathetic letter, afterwards informed the writer they were living contented and happy, though they had had the misfortune to lose, by death, the bright little boy by whom she was accompanied when here. THE HUNTER-GARGETT TRAGEDY.—The most exciting episode in the history of Richfield, and one of the most terrible tragedies ever enacted in Summit county, was the double murder of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gargett, by the rejected lover of their daughthr Chloe —John H. Hunter—in 1871, a full account of which, with the gushing correspondence between the lovers, and their pledges of eternal fidelity before having personally met each other, together with the particulars of the tragedy, the trial and execution, will be given in the next chapter. 954 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. RICHFIELD'S PRESENT BUSINESS STATUS.—The advent of railroads, and the consequent change of business centers and methods, gradually worked a change in the business status of Richfield—the glory of her mercantile and manufacturing operations having, in a large measure, departed, though still superior to most of the township centers of the county. Besides her large stock, fruit and dairy interests, by means of her local and portable sawmills Richfield has, during the past few years, furnished a large amount of hardwood lumber for the Akron and Cleveland markets, though somewhat handicapped by lack of adequate transportation facilities, a disability which she fondly hopes will be removed by the construction of a railroad southward from Cleveland, through her borders, at an early day. At the East Center, the old well-remembered general store on the northwest corner of the public square, occupied by the firm of Weld & Farnam, (William C. Weld and Everett Farnam), and on the dissolution of that firm, about 1875, by Mr. Weld alone, until his death, in 1879, followed by Mr. I. M. Mather, and later by Loomis Brothers, was burned in 1886, and has never been rebuilt, Mr. George B. Clarke, now treasurer of the Jones Wholesale Grocery Company, of Akron, having operated as salesman for Messrs. Weld & Farnam, and Mr. Weld, individually, some fifteen years previous to going into business for himself at the West Center, in 1880, where he remained eight years. The ancient hotel, the "Center House," in a good state of preservation and repair, is still doing duty as a hostelrie, with Mr. Fayette Viall as its popular proprietor and landlord. On the southeast corner of public square and the Peninsula road, Mr. Frank R. Brower, besides officiating as 'postmaster, keeps a fair-sized stock of general merchandise. At the West Center, the old, well-known hotel, on the northeast corner of the square, having been destroyed by fire some two or three years ago, the old Liberty Hall block, on the south side of the street, was removed thither, by Sykes Brothers (DeLancey and William B. Sykes), handsomely refitted and filled with a well-selected stock of general merchandise, dry goods, boots and shoes, groceries, provisions, etc., W. B. Sykes also officiating as postmaster of West Richfield. WEST RICHFIELD HOTEL.—This is a new and well-appointed hotel on the site of the store formerly occupied by Ex-Recorder Henry C. Searles, near the northwest corner of the public square, owned by Mr. Baxter H. Wood, of Medina, but kept by Richfield's veteran landlord, Lewis P. Elias. RICHFIELD FLOURING AND SAW MILLS, near West Center, John Ault, proprietor, still in successful operation. HARNESS-MAKERS, and dealer in all kinds of horse furnishing goods—Peter L. Allen (established over a third of a century), and Seth Dustin. CABINET MAKING AND UNDERTAKING, T. E. Ellsworth ;—R. C. Ellsworth, manager. CHEESE FACTORY—ill building formerly occupied by Henry W. Howe, Esq., in the manufacture of spokes, axe-helves, etc.—Andrew R. Cassidy, of Peninsula, proprietor, Ed B. Reed, manager. ZEBULON R. TOWNSEND, manufacturer of wagon hubs, oak stave baskets, cider, apple-butter, jelly, etc. PAINTER, PAPERHANGER, DECORATOR, etc., Charles P. Townsend; BLACKSMTHS—Sheldon E. Phelps (and dealer in stoves, tinware, etc.); Henry Killifer, Michael Heitz; Rathburn & Greenleese (C. F. Rathburn and Henry Greenleese); Julius, C. PRESENT TOWNSHIP OFFICERS - 955 Chapman. WAGON-MAKER—Percy Dustin. JOHN HOLFELDER, manufacturer and dealer in boots and shoes. Miss A. M. CLARK, fashionable milliner, and dealer in millinery, fancy and stamped goods. ASA P. CARR, carriage, house and general painter. GEORGE L. DUSTIN, carriage trimmer and dealer in carts, carriages, wagons, etc. SAMUEL FAUBLE, stonemason and general contractor and jobber. Arthur C. Hart, veterinary surgeon. C. N. Damon, barber, and dealer in confectionery, cigars, etc. J. M. Thorp, surgeon dentist; the venerable Dr. Ewing having pretty much given up practice, Dr. Graham now bearing the medical honors of the township. RICHFIELD'S PRESENT OFFICIAL STATUS (1891). TRUSTEES—William R. Townsend, Levi Halliwell, Ransom C. Ellsworth; clerk, Harvey M. Welton; treasurer, Cyrus P. Brooks; assessor, Fayette Viall; justices of the peace, William N. Weld and George Townsend; constables, Fayette Viall and Asa P. Carr. The oldest living native of Richfield is its long-time very efficient township clerk, Harvey M. Welton, Esq. CHAPTER XLVI. THE HUNTER-GARGETT TRAGEDY-LOVE-MAKING BY PROXY AND LETTER- MARRIAGE ENGAGEMENT-FIRST MEETING OF THE BETROTHED-PLEDGE OF ETERNAL FIDELITY-INTERFERENCE OF FRIENDS-ENGAGEMENT BROKEN OFF-ANGER OF REJECTED SUITOR-VISIT TO FAMILY HOMESTEAD OF HIS SWEETHEART-MURDER OF THE FATHER AND MOTHER-ATTEMPT ON LIFE OF BROTHER-NARROW ESCAPE OF YOUNG LADY-ARREST OF MURDERER- TERRIBLE EXCITEMENT AMONG THE PEOPLE-THE " CRAZY DODGE "-TRIAL, CONVICTION AND SENTENCE-DESPERATE ATTEMPT AT SUICIDE-EXECUTION IN SUMMIT COUNTY JAIL-CRAVEN COWARDICE OF THE DOOMED MAN -INSTANTANEOUS AND EASY DEATH-RIVALRY OF CLEVELAND AND AKRON DOCTORS FOR THE BODY-SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF FAMILY, ETC. BIOGRAPHICAL. ROBERT GARGETT was born in Yorkshire, England, in the year 1800, coming to America at the age of eighteen years, and two years later, April 18, 1820, was married to Miss Elizabeth Perkins, at Champlain, Clinton county, N. Y., his bride being almut five years his junior. After several years' residence in Champlain, and in Canada, Mr. and Mrs. Gargett removed to Ohio, in 1634, settling on a farm a short distance southwest of the Center of Richfield, in this county. Here, by indomitable industry, and the strictest frugality, they surrounded themselves and their family with all the comforts and conveniences of a prosperous farmer's home, and at the date of their tragic death, in May, 1871, as hereinafter detailed, were in the enjoyment of both substantial wealth, and the very highest regard of all who knew them. Of their eight children, James Gargett, Mrs. Mary Stiles and Mrs. Orpha Gee, at that time were residing at, or near, Elm Hall, in the State of Michigan, while the youngest son, Rodney, then twenty-two years of age, and just married, was living in a separate house upon the home farm ; the youngest daughter, only, Chloe E., aged 24, remaining with her parents in the old homestead. JOHN HENRY HUNTER was born in the city of Manchester, England, July 1, 1839, and came to America when fifteen years of age. Here he seems to have led rather a roving life, living for longer or shorter periods of time at Quebec, Toronto, London, Berry, Coiling-wood, Guelph, and St. Marys, in Canada, and at Detroit, Pontiac, the Christian Islands, Elm Hall and Carson City, in the state of Michigan, and at Hudson, Peninsula, Berea and Grafton, in the state of Ohio, and following the varied callings of clerk in store, book-keeper, postoffice clerk, carpenter, lumberman, teacher of writing and photography, hotel clerk, printer, laborer, oil well digger, painter, etc. THE ROMANCE OF LOVE.--During the Summer of 1870, Hunter formed the acquaintance of Mrs. Mary Stiles, at Elm Hall, Michigan, where he was then working, and while at her house was shown the picture of her sister, Chloe, then living at the home of her GUSHING LOVE CORRESPONDENCE - 957 parents in Richfield. The picture pleased him, and expressing a wish to become acquainted with the original, at his request Mrs. Stiles gave him a letter of introduction to her sister. On the strength of this letter Hunter wrote to Miss Gargett, soliciting correspondence, which was granted, the correspondence continuing from March until October, 1870; a marriage engagement, having in the meantime been entered into, before having personally seen each other, and the most endearing expressions of undying affection having been indulged in on both sides, in their respective letters. A portion of this correspendence, only, is now accessible to the writer, from which, as showing the tenor thereof, the following brief extracts are here given : THE CORRESPONDENCE.—In his introductory letter to Miss Gargett, dated March 30, 1870, Hunter writes : "MY DEAR MISS :—Through the influence of your sister, Mrs. E. F. Stiles, by my request, you have granted me the privilege of writing you a letter of introduction, which was, indeed very friendly, accepted from a stranger. I am a young man, twenty-five years of age ; 5 feet 11 inches in height ; light brown hair; blue eyes, and weigh 150 pounds ; occupation, a carpenter, but can take hold of anything to make a living * * * I am a very healthy, robust man in general. I am not addicted to drinking or keeping bad company, for I detest all such. * * * I am not a two-faced man, nor two-sided, neither do I want to keep company with such, for its not my character. * Your sister Mary is one of the best friends I have ever met in this country. She has acted as a mother to me in a time of need, which I will never forget. Your sister Orpha, also, has been the same. * * * If you were just such a woman as Mary I really would venture my life to gain your affection. * * * You will not, I hope, keep me in suspense, waiting for an answer to this letter. I remain yours, with respect. JOHN H. HUNTER." Miss Gargett's reply to this letter is not at hand, but the next from Hunter to her, dated April 8th, shows the promptness with which she responded to his request for correspondence and the general tenor of her initial letter : “MISS ELIZABETH :—I have received your welcome letter, and must say that there is an air of straight-forward sincerity about it that I like. * * * I did not request you to send me, or tell me, of your looks—for deeds and actions are much preferable, although good-looking ladies in general are very attractive, indeed. * * * I am always J. H. Hunter, every day alike ; can do business with any man ; have not a great deal to say in general, only when necessary, and too bashful to keep company with the ladies in public. * * * There is not a man or woman can say anything against my character, therefore I can keep respectable company. Now, Miss Gargett, I do not wish to correspond with you for mere pastime, for I have come to that time of day to leave such foolishness aside. I do not know whether you want to get a companion for your future prospect or not. But I know it is the case with me. And there is one more thing I have to say ; if you want a man with plenty of property, you won't fancy me. I want some person to save for me, and •then I can have a home. * * * I really would like to see you. I am sure we would have a good long talk., * * * I never was married, nor promised to be married, for it is only of late that I took the notion, as I was afraid of getting on the bachelor's list. * * * Yours, unchangeable, J. H. HUNTER." To this letter, under date of April 13, 1870, Miss Gargett responded as follows : " MR. J. H. HUNTER :—How happy I was to-night to receive your eve•-welcome letter—it came very unexpected, for I was not looking for one until Saturday, although I was thinking of you and wishing it was Saturday. How I wish you were here by my side, for I think you know we would have 958 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. a good visit. * * * You remarked that you did not know whether I wanted a companion or not. If I could feel sure that he loved me, and one in whom I could have confidence to go for advice and reason, I should be most happy to win the hand and heart of such a man ; and believe me, John, you have a Chloe who you can trust. * * * Think of me that thinks of thee. Yours truly, C. E. GARGETT." Hunter's letter dated April 25, was mainly in reference to his intended visit to Chloe, saying, in conclusion, that if they could never get married they would always be friends, etc. A letter from Miss Gargett, dated May 28th, commencing. "My Dearest. Good Friend," expressed great affection for him and said that she had never found one in whom she could place such perfect confidence ; that her love for him increased at every letter received. from him ; that she loved him ; that he had her whole heart, etc., that she would stand by him in prosperity and in adversity; expressed the hope that they should soon be united ; was sure that they would agree, and closed by hoping that he would "accept these few lines from one who trusted only in him." On June 8th Miss Gargett wrote to Hunter that she had been thinking of him and wished to see him forty times a day ; that she would never be happy without him, and longed for the time when she could call him hers, and closed with "I remain yours in love and sweet affection." It will be impossible to give anything like the full text of even such of the letters which passed between this romantic couple as are at the command of the writer, but as it appears that the gossip, and interference of relatives and friends in their love affairs had a direct tendency to bring about the estrangement that led to the tragedy to be here recorded, it is deemed advisable to give liberal extracts from two or three of those gushing missives, June 11, 1870, Miss Gargett wrote as follows : "DEAREST LOVED FRIEND:—I have just finished reading your dearest and loving letter, which found me in good health and as happy as one could be, when away from the one that is dearer to me than any one else in world. My Dearest John, I do not think you can be any more anxious to see me than I am to see you ; it seems sometimes, when I get to thinking about you, and of your coming to see me, as though I could not wait another minute ; but I know that I must use some judgment about it, and that you will come as soon as convenient. John, perhaps it is all for the best that we have not as yet seen each other, for I think our love is increasing very much for one another every day ; at any rate I know my love for you increases daily, yes, hourly. * * * My Dearest John, your affectionate letter tonight caused me to shed tears of both joy and sorrow. I wept for joy to think I had at last found one who I believed loved me for myself alone. * * * You may wonder why I shed tears of sorrow over your dear letter. It was on account of what Orpha said. Oh, dear John, how could she be so fuel? But it will make no difference with me whether she thinks I could do better or not. Perhaps I could marry a richer man, but if I did not love him what comfort would my husband or his money be to me? Not any; and I do not care what Orpha or any one else says, in regard to your wealth, for I Allow I shall never find a better man than you are. Those may marry for property that wish to. * * * John, I am crying when I think of Orpha's remarks. I think she did not do right, for, Dear John, you are just as deserving of a loving companion as though you was rich, and you shall have one, too, if my life is spared, if you will accept of my humble self ; and John, if you think best, perhaps you had better wait till Fall before you come down to see me. I have been thinking I would like to have you attend the Richfield Fair, this Fall ; it will come off sometime the last part of September. * * * I do not think you will ever bless the day that you and Mary became .acquainted any more than I shall. The sun of heaven shines bright and FIRST MEETING OF THE LOVERS - 959 glorious, and I feel as though the Creator of the Universe had made this beautiful world specially to confer bliss upon us poor mortals. * * * I will now close by wishing you good night and pleasant dreams. Yours in love, CHLOE E. GARGETT." ETERNAL FIDELITY.—In another long letter, dated August 14, 1870, Miss Gargett commences : "My Ever Beloved and Intended Husband," and besides repeating many of the endearing expressions, already quoted, made use of many others equally loving and loyal to her plighted troth. Speaking of a married friend who was supposed to be "rather afraid of her man," she said : "If such is the case I feel sorry for her, indeed I do. I do not know what I would do if I had such a man; but I should be pretty apt to tell him that I wasn't born in the woods to be scart by owls ; but I never would quarrel with him. I have always said, ever since I was knee high to a toad, that if I couldn't live in peace and harmony with a husband I would not live at all. But, my own dear John, I know I shall never know how to sympathize with those who have the misfortune to unite their destiny with such a man, from experience, for I know that my heart and hand are pledged to a pure and loving soul, and to a whole-hearted man. * * * Our friends who visit us in our sweet home, will find a paradise here below, and realize a sight of Heaven, that beautiful place, the far away home of the soul ; for " Love and Union " is our motto, and " United we stand, and divided we fall." * * * But, dear Intended Husband, you will always be sure of your Pet Chloe, (as you call her), whether you are rich or poor, for I never will forsake you as long as my life is spared. * * * If you had gone off and we had not known each other. I know I should have died an old maid, for you are certainly my mate, and the only one in this wide world. Oh, I never thought I should be so well suited ; but I am suited to a T. * * * I think we did not waste much time in forming acquaintance, but it's just as you say yourself. It is not much trouble to do anything, when we know how it's done ; but it isn't every one that knows how. But sister Mary is right ; we will just make a match span every time ; what one can't think of the other will. * * * I am thinking there will be some tall talking and laughing done when you come down. * * * I could not sleep until I had answered your loving letter, which set my heart a throbbing with love for you * * * It is nearly 12 o'clock, and so I will bid you a sweet good night, my heart's bright star of love. How happy I am to feel sure in my heart, as I say good night, that nothing but death can ever part you and me. There is no earthly power can do it. * * * It would make no difference with me what Orpha or any one else could write, and I guess Orpha has nothing to say against yon, dear John, for Mary says she likes you ; but if she does not, it will make no difference, for I hive you and always will ; no matter what any one tells me, I am yours, and never can be anybody else's, and a happy and contented couple we will make too, in spite of anybody in the world. * * * From your loving and intended wife, C. E. GARGETT. A sweet good night kiss from your Pet." MEETING OF THE LOVERS.—A letter from Miss Gargett, dated August 27, abounding in similar asseverations of affection and fidelity, declared that she would stick to him "like grim death," and a letter from Hunter, dated Septetnber 25, after referring to his intention to soon visit her, said: " I am rather green, but, as the girl said, 'it is better to be green than withered.'" Further on he said: "I wish you were locked in my arms and the key was lost," and closed with " Your own true and intended husband, JOHN H. HUNTER." About the 20th of October; Hunter visited Miss Gargett, at the home of her parents, where he was well, received by the family, hospitably entertained, and created such a favorable impression that, after a sojourn of some three or four days, he left as the acknowledged suitor for Miss G's hand. 960 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. "THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE NEVER DID RUN SMOOTH."—Returning to Elm Hall, correspondence between the lovers was resumed in much the same strain as before, but about a month later a marked coolness began to pervade Miss G's letters which caused Hunter, under date of December 6, to write as follows: " Miss C. E. GARGETT : DEAR CHLOE—As I must still call you, it is with no small amount of bitter grief or sadness that causes me to sit down to answer your letter of November 27, which I received this evening. * * * By the way you wrote this last letter to me so cold, I thought I would answer it at this time. But no coldness has as yet reached the heart of the boy who loved you as his own soul. I am so full of grief to-night, I am almost down sick. Oh, Chloe, I have loved you dearly. But in the light that your love appears to be in your last letter, causes me sadly to lament the day I first wrote to you. Oh, Chloe, don't deceive me. Come out in true colors and say, as you said before, 'I am your true or intended wife.' If you don't, for God's sake tell me. Let us part and have no more correspondence, for I might as well know my future prospects first as last. * * * Mary has been telling me of Orpha deceiving me and her also, and trying to pick faults and bad meaning out of some things I should have said to her when I came back from Ohio. She found fault because I mentioned your teeth to her; also of your having a sore ear or head, and that I spoke of your not putting on as much style as her or Mary. But if she takes that to herself, I think she would say nothing to you about it, as your style suits me very well. * * * Also Mr. Gee told Orpha he would not for $25 you would marry me. * * * Your brother, James, was to Orpha's just before she went down, and Isaac told him a lingo about us, and he said he would write to you and put a stop to it. * * If you are to marry to suit them all, you will break the heart of a true and confidential lover. * * * According to Orpha's say to Mary, she was going down to try to break your promise. * * * But if you will only prove true to me, Chloe, I will make you a happy wife during life. *   * * What an awful feeling it is for either one of us to break that solemn promise for the false persuasions of others, and make ourselves forever unhappy in this world. * * * I am just one of the best boys on the top of the earth, but only a few know it, and that's just as I want it to be, for if you and me get married we won't have to look to relations for a living, I hope, for I calculate to do that part myself. * * * If I am too fast in my opinion of this letter, I beg of you to forgive me, for as you said yourself, I fairly love the ground you tread on ; and why shouldn't I ? * * * I will now address myself to you as usual, your loving and intended husband, which you cut off in your last to me, also your first ; but I cannot do it. You said' Yours in love, etc. That is played out. Well, I must dry up, as my paper is near full also. * * * From your intended husband, A big kiss for you as usual."   J. H. HUNTER. THE FINAL DISMISSAL.-In reply to the foregoing letter, under date of December 11, Miss Gargett wrote: "DEAREST JOHN : Yours of December 6, reached me safely last evening, which found me quite well. John, you accused me of sending you a cold letter. From all accounts I think I had good reason for doing so. I know it is not a very pleasant situation to be in, but it is nothing when a person gets used to it. John, why did you not tell me, when you were here, that you thought I had tried to fool you on my age and false teeth? I never tried to fool you on either. If I had I should have accomplished my desire; and as for my taste and style, I think I shall always do in the future as in the past, have one of my own. You say you had no fault to find with the material, but the fitting and making did not suit; that I hadn't near as good taste as Mrs. Stiles or Mrs. Gee. So that is your mind on the subject, is it ? Well, I can soon tell what my opinion is. I think the best thing you can do is to marry some one of my tasty sisters, for I do not wish a man for my husband that is more taken up with my relatives than with me. * * * I think if there has been any fooling on either side, you are the one that has done it, for I have never written one thing to you and told another story to some one else. What else was it but trying to deceive me when you wrote that you could not find a single fault with me, and at the same time telling others that I had not near as good taste as my sisters. * * * Besides, John, THREATENS DIRE VENGEANCE - 961 you do not give a very straight history of your life. I, of course, thought it to be my duty to find out all I could in regard to your past life and I find that you tell different stories in regard to your parents, etc. * * * I tell you, John, things look dark to me. I feel as though you had done your best to deceive me. * * * I understand that you say you thought I had never been around much. I am glad you think so; but if I have not, I am sharp enough for the most of you fellows, every time. * * * I had some doubts in my mind when you were down here, caused by the run of your conversation, which set me to thinking, and I asked some questions and of course they told me what they knew of you; and I find that you have tried to deceive me the very worst kind, and for that reason I could not write you as formerly. I can assure you, dear John, it is no pleasure for me to write you this letter, for I had placed great confidence in you, and expected to havee you to walk beside through life. But I am very thankful that I got my eyes open before we were married, for, John, we are much better off to part as we are now, than to get married and lead an unhappy life. * * * I, of course, have no doubt you feel bad, but no more so than I do, for it is not very pleasant, after making the promises to each other that we have, to have any trouble arise like this * * * I presume it will be many a long day before you or me will forget the past. I know I shall carry it writ-ten on my heart to the grave * * * Oh, John, this is a very sad hour to me. I can never have any more confidence in the men, if I find you have deceived me, as I fear you have. I am thinking of coming up when Orpha comes home. If I do we can talk this matter over, but if should not come if you think this worthy of an answer I shall be glad to hear from you. But, John, wherever you are, you may know I often think of you. This from your sad CHLOE." MISS GARGETT VISITS MICHIGAN.—As intimated in the last quoted letter, Miss Gargett's sister, Orpha, was then on a visit to her parents, in Richfield, and on her return to Michigan, soon afterwards, Miss Gargett accompanied her, remaining through the Winter; spending a portion of the time with her sisters, Mrs. Gee and Mrs. Stiles at Elm Hall, and a portion with her brother, James Gargett, at Alma, some ten or eleven miles from Elm Hall. While at her brother's, in the latter part of December, Hunter called to see her. He inquired of her why she had treated him so? To which she replied that he had deceived her; that he had lied to her, and was not the man he had represented himself to be. He then turned upon her brother and accused him of having broken off the match because of his poverty, and left in considerable of a rage. Sometime afterwards he called again, and asked to see Chloe. Mr. Gargett went and called her, but she sent word to Hunter that she did not wish to see him. Whereupon he became very angry, pulled off his coat and swore that he would see her if she was in the house. Mr. Gargett stepped in front of him and told him he could not run that house while he was there. Hunter replied with an oath, that if Gargett interfered he must take the consequences, whereupon Gargett said: "You infernal scoundrel get out of the door," and as he did not move fast enough to suit him, Gargett kicked him out. HUNTER THREATENS REVENGE.—Hunter always seems to have been of a very vain and boastful turn of mind, and from the very commencement of his correspondence with Chloe, and especially after that correspondence had developed into a marriage engagement, he made a confidant of almost every one with whom he-conversed, showing and reading her letters to them, and boasting of the handsome dower she would bring him, which he variously stated at from $10,000 to $16,000; and after his his final rejection he was continually talking about the matter to whoever would listen. 61 962 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. to him, and threatening vengeance against James Gargett, and the other members of the family, who had come between him and "his girl." These threats, of course, reached the ears of Miss Gargett and her friends, but were regarded as idle talk, born of his insatiate vanity and boastful proclivities, or uttered while under the influence of intoxicating liquors, to the use of which he was more or less addicted. But the sequel showed that his talk was not as idle as had been imagined. DELIBERATELY PLANNING FOR .REVENGE.—About the middle of May, 1871, Miss Gargett returned to her home, in Richfield, on learning which, Hunter, in his usual braggart manner, swore that be would follow her to Ohio, demand a fulfilment of her promise, and compel her to marry him, or he would "clean out" the entire Gargett family, accompanying these threats with a great show of anger, and the most profane and obscene expressions that his naturally low instincts could devise. These wild anathemas, too, were regarded as idle talk, by those. in whose presence they were uttered, the general belief beideg that he was too cowardly to attempt to put his threats into execution. But in this opinion, also, his acquaintances seem to have been mistaken, as evidenced by his subsequent conduct. STARTS ON HIS FATAL MISSION. —About the 20th day of May, 1871, Hunter borrowed of Mr. J. G. Lacey, of Carson City, Mich., a seven-shooter revolver, having previously informed Mr. Lacey that he was going to Ohio to get married. On Thursday, May 25, Hunter, armed with this revolver, and carrying two small satchels, one of which contained the letters which had been written to him by Miss Gargett, left Elm Hall for Ohio, going by stage to Pewamo, and from thence, by rail, to Detroit, where he took a steamer for Cleveland, arriving at the latter place on Saturday morning, May 27. Here he took passage with Moses McFarlin, then carrying the mail between Cleveland and Copley, leaving Cleveland about eight o'clock A. M. On the way to Richfield, Hunter talked freely to Mr. McFarlin about his love affairs; exhibited his letters; showed a picture of Chloe; said he was going down to marry her; that there had never been any trouble between him and the girl, but that her friends in Michigan had interfered, etc. On the suggestion from McFarlin that perhaps the old folks wouldn't let him see Chloe, Hunter clapped his hand to his side pocket, took out his revolver, saying that it contained seven loads, and that he would see the girl or "clean out the whole shebang;" that he was "just John Bull enough to do it." THE BLOODY DOUBLE TRAGEDY.—On his arrival at the West Center of Richfield, Hunter met Rodney Gargett at the postoffice. They shook hands and cordially greeted each other, Hunter telling Rodney that he was going to their house; hadn't much to do and had set some hands to work on a job of painting, telling them he shouldn't be back for a couple of weeks; asked if Chloe was at home; said he supposed that Rodney had learned that he and Chloe had had some difficulty, and that he had come down to talk the matter over, and thought they would all feel better over it. Hunter went to the hotel and changed his clothes, then accompanied Rodney to a saw mill and helped unload the log he bad hauled in; accompanied him to another mill and assisted in. THE DOUBLE MURDER - 963 loading up with lumber; then went to hotel together where they, drank two or three glasses of beer each, which Hunter paid for, and, at a little after six o'clock in the evening, started for the Gargett homestead, distant about one mile and a quarter. The conversation on the way was of a quiet, pleasant, and friendly character, with no intimation from Hunter of the deep passion rankling in his breast. The Gargett farm was situated upon the south side of an east and west road, the house fronting to the north. A short distance east of the house was a broad lane, between the dooryard and the barn, into which a small gate opened, about opposite the kitchen door. As Rodney and Hunter drove down the road, Mr. Gargett and a neighbor, Mr. S. M. Waldo, were standing near the east side of the lane, the hired man, Richard Abrams, being in the barnyard, milking, while Mrs. Gargett and Chloe were in the house; the latter up stairs dressing for a party. As Rodney and Hunter drove into the lane, and passed where Mr. Gargett and Mr. Waldo were standing, -Mr. Gargett, having a pail in his hand, hastily stepped towards the gate, leading to the house. Rodney Gargett dismounted from the load of lumber upon the left, or east, side, while Hunter dismounted upon the west side. Hastily approaching Mr. Gargett, as he was passing through the gate, Hunter said, "Good evening Mr. Gargett," to which the old gentleman made no reply, but passed on towards the' house. Following him up Hunter said "Where's Chloe? I want to see her," to which Mr. Gargett replied, "No matter where she is; she don't want to see you," and ordered him to leave the premises, whereupon Hunter drew his revolver and shot Mr. Gargett in the head, about two inches above the eye, Mr. Gargett instantly falling to the ground, insensible. At this time Mrs. Gargett was standing in the kitchen door, in full view of what was going on, and upon hearing the report of the pistol, and seeing her husband fall, uttered a loud scream, and rushing to the chamber door called to Chloe to run for her life. On the fall of Mr. Gargett, Hunter rushed into the house, and encountering Mrs. Gargett, in the hall, near the foot of the chamber stairs, without a word, raised his weapon and fired at her, the ball entering her head near the left temple, killing her instantly. By this time Rodney rushed into the house and grappled with the assassin, who in the desperate struggle that ensued fired at him, the shot passing through his ear, causing him to fall out of the door, and for a moment rendering him unconscious. On recovering himself, Rodney mounted one of the horses which had in the meantime been unhitched from the wagon by the hired man, and rode post-haste to the West Center for help. ESCAPE OF CHLOE —PLUCKY MRS. POOLE.—Chloe being, as before stated, up-stairs on hearing and recognizing Hunter's voice, and the report of the revolver, looked out of the window and saw her father lying upon the ground. At once comprehending the dreadful work that was being done below, she ran down the stairs just as her mother opened the door, and called upon her to flee for her life. Thereupon she rushed up-stairs again, and at the very moment her mother was shot to death, at the hands of her infuriated lover, she jumped from the front chamber window to the ground, and ran across the street to the house of Mrs. Caroline Poole, who, hearing the firing, was running over to see what the 964 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. matter was. With the exclamation "Oh, don't 'tell him where I am!" Chloe continued on to Mrs. Poole's, while Mrs. Poole herself continued on to the scene of blood and carnage. Seeing Mr. Gargett in the yard, apparently dead, Mrs. Poole passed into the house to look after Mrs. Gargett. On entering she encountered Hunter, near the kitchen door, reloading his revolver, and said to him: "Oh, dear sir, what have you been doing? hand me that pistol." Hunter replied, " Don't come near me !" and leveled his pistol at her, and continuing said: "I want the girl; I want Chloe, and the girl I'll have. I won't hurt her, but I will have her." Mrs. Poole then crowded past Hunter and went in to find Mrs. Gargett, whom she found lying dead upon the floor of the sitting room. Presently Hunter came storming in, saying: "I will have the girl, she's in this house and I am determined to have her !" He then opened the stair door and rushed up into the chamber. Mrs. Poole thereupon ran rapidly to her own house, and telling Chloe to secrete herself in the cellar, started back, meeting Hunter, who, not finding Chloe in the upper rooms of the Gargett house, had followed her across the street. Here Hunter again said: "I want Chloe, and must have her; I must kiss her before I die." Mrs. Poole then went up to him and laid her hand upon his arm, saying: " My dear sir, consider what you are doing." He pointed his pistol at her, saying: "Don't touch me!" She said: "I won't touch you, but consider what you are doing." He replied: "I have considered; I am rational and conscious of all that I am doing;" and continuing, said: " Read those letters; (handing her the satchel) I've been cruelly deceived; read and judge for yourself whether I am justified in what I have done; I mean to die and die by my own hand," repeating the latter declaration a number of times. Mrs. Poole's little children here called to their mother to come into the house, for he would shoot her. She said, " No, sir; you won't shoot me, will you?" to which he replied, " No, madam; you are innocent; shake hands," and immediately put his pistol in his pocket, adding: " I have been engaged to Chloe twice; once before I saw her and once afterwards, and this is what she has done for me." Still expressing his wish and determination to see Chloe, Mrs. Poole, to divert his attention from her premises, suggested that she might be in some of the outbuildings, and started with him out of the gate towards the Gargett place, Hunter in the meantime saying " He (Mr. Gargett) ordered me from the place and struck me with the pail, and I shot him, and I'm glad of it. I know that I must die for this, and I mean to shoot myself." He then had the pistol in his right hand, and taking off his cap, said: " Yes, I am going to shoot myself." Mrs. Poole said, " Pray, don't shoot yourself while I am here," and turned her face away, when he replied, "Oh, no, I can't shoot myself ; I must have one more kiss before I die." THE ASSASSIN ARRESTED.—While this parley was being held between Mrs. Poole and the assassin, the alarmed neighbors began to arrive, and he was very soon afterwards secured, Mr. J. E. Buck, watching his opportunity, seizing him around the waist and arms from behind, while Mr. Elbridge Bigelow grappled him by the throat and took the revolver from him. He was then bound with INDICTMENT, TRIAL, ETC. - 965 a rope. There was, of course, very great excitement, as the news of the double murder spread from house to house, and in an incredibly short space' of time the premises swarmed with a large and terribly excited multitude of people. There was considerable talk about inflicting summary vengeance upon the double—almost triple—murderer, divining which Hunter said they might hang him or shoot him, but he begged of them not to hurt or abuse him. The better counsels of the order-loving people of the neighborhood, however, prevailed, and he was soon afterwards taken to the West Center of Richfield, by Mr. Martin C. Bentley, who immediately filed an affidavit before Justice J. A. Chandler, charging him with the murder of Mrs. Gargett. After a brief examination of witnesses, Justice Chandler held him to answer to the Court of Common Pleas then in session, and delivered him into the hands4pf Constable William F. Huddleston, who, accompanied by Mr. Emmon S. Oviatt, now of Akron, as special constable, and by Mr. Martin A. Marquitt, of Hinckley, as teamster, took him to Akron the same night and committed him to jail. CORONER'S INQUEST, INDICTMENT, ETC.-On Sunday, May 28, 1871, Justice J. A. Chandler, in the absence of Coroner O. E. Gross, summoned a jury to inquire into the cause of Mrs. Gargett's death, composed of the following named gentlemen: R. C. Ellsworth, Norris Humphrey, J. B. Lambert, S. E. Shepard, H. E. Newton, and C. N. Jagger; the verdict of the jury, after hearing the testimony, being, that the deceased came to her death by a shot from a revolver fired by the hand of John H. Hunter. The regular grand jury for May term of the Court of Common Pleas being still in session when the prisoner was committed to jail, on the second day of June, returned two true 'bills against Hunter, for murder in the first degree, in the shooting of Mrs. Elizabeth Gargett, and for assault with intent to kill in shooting at and wounding Rodney Gargett. On Monday, June 5, the prisoner, on being arraigned, pleaded "Not Guilty" to both indictments. DEATH OF ROBERT GARGETT-SPECIAL GRAND JURY, ETC.-Mr. Gargett, though unconscious all the time, lingered just one week when he also expired. A special grand jury was immediately impaneled which, on June 8, found another true bill against the prisoner, of murder in the first degree, in the killing of Robert Gargett, to which indictment the defendant also pleaded "Not Guilty." A motion was at this time made, by defendant's counsel, for a continuance of the case, on which he was to be first tried (the murder of Mrs. Gargett) until the next term, which was overruled, and July 17 was fixed for the trial to commence. THE TRIAL-IMPANELING JURY, ETC.—Promptly on the day fixed the case was called, Judge S. W. McClure on the bench, Jacob A. Kohler, Esq., prosecuting attorney, assisted by Hon. Sidney Edgerton, Hon. Henry McKinney and George M. Wright, Esq., appearing on behalf of the State, and General A. C. Voris, H. C. Sanford, Esq., Hon. E. P. Green and R. J. Winters, Esq., on behalf of the defendant. The trial continued two weeks, and during the whole time the court room was thronged daily by a great crowd of persons, a large proportion of whom were ladies, eager to catch every word spoken in reference to the case. 966 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. A venire of thirty-six jurors had been summoned, and the usual examination as to qualifications had been entered into, but the entire venire was exhausted without securing a single satis- factory juror. A special venire was issued embracing 150 additional names, which was also exhausted before securing a full panel, whereupon a second special venire of 150 names was ordered and finally a third. After the examination and rejection of something over 200 persons, the panel was pronounced full, and the jury was duly sworn, as follows: Justus Rockwell, of Akron; John B. Harrison, of Cuyahoga Falls; Andrew Fenn, of Tallmadge; Garry T. Preston, of Tallmadge; Marcus Brundige, of Akron; Melchiah Sherbondy, of Portage; Samuel Keller, of Tallmadge; Alexander M. Russell, of Franklin; Joseph Babb, of Portage; Orlen A. Chapman, of Portage; Edward A. Barber, of Portage; and William Prior, Jr., of Northampton. Three days and a half had thus been consumed in the selection of the jury, so that the trial proper did not commence until the afternoon of Thursday, July 20. A statement on behalf of the prosecution was made to the jury, by Prosecuting Attorney Kohler, in which a brief history of the case was given from the commencement of the correspondence between the defendant and Chloe Gargett, until his commitment to jail on the charge on which he was about to be tried. General Voris, on behalf of the prisoner, said that he did not want to make any statement on the part of his client, until the evidence for the State had been closed, but simply wished to caution the jury against forming any conclusions in the case until the evidence on both sides was all in, saying: "We do not ask pity for the accused; we simply ask that strict justice be done him in every particular." The followings named witnesses were sworn and examined in behalf of the State: J. G. Lacey, of Carson City, Mich., from whom Hunter had borrowed the revolver; Moses McFarlin, with whom he rode from Cleveland to Richfield; Robert Rodney Gargett, son of the deceased, with whom he rode from Richfield to the farm and who witnessed the killing and was himself wounded; Seth H. Waldo, who also witnessed the shooting; Mrs. Caroline Poole, to whose house Chloe Gargett fled to escape the vengeance of her discarded lover; Elbridge Bigelow, J. E. Buck, W. F. Huddleston, E. S. Oviatt and E. S. Bentley, who made the arrest and conveyed the prisoner to Richfield Center, and thence to the jail in Akron; Dr. Wesley Pope, of Richfield, who made a superficial examination of both Mr. and Mrs. Gargett, after the shooting; Dr. B. S. Chase, of Akron, who made the post-mortem examination of Mrs. Gargett's body; and Captain D. McIntosh, of Elm Hall, Mich., who had heard Hunter threaten the whole family if they did not give up the girl to him. All of these eleven witnesses were searchingly cross-examined, by defendant's counsel, nearly two full days being consumed in their examination. INSANITY THE DEFENSE.—On the coming in of court, on Saturday morning, July 22, the sixth day of the trial, Prosecutor Kohler, on behalf of the State, announced that the prosecution rested, whereupon General Voris proceeded to state to the jury the line of defense which would be presented on behalf of the accused, saying: We expect to prove that the accused, John H. Hunter, at the time he committed the deed for which he is being INSANITY THE DEFENSE - 967 tried, and for several months prior to that time, was insane, and to such a degree that he had not the power of self-control, or the ability to form a sane judgment as to his actions." General Voris then proceeded to detail, at length, the grounds upon which his theory was based; the impairment of his mind by a blow received upon his head a year or two before; the unnatural and insane actions of the accused, in connection with his love affairs, and his troubles, and his real or imaginary wrongs emanating therefrom. Though the time between the commission of the crime and the day set for the trial had been short, the indefatigable counsel for the defense had worked up a very large array of evidently honest testimony in support of the theory advanced. Affidavits were read from Mrs. Fidelia A. Betts, of Pewamo, Mich., with whom Hunter had boarded several weeks two or three years before, upon whom he had often called when in Pewamo, and to whom he had told his troubles about "his girl;" Jonathan E. Moser, hotel-keeper at Pewamo, with whom he had also boarded, and with whom he took supper on the eve of his departure for Ohio; George W. Palmer, of Bloomer, Mich., for whom he had worked six or eight weeks, and with whom he boarded during that time; Henry M. Robinson, of Bloomer, for whom he worked and with whom he boarded for about two weeks in April, 1871, and to whom he told the story of his wrongs; Augustus C. Burnham; and Mr. and Mrs. Orlando Goldthrite, of Carson City; Franklin M. Pruden, of Bloomer; Mrs. Sarah Ann Scott, James Moorman and Fred E. Scott, of Carson City, to all of whom he had repeatedly told his tale of woe, and uttered his maledictions against those by whom his separation from "his girl" had been brought about. Oral testimony was also given in support of the insanity theory by Rev. Lathrop Cooley, then of Akron, who had visited the prisoner in jail, Lawyer D. M. Wilson, of Youngstown, and J. J. Hall, Esq., of Akron, who had conversed with him in jail; William McNeil, Ransom Cole, O. II. Fitts, and Daniel Peck, who had known him in Peninsula some five or six years before, as to his general cheerful deportment at that time. Drs. William Bowen, J. J. Smith and Charles R. Merriman testified as experts on the subject of insanity, based upon the testimony of witnesses, and the hypothetical cases stated by counsel, that they would pronounce him insane, or at least a monomaniac upon the subject of " his girl." The defense, after reading a portion of the correspondence between Hunter and Miss Gargett; a pretty full synopsis of which is given earlier in this narrative, for the double purpose of showing a marriage agreement (which the counsel for the State conceded) and of accounting for the disturbance of the defendant's mind, announced, soon after the convening of court on Tuesday afternoon, July 25, that the defense rested. TESTIMONY IN REBUTTAL.-E. W. Stuart, Esq., testified to reading to the defendant, in the jail, an affidavit for continuance which. had been prepared by his counsel, which he had signed and sworn to in regular form. James Gargett testified as to his conduct at his house, as hyretofore detailed, and in regard to a conversation had with him in the jail in which Hunter seemed to fully realize what he had done, saying that " he wouldn't have done it, if he ( James). hadn't opposed him so." Hiram Alexander, George Torrey, George Boyd, Dr. Edward Wilson, F. Oliver, William McCloud, Dr. Daniel 968 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. Brant and Isaac Gee, of Elm Hall; and H. P. Miller, of Carson City, Mich., all of whom had known Hunter during his residence in that vicinity, and were familiar with his habits and actions, testified to their belief in his sanity, while Jacob Fillius, S. B. Price and Carlisle Birge, of Hudson, who had known him there, in 1865, testified to his boastful and excitable disposition, while living there. Norman Oviatt, of Richfield, had seen nothing strange about him while helping Rodney Gargett load lumber at his mill an hour or so before the murder. N. W. Goodhue and Charles Rinehart had talked with him in jail without discovering any signs of insanity about him, while Sheriff Curtiss, who had him in charge, had never discovered anything, unusual in his conduct, when others were not present. Drs. Thomas McEbright, E. W. Howard and E. Hitchcock, of Akron, were examined, as experts, and testified, that from the testimony given and the hypotheses submitted, he was, in their opinion, of sound mind at the time he committed the deed. THE ARGUMENTS OF COUNSEL.—The testimony being all in, Gov. Edgerton opened the argument, on the part of the State, on Thursday morning, occupying about two hours, in a masterly review of the circumstances attending the homicide, and of the principles of law governing such cases; spoke of the increasing tendency to interpose the plea of insanity in cases of fearful crimes; analyzed the testimony bearing on that phase of the defense, during his remarks, paying a glowing tribute to the tact and bravery of Mrs. Poole, in shielding the stricken and fleeing, and suddenly orphaned, Chloe Gargett, from the murderous fury of her discarded lover. H. C. Sanford, Esq., opened for the defense, occupying the balance of the day (about six hours), in an exhaustive presentation of the authorities bearing upon insanity and homicidal mania, citing many of the acts and expressions of Hunter, both in regard to his love troubles and other matters, developed by the testimony, as fully establishing his lack of responsibility for the act which he had committed, and closed with a very eloquent and earnest appeal to the jury to deal justly and impartially by the accused in the rendition of their verdict, as they should answer to their consciences and their God. Gen. A. C. Voris followed his colleague on the defense, commencing his address immediately on the coming in of the Court, on Friday morning, July 26, and occupying the entire forenoon. It was one of the most masterly efforts of the General's professional life, covering the entire range of medical jurisprudence upon the subject of lunacy and mental disturbances, and their relation to acts of violence ; quoting extensively from both medical and judicial authors; reviewing and dissecting the testimony; commenting on and combating the argument of Gov. Edgerton on behalf of the State, and closing with a very impressive appeal to .the jury to save the life of the defendant, saying: " Remember that if you make a mistake against this man's life, you cannot go beyond the grave to rectify it. May God guide you to a true deliverance on this awfully momentous occasion, and we shall be content with your verdict. Gentlemen, the scales of justice are in your hands. To your deliberations are committed the most weighty interests that concern mankind. What you are now doing will sound to eternity. For the life of this man we trust you." CHARGE, VERDICT, SENTENCE, ETC - 969 Hon. J. A. Kohler followed Gen. Voris, with the closing argument for the State, occupying all of Friday afternoon. The crime of malicious and premeditated murder, as well as the various other degrees of homicide, was clearly defined; the statutes pertaining thereto quoted; and in relation to the defense of insanity which had been interposed, the charge of Judge Birchard to the jury in a similar case was cited: "Was the accused a free agent in forming the purpose to kill ? Was he, at the time the act was committed, capable of judging whether that act was right or wrong? If you say nay, he is innocent; if yea, and you find the killing to have been done purposely, with deliberate and premeditated malice, he is guilty." The entire effort of Mr. Kohler was .clear, concise, logical, eloquent and impassioned; closing his remarks to the jury with these words: "You answer to God for the manner n which you discharge your duty and leave other ministers of justice to the same great Being, for the manner in which they discharge theirs. We are not law-makers; it is our duty to enforce the law as it is, and to bring its penalties to bear against the lawbreaker. May wisdom direct you in your investigations of the case, so that justice may be vindicated, and that you may, in the spirit of your oaths, make true deliverance between the State and he accused." THE CHARGE—THE VERDICT.—On Saturday morning, July 29, the thirteenth day of the trial, Judge McClure gave his charge to the jury, occupying a little over half an hour in its delivery. The Judge, after defining the different degrees of homicide, and the law applicable thereto, and properly defining and explaining the terms, deliberation, premeditation, malice, etc., proceeded to quote, and adopt as his own, the language of Judge Boynton in his charge to the jury upon the trial of Vendruth D. Washburn, upon a similar offense, and with a similar defense, a year or so before, and in conclusion said: "Gentlemen, I have now discharged my duties, imperfectly it may be, but faithfully and impartially, I hope; I leave you to discharge yours, in full confidence that you will discharge them fearlessly and faithfully. If the defendant was insane at the time he committed the bloody deed with which he stands charged, it would be cruelty-to convict. But, if not insane, it would be equally cruel to society to turn him loose again." The jury retired to their room at about 9 o'clock, and at 11:30 returned into the court with their verdict, which was read by the clerk as follows: "We the jury, impaneled and sworn to well and truly try, and true deliverance make, between the State of Ohio and the prisoner at the bar, John A. Hunter, do find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree. Wm. PRIOR, JR., foreman." THE SENTENCE--THE PRISONER'S SPEECH.—During the rendition of the verdict, the prisoner sat with his face in his hands, and his elbows resting on his knees, listening attentively to the reading, with a seeming full comprehension of its import, but making no especial demonstration of feeling except through a slight trembling of the knees. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the prisoner was brought into court for sentence, an immense throng of people being in attendance. A motion for a new trial, submitted by defendant's counsel, was overruled by the Court, and the 970 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. condemned man was commanded to stand up to receive his sentence. On his rising to his feet, Judge McClure said: "On the second day of June, 1871, the Grand Jury of the county of Summit returned an 'indictment against you, charging you, in substance, that on the 27th day of May last, in the township of Richfield, in said county, you murdered Elizabeth Gargett. To this charge you interposed a plea of not guilty. The determination of the issues, thus joined, has been submitted to a jury of able and impartial men. Your defense has been conducted by able counsel, who have left no fair or honorable means untried which tended, in any degree, to manifest your innocence of a crime so monstrous and if established, so disastrous to your earthly hopes. That jury has returned a verdict declaring you guilty of murder in the first degree, thus this sustaining the charge described. Having thus informed you of the verdict of the jury, in accordance with the requirements of the law, in accordance with the provisions of the same law. I now ask you whether you have anything to say why judgment should not now be pronounced against you, subjecting you to the penalty prescribed for such crime?" The prisoner, in a low but firm tone of voice, and without any special manifestation of excitement, proceeded to speak as follows. "Your Honor, I think I have been dealt with unjustly. My first reason is that I had not the witnesses to prove my case, that I wanted my attorneys to get for me. There have been witnesses here on the stand by with never had any acquaintance whatever. I have been charged on the stand by Dr. Torrey, that I owed him $60 for board. I deny it. I never owed him a cent more than $30. They deny that I ever had an interview with my girl at Elm Hall, but it is not so. I !did see her twelve, yes, fourteen evening, I was to uphold her in every shape and form. They have denied me a righteous trial. They have accused me of shooting Mrs. Gargett. I say I never remember seeing her at all. So help me God ! So help me God! I lever saw her ! I never had any recollection of Mrs. Gargett. I remember seeing Mr. Gargett, the first and last. I am not a murderer. The last I remember ii jumping off the wagon. I bought the revolver for the purpose of shooting myself if I did not get my girl. I don't value my life. My girl is what I die for, and this is what I die for. They tore out my heart in Michigan. When I went to see her they kicked me out of the house. They never brought her here to the trial. They had a right to bring her here and Mrs. Stiles. In was afraid to meet her. They treated me as a child. I never harbored thing against Mrs. Gargett. I gave her time to overlook the engage but they were all satisfied with me. I told Mr. and Mrs. Gargett, last that I was a poor man ; that I had traveled a great deal and spent a deal of money. It may have been foolish ; but we are all foolish. going to settle down. I have been a true man to her. The last time I my girl was at the hotel in Elm Hall, and George Torrey, who swore my away, held the horses as I helped her into the cutter. It was then that said she would stick to me if the devil was at the back door. I am willing to die for my girl, but not for murder. It is not for the murder of Mrs. Gar that I die. I do not recollect her—I do not recollect her—I do not, I recollect her. When they say she was not at Elm Hall, they say what is true. Chloe was in Elm Hall three weeks, and we visited together. Thi the truth from the lips of a dying man. If I had money to bring my witn to Ohio, I would be an innocent man to-day. I am no murder I am destitute ; I have no relations in America. I did not know w was ahead of me. I was willing to die, but, Oh, God ! I wanted to her good bye. I was ready to lay down my life for my girl in Michigan. When I went to James Gargett's to see her, he said I couldn't see her., asked him why ? He said she didn't want to see me. I said she did want see me. When she came" down stairs—I shall never forget it to my dying day—she sat with her head down as if her heart would break with bitter grief, because she couldn't speak to me, and I knew she wanted to see Mr. Gargett told her she should not see me, and they kicked me out of house. I told her to come to Elm Hall and I'd see her. Three days a she sent me a letter saying: "Come over, John, for you are the man I love,” and I went. They said I came to shoot her. I would die first. In my right mind I would shoot no one. There never was a more sensitive man in the world than I am. I am not a murderer ! I am not a murderer ! God forbid that I should be a murderer ! I have suffered more in this love affair than INCIDENTS OF THE TRIAL - 971 twelve men in the agonies of of death—more than all the men in Ohio. I suffered more than I could hide, and I knew it. When I received the note I went over to James Gargett's to see her, knocked, went in, and was received with all the greeting of a kind and loving heart. I visited her and revisited her. They can't deny it. She was loving every time. She told her sister Mary, before she left: "Mary, you give my love to John, and tell him I will ever prove true to him." That's true The next thing I heard was that she had gone back on me, and they kicked me, and I have never seen her since. They would not bring her here to testify on the stand because it would gratify me. No, it would please me too much. My last dying words will be: "GOD BLESS THE GIRL I LOVE!" Judge McClure then resumed: "Notwithstanding your statements, Mr. Hunter, I am under the painful necessity of saying to you that, in my judgment, the verdict of the jury is hilly justified by the evidence upon which it is based. I do not see how, mthout violating the solemn oath that was administered to them, they could have returned a different verdict. It therefore becomes my duty, and it is a painful one, I assure you, and one from which I would gladly escape, were it possible for me to do so—to pronounce upon you the extreme penalty known to the law. Before, however, announcing the sentence in form, permit me to remark 'that the same power, which prescribed the penalty for the crime of which you have been convicted, has also humanely provided that at least one hundred days shall intervene between the sentence and judgment and the day appointed for the execution thereof: The design of the delay is two-fold. First, to enable your counsel, in the event they may think error has been committed by the Court, during the progress of the trial, to take the necessary steps to reverse the judgment on that account; and secondly, and perhaps mainly, to give you time to make such preparations as you may deem necessary for your approaching doom. In regard to such preparations I have no advice to give you. Divided as the world now is into different sects, I have long believed that each and every man should be left to his own untrammeled judgment in regard to matters of such immense importance. Actuated by such conviction, most sincerely entertained, I leave you entirely free to adopt such course as your own judgment shall dictate. Nothing more remains for me to say except the following: It is the judgment of this court, and the sentence of the law. that you be taken hence to the jail of this county; that you be there safely and securely kept, by the jailer thereof, until Tuesday, the 21st day of November, 1871, and that on that day, you, John H. Hunter, be taken to the place of execution prescribed by law, and that then and there, between the hours of 10 A. N., and 12 o'clock N., of said day, you be hanged by the neck until you are dead." INCIDENTS OF THE TRIAL.—It will be remembered that insanity was the sole defense of the condemned man, the killing of both _Mr. and Mrs. Gargett, and the wounding of the son, Rodney. by Hunter, being conceded. This theory, the jury, by their verdict decided to be untrue, and hence, assuming the justness of the verdict, all of his demonstrations in that line, after his incarceration in jail, and during the trial, were simply "put on" for effect, as most of those who witnessed them at the time believed them to be. For instance, while the trial was in progress he would often go off into fits of immoderate laughter, or indulge in appalling facial contortions with violent gesticulations, and at one time, while the attorney for the State was cross-examining one of the defendant's medical experts, by a hypothetical question in which occurred the clause, "supposing Chloe Gargett, while visiting Elm Hall, frankly told Hunter she would not have him." Hunter sprang to his feet, and shaking his fist at the questioner, yelled at the top of his voice, "You're a liar, sir ! You're a liar ! You're a liar !" but on being taken hold of by the sheriff and ordered to take his seat, and keep quiet he immediately obeyed him. At another time, while being conducted from the jail to the court room, he broke out into a series of most violent ravings, cursing, swearing and 972 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. using the most obscene language, refusing to take a seat when ordered by the sheriff to do so, and violently struggling with that officer and his deputies until sharply spoken to by the Court, when he immediately sat down and became quiet, except in the way of some rather emphatic gesticulations. In an interview with the writer, then editor of The Beacon, Hunter had promised to sit for his picture, with a view of having it engraved for publication in connection with a history of the trial. Seating him at the proper distance from the instrument, Mr. Battels would bring the camera to the desired focus, and just as he was ready to remove the black cloth, Hunter would break out into an "uncontrollable" fit of .laughter, which would disarrange the entire affair. This he repeated some six or eight times, until Sheriff Curtiss said to him somewhat sternly: "Come John, stop your fooling, or you won't get any dinner today," when he quieted right down, grid the negative was speedily completed. APPLICATION FOR COMMUTATION OF SENTENCE.—AS the time appointed for his execution drew nigh, Governor Hayes was appealed to by defendant's counsel, for a commutation of his sentence to imprisonment for life. To this end, Dr. Kendrick, superintendent of the Northern Ohio Hospital for the Insane, was invited to visit him in jail with the view of testing the soundness or unsoundness of his mind. To fully test the matter and satisfy himself, Dr. Kendrick first visited him alone, and afterwards, the same day, in company with Drs. William Bowen and George P. Ashmun. After a long interview, and the application of a great variety of tests usual in such examinations, though treated to numerous outbursts of mirth, wrath, fury, etc., they were unanimous in the conclusion that "though he showed signs of great weakness of intellect, no indications whatever of insanity appeared." He was thereupon informed by his counsel that there was no further hope. STILL INSISTS THAT HE IS INSANE.—On being informed by his counsel of the result of the medical examination, Hunter furnished, on Saturday, November 18, for publication in The Beacon, the following: " I am now aware that my time is short in this world, and that all hope of salvation on earth is lost. I must and will give myself to God, hoping that he will have a home prepared for me in Heaven, where trouble and sorrow is never known. I can earnestly say that I harbor no ungrateful feeling or towards any person on earth. But I now say, myself, that I am not sane and rational at all times, and I have been pronounced insane twelve years ago in Canada, as I will give an instance. Once, when the Prince of Wales visited America and the Provinces, I went up to him when he stood on the flat-car at the depot, threw off my coat to whip him; and came near dragging him off the car. I was arrested and confined for a short time. Was that sane or insane ? But the next thing I shall speak of is capital punishment. What is it? I can tell you. It is an act of barbarity, and is not in accordance with the laws of God, or humanity, and ought not to be allowed to exist in a land where the word of God prevails and Christianity reigns. And I hope and pray that I may be the last man ever to be sentenced to such a fate." UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT AT SUICIDE.—As Hunter had, from time to time, asseverated that however closely they might watch him he had the means to end his life by his own hand, from this time on his actions were closely scrutinized through the day, and a strict watch kept upon him through the night. On Monday, ATTEMPT TO COMMIT SUICIDE - 973 the day before the execution, he sent word to the writer that he wished to see him immediately after dinner. Accordingly, about half past one o'clock, I repaired to the jail, when he greeted me pleasantly, saying that though I had already granted him many favors, he had yet one more favor to ask of me. He then handed me a sealed letter, saying he had written his last letter to the public which he wished me not to open until after his death, and then publish in The Beacon, which I promised to do. Half an hour later he made the attempt to take his own life in the following manner: Sheriff Curtiss had thoroughly searched the jail and had removed from his reach everything with which he could possibly kill himself, and leaving Mrs. Curtiss at the point of observation from the sheriff's sleeping room, at the southwest corner of the jail, stepped across to the court house to attend to his official duties there. Soon after he left, Mrs. Curtiss saw Hunter distribute a lot of apples among his fellow-prisoners, and after they had commenced eating them, saw him enter his cell and close the grated door after him, a circumstance so unusual as to excite her suspicion that something was wrong, and she immediately sent for her husband. Hurrying across the street, Sheriff Curtiss at once repaired to his cell, where he found Hunter seated, in a reclining posture, upon his bed, in his shirt sleeves, with a large jet of blood spurting from a gash about half an inch in length just below the elbow, on his left arm. A physician, who happened to be at the court house, was immediately summoned. The application of a compress stanched the flow of blood, and though he struggled desperately, and attempted to tear off the bandage, he was so bound and secured as to be unable to do himself any further harm. On making a further examination of his cell, Sheriff Curtiss found a small piece of glass, that might have been produced by the breaking of a bottle or tumbler, in form something like an Indian arrow head, about three-fourths of an inch in length, extremely sharp pointed at one end and double edged, like a surgeon's lancet, and with this, as Sheriff Curtiss supposed, an incision had been made in the arm, severing a vein only, and not an artery, as he had evidently intended. HIS LAST WRITTEN STATEMENT.--On opening the letter above alluded to, it was found to read as follows: "SUMMIT COUNTY JAIL, November 20, 1871. "MR. LANE:—I now seat myself to inform you, and through you the public, that I am this day going to commit suicide. I do it with long premeditation, but I do it without malice, either against myself or any other person in this world. Then it cannot be called murder in the first degree. The sheriff sat up with me all last night to watch me; but little did he think that 1 sat up to watch him at the same time. I thought it was rather hard for him to set up with me all night, to try and keep me alive so that he could have the pleasure of killing me the next day. These laws don't suit some believers, myself among the number. Let those who make such laws experiment upon themselves. I consider they are the Devil's laws, and let him get caught in his own trap. I certainly would not allow any person who wishes to go to heaven, to throw himself body and soul into such a place as to be hanged by the neck until he is dead, for God has said: Deut. 21:23. Gal. 3:13. That is my belief. Read that before you think any more. I hope my friends—Christians— will, at as early a day as possible, abolish all such inhumanity as trying to swing a man into heaven by a rope, and then have the assurance to say that is in accordance with the laws of God. God 974 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. made man and he made the laws. But He never made a law to hang either you or me. So, therefore, you must not think but what you will do right if you act accordingly. " I am clear, in my own conscience, at this present moment, of what I am about to do, as you are in your belief, for I act in accordance with the laws of God, as you are acting in accordance with the laws of inhumanity and barbarity. You ought to turn from your wretched cruelty, no matter what people may say about it, when you know you are wrong. Well might you say that if I was the last man to commit such a crime you would give me clear ; but seeing that I am not, then the jury must be told to make an example of me. But, my Christian professor, you are only making all example of yourself, not only before your fellow-men but before your God. "I will close by saying: Let all bitterness, and wrath, and clamor and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice; and be ye kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. Peace be to the brethren, and love, with faith from God, the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with them that love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.. Now may the Lord of Peace Himself give you peace always, by all means. The Lord be with you all and save my soul. Amen. JOHN H. HUNTER." Accompanying the above, and written just before the interview with me at the jail door, was the following " last word " to myself and the public: "AKRON JAIL, November 20, 1 o'clock P. N. " MR. LANE:—Please add one more favor to the many already done me, by publishing this my dying declaration: I, John H. Hunter, now declare, in the presence of my Maker, that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, Sheriff Curtiss is ignorant of all this act of suicide that I am about to commit. So, therefore, there is no person to blame, for they have kept a close watch over me, or I should have done this long ago, as I never intended to die on the gallows. I have had the instrument to do it with for nearly four months in the jail. I doubt whether it will ever be found after I am gone, as it is a very small article, and is almost invisible a short distance off. Farewell! JOHN H. HUNTER." THE EXECUTION—DYING SPEECH, ETC.—The gallows had been erected in the corridor, in the northeast corner of the jail, and was the same upon which James Parks and several other murderers in adjoining counties had previously been hung. As in the case of Parks, on the day appointed for his execution here, a crowd began to assemble about the jail early in the day, composed indiscriminately of men, women and children, which was greatly augmented as the hour of execution drew nigh, and much excitement existed, although there were no such disorderly demonstrations as had previously been manifested when Streeter was executed at Medina, or have since occurred at Ashland and other points in Ohio where murderers have been legally done to death upon the scaffold. As the hour approached, the distress of the doomed man became very great, the most abject fear taking entire possession of him. There were only some twenty persons present, all told, including the sheriff and his assistants, attorneys, clergymen, newspaper reporters, etc., among the latter the writer of this narrative. At 20 minutes to 11 o'clock, Rev. Lathrop Cooley, of the Disciple Church, who had been -his spiritual adviser throughout, had religious services with the doomed man alone in his cell; besides fervently praying with him, exhorting him to meet his fate with fortitude and resignation. The prisoner was not inclined to talk very much, but kept up an almost continuous moaning.