USA > Iowa > Jackson County > History of Jackson County, Iowa; Volume I > Part 35
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100
Joseph Hunter, Jr .: I remember seeing the body ; was on the ground the morning it was found. Witness testifies about the same as previous witnesses in regard to clothes of deceased and their position on the body, and to the
250
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY
tracks, and to where the horse was supposed to have been hitched to the bush ; horse had no shoes. According to the tracks, one man's tracks were very large and the other small. Calvin Nelson measured large track, and said the track was a size larger than his boot. Met the defendant Watkins between Sawtell's and Cotton's. The defendant said, "I understand you have found a dead man down there."
Obediah Sawtell: Remember the fact of a body being found near the Saw- tell Schoolhouse in January ; I live about eighty rods from the place ; was on the grounds in the morning ; went by the Dubuque road, then east to the body ; my house is on the Dubuque road, east side; Daniel Gleason, my wife and Miss Silsby, were at home the night of the 23d; I retired before 8 o'clock, my wife a little after 9. This smallest piece of clevis I first saw one day, going to Cottonville ; it was shown to me by Messrs. Whitley and Dean, whom I met at a junction of the road as they came from the place where the body had been found; on examining the iron I picked off two hairs ; they were on the jagged end ; they were darkish color, and I supposed them to be human hairs; string was on the iron at the time; I have one dog ; was not out of doors, but heard my dog bark furiously and run up the road; this was not far from 9 o'clock, p. m .; heard him barking all the fore part of the night; it is not com- mon for him to bark and act so cross unless disturbed.
Horace Coe: In January last I resided in Cottonville; remember of the murdered man being found on the morning of January 24th, last; I had been acquainted with the murdered man two or three months; saw him the evening before the murder ; he was coming from Lamotte; saw him the next at Purdy's saloon. When he came from Lamotte, Watkins was with him, and they were talking of going down to Nelson's; Watkins asked Cronk, "Do you think it would pay?" This was about noon ; they started off, leading the horse ; I saw Mrs. Frank Bader up at Cottonville about 3 o'clock the day the body was found ; she reported that Watkins was seen about II o'clock the night before near Cottonville, on the Bellevue road; Watkins was then at Purdy's saloon ; I went to him and asked him where he left Cronk the night before; he said, "I left him near Phillips' between 7 and 8 o'clock. The body was taken from Cottonville to Andrew by John Cheney. I remained in Cottonville until 9 p. m .; there were a great many persons in Cottonville that evening, and among them Waktins, Calvin Nelson and John Bucklin; I thought from the appearance of Watkins that he was somewhat excited ; the fact of his having been seen the night before about II o'clock having been talked over, and it varying from the time he said he left Cronk. In Cronk's overcoat pocket I found a pair of mittens, a mitten in each pocket; in his vest pocket I found a needlecase and some thread; in the inside pocket of the under coat I found a small account book in which was his name, "Samuel Cronk." The day the pants were found I was called to take charge of them; they were found, after the carcass of the horse was found, in a brush pile about three quarters of a mile west from Cottonville, on the north side of the road, in an enclosed field, about twenty feet from the fence; they were doubled up in as small a bundle as they could be, and placed in the pile of brush ; the top part of the brush had been lifted up and the pants placed on the brush so that they were about six inches from the ground. The brush pile is in Bucklin's field, about sixty or seventy rods from Bucklin's house. I gave the pants to Buchanan and Whit- ley to give to the sheriff. Watkins came to my house one evening about 8 o'clock, with a gun, said he had been out hunting, and said if I was willing he would leave his gun there : said he had been hunting rabbits ; I said two legged rabbits ; he laughed ; stayed until about 9, when he left, leaving his gun at my house. This was about three weeks before the horse was found ; I live about half way between Cottonville and Bucklin's, and about one hundred rods from where the pants were found ; I don't know how long Watkins has lived with Bucklin ; I saw him nearly every day going to Cottonville; he spent his time
.
251
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY
around at different places ; I do not know of him having any occupation. At the time he told me of his parting with Cronk the night of the murder, I think he said he went directly home to Bucklin's ; he called Bucklin's his home.
Farnsworth Cobb: I remember of the body of a murdered man being found on the 24th of January, 1867, near Cottonville ; it was the body of Samuel Cronk ; I knew him in his lifetime ; he was at one time a partner of mine in the livery business. On the 22d of January the sheriff gave me a subpoena to serve on Wilson, at Lamotte; as my horses were all out, I gave it to Cronk to serve, as he had a horse; he started off on horseback to serve the subpæna ; it was near evening; I never saw him afterward, except as a corpse; I first saw his corpse at Cottonville, at Esquire Abbey's office; I recognized him by his vest and boots; his face was all bloody; my attention was called to two balls of snow and ice taken from the heels of his boots by Mr. Coe ; I went on the ground where the body was found, but did not examine it particularly ; I saw the carcass of the horse after it was found; it was the same horse Cronk rode when he went to serve the subpoena; I went to the ground where the carcass lay and examined for tracks in that vicinity ; found some horse tracks and the tracks of two men-different sized tracks; I was acquainted with Cronk's habits ; he had a peculiar habit of wearing mittens; when he would be riding, and when he would dismount to walk, no matter how cold it was, he would pull off his mittens and put them in his pocket; I have noticed him do this when I would be riding with him and we would dismount so as to get warm.
Thomas Lias: I reside one mile west of Cottonville; I remember of the body of a murdered man being found in January last near the Sawtell School- house, and also of the finding of the carcass of a horse; I found the pants the Sunday after the horse was found; I had been searching for them three or four days; I found them in a brush pile in John Bucklin's field, fifty or sixty rods from his house ; the top of the pile was raised up and the pants pushed in under; they were closely folded and damp and mildewed when found; Hor- ace Coe and myself brought the pants down to Andrew and gave them to Mr. Buchanan.
Lemuel Wasson : I remember of the murder of Cronk on the night of the 23d of January, last, near the Sawtell Schoolhouse, east of Cottonville ; I know Samuel P. Watkins, and saw him the morning the body was found; I had gone down to where the body lay and was returning to Cottonville, riding on the sled with the corpse, when I met Watkins half way between Hunter's and Sawtell's; I asked him if he knew the corpse, and he said he did not. He re- turned to Cottonville and was in at Abbey's office, where the body lay ; Reuben Jamison was the first to recognize the corpse. When I went to the place where the body was lying in the field, I noticed some tracks, but in the con- fusion of the moment I did not examine the size of the tracks; they went from the road to the fence; when I got over the fence I noticed one large track; I should think it was a size smaller than my own, and I wear a number ten boot.
George W. Jenkins: I reside about three and one-half miles from An- drew; remember of the body of a murdered man being found near Cotton- ville, also of the finding of the carcass of a horse; I found the pocketbook on the inside of the fence in the Cotton field ; the papers were in the pocketbook when found ; when I first saw the pocketbook I did not move until I had called the crowd, supposing that I had found the pants; the pocketbook was lying open and the first thing that attracted my attention was the red lining, which I took to be the lining of the pants; I called to the crowd that I had found the pants, and when they came up I proceeded to remove the snow from around the pocketbook with a knife, as it was fast in the snow and ice; Albert Was- son, Frank Baker, Thomas McMurray, Calvin Nelson and others were present when I removed the pocketbook from the ice and snow ; I saw no tracks when I found the pocketbook, but in the corner of the field I found what I supposed to be a boot track ; it was the Sunday after the horse was found, between I :30
252
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY
and 2 o'clock. (Among the papers in the pocketbook was the subpoena given to Cronk to serve, and also a memoranda of the amount of money given to Cronk by Esquire Abbey, for Wilson B. Whitley.)
Joseph McCombs: I reside southwest of Cottonville, on the Samuel Cot- ton farm ; myself and boy found the carcass of the horse on the 6th of April last; found it west of Sawtell's field, about sixteen or eighteen rods; when I found it I was with my little boy, nine years old; I was going into the timber to split wood ; the ground in the vicinity of where the horse lay is brushy, with here and there a large tree; there was a double reined bridle, McClellan sad- dle, a halter and an army blanket on the horse, and a hat lying near a big tree north of the horse; the horse was securely tied; the horse was tied by both reins of the bridle, and also by the halter strap, to an oak sapling ; the ground near by was beaten where the horse had pawed; he had eaten all the saplings near him; the lining was all eaten out of the hat as though done by mice; I noticed horse tracks south of the horse and north of the big tree where I found the hat; I noticed two horse tracks in the frozen snow ; ten days before I saw tracks in the field, going across the field north of the horse, crossing Cotton's fence, and then heading off north; I crossed the track in the field, but paid no attention to it ; I went to Andrew and informed Sheriff Belden of what I had found ; he returned with me to where the horse lay; there was snow on the ground, and in the brush there was more than in the open field.
S. Dean : I reside three quarters of a mile southeast of Andrew ; I remember of a murdered man being found near Cottonville in January last; was not there the day the body was discovered; was there at the March term of court; remem- ber of the carcass of a horse being found on or near the Dubuque road; this was in April, I believe; I have been shown where the body was found; I went up with Mr. Whitley after the body of the horse was found; heard the horse had been found on Saturday; saw him on Sunday and Monday; went with Mr. Whitley to where the body of the murdered man was found; I went with Mr. Whitley for the purpose of searching the ground; got out of the buggy and left Mr. W. to hitch the horses; I crossed over to the opposite side of the road from where the body was said to have been found; I think there was a small piece of meadow there; hunted around for some time and then crossed over on the south side of the field to where the body was found, searched there for some time and at last found this piece of clevis with a string in it as it is now; when I came out into the road, Mr. Whitley was east of me eight or ten rods; I took the piece of clevis to Mr. W. and told him it was all I had found; Mr. Sawtell was with him at the time; Mr. Whitley asked me where I found it; do not recol- lect whether I told him or not, but I took him to the place and showed him; we got into the buggy and went to Mr. Hunter's, toward Cottonville. It was about sixteen feet from the fence to where the body was said to have been found, out in the field. We gave it to Mr. Abbey at Cottonville ; there were hairs on the clevis, and had the appearance of having blood on it; there was also some dirt on it.
Sheriff W. S. Belden: I am sheriff of Jackson county, and have been since the 2d day of January, 1866. I knew Samuel S. Cronk about two years-in- timately the last year of his life; last saw him the afternoon of January 22, 1867 ; at my request, he went to Lamotte to serve the subpoena. Upon hearing that the body of a dead man had been found, I went to Cottonville and found the body to be that of Samuel S. Cronk; examined the wounds on his hands and head; the body was taken to Cottonville on the 24th, and on the same day it was brought to Mr. Whitley's ; I observed a long wound extending nearly across the forehead, which had crushed the skull, and beneath the brow, over the left eye, protruding the eye out of the cheek; also observed that the skin was broken in several places on the upper part of the forehead by what I supposed to be a sharp instrument; also observed what appeared to be holes punctured in his head, back and above the ear; also noticed on first joint of fore finger on the
253
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY
right hand a cut that seemed to have been made with a knife; on second and third fingers of the left hand, between the second and third joints, the flesh was torn down as though done with a club or something blunt; these were all the wounds that I observed. I examined the wounds after the horse and clevis were. found, when it was disinterred, and had the piece of clevis when making the second examination ; the clevis was applied to the large wound across the fore- head, and fitted the wound with such nicety that I think no other instrument un- less similar could have made the wound. I was called to examine the place where the horse was found by Joseph McCombs, who called at my office ; James Thompson and David Ray were present at the time, and within five minutes Samuel Watkins came in; as Watkins came to the door, I told him that Cronk's horse was found; he almost immediately turned pale, seemed very much agitated, and moved toward a large desk in the office and leaned upon it; was a consid- erable time in gaining his composure, but before seemed to take no interest in what McCombs was saying about the horse; he came to the office to file an in- formation before Justice James Thompson; this was on the Saturday after the March term of court; the information and warrant were in blank. After Mc- Combs told about the finding of the horse, Watkins signed the information, do- ing it in a mechanical and absent-minded manner, but made no declarations that I heard. I went to the grounds where the horse was found; same saddle and bridle that are in court were upon him; had loaned them to Cronk when he had started to serve subpoena; the bridle presented the appearance of having been out in the weather for some time; the broken part of the bridle was under the horse, but was not broken when loaned to Cronk; the bit had partially slipped out of the horse's mouth and the saddle was turned under the belly; I observed the gnawed saplings; examined the ground for tracks and found some tracks of the horse running from the field to the place he had been found, and two tracks of men which went in the same direction as those of the horse, and in the same path, or nearly so; I noticed that one track was the size of a No. 7 boot, and the other I judged to be that of a No. 9; some of them were very plain and the outlines distinctly marked; discovered tracks from where the horse lay, one running in a northeast direction, going north of a large oak tree, northeast of the horse and about fifteen feet from him; traced this one nearly to the fence or south side of Cotton's orchard to the east and west fence and lost it two or three rods west of the western boundary of the little field, and the tracks there had not evidently been made by the same person; tracks gradually diverged from the road until a rod apart, one going north and the other south ; saw no other tracks except newer ones; those I saw were in the old snow, or that which was on the ground when the horse was taken there, and was rather sleety; it thawed some the day previous to the murder, and was moderately warm, that is for January, as also was the day of the murder; on the 25th it was quite cold and cloudy ; that night there was the most terrible storm of the winter; this snow remained on the ground in spots until the Ist of April, drifting in many places. On the day of finding the horse there was very little of this snow left on the ground, but older, icy snow was yet visible in places, especially where it had become compact ; the nature of the ground where the tracks are pointed out on the map is bushy, and a sinkhole within the semicircle marked by the tracks. I arrested defendant on the 20th of January ; the examination commenced on the 25th ; he was released on bail on the 29th of January and left Andrew, as I supposed, on the same day ; do not know where he went to, as I saw nothing more of him; defendant was in my custody from time of arrest and first examination until he was released, and was confined in the county jail when arrested. The day following the adjourn- ment of the March term of the District Court, which was the first week in April, I first visited the place where the horse was found and saw the tracks; I was in company with two men; the small tracks corresponded to that of a No. 7, fine boot : the defendant had on a No. 7 boot when I arrested him; the large track was a broad sole and a remarkably broad heel; I think that the boots that John
254
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY
B. Bucklin had on at the time of first examination in this courtroom would make tracks similar to those known as the large tracks; it was a coarse boot with a heavy broad sole and a remarkably broad heel. The defendant was last arrested on the 9th day of April, 1867; Bucklin and Nelson were also arrested ; arrested them separately and kept them separated for two or three days; it was my intention to not let them know of each other's arrest. When this iron was placed in my care, there was considerable more on the broken or jagged end than now, about one fourth of an inch, I should think. About the middle of January last I paid Cronk twenty-seven dollars for services rendered as deputy sheriff ; was present when Cronk's body was exhumed; there was quite a wound all over the skin of his face and neck, and a depression as deep as the thick part of the clevis extending across his forehead, bearing a general resemblance to this iron; this was plainly observable before applying the clevis; the depression did not extend beyond the contused wound on the back part of temple.
Dr. G. V. Ewing: I reside in Andrew and am a practicing physician and surgeon ; made no careful examination when body was first brought but was directed by the court to hold a post mortem examination about the IIth of April, when the body of Cronk was exhumed for that purpose; this was after the clevis had been found; my attention was directed to a wound upon the forehead, and upon examination found this was an extensive fracture of the frontal bone ; found this fracture on the frontal bone extended from the eye obliquely across the forehead ; found a contused wound on the side of the head having the appear- ance of having been made with a jagged weapon, and corresponded with the point of this weapon as it appeared at that time; the wound across the forehead seemed to have been made with a very heavy instrument; placed this clevis in the wound at the time and found it fit very accurately to the wound; the skin was not broken through; the character of the wound across the forehead corre- sponded with the clevis; then dissected the scalp off by making an incision from ear to ear, over the head, and by reflecting the scalp forward over the face I exposed the front two-thirds of the skull; then placed this short piece of clevis in the fractured skull and found that it fit very accurately with the exception of about half an inch along the elliptical portion of the clevis; the fracture diverged from this middle portion of the clevis ; the cause of this, I should think, was that the skull there is very brittle. It is a fact that when a hard or solid substance is applied to a brittle substance, the hard will not follow, but the brittle give way. This wound had the appearance of having a gliding motion from above down- ward, and was about four inches in length; there was a break downward and inward toward the nose; it is my opinion that the wound was produced either by this instrument or by one identical with it; I found an extensive breaking up of the skull above the back of the right ear ; it presented the appearance of hav- ing been a succession of blows; by the breaking up of bones the surface wounds were broken up; there was nothing characteristic of a sharp instrument, but of some dull instrument ; either blow on front or back portion of skull would pro- duce death ; the mortal wound could have been either the front or back one ; there was one triangular piece of the skull broken out; there were other fractures evi- dently the result of concussion ; the bridge of the nose was not fractured, but the fracture was down to the bridge ; there were no wounds of significance about the face. Mr. Belden, Mr. Whitley and Dudley Palmer were present at the exam- ination. I think this billet of wood could not produce the fracture in front. (Recalled.) Was examined last evening in regard to the wounds on Cronk : there was a difference then between myself and council in regard to the wounds ; have since refreshed my memory by reference to my notes and the evidence be- fore grand jury. The wound on forehead was an oblique one; the upper portion of the bridge of the nose was broken in; can not say as to any portion of the eye; before applying the clevis, I saw there was a depression which resembled the shape of clevis; noticed this at once.
255
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY
Godfrey Carnes: Live two miles west of Andrew; heard of the body being found ; was not on the ground the day of discovery ; I was a constable at the time ; heard of the horse being found; was not on the grounds till the Sunday after. After the horse was found, a search warrant was placed in my hands to search for pants; searched on the Sunday after the horse was found, the houses of Bucklin and Nelson, but found nothing; there was another search warrant placed in my hands a few days after this piece of clevis was said to have been found; first searched Calvin Nelson's house and then went to Bucklin's house and searched in granary, or a building used for that purpose, and found a piece of clevis ; that was what we were looking for, we found it in an old box of irons ; the box was, I think, about three feet in length-near the size of a boot box; this is the same iron I found ; compared them when I picked it up; had seen the other piece before on the same day; I stood by the box and told Samuel Dean to take the irons out, and he did so and he came to this piece; there was no other person with us, I think, until after we found this counterpart, then Bucklin came in. The granary is about five or six rods from the house. I had a conversation with Bucklin while they were trying the defendant at Andrew in the examination. I searched Mr. Nelson's house and took a pair of boots; also took Watkins' coat the same day as Bucklin's. These boots are, I think, the ones I took; delivered them to Mr. Belden; when getting the coat, I asked Mrs. Bucklin for Watkins' coat, and she gave me that one. Bucklin appeared a little surprised to think he should be arrested for the murder; I arrested him at the time; he did not seem singular otherwise; I went thence to Cottonville, where a great many were con- gregated, and among them Nelson and Watkins. I do not know where the pants were found. I discovered denims at Bucklin's resembling that on the clevis ; this I found in a rag box near the box where I found the counterpart of clevis ; the only difference in the denim was that that on the clevis was faded ; one piece found was about seven inches in length, others less; cannot tell whether the long piece found was lengthwise of cloth or not, but think it was with the warp; it was new cloth, and that upon the small piece of clevis was red. I examined the house and found one or two pieces of denim there the same kind as that found in the box; rag box was in granary when I made the first examination on Sun- day ; one narrow piece of denim may have been nine inches long, wider at one end than the other.
Wilson B. Whitley: I reside in Andrew and have for four years, and in the county seventeen years last May. I was acquainted with Samuel S. Cronk for sixteen years, and was his guardian since he was four years old; am partly acquainted with the defendants, but before the murder was acquainted with one of them. I last saw the deceased in life on the 22d day of January, 1867, about dark; on the 22d, when I last saw him, he left, as I understood, to go to La- motte ; the day after Cronk left I was in the store until 10 o'clock p. m., and on the following day, the 24th, went to Dubuque, and while there the snow fell. I was informed by a messenger of the murder, and immediately came home; de- ceased was buried after my return, in Andrew ; was present at the burial, but not at the first post mortem examination; was at the second ; was in attendance with Dr. Ewing; was present a portion of the time during the first examination before justice of the peace, and heard testimony of Bucklin; heard him tell about the. time of Watkins coming home. At the March term of the District Court, Watkins came into our store after the bill of indictment was ignored by the grand jury of that term, and I then mentioned to him that I would like to have a talk with him; asked him something about going to Nelson's, and he went on and related the whole story of going and returning; that is, by the whole story, I mean that a portion of it related to matters which I cared nothing for and may not now recollect ; defendant told me that he thought it to be between 7 and 8 o'clock when they left old Mr. Nelson's; in connection with that, he said that shortly after supper they talked some of going home and a short time after this, when they decided upon going, some one asked the question as to what time it was;
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.