USA > Iowa > Poweshiek County > The History of Poweshiek County, Iowa : containing a history of the County, its cities, towns, &c.,. > Part 52
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Jane Carroll, of Warren township, James Shiner, a blacksmith of Brook- lyn, James E. Johnson, a merchant of Brooklyn, Michael Cunning, a car- penter of Brooklyn, William Forbes, a livery stable keeper of Brooklyn, John Davidson, of Bear Creek township, Mrs. Mary Manatt and W. X. Sigafoos of Bear Creek township, each testified to having seen one or both of the boys in and near Brooklyn early in May, 1863. Amos Gould, clerk of the courts of Henry county, Illinois, N. B. Gould, a farmer living in Cambridge, Illinois, John B. Cady, formerly of Geneseo, Illinois, John Manatt, of Warren township, Poweshiek county, William B. Brison, of Henry county, Illinois, Nathan Worley, of McDonough county, Illinois, Dr. J. B. Cox, of Belle Plaine, Iowa, A. McDonald, formerly sheriff of Poweshiek county, Alexander H. Showers, of Peoria, Illinois, Richard Mus- call, of Cambridge, Illinois, Joseph Tilson, of Cambridge, Illinois, J. D. Baker, of Cambridge, Illinois, and Samuel H. McDay, of Cambridge, Illi- nois, all testified in behalf of the prosecution, after which the prosecution rested their case. Some fifteen or twenty witnesses were introduced by the defense. They were mainly from Illinois, and their testimony was intended to prove the good character of the defendant, and to show that he did not leave that State in company with Showers. The most remarkable circumstance of the trial was the testimony of Charles W. Kyle, of Henry county, Illinois, who testified to having seen Claiborne Showers in the army in October, 1864, a year and a half after the murder was committed. The following is a part of his testimony:
" The last time I saw Claiborne was in the army, at Altoona Pass, Georgia, on the 7th of October, 1864. We were sent to reinforce the Twenty-third Army Corps, at Altoona Pass. They had a fight there Friday evening, October 5, 1864. We got there and I saw him on Sunday morning, the next day after the battle. I was sitting on a log there with some more of the boys, and he came and inquired if there was a man there by the name of Charley Kyle. I said there was; could not at first call him by name; he was dressed in soldier clothes; knew his countenance. Said I, 'You are ahead of me!' Said he, 'Don't you know Claiborne Showers?' I then knew him and shook hands with him. He took my tobacco and filled
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his pipe, and sat down on the log and talked with me for about twenty minutes-talked about the folks at Cambridge. Said he, 'God! I hustled my boots out of Cambridge!' I went with him up the side of the moun- tain where the battle had been fought. Suppose we had been there fifteen minutes together, and I left him there on the battle-field. A soldier of the 112th Illinois was about to be buried with military honors, and I left him to go down and see him buried. He remarked about the dead bodies as we were going over the field. Have no doubt but that was Claiborne Showers. It was the same boy I saw at Mr. Showers' when he was keep- ing hotel, and at those parties. I came home from the army in August, 1865. I had not then any knowledge of the charges against the defendant; was not acquainted with him; believe I had seen him before hauling stone for the new jail; never had seen him but three times before I came here this time."
Nine days were consumed in taking the evidence of the witnesses, and the argument of counsel began on the tenth day. The first address to the jury was by Major H. W. Wells, on behalf of the prosecution. J. S. Buckles then addressed the jury on behalf of the defense, who was followed on the same side by H. M. Martin. The jury was then addressed by Judge Howe on behalf of the defense. His argument was a most able and ex- haustive one, and occupied about four hours.
The closing argument on behalf of the prosecution was made by the Hon. M. E. Cutts, and the effort was one of the ablest ever made by this able attorney. His address was quite lengthy and it is to be regretted that we have not room for the entire speech. We give the following extracts as a sample of the whole:
"May it please the court, and gentlemen of the jury :- If I understand myself, I know that I have no disposition or desire in the least, to under- value the importance of this case. It probably seldom occurs, in the history of the jurisprudence of this, or of any State, that a case of such importance, surrounded by such a variety of circumstances, extending as it does over territory of hundreds of miles in extent, covering years in duration, is brought for examination before a jury of the country.
"It is true your verdict may affect the life of the defendant-it may affect, simply his liberty. It does not follow that because a man is indicted for murder that he must, therefore, be hung or acquitted-by no means. It may be, gentlemen of the jury, that there is no more involved here than in an ordinary case of larceny. Now if the defendant were indicted for simply stealing a span of horses it would not be necessary for attorneys to get up here and spend hours in telling you what an extraordinary case it was. It
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is important to determine from the evidence what degree of crime has been committed. The penalty for the first degree of murder is death. The second degree is less important, and manslaughter is still less, for it simply involves the liberty and not the life of the defendant.
"I am sorry that it has been thought necessary to state here that the State is actuated by feelings of ill will, and a desire to injure the defendant. I could have desired that counsel should have argued this case upon its merits, and let this question of malice alone.
"If I know myself, I know that towards the prisoner at the bar I have not the slightest feelings of malice, I have no feelings of revenge. I care no more about this case than you do. I have no more interest in it. I am a citizen of this State, and as a member of society I have an interest in seeing that our penal laws are executed. If a murder is committed, I as an hum- ble member of the community have an interest in having the murderer punished. It is necessary that the laws be executed-our own liberties depend upon it. Not only, then, are the life and liberty of this defendant concerned, but our own lives and property are involved in this case. It is not, then, a matter of fact, as the eminent counsel have asserted here during the past day and a half, that it is simply the life of the defendant that is concerned here. If that were so, it would be of far less consideration than now. If you say that the man who commits arson cannot be punished, and the man who commits murder cannot be punished, how much are your own lives and liberties worth? This question then involves the protection of your own wives and little ones, and your own property as well. I have an interest then in seeing that the laws are executed. I hope you have, and if you have not, then you have no business in the jury box. But I know you have an interest-that we all have an interest, and I say I am sorry that they have seen fit to assert that we are actuated by a feeling of revenge. It seems to me that it would have been enough to have spoken on the merits of the case-to have argued from the facts alone.
"Counsel have suggested that we wish a verdict here simply for a victory. O my God! what a suggestion! I pity the heart that could even make such a suggestion. Shocking! what a horrible idea that anyone should ask for a verdict of the terrible crime of murder, only that they might record a victory! Such a man is only fit associate for fiends and devils. I will attribute such a desire to no one; counsel for the defense may attribute such feelings to me, or to my associate counsel, but I don't believe there is a man in Poweshiek county, or in the State of Iowa, who desires to have a mnan convicted simply that he may see him hung! No: gentlemen. I think it is not the desire of any one on the part of the prosecution to have a convic-
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tion unless the case demands it. We do not desire that you should go be- yond the evidence in the case; but we desire that you shall make up your verdict by such rules as the court shall lay down to you. It is the law, then, that shall govern this case, and no feeling of malice or prejudice shall decide it one way or the other. The court will steadily hold the reins of law, and no decision can be made contrary to law. I don't believe your judgment can be carried beyond what the facts warrant.
"Counsel have seen fit to flatter you. They have told you how good look- ing you are, and what honest countenances you possess, and that you are the best men in the county! Why they have even flattered his honor here. Now he does not require it; he has been elected Judge of this 6th judicial district, and that is enough for him. Now there are other men in Powe- shiek county as good as you are, but I know that you have judgment and intelligence enough to decide this case without my attemping to flatter you.
"I first became connected with this case at the examination last summer at Brooklyn. My sympathies were with the defendant. I thought he looked too well, too manly to be hung. But I thought we would commence the prosecution, and as the case progressed I became as thoroughly con- vinced of his guilt as that the sun shines. And I am glad that I am-not that I am glad that he did the deed-God forbid! but inasmuch as I am prosecuting the case my acts shall go with my feelings. At that time he was assisted by the same eminent counsel as to-day. Judge Howe then opened the case and made about the same statement as he did here the other day. He said the State had no case-that it had not testimony enough to create hardly a doubt against the defendant. Nevertheless, said the Judge, we have brought over a few witnesses to show that we are entirely innocent. It was a fine speech-it was well done. Judge Howe never does anything otherwise; his periods are all well rounded and he has an easy flow of words. Why, bless me! said I, we might as well gather up our duds and go home. But we thought we would stay and commence the trial. Now mark you, they introduced the same witnesses that they have here. They had Kyle, Mrs. Davis and Capt. Peyton. And mark you further, when the evidence was all in they submitted the case without argument! Judge Howe told the justice they would make no argument in the case. So I knew when the Judge made his opening speech here, that you could not take quite one hundred cents on the dollar. It was a fine way of stating the case and he could not help stating it in that way. He told you that he would explain every circumstance, that he would tell you where that team came from-he would take away every doubt. 'Aye,' said he, 'the State will not be able to raise even a doubt against the fair character of the defendant.' But yes-
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terday he entreated you on bended knees to give him the benefit of a doubt! I say then that I knew you could take off a little from what he said-that it was not worth quite one hundred cents on the dollar, because I knew he would not prove what he said he could.
" The defense have scraped together considerable testimony, and by group- ing together certain portions of the testimony for the prosecution and leav- ing the rest out, and taking all the defense, and then testifying themselves while making their argument, they have made what appears to be a fair argument for the defense. They take certain portions of the testimony and group it with certain other portions and say that don't fit. I admit it, but it is all to be taken together. Judge Howe in his four hours speech yester- day never mentioned Worley's testimony at all. Now I submit whether this is a fair way to argue a case. I desire to give the defendant the benefit of the testimony, and if I leave out any portion of the testimony on the part of the defendant I hope you will call me to an account for it. I hope to give it a careful attention, but to say that I believe it all I cannot, neither am I going to say that everybody lied. They start out here by saying that they were not going to call hard names, and then on account of the peculiar names of our witnesses they say they are murderers and ought to be hung! My God! can anybody help his name? But the defendant is all right-he
'Is as mild mannered a man, As ever cut a throat or scuttled a ship.'
" Now about that question of the wagon: Worley says defendant told him it was a Camden wagon. But he understood that the wagon with which he camped out in Iowa, was not the same wagon. The boys from Monticello testified that it was a Dubuque wagon and covered. Now, all there is about it, the defendant traded wagons. Here defendant says he was never in Iowa with a wagon. But there was no object for the defendant to lie about it to Worley, and he told him then that he got the horses in Iowa; that he started to go west, and when he got as far west as Council Bluffs he found some trouble and turned back. Defendant to-day tells you that he was never in Iowa but once, and then he came out to Marengo one day and back the next ! Gentlemen, it is not so, it cannot be so. Ifit is true, then, that old man Worley stands here covered all over with perjury-with the brand of Cain upon him! Gentlemen, do you believe old man Worley is a man of that character? You cannot believe it-I hope never to argue another case if I am so deceived as that. The man that would believe it would believe that Christ betrayed Judas rather than his Lord and Master!
" He started to make a trip out into Iowa, and he told Worley that his cousin gave him a frying-pan to cook his eggs in. Look here! gentlemen,
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what in the world would he want of a frying-pan to cook liis eggs in, if, as Mrs. Davis says, he was there all through the month of May? She says he was there all through the month of May, and was not out here at all; but the defendant said he was on a trip through Iowa and camped out. He started for the gold mines but could not get beyond Council Bluffs without a pass. Now how would Worley make that up? He could not make it up only from what the defendant told him. He knew where he had been, and he spoke the first promptings of his heart as he did it. Then if he did, Mrs. Davis is the greatest liar that ever went unhung. 'He frequently spoke of his trip into Iowa, and used the word we.' 'He always spoke about it as though there was some one with him'; he used the plural we. That is what he told Worley. To-day he says he did not camp out; that he did not have that frying-pan; that he did not make a trip into Iowa; that he did not have that team! But, gentlemen, if you believe this, you will find that old man Worley is covered all over with the slime of perjury. But if you believe him, then it is the same team and the defendant is guilty.
"Again, how long did the defendant say he had been from home? He said that lie had not been home to see his mother for four weeks. Now this kind old man Worley says --- and it is the first impulse of his heart- Why don't you go home and take care of your mother?' He said when he went away he borrowed $18 of his mother, and he wanted to make some money and pay her. Now if he went away on the 20th, the 26th of May makes five weeks from the day he left. Over four weeks he told Worley he had been from home. Can you doubt it? If you do it is a fictitious doubt, put in for the purpose of an excuse. But recollect your doubt must be a rea- sonable doubt, not a captious one. Again, this shows that he left home without money, while they claim that he left home with money enough to buy horses with. We say the facts show that he had no money and could not have bought that team.
"Cady says there was a horse-race there the 18th, a few days before de- fendant left, got up by defendant and Munson Pierce, and the wrong horse won and the defendant told his uncle Cady that he would not care a damn about it, but he had lost every dollar he had and $25 borrowed money be- sides. Right here they talk about his good character; but here it seems lie got up jockey horse-races to make money out of somebody. And now let me refer you to the testimony of James Showers. He says he saw the de- fendant have money, but it was before the horse-race, and defendant told Cady after the horse-race that he had lost every dollar he had. Would Kirk Vincent borrow $18 of his poor old mother to go away with when he had $250 in his pocket, and that, too, when his poor old mother earns his
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livelihood by honest toil? Borrow $18 of her when you had $250 in your pocket! You did'nt do it, Kirk Vincent! He did borrow the money but he had no more."
The arguments of the counsel occupied three days, making the entire time consumed in the trial twelve days.
The charge to the jury was then read by Judge Sampson. It was quite lengthy, consisting of forty-three paragraphs, to each and every paragraph of which the counsel for the defendant excepted. The jury retired to their room for consultation on Saturday evening April 27th, and after an absence of about six hours returned the following verdict:
"We, the jury, find the defendant, Kirk G. Vincent, guilty of man- slaughter. " AARON PAGE, Foreman."
On Monday, April 29th, the prisoner was brought into court to receive his sentence, which was pronounced to be eight years in the penitentiary and a fine of one hundred dollars.
Vincent served the term of imprisonment, somewhat shortened by good behavior, and is now living in Illinois.
KILLING OF THE MARSHALS.
In the draft of 1864 certain men drafted in Sugar Creek township failed to report themselves in obedience to orders, and under the law became de- serters. On Saturday, October 1st, the Provost Marshal of the 4th district of Iowa, with headquarters at Grinnell, sent out two officers with orders to arrest the deserters. These officers were, Capt. Jno. L. Bashore, of Appa- noose county, Deputy Provost Marshal, and Josiah M. Woodruff, of Knox- ville, with headquarters at Oskaloosa. These men entered Sugar Creek township before noon, and meeting with a certain Mike Gleason, made some inquiries as to the men of whom they were in search, thinking Glea- son was a loyalist. After leaving Gleason they proceeded to the house of Mr. Craver, where they stopped for dinner. After refreshments they had not proceeded far when they met three men, John and Joe Fleener and the man Gleason. The manner of the men convinced the officers that they meant mischief, and Bashore sprang out of the buggy, and with revolver in hand commenced remonstrating with the men, telling them they were not the persons of whom they were in search, and that they had no busi- ness with them. Woodruff remained in the buggy. Almost immediately the Fleeners and Gleason commenced firing. Woodruff was shot through the head and killed instantly. Bashore was shot in the back, the ball en- tering near the kidneys, from the effects of which he died in a few hours,
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but not till he had given an account of the shooting. Gleason was shot, probably by Bashore, in the thigh, and was so severely wounded he was not able to leave the spot, but had strength enough to break his gun over the head of the prostrate Marshal. The Fleeners made good their escape, leaving Gleason to his fate.
Several people living in the vicinity, hearing the shooting, came to the spot immediately and removed the dead and wounded to the house of Mr. Craver near by.
If the testimony of Gleason is to be believed, he went, after meeting the Marshals in the forenoon, to a meeting of the so-called " Rangers," in that vicinity, at which it was decided that the Marshals should "be attended to," and certain parties were appointed to take care of them. It is also stated that several wagons loaded with men passed the spot after the Mar- shals were shot, and were lying in the road, without offering assistance. Where they had been is purely a matter of conjecture.
James Matthews, of Grinnell, Provost Marshal, immediately on hearing . of the shooting, ordered two companies of militia, one from Grinnell, and one from Montezuma, to the scene of the difficulty, to assist in making arrests; and on Sunday evening Gleason, with seven other men, were sent to Oskaloosa under guard. They were subsequently sent to Davenport, but as there was no evidence against any but Gleason, all but him were re- leased.
On Monday following the bodies of the dead Marshals were taken to Oskaloosa, and the sight of them created such excitement that Gleason had to be strongly guarded to prevent lynching. The following day the corpses were removed to Centerville and Knoxville, the separate homes of these victims of mad and unprovoked assault.
An effort was made to find the Fleeners, but without success. They im- mediately left the country, and have never been publicly seen since. It is said they now live in Kansas under assumed names, and that at least one of them has more recently visited Sugar Creek in disguise.
Gleason lay in jail at Oskaloosa for a number of months waiting for his wound to heal. He was indicted by the Grand Jury of Poweshiek county, but was never tried here as the Federal Court assumed jurisdiction of the case, and Gleason was tried before that tribunal at Des Moines. He was found guilty of murder and sentenced to be hung. The sentence, however, was not carried into execution from the fact that his wife made a journey to Washington City, and, through her intercession, the sentence was com- muted to imprisonment for life. After serving a part of his sentence Gleason died.
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Thus ended this unfortunate and most deplorable affair as far as Gleason was concerned, but not so in reference to other parties concerned. Some time ago a motion was made by some of the heirs of John Fleener that, as an absence of seven years raised the legal presumption of his death, an ad- ministrator be appointed to dispose of his property; he having left behind him a quantity of land in this county. J. G. Hambleton was accordingly appointed, and there was published the usual administrator's notice, calling upon all who had claims against the estate to present them in the usual time. In the meantime S. W. Woodruff, the father of Josiah Woodruff, one of the marshals, had the court appoint John Hall, of Montezuma, ad- ministrator of the estate of Josiah Woodruff, deceased, and Mr. Hall, as administrator aforesaid, recently filed the following claim :
" The estate of John Fleener, deceased, to the estate of Josiah Woodruff, deceased, debtor: To damages for the wrongful, unlawful and malicious killing of Josiah Woodruff by John Fleener, in 1863, in the sum of ten thousand dollars." Unless the claim is paid, which is very doubtful, or compromised, the matter will come up before the courts, and the people of the county will have an opportunity to hear the whole affair again thoroughly canvassed.
THE SKUNK RIVER WAR.
On Saturday, August 1, 1863, a Democratic mass meeting was held near English River, in Keokuk county. The speaking occurred in a grove about a half mile from the town of South English. The chief speaker was George Cyphert Tally. Several hundred persons were present at the meet- ing most of whom had come in wagons, in the bottoms of which it is said there were arms secreted. Wild and idle threats were made that the party would come up in the afternoon and clean out the town, which was quite a Republican stronghold. To be prepared for emergencies, the people of South English were armed so far as there were arms for their use. In the afternoon the Tally party came up to the town in a procession, in the front wagon of which were several men, including Tally, who stood up in the rear part of the wagon. Some persons warned Tally that he had best not go through the town, but he claimed the right to go where he pleased and went. As the first wagon came into the crowd there were cries from the street of "Coward," " Copperhead," "Afraid to shoot," etc. At that in- stant a citizen accidentally discharged his pistol, and immediately the firing became general from both sides. Tally was shot through the head and fell dead in the wagon. One or two others were slightly wounded and presently the firing ceased. The remains of Tally were taken to his home in Jack-
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son township, Keokuk county, south of Skunk River, and there was an im- posing funeral the following Sunday, and messengers were sent in every direction informing Tally's friends of his death and calling upon them to avenge it. During the following night and the next day wagon loads of men came from Wapello, Mahaska and Poweshiek counties to the place ap- pointed for rendezvous on Skunk River. Owing to the fact that they en- camped in a grove near Skunk River, the forces there gathered were com- monly called the Skunk River warriors, and the affair is generally known as the Skunk River War. Quite a number went from Poweshiek county and it is on account of the representation which the county had there that gives the affair a local significance. The Skunk River army has been vari- ously estimated at numbers ranging from five hundred to four thousand, and presented a formidable front. Threats were made of marching im- mediately upon Sigourney and South English, and the people of those places were greatly frightened. Loud calls were made for troops, and Gov. Kirkwood was soon on the ground, followed by a detachment of troops and two cannon. The forces on Skunk River soon disbanded and the disturb- ance ended without further bloodshed.
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