USA > Iowa > Polk County > The history of Polk County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., biographical sketches of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 66
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THE KIRKMAN AFFAIR.
During the same week that Howard was lynched a man by the name of Kirkman, living in Washington township, was waited on by a vigilance committee. This affair seems to be more a matter of mystery than the Howard affair.
The writer has made considerable effort to obtain some information bear- ing on this affair, and has even made an individual visit to the neighborhood where the trouble is said to have occurred, but all attempts to get at even the outside facts have utterly failed. The reader will, therefore, be con- tent with the following brief account of the matter, which appeared in the Register of December 17, 1874; the account is in the shape of a com- munication from Mitchellville:
" It seems a fact that various kind of delusions become epidemic, and that just now the sport of mob violence is uppermost in the minds of a certain class of citizens, viz .: the self-styled ' vigilantes.'
" Since Howard was disposed of by the mob in Des Moines, according to reports, we have barely escaped recording another occurrence of mob vio- lence in Washington township, of this county.
" The circumstances reported to us this morning are as follows:
" It seems that one Kirkman has had difficulty from time to time with his wife, insomuch that she no longer lives with him. She has been re- siding for some time with her son-in-law, Mr. Zinsmaster.
" As the report goes, Mr. Kirkman, in order to have revenge on Mr. Zinsmaster for harboring his wife, set fire to his barn on Monday night, burning it to the ground, and along with it consuming several hundred bushels of wheat and corn, five head of horses, farming implements, etc.
"Great excitement prevailed in the neighborhood yesterday and last night.
" The vigilantes came to the front; Mr. Kirkman was hunted up by a hundred and fifty or two hundred men and serious demonstrations in the way of hanging were made; but through the influence of those opposed to this summary mode of disposing of our fellow-men, the procedure was stayed.
" Mr. Kirkman has always been a law-abiding citizen, and it may be pos- sible that some one else has taken advantage of the feud between himself and Zinsmaster to commit this devilish crime and shoulder it on to Kirk- man.
" Vigilantes should go slow in this matter of stretching a man up to the first tree. As a rule it would be better to let the law have its course, even though a guilty man occasionally goes unpunished."
THE MURDER OF ELLEN BARRETT.
Mrs. Ellen Barrett was murdered in her rooms in the second story of a.
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building situated on the corner of Seventh and Walnut streets sometime during the night of the 27th of August, 1874. The discovery of the deed was not made known till about noon the following day, and the circum- stances of the homicide remained a mystery for sometime. Several persons were finally arrested and tried, and one at least has been sentenced for participation in the crime, yet the affair still remains partially wrapped in mystery. The last person arraigned was Archie Brown, for many years a porter at the Savery House. His case was tried on a change of venue at Ottumwa less than one year ago, and the accused was acquitted.
The circumstances attending the murder, so far as known at the time, were narrated in the Register as follows:
" The most horrible murder in the history of Des Moines, was committed on Thursday night in the building on the corner of Seventh and Walnut streets, the lower story of which is occupied by McFarland's dry goods store. How or when the murder was committed is still a part of unknown history, the terrible deed not having been discovered till about noon yes- terday.
" Mrs. Ellen Barrett, the victim, from all that we have been able to learn, came to Des Moines about two weeks ago. Monday, August 17th, she went to Mr. McFarland to rent the three rooms over his store, stating that she desired to engage in the business of dress-making and family sewing. Mr. McFarland at once told her that he did not like to let her have the rooms as she was a stranger, and as she could not give any city references, she might not be a proper character. At this she grew very indignant, re- plying that while a lone and friendless woman was always subject to dis- trust, a man, no matter what his character might be, was always treated as a person of decency and honor. She seemed very much hurt at Mr. Mc- Farland's hesitancy about letting her have the rooms. Seeing this, and fearing that he had wronged the lady in questioning her, he rented her the rooms and she paid a month's rent in advance.
"The same day she bought furniture of Merrill, Keeney & Co., and fitted up her rooms, to be used as a dressmaking and sewing establishment, and as a lodging place. Securing work a day or two afterward she seemed to be in excellent spirits, as Mr. McFarland saw her as she passed back and forth to the Avenue House, where she had engaged meals.
"A day or two ago Mr. McFarland thought there was too much running up and down stairs for a lady without friends, and after thinking the mat- ter over concluded to notify her to move out. Thursday afternoon, soon after dinner, he called her down stairs and informed her that she must seek other quarters at once, as she had betrayed confidence with him and he would not permit her to remain any longer. She replied that she could not get away that day, but she knew where she could get other rooms, and would move out the next day. This was the last time Mr. McFarland saw her alive. About eight o'clock that night he heard her come down the back stairs and lock the door from the inside. At nine o'clock he closed his store and went home. At that hour everything was quiet, and just before leaving he heard Mrs. Barrett walking around on the floor above.
"Yesterday morning when he came to the store he noticed that the cur- tains were still down in Mrs. Barrett's rooms, and thought it a little singu- lar, as she was in the habit of rising early. Shortly afterward a negro boy went up the stairs and knocked at her door. Eliciting no response he came
40
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down into the store and asked where she was, as she had some work he had been sent for. No one being able to inform him he went away. About eleven o'clock a woman came, with the same result. Just before going to dinner Mr. McFarland remarked to some of the attendants in the store that the woman must be sick, and that as soon as he returned, if they did not hear from her. some of them must go up and see if she needed assistance.
"When McFarland came back, nothing having been heard from her, he proceeded to the back door. On opening it he was horror stricken to find the steps covered with pools of blood.
"His fears were at once aroused; he sent a boy to notify the police, and seeing Alderman Rollins and several other city officials across the street, he called them over, and they proceeded at once to the place of horror.
"At the head of the back stairs they found the corpse on the floor, the head all covered over with blood, the eyes upturned as if the last thought and act had been a plea for mercy. The murderer had evidently been obliged to perform the horrible task of dragging her up stairs, the passage- way being so narrow and short that he could not shut the door after him as he went out without the corpse falling out, or a portion of it protruding through the open door.
"The murdered woman was of medium size, with light complexion, face slightly freckled. dark auburn hair, and light blue eyes. She had on, as left by the murderer, a dress, chemise, and gaiter shoes. Dr. McGorrisk was among the first at the scene, and gave it as his opinion that the mur- der had been committed about midnight on Thursday night. The corpse being, as he expressed it, 'stiff enough to have been murdered at eleven o'clock last night.'
"There is but one opinion as to how she was murdered. The shoes and dress clearly indicate that hearing somebody at the back door she had arisen from the bed, and quickly slipping them on, had gone down to the back door to ascertain who it was. In further support of this opinion her stock- ings and garters were found lying on the floor at the side of the bed, and the bed itself looked as if some one had just arisen from it. Arriving at the foot of the stairs and opening the door to her cold blooded murderer, the supposition is that he struck her on the forehead with a hand-ax before she had an opportunity to ascertain who he was or to raise a cry for assist- ance. No evidence of a struggle having taken place was visible, and the only marks visible in the narrow stair way were two indentures made in the firm studding by the fall of a small ax, hatchet, or some equally blunt instrument.
"The wounds are thus described by Drs. McGorrisk, Rawson, and David- son, who made the examination:
"The first incised wound of the scalp was in the right mastoid region, extending from the ear backwards and upwards, with fracture being four inches in length. The second wound two and a half inches above the first, fracturing the right parietal bone, extending some three inches from the parietal ridge to the middle of the skull. The third wonnd two inches above the second, two inches in length, cutting down to the bone without fracture. The fourth wound, one and a half inches long, extending from the left parietal, or the left side of the lead, backwards, cutting also the bone. The fifth wound, about one inch below the fourth wound, and about three inches above the left ear, two inches long, and cutting through to the bone without fracture. The sixth wound was a contused wound, as if made
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by some blunt instrument, on the left frontal bone, immediately above the left eye. Upon examination it was found that the skull was fractured in the most shocking manner. The right parietal bone and the right and apper side of the occipital bones were crushed to atoms. Also there was a contusion in front of the right ear, fracturing the rames of the lower jaw, and causing blood to pass freely from the meatus of the right ear in the re- gion of the wound. The physicians state that either of the four more prom- inent wounds would have killed her, and that her death must have been instantaneous.
"In the front room which was occupied by Mrs. Barrett as work and bed- room, was found the rifled trunk which had been dragged from the corner to the stand, on which the lamp sat, still burning at the time the examina- tion was made, which had been lighted by the murdered woman or her murderer the night before. The murderer had evidently made a hasty ex- amination of the trunk. The drawer had been taken out and set on the floor and then thoroughly overhanled. A few articles below the drawer had then been taken out, when, probably finding what he was seeking, he left the remainder of the trunk just as he had found it. An examination of the trunk by the coroner and police resulted in finding a number of let- ters, photographs, a bank book containing some twenty or more canceled checks, and a number of keepsakes and trinkets. The letters covered a period of four years, including probably the last letter written by Mrs. Bar- ret, which was dated August 28, 1874. It was probably written the night before, and dated with the view of having if bear the same date as the post- mark. The contents of these letters we are not at liberty to make public, as the evidence contained in them may be of value in ferreting out the per- petrators of the bloody deed.
"The woman lived entirely alone and employed no help. Her situation, therefore, as her fate came npon her, was one of a lone, friendless, and de- fenceless woman. Dramatic skill can add nothing to the unveiled horror of the tragedy. It is utterly black and wholly fiendish in all its features. Imagination of man or woman can supply nothing to make it more hor- rible.
"It was evident from the many letters found in the trunk, and those from her husband, that the woman was originally from Clearfield, Pennsyl- vania, and that she afterward visited Quincy, Illinois, Atchison, Kansas, and Washington and Iowa City, lowa. Among the photographs found, two or three dozen of them, was one marked 'my husband, 1873,' and another with the name of a gentleman whose address was Davenport.
"The woman was of good appearance, and probably twenty-eight or thirty years old."
THE MURDER OF MAILAND.
Mr. Mailand was a cautious, timid and eccentric bachelor who lived alone in a house located in the timber of Mud Creek in Camp township. The house was surrounded by trees and was distant a quarter of a mile from any other habitation. Those who knew him speak of him as a timid and cautious disposition, never permitting any strangers to be about his premises after dark. He would not open his doors after dark unless the person desiring admittance first made himself known and was an acquaint- ance. He was generally understood to be well supplied with money and frequently supplied his neighbors with small loans.
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Such are a few facts regarding a man who was found murdered in his house October 1, 1874. The body when found was lying upon the floor in the front room, face upward, eyes staring wildly, and the palms of the hands clutched as if in great pain. The body was clad in pants and shirt, the remaining articles of clothing being on a chair near the bed. On a. table in the room were the remains of a lunch. Three wounds appeared on the body, either of which would have been fatal; one was under the right arm, and one in each breast; they were evidently made by a pistol ball of large caliber, say a Colt's navy revolver.
The fatal shot was probably fired while Mr. Mailand was standing in the door. It is supposed, judging from his well-known cautious habits, that he had retired to bed and afterward had been called to the door by some one with whom he was acquainted, and whom he was willing to admit; that he went to the door, unlocked and opened it, and perceiving the assassin threw up his hand; the shot was fired under his arm, and as he staggered back two more shots were discharged.
The purpose of the murderer was undoubtedly plunder, although he ap- pears to have failed in his object as Mr. Mailand's pocket book containing over two hundred dollars in cash and some valuable papers was found in the straw tick from which he had arisen when he went to unfasten the door.
Mailand was last seen alive on Monday, three days before his dead body was discovered, when he finished threshing his wheat and paid off his hands. This was about 4 o'clock and at the Coroner's inquest several of the neighbors testified that about 9 o'clock of the same night they had heard pistol shots at Mailand's house. One neighbor was on the creek, about a quarter of a mile distant, conversing with some emigrants return- ing from Kansas, when he heard the report. Nothing unusual appears to have been thought of the circumstance and the house was not visited till Wednesday afternoon, when a young man went there to borrow a farming implement. He was the first to behold Mailand's dead body. The man hastened to tell the news and soon the country round about was alive with people hurrying to the scene of the tragedy. Arriving there a hurried consultation was had and a messenger was dispatched for the Coroner and Sheriff.
A valuable horse belonging to Mr. Mailand is said to have been missing and at the time was supposed to have been ridden away by the murderer. From the fact that Mailand must have been killed shortly after the murder of Ella Barrett the theory was advanced by some that both murders had been committed by the same person; that after having murdered and plundered Mrs. Barrett the assassin made his way eastward on foot and arriving at Mailand's house murdered him, and failing to get any other plunder had ridden off his horse. This theory was soon afterward exploded by the finding of Mailand's horse not far off and other facts coming to light which made this theory untenable. There was another theory to the effect that a man who committed a homicide at Newton about that time was the murderer; this theory, however, gained little credence.
THE MURDER OF AARON SMITH.
Sometime during the spring of 1864 Aaron Smith was shot while driv- ing along the road leading from Saylorville to Polk City, near what is now
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the township line between Saylor and Crocker townships. The ball was from a rifle and entered Smith's back, he having been shot by some unknown man secreted in the brush on the right side of the road. Smith lived but a short time after being shot, and before dying made an ante-mortem state- ment, to the effect that the shot had been fired by one C. C. Howard, a nephew of his, and that he had seen Howard making his escape immedi- ately after receiving the shot. A search was made for Howard, who was found some four miles distant from the place of the shooting. A prelim- inary examination was had, and Howard was bound over to await the ac- tion of the Grand Jury. An indictment was returned at the next term of court, and Howard was placed on trial July 26th, and, August 10th, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty.
The trial being very protracted and the parties well known throughout the county, it excited much interest through the country. Polk, Dorr & Bartle were the attorneys for the prosecution, while D. O. Finch conducted the defense, assisted by Stephen Sibley. The following named persons constituted the jury which tried the case: Jacob Crum, J. M. Davis, George Bogenwright, J. O. Doolittle, Jonathan Bliler, J. H. Jonson, David Mattern, B. E. H. Woodrow, Jarvis Whitmarsh, James Barrett, Charles Fox and B. F. Reynolds.
There was no positive proof against Howard, except the dying state- ment of Smith, and the evidence contained in this statement was invali- dated by the bad character of the man while living. There were, however, some circumstances which led many to suppose Howard guilty, and among others was the fact that a serious difficulty had occurred between Howard and Smith some few months prior to the shooting, a brief outline of which is as follows: C. C. Howard was a son of Robert Howard, and the latter was a brother-in-law of Aaron Smith; an unmarried daughter of Smith, who was. also Howard's niece, gave birth to a child; she made affidavit that her fath- er was the father of her child, and Smith was arrested for incest. From this Smith thought the Howards were chiefly active in bringing about the prosecution, when, in fact, they were not more than others. Smith was ar- raigned for trial in February, 1864, and, his daughter refusing to testify against him, he was acquitted. Sometime after Smith's acquittal, he and the elder Howard had a difficulty about some cattle, and as the former was on the point to strike the latter, young Howard rushed between the parties where- upon Smith stabbed him in the region of the abdomen. The wound was serious, but not fatal, and it was not long after Howard's recovery that Smith was killed.
All the parties concerned in the difficulty lived in Saylor township; the murder was committed about one mile north of Saylorville, on or near the township line between Saylor and Crocker. Howard has been a resi- dent of Des Moines for a number of years, and has borne a good reputation.
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CHAPTER X.
POLK COUNTY IN THE WAR.
THE census of 1860 showed that Polk county at that time had a total popula ion of 11,625. There were at that time in the county about 2.500 voters. The number of men who volunteered in the War ot the Rebellion from Polk county amounted to 1,500, or more than ten per cent of the entire population and more than fifty per cent of the number of voters. In giving the number of soldiers who enlisted from the county those credited in the Adjutant-General's reports alone are counted. There were- in addition to these a number of drafted men and a good many who. enlisted when absent from home, and counting these the number of men entering the service of their country from Polk county could not have been far from 2,000. Of this number two hundred and eighty lost their lives- either from wounds received in battle, or sickness contracted in camp and on the march.
At the outbreak of this war Polk county was in the full tide of activity and prosperity. Her material resources were being rapidly developed and all the various branches of business and the learned professions were keeping pace in the front ranks of progress. The people were just recov- ering from the financial crisis of 1857, and those who had toiled in the land during those times which tried men's souls had begun to see the dawn- ing of better days. Immediately surrounded by the noise of industry and. the continuous hum of business they heard little and believed less of the rumored plots and plans of those who lived to grow rich from the toil and sweat of others, and whose leading branch of trade was the traffic in souls and bodies of men. But still the war was upon them, and the thundering of cannon at the very gates of the National Capital soon broke the spell of busy peace, and they soon passed from a serious contemplation of the pos- sibility of war to the realization of its actual presence and the duties which the issues of the day made incumbent upon them as loyal citizens of the Union.
Fort Sumter was fired upon April 12, 1861, and on the 15th of the same. month the President issued the following proclamation:
"WHEREAS, The laws of the United States have been and are now op- posed in several States by combinations too powerful to be suppressed in an ordinary way, I therefore call upon the militia of the several States of the. Union, to the aggregate number of 75,000, to suppress the said combination and execute the laws. I appeal to all loyal citizens for State aid in this effort to maintain the laws, integrity, National Union, perpetuity of popu- lar government, and redress wrongs long enough endnred.
"The first service assigned forces will probably be to re-possess forts, places, and property which have been seized from the Union. The utmost care should be taken, consistent with our object, to avoid devastation, de- struction and interference with property of peaceable citizens in any part of the country, and I hereby command persons commanding the aforesaid combinations to disperse within twenty days from date.
" I hereby convene both houses of Congress for the 4th day of July next,
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to determine upon measures for the public safety as its interests may de- maud.
" ABRAHAM LINCOLN, "President of the United States. " By W. H. SEWARD, " Secretary of State."
Of this call for volunteers, only one regiment was required to fill the quota of Iowa. The proclamation of Governor Kirkwood calling for this regiment was issued at Iowa City, April 17th. The men of Iowa sprang to arms as one man, and hundreds of volunteers were offered whom the State did not need.
The first company enlisted in Polk county was company D, of the Second Iowa infantry. The commanding officers of this company were M. M. Crocker, N. W. Mills, N. L. Dykeman and Edgar Ensign and these inen were principally active in the work of recruiting and organizing the com- pany. The company was enrolled in May, 1861, and the first important engagement in which it took part was the attack on Fort Donelson, in which engagement Nathan W. Doty and Theodore G. Weeks were killed. Captain Crocker was proinoted from one rank to another until he finally became Major-General Crocker which position in the army he occupied in the summer of 1865, when he died of disease at Washington City. Lieutenant Mills was promoted from one rank to another till he became. Colonel Mills, and while in command of the regiment at the battle of Corinth received a wound from the effects of which he died October 12, 1862.
The second company raised in Polk county was company E, of the Fourth Iowa infantry. It was mustered into the United States service in August, 1861.
The first officers of the company were H. H. Griffiths, W. S. Simmons, and Isaac Whicher, who were chiefly instrumental in the enlistment of the company.
Polk county was well represented in the Tenth Iowa infantry. The first regimental officers, chaplain and surgeons were from this county, and three companies, A, B and G were recruited here.
Company B of the Fifteenth infantry, company F of the Sixteenth in- fantry, company B of the Seventeenth infantry, companies B and I of the Thirty-ninth infantry, company F of the Forty-seventh infantry, company D of the Second cavalry and one or two batteries were made up of volun- teers from Polk county.
The Twenty-third regiment of infantry was very largely made up of volunteers from Polk county, and the first regimental officers were Polk county men. It was mustered into the service September 19, 1862.
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