USA > Illinois > McHenry County > History of McHenry County, Illinois : together with sketches of its cities, villages and towns : educational, religious, civil, military, and political history : portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, also a condensed History of Illinois > Part 30
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GEORGE M. SOUTHWORTH was born in Bradford, Vt., in 1848, and died in Chicago in 1880. He came to Illinois in 1857 ; in 1866 engaged in the mercantile business at Crystal Lake ; came to Woodstock in 1867 ; served as Deputy Sheriff; from 1868 to 1870 was Deputy Clerk of the Circuit Court. He was a special agent of the Postoffice Department from 1870 to 1874 and afterward served in the Fidelity Savings Bank of Chicago. He married Miss Kate Shuman, of Chicago, in 1878. He was a young man of ex- cellent character and had many warm friends.
HENRY M. WAIT, County Sheriff from 1843 to 1846, was a man whom everybody honored and respected. In every sense of the word he was an honorable and exemplary man. Mr. Wait was born in Alexander, Genesee Co., N. Y., Sept. 11, 1810. He came to Kane County, Ill., in 1836, moved to Crystal Lake in 1840 and to Woodstock in 1844. He was one of the most promi- nent citizens in the county, active in business, benevolent and public spirited, and his life was pure and blameless. He died sud- denly, falling dead in a store, Oct. 31, 1879. He was a man of good judgment and sound sense. His disposition was amiable and charitable. He was prompt to respond to the call of duty, and to give relief to the unfortunate when it was in his power to do
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so. He was quiet and unostentatious, but he exacted a potent in- fluence in the community. He was a prominent member of the Masonic order, and had many friends and no enemies among any of his acquaintances.
JOSIAH WALKUP, one of the earliest settlers of the county, was born in Greenbrier County, Va., Feb. 22, 1815, and died in Nunda, McHenry Co., Ill., Sept. 12, 1876. He passed his early life in Virginia, and there received a limited common-school education. His parents were upright and worthy people, and he was brought up with habits of industry, temperance and frugality. In 1835 he removed with his parents to McHenry County, where he re- sided until his death. In 1836 he was converted and thence- forth led a blameless Christian life. In 1840 he married Margaret St. Clair, who survived him. Mr. Walkup was naturally possessed of more than ordinary physical and mental endowments. In busi- ness he was faithful and conscientious. For twenty-one years he was railroad agent at Crystal Lake station.
PRESCOTT WHITTEMORE, a pioneer, well remembered for his fond- ness for story telling, good jokes, and genial good nature. He was born in Harvard, Mass., July 28, 1787 ; settled near the vil- lage of Huntley in 1838 ; resided there until 1861, then went with his son to Nebraska. He was respected by all. Hc died in Gage County, Neb., Jan. 13, 1871.
F. O. WHITSON, of the firm of Whitson & Sons, died Ang. 21, 1878. He was born July 24, 1841; spent his earlier years in Wood- stock; enlisted in February, 1862, in Company A, Chicago Light Artillery, under Major C. M. Willard, and served three years in the serious work of campaigning. Later he engaged in the hardware business in Woodstock with his father and brother. He was a good citizen and a successful business man. His death resulted from consumption.
B. F. WRIGHT was born in Hanover, N. H., in 1810; died in Woodstock, Ill., Jan. 25, 1879. He lived in his native town un- til he attained his majority, then went to Boston, where he married. In 1840 he settled near the present town of Palatine, Ill. In 1844 he purchased a farm near Woodstock where he resided sixteen years. He then removed to Woodstock and there passed the re- mainder of his days. His first wife died in 1863, and in the following year he married the lady who survived him. He was a cheerful, good-natured, kind-hearted Christian man, and had many warm friends.
CHAPTER XI.
CRIMES AND ACCIDENTS.
A CHAPTER DEVOTED TO THE DARK SIDE OF LIFE IN MCHENRY COUNTY. - THE FIRST MURDER TRIAL. - THE FIRST MURDER .- DARK DEEDS OF LATER TIMUS .- A WHOLE FAMILY KILLED. - SUICIDE AND MURDER. - A BOY MURDERED A MAN FOR MONEY .- REMARKABLE STORMS .- DESTRUCTION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY. -- COMMONPLACE ACCIDENTS. - RAILROAD DISASTERS. - SUICIDES .- A LONG LIST OF UNFORTUNATE OCCURRENCES.
MURDERS.
The first trial for murder was brought to this county on a change of venue. The defendants were Davis and Taylor Driscoll, who were charged with the murder of one Campbell, in Lee County, in 1843. At that time the Northern part of the State was so infested with horse-thieves, counterfeiters and other law-breakers, that the law-abiding citizens, for mutnal protection, felt called upon to or- ganize themselves into a band of " Regulators." Campbell, of Lee County, was chosen captain of the organization, and so vigorously did he follow up the desperadoes that the latter resolved upon his death. The two Driscolls were chosen by lot to perform the deed. Going to his house in the day-time, they called Campbell out and shot him down, then rode leisurely away. The murder was wit- nessed by Campbell's son, a lad about sixteen years of age.
The trial attracted wide-spread attention. Young Campbell, n giving his testimony, identified the younger Driscoll, who was an acquaintance, but little older than himself, and declared that he would have shot him at the time if his gun had not missed fire. Driscoll interrupted, saying, "Yon would have shot me, would you?" " Ycs, I would ; and will now if ever I catch you outside of the court-room," returned Campbell. The court rebuked the wit- nese and the trial proceeded The verdict, generally believed to have been unjust, acquitted the Driscolls. Afterward one of them was shot by some unknown avenger. The people of Winnebago and Boone counties captured several of the gang, among them the
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old man Driscoll, organized a court on the open prairie, and by a summary administration of lynch law, hung two and shot two within fifteen minutes.
.The first murder which took place in the county of McHenry was in the summer of 1846. Henry Breidenbucher, a young Ger- man, was charged with the murder of Miss Sarah Keiser, to whom he was engaged to be married. He, however, was desirous of breaking his promise to her and marrying a young German gir who had followed him from the Fatherland, and with whom he had been intimate before he left Germany. Therefore, to free himself from his promise to Miss Keiser he is supposed to have killed her by choking as they were returning from the harvest field. The indictment preferred against him was not sustained. The trial was carried along from term to term, for nearly three years, sometimes through failure of the jury to agree and at other times on techni- cal grounds. Finally Breidenbucher was adjudged insane and sent to the asylum. It is believed by many that he effected his escape from the asylum through deceit and is still living and doing business under an assumed name in Iowa. He is supposed to have effected his release in the following manner: A patient in the asylum died of brain trouble, and it was given out that it was Breidenbucher who had died. A post-mortem examination was held, attended by Briedenbucher's attorneys, and certification was made that Breidenbucher had died of the malady which allowed him the protection of the asylum.
Dec. 5, 1857, a young man named Truesdell was murdered at Solon. During the year Truesdell's father had rented a farm to two Irishmen. When the time came to do the threshing the two Irishmen brought two others to help them, and with Truesdell and two assistants were to do the threshing for the whole farm. After the work was done and the Irishmen were about to leave, one of them missed a pair of mittens and accused Truesdell and his com- panions of having stolen them. They denied it. As the Irishmen were about leaving with their wagon, one of them jumped out and struck young Trnesdell on the head with a hay-fork breaking his skull. The others got out and kicked him brutally. One of Truesdell's companions came to the assistance of the injured man, and was also struck, receiving a severe gash on the head. The Irishmen fled. Whisky had been freely used during the day, and probably brought about the murder.
John Linnahan, an Irishman, was killed at Huntley, April 21,
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1860, by his neighbor, Thomas O'Neill. A newspaper account of the affair was, in substance, as follows : O'Neill's cattle had strayed into Linnahan's enclosure, and during the day Linnahan drove them across his field into another, owned by a third party. At night, when O'Neill went after his cattle, he was obliged to cross Linnahan's field, and in order to get them back had to take down the fence and drive the cattle into Linnahan's enclosure. While he was taking down the rails for the purpose of driving the cattle through, Linnalian came up and struck him across the face with a whip. At this O'Neill struck his assailant across the head with a fence rail, fracturing his skull and rendering him senseless.
On the 8th of December, 1866, Martin Cooney, of Hartland, visited Woodstock on business, and in the evening started for home on foot. While walking along the railroad, about a mile and a half west of town, he suddenly received a terrible blow, given in some unknown manner, either with a club or a stone, which rendered him unconscious for some time. Recovering a little, he was able to reach a neighbor's house about a half mile distant, and the next morning was taken to his own home. About a week after the assault he died from the effects of it. The motive for the at- tack could not be guessed; he had little money, and was not robbed of that which he had.
In July, 1872, John Connor, who lived a short distance south of Woodstock, was killed by Benjamin Bedee, in a quarrel. The cause of the murder was a dispute concerning the ownership of a piece of land of which Connor was in possession. Holcombe, the father-in-law of Bedee, claimed the land, and Bedee ordered Con- nor to leave it. Words ensued, during which Mrs. Holcombe is said to have urged Bedee to kill Connor. She was tried in Wood- stock as an accessory but acquitted. Bedee was tried in De Kalb County, on a change of venue, found guilty and sentenced to the penitentiary for life.
A WHOLE FAMILY KILLED.
On Sunday, March 5, 1871, a singular tragedy came to light in McHenry. George Walker and family had moved to that place rom Wisconsin but a few months before, and rented, as a resi- dence, part of a one-story frame building, adjoining Colby's drug store. Walker was a quiet, peculiar man, somewhat given to drink, and regarded by some of his neighbors as insane. He was a watch- maker by trade, but worked here at daily labor. He attended
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strictly to his own business and had very few acquaintances. On the day in question, toward evening, the neighbors having not seen Walker during the day, some one chanced toremember hearing him say that he was going to leave this world, that there was no place for him or his family here, etc. An alarm was made, and an entrance effected into his house, where a startling sight met the gaze of the investigators. The father, his boy, about three years old, and an infant daughter all lay dead in the bed, while the life less body of Mrs. Walker hung suspended from the ceiling of the room. A cup containing poison stood on the table. A consider- able quantity of provisions was found in the house, showing that destitution had not led to the crime. The physicians who were called examined the bodies and thought that all had died on Satur- day night. The following letter, mostly written by Walker, but containing his wife's signature, was found, addressed to Dr. Howard :
"Now, Doctor, we want no serremony or extry trouble with these boddys, for our spirets are freed from them, only justis done with what we leave behind. Take charge of everything. " Yours with much love.
"We have long premeditated this. We are happy and rejoice in takeing our little ones with us from a cold and unfriendly world. We leave without fear or dred. Perhaps you may think us insain. Think what you like, and we leave it all in your hands. This is all we have to say. Yours, GEORGE WALKER.
"We want no coroner; we are minding our own business, and we are all going together. AUGUSTA WALKER.
"We hav no explenation. God is between us. We want you to buiry us all in one grave, the boy with me, and the girl with her.
"We want no mark of our resting place.
" AUGUSTA WALKER,
" GEORGE WALKER.
"To DR. HOWARD."
MURDER AND SUICIDE.
A horrible murder and suicide took place near Ringwood on Tuesday, May 13, 1873. On the morning of that day, between seven and eight o'clock, Mrs. Jane Carr called at the house of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Harrison, who lived near by, and on entering was horrified to find both her father and mother with
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their throats cut, lying dead upon the floor. Her cries of alarm soon brought her husband and another man to the spot. They dis- covered a billet of wood and a bloody razor near the body of Mr. Harrison. The table sat in the floor, the breakfast upon it being untouched. The coroner was absent but Justice J. B. Church pro- ceeded to the scene of the tragedy as soon as possible after hearing the news, for the purpose of holding an inquest.
When he reached the house he found the neighbors assembled in large numbers. He hastily impaneled a jury; the evidence brought forward seemed to clearly indicate that Harrison had murdered his wife and then committed suicide. The supposition is that he first struck and stunned his wife with the stick of wood found near, then cut her throat. No cause could be assigned for the crime. Mr. Harrison was a farmer, fifty-nine years of age, in comfortable circumstances, and hitherto respected in the neighborhood. It was stated to the coroner's jury that he had always lived happily with his wife.
A MYSTERIOUS MURDER.
A horrible mystery received the attention of the people of the county in December, 1878. On Thursday evening, Dec. 5, accord- ing to the Nunda correspondent of the Woodstock Sentinel, a fire was seen south of Nunda. No attention was paid to it, as the blaze came from a burning hay stack on the Gates farm, two and one-half miles south of Crystal Lake. The next morning A. Reed, who lived near, went to ascertain what damage had been done, and in walking around the stack discovered in the burnt hay the charred and blackened remains of a man. Wood was sent to Crystal Lake, and several citizens repaired to the spot, where a horrible sight met their gaze. The remains were burned and charred almost beyond human semblance; one leg burned off up to the knee and the other entirely gone; and one arm burned up to the elbow. Not a single feature was left by which the body could be recognized.
Over the left eye was found a bullet hole, indicating murder or suicide. A remnant of the vest, upon which the body lay, was found whole, and in it a watch chain, from which the watch had apparently been forcibly pulled; also a fragment of a bank book showing that $110 had been drawn from the bank of Elgin.
A coroner's inquest at first failed to bring the solution of the mystery to light, and there was much speculation and many differ- ent theories promulgated.
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The inquest having adjourned for that purpose, Officer Ben- thusen visited Elgin with the bank book above mentioned. On presenting it at the City Bank, it was identified as belonging to William Frost, a citizen of Elgin who had an account at the bank.
It was ascertained that on the day of the murder Frost had left Elgin for Algonquin, on the morning train, in company with John Stewart, a boy nineteen years of age, whose home was less than a mile from the burned stack. On the Tuesday following the inquest (which began on Saturday) the officer arrested young Stew- art at his father's house. He confessed his guilt, produced the watch and pocket-book of the murdered man, and showed the pis- tol with which he had fired the fatal shot. Stewart was taken before Esquire Butler, of Nunda, who ordered him committed to jail to await the action of the grand jury.
The Sentinel says editorially: "We visited the prisoner in his cell Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning. He says he went to Elgin the morning of the murder; met Frost during the day in a saloon; and that when he came to the depot to return home, he found Frost there, who came with him to Algonquin. They left the train together and walked along the track to where it crosses the wagon road, then followed that until crossing the Crystal Lake outlet, when, leaving the road, they started through the woods for his father's house, that being nearer than to follow the highway. Instead of going direct to the house, they kept to the right until nearly opposite the stack, when they turned and went to it; that they lay down near the stack; that after a short time, he rose up, shot his companion, took what he had on his person and went home; that he did not fire the stack; that Frost was smoking a cigar at the time, and he supposes the stack was set on fire by it. The revolver he says he borrowed from Frost before he left the wagon road, but he gives no reason why he committed the crime. He claims that both had been drink- ing freely, and that his victim had a bottle of whisky on his per- son when he left him after the murder; but this must be a mistake, as no such thing was found near the body.
"The prisoner is only nineteen years of age, and that he com- mitted this cold-blooded murder seems to be almost incredible- although he insists that he did. That he had an accomplice admits of little doubt in the minds of those who have conversed with him upon the subject. He assigns no motive for the crime, but the natural conclusion is that the object was money."
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Stewart was tried in Boone County in February, 1880, plead guilty, and was sentenced to the penitentiary for life.
It appears that Stewart and Frost had been acquainted for some time, having worked together as farm-hands for John Campbell, who lived three miles north of Dundee. While there 'Stewart learned Frost had money by Campbell borrowing of him. Stewart was not aware of Frost's having made a deposit in Elgin, but sup- posed he still had his money with him, he having finished his work for Campbell a short time before. Finding Frost at Elgin he induced him to return with him to husk corn. He bought a revolver on the day of his visit to Elgin, and seems to have delib- erately planned the murder. He had no accomplice. Frost was a stranger, having come to the State from Michigan only two months before. The father of young Stewart was a respectable farmer of some property, nearly all of which he spent in a vain attempt to clear his son from the foul stain of murder.
A TERRIBLE STORM.
On Monday, Aug. 4, 1862, a tornado, which was very destruc tive to life and property, passed through the Southwestern part o the county. The storm began at three o'clock P. M., with sheets of rain, heavy thunder and very sharp lightning. At the Deitz school-house in Seneca, school was in session, and about eighteen scholars and the teacher, Mary E. Goodrich, were present. The house, standing directly in the track of the storm, was taken from its foundation and carried several feet, turned half around and torn to pieces, leaving only the front end of the building standing. Strange to say, no one of the scholars was seriously injured, though all were badly frightened.
Fences, buildings, stacks and bundles of grain-everything that stood in the way of the gale-was madly seized and torn to pieces. The house of John E. Green, in Marengo, was blown down. Mr. Green's mother, wife and daughter were in it at the time. The old lady was so badly injured that she died the next day, and the wife and daughter were seriously hurt. Robert Smith's son John, aged about fifteen years, took shelter in a shock of wheat in the harvest field. He was struck in the side by a board blown from some neighboring structure and so much injured that he died within an hour. The wife of G. H. Sumner, a tailor, was found among the ruins of the barn, with her neck broken. Edwin
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Morris was so badly wounded that he died soon after. The storm destroyed fully $30,000 worth of property in the county.
A TERRIFIC CYCLONE.
Friday, May 18, 1883, the towns of Chemung and Alden, in this county, were visited by one of the most terrible storms ever witnessed in this region. Three lives were lost, several persons injured and immense damage caused to property all along the track of the storm. Its course was from southeast to northwest and every building in its way was swept out of existence. Near Chemung Village the farm buildings of Henry Baker, oc- cupied by George Conn, were utterly demolished. Seven persons were in the house at the time. They fled to the cellar for protec- tion. Patrick Corrigan, a hired man, was killed, and Mr. Conn injured by falling timber. Just across the way the buildings of Mr. Downs were also destroyed, the owner rendered unconscious, and several members of the family injured. A neighbor of Downs, Mr. R. J. Williams, lost his barn and a portion of his house. Owen McGee's buildings were destroyed and large oak- trees uprooted.
At Lawrence, the depot and other buildings were damaged. Patrick Kennedy lost all his buildings, and his hired man, John McGuirk, was killed. J. W. Rogers, across the road, lost all his buildings except the house, together with horses, sheep, fences, carriages and farming implements. There was still further dam- age in other parts of the township.
In Alden, the barns of James Vick and Mr. Campbell were destroyed, the residence of Fred Bombard damaged and his out- buildings destroyed. Concerning the remainder of the terrible work of the storm, we copy the account of the Sentinel's Alden correspondent:
" A few minutes after six o'clock the storm struck the residence of Fred Bottlemy. The family consisted of himself, his wife and four small children and one hired . man. Mr. Bottlemy says they did not even have time to descend to the cellar; he reached for two of the children to take them below, and the next he remem- bers anything about, he was lying out upon the ground. The build- ing was strewn to the four winds, the house in atoms, not one stick left upon another, even the stones composing the foundation were scattered for rods around. The scene beggars description. Parts of bedding and other clothing were found in the tops of tall
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trees a quarter of a mile away. Huge oaks were torn up by the roots and carried along for rods to be lodged against those that were standing. Scattered around the house were the family. The hired man, a German named Soule, about thirty-two years of age, was found dead in front of the house; he seems to have been killed by being thrown violently against some sharp pointed grubs that were sticking out of the ground at that spot. His skull was pierced in several places; the body was removed to the residence of Casper Bottlemy, about a mile away.
" Mr. Bottlemy was seriously injured across the lungs and bruised about the head. Their small children were unhurt. Mrs. Bottlemy was found with her back firmly planted against a tree, her left arm broken below the elbow, her right arm dis- located at the shoulder. Her case is critical. The oldest child, a girl twelve years of age, was badly bruised about the head and shoulder. She will probably recover. They were all taken to the residence of Mr. Fred Bombard where they were kindly cared for. Dr. Barringer, of Alden, was sent for as soon as possible and was first upon the scene, arriving about 6:30 P. M. Dr. Brig- ham arrived about midnight. The sufferers were properly cared for, and are as comfortable as could be expected. An inquest was held on Saturday on the body of the hired man, and a verdict ren- dered in accordance with the above facts. Mr. Bottlemy's sheds and barns were leveled to the earth, one horse being killed. The next building struck was the school-house, a substantial frame building; it was actually swept from existence, not a vestige re- maining. The storm happily occurred two hours after school closed for the day, or the consequences would have been terrible.
" A few rods east is the residence of C. L. Kingsley, a large square house with cupola. The whole roof was torn off and carried away. The barn, over sixty feet long, in which twenty-dive cattle were standing, was flattened to the earth; the fragments were strewn for a mile around. There were also three persons in the barn at the time it was struck, none of whom were seriously injured. That they escaped unhurt seems almost incredible. A cow and a horse were killed, and one double buggy and one single carriage are missing entirely. The next place visited was that of Fred Mode, a quarter of a mile further on. The barns were all destroyed; the houses were saved, although the porch was torn off. Still further east, the barn belonging to Mrs. M. A. Weter was
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