USA > Indiana > Madison County > Historical Sketches and Reminiscences of Madison County, Indiana: A Detailed History of the. > Part 78
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When the time arrived for the trial of Ephraim and George Crull, a change of venue was taken from Madison county, and their cases were sent to Kokomo. When the trial began the same witnesses appeared on either side as in the Hires case at Anderson. Young Bolton told the same story that he had testified to on the former trial. After all the evi- dence had been heard and the arguments were made a verdict of not guilty was rendered as to the defendants. Thus ended, so far as the courts were concerned, this celebrated case. The real facts, surrounding this mystery will perhaps never be known to the community at large. As a general thing, well-
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informed people believe that George Hires was the guilty party who fired the fatal shot which ended Foust's life.
At one stage of the proceedings in ferreting out this case some suspicion was directed toward Chief Toler, of the Elwood police force, and strong efforts were made to bring him in as one of the suspected parties, but sufficient evidence was never obtained to connect him directly with this affair.
William Cox, one of the defendants, was tried by a jury at the June term of the Howard County Court and received a sentence of two years in the State's prison at Michigan City.
It is to be hoped that the future of Madison county may never again be clouded by the occurrence of such a tragedy.
In writing this article, we have endeavored to be impar- tial to all parties connected with it, and have simply recorded the facts as they are, without a comment from our pen. The above account as stated by us is almost wholly taken from the Anderson Democrat of February 6, 1895, which gave a very concise statement of the facts developed in this case.
No case in the annals of crime has so puzzled officers of the law, except it be the celebrated Clem murder case, at In- dianapolis, in 1868. There seems to have existed in the minds of the jury some doubt as to Hires' guilt, from the fact that they gave him so light a sentence.
The final scene in this mysterious tragedy occurred in El- wood, on the 13th of May, 1896, when Mrs. B. F. McFar- land, a daughter of William Foust, the murdered man, com- mitted suicide, after brooding over her father's death until she lost her reason.
ACCIDENT TO DR. S. W. EDWINS.
On the 13th of September, 1895, Doctor S. W. Edwins, of Elwood, while attempting to cross the tracks of the L. E. & W. Railroad, was run over by a train of cars and was very seriously injured, and up to this writing has not fully recov- ered. He was in a buggy in company with a lady friend, who was also seriously injured. The horse which he drove was killed and the buggy torn into fragments. Doctor Edwins, having recovered sufficiently to be about, brought suit against the railroad company for damage to his person and property, which suit is yet pending in the courts. The many friends of the Doctor were paired to learn of his being maimed in such a manner as to practically unfit him to attend to his large and lucrative practice which he enjoyed prior to this accident.
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, INDIANA.
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CUT HIS THROAT.
On the 9th of May, 1896, Charles Vanness attempted to take his life at Elwood by cutting his throat. He made a horrible wound, almost severing the jugular vein. It was thought that his recovery was beyond a possibility, but Dr. S. W. Edwins performed the difficult operation of sewing up the wound, being one of the first cases on record in the State where the jugular vein was sewed successfully and the victim survived.
KILLED BY THE CARS.
On Monday, January 27, 1896, a shocking casualty occurred at Elwood. James Gelispe, a young glass worker, met a sudden and horrible death.
Gelispe was at the Pan Handle depot as local freight No. 77 pulled out, and at the crossing of South B street fell between two cars in such a manner that the wheels passed over his neck and both wrists, completely severing his head and his hands from the body. A large crowd of people was soon attracted to the spot and Coroner Sells was at once telegraphed.
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It is generally supposed that Gelispe attempted to board the moving train to ride from the depot to the post-office, which is a few squares north. Owing to the slow speed at which trains must travel this practice had become quite com- mon, especially on freight trains. He was a single man, well known and liked among glass workers.
No one saw the affair, and he was not discovered until the train had passed over him.
Coroner Sells at once visited the scene of the accident and held an inquest, returning a verdict of accidental killing, hold- ing the railroad company blameless.
FOURTH OF JULY ACCIDENT.
During the celebration of the Fourth of July at Elwood in the year 1896, Charles Adair, a workman employed by the American Tin Plate Company, had his right arm blown off near the elbow by the explosion of a " cannon " fire-cracker.
He was enjoying the sports of the day with friends and was shooting one of those large toy crackers which are dis- charged with a fuse. It had been fired and set down in the street and Adair was awaiting the result when it appeared to him that the fuse had gone out, when he picked it up to exam-
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ine it, and it immediately exploded with the result as above stated.
Dr. Newcomer, the physician at the tin plate works, was summoned and amputated the wounded member,
Adair was a young man about twenty-five years of age and was well respected by the people of Elwood, and much sympathy was expressed in his behalf, and quite a gloom was cast over the festivities of the day.
MISCELLANEOUS-ELWOOD LIGHTED BY ELECTRICITY.
The striking of natural gas at Elwood brought to its bor- ders, like all other towns in the gas belt, a large influx of pop- ulation from all quarters of the country. . Money began to be made and house building progressed to such an extent that it astonished the old timers who looked upon what was being done with amazement and Elwood grew at once to be quite a city.
Such a thing as electricity for the lighting of the streets of that hamlet was a thing that had never been dreamed of until in the summer of 1891 when a movement was put on foot to have the streets illuminated. There was much contention as to the best means of doing so. Some contended for light- ing with natural gas, while others advocated the establishing of iron posts similar to the ones used in the old system of arti- ficial gas lighting, but the ideas of the progressive element pre- vailed and the use of electricity was agreed upon and on the 1st of August, 1891, the elegant electric light power house was completed and at 3 o'clock in the morning the button was pushed by the electrician and Elwood sprang forth in all her magnificence and beauty, being one of the best lighted cities in the state. The Elwood band was brought out and discoursed stirring music up and down the principal thoroughfares and a general good time was had celebrating this event. The plant is a splendid one and the city can well feel proud of it, although it has been twice wrecked, once by a gas explosion and once by that of a steam boiler explosion. It has been rebuilt and is still one of the features of the city. From time to time the plant has been increased to meet the requirements and demands of the growing population until it is at this writing second to none in the county.
ELWOOD'S PRIZE DRILL COMPANY.
For several years Elwood held the proud distinction of having the best drilled "Canton of Odd Fellows " in the
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United States. Captain Nett Nuzum was their drill master and had them disciplined in the highest style. They won many prizes in local contests in the.county. during the period of their organization, but , the crowning event of their existence occurred at St. Louis on the 22nd of September, 1891, when they entered at a meeting of all Cantons and competed for a prize of $1,000, which they captured. A dispatch from St. Louis appeared in the Democrat of September 23rd, giving the following confirmed notice : "The weather was very hot and oppressive, especially for the uniformed Cantons. The maneuvers were carried out splendidly. The draw of lots for position in the Canton drill resulted as follows : First Canton, number 3, of St. Joseph, Missouri, Captain, P. M. Aber- crombrie ; second Canton, Elwood, number 83, department of Indiana, Captain, Nett Nuzum ; third Canton, of Indianapolis, Ind., Captain, J. M. Bodien." The contest was one of the hottest fought battles in this line that ever occurred in the United States. Captain Nuzum, after a severe contest, came out the winner.
Upon receiving the news of the Canton's success, the people of Elwood were wild with joy, and upon their arrival home a grand reception was given in their honor. Captain Nuzum is one of the finest looking officers in full uniform that one can see' in many a day's travel. . He is still a resident of Elwood and highly respected by the community.
THE ELWOOD CEMETERY, ASSOCIATION.
Elwood has one of the handsomest cemeteries in Madison county. It is : situated on a beautiful knoll just west of the main part of the city, and is easy of, access by brick-paved streets, of which Elwood has many. This association was incorporated in April, 1895. by Daniel King, Dr. Daniel Sig- ler, Thomas DeHority, L. M. Good and Lewis Hefner, who are the present officers of the association.
The place was long a burying ground before its incor- poration, perhaps as far back as . 1854, but was simply a vil- lage burying ground, with no one responsible for its care, and was kept up by those who had friends buried there. The rapid building up of the city made it necessary to have an in- corporated cemetery, with a system of management, and the enterprising gentlemen whose names appear above came to the front and filled the want of the community in this regard.
Among the prominent people lying at rest in this beauti-
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ful cemetery is the late Dr. James M. DeHority, who is placed in a family vault, erected in 1882. Mrs. Flora May Howe, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. S. W. Edwins, whose sad death is yet fresh in the minds of her many friends, is also sleeping in the handsome vault erected by Dr. Edwins, an illustration of which is given on this page.
This is the finest receptacle for the dead in Madison county, and is a credit not only to its builder but to the city in which it is located. It cost the goodly sum of $4,000, and is built of finely dressed Bedford stone, presenting a beau- tiful exterior, and is handsomely arranged inside the walls with marble cases, urns, and stone vases for flowers.
Dr. Edwins has spared neither pains nor money to make this not only a credit to himself and a monument to the mem-
THE EDWINS VAULT.
ory of his beloved daughter, but to make it one of the substan- tial evidences of the taste and refinement of the community in which he lives; one that the people of Elwood can well feel proud of and point to as a remembrance of the Doctor long after he has passed beyond, and has been placed beside his loving daughter, who has gone before him to that land from whence no traveler returns.
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BURNING OF THE EXCELSIOR FACTORY AT ELWOOD.
Leeson & March, during the year 1888, owned and oper- ated an excelsior factory at Elwood. It caught fire on the 20th of December of that year and was utterly destroyed. The fire had been put out under the boiler in order to enable some men to do work there. The machinery was running, although the gas was turned off from the boilers where they were mak- ing some changes. It was thought that the changes could be made in a very few minutes, and instead of cutting off the gas at the street, the pipe leading into the engine-room was simply closed. A section of the pipe was taken off, and the gas rushed into the engine-room in a great volume, and as the brick and iron were still redhot, the gas ignited, and, as a result, the building was soon a mass of flames. In the build- ing there was an unusual quantity of shavings and sawdust, and in a very short peroid the whole structure was in a blaze. Adam Miller and Michael Glaspy were at work in the engine- room, and were very severely burned. Miller was so severely injured that it was thought for a while that he would lose his life, as he inhaled the flames while endeavoring to effect an escape. He lay for several days in a critical condition. The factory had just been rebuilt and enlarged, and was doing a splendid business. The loss was $4,000, without any insur- ance.
FRANKTON AND VICINITY - ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS - BOILER EXPLOSION.
On or about the 9th day of August, 1877, the people of Frankton and vicinity were startled about 9 o'clock in the morning by a terrific sound and by the shaking of the window panes in the houses and the trembling of the earth as if an earthquake had taken place. The people ran from their places of business and from their houses to ascertain the cause of this commotion but were unable from any indications in the village to account for it. A messenger soon made his appearance and brought news that an engine connected with the thresh- ing machine owned by James Ruth, which was threshing wheat on the farm of Samuel Beck, a few miles distant, had exploded its boiler. The engine was torn to atoms and was sent in all directions through the air like bullets shot from a gun. One of the men named Frank Melson, the engineer, was terribly lacerated and wounded in several places, having the
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left thumb torn off and receiving several wounds about the head.
The news spread throughout the country in a short while and people from all directions were at the scene of the disaster. It was a wonder to all who witnessed the wreck how it was possible that such a mishap could take place in the presence of so many people who were connected with the machine, and who had assisted in the threshing, without some one being killed. No cause could be assigned for the explosion other than that the engineer neglected to keep a suffi- cient amount of water in the boiler. One of the pieces of the boiler was thrown a quarter of a mile, and a wagon standing near by was literally blown to pieces. The threshing machine was standing still at the time of the explosion and was not materially injured. Dr. S. W. Edwins, of Frankton, and 'Dr. John E. Canaday, now a resident of Anderson, and ex- Auditor of Madison county, were called to dress the wounds of the unfortunate man. Later in the afternoon Dr. G. F. Chittenden and Horace E. Jones were called in consultation with the above physicians, when it was decided that with .proper care Melson would recover from his injuries, which proved to be the case. He is now living somewhere in this county. This was one of the most serious accidents that ever occurred in the vicinity of Frankton and was the talk of the neighborhood for months and years afterwards.
ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING.
On the 5th of January, 1884, Miss Mary Ring was acci- dentally killed by the discharge of a gun, at the home of ber sister, Mrs. Kidwell. The unfortunate lady was there on : visit at the time. In one of the rooms of the house an old army musket was standing in a corner, and at the solicitation of his wife Mr. Kidwell had lifted it out of its place to put it in a more secure position. In doing this the hammer of the gun was struck by some obstacle and the weapon was dis- charged. The load took effect in the face of Miss Ring. Her face was horribly mutilated, her lower jaw was nearly blown off and her tongue torn out. . Although suffering intensely she remained rational for some time and lived until Sunday night, the following day, when she died. At the time of the acci- dent she was engaged to be married to a young and prosper- ous farmer, and had it not been for this, the wedding ceremony would have been performed in a few days.
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DISASTROUS FIRE AT FRANKTON.
On the 3d of October, 1877, a disastrous fire took place at the village of Frankton, in which nearly the entire business part of the town was destroyed. A correspondent from that place to the Anderson Democrat of October 5 gives the fol- lowing account : " About half past five o'clock in the morn- ing an alarm of fire was given which aroused the slumbering citizens of the quiet village to a full sense of the fact that the long-expected conflagration had come. In a short time most of the citizens of the town and many people from the country were at the scene of the disaster. It was very fortunate for the place that the morning was calm and that scarcely a breeze' was stirring to fan the raging flames. But for this reason nearly the whole town would have been laid in ashes. The fire originated in the stable owned by William Waples. Next to this on the south side was the stable of J. W. Phillips. From this building it went to the drug store of John A. Howard, then to the Dwiggins building, in which was the post-office and a grocery owned by James McLean. On the north of this was the Suman building, occupied by the Kimmerling Bros., druggists, and J. & W. Townsend, dry goods merchants. Still farther north of this was a hardware store owned by Hurst & Brother. All these buildings were swept away by the raging flames in a moment's time. Quick, Sharp & Co. was the only firm in town that did not move its stock. H. C. Brown moved out of his building, but it did not burn. The cool and delib- erate action of the people managed to save all the merchan- dise owned by the different firms. The most interesting incident of the fire was that of Isaac Wood, who tried to save two horses, but in spite of his efforts to rescue them from the burn- ing building one of them perished. William Wood himself, while trying to save his horses, was severely burned about the neck and face. A fine stallion owned by Waples & Phillips was also burned. The Masonic fraternity lost everything per- taining to their lodge. The Odd Fellows saved their furni- ture and fixtures. The books owned by 'Squire A. H. Muhol- land were lost, together with some valuable notes and papers. The severest losers were parties living out of town who were the owners of buildings, none of which were insured, among whom were J. M. Cockran and Bernard Dwiggins. As usual on such occasions thieves were busily engaged and a large amount of property was stolen and carried off. Parties were seen going in every direction with bundles in their arms, but
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during the excitement no one attempted to halt them or recover the plunder they were carrying away."
It was generally thought that the fire originated in the headquarters of a lot of gamblers who were playing cards in the hay mow in a stable in which the fire was first discovered. This was a very severe blow to the enterprising village of Frankton, and it was some time before it recovered from the effects of the disaster.
THE KILLING OF JOHN LITTLE.
John Little, who lived near Frankton, in Pipe Creek township, was at one time one of the central figures of that community, in politics and business. He was a prosperous farmer, made money fast, lived well and enjoyed the respect of the people among whom he lived. In the year 1870 he con- cluded to contest for the nomination, on the Democratic tick- et, for the office of Sheriff of Madison county. He had always been a hard worker for the cause of his political friends and had numerous advocates of his elevation when he launched his boat upon the sea of politics. In that memorable year it seemed that nearly every prominent Democrat in the county aspired to some office. It was one of the most hotly contested and thrilling canvasses that was ever made for nom- inations since the formation of the county. The candidates went in droves from one township to another, making per- sonal appeals to the voters, generally winding up each even. ing at some school-house in the neighborhood, where all the candidates would be corralled and speeches would be made in advocacy of their claims for office.
It was in this year that the late Neal C. Mccullough made his famous fight for the office of County Auditor, receiv- ing the nomination and then being defeated at the polls in the subsequent election. John Little was successful in securing the nomination for Sheriff ; James F. Mock for County Treas- urer ; Neal C. Mccullough for County Auditor; Jacob Hub- bard for County Recorder, and James W. Sansberry for Rep- resentative. During the scramble a great deal of bitter warfare was indulged in, causing a feeling among the candi- dates, which was impossible to allay or pacify after the pri- maries had closed. This warfare was kept up to the bitter end, thereby insuring the defeat of every candidate on the Democratic county ticket, except Hon. James W. Sansberry for Representative, Jacob IIubbard for Recorder, and Thomas
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J. Fleming for Clerk of the Court, who had no opposition for the nomination or final election.
The canvass, made in the spring and before the fall elec- tion, cost Mr. Little nearly his entire fortune, and made a financial wreck of him for the balance of his life, and he never thereafter was able, although frugal in his habits, to over- come the indebtedness that he had made in this political fight, and when he died he left his family in poor circumstances.
The sad end of his life was caused by an altercation with Henry Burk in the city of Anderson, in the month of March, 1876. Mr. Little had been to Indianapolis on business, and, on returning, stopped at Anderson to await the train to go north at midnight on the Pan Handle road. In order to while away the time he stepped into a saloon on South Main street, kept by Hezekiah Trueblood. When he left the saloon he carried away an overcoat belonging to Henry Burk, the bar- tender. After leaving Mr. Trueblood's place he entered the saloon owned by William Ryan, where it is said he put Burk's coat into the stove and then left for the north depot to take the midnight train for home. Mr. Little had evidently been drinking, or he would never have indulged in this kind of con- duct, from the fact that, although at times he was rough in his manners, no one ever accused him of being dishonest, or would have for a moment suspected him of taking the coat with any intention of converting it to his own use, as he was entirely above reproach in that respect. Mr. Burk followed Little to the depot, and when he came upon him demanded Little's coat in place of the one he had destroyed, which Little readily assented to, and gave Burk his coat, who returned to town. Mr. Little, instead of going on with the train, followed Burk back to town and overtook him in the office of the United States hotel, a large three-story building that the older citizens of the city of Anderson will remember as having stood on the corner of Ninth and Main streets. It was occupied at that time by Frederick Cartwright. Little carried two large bowl- ders in his hands, and upon entering the room he dropped one of them on the floor and caught Burk by the collar with his left hand, and was in the act of striking him with the other stone when Louis Tetherington, a 'bus driver, grasped Lit- tle's uplifted arm and took away the stone. Little at this juncture let go of Burk and struck Tetherington a terrible blow on his face, which sent him reeling to the other side of the room. Burk, realizing the great strength of Little, and know-
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ing his disposition to be ugly in a fight, took advantage of the occasion and determined to protect himself. He armed him- self with a billet of wood, and when Little returned to attack him Burk struck him on the head and face, knocking him down. Little's face was beaten and cut into a perfect jelly, and he also received a fracture of the skull, from which he was found to be unconscious. Medical aid was summoned, and such relief as was necessary at the time was rendered him, and on the Saturday following the patient was removed to his home at Frankton, and after lingering for several days he finally died from the wounds, Dr. S. W. Edwins attending him in his last hours. Burk was placed under arrest for the crime of man- slaughter, but upon a trial was acquitted and exonerated from any criminal act on the ground of his having acted in self- defense, Little being the aggressor.
For many years after this a bitter feeling prevailed between the friends of Little and Burk, and it was feared for a time that the blood of other parties might be shed over this lamentable occurrence, but time has effaced all the memories clinging around it and it is now only alluded to as a matter of history.
John Little when sober was a noble hearted man and would sacrifice anything almost to do a friendly favor ; was hospitable at his home and was surrounded by a large circle of friends.
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