History of Madison County, Indiana ; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I, Part 38

Author: Forkner, John La Rue, 1844-1926
Publication date: 1970
Publisher: Evansville Ind. : Unigraphic, Inc.
Number of Pages: 918

USA > Indiana > Madison County > History of Madison County, Indiana ; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 38

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In the meantime legislatures and political conventions in the United States had passed resolutions asking this government to recognize the belligerent rights, if not the independence of Cuba. About ten o'clock on the evening of February 15, 1898, the United States battleship Maine, then lying at anchor in the harbor of Havana, was blown up and a number of her crew were killed. This brought the excitement in the United States to fever heat, and on April 11, 1898, President MeKinley sent a special message to Congress asking for authority to intervene in behalf of the Cubans. On the 20th Congress passed a resolution, which was approved by the president the same day, recognizing the inde- pendence of Cuba and demanding that Spain withdraw all claims to and authority over the island. On the 25th war was formally declared by Congress, though two days before the president had declared the ports of Cuba in a state of blockade and called for 125,000 volunteers to enforce the resolution of Congress.

Late on the afternoon of April 25, 1898, Governor James A. Mount received a telegram from the secretary of war announcing that Indiana's quota of the 125,000 troops would be four regiments of infantry and two light batteries. The telegram also stated that it was the president's wish "that the regiments of the National Guard or state militia shall be used as far as their numbers will permit, for the reason that they are armed, equipped and drilled."

Instead of four regiments, the state raised five, which were numbered to begin where the Civil war numbers left off. The Indiana regiments recruited for the Spanish-American war were therefore the 157th, 158th, 159th, 160th and 161st. Company I of the One Hundred and Sixtieth was originally Company { of the Fourth Regiment, Indiana National Guard. In this company were a number of Elwood men. Alexander

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Dillon held the rank of corporal and the following served as privates : John J. Altmeyer, Nalzo Andrews, Walter Barbo, William Brothers, Cullodin Coyle, Edward Douglass, Harry Douglass, Edward E. Garret- son, William Henderson, William Kennedy, Gustave Kappahan, Francis Kramer, Peter W. Lamb, George Martin, Walter Napier, Peter Peal, Richard G. Smith, Rolla Thurman.

Company L of this regiment was organized at Anderson and was composed chiefly of the old members of Company C, Fourth Regiment,

OFFICERS COMPANY L., 160TH I. V. I.

Indiana National Guard. When mustered into the United States service with the regiment, the company roster was as follows: Kenneth M. Burr, captain; Jolin B. Collins, first lieutenant ; George C. Sausser, second lieutenant ; Herbert C. Brunt, first sergeant ; Robert H. Antrim, quartermaster sergeant ; John J. Ellis, Lee C. Newsom, George H. Durbin, Chauncey O. Towell, sergeants; Claude S. Burr, Dorr S. Worden, John A. Ross, David V Martin, Howard F. Henry, Robert N. Nichols, corporals; John L. Hopper, Roscoe Cook, musicians; Thomas M. Dee, wagoner; William Neff, artificer.

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Privates-Howard M. Aldred, Carl G. Bailey, Joseph C. Baker, George Beason, George A. Bechtoldt, Frank M. Benbow, Charles Boyd, George W. Bond, Jr., William HI. Broman, Clay M. Brown, Israel Brown, Harry Bush, Claude A. Carpenter, Egbert E. Carpenter, Clement C. Cole, Bert J. Cooper, Ilarry W. Crull, William J. Cumberledge, Ruel E. Davenport, Herman Dietrich, Enos J. Dunbar, Edward Eaton, Chester R. Falknor, Oliver Fiekle, Henry Il. Fischer, Charles Fisher, James A. Fountain, Levi Garrison, Morris A. Hallenbeck, Ethel L. Hinegar, Volney M. Hunt, Jr., Edward M. Inclenrock, John F. Keicher, Elmo Kellar, Henry M. Kendric, John Keorper, Omer Lawson, John T. Lay, Frank M. Levy, Osear Lindstrom, Butler Livesay, Lewis F. Loch, William P. Lycan, Jefferson T. Martin, Byron Medskar, Wilford W. Mingle, James Miller, Bert R. Moon, Harry Moore, Clarence B. Mourer, Robert Murphy, James O. Pattie, Othello Roach, Harry Rosen- field, Charles M. Shaffer, Joseph HI. Smith, Charles E. Tharp, Harry Thomas, William II. Wagoner, Charles G. Weger, Lowell C. William- son, William Williamson, Frank M. Wilson, Robert L. Wilson.

Recruits-Charles Bidwell, Jesse Bonhomme, Isaae Bosworth, John W. Coburn, Elmer W. Cummings, Manford Denney, Francis Evans, Harry Z. Griffith, Harry C. Hawkins, John S. Hayes, Roy S. Jeffers, Frank Keckler, William Mansfield, Robert McConnell, Howard Moulden, Bert Munyon, Louis E. Radway, Amos Ricketts, Arthur Rhonemus, Clarence B. Seybert, William B. Sine, Jr., Thomas C. Smith, John Stark, Rolla C. Trees, Lee Weger, Richard Welsh, Osear Wynn.

These recruits were made necessary because for some reason about twenty-five of the original company were rejected by the mustering officer for different eauses, whereupon Captain Burr telegraphed a friend in Anderson to recruit twenty-five additional men. A recruiting office was opened in John Keener's cigar store, on Meridian street, and in less than half an hour the quota was full. An amusing incident occurred in connection with the recruiting. Among those who came forward to offer their services was a young man known as "Splinks" Myers, an employee of the American Wire and Steel Company, who had been married but a few days before. After he had signed the roll, the recruiting officer asked Myers if he had sent word to his wife. "Hell, no," answered Splinks, "she'll see it in the paper in the morning." Upon arriving at Indianapolis Splinks expressed his disappointment because the recruits were not met by a band and escort, refused to be sworn in, and beat the recruiting officer back to Anderson. That ended his military career.

The One Hundred and Sixtieth was mustered into the United States service on May 12, 1898, and proceeded directly to Camp Thomas, at Chiekamanga Park, Georgia, where it remained until July 28th, when it went to Newport News, Virginia. In August it was transferred to Camp Hamilton, Lexington, Kentucky, and in November to Columbus, Georgia. On January 15, 1899, it was ordered to Matanzas, Cuba, and remained there until the following March, when it returned to the United States and was mustered out at Savannah, Georgia. April 25, 1899. Captain Burr continued in the service, was appointed major in the regular army and assigned to duty in the Philippine Islands.

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The armory of the old Company C, Fourth National Guard, is located at the corner of Ninth street and Central avenue, Anderson. The company was called out by Governor Matthews at the time of the great strike in the coal fields and impressed everybody by its soldierly conduct. At the beginning of the movement to Cuba in January, 1899, Sergeant Lee Newsom and Sister Benita, for several years connected with St. John's Hospital at Anderson, were especially honored by being sent in advance to arrange the hospital service.

Winfield T. Durbin, of Anderson, was commissioned colonel of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Regiment, and John R. Brunt, also of Anderson, was appointed quartermaster. This regiment was mustered in on July 15, 1898, and was assigned to the Seventh Corps, commanded by General Fitzhugh Lee. On December 13, 1898, it left Savannah, Georgia, for Havana, and remained on duty in Cuba until the follow- ing March, when it returned to Savannah and was there mustered out on April 30, 1899. In 1900 Colonel Durbin was elected governor of Indiana.

CHAPTER XVIII

CRIMES AND CASUALTIES

MURDER OF THE INDIANS IN 1824-THE ABBOTT MYSTERY-KILLING OF THARP AND ESCAPE OF COX-MURDER OF DANIEL HOPPIS BY MILTON WHITE-THE DALE-TRASTER AFFAIR-MYSTERIOUS MURDER OF ALBERT MAWSON-DISAPPEARANCE OF SUSAN NELSON-SHOOTING OF BENE- FIEL BY DAVIS-CHARLES KYNETT SHOT BY THE CITY MARSHAL-KILL- ING OF MCLELLAND STREETS-MCCULLOUGH SHOT BY WELSH-KILL- ING OF ALBERT HAWKINS-HISTORIC FIRES IN ANDERSON, ELWOOD, ALEXANDRIA, FRANKTON AND SUMMITVILLE-SOME GREAT STORMS- FLOODS OF 1847, 1875, 1884, 1904 and 1913.

Scarcely had the county of Madison been organized and her civil and legal machinery been placed in working order, when a crime was committed within her borders that filled the people of the frontier settle- ments with both fear and indignation. Although the lands had been ceded to the United States by the Indians, there were but few white settlers as yet within what is now Madison county, game was plentiful, and occasionally small parties of the natives would return to their former hunting grounds in quest of meat and peltries. Early in the spring of 1824 a party of Senecas, consisting of two men, three squaws and four children, came into the county and encamped on Fall creek, about two miles above the present village of Ovid, in a dense forest filled with game. Some alarm was felt by the few white settlers in that locality at the establishment of an Indian encampment so near their homes, but the Indians were friendly and showed no inclination to commit depredations of any character against the person or property of their white neighbors. The two Indian men were called Ludlow and Mingo, the former said to have been so named for Stephen Ludlow, of Lawrenceburg, Indiana.

After they had been in their camp for about a week five white men- Thomas Harper, Andrew Sawyer, John Bridge, John T. Bridge and James Hudson-visited the Indians, pretending to have lost their horses, and asking Ludlow and Mingo to assist in finding them. The Indians readily consented and when a short distance from the camp Harper shot Ludlow and Hudson shot Mingo, both men being killed instantly. The white men then returned to the camp, where Sawyer shot one of the squaws, Bridge, Sr., another and Bridge, Jr., the third. The four chil- dren-two boys about ten years old and two girls still ye ager-were

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wantonly murdered, after which the camp was robbed of everything of value.

When news of this atrocious crime spread through the settlements, the people were terrified, fearing other Indians would come in to avenge their slaughtered kinsmen, and that their retaliatory vengeance would be meted out without discrimination. An account of the affair was sent to the war department by the Indian agent at Piqua, Ohio, with the result that Colonel Johnston and William Conner visited all the Indian tribes and promised them that the government would punish the murderers. This had a salutary effect upon the situation, the Indians accepting the promise and the settlers becoming less afraid of a massacre.

Immediately after the murder Harper went to Ohio and was never taken into custody. The other four men were arrested and lodged in the log jail at Pendleton, where they were tried and convicted. Hudson

ABBOTT CABIN

was tried at the October term of court in 1824, and was hanged on December 1, 1824. The other three were tried in May, 1825. All were found guilty and sentenced to be hanged on the first Friday in June. Andrew Sawyer and the elder Bridge were executed according to the sentence, but the younger Bridge was pardoned on the scaffold by Governor James B. Ray, who was present at the execution. This was the first, and is perhaps the only instance in the history of American jurisprudence, where white men were legally executed for the killing of Indians.

About the year 1830 a man named Abbott, with his wife and two grown sons, came from Kentucky and settled near the White river, a short distance west of where the Moss Island mills were built a few years later. The cabin occupied by this family stood upon the north side of the old Strawtown road and occasionally some traveler would spend

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the night there. It was no uncommon occurrence for the elder Abbott and his two sons to make trips away from home and be absent for two or three weeks at a time, but no one ever learned the reason for these journeys. While not absolutely unsociable, they were very reticent about their affairs, and in a new country, where every one knew all that was going on in the neighborhood, this caused the Abbotts to be looked upon as untrustworthy.

In the summer of 1832, a man from Ohio reached the Abbott cabin late in the afternoon and sought a night's lodging. He was traveling by easy stages, looking at lands on his way, with a view to removing his family to a new home, provided a suitable location could be found. Before leaving his home in Ohio he announced his intention to return within six weeks. About two weeks after that time had expired his relatives sent out a searching party. He was traeed without difficulty to the Abbott cabin, whose inmates admitted that he had stopped there, but stated that the next morning he had proceeded on his way westward. Inquiries west of that point failed to elieit any information of the missing man and the searchers returned to Ohio.

Not long after that the body of a strange man was found floating in the White river a short distance below the Abbott home. No one eould identify the remains, and the generally accepted theory was that the unfortunate individual was some passing stranger who had accidentally fallen into the river. There were some who refused to concur in this opinion and intimated foul play. While the puzzle was still unsolved the Abbotts disappeared one night without leaving any hint of their destination .. Their flight in this mysterious manner was regarded by many as a confession of guilt and strengthened the belief that the body found in the river was that of the Ohio land hunter, who had been murdered by the Abboits for his money. In time the cabin acquired the reputation of being haunted and many people avoided it after night- fall. The Abbotts were never heard of again.

A peculiar homicide, with an equally peculiar aftermath, was com- mitted on Thanksgiving day in 1847 at a distillery a little west of the mounds and about two and a half miles from 'Anderson. A shooting mateli had been arranged and among those in attendance were two young men named Tharp and Cox, between whom there was ill feeling. Tharp was the larger and was inclined to play the part of a bully in his treatment of Cox. The latter had several times moved away to avoid Tharp's insolence, but at last "forbearance ceased to be a virtue." Snatching a rifle from one of the bystanders, he brought the barrel down upon Tharp's head with such foree as to fracture the skull, eaus- ing almost instant death. Cox crossed the river to his home, about a mile away, but the next morning he was arrested and lodged in jail at Anderson. At the next meeting of the grand jury an indictment for murder was returned.

Cox had many friends who took the view that he had aeted in self defense, or at least had been provoked to make the assault. Knowing that the old log jail was not invulnerable, some of these friends determined to effect his release rather than to permit him to stand trial. Five men were in the secret. In visiting Cox in jail these men managed

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to elude the watchful eye of Sheriff John II. Davis long enough to take an impression of the lock in beeswax. A key was made, seeretly tested and found to work. A night was then selected for the release of the prisoner and about an hour before midnight, when everything was still, the five men quietly approached the jail, one of them leading Cox's horse, which had been freshly shod for the occasion. While four stood on watch, the fifth noiselessly unlocked the door and Cox came out. A few minutes hurried conversation in muffled tones and he mounts his horse, turns his head westward and sets out on his journey toward freedom. Pursuit was made as far as Logansport, where all traee of the fugitive was lost. There were then no telegraphs, telephones, nor even fast mail

MILTON WHITE

routes in the West, and the apprehension of a fleeing person under the ban of the law was a much more difficult matter than at the present time. The exact manner of Cox's escape was not known until long afterward. Some twenty-five years later a citizen of Madison county happened to meet Cox in northern Wisconsin, but no effort was ever made to bring him back for trial.

Upon the morning of April 8, 1867, Daniel Hoppis, a farmer living about three miles south of Anderson, missed some meat from his smoke- house and noticed tracks leading toward the dwelling of Milton White.

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Accompanied by a neighbor, a Mr. Swearingen, Hoppis started for Anderson to secure a search warrant, but the two men met White before reaching the city. After a short conversation between the sus- pected man and Swearingen, the former agreed to permit Hoppis to search his premises without the formality of a warrant and the two men started together for White's house, Mr. Swearingen returning to his home.

When Mr. Hoppis failed to return home either for dinner or supper, his wife informed some of the neighbors of his prolonged absence. In the meantime the story of the stolen meat had been circulated and White was at once suspected of knowing something of the missing man's whereabouts. Accordingly a number of citizens called at White's house to make inquiries. White was asleep, but upon being aroused denied all knowledge of Hoppis. He was kept under surveillance, however, until daylight the next morning, when he was forced to join the party in search of the man he was accused of having killed. In a little ravine running through a small piece of woods, near the road known as the east New Columbus pike and about two miles from Anderson, was found the body of Hoppis. Near by was a sassafras club about four feet long, bearing hair and clots of blood, showing plainly that it was the weapon that had been used. This was near the place where Hoppis and White had last been seen together by Patrick Allen. White was given a preliminary hearing before Justice of the Peace Schlater and was bound over to the circuit court. At the next term of court he was tried, found guilty and sentenced to be hanged on September 20, 1867, but a respite was granted until the 1st of November by Governor Baker, to give him an opportunity to consider a petition for the commutation of the sentence to life imprisonment. Upon considering all phases of the case the governor declined to interfere, and on Friday, November 1, 1867, White was forced to pay the penalty of his crime upon the scaffold. This was one of the most brutal murders that ever occurred in the State of Indiana. Daniel Hoppis was a kind-hearted, inoffensive citizen, industrious and devoted to his family, and without an enemy in the world. It is quite probable that if White had returned the stolen meat he would never have been prosecuted for the theft.

Later in the same month (April, 1867) William Traster was killed by Granville Dale, but this tragedy was of a far different character. At that time Robert and William Traster were the proprietors of the Moss Island Mills. They had many friends and their mills were a favorite resort for fishing and picnic parties. One Sunday, late in April, a number of Anderson men, among whom were Captain Ethan Allen, R. C. Reed and ex-Sheriff Benjamin Sebrell, went to the mills on a fishing excursion, intending to take dinner with the Trasters. They took along something to drink and Granville Dale, who was in the employ of the millers as a teamster, took a little too much. When the call came for dinner, Dale was attending to the horses. A slight con- troversy arose between him and William Traster and the latter made a move as though he was going to inflict some personal chastisement upon Dale. Although fuddled by drink, Dale realized that he was no match

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for his employer in strength. Seizing a stone about the size of a goose egg, he hurled it with all his might at Traster, striking him upon the head and fracturing the skull. The fishing party carried the injured man to the house, but he died soon after being struck, all efforts to restore him being futile. Dale gave himself up to the sheriff, admitted his guilt and at the succeeding term of court was sentenced to seven years in the penitentiary for manslaughter. IIe served his time and afterward was employed as cab driver for several years in Indianapolis. Hle always spoke of his aet with regret, as the man he killed was his best friend. Both were under the influence of liquor at the time. Had they been sober the deed would in all probability not have been committed.

On October 21, 1874, the body of Albert Mawson was found in an abandoned well on the Mawson farm, about three miles southeast of Anderson, with the front teeth knocked in, the jaw-bone broken and the side of the head crushed. A rope was around the neck, blood stains could be seen upon the boards around the mouth of the well, and for several rods across the field to south were evidences that a heavy body of some kind had been dragged toward the well. Coroner Maynard was sum- moned and when the body, in a nude condition, was taken from the well it was seen that decomposition had set in, indicating that the young man had been dead for some time. His mother, a widow, told a somewhat incoherent story about her son's disappearance some time before. Investi- gation developed the faet that she had had some trouble with another son, and while this disagreement was at its height Mrs. Mawson deeded her farm to Albert, her youngest child, saying that she had some hopes of his becoming a useful man, while the other son was inclined to be a spendthrift.

Subsequently Albert became rather reckless in his habits and showed a disposition to stray away from home. At one time he found a position as brakeman with a railroad company and this displeased his mother, who wanted him to remain at home. Suspicion pointed to her as her son's murderer, the motive being to regain possession of the lands she had deeded to him. After the hearing before the coroner she was arrested and placed in jail to await the action of the grand jury. The verdict of the coroner's jury was that "Albert Mawson came to his death by a blow inflicted with an axe or some other hard substance, in the hands of Naney Mawson (his mother), which the jury finds to be the cause of the death of the victim."

This verdiet was rendered on October 21, 1874, and four days later Mrs. Mawson ended her life in jail by taking arsenie, having secreted a quantity of that drug in her clothing prior to her arrest. The scene of this tragedy was not far from the place where Milton White had murdered Daniel Hoppis seven years before.

A shocking erime, and one that awakened wide-spread interest in Madison county, oeeurred in the early autumn of 1883. That was the killing of Susan Nelson, widow of William Nelson and a member of the well known Bronnenberg family, though the murder was committed near Terre Haute, in Vigo county. On September 7, 1883, Mrs. Nelson called at the Anderson postoffice and left an order for her mail to be forwarded to Kansas City, Missouri. Later in the day she told the drayman who

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took her trunk to the Big Four station that she was going to visit her son, Jasper Nelson, who had written to her that he was seriously ill. Her absence was noticed by her friends and acquaintances, but none could tell whither she had gone.

In October, James Porter, while hunting in a piece of timber about three miles southwest of Terre Haute, discovered his dog carrying a human skull in his mouth and upon searching the neighborhood found the body of a woman concealed in the shrubbery. The coroner of Vigo county was at once notified and held an inquest. Physicians agreed that the woman had been dead for several weeks, but the body could not be identified. Some days later an insurance policy issued by Bain & Harris, of Anderson, upon the household goods of Susan Nelson, was found near the place. The policy was torn and blood-stained, but it furnished a clue to the identity of the woman. A detective visited Ander- son and in company with Marshal Coburn went to the house where Mrs. Nelson formerly lived, on North Main street. Here they found a letter from her son, bearing the postmark of Brazil, Indiana, and dated August 23, 1883, only about two weeks before she left Anderson.

People who knew Jasper Nelson knew that he was something of a spendthrift, but that he had great influence over his mother. As Brazil is only sixteen miles east of Terre Haute the theory was formed by the detective that he had persuaded his mother to visit him and had tried to get money from her. Whether he succeeded in this or not, he had murdered her and then made his escape. He was found at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and arrested upon suspicion, but was acquitted.

About the time young Nelson was tried, Perry Manis, a former preacher who resided near Frankton, was noticed to be rather flush with ready money-an unusual condition for him-and it was remembered that he had left his home about the time of Mrs. Nelson's departure. An investigation was started and soon a witness was found who had over- heard a conversation between Manis and the murdered woman, in which it was agreed to go to Kansas City and open a boarding house. Manis was arrested for the murder and taken to Terre Haute for trial. There he was identified by witnesses who had seen him and Mrs. Nelson together, and in the trial it developed that he had hired a buggy and driven away with the woman, but had returned without her. He was therefore convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to a life term in the penitentiary. In the trial William A. Kittinger, of Anderson, assisted the prosecuting attorney of Vigo county and rendered valuable service in securing the conviction of Manis.

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History of Madison County, Indiana ; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I, Part 38

Author: Forkner, John La Rue, 1844-1926 Publication date: 1970 Publisher: Evansville Ind. : Unigraphic, Inc. Number of Pages: 918

Author: Forkner, John La Rue, 1844-1926
Publication date: 1970
Publisher: Evansville Ind. : Unigraphic, Inc.
Number of Pages: 918