USA > Kansas > Labette County > History of Labette County, Kansas, from the first settlement to the close of 1892 > Part 8
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G. A. R.
Pea Ridge Post, No. 118, is located at Chetopa, and was organized August 21, 1882. Post commanders : Capt. Thomas O'Hare, Col. J. B. Cook, James F. Sterling, L. M. Bedell, S. T. Herman, W. O. Brecken- ridge, Robert Orme, William Stevens, and H. J. Schock.
Antietam Post, No. 64, is located at Parsons, and was organized June
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY.
6, 1882. There are now 263 names on the roll. The post has a tract of ground in Oak Wood Cemetery, in which all old soldiers are buried free of expense if the friends so desire. On this lot they have already buried 67. Nearly $3,000 has been expended on this burial-ground. Post com- manders : W. H. Morris, Luther Gilmore, H. L. Partridge, T. D. Ganer, W. P. Scholl, W. H. Porter, R. D. Talbot, J. D. Scott, and A. M. Sour- beer.
Mound Valley Post, No. 139, was organized November 9, 1882. There are 110 names on its roll of old soldiers who have been members of this post. Only about 25 are in good standing ; five have died, and the others have withdrawn by suspension or removal. The following have been commanders : Josephus Moore, W. W. Harper, A. J. Ginger, L. C. Wil- moth, Ivy Prescott, L. E. Hanson, N. W. Wallis, and Ivy Prescott.
Oswego Post, No. 150, was organized January 10, 1883, and has had the following commanders : John F. Hill, D. H. David, E. B. Baldwin, George P. Hall, J. C. Patterson, H. C. Cook, W. L. Burch, and R. W. Wright.
Topping Post, No. 268, is located at Altamont, and was organized Sep- tember 8, 1883. Commanders : Daniel Reid, Ezra Bonebrake, J. C. Mur- phy, J. J. Miles, A. H. Waite, R. A. Davis, J. F. Huffman, T. J. Hun, and T. H. Murray. It has a membership of twenty-two, and has lost three by death.
Knoxville Post was organized at Kingston, May 18, 1883, with E. B. Baldwin commander.
CRIMINAL MATTERS.
On August 6, 1868, Charles Van Alstine killed J. C. Wheeler, near a saloon in Oswego in which they had been drinking. Van Alstine was tried and convicted of murder, and sent to the penitentiary. This was the first murder trial in the county.
In the latter part of 1868 a half-breed Indian was intoxicated and mak- ing a disturbance on the streets of Chetopa. He was arrested by an offi- cer, who asked him where he got his whisky; he told the officer if he would go with him he would show him. He went to a shanty on the out- skirts of town, opened a door, and stooping down to his saddle-bags took therefrom a revolver, saying, "That is where I got my whisky," and fired, the ball striking the officer on the forehead, but glanced instead of pene- trating the skull. The Indian was again arrested, and taken before the justice. A somewhat rough character called Bob Broadus told him he would be killed, and, if he had an opportunity, to run. The Indian soon started off. and was at once fired upon by a number of parties and killed.
In 1870 John D. Coulter was postmaster at Oswego, and also agent of all the express companies that did business at that place. In the latter part of November of that year, without giving notice of his intention so to do, he left town, and was never seen here thereafter. He proved to be a defaulter to the Government and also the express companies in the sum of several hundred dollars.
Anthony Amend and John Pierce, living in Neosho township, had a difficulty over a child. Pierce shot and killed Amend, and then attempted to hide in the woods and tall grass. The grass was set on fire, and to escape, Pierce jumped into the Neosho and swam across. He was caught and taken to Jacksonville, where a vigilance committee hung him. This hanging took place in Neosho county. Several parties were arrested as being connected with it, but no one was ever convicted.
On October 3, 1874, on the fair grounds at Oswego, John Bagby stabbed William Hogsett and Charles H. Westfall, both of whom were special police. Hogsett soon died, while Westfall, after a protracted confinement, recovered. Bagby was sent to the penitentiary.
On November 2, 1870, Erastus E. and Liston P. Hopkins killed their
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY.
brother-in-law, John M. May, by beating and wounding him with poles and clubs. In June, 1871, they were tried for this offense. The State was represented by Judge D. P. Lowe, M. V. Voss, and Jesse C. Harper, together with the county attorney. The defense was principally con- dlucted by M. V. B. Bennett and J. D. Gamble. The defendants were convicted of murder in the second degree, after a protracted trial. A notable incident of this trial was in reference to the court driving a wit- ness named Chas. H. Butts from the witness stand during the giving of his testimony. It appeared by the testimony of Butts that he was a detective, and had been placed in the jail with the Hopkins brothers under the pretense of being guilty of some kind of a crime, for the real purpose of getting admissions from them to be of use on the trial. On these facts appearing, the presiding judge said that such a person was unworthy of credit, and should not be allowed to give testimony in his court; he was directed to leave the stand, which he did.
On February 24, 1871, John Clark was killed at Chetopa by Frank Huber. Huber was tried, and convicted of murder in the first degree, and sentenced to be hung on September 1st; on August 31st a respite was granted until September 30th. Huber had been taken to Fort Scott after his trial for more safe confinement until the time of his execution. The last of August he was brought from Fort Scott to Oswego, where a gallows had been erected in front of the old jail, and where on the mor- row he was to be hung. After the respite arrived, and before the time of his execution, as then fixed, the Supreme Court granted him a new trial because of a defect in the form of the verdict. Preferring not to undergo the excitement of another trial, Huber succeeded in removing some of the stones and other rubbish that separated him from the outside world, and on the night of November 23, 1871, made his escape from the county jail, since which time he has never been heard of at this place. His case was the nearest we have ever been to having a legal execution in this county.
On August 14, 1872, B. W. Harwood had a difficulty with the Blye brothers, and was very badly beaten and bruised by them. Later in the day he went to their home and fired into a crowd of people that were there assembled, slightly wounding two persons. On the 15th he was arrested, and gave bond for his appearance at trial. On the morning of August 16th he was found ou his premises, riddled with bullets. Three of the Blye brothers and a number of neighbors were arrested and tried for the murder. While people generally had no doubt about their guilt, the State failed to produce sufficient evidence to convict, and the defend- ants were all acquitted.
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CRIMINAL MATTERS.
On May 27, 1875, R. B. Myers absconded. It appeared from exami- nation made that for months he had been embezzling from the Adams Express Company, for whom he was agent. A statement was made by the general manager to the effect that as far back as December previous he had been detected in defalcation. In the fall of 1879 he was brought back from the west where he was found, on requisition, and on exami- nation was bound over to court. In proceedings pending the trial it was developed that the company was defectively organized, its charter being imperfect; and there being no law punishing embezzlement by an agent of a joint-stock company, Myers was permitted to go at liberty.
On April 1, 1878, while Milton Engler and Samuel Clevinger were go- ing to their homes in Cherokee county from Chetopa in a state of intoxi- cation, they got into a quarrel; the former stabbed the latter with a knife, from the effects of which he soon died.
On Sunday morning, August 25, 1878, R. H. Clift, who was marshal of Chetopa, was shot and killed near town by John Richmond, a horse- thief whom he was attempting to arrest. Richmond had passed through town a few days before with a stolen mule in his possession, and was now returning to Missouri. Word having come that he was guilty of stealing the mule, parties in town who had seen him pass through in- formed the marshal of the circumstances, and he immediately started in pursuit. He soon overtook Richmond and ordered him to stop, telling him that he was under arrest. Richmond replied that he would return with him, but at once drew a revolver and shot Clift through the neck ; he died that night. On the Wednesday following the Sunday on which Clift was shot, Richmond, having reached his home in Missouri near the village of White Hall, in Laurence county, was there arrested for steal- ing the mule at a camp meeting. The next morning, August 29th. he was being taken to Mount Vernon, when Bently came up and informed the officers that Richmond was guilty of the murder of Clift. This was the first that the shooting of Clift was known at the home of Richmond. Richmond was taken to Mount Vernon, where he was held until Bently could get a requisition, and as soon as the same could be obtained Bently and United States Deputy Marshal Graham secured his delivery to them, and at once started with him for this county. Instead of taking the train at Carthage to Oswego, they decided to go the route through the Indian Territory, transferring to the M. K. & T. Rly. at Vinita. They arrived at Chetopa on the midnight train Thursday night, Septem- ber 5th. Masked men appeared in the train as soon as it stopped at Chetopa, and compelled the officers to take Richmond out: they took him out and proceeded to get into a 'bus. The mob surrounded the -6
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY.
'bus and train, took Richmond from the officers, marched him a mile southwest of town, and strung him up to an old bridge, where he was left hanging until the next afternoon. This cold-blooded murder of Richmond was without excuse. His crime was a terrible one, but there would have been no difficulty in convicting and punishing him for it. No one except the participants know who were the criminals engaged in the second murder, and no effort was made to apprehend or punish them.
One of the most brutal murders ever committed took place in Canada township, about the last of October, 1878. Theodore Munsterman and William Hunt some time previous thereto had had difficulty over the en- try of a claim. On the day of the murder Hunt and his wife had been to Oswego, and during their absence Munsterman had been seen around the premises. On their way home from Oswego, Hunt overtook Munster- man going in the direction of their home. He got in and rode with them. It was late in the evening when they arrived home. Hunt and Munsterman talked over their previous difficulty, and agreed to bury all differences. Munsterman was making his home with his sister several miles away, and it was suggested that he stay all night with Hunt. They had but one bed, and they made a pallet for him upon the floor in the same room in which they slept. During the night Mrs. Hunt awoke and found Munsterman at their bedside bending over her; she asked him what he wanted ; he said he wanted to kiss her. Later in the night Munster- man got up and shot both Mr. and Mrs. Hunt in the head. Hunt was evidently killed at once. Probably Mrs. Hunt made some move, and to finish the job Munsterman took a hatchet and broke in her skull. He left them both in bed where they had slept, went out, locked the door, and took Hunt's team and moved off. He was seen the next day with the team, which he said he had borrowed and was going to the Territory for coal. It turned out that he took the team and hitched it in a ravine, and himself went to Chetopa. That evening one of the neighbor boys went to the house, but could not get in. He heard a groaning inside, and went and told his mother. Several of the neighbors were aroused and came to the house and broke open the door. They found Hunt dead. and Mrs. Hunt unable to speak and nearly dead. Munsterman was found, and at once arrested on suspicion that he had committed the murder. His account of having the team and of his whereabouts was entirely un- satisfactory, and he was placed in the county jail. By the time of the next term of court, when the case came on for trial, Mrs. Hunt had so far recovered as to be able to talk. She came upon the witness stand and identified Munsterman as the murderer, giving the story of the trans- action substantially as here recorded. Munsterman was convicted of
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CRIMINAL MATTERS.
murder in the first degree. He died in the penitentiary, November 25, 1888.
On November 3, 1879, an obstruction in the shape of a hand-car, with old irons and other material, was placed on the Frisco Rly., near Big Hill station. A detective was employed to ascertain the guilty parties, and thereafter Albert C. Tolliver was arrested for the offense. Tolliver made confession, and implicated James Henry Barnes, sr., and his son in the crime. The old man Barnes was not found, but the younger Barnes was tried, and, by what is believed to be the most successfully planned and carried out conspiracy for perjury ever attempted in this court, partici- pated in by a large number of his friends and neighbors, was acquitted.
On December 2, 1879, Quincy Harris was arrested for operating an illicit distillery on Hackberry creek, and John and Josiah Johnson for assisting by furnishing corn. Harris was taken in charge by the U. S. Marshal.
On July 10, 1880, Daniel Tucker killed a colored man named William Dudley, near Mound Valley. Tucker had been lying around Chetopa for several days, and hired Dudley to take him to Neodesha with his team, on the pretense that he desired him to bring back a load of goods. On Sunday, July 11th, parties passing west of Mound Valley saw where some one had encamped the night before, and noticed clots of blood and other evidences of a hard struggle. Physicians were called, and after examina- tion pronounced the blood and brains found to be those of a human being. That evening someone found the body of a colored man in a ravine some three miles away, and parties immediately started out to find the mur- derer. They soon found a wagon with a man and woman in it, and the teanı was identified as the one which had encamped the night before where the body was found. The man was arrested and proved to be Tucker, the murderer of the colored man, William Dudley. He was convicted of murder in the first degree.
On March 4, 1881, on a south-bound passenger train on the M. K. & T. Rly., just as it was leaving Chetopa, James Hayden, who was from Lebanon, Ky., and a passenger on the train, commenced firing his re- volver promiscuously among the passengers. He shot and killed William Lewis, of McAlister, I. T., and wounded two others. He was at once arrested and taken from the train and lodged in jail. Soon thereafter, it being supposed that he was insane, an inquisition was held, in which it was determined that he was of unsound mind. His friends came from Kentucky and took him home. The shooting was caused by his suppos- ing that he was in danger of his life from the Indians, as he was nearing the Indian Territory.
On September 27, 1884, John Douglas killed Harry Fox, at his home
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY.
in Canada township. Douglas escaped and went to Ohio, from whence he was brought back a year after, and on trial was convicted.
At the May, 1885, term of the district court, Frank P. Myres was tried and convicted of stealing a span of mules. On his application he was granted a new trial. On the night of July 7, 1885, Winfield Scott Crouse, who was a prisoner in the county jail charged with murder, J. J. Thomp- son with liquor-selling, and a colored man, Mat Lingo, with assault and battery, broke jail and compelled Myres to go with them. The latter, however, did not leave town, but next morning returned and gave him- self up. On the night of July 26th Myres with others broke jail again, but he was soon found, at Vinita, and was returned to jail on the 28th. On the night of August 4th Myres was taken from jail. To secure his escape from jail, five locks had to be broken or unlocked. The next morning the locks were all found fastened and in good order. How the doors were opened is an unsolved mystery. On August 6th Myres's body was found in the Neosho river, just above the Oswego dam.
During Myres's imprisonment Jacob Mclaughlin and Wash Berkaw were part of the time confined in jail with him on the charge of selling liquor. It is supposed that they feared testimony which Myres might give if called as a witness on their trial, and that they, after their release on bail, secured Myres and took him from the jail on the 4th of August. On April 14, 1886, McLanghlin and Berkaw were arrested for the mur- der of Myres. On their examination Frank and George Davis, who were also confined in the jail at the time when Myres was taken therefrom. tes- tified that MeLaughlin, with the assistance of Berkaw, took Myres from jail. The defendants were both held to answer the charge of murder. On the trial of MeLaughlin and Berkaw on the charge of murder in the district court, the Davis boys gave testimony directly contrary to what they had testified on the preliminary examination, and said that what they had testified to before was false. It was developed on the trial that after the preliminary examination had been had, the Davis boys went to the office of E. C. Ward, in Parsons, who was attorney for MeLaughlin and Berkaw, where it was arranged between them that in the event of their giving testimony of the character which they did give upon the final trial, they should receive a certain sum of money. The money was deposited in bank, subject to their order upon the final acquittal of the defendants. The defendants were acquitted on the trial, although prob- ably no one had any doubt of their real guilt.
At the close of the trial the court appointed a committee to investigate the conduct of E. C. Ward in connection with this transaction. The committee in the report found that he had been guilty of bribery, and
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CRIMINAL MATTERS.
recommended that he be disbarred. Charges were preferred against him, and change of venue was had upon his application to the district court of Neosho county, where he was tried and found guilty, and a judgment of disbarment was entered.
On the night of February 21, 1885, Marcus A. Justice and Mayfield Carr, two colored men who had had some jealous feeling in reference to a woman. were in company near the M. K. & T. depot at Oswego. The next morning Carr was found dead in the cut of the Frisco Rly. between the M. K. & T. and the brick mill. Justice was charged with the mur- der, and on trial had on May 27, 1885, was convicted of murder in the first degree.
On November 16, 1885, George W. Gregson shot and killed W. A. Col- lins, in the Grand Central Hotel at Parsons. On February 19, 1886, he was convicted of murder in the first degree.
In September, 1886, Wilf. Cooper got upon a freight train at Parsons to ride to his home at Labette City. There were some three or four other parties in the car, who proved to be tramps. Before arriving at Labette City they attacked Cooper and threw him out of the car. He recovered himself sufficiently to get to Labette City and telegraph to Oswego for the arrest of the parties, who were tried, convicted, and sent to the penitentiary.
On June 26. 1888, the marshal at Chetopa had a warrant for the arrest of a colored man who was supposed to be engaged in the illegal sale of liquor, and who had made his boast that no officer could arrest him. The marshal called a man to his aid, and started to serve the warrant. An- other colored man had allied himself with the one they were seeking to arrest, and, seeing one of the officers coming, one of them secreted him- self behind the building, and the other from across the street leveled his gun at the officer. Both opened fire on the officers, and wounded them in a number of places in a way that was at the time supposed would prove fatal. The colored men ran at once, and secreted themselves in the loft of an old house. It was ascertained that they were in the house, and finding themselves hemmed in, they surrendered. The mayor put them under guard and sent for the sheriff, who arrived at Chetopa in the evening. It was not thought advisable to bring them to the county jail in the night-time. In the meantime the guard which had been placed over them was continued. They were placed in the city hall, the sheriff and guard remaining with them. A mob of masked men broke into the room, put a revolver in the face of the sheriff and guard, blew out the light, slipped a noose over the head of each of the prisoners, dragged them to the rear end of the building, put them on a scaffold which had
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HISTORY OF LABETTE COUNTY.
been piled upon a wagon standing by the side of the building, fastened the rope inside, and then drew the wagon from under them, where they were left to hang until the next morning. No serious attempt was ever made to discover the murderers of these men, and no prosecution for the crime was ever instituted.
On April 1, 1890, Carrey S. Arnold killed John Bobzien, in the west part of the county, for which he was afterwards tried and convicted.
On October 22, 1892, William H. Mills, while sitting in a restaurant at Chetopa, was shot through the head by some party on the outside of the building, and instantly killed. G. A. Luman was arrested on suspicion, but has not yet had his trial.
On December 17, 1892, Albert Shoemaker shot and killed his brother Allen. He claimed that the killing was in self-defense. His trial has not yet taken place.
THE BENDER SLAUGHTER-PEN.
About the last of 1870 a family of Hollanders, or Germans, consisting of four persons- a man, his wife, son, and daughter-moved on the northeast quarter of section 13, township 31, range 17, in Osage township. The man was known as William Bender, the son and daughter as John and Kate. They erected a small frame house, 16x24 feet, which was di- vided into two parts by studding, on which hung an old wagon-sheet for a partition. In the front part they had a few articles for sale, such as tobacco, crackers, sardines, candies, powder, and shot. Just outside the door was a plain sign, "Groceries." In the front room were also two beds. They also pretended to furnish lunch and entertainment for trav- elers. In the back room. almost up against the partition studding, a hole just large enough to let a man down had been cut in the floor. the door to which raised with a leather strap. Under this an excavation had been made in the ground, leaving a hole some six or seven feet in diameter and about the same in depth. It was supposed that when a victim was killed in the daytime he was thrown into this hole until night, when he would be taken out and buried. Little was known of the family generally. They repelled rather than invited communication with their neighbors. Kate traveled over the county somewhat, giving spiritualistic lectures and like entertainments, but created very little stir or comment. The two young people occasionally went to church and singing-school, and the men fre- quently attended public meetings in the township. The place was on the road, as then traveled, from Osage Mission to Independence. During 1871 and 1872 several parties had traveled the road, making inquiries for per- sons who were missing, and who had last been heard of at Fort Scott or
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CRIMINAL MATTERS.
Independence. About March 10, 1873, a public meeting was held at Har- mony Grove school-house, in District No. 30, to discuss the herd law. The matter of so many people being missing, and the fact that suspicion rested upon the people of Osage township, were spoken of. It was said a vigor- ous search should be made, under the sanction of a search-warrant. Both of the Benders were present. Father Dick said, "Commence the search at my house," and father Dienst responded, "Yes, and go directly from there to my house." Old man Bender, who sat between them, made no reply. About the 1st of March, 1873, Dr. William York had left his home on Onion creek, in Montgomery county, in search of a man and child by the name of Loucher, who had left Independence for Iowa during the previous winter and had never thereafter been heard of by their friends. Dr. York reached Fort Scott. and started to return about March 8th, but never reached home. In the fore part of April, Col. A. M. York, with some fifty citizens from Montgomery county, started from Independence to make a thorough search for his brother. They went as far as Fort Scott, but could get no clue to the missing man. On their return they visited the Bender place and tried to induce Kate, who professed to be a clairvoyant, to make an effort to help discover the Doctor. But Kate was able to successfully elude their efforts without throwing any suspicion on herself. That night the Bender family left their place, went to Thayer, where they purchased tickets to Humboldt, and took the north-bound train at 5 o'clock on the following morning. A day or two thereafter their team was found hitched a short distance from Thayer, and apparently nearly starved. It was about the 1st of May that a party passing the Bender place noticed the stock wandering around as though wanting care. On going to the stable he found the team gone, and a calf dead in a pen, ev i- dently having starved to death. He then went to the house, but found no one there. He notified the township trustee, who, with other parties, went to the premises and broke into the house, where they found nearly everything in usual order, little if anything aside from clothing and bed- clothing having been taken. A sickening stench almost drove them from the house. The trap-door in the back room was raised. and it was dis- covered that in the hole beneath was clotted blood which produced the stench. The house was removed from where it stood, but nothing further was found under it. In a garden near by a depression was noticed, and upon digging down the body of Dr. York was found buried, head down- ward, his feet being scarcely covered. His skull was smashed in, and his throat cut from ear to ear. On farther search seven more bodies were found. all of whom, except one, were afterwards identified by their friends, viz. : Loucher and his little girl, seven or eight years old. buried in one
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