History of Washtenaw County, Michigan : together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships...and biographies of representative citizens : history of Michigan, Part 22

Author: Chas. C. Chapman & Co
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : Chas. C. Chapman & Co.
Number of Pages: 1457

USA > Michigan > Washtenaw County > History of Washtenaw County, Michigan : together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships...and biographies of representative citizens : history of Michigan > Part 22

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ANN ARBOR .- Hiram J. Beakes, John L. Burleigh, Byron W. Cheever, Noah W. Cheever, Charles D. Colman, D. Cramer, Mr.

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Corbin, Frank Emerick, R. E. Frazer, Eugene K. Frueauff, Mary E. Foster, Alpheus Felch, James B. Gott, John N. Gott, Bradley F. Granger, William D. Harriman, Henry R. Hill, Zina P. King, Edward D. Kinne, A. W. Hamilton, Joel W. Hamilton, Edwin Lawrence, J. F. Lawrence, Patrick McKernan, A. McReynolds, James McMahon, Elijah W. Morgan, James H. Morris, O. L. Matthews, Frederick Pistorius, Tracy W. Root, A. J. Sawyer, J. C. Knowlton, John Q. A. Sessions, L. F. Wade, Henry C. Waldron, E. B. Gidley.

YPSILANTI .- E. P. Allen, J. W. Babbitt, D. C. Griffen, Albert Crane, S. M. Cutcheon, D. B. Greene, Franklin Hinckley, Fred A. Hunt, C. Joslyn, C. R. Whitman, Thomas Ninde, Howard Stephen- son, Clarence Tinker.

CHELSEA .- William E. Depew, David B. Taylor, George W. Turnbull, Michael Lehman.

DEXTER .- Alexander D. Crane, James T. Honey, James S. Gor- man.

MANCHESTER .- A. E. Hewett, A. F. Freeman, Ezra B. Norris. SALINE. - William B. Gildart, Frank E. Jones.

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CHAPTER IX.

DARK DEEDS.

Since Cain slew his brother Abel, murder has been rife in the land. Washtenaw county, although one of the most law-abiding places in the State and nation, has yet been disgraced with several cases in which blood has been shed. Neighbor has taken the life of a neighbor, husband of a wife. The law has sometimes reached the offender, and he has suffered for his misdeeds; at other times he has been permitted to go free through some technicality; others have never been discovered.

The first case was that of the

MURDER OF PATRICK DUNN.

On Monday morning, May 1, 1843, the village of Ann Arbor was thrown into quite an excitement over a report that a cool and deliberate murder had lately been committed. Patrick Dunn had just left his dwelling to commence his forenoon's work, when he was shot with a rifle in the hand of Charles Chorr, who took aim from the door of his own house. The ball entered his body just below the short-ribs, and passed through him diagonally. A quar- rel had been pending for some time between the two. Dunn had previously been indicted by the grand jury for an assault and bat- tery upon the person of Chorr, committed on June 21, 1842, which indictment was still pending. Chorr was immediately arrested and lodged in jail. Dunn survived about 29 hours and then expired. A coroner's inquest was held, the jury bringing in a verdict of willful murder. Chorr was tried at the'next term of court, the trial commencing on Wednesday, Nov. 15, and ending on Satur- day, November 25, when the jury brought in a verdict of " Guilty of murder in the first degree." Chorr was sentenced by Judge Witherell to be hung, and Gen. Edward Clark, who had command of the militia in that section, was asked to furnish a detachment to be present at the execution, but they were not needed, for a few days after the sentence Chorr escaped, and was never again heard from.

MURDER OF SIMON M. HOLDEN.

About 11 o'clock P. M., on Tuesday eve., Aug. 11, 1857, Simon M. Holden, of Ann Arbor, was waylaid near Chapin's furnace, and shot through the abdomen, and robbed of $500. Mr. Holden had been to Detroit, and received the money on board a ferry-boat; soon

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after, left on the late train for Ann Arbor, and when within a short distance of his residence, he was met by two men who demanded his money; he refused to give it up, when they seized him and succeeded in rifling his pockets. Mr. Holden made an outcry, when one of the ruffians said to the other, "Shoot him," and immediately the desperado fired, and, as has been said, the ball entered the abdomen, wounding the internal viscera. Mr. Holden lingered in great pain until 5 P. M. on Thursday evening, when death came to his relief. Robert Fuller, Esther Fuller and Frank M. Walker were indicted for the murder, by the grand jury, Sept. 11, 1857. Esther Fuller was not prosecuted, but the others were arraigned and duly tried, the jury finding them guilty. They were sentenced to the penitentiary for life. A motion for a new trial was made, and after they were taken to prison the case was taken to the Supreme Court, which body, in about one year after sentence, ordered a new trial. They were returned to Ann Arbor jail, but before court next convened they escaped from jail and were never re-captured.

MURDER OF HENRY CLAY.

On the first day of September, 1857, Jesse Prator and Henry Clay, both colored, got into a quarrel in the house of the former, when Prator shot Clay through the heart. After being shot the latter ran out of the house and fell dead in the middle of the street. Court was in session at the time. A. D. Crane, Prosecuting Attorney, was immediately summoned, and at once ordered an examination. A coroner's jury was impaneled, who found that Clay came to his death by the hands of Prator. The latter was arrested, tried, con- victed, and sentenced to ten years' hard labor in the penitentiary.

A DIABOLICAL DEED.

On the night of Oct. 22, 1857, there occurred in the city of Ann Arbor one of the most brutal murders on record. The name of the murdered persons were Mrs. Henrietta Wagner and her little son Oscar, aged three years. Mrs. Wagner owned a fancy goods store at No. 4 Washington street in that city. The murderer was Henry Wagner, the husband of the murdered woman, a person about 24 or 25 years of age, rather slight in form and build and a painter by trade. When found the next morning, the woman lay with her head pounded and cut in a ghastly manner, a pool of blood surrounding her, and her night clothes bespattered with the same, while a little to one side lay the weapon-a hatchet-which had done the terrible work. IIer little son Oscar was found in bed, with his head pounded in a like manner, having laid there welter- ing in his own blood for over eight hours. He was alive when discovered, but died shortly after. After committing the deed the man went to the jail and asked to stay all night, and was permitted

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to do so. On Monday afternoon, Coroner Peck held an inquest and the testimony brought out was as follows: It seems that Wagner and his wife had not been living very happily together for some time, and on the night in question Mrs. Wagner had retired, and Wag- ner, coming in, went to the bed and said " good night " and attempted to kiss her, but she resisted and said, "Go away; you are a crazy man and I can't live with a crazy man." He said, "Give me my money and I will go." She did not answer, and Wagner went and got the money and started to leave, when Mrs. Wagner said, "I will cut you in pieces before you go with that money." That enraged Wagner, who then took a hatchet from the wood-box and went toward her. She then called him a dog and told him to keep away. He then brandished the hatchet to frighten her, where- upon Mrs. Wagner and the child both cried "fire and murder," and she clutched him by the throat. He hit her accidentally, when she fell and said, "O my!" Wagner, seeing what he had done and thinking she could never get well, was seized with a desire to be rid of her forever, and struck her several times. He then left the house and went to the jail. IIe said on trial he did not remember of striking the boy at all. The jury returned a verdict that Mrs. Wagner came to her death as here stated, and bound Wagner over to the next term of Circuit Court, where he was tried before a jury of good and honest men, found guilty, and sentenced to the peniten- tiary for life.

MURDER OF MRS. LUCY WASHBURN.

On Monday evening, May 22, 1860, Mrs. Lucy Washburn, wife of G. W. Washburn, of Ypsilanti, was found at the foot of the cellar stairs in her dwelling, dead. Upon discovery of the body an examination was made. The dress and hair of the deceased were somewhat disarranged; one of her shoes was found in a bed- room, the other she had on her foot; there were appearances of blood about the nose and mouth, and marks as of the grasp of a hand on the throat and neck, and some other immaterial bruises. In the bed-room spoken of there were two beds. One of them was disarranged, and on the under side of the tick of the feather bed were found spots of apparently fresh blood, and there were appear. ances about the room that indicated that a struggle had taken place. Mr. Washburn, the husband of the dead woman, was a butcher by trade, and somewhat addicted to the use of liquor. He had not been living with his wife for some time, but had been down to see her frequently, and at the time of her death had commenced an action for divorce. When found he was in his room at the hotel, asleep, or in bed. A jury was impaneled by Justice Cook, of that city, by direction of whom a post-mortem examination was made by Drs. Ashley and Post. The jury rendered a verdict of "death by violence from some person or persons to them unknown."

Mr. Washburn was afterward arrested, tried, found guilty, and recommended to the mercy of the court by the jury.

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HISTORY OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

PROBABLE MURDER.

On Wednesday morning, Nov. 6, 1861, at an early hour, John Innes was found lying dead on the sidewalk in front of Maynard, Stebbins & Wilson's store, in the city of Ann Arbor. An exami- nation of his body showed he came to his death by a single wound just over the left temple, a gash about one and a half inches long and cut to the skull. A whisky bottle was found lying near the body. It was supposed that the gash was made by a dull hatchet, or more probably by the edge of a board or a club, and that death was caused by concussion; but on impaneling a coroner's jury, which was done at once, the following facts were brought to light: It seems that Innes had been working, during the summer, on a farm in Northfield or Salem township, and for the last few weeks had been in the city of Ann Arbor "on a spree," and that on the fatal night had left the grocery of Edward Earl, on Ann Arbor street, about 10 p. M., in company with Barnard Harkins, both being very much intoxicated; that on their way to obtain lodgings, and in front of Maynard, Stebbins & Wilson's store, Innes had fallen and struck his head on some hard substance, cutting the temporal artery, and that his death ensued from the wound, loss of blood, and exposure. He died between one o'clock that night and six o'clock next morning. The above facts were vouched for by all the jurors except one, who thought that foul play had been the cause of his death. There is no doubt but whisky was the main cause of this accident.

MURDER OF HENRY FELDMAN.

On the third day of March, 1862, Chester O. Arnold killed Henry Feldman, at Ypsilanti. A quarrel arose between them about a woman, when Arnold killed the latter with an ax. IIe was tried and sentenced to two years in the penitentiary.

MURDER OF JOHN C. DEPEW.

A brutal murder occurred near Chelsea in September, 1863, John C. Depew being killed by some unknown person. Henry B. Cleveland was arrested, and in December following was tried and sentenced to the State's prison for life. He served but two or three years, when he was pardoned by the Governor, there being grave doubts of his guilt. (An account of the murder will be found in the history of Chelsea.)

MURDER OF WILLIAM S. BENTLEY.

On the night of Jan. 17, 1863, William S. Bentley, of Dexter village, was killed by John Roche, of the same place. A pre- liminary examination was held, and the evidence showed that an altercation ensued between Bentley and Roche, growing out of cards

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and whisky; that they finally came to blows, and clinched, the scuffle shifting from a table to a lounge or bed, and thence to the floor; that Bentley was much the heavier man, and had the better of Roche, being on top, choking and bruising him; that Roche called to the bystanders for relief or help; that Bentley said " God him! I'll kill him;" that a knife, which was recognized as belong- ing to Roche, was seen to fall on the floor between the parties; that they were separated, and Bentley threw himself on the lounge, saying that he was wounded: that the affray took place between ten and eleven o'clock at night; that a physician arrived about nine the next morning, partially dressed the wound, which was in the abdo- men, and from which the intestines, in volume sufficient to fill a peck measure, in their strangulated and inflamed condition, pro- truded; and that Bentley died in about a quarter of an hour after the wound was dressed.

These were the main facts elicited at this examination, and Roche was therefore bound over to await the action of the grand jury.

At the next term of the Circuit Court, which convened at Ann Arbor, in March, Roche was tried, found guilty and sentenced to pay a fine of twenty-five dollars.

MURDER OF MR. SHERMAN.

On Christmas day, 1866, Mr. Sherman had John Shorey arrested on account of some difficulty. When released the latter repaired to the store of Mr. Sherman, in the fifth ward, Ann Arbor, when the difficulty was renewed. Mr. Shorey struck Mr. Sherman a blow with a stool, which caused his death a few days after. Shorey was arrested, tried and found guilty of murder in the second degree. He was sentenced to State's prison for twenty years.

MURDER OF MARTIN BREITENBACH.

On Saturday, Aug. 2, 1869, a difficulty arose between Edward H. Bycraft, George Bycraft, Walter Metcalf, George Metcalf, Henry Marsh, Elisha Marsh, Evan Marsh and Ezra Marsh with Martin Breitenbach, by which the latter lost his life from injuries inflicted by one or more of the aforegoing named. Indictments were found by the jury against each, but nolle prosegui entered as to George Bycraft and George Metcalf. The remainder were tried Nov. 25, 1869, found guilty and recommended to the mercy of the court. A small fine was assessed against each of the parties found guilty but Ezra Marsh, who was sentenced to one year in the penitentiary.

MURDER OF BRYAN.

In the fall of 1869, George Knisely and Bryan got into a quarrel over some trivial matter near the opera house, Ann Arbor, but

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were separated by friends. They again met near the depot, when the quarrel was resumed, and Knisely struck Byran with a pocket- knife, the blade entering the heart. Strange as it may seem, Bryan walked to the square before death ensued. Knisely was arrested, and at the October term, 1869, of the Circuit Court, was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to eight years in the penitentiary.

KILLING OF GEORGE COLEMAN.

On Friday, Feb. 3, 1871, George Wood and George Coleman, both in the employ of John W. Cowan, of Sharon, got into a quar- rel, when Wood struck Coleman two blows upon the head with a club or heavy cane, killing him almost instantly. Wood claimed that Coleman assaulted him with an ax, and that he acted in self- defense. An examination was held before Justice Goodyear, of Manchester, and Wood was bound over to the Circuit Court. His trial came up on Feb. 12, and on Tuesday, A. M., the jury returned a verdict of not guilty. As there was no dispute as to the homi- cide, the jury held the act to have been committed in self-defense. The prisoner was therefore discharged from custody.

KILLING OF HIRAM B. WARREN.

On Tuesday, Sept. 30, 1873, there occurred a most distressing accident in the township of Salem, in which Hiram B. Warren, aged 30, was shot and killed by Henry Warren, a half-witted boy, aged 18, and a cousin of the murdered man. The facts gained at the trial were, that the men, with a hired boy, were in the corn-field at work, when Henry came up behind Hiram within six feet, and when intending to shoot over Hiram's head to scare him, the gun (being loaded only with a large charge of powder and wad) + slipped, the muzzle falling part way down, and going off, blowing Hiram's brains out. This was the second attempt of the same kind to " scare " Hiram that he had made the same forenoon. Henry was tried at the next term of the Circuit Court, found guilty, and sentenced to the House of Correction for one and a half years.

MURDER OF RICHARD FLANNARY.

Richard Flannary, proprietor of a saloon on the southwest corner of Main and Catharine streets, Ann Arbor, was so badly injured in a row in his own saloon, on Friday evening, Oct. 30, 1874, that he died the following Sunday night.

The facts obtained at the coroner's inquest summed up are as follows: On the night of Oct. 30 several men were in the saloon, among them, Joseph Audett, Hiram Pickard, Peter Hanlon, John Norton and two strangers. Pickard was moving around, very drunk at the time, and for no cause, struck one of the strangers in the face. Flannary and a man named Holliday told Pickard it

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" was too bad to strike a man that way," so Pickard walked up and shook hands with the stranger, begged his pardon and moved off. Soon after Pickard told Hanlon to pay Flannary the ten cents he owed him, when Hanlon said he did not owe anything. Pickard then knocked Hanlon down, and was told by Flannary to leave the house. Pickard said he would go when he got ready, and then . Flannary put his hand on Pickard's collar, and said, " You must go now." Pickard offered resistance, and John Flannary came to his brother's assistance. The two got Pickard between the screen and the door, when a man named Jethro Maybe jumped up and started toward them. The man Holliday told Maybe to "leave them alone." Maybe then grasped John Flannary and pulled him away, leaving Pickard in the hands of Richard Flannary. Holliday took hold of Maybe and pulled him away from John Flannary. Maybe picked up a chair and Holliday said, " Don't strike me with that." Then Maybe passed behind the stove, and when near to Richard Flannary, raised the chair and struck Flannary a tremendous blow on top of the head, crushing in the skull. Flannary fell to the floor senseless. Flannary was then taken to his home and Dr. Smith called in, who was in attendance till his death, which occurred the Sunday evening following. Flannary lay in a comatose con- dition from the time of the blow till his death. Dr. Smith, assisted by Dr. Leiter, held a post-mortem examination on the body, and Dr. Smith said, " In my opinion the fracture of the skull and result- ing hemorrhage and pressure upon the brain by the clot caused death," Dr. Leiter agreeing with him in this opinion.

The coroner's jury gave the following verdict: "That the deceased, Richard Flannary, came to his death by a blow from a chair in the hands of Jethro Maybe, on the night of Friday, the 30th of October, 1874; and further, that Hiram Pickard was present and assisted, aided, and abetted in the assault."

Flannary had not been in the saloon business very long, and was said to have been a quiet and inoffensive man. He left a wife and three small children to mourn his sudden death.

Complaint was filed Nov. 23, 1874, and indictment found. The case was placed on trial March 9, and continued three days. The jury failed to agree, and the prisoners were remanded to jail. On the 22d of Sept., 1875, the case was again called, and the trial pro- ceeded with, lasting two days. A verdict of guilty of manslaughter was rendered, and Maybe sentenced to the State's prison for one year.

MURDER OF LUDWIG MILLER.

On Tuesday night, Ang. 10, 1875, Ludwig Miller was murdered in cold blood by Lyman Burkhardt, a 15-year-old lad who was working for him on his farm in the township of Scio. The young man confessed to the foul deed, claiming he did it for revenge, on account of a whipping administered to him by Miller. From the evidence it appears Miller was asleep by the side of his wife when

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young Burkhardt entered their room, placed the gun over Mrs. Miller's head, pulling the trigger, sending the soul of Miller into eternity. On his trial before Judge Crane, in September following, the youth acknowledged the truth of his first statement before the coroner, and evinced no sorrow for the crime. He was sentenced to State's prison for life.

MURDER OF MR. RUMSEY.

George Henning, in the fall of 1876, was in the employ of Mr. Rumsey, of Dexter, and in a dispute on the settlement of his claim for labor, kicked Rumsey in the groin, causing death in a few days. Henning, at the March term, 1877, plead guilty to manslaughter, andwas sentenced to four years in the State's prison.

SHOOTING OF WILLIAM BATEY.

On Friday morning, March 30, 1877, George Cook, of Saline, shot William B. Batey, of the same place, injuring him so that he died the following day. The cause of the fatal act was that Batey had caused some trouble in the neighborhood a few weeks before, for which he was confined in jail but was released, and on Thursday he took Miss Sarah Cook, a girl aged 17, and went to Stony Creek, intending to marry her; but not finding a preacher, they returned to Saline, and she spent the night at Mr. Batey's, father of William B. In the morning she went over to her mother's, who was a very respectable widow lady, after her clothing, saying she was going to be married to Batey that day, Friday, at 10 o'clock. Her mother protested, but her entreaties were unavailing, and Sarah started to go, when her brother, George Cook, who had by this time become thoroughly exasperated, said she should never marry Batey; and taking his rifle, started out just ahead of his sister, who, as she left, said, " Good-bye, mother; I am not coming back to live with you any more." She started for Batey's one way, and her brother another, the house being distant about half a mile. Batey was seen coming from Edward Ardell's when Cook's sister told him to "run, for her brother was going to shoot him;" whereupon he started to run, when Cook, who was about twenty rods away, fired and shot him in the abdomen, about two inches below the navel, the ball passing through the intestines and lodging in the spinal column. Batey immediately cried out " I am shot," and went into his father's house. He lingered until Saturday morning, when he expired. Cook, after shooting Batey, went up to the justice's office and gave himself up, waived examination, and was let out on bail, but after Batey's death was taken to Ann Arbor and lodged in jail to await trial. The case came up at the next term of court, and Cook was found guilty of manslaughter, on Nov. 9 of same year, but the case was carried to the Supreme Court of the State, who after mature deliberation reaffirmed the decision of the lower court,

Larrin Mills

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HISTORY OF WASHTENAW COUNTY.

and Cook was therefore sentenced by the presiding judge to seven years' hard labor in the State's prison.

HORRIBLE MURDER.

On Sunday, at about 11 A. M., Jan. 20, 1878, the little village of Dexter was thrown into terrible excitement, through a rumor that one Thomas O'Grady had been brutally murdered and mutilated by a colored man named W. H. Morand, in the timber about one mile below that place. The rumor proved to be a sad truth, and not long after the body of the unfortunate man was brought to the vil- lage a coroner's inquest was held, and the principal facts given are as follows: The man Morand had leased a little piece of land in Culli- nane's timber near Dexter, and had been living there for about two months. His hut was near the Michigan Central railroad track, and was made of saplings bent down and covered over with earth and brush. The boys in Dexter had found out he lived there, and on Sundays used to go up and chat awhile with him. On the day in question, Thomas O'Grady, Steve Cavanaugh, Thomas Mc- Laughlin, Dan Cunningham and others-in all eight in number -- had gone down from the village to see the man, and have a little fun with him. They arrived there, and commenced to fool around his humble abode, when he cautioned them to desist, but they still continued their sport, and one was so bold as to lay a large log against the door. This made Morand mad and he came out of the hut and picking up an ax struck a blow at Cavanaugh, who was the one nearest. Cavanaugh warded off the blow, and at the same time O'Grady said, " Don't be afraid, I'll fix him," or words to that effect, and pulling a revolver, fired in the air close to Morand's head, sim- ply to make him desist his murderous intentions. This enraged

Morand still more, and he struck again, this time at O'Grady, and felled him to the earth. The other boys were so paralyzed with hor- ror, that they ran in all directions. O'Grady -- though stunned by the blow-heard them and said, " For God's sake, boys, don't leave me." O'Grady was then on his knees in a stooping position, and

as soon . as he had said this, the negro struck him a second blow, which killed him instantly. With fiendish glee, he raised the bloody ax and dealt him two more blows, entirely mashing his skull, and mutilating his head in a fearful manner. He then took the dead body and carried it 10 or 15 feet and threw it over a fence into a ditch on the other side. The alarm was given imme- diately by O'Grady's companions, and his wife, being one of the first to hear of it, was soon on the spot, and found the negro trying to bury the fatal weapon that had performed the bloody work. Morand then walked toward the village, and meeting a couple of officers on the way, gave himself up. The officer, thinking that violence might be done him, took him to Ann Arbor the same evening. On the Wednesday following the prosecuting attorney questioned him in the presence of witnesses, drawing out the fact that he believed him-

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History of Washtenaw County, Michigan : together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships...and biographies of representative citizens : history of Michigan, Part 22

Author: Chas. C. Chapman & Co Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago : Chas. C. Chapman & Co. Number of Pages: 1457

Author: Chas. C. Chapman & Co
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : Chas. C. Chapman & Co.
Number of Pages: 1457