USA > Missouri > Buchanan County > St Joseph > History of Buchanan County and St. Joseph, Mo. : from the time of the Platte purchase to the end of the year 1915 biographical sketches of noted citizens, living and dead > Part 23
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50
207
BUCHANAN COUNTY AND ST. JOSEPH
to give shelter to his brother Robert, commonly called "Bob." These two worthies only awaited a favorable opportunity. This came on the morning of April 3, 1882. Bob Ford assisted Mrs. James in the housework, while Charley Ford assisted James in the stable. The morning chores accomplished, the three men entered the front room, leaving Mrs. James in the kitchen to prepare dinner. James opened the front door. He remarked that if the people in the street saw him heavily armed they might become suspicious, and he there- upon removed his belt and pistols, throwing them upon a bed. Then he mounted a chair and began to dust a picture that hung against the wall. This was the first time in their long association that the Ford boys had seen James off his guard. He was unarmed and his back was turned. Simultaneously they grasped the situation, and drew their pistols. The click of the trigger caused James to turn his head slightly, but in that instant Bob fired and James fell back- ward to the floor a corpse. The bullet entered the back of his head near the right ear.
The Fords replaced their revolvers in their belts and hastily left the house, going to the Western Union Telegraph office, where they at once wired Governor Crittenden, as well as Sheriff Timber- lake of Clay County and the marshal of Kansas City, that they had killed Jesse James. Thence they went in search of City Marshal Enos Craig, but he had heard of the affair and had gone to the scene of the tragedy. They then secured the protection of a policeman and returned to the house. Meeting the officials, they imparted the fact that they had done the shooting, at the same time disclosing the identity of the victim. They requested to be taken into custody, which was done. Subsequently Mrs. James swore out a warrant charging them with the murder ;of her husband.
The body of James was buried at Kearney in Clay County, the family home.
Judge O. M. Spencer, who was state's attorney for Buchanan County at that time, insisted upon prosecuting the Fords. They were indicted for murder in the first degree, and, upon arraignment before Judge Sherman, on April 18, 1882, pleaded guilty to the charge. Judge Sherman sentenced them to be hanged on May 19th. On April 19th a pardon, signed by Governor Crittenden, arrived and the Fords were released. They were at once re-arrested by an officer from Ray County and taken to Richmond to answer to the charge of having murdered one Wood Hite. Of this they were also cleared.
The reward of $10,000, which had been offered by express and railroad companies that had been troubled by the depredations of the James gang, was paid over to the Fords, and they lived in de- bauchery until they perished-Charley as a suicide and Bob by a pistol ball in a Colorado dance hall.
April, 1882, was replete with sensations in St. Joseph. While the incidents in connection with the killing of Jesse James were
208
BUCHANAN COUNTY AND ST. JOSEPH
being discussed in every household, on every street corner, and even in the pulpit, the startling information was imparted that the city treasury of St. Joseph had been robbed. The first intimation the officers or citizens had of such a condition of affairs was conveyed by wire from New York in a telegram dated April 8, 3:50 p. m., received by John S. Lemon and Charles W. Campbell, and sent by Robert W. Donnell, formerly of St. Joseph, then a banker of New York and fiscal agent of the city. The telegram was brief, stating that Pinkerton detectives had arrested two men, giving their names as Irwin and Fish, both of St. Joseph, who were trying to dispose of 4 per cent funding bonds of the city of St. Joseph to the amount of $100,000.
Messrs. Lemon and Campbell, being members of the finance committee of the city council, immediately caused a hasty examina- tion of the city register's office to be made, and it was discovered that bonds numbered 901 to 1,000, inclusive, were missing. During the afternoon and evening a number of telegrams were exchanged, and at a special session of the city council that evening an oppro- priation was made to send a delegation to New York City to inves- tigate the matter. Mayor J. A. Piner, Register James H. Ringo and Marshal Enos Craig were selected. The delegates at once left the city, Marshal Craig going to Jefferson City for requisition papers. From the tenor of the dispatches immediate action on the part of St. Joseph officials was necessary, as efforts were being made there to release the bond thieves. It appears that these men had been in New York for over a week, endeavoring to dispose of the bonds. Their actions and liberal offers excited suspicion, although the bonds were pronounced genuine by the city's financial agent. They claimed that they had secured the bonds from a man in Mis- souri, but the story was doubted, and Mr. Donnell expressed the opinion that if the having the bonds in their possession were not guilty of theft they were acting as an agent of a disreputable city official at St. Joseph.
A new city administration having now assumed control, with F. M. Posegate as mayor, it was deemed advisable to send Thos. H. Ritchie, the newly-elected city marshal, to New York City to aid in securing and bringing back to St. Joseph the bond thieves. Upon the arrival of the St. Joseph parties in New York the prisoners were turned over to Marshal Ritchie and ex-Marshal Craig, while the bonds were placed into the custody of Mr. Donnell. It was dis- covered that $4,000 of the coupons attached to the bonds were miss- ing. The man who gave the name of Fish when arrested proved to be W. W. Scott, who was engaged in the roofing business while here.
Register Ringo submitted to an interview while in New York, in which he said: "It was one of the coolest burglaries ever com- mitted in St. Joseph. The bond were lying on a little bench in the vault, a large pile of them, and the robber or robbers would have to turn the pile over, which was done, they taking the lower part of them, and a robbery would not have been suspected unless it became necessary to count all of the bonds. These men must have watched
209
BUCHANAN COUNTY AND ST. JOSEPH
me and taken an impression of the keys, as no person has a key except myself and the chairman of the finance committee."
Scott and Irwin were brought back to St. Joseph, tried and acquitted.
The jewelry store of Saxton & Hendrick, then located on the north side of Felix street, between Fifth and Sixth streets, was robbed of jewelry to the value of $4,000 at about 6:30 o'clock on the. evening of April 23, 1885. Four men entered the store. One en- gaged the only salesman present, Alfred E. Daniels ; the other three sneaked behind the counters, robbed the show cases of gold watches, diamonds and other jewelry, and escaped. No arrests were ever made, nor was the property recovered.
The murder of Col. J. W. Strong and Dr. S. A. Richmond, on June 18, 1886, shocked the community. Colonel Strong, who had been prominently identified with public enterprises in St. Joseph, was at that time publisher of The Herald, the office being located at the southwest corner of Sixth and Edmond streets. Dr. Richmond was the proprietor of a patent medicine. He had failed in business and had previously created a sensation by mysteriously disappear- ing and having himself "discovered" in Chicago. On the morning of June 29, Colonel Strong was in his office, on the first floor of The Herald building. Richmond came up in a carriage, alighted and walked rapidly into Colonel Strong's presence. Without a word he fired three shots from a pistol into Colonel Strong's body. Death resulted in a few minutes. Richmond was tried and the jury found that he was insane at the time the deed was committed. He was sent to Asylum No. 2, from which he escaped. For many years he lived in Illinois, no effort having ever been made to return him to the asylum.
A bold daylight robbery occurred on the afternoon of Saturday, February 21, 1891. W. T. Kershaw, paymaster at the McDonald overall factory, in the Patee building, arrived with a sack of money, amounting to $1,600, to pay the employes. As he entered the vesti- bule he saw a man bearing a parcel wrapped in paper, who was apparently waiting for someone. The man proved to be robber and the parcel a club. He struck Mr. Kershaw upon the head. A strug- gle ensued in which Mr. Kershaw was worsted, being stunned by the blow. The robber had an accomplice ready with a horse and buggy. They drove rapidly away, and though given a hot chase, escaped. No clew was ever found to them or the money.
*
Train robberies were quite common in the vicinity of St. Jo -. seph some years ago. A plan to rob a train on the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs railroad was formulated in September of 1893. A point in the vicinity of Roy's Branch, about one mile:
210
BUCHANAN COUNTY AND ST. JOSEPH
north of the city, was selected for the scene of operations. Those implicated in the plot were N. A. Hearst, Charles Fredericks, Wil- liam Garver, Fred Kohler, Henry Gleitze and Hugo Engel. Some days previous to the attempt the railroad officials had received pointers. Superintendent Hohl, having learned that the attempt was to be made on the night of September 23, so arranged that the train marked by the robbers was enabled to slip by. The robbers then arranged for Sunday night, September 25. The railroad offi- cials were again informed, and in connection with Chief of Police Broder and Sheriff Charles W. Carson, again arranged to frustrate the attempt. The two officers each furnished a quota of men. Those in the police squad were Sergeant J. Fred Henry, Patrolmen John Roach, Robert Maney, Daniel Shea, E. L. Keiffer, John Kendrick, John L. Claiborne, Charles S. Scott, John H. Martin, George W. Hays, Jeff Carson, William Halley, Ed Long and Wm. H. Rice. Sheriff Carson was accompanied by Deputy Sheriff John Brown. T. H. Ritchie, General Manager Brown and Superintendent Hohl were also of the party.
Instead of sending out the regular train, for fear of endanger- ing the lives of passengers, a dummy train, an exact counterpart of the regular, was dispatched, the two rear coaches being darkened to give them the appearance of sleepers. The armed men were mostly placed in the baggage car. To make it appear that a large amount of baggage was on board, empty boxes were taken on at the Francis Street depot. The train was in charge of Conductor Jake Harden- stein. W. L. Wright was engineer and Victor Wise fireman.
There were several traitors in the robbers' camp. Prior to the attempt, Hearst, Frederick and Garver had agreed with the officers that as soon as firing began they were to fall down flat on the ground and to remain unmolested. This plan was carried out to the letter. When the train arrived at Roy's Branch bridge a red light appeared on the track and a signal was given to stop. The train stopped, and as it did so the bandits were discovered, all heavily armed, ranged along the side of the track. Beside their guns, they were supplied with dynamite and fuse. Kohler, who seemed to be the leader, in company with Henry Gleitze, rushed up to the engi- neer and fireman, covered them with revolvers, and ordered them to climb down and open the express car door. They obeyed with alacrity. When the door was reached, Kohler, with an oath, de- manded that the door be opened, threatening at the same time to blow the inmates up with dynamite. Those inside obeyed, and when Kohler saw the head of a man he fired at it. The police then fired a volley and Kohler fell backward to the ground. Although badly wounded in a number of places he kept shooting until his revolver was empty. The other bandits, except those who gave the scheme away, also continued shooting, and soon Hugo Engel went down with his body full of bullets. Henry Gleitze made his escape, while ยท the accomplices were made prisoners.
Gleitze was arrested the next day. He was arraigned at the December term of court. The grand jury had indicted him for an
211
BUCHANAN COUNTY AND ST. JOSEPH
attempt to rob R. E. Calicotte, who acted as express messenger, of a watch valued at $25, and not for an attempt to rob an express train, the train being a dummy and not an express. The prisoner was allowed, by agreement, to plead guilty, and was sentenced to two years in the penitentiary. Garver, Fredericks and Hearst were not prosecuted.
At about 6:40 p. m. on January 10, 1894, the Chicago fast train, better known as the "Eli," on the Burlington system, was held up about four miles east of the city by five men. As the train reached the summit of the heavy grade a torpedo on the track warned Engineer Gross that something was wrong, and almost at the same instant a red light in the hands of one of the bandits was swung in front of the train. This caused the engineer to immedi- ately apply the airbrakes and stop the train. He was promptly cov- ered with revolvers. The robbers ordered the engineer and fireman to accompany them to the express car, which they did. Messenger G. B. Wetzel, in charge of Adams Express Company's safe, being covered with revolvers, opened the car door and also the safe. The robbers secured all the valuables therein contained. They also took the mail pouches. Having secured what booty they desired, they ordered the engineer and fireman to resume their respective places. The passenger were warned to secrete their treasures by Conductor Frank Murray, but this was unnecessary.
*
At an early hour Thursday morning, January 18, 1894, five men, presumably those who figured in the foregoing case, robbed passenger train No. 3 on the K. C., St. J. & C. B. railroad at Roy's Branch. In less than five minutes from the time the train halted the express car had been looted and the bandits disappeared. Ex- press Messenger C. E. Baxter was powerless, and was compelled to stand and witness one of the three men in the car hand the booty to his pals, who placed the parcels in sacks, after which they departed.
The torpedo and red lantern were the means employed to halt the train. The mail coach in this instance was not molested, neither were the passengers. The firing of a number of shots by the ban- dits warned the postal clerks and passengers that something was wrong, whereat the clerks fastened all the doors of their car and hid under the pouches, while the passengers kept inside the coaches and were busy in secreting their money and jewelry.
Th job being completed, the trainmen were stood in line on the west side of the track and the robbers took to the willows. Instead of pursuing its course, the train backed down to the Francis street. depot, when the railroad and county officials were notified of the robbery. Investigation proved that the men did not remain in the willows, but returned to the city, two of them riding in a buggy, while three walked. The vehicle was tracked for some distance. A notorious character named Pat Crowe pleaded guilty to complicity in this robbery and was sent to the penitentiary for two years.
212
BUCHANAN COUNTY AND ST. JOSEPH
The fourth attempt to rob a train in this vicinity was made on the night of March 2, 1894, the St. Joseph hill, three miles east of the city, being selected as the place and passenger train No. 18 on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific being the victim. The same plan was adopted by the bandits as had been successfully carried out in the two last escapades-the torpedo and the red lantern. The engi- neer, J. D. Mckinney, slowed up his train when he observed the danger signal, but when he looked out and saw the armed and masked men, he pulled the throttle wide open and ran the train through. While the train was in rapid motion the engineer was commanded to halt the train, but instead he dodged down in the cab, at the same time calling to the fireman to do the same thing. An examination, when the train reached Stockbridge, showed that the robbers had shot to kill, as the windows of the cab were broken and five bullets were buried in the woodwork near the spot where the engineer's head would have been had he not dodged.
A Burlington train, southbound, was robbed on the night of August 11, 1898, a short distance north of Francis Street station, about 9 o'clock, by five boys-James Hathaway, William Hathaway, Charles Cook, Alonzo Arterburn and Herbert Donovan. Part of them had been employed as messengers by a local telegraph com- pany, and the dime novels they read told of daring exploits by ban- dits. They took the safe from the express car, but were scared away by an approaching freight train, and secured no booty. The boys were arrested and punished.
On the night of September 3, 1903, the Denver express of the Burlington road, southbound, was stopped at Dillon Creek, near the waterworks, by four masked men, who blew open the express com- pany's safe and secured booty valued at $40,000. They have not yet been caught.
One of the most brutal crimes that the history of Buchanan county records is the murder of Mrs. Sarah Gay, wife of George Gay, a farmer living near Taos, November 23, 1904. While her husband was engaged in the cornfield, Mrs. Gay was bound hand and foot, and her throat cut in a shocking manner. Cassius W. Brown, an aged negro with a prison record, who was seen near the house shortly before the crime, was arrested and tried four times. He was twice convicted, but the case was reversed by the supreme court because of trivial technicalities. Brown was finally given his liberty.
Paul P. Druckmiller, a government inspector at the packing plants, was fatally shot in the bank, April 1, 1915, by Grace V. Vest, at her home on South Fourth street. Her subsequent trial and acquittal of first degree murder attracted much attention at the time.
213
BUCHANAN COUNTY AND ST. JOSEPH
James M. Sego, a wealthy farmer in the southern part of the county was shot and killed on the streets of Winthrop, March 24, 1906. John R. Crook and his son Willie were arrested, charged with the crime. It appears that Sego objected to young Crook's attentions to his daughter.
Thomas Harris, a street car conductor, fatally cut the throat of his sweetheart, Madeline Rowbotham, at the entrance to Krug Park, Sunday afternoon, July 13, 1913. He is now serving a life sentence for the crime.
On the afternoon of January 19, 1915, the office of the Aunt Jemima Mill Company, Second and Edmond streets, was held up by a lone robber. The money with which the employes were to be paid in a few hours, amounting to $1,085, was secured. Joe Miller, Irene Smith and F. F. Hotchkiss were arrested for the crime, and subse- quent confessions indicated that Miller was the robber. He was taken to the mill in a buggy believed to have been driven by the Smith woman. A short time before this robbery, D. Godsey, a saloon keeper on Frederick avenue, was held up, and when he showed signs of resisting, was shot dead. Miller was tried for this crime and given a life sentence.
CHAPTER XXIII.
LEGAL EXECUTIONS-OTIS JENNINGS, THE FIRST MAN TO DIE UPON THE SCAFFOLD IN BUCHANAN COUNTY -- EXECUTION OF GREEN, THE SLAVE, AND OF WIL- LIAM LINVILLE-JOSEPH LANIER TAKEN FROM ST. JOSEPH TO SAVANNAH AND SHOT-HANGING OF A. J. BOWZER AND HENRY GRIFFIN-JACKSON JEFFER- SON PUBLICLY SHOT-GREEN WILLIS, A NEGRO HANGED FOR MURDER-THE EXECUTION OF JOHN GRABLE -EXECUTION OF PETER HRONEK, THE FIRST PRIVATE HANGING IN THE COUNTY-LOUIS BULLING HANGED AT SAVANNAH-EXECUTION OF JOE BURRIES AND JIM POLLARD.
The first legal execution to take place in Buchanan County was that of Augustus Otis Jennings, which occurred on September 2, 1853. Sheriff Joseph B. Smith was the executioner, a scafford hav- ing been erected southeast of the Patee House.
Jennings and three others had murdered Edward E. Willard. The others were Wm. Langston, - - Jones and Anderson, but none of them suffered the extreme penalty of the law except Jen- nings. Langston was convicted of complicity, sentenced to the penitentiary, but was subsequently pardoned by Governor Robert M. Stewart. Of the others, the records only show that a change of venue was taken to neighboring counties.
The murder of Willard, which occurred on July 27, 1852, in the brush north of the city, the location being at present in the corpor- ate limits, was most atrocious. The victim was a man of family, a carpenter by trade, and also an auctioneer. He became indebted to the parties named above, and to others, and a supposition was en- tertained that he was about to leave the country. These men, solely, it seems, with the idea of extorting the money from him-he claim- ing to have money buried in the woods adjacent to a graveyard- took him to the brush. They were amply prepared, having in their possession rope, a pair of handcuffs and a cowhide. Upon arriving at the point where it was said the money was secreted, Willard was threatened with torture provided the money was not forthcoming. Willard, according to the confession of Jennings, seemed to be indifferent, and finally declared he had no money. Upon this admis- sion, Langston, who took a leading part in the affair, commanded Willard to remove his shirt, which he did. They placed handcuffs upon him, and with a rope, procured by Jennings, the victim was bound to a tree and the cowhide and switches applied until life was extinct.
215
BUCHANAN COUNTY AND ST. JOSEPH
Arrests followed, and Jennings made a full confession, detail- ing all the events connected with it. His trial resulted in a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree within thirty minutes after the evidence was given to the jury. An appeal was taken to the supreme court of the state, which tribunal sustained the action of the lower court. Many friends, among whom were Revs. Vande- venter and Boyakin, interceded with Governor Sterling Price in his behalf, but without avail.
Sheriff Smith summoned Captain Hughes of the Robidoux Grays, the only militia organization in the city, to escort the pro- cession to the scaffold to preserve order. About 8,000 people were present at the execution. The prisoner firmly ascended the scaf- fold, expressed the hope that he would die easy, and also a firm faith in Christ. Contrary to his hope, however, he struggled long and died hard.
In the early part of July, 1859, a young negro slave, who had been purchased in the section of country northeast of St. Joseph, killed Francis Marion Wright, a slave buyer, who was bringing him to St. Joseph. Green was tried, convicted and sentenced to hang. The execution took place on December 2, 1859. Jonathan M. Bassett was state's attorney and Judge Elijah Norton was on the bench. Michael Morgan was sheriff and executioner, with Wash Brown and Sam D. Cowan assistants.
It appears that while en route to the city in a buggy, the negro, by some means, came into possession of a pistol belonging to Wright, shot him through the head, the wound proving fatal at once. The deed was committed on the road running through a heavy body of timber between Rochester and St. Joseph. Wright's corpse remained in the buggy and in a short time the horse, with its ghastly burden, swerved from the main road and stopped at the residence of Thomas Hubbard, in the vicinity. The alarm was given and it was soon learned who was the guilty party.
December 2, 1859, was a cold and bleak day, but notwithstand- ing that fact a large number of curious spectators gathered at Fowler's Grove, south of the city, to witness the execution. A rude scaffold had been erected, four poles having been, sunk into the frozen ground and a rickety platform placed thereon. Among those who mounted the insecure structure were Sheriff Morgan, Deputy Wash Brown, Rev. Fackler, who conducted religious services, and several physicians. The Emmet Guards, under Daniel T. Lysaght, formed an escort from the jail.
The executioner was a bungler. When the trap was sprung the condemned man secured a hold upon the rope, and braced him- self against the side of the trap with his elbows. Sheriff Morgan pried the victim loose, and after admonishing him to "behave like a gentleman," forced his body through the trap.
Green cared little for this life or for future existence. He was a great lover of the good things of the earth. especially of liquor
216
BUCHANAN COUNTY AND ST. JOSEPH
and eatables. Several physicians in the city took a fancy to him and gratified his every want. When those who had buried the body in the county cemetery, north of the city, were returning they met the physicians en route to the graveyard. Green had sold his body to them.
One dark night in July, 1863, a number of men, said to have belonged to Joe Hart's gang of bushwhackers, entered the home of a man by the name of Burns, in Andrew County. During an alterca- tion which ensued, George Henry, son-in-law of Burns, was killed, Burns and another man were wounded, and the marauders escaped. Subsequently a young man by the name of William Linville, only nineteen years of age, was apprehended as one of the gang, and charged with the murder. The military authorities had possession of the city and surrounding country, but young Linville was, from some reason or other, turned over to the state authorities for trial. Judge Silas Woodson was on the circuit court bench at that time, having control of civil as well as criminal cases. A trial was held in September, and on the 29th of the same month a verdict of mur- der in the first degree was returned. Sentence of death upon the gallows was at once imposed, and Friday, November 6, set for the day of execution.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.