USA > Missouri > Mercer County > History of Harrison and Mercer Counties, Missouri : from the earliest times to the present : together with sundry personal, business, and professional sketches and family records : besides a condensed history of the State of Missouri, etc > Part 27
USA > Missouri > Harrison County > History of Harrison and Mercer Counties, Missouri : from the earliest times to the present : together with sundry personal, business, and professional sketches and family records : besides a condensed history of the State of Missouri, etc > Part 27
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Hines' skull was cracked in four or five places, and one piece of the bone was entirely gone. Several men were standing by but they did not interfere until the work was done. Hines soon got up, walked
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into his house, and was conscious for an hour thereafter, and related the affair over several times. He soon, however, grew faint, and lin- gered until Thursday morning about 4 o'clock, when he breathed his last.
Lawson stayed a short time at Hamptonville after doing the deed when he left for the woods. Later in the evening the constable and a number of men followed him and finally overtook him. He was killed in the edge of Iowa by his brother-in-law, William Black, he having first attempted to kill Black.
Death of Stephen Workman .- In April, 1869, Noah M. Enloe and Stephen Workman became involved in a quarrel about five miles east of Bethany. Of the nature of their trouble but little is now known, although it appears that both men were armed for the affray. Enloe shot Workman, who died at 7 o'clock the same evening, the trouble having occurred about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Enloe was tried and acquitted.
*The Hallock Murder-Trial and Execution of Joseph P. Hamilton. -At about 2 o'clock P. M., on July 14, 1871, Elisha W. Hallock who lived a few miles east of Princeton, in Mercer County, was shot and killed upon his own premises. The murdered man at the time of his death was about forty-eight years of age, his wife being twenty- eight years old. The latter was a widow with one child at the time of her marriage with Hallock, her name being Caroline Lewellyn. She came from Blackford County, Iowa, where it is said her standing in society was not very desirable. There was living in the Hallock family, as a farm hand, a young man named Joseph P. Hamilton, probably eighteen years old. Soon after the killing, and on the same day, Hamil- ton and Mrs. Hallock were arrested as the murderers. The prisoners took a change of venue from Mercer County. Mrs. Hallock's case was sent to Putnam County, where she was tried and acquitted, in Decem- ber, 1873.
Hamilton's case was sent to Harrison County, and on the second day of the term of circuit court, beginning on July 28, 1873, his trial began. In substance the proof by the State was as follows:
The prisoner had been living with Hallock about eighteen months, during which time a criminal intimacy sprang up between him and Mrs. Hallock. This was carried on until the time of Mr. Hallock's death.
A few days before the murder, Mr. Hallock found on the sewing machine a letter signed "W. H. N." which threatened his life and
*From account published in the Bethany Republican.
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demanded $1,000 to be sent through the Princeton postoffice to the above mysterious address. This occurred about two days before the shooting. In the forenoon of the day of the homicide, young Hamil- ton went to the house of one Flaherty, about two miles distant, and asked Mrs. Flaherty if she had a revolver. There was one in the house, and he wanted to buy it. After looking at it he wanted the bullet molds, but upon learning that there were some bullets already molded, he decided to take them and leave the "molds. He then called for caps, stating that Mr. Hallock's life had been threatened, and he wanted the revolver to defend himself. He told a similar story to several others and then returned to Mr. Hallock's.
About noon he and Mrs. Hallock went upstairs together, where they remained for some time, Mrs. Hallock finally coming down with the report that Hamilton was sick. When dinner was ready, how- ever, Hamilton made his appearance, and all ate together. After dinner Mrs. Hallock took all the children, and went after blackberries, leaving Hallock and Hamilton at home stacking hay. About 2 o'clock in the afternoon, some men at work in an adjoining field on the farm heard three pistol shots in rapid succession, then two caps snap, then another shot. A little boy, named Jewell Hage, at work a quarter of a mile north of Hallock's, testified that he heard a pistol shot in the direction of Mr. Hallock's stable, and looking up saw Hal- lock running toward the house, with Hamilton in close pursuit. He also testified that he saw Hamilton shoot at Hallock twice while they were running, and that the latter fell when near the house.
Shortly after the murder, Hamilton went on horseback to the place where Mrs. Hallock and the children were, and told them that Mr. Hallock was killed. The neighbors hearing of the murder soon gathered in, and suspecting Hamilton, promptly arrested him for com- mitting the murder. To inquiries, he denied having shot a revolver that day, but afterward admitted having discharged one back of the field. Search being made through the house, the Flaherty revolver was found up-stairs between the quilts of the bed. When found it had been freshly shot from two barrels; in the next tubes the caps had lately been exploded; the fifth barrel had been freshly discharged, while the sixth barrel was still loaded. Hallock's rifle was found hidden out in a hay stack, and Hamilton said he secreted it himself because Hallock's life had been threatened, and he was afraid the latter might shoot somebody.
A great deal of other testimony not so direct, but corroborative and strengthening in its nature, was given on the part of the State.
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After being out about one hour and a half, the jury returned a ver- dict of " guilty of murder in the first degree." While the paper on which the verdict was written was being passed to Judge Richardson, and the latter was perusing before reading it aloud, the prisoner regarded the proceeding with a steady and unquailing eye. When the judge read the terrible verdict which virtually doomed Hamilton to the gallows, the young criminal, with wonderful nerve or indiffer- ence, remained apparently unmoved, not a muscle or a feature changing. A large crowd assembled to hear the sentence of death, and a solemn gloom seemed to pervade the audience. During the judge's review of the testimony and delivery of the sentence, the wretched prisoner leaned his head upon his left hand, partly shading his face. When asked by the judge if he had aught to say why sentence of death should not be passed upon him, he arose immediately, and rallied sufficiently to reply in a low tone, "I have nothing to say." Before being remanded to jail the prisoner whispered briefly to the judge, and said in substance "Judge, do not blame me for not weeping. It is utterly impossible. I have not shed a tear for seven years, but I feel as deeply as any man. I wish to say, that I bear no ill-will toward you, and to bid you good-bye." He shook hands with the judge at parting, and withdrew in charge of the sheriff and his deputy.
Hamilton's lawyers promptly appealed his case to the supreme court of Missouri, hoping to have the judgment against him reversed. The cause was taken up by the supreme court at its February term, 1874, and the verdict of the lower court was unanimously sustained. This action reduced the prisoner's chances for life to the interposition of the Governor of the State, with his power of pardon or commutation to imprisonment. The supreme court, in affirming the decision of the lower court, failed to fix a time for execution, leaving that to the circuit court. No official notice of the ruling of the higher tribunal having been received by the circuit court until after its March term, no further steps toward execution were taken until the term beginning the fourth Monday in September. In the meantime, after the action of the supreme court, Hamilton and his friends, grasping at the only remaining ray of hope, went to work to get a commutation of the pun- ishment to imprisonment for life. Petitions were circulated freely in Mercer, Putnam, Grundy, Livingston and Harrison Counties, and many people signed them. Some 800 names were obtained in Mercer County, where the crime was committed; 200 or 300 in Harrison, and several hundred in the other counties. During the summer they were presented to the Governor, who, after due deliberation, absolutely re- fused to interfere with the court's decision.
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Previous to the September term of the circuit court the prisoner had been confined in the Chillicothe jail. The night before court Sheriff Graham, with two or three guards, left Chillicothe with him, and reached Bethany near sunrise next morning. This precaution was used, as many rumors were afloat in the country that the prisoner had a number of friends, desperate characters, who had threatened to rescue him on the way from Chillicothe to Bethany.
At the September term of the court Judge S. A. Richardson fixed Friday, October 30, 1874, as the day of execution. About the middle of October Hamilton made a sworn confession of his guilt. It was made by the advice of those interested in his behalf, and with a belief on their part that it would present features that might obtain from the Governor a commutation, or at least a respite. Armed with this confession, S. C. Allen and others visited the Governor at Trenton, Mo., on the twenty-sixth ult., and once more interceded with that digni- tary, but the latter remained obdurate, and refused to interfere with the course of the law. The following is a copy of the doomed man's confession :
I went to work for Elisha W. Hallock on his farm in Mercer County, Mo., in March, 1870. I was then in my sixteenth year, and inexperienced. In May, 1871, Mr. Hallock went to Pennsylvania on business, and left me to attend his farm. I slept upstairs and Mrs. Hallock below. About two weeks after Mr. Hallock left she had my bed moved downstairs. A few nights after this she called me. I got up and went down to her room, and asked her what she wanted. She appeared to rouse up and said she must have been dreaming. I then returned to my bed not suspicioning anything wrong with the woman. A few nights after this she called me again. I got up and went to her bed and asked her what she wanted. She said she was afraid to sleep alone. She took hold of me and pulled me down and I got into bed with her * *
* * Next morning she said I had committed a rape upon her, and she intended to put the law in force against me. This confused my mind for I did not know what the law was in such cases. A few days after this she told me if I would put Hallock out of the way she would marry me, and that would be an end of the matter. She proposed to me to get poison and give him, but I refused to give my consent. She said that she had poison, but I could not consent to do it. She kept working on me, sometimes persuading and at others threatening me with enforcing the laws against me, and finally gave me money to buy a revolver which I did.
About two weeks before the murder, Hallock and his wife went to Prince- ton, Mo., to do some trading. Before going she wanted me to agree to be at Muddy Creek (which is about one mile from where Hallock lived) on their return, and shoot Hallock. I rather consented with her to be there, but did not go. On the 14th day of July, 1871, she with the children went to gather black- berries, and had again obtained a promise from me to take Hallock's life. She had taken the revolver and secreted it near the stable door, telling me where to find it. We had been hauling hay, but had finished and put the horses in the stable.
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I had about concluded to make a clean breast of the whole matter to Hallock, have a settlement with him and leave. Whilst in the stable I began by telling of the plot between his wife and myself to take his life. He at once became very much enraged and called me a liar, and other hard names, when I then reached and got the revolver. He struck me on the head with a pitchfork, and also stuck the fork into my right breast, and then was when the terrible deed was committed. I had no desire nor inclination of my own to seek or take Hal- lock's life, nor would I have done so had I not been persuaded and scared into it by Mrs. Hallock. The first night after the murder, she came to me after I had been arrested, and promised to furnish me money to defend myself, and that she would swear me clear if she could.
JOSEPH P. HAMILTON.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 24th day of October, 1874. -
WILLIAM C. HEASTON, Clerk County Court, Harrison County, Mo.
A supplementary statement was made when the last hope of re- prieve had vanished, Hamilton adding a number of paragraphs to his confession, among which were the following:
I was born December 14, 1853 Hallock's rifle was hidden in the haystack by his wife, I think on the morning of the day the murder was committed. The letter found on the sewing machine was written by Mrs. Hallock, and placed there by her. Mrs. Hallock gave me, I believe, six dollars on the morn- ing the murder was committed, to buy a revolver. When I came with the revolver I hid it in the straw stack, which was about a half or quarter of a mile from the house, and told Mrs. Hallock where it was. She got the same and hid it in the stable, and arranged with me where to put it when done with it. The family, especially Hallock's small children, have my deepest sympathy, as I was caused in an evil moment to commit that which I never should have done if I had been left free to act of my own accord; but if compelled to pay the extreme penalty of the law, I hope to meet them in the future world where all things will be set even.
At last the day of execution approached, and with it came an im- mense multitude of people. Large numbers had arrived the night be- fore, filling all the hotels to overflowing, and many camped with their wagons on the bottom north of the town. The day was overcast and gloomy, a piercing northwest wind penetrating to the bone at every gust, with a driving snow storm. Early in the forenoon a large crowd of men, women and children gathered in front of the jail, filled with a morbid curiosity to get a glimpse of the condemned youth through the grated windows of his prison. The crowd increased until a dense body of people completely blocked the street. A thousand upturned faces seemed transfixed, totally disregarding the storm of snow that was being driven against them by the bitter northwest wind, with eyes steadily fastened upon the small and gloomy apertures that frowned down upon them. Until the hour of departure the crowd stood there. At the same time the stores, hotels, restaurants, offices
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and all places of business were filled with people, and the sidewalks were but a living mass of humanity.
At 12:30 o'clock P. M. preparations were made to remove the prisoner to the scaffold. A posse of forty men under charge of Col. W. P. Robinson, were placed in front of the jail to keep back the crowd and otherwise preserve order. A vehicle was driven up, and halted in front of the jail. The sheriff then appeared with the prisoner, who with firm step and serene countenance entered the vehicle. The sheriff and the prisoner sat side by side; several other persons had seats in the con- veyance, among whom were Rev. L. Hallock and Judge D. B. Boyce. No sooner had the prisoner and escort started than a grand rush was made by the crowd for the place of execution. From the jail to the northwest corner of the square, at least 275 yards, the street from side to side was a sea of people, the great mass of whom, as if actuated by a common impulse or panic, took the double quick. At that moment only one thought actuated them, to get an advan- tageous position.
The scaffold was situated near the foot of the hill north of th public square. The hill to the south of the scaffold rises rather abruptly, forming a kind of amphitheater, so that one standing on its top could see distinctly.
While the great crowd was surging like an immense wave or bil- lows of the sea toward the place of execution, the most intense emotion and excitement prevailed. The windows of houses all along the route were filled with women too tender in heart to witness the awful spectacle of death, many of whom were crying aloud in grief. The excitement heaving in the breasts of many men was so great as to deprive them of their presence of mind.
When the vehicle drew up near the rope surrounding the scaffold, the prisoner arose promptly and was assisted to alight. The sheriff then led him forward followed by ministers and a number of physicians, and the cortege entered the enclosure, marched partly around the scaffold and ascended the steps. Sheriff Graham and the prisoner stood up while the former read the death warrant. On being asked if he had anything to say, he took a drink of water, stepped forward and made the following remarks: ""Ladies and gentlemen, I have been brought here to-day to be executed. I have nothing to say regarding my crime, I know that I have been wicked, but I believe my sins are forgiven. The officers of the court and all persons have treated me with uniform kindness. George Graham, the sheriff, has always treated me as a gentleman. I hope all will forgive me as I for- give all; I have nothing more to say. Thank you for your attention."
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He sank into a seat and wept convulsively. A hymn was sung, and an earnest prayer offered by Rev. Mr. Hallock. * * The prisoner was dressed in black throughout, his clothing being new and neatly fitting. He was of a slight and graceful form, delicate features, dark eyes, brown hair and a light mustache. He made a handsome appearance, and his general demeanor and heroic struggle to meet death bravely seemed to soften the harsh feeling which many had entertained toward him.
The sheriff led him forward upon the fatal trap and began to arrange the black cap. It became entangled slightly, when the prisoner said with a shudder, "It is too small." He reached up and drew the cap over his face himself. The sheriff then looped the deadly rope about Hamilton's neck, bade a final farewell to his charge, and pinioned his arms and limbs. The prisoner was murmuring broken prayers all these moments; his last audible words being "Lord save."
All drew back from the doomed man, whose clothes were now whitened by the falling snow. A moment of agony, and the drop fell. After the drop, the body remained motionless except from vibration or the swaying of the wind. This was followed by a slight contraction of the limbs, then a terrific quivering, and the soul of Joseph P. Hamilton crossed the boundary line, and took its flight out into the great unknown. The body was examined by a number of physicians, and after seventeen minutes suspension, was cut down, and placed within a neat velvet-covered coffin, and buried.
Shortly after the funeral it was rumored that the grave had been robbed of the body. A number of citizens in order to satisfy them- selves as to the truthfulness of the rumor, reopened the grave, and found that the head and right arm had been removed.
Suicides. - The following is only a partial list of the many suicides that have occurred from time to time in Harrison County :
In April, 1861, Rice Banta of Eagleville committed suicide by taking strychnine.
In January, 1864, an old gentleman by the name of McCray, in the northern part of the county, committed suicide by shooting him- self. No cause was assigned for the rash deed. In February, 1870, Noah Neece, aged fifty-five years, committed self destruction by hanging. April, 1873, F. M. Duncan, a resident of Gentry County, committed suicide at the residence of William Ray, Butler Township, this county, by cutting his throat with a razor. He was laboring under a fit of temporary insanity at the time.
In October, 1876, D. Pinkerston, a prominent citizen of Union
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Township, attempted to commit suicide by hanging himself. Accom- panied by a small step-son he went to the barn and from there to the smokehouse, in which the boy heard a noise like the moving of a box. Going into the building, the little fellow discovered Mr. Pinkerton hanging by a small rope from a beam overhead, having kicked the box from under him. The boy with admirable presence of mind cut the rope, and then ran for assistance. Mr. Pinkerton lingered for a short time, but finally died from the effects of the hanging.
A young lady, Miss Emmeline Baker, drowned herself and illegit- imate child in April, 1878, in a pool of water in Lincoln Township.
Lindsey Dowell, of Fox Creek Township, committed suicide on the 29th of January, 1880, by hanging himself with a whip lash. He was a mere boy, only sixteen, and committed the deed in a fit of despondency, occasioned by an incurable ailment of the eyes.
In 1880 or 1881, an old man by the name of Andrew Schroff, who lived a few miles from Bethany, committed suicide by shooting him- self. Cause not known. -
About the year 1881 or 1882 Samuel Moore, a resident of Colfax Township, shot and killed himself on account of his wife refusing to live with him.
The last suicide committed in the county was that of W. L. Fox- worthy, which occurred in April, 1886.
The following from the Bethany Republican is an account of the sad affair.
"He was well educated, intelligent, and a gentlemen in every respect. He became connected with the public schools of the county, and was a popular teacher. He taught three terms of school in the Tull neighborhood, and had begun on a fourth term the Monday before his death. While teaching there he formed the acquaintance of Miss Fanny Tull, whose sad death last fall from consumption will be remembered. The acquaintance ripened into friendship and then love. They became engaged, and the day of the marriage was set. Miss Tull was rapidly failing in health, but neither one of them seemed to comprehend that it was possible death was so soon to mar all their bright anticipations and plans for the future. To her, with all the beautiful visions of life just dawning, hope held out the certainty of recovery and many years of pleasure and happiness with her lover and husband. To him, that one so young, bright, fair and beautiful, should be standing so near the golden gates of Heaven, was incompre- hensible. He refused to believe or even think it. Alas! the rude awakening came. The bright dream of life vanished. Two days
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before the wedding was to be death claimed its victim, and all the world's glory was shut out from the lover's eyes forever. All of his hopes and ambitions were covered up by the clods of her grave.
"After her death it was noticed by his friends that he was a differ- ent man. He became gloomy and despondent, and brooded over his great sorrow. He visited the grave of his lost love many times, and remained for hours communing with her spirit. His great grief and brooding overturned his reason, causing him finally to commit his rash act.
"He taught his school from Monday until Wednesday night, when he went over to the house of Mr. Tolliver, near the Bodam mill, where he remained over night. There he sharpened his razor, and shaved himself. In the morning he returned to his school and taught until evening. When he dismissed his scholars he told them he had the worst headache he ever had in his life. He was then seen crossing the fields toward the Bodam schoolhouse, three miles away, by neigh- bors, and was not seen again alive. The scholars went to school next morning, but he did not appear. That evening his friends became alarmed over his absence, and resolved upon a search for him the next morning. Early Saturday morning Mr. Jacob Bodam sent one of his little boys to their schoolhouse near by, to see if Mr. Fox- worthy was there, and was following up himself, when the little fellow came running back with the word that he was there dead. A large crowd of neighbors, who had intended searching for him, was soon gathered there. The body lay upon its right side, and about eighteen inches from his right arm, which was extended, lay the instrument of death, a bloody razor. Examination showed two wou ds in his neck, each beginning just below the ear on either side, and extending down to the windpipe. Each cut must have severed the jugular vein and death was very quick. He had removed his collar and cuffs and laid them upon the desk. From every appearance he must have committed the deed Thursday night, as rats had eaten into his face in two dif- ferent places. On the blackboard was written with chalk, 'I am an innocent man. Telegraph to father.' Then followed the ad- dresses of his father and uncle in Indiana. No letters or papers were found upon the body to explain his act."
Fatal Accidents .- The following are among the fatal accidents that have been chronicled in Harrison County during the last thirty years:
Campbell Dale, drowned in Trail Creek, February, 1861. William R. Allen, burned to death while attempting to save some papers from
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
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