History of the city of Omaha, Nebraska, Part 22

Author: Savage, James Woodruff, 1826-1890; Bell, John T. (John Thomas), b. 1842, joint author; Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: New York, Chicago, Munsell & Company
Number of Pages: 1020

USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > History of the city of Omaha, Nebraska > Part 22

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He hore himself with dignity, his decis- ions were just and moderate, he had a good deal of influence with the Indians, and may be said to have been sailing in high feather. Once in a while he took a little too much liquor, but who did not in those days ? Old Sarpy took his "periodicals," and raised Cain, too, while Decatur generally got ont of the way, and was quiet until the spell was over. He was a striking figure, rather short, very straight, square and strongly built, with a marked face, flashing eyes set deeply in the head and unusually long,

overhanging eyebrows. He knew how to dress picturesquely, too, so as to set these advantages off.

The original proprietors had sold half the town site of. Decatur to a New York City town site company, or "syndicate," as it would be called now, of which Roswell G. Pierce, then of some note in Wall Street, was the head, and a Dr. Thompson the local agent at Decatur. The town company hav- ing offered lots to any one free, who would build a house, a fellow took up the best of these, erected a small shanty, and then claimed his deed. It was refused, upon the ground that he had not built a house within the meaning of the term. Just then Decatur rode in from his place, and the dispute was left for him to decide. Straightening him- self up, he rode around the structure once and then burst out: "Call that a house ? Give a lot for that? It ain't a house, it's an abortion; pull it down!" and, jumping from his pony, he caught some loose planks and almost tore the thing to the ground himself.

During that summer, 1858, quite a tragedy occurred on the Omaha Reservation. Tecum- seh Fontenelle-brother of Logan Fonte- nelle, the old chief whom the Sioux killed in 1855-was stabbed to death by his brother-in-law, a part-blood Indian, named Louis Neil, who had married Susan Fonte- nelle, a fine-looking, well-educated woman. They lived on the half-breed tract down on the Nemaha, in this State. Neil and his wife were up to the Omaha Reservation on a visit, by the wish of Tecumseh, or " Dick" Fontenelle, as he was always called. Dick and Neil had some trouble down at the Nemaha tract, about some ponies, but it had all been made up. presents exchanged, and Neil and his wife were living in one of Dick's tepees. One afternoon they both came down to Decatur, got some liquor and went tearing and whooping home about dark. Somehow, on the way home, the old quarrel broke out; and no sooner had they rolled off

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BIOGRAPHIICAL SKETCH OF STEPHEN DECATUR.

their horses at Dick's tent than he grabbed a butcher knife and attacked Neil, cutting him badly, and would probably have killed him, but Susan, his sister, who was cooking supper, turned a hot frying pan of grease over on Dick's back, making him let go his hold. Neil, in his turn, thoroughly enraged, drew a weapon and stabbed Dick so effectu- ally that he died that night. Neil fled to the bushes, while the squaws were howling over Dick, and, wounded as he was, some friends threw Neil on a horse and brought him down to Decatur for protection. About midnight, when it was found Dick would die, a yelling band of Omahas, Dick's friends, came down to the town, surrounded the hotel where Neil was and demanded his life. The Indians outnumbered all the whites in town and the little band of pioneers were at a loss what to do. They did not want to see Neil murdered before their eyes (for it was known that Dick began the affair), and they were not strong enough to resist the Indians in an attack. Some one suggested Decatur, and a mounted man was sent after the "Old Commodore," the Indians agree- ing to wait his return, and through the influence of Decatur and others, bloodshed was avoided and, on a solemn promise, made by the whites to Henry Fontenelle, Dick's brother, it was agreed that Neil should be taken to Omaha, and delivered over to the Agent, to be dealt with by white man's law, part of the escort to be composed of Omahas, to see that no escape could be planned. Neil was tried, but never hanged. He was sentenced to the Iowa Penitentiary for a term of years, came out and is alive now on his own land in the Indian Reservation, near Pender. It is said that he never drank liquor afterwards, and is now a substantial citizen.

In some way it got about that " Commo- dore Decatur" was not what he seemed- not a nephew of the Old Commodore, not even a Decatur. Some pooh-poohed the whole thing, and said the Commodore was

all right, while others insisted there was something in it. One story was that one time Decatur and others of the set, were at Keith's saloon, in Omaha, drinking together one evening, when a young army officer and his friends walked in. Keith's saloon was on the northeast corner of Thirteenth and Ilarney, and was the swell place of the town then. The moment this young officer saw the Commodore he said: "You're the man they call Decatur, ain't you? You are my brother and your name is not Decatur. Why don't you acknowledge your family, and give your true name?" Decatur denied ever seeing the party, said his name was Stephen Decatur, and that he would fight any man who said it was not. " There is a scar on your hand," said the other, " that I made with a hatchet. If the scar is there, you are my brother, if not, you may be Decatur for all I know." Decatur refused to allow an examination; said he would not be dictated to, or forced, by any man; talked fight, and, in short, braved it out so boldly, that the new comer half acknowledged he was mis- taken, and his friends took him away. Singular as it may seem this matter was hushed up at the time, and it was agreed that nothing should be said about the affair. The Commodore stood as well as ever with most of his friends. His family, of course, never heard any of these stories.

Decatur was not a good manager, and ran through his property in Nebraska, and sud- denly left his home, telling his wife he was going away to make his fortune again, and would then return. Some years after, they got track of him as being connected with the Georgetown Miner, a newspaper at Georgetown, Colorado. It was a wild and rongh country then, but he had wandered over the ridge, and there, in the heart of the mountains, had named another little town and mining camp Decatur. In the wildest spot he could find, he erected a cabin and for years lived there alone, except for those he entertained-for he was as hospitable

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OMAHA.

as he was reckless-and he would come over to Georgetown now and then, bringing specimens, discourse learnedly on mines and minerals, leave some articles for the Miner, and then back to his cabin again. Some years since a party of noted gentlemen took a trip across the continent. One of these was Horace Greeley; Schuyler Colfax, Vice President of the United States, was another, and William Bross, editor of the Chicago Tribune, and once Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, was a third. At Denver, Bross said, " I want to stop here a bit; I believe I have a long-lost brother here, somewhere, shut up in the mountains, a kind of hermit. I have traced him once or twice and now I intend to find him and settle the fact whether he is the man or not." So off poked the good deacon to Georgetown to hunt his brother. Whether he had to go clear over to the cabin, at Decatur, or found his man at Georgetown, I do not know, but when he struck the fellow he thought was his brother, it was our old friend " Commodore Decatur." The deacon tried to convince him of the relationship, but Decatur would not have it that way, and Bross came away, partly in sorrow, partly in anger. From this time forth it

came to be pretty well understood by many that our Commodore was really Stephen Decatur Bross, brother to Deacon Bross and the Bross family of Illinois, who left his family in Scranton, Pennsylvania, years before, changed his name, soldiered in Mex- ico, traded for Sarpy, became familiar with the Indian tribes, lived with them and learned their language, pioneered through the mines of Colorado, and did other curious things. He was well educated and could talk, or write, intelligently upon almost any subject.

From Georgetown he drifted down to Silver Cliff, in southern Colorado, and in 1876 was appointed Centennial Commis- sioner for Colorado at the Philadelphia Exposition, where a number of us old Nebraskans saw him, straight as an arrow, his gray whiskers shaved off, a long droop- ing mustache alone setting off his fine fea- tures, and he was cock of the walk there too. He had the most curious collection on the grounds, and was proud of it. IIe was followed by crowds wherever he went, seeming to possess a special fascination for women; they'd stick to him like a burr. He died in Colorado in 1889.

CHAPTER XIV.

VIGILANCE COMMITTEES-THE COURT HOUSE TRAGEDY -EXECUTION OF TATOR AND BAKER - HANGING OF NEAL-LYNCHING OF SMITH.

There have been but three legal execu- tions in Douglas County. In the early days the country was infested with a band of horse thieves, regularly organized, with sta- tions for the concealing of stolen stock, extending across Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. In the bluffs, near DeSoto, a cave was found, in 1859, which had been occupied as head- quarters by these gentry. Valuable papers were here discovered, including articles of organization, signed by the members of the band, which contained the names of several settlers who had previously been supposed to be men of good character. These settlers at once left the country, without waiting to be asked for explanations. Just north of Fontenelle resided, for several years, an Ohio man who had an abundance of horses, vehicles and harness at intervals, and who came and went in a mysterious sort of way. When the headquarters at DeSoto were broken up, the man disappeared for good, and it was then found that he was a mem- ber of the gang and that his farm was one of the stations for the collection of stolen property. This man was well connected in Ohio, and his wife was the daughter of a man of prominence and high character. He had been defended in an assault and battery case by an Omaha lawyer-still residing here-and one day drove up to his office with a horse and buggy, which he turned over to the attorney for services rendered, and also left an envelope well filled with papers, and securely sealed, which he asked to have kept for him for a short time. The envelope was put in the office safe and no 135

further attention paid to it for the time. The horse was afterwards traded off, or sold, by the lawyer, who was waited upon some time after that transaction by a man who claimed that the horse and buggy had been hired at a St. Joseph, Mo., livery stable by the man who had sold them to the attorney. The latter then, in the presence of witnesses, opened the sealed package and found it contained 85,000 in bills. A year and three months after leaving the parcel the owner suddenly re-appeared and claimed it, stating that he wanted to pay some debts with the money.

In 1856, two horse thieves were publicly whipped, in the presence of a large crowd, near the Douglas House, and in the spring of 1858 Harvey Braden and John Daley were hung by a vigilance committee for the crime of horse stealing. The execution took place on the hill northwest of Florence, near the Fort Calhoun road, the prisoners being taken from the jail in Omaha, placed in a wagon and driven rapidly to the scene of the tragedy. A convenient tree being found, no time was lost in adjusting a rope to the necks of the prisoners and they were at once suspended. A coroner's inquest disclosed the fact that there were many witnesses of the hanging, but those who took an active part therein were never arrested.

In February, 1861, Mrs. George Taylor, who kept a famous hotel at the point where the military road crosses the Big Papillion, twelve miles west of Omaha, was robbed by two men, who entered her bed room in the

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OMAHA.

night, tied her, hand and foot, and, present- ing a revolver at ber head, threatened instant death if she did not disclose the whereabouts of her money and other valua- bles. Mrs. Taylor bappened to be the only occupant of the house that night, with the exception of a hired man, who was also bound and gagged, so that he was entirely helpless. Under the circumstances the rob- bery was effected without risk and with but little delay, a considerable amount of booty being obtained, after which the two men returned to Mrs. Taylor's room, and one of them insisted upon killing her to prevent a possible identification, in case they should be arrested. To this the younger and smaller of the two robbers made such earnest oppo- sition that the other abandoned his purpose. A man driving in to Omaha from the west stopped at the house about 10 o'clock the following day, and found Mrs. Taylor and the hired man so securely bound as to be unable to help themselves. He at once relieved them, heard their story and spread the news of the outrage. Several persons were arrested on suspicion, among them James F. Bouve and John S. Iler, two strangers who seemed to have considerable money in their possession. Mrs. Taylor was brought to town by her husband and taken into a room where these men, with a large number of others, were ranged in line, and she was directed to identify the two who had robbed her. Stopping first in front of Bouve she cried out, in great excitement: "You are one of them. Ob, those eyes! those eyes!" Iler was next identified with- out hesitation and the two were confined in separate rooms, on the east side of the court house, then in the course of completion, on the corner where the Paxton building now stands. Here Iler broke down and confessed, telling where the booty was buried. The following day a mass meeting of citizens was held in front of the Pioneer Block, on Farnam street, and arrangements made to try the two prisoners by Lynch law, twelve

men being selected as jurors. William A. Little and Robert A. Howard were assigned to protect the rights of the two men. A full investigation of the case was had and the prisoners found guilty, with a recom- mendation to leniency as to Iler. The verdict was reported to the waiting crowd outside, who ratified the action of the jury. At midnight that night Marshal Thomas Riley was overpowered at the jail by a body of masked men who hung Bouve to a beam in his cell. An inquest was held, by Coro- ner Emerson S. Seymour, over the remains, the following verdict being returned: " An inquest, holden at the county jail, in the City of Omaha and County of Douglas, on the 9th day of March, 1861, before me, coroner of said county, upon the body of James F. Bouve (supposed to be) hanging dead, by the jurors whose names are hereto subscribed, and said jurors, upon their oath, do say that he came to his death by hanging, by persons unknown to the jury." This was signed by Francis Smith, A. J. Hans- com, M. W. Keith, Benjamin Stickles and T. L. Shaw, jurors, and the coroner. Iler was soon afterwards released, on condition that he would leave the Territory immedi- ately.

August 28tb, 1863, Cyrus 1I. Tator was executed, by dne process of law, for the murder of Isaac H. Neff, the banging taking place north of town, near Sulphur Springs. Neff and Tator were encamped in that vicin- ity the June previous, having come in from Denver together with several empty wagons belonging to Neff, who disappeared, and Tator started on his return to Denver with one of the teams, which he claimed he had bought of Neff. The body of the latter was found, weighted down with heavy chains, in the Missouri River. Tator was arrested, brought back to Omaha and tried before Judge Kellogg, George B. Lake and Charles H. Brown appearing for the prosecution and A. J. Poppleton and William A. Little for the defense. The accused was a man of

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EXECUTION OF TATOR, BAKER AND NEAL.

character and ability, thirty years old, who had been a probate judge and a member of the legislature in Kansas. He protested his innocence to the last, and on the scaffold read a carefully prepared statement of his case. The Supreme Court was appealed to, but to no effect beyond the affirming of the proceedings in the District Court. The execution was witnessed by several thousand people.

February 14, 1868, Ottway G. Baker was hanged, by order of the court, the scaffold being erected in a valley about half a mile west of the site of the High School building. In November, 1866, he was employed as porter in the store of Will. R. King, and slept in the building with Woolsey D. Hig- gins, the bookkeeper. After banking hours, on the 21st of that month, $1,500 in money was received and placed in the safe, of which Higgins carried the key. While the latter was sound asleep, the night following, Baker quietly arose, procured an axe, and killed his bedfellow, took the safe keys and secured the money. This he placed in an empty oyster can and hid it under the plank side- walk on the west side of Eleventh Street, near Harney. He then set the store on fire, and shot himself through the arm in order to give color to his pretense that the build- ing had been entered by burglars. His conduct excited suspicion, however, and his arrest and conviction followed. His trial was had before Judge George B. Lake, District Attorney George W. Doane being assisted in the prosecution by John I. Red- ick. Baker was defended by James W. Savage, Ben. Sheiks, George C. Hopkins and Mr. Parks. The Supreme Court having affirmed the verdict of the jury, finding him guilty of murder in the first degree, Baker made a confession of the crime and told where the stolen property was concealed.

On the morning of February 14, 1890, the bodies of Allen Jones and his wife, the former seventy-one years of age and the latter sixty, were found concealed in some rubbish about

the stable on the Dr. Pinney farm, six miles west of Omaha, bearing marks of a brutal murder. The old couple were the only ten- ants of the farm and had been left to care for several head of cattle, none of which could be found on the premises. Investiga- tion disclosed the fact that eight head of cattle and six horses had been driven from the farm into South Omaha and there sold by a stranger a day or two previously. A description of this man was given with such accuracy that E. D. Neal was arrested at Kansas City, February 20th, and brought to Omaha. City Editor Edward O'Brien, of the Omaha Bee, achieved much distinction by his persistance in following up various clues which resulted in the capture of Neal. Several other parties were arrested on sus- picion, but these were all discharged after a full investigation of the circumstances in each case. The trial of Neal was commenced before Judge J. R. Clarkson, May 14, 1890, Prosecuting Attorney J. J. Mahoney being assisted by J.C. Shea in the conduct of the case on behalf of the State, and Lee Estelle, since one of the judges of the District Court, and William F. Gurley, appearing on behalf of the defendant. May 22nd the jury returned a verdict of murder in the first degree against “ Ed. D. Neal, alias C. E. Neal, alias Livingstone, alias Katon," as the prisoner had been referred to in the proceedings by all of these names. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Tri- bunal, however, refused to interfere with the verdict as rendered by the District Court, and the day of execution was set for the 9th day of October, 1891. He was executed within an enclosure which was erected for the purpose at the southwest side of the county jail, Sheriff John F. Boyd officiating. Notwithstanding Neal had maintained his composure during the whole time from his arrest until the day of his execution, and had always claimed to be innocent, he made a full confession on the scaffold. acknowledg- ing his guilt and admitting that he alone

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OMAHA.

had committed the heinous crime. There were but few witnesses of the execution, except members of the jury, the relatives of the victims, the necessary officers and the reporters.

A day or so before Neal was hanged there had been committed upon a little girl, in the northern part of the city, a dastardly assault. It was reported that her assailant was a negro, and that she was so badly injured that she could not possibly live. A negro named George Smith was arrested, charged with the crime, and he was in jail at the time of Neal's execution. Smith had, a short time before, been arrested on a charge for a similar crime, committed in East Omaha, and had been discharged at the preliminary examination, at Council Bluffs, by reason of the unsettled condition of the boundary line between Nebraska and Iowa, the justice holding that the crime had been committed in Nebraska.

While Neal's execution had been as pri- vate as such affairs are usually, the city was filled with suppressed excitement. Not much was said, but apparently nearly every one felt that there would be an attempt made to lynch Smith during the night. The officers of the city and county, however, did not believe that there was any danger, and hence made no effort to remove him to a more secure place. With this indescribable feel- ing in the community, that one good act had been performed in the hanging of Neal, and that the work would be complete now if Smith was hanged, it was no wonder that, when one of the evening papers announced that the little girl had died, a crowd of determined fellow-workmen of the father of the child should have organized for the pur- pose of wreaking avenging justice on the negro, who was guilty of the crime. Soon after dark, as it appeared afterward, an organization was effected in the northern part of the city and the crowd marched to the jail, where a large number of people had gathered before their arrival. By 9 o'clock

in the evening there must have been at least five thousand people on Harney Street side of the court house, and the leaders of the mob demanded entrance to the jail, which was refused. Sheriff Boyd, tired out by his unpleasant duties of the day, had gone to his home; but hearing of the trouble imme- diately repaired to the jail, and addressed the crowd, telling them that the law made it his duty to protect the prisoner, and that he should endeavor to do so. Before he had finished speaking, however, he was made a prisoner, disarmed, hurried into a hack and taken up to a point back of the High School, where he was kept until the affair was over. Governor James E. Boyd, Judge George W. Doane and others spoke to the excited mul- titude, urging them to disperse and to allow the law to take its course, but without effect. Every minute gave accessions to the crowd, not alone of men, but of women, also; and while many were there out of curiosity it was plain to be seen that very many were in sympathy with the mob, and by half-past 10 o'clock there must have been at least ten thousand persons present.

Several ineffectual attempts were made to disperse the crowd. The fire department was ordered out for the purpose of turning the hose on them, but no sooner did the hose carts arrive than shouts arose to cut the hose. As fast as the hose were unreeled there were many willing hands, with knives flashing in the weird light shed by the elec- tric lamps, putting into effect the suggestion, and many lengths of valuable hose were irretrievably ruined. In the meantime the leaders of the mob were not idle. They had effected an entrance into the jail by way of one of the heavily barred windows, which had been broken in by means of a battering ram, improvised from an ordinary street car rail. On the approach of the mob the negro was placed in an almost impregnable steel cage, and the mob found it the work of at least two hours to break into this cage. After breaking into it and securing the negro

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EXECUTION OF GEORGE SMITH.

there was quite a halt in the proceedings for the purpose of being sure of identification. Becoming satisfied that there was no mistake a rope was fastened around Smith's neck, and he was rushed across Harney Street and an effort made to throw the rope over one of the arms of a telegraph pole. Not being successful here, the poor wretch, more dead than alive, was dragged down across Seven- teenth Street, a rope passed over one of the wires which sustains the trolly wires of the electric motor lines, and Smith was drawn up to the wire, where he was left hanging. It was about 1 o'clock on the morning of the 10th day of October, 1891, that Smith

was hanged. The report of the death of the little girl was an error.

After Smith was in the hands of the mob the police made several attempts to rescue him, but were powerless and unable to do anything.

The better element of the community deplored the resort to violence, but very few felt otherwise than that Smith was justly dealt with.

District Attorney T. J. Mahoney filed complaints charging the most active leaders of the mob with murder, but, after doing his full duty in bringing them to trial, they were discharged.

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History of the city of Omaha, Nebraska, Part 22

Author: Savage, James Woodruff, 1826-1890; Bell, John T. (John Thomas), b. 1842, joint author; Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899 Publication date: 1894 Publisher: New York, Chicago, Munsell & Company Number of Pages: 1020

Author: Savage, James Woodruff, 1826-1890; Bell, John T. (John Thomas), b. 1842, joint author; Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: New York, Chicago, Munsell & Company
Number of Pages: 1020