USA > Nebraska > Adams County > Past and present of Adams County, Nebraska, Vol. I > Part 17
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After firing, the negro fled, followed by a posse headed by Officer Tennant. The negro made for the southeastern part of the city and at length came to a clump of tall grass and weeds in the vicinity of Polenske Schellac & Co.'s east brick yard. Here he secreted himself and when the posse, which meanwhile had been reinforced by Sheriff Dave Barlass and others, came up, opened fire. There was a lively exchange of shots, and the negro was badly wounded in the cheek. He would not surrender, however, and Officer Tennant decided that he could not be taken with revolvers without unnecessarily exposing the pursuers to danger. Accordingly, deputies were sent back to the city to secure shotguns. Members of the posse had ridden horses, which were tethered close by. The young negro was so near to his pursuers that he heard their plan to get shotguns, and while they were waiting for the return of the deputies he stealthily stole from the grass and succeeded in reaching the horses. Rapid hoofbeats making southward apprised the pursuers that their quarry had fled.
Officer Tennant now hurried back to the city, and a large number of the posse boarded a train that was just ready to start south. They got off at Ayr and were joined by a large number from that village and they began scouring the country toward Hastings. Not far from Ayr they encountered young Lish. He was still full of fight and kept up a lively fire. Several of the posse were hit by the bullets. but none were seriously wounded. The negro finally surrendered. Fearing that he would be lynched in Hastings, the officers took Lish to Fairfield and later transferred him to the jail in Kearney. He was brought for trial in the District Court at Hastings in the Decem- ber term, 1885. County Attorney C. II. Tanner prosecuted, and the court appointed Capps & McCreary of Hastings and Hon. W. L. Green of Kearney to conduct the defense. On December 11th, he was found guilty of murder in the second degree and sentenced to the penitentiary. The sentence was commuted by Governor Crounse May 25, 1894, and on June 1 he was discharged. According to his confession to his attorneys, Lish planned to become a desperado, and had practiced with a revolver until he became very expert with
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the weapon. He later became insane and was confined in Ingleside. At the time that he shot Balcom, Lish was about seventeen years old.
BURNED STATION AND KILLED YOCUM
About midnight, November 24, 1879, fire was discovered shooting from the windows of the Burlington passenger station. The station and a considerable portion of the freight depot were burned to the ground. No definite information has been gained about just what took place on that night. In the morning the dead body of a young man, Allen J. Yocum, was discovered in the ruins. It was ascertained that a number of men had been playing cards in the station that night, and that Yocum was a party in the game. The theory developed was that the players had quarreled and that one of them shot and killed Yocum and set fire to the station to conceal the crime. Yocum had been shot through the heart. Warrants were issued for the arrest of William M. Baldwin and Ralph M. Taylor, whom evidence showed to have been among the party and who were not seen after the night of the murder. Considerable difficulty was encountered in capturing them, for they had fled the county. On May 6, 1880, Baldwin was arraigned in the District Court, charged with the murder of Yocuni and burning the railroad property, and on May 18th he was found guilty of manslaughter by the jury and sentenced to ten years in the penitentiary. T. D. Scofield was the prosecuting attorney and John M. Ragan and R. A. Batty were appointed by the court to defend. An appeal to the Supreme Court resulted in granting a new trial to Baldwin and he was released upon the motion of the county attor- ney. The jury that convicted Baldwin were A. D. Briggs, W. Gra- bill. J. C. Ball, J. D. Evans, John Exelby, Hiram Gardner, W. C. Robinson, A. F. Powers, John Van Houten, Simon Sanger, Benja- min Van Sickle and II. M. Sage. Yocum was an employee at the Burlington station.
In the December term Taylor was brought to trial and found not guilty.
LYNCH SLAYERS OF MILLETT
One of the most sensational incidents in the history of Adams County took place in the latter part of March, 1883, but only a frag- ment of it is narrated in the records of the court. This was the murder of Cassius M. Millett and the lynching of two men for the crime. Mr. Millett was the proprietor of a grocery store on the north
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side of Second Street, between Hastings and Denver avenues. Dur- ing the afternoon preceding the evening when he was shot, Mr. Millett had observed three men pass and repass his store several times. When he closed the store they were not in sight, but he soon became aware that they were following him. When he was only a short distance east of his home, which was located on the north side of First Street, a short way west of that street's intersection with Bellevue Avenue, he was held up by three masked men, whose purpose, as they after- ward confessed, was to lead him to a cave west of the city and there compel him to deliver his money.
The three men started off westward with their victim, threatening to kill him if he made an outery. When in front of the gate opening upon the lawn surrounding the residence of Aaron May, a merchant, Mr. Millett broke away from his captors, and just as he entered the gate one of them shot, the bullet striking Mr. Millett. The wounded man was able to reach the back door of his residence. There he was met by Mrs. Millett and fell unconscious into her arms. He died a short time later, March 27, but before death came was able to make a statement of the affair to Isaac Le Dioyt, notary public. The funeral services for Mr. Millett were conducted April 1 under the auspices of the Grand Army of the Republic, of which organization he was a member.
When fleeing from the scene of the murder, one of the highway- men dropped his mask, which was found a day or so later by Miss Hall, a daughter of W. A. Hall. The mask was turned over to Chief of Police J. C. Williams, who found that it was of the same material as a table cover that had disappeared from the St. Louis Boarding House on South Street, between Hastings and Lincoln avenues. This caused suspicion to fall upon one of the boarders, James Green. and two men who were known to associate with him, Fred Ingraham and John Babcock. The three were arrested while digging a well upon the farm of Charles Kohl, a few miles south of Hastings. When the news of the arrest spread around, indignation was worked up to a high pitch, and there was general talk of lynching them.
A few nights after their arrest there was a dance in Liberal Hall and almost at the outset of the program Charles H. Dietrich, after- wards United States Senator Dietrich, who heard the talk about lynching but who was not yet fully convinced of the guilt of the men, left the hall and undertook an investigation on his own account. Babcock was confined in a room in the Commercial Hotel, now the Lindell, and the other two were under guard in another portion of the city. Mr. Dietrich secured a permit from Mayor W. H. Lan- Vol. 1-12
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ning to interview Babcock, and from him he secured a complete con- fession. Mr. Dietrich was convinced by the straightforward story told by the prisoner, who was about eighteen years old. Ingraham and Green were much older, and it appeared to Mr. Dietrich that the young man had been drawn into the plot by the older men. He determined to save him from the lynchers if possible. The next day Babcock made a written confession, but when this was noised about, it only heightened the determination of some of the citizens to take the law into their own hands and avenge the crime.
That evening a meeting was held in a lumber yard south of the Burlington track, at which thirty-three men were present. They are now referred to as the "Thirty-threes." Before starting on their expedition they were numbered and each responded in order as the roll was called. All were masked, and taking from the lumber yard a heavy timber to use as a battering ram, they started toward the Stone Block where the prisoners were confined.
The prisoners were guarded by Edward Burton, Hi Farr. J. E. Hutchinson, W. C. Cutler and Charles Dietrich. Mr. Dietrich had asked to be appointed because he anticipated that there would be an attempt to lynch. The lynchers put in an appearance about 10 o'clock. Their approach was heralded by a great noise on the stairs. A few moments later the door of the room in which the prisoners were confined was dealt a terrific blow with the battering ram. It required a second blow to smash the door, and then the thirty-three entered the room with revolvers drawn. The determination mani- fested by the masked men in the outset had convinced the guards that resistance would be useless. The lynchers took immediate possession of the prisoners and marched them to a bridge on the St. Joseph & Grand Island Railroad, where they were placed side by side on the bridge. A rope was immediately tied about each man's neck and fastened to a tie. Mr. Dietrich had not yet given up the hope of saving Babcock, although as yet no opportunity to do so had pre- sented itself. Ingraham and Green were pushed off. Babcock was next in order. Just as he was slipping off the bank, Mr. Dietrich seized the rope and cut it with his knife. Babcock fell to the ground unhurt. The lynchers gathered angrily about Mr. Dietrich and demanded an explanation. It was the psychological moment for him to make an impression favorable to the man he would save. At no other moment could he so well have obtained the concentrated atten- tion of the crowd. With a voice carrying authority, he recited the story of Babcock's confession. He told the listening lynchers that
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he had promised the young man he would save his life, and declared that he would make that promise good.
After a short consultation, the lynchers decided to let the young man go. A few weeks later he was sentenced by the court to ten years' imprisonment in the penitentiary, where he was taught the trade of stone-cutting. He was released in seven years, and nothing has been heard of him in recent years.
TRIAL OF MRS. ALDRICH
In the May term of the District Court, 1889, Mrs. Lizzie Aldrich was arraigned, charged with the killing of her husband, John Aldrich, a farmer who lived in the southern part of the county. He had died suddenly and neighbors caused the body to be exhumed and the con- tents of the stomach were sent to Rush Medical College, Chicago, for analysis. Arsenic was discovered in the stomach and soon after Mrs. Aldrich was arrested. She was acquitted, however, many believ- ing that the farmer had administered the poison to himself.
SPROETZ ESCAPED
The body of James Quinn, a bachelor and a farmer, was found in a field near his house, March 26, 1886. The body had been buried in a shallow grave, from which it had been dug out by the hogs and partly eaten. Wilhelm Sproetz was arrested and charged with this crime. His attorney, Charles H. Tanner, obtained the dis- charge of the defendant at the preliminary trial. Following this an inquest was held and Sproetz gave evidence before the coroner. Immediately afterwards he fled, and has not been seen in the county since, although the coroner's jury on December 7th found him guilty of wilful murder.
SHOOTING OF DOCTOR RANDALL
In the spring of 1886 Dr. G. W. Randall was bound over in the County Court to await trial in the District Court on the charge of criminal assault upon Lora May Hart, the eleven-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Marion Hart of Edgar. The little girl had been brought to Hastings and left there to be treated by Doctor Randall for eye trouble. While the papers fixing his $5,000 bail were being signed in County Judge Fleming's office in the Stone Block, a shot reverb- erated through the courtroom and Randall fell to the floor. He
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expired almost immediately. The shot had been fired by a brother of the little girl. No attempt was made to capture the avenger of his small sister's wrong. Doctor Randall was buried in the potter's field. Mrs. Randall was brought to trial as an accomplice of her husband, but the case was dismissed.
CASE OF TREASURER THORNE
Adams County has had two defaulting county treasurers, William B. Thorne and Charles H. Paul. The Thorne defalcation affairs were first in the court in 1881, and the case against Treasurer Paul was brought in 1892.
William B. Thorne was a homesteader and was first elected treas- urer in the fall of 1873. He was exceedingly active in the early political affairs of Adams County and took a leading part in the county seat removal contest. It is probable that the expenditures made by the county treasurer in these years of political storm were largely accountable for the subsequent shortage in his accounts. Rumors that affairs were not as they should be in his office were current long before disclosures were made. Mr. Thorne was a strong Juniata partisan in the county government removal contest and in consequence had incurred political enmities which did not allow the rumors to rest. According to the reports of early settlers, it was noised about at one time that the treasurer's shortage was $105,000, and that only the friendly offices of a banker friend in Lincoln saved the treasurer from exposure at that time. Arriving from Lincoln, the story goes, the treasurer brought with him a valise full of money and opened it before the investigators. "You say I am short $105,- 000," he said. "Well, there's the money. Count it." They counted the money and found the foregoing sum. But when they would take over the money, the treasurer halted then. "I am the county treas- urer." he said; "I'll take charge of the money." Next day the valise and its contents were returned to the Lincoln banker.
Several investigations by the county commissioners had failed to discover a shortage until February 1, 1881. The county treasurer had been in office continuously since 1873. On February Ist the com- missioners began an investigation, which ended March 12th. They reported that Thorne was a defaulter in a sum exceeding $50,000, and on that day the county treasurer resigned. It was discovered that before resigning he had conveyed his property to Abraham Yea- zel, one of his sureties as treasurer. These properties were located in Webster and Adams counties and were estimated by attorneys
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opposing Thorne to have a value of $62,886.93. On the same date, March 12, 1881, the county commissioners entered into an agreement with Thorne and Yeazel that the Thorne properties should be con- veved by them to A. L. Clarke of Hastings and C. R. Jones of Juniata, to be held in trust for Adams County. In consideration for this conveyance, the sureties upon the treasurer's bond, which was for $25,000, were released. The commissioners at that time were A. C. Moore, A. D. Yocum and C. G. Wilson. On March 18, 1881, Messrs. Clarke and Jones entered into agreement with the county to admin- ister the trust, and the properties were deeded to them by Thorne and Yeazel. The trustees gave bond in the sum of $30,000.
According to the agreement, Messrs. Clarke and Jones were to dispose of all the properties thus turned over to them, converting them into cash, and file a statement with the commissioners. The trustees were unable to dispose of all the properties within the required time, and on August 13, 1883, Thorne brought suit in the District Court against Clarke and Jones, claiming that the defalcation had been paid out of the sales already made, and asking the court to order the return of the remaining property. October 29, 1883, Thorne's case was dismissed. Thorne then appealed to the Supreme Court.
Awaiting the decision of the higher court, the trustees, Clarke and Jones, ceased making further payment to Adams County, but were ordered by the District Court to pay to Harrison Bostwick, on a claim against the properties, $11,335.72, Bostwick giving bond to turn the sum over to the county should the court later so decide. Time went on and the trustees, not knowing what the court would order, upon the advice of counsel made no further payment to the county. On April 29, 1886, County Attorney L. J. Capps brought suit in the District Court to compel a settlement between Adams County and the trustees. A. L. Clarke and C. R. Jones. This suit, however, was acquiesced in by the trustees, who were desirous to obtain their discharge, but because of the appeal of Thorne to the higher court they did not feel justified in making the final settlement. On July 22, 1886, the trustees filed their report, in which it was shown that they had paid into the treasury of Adams County $21,411.04. "Other disbursements" were given at $239.35. These sums, together with $11,355.72 paid to Harrison Bostwick, brought the total realized from the Thorne properties to $39,254.16. In December, 1886, the court ordered Bostwick to pay the amount that had been paid to him by the trustees, $11,335.72, into the treasury of Adams County, and five days later Mr. Bostwick complied with the order. Adams County received from the Thorne property $32,766.76, and lost through the
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defalcation something in excess of $20,000. In discharging the trus- tees, Judge Morris, who occupied the bench, complimented Mr. Clarke and Mr. Jones for the faithful administering of their trusteeship.
Thorne was sentenced to one year in the penitentiary, but served no time. He appealed to the Supreme Court, and within two years that body had taken no action, nor had it been urged to do so by Adams County. At about the expiration of that time Thorne was accidentally killed by falling from a load of hay while working upon his farm in the southwest part of the county. Many good words are heard of Mr. Thorne, for he was always sympathetic of the needy among the settlers, and many of them were spared from want through his generosity. The Thorne bondsmen during his last term were Abraham Yeazel, William Graybill, W. E. Thorne, Ira Dillon, C. R. Jones & Co., James Sewell, J. S. Chandler and William West.
CASE OF CHARLES H. PAUL
Charles H. Paul, the second Adams County treasurer who was found short in his accounts, was one of the earliest business men of Hastings, having established a shoe business in the town in 1873. He was of a retiring disposition and well thought of among his townsmen. He served as postmaster of the Hastings postoffice for one term.
Mr. Paul was first elected county treasurer in the November election, 1887. and he was reelected two years later. As in the case of Treasurer Thorne, rumors were current that there were irregulari- ties in the office for some time before disclosures were made. On Jan- nary 7, 1892, the settlement committee of the board of supervisors reported to the board that there was a balance due from the treasurer to the county of $95.947.68 and that Mr. Paul had on hand and had paid in $75,574.08. The report, made in the forenoon, indicated a shortage of $21,770.25, which sum was immediately paid in by the following sureties, G. J. Evans, O. G. Smith, William Kerr, A. L. Clarke, Sewell Slneman, J. R. Penfield, Abraham Loeb, H. E. Nor- ton, P. E. Hatch, Alex Pickens, John M. Ragan, George E. Douglas, John N. Lyman, Mark Levy, George J. Volland, George W. Mowery and Leopald Hahn. By an unanimous vote the board of supervisors the next day, January 8, 1892, agreed to settle with Paul in full for the sum already paid in by the sureties, $21,770.25. In the meantime, however, the deputy treasurer, Emanuel Fist, a man of unusual alert- ness, made a statement to the bondsmen that the shortage was con- siderable more than the investigation of the supervisors had yet revealed, and as a result the bondsmen proposed to the board to make
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up a deficiency totaling $30,749. They offered to give their individual notes for that amount, payable in five annual payments, or to pay $10,000 in cash in addition to the sum already paid. In consideration, the bondsmen asked to be released from further obligation in the deficiency. It was a strenuous moment for the board of supervisors the tenseness of which had been increased by the discovery of the addi- tional shortage, which it now became known was in excess of $50,000. Considerable debate followed the two proposals of the bondsmen, and at length Supervisor E. S. Fowler moved the acceptance of the five- year payment plan. This motion was tabled and F. J. Benedict moved the acceptance of $10,000 in cash offered by the sureties in addition to the sum previously paid by them. R. A. Batty made a memorable speech, protesting in behalf of several taxpayers that no settlement be made except upon payment by the sureties of the full amount of the shortage. When the roll was called, Mr. Benedict's motion carried by a vote of 14 to 12. Those who voted for the motion were L. C. Lukins. H. F. Einspahr, John Gordon, F. J. Benedict, D. II. Ballard, Ed Burton, R. V. Shockey, D. M. McElhinney, P. A. Stewart, A. C. Moore, William Huxtable, Ed S. Fowler and Fred Wagner. Those voting against the motion were Bart F. Ker- nan. W. J. Willars, J. H. Walker, Jesse Doty, J. W. Thornton, J. C. Woodworth, H. C. Minnix, T. T. Jones, Lester Wormuth, Frank P. Harman, C. B. Kemple and Jacob Barnhardt.
There was much discussion among the sureties about taking legal action against Mr. Paul. This resulted in the issuing by County Judge Burton, upon the complaint of the county attorney, Chris Hoeppner, a warrant for the arrest of Charles H. Paul upon the charge of embezzling $54,909.88. The defendant waived the right to preliminary examination and was released on $10,000 bail.
The case came up for trial in the June term of the District Court, 1892. June 20th, on the application of the county attorney, A. II. Bowen and R. A. Batty were appointed by the court to assist in the prosecution, and the case was set for trial on June 27th. On the application of the defendant. W. P. McCreary and B. F. Smith were appointed counsel for the defense, and on June 29 the jury was inpanelled and sworn. The following were the jurors, J. H. Pope, S. A. Nash, Joseph Stormer, Richard Spicknall, Jacob Stein, W. J. Clark, J. B. Johnson, J. C. Daugherty, J. R. Steele, B. F. Evans, and W. F. Wilson. The jury retired on July 6th, and on July 8th returned a verdict of "Guilty as charged," and that Charles II. Paul had converted $750 of the county's money to his own use. The de- fendant was sentenced to three years in the penitentiary. Mr. Paul,
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however, was not removed to the penitentiary, but remained confined in the county jail at Hastings until September 19, 1892, when he was pardoned by Governor James E. Boyd. Mr. Paul continued to live in Hastings until 1915, when he removed to Lincoln. He made no attempt to mingle in the affairs of the city, but quietly followed the occupation of a traveling salesman.
On the complaint of Levi L. Lukins, the deputy treasurer, Eman- uel Fist, was arrested, charged with embezzlement in the same sum as his principal. The trial of Fist was had in the September, 1892, term of the district court. M. A. Hartigan and George Tibbets were the attorneys for the defense, while A. H. Bowen assisted County Attorney Chris Hoeppner in the prosecution. The jury in the Fist case were HI. B. Talbert, W. P. May, Lee Willis, L. W. Parmenter, M. W. Burgess, Fred Faecknitz, William Kelsey, Samuel Lapp, B. Morgan, Charles T. Garries, J. Gearhart, and J. F. Craig. On Sep- tember 11, 1892, they returned a verdict of "Not Guilty." The record indicates that through the defalcation of Charles H. Paul, Adams County lost about $23,140. His properties, which were rather exten- sive, were assigned to sureties on his treasurer's bond, and by them disposed of.
THE $100,000 MYSTERY
Next to the Olive case the John O'Connor case aroused the most widespread interest of any case tried in the district court of Adams County. O'Connor died at the Nebraska Sanitarium, in Hastings, August 17, 1913. Although he had lived in Hastings since the early seventies, and for a number of years had conducted a shoe store on First Street, it developed at the time of his death that nobody knew anything about his life before he came to Hastings. It was reported that he had walked into the town in the early days with 25 cents in his pocket, and had opened a cobbler's shop on First Street, which later grew into a shoe store.
At the time of his death he was possessed of property and money valued at about $100,000. His property consisted of the southwest quarter of Section 27 and the northwest quarter of Section 34 in Blaine Township, and lots 3, 4, and 5, in Block 26, in the original town of Hastings. Store buildings stood upon the town lots, and he left about $10,000 in cash. Nothing was left, at least nothing that became com- mon knowledge, or was revealed in court, among his belongings to identify relatives nor to indicate what disposition should be made of the property. The body of O'Connor was kept in the Livingston
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