Fifty years and over of Akron and Summit County : embellished by nearly six hundred engravings--portraits of pioneer settlers, prominent citizens, business, official and professional--ancient and modern views, etc.; nine-tenth's of a century of solid local history--pioneer incidents, interesting events--industrial, commercial, financial and educational progress, biographies, etc., Part 107

Author: Lane, Samuel A. (Samuel Alanson), 1815-1905
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Akron, Ohio : Beacon Job Department
Number of Pages: 1228

USA > Ohio > Summit County > Akron > Fifty years and over of Akron and Summit County : embellished by nearly six hundred engravings--portraits of pioneer settlers, prominent citizens, business, official and professional--ancient and modern views, etc.; nine-tenth's of a century of solid local history--pioneer incidents, interesting events--industrial, commercial, financial and educational progress, biographies, etc. > Part 107

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It transpired that Mr. Wilson, though the husband of a most excellent wife, and a father, had become involved in an amour with the wife of his nearest neighbor, the mother of several child- ren, whose husband was vigorously talking about instituting both legal and personal proceedings against her seducer. The denoue- ment was an elopement the same night that he handed the keys over to Auditor Crouse, the eloping couple taking refuge in a neighboring Western State, living together as husband and wife, and afterwards, on being legally separated from their respective spouses, in Ohio, becoming such in reality, by marriage.

The county finances, on examination by the commissioners, who had been immediately summoned by Auditor Crouse, were found to be intact, with the exception of a few dollars discrepancy in a single fund, which was at once made good by General L. V. Bierce, Mr. Wilson's attorney; the commissioners appointing Mr. Crouse to fill the vacancy occasioned by Mr. Wilson's withdrawal, Mr. Sanford M. Burnham taking Mr. Crouse's place as Auditor, as elsewhere noted.

JOHN C. JOHNSTON, a practical mechanic, as well as a good farmer, was elected county commissioner in 1866, and re-elected in 1869, serving in all six years, and making as faithful and efficient a public officer as Summit county has ever had; Mr. Johnston also having served seven consecutive terms as clerk of his own town- ship, being also a most efficient member of the township military committee during the late War.

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

PRESENT INDUSTRIES .- Farming, stock-raising, dairying and fruit-growing may be said to constitute the chief industries of Northampton, at the present time, with the exception of the mill- ing operations already alluded to, and perhaps somewhat exten- sive lumbering operations with portable steam-driven saw-mills in different portions of the township. There are at the present time (1887) two cheese factories in the township, run by the veteran cheese manufacturer, S. Straight, Esq., of Hudson; that near the iron bridge being run the year around, with satisfactory results. [Since the above was written, Mr. Samuel McNeil has become the proprietor of the Hawkins Station plant, which, though destroyed by fire, in June, 1889, was immediately rebuilt, and is still in successful operation.] Aside from cheese-making the sale of milk in Akron and Cleveland is quite a factor in the industrial interests of the town, Mr. Henry W. Howe, and perhaps others, shipping milk to Cleveland, from Hawkins' Station on the Valley Railway, while it is estimated thatfully $3,000 worth of milk is yearly sold in Akron by the dairymen of the township. A large amount of choice beef is also yearly slaughtered for the Akron and neigh- boring markets, while fruits and the production of almost every variety of vegetables, grain, etc., serve to make Northampton, not- withstanding its natural physical disadvantages, and its former questionable moral status, one of the most prosperous townships of Summit county.

NORTHAMPTON'S OFFICIAL ROSTER (1891.)

Trustees, Edward Donohue, Frederick Harrington, Adam Botzum; clerk, William Kline; treasurer, Wallace Scott; justices of the peace, Henry W. Howe, A. L. Hart; constables, Edwin B. Howe, William Voss; postmasters, Henry W. Howe, Ira, (Hawkins' Station); Jacob P. Harris, Buckeye, (Botzum Station); Adah Roose, Vester, (Steele's Corners.)

NORTHAMPTON'S CRIMINAL RECORD.

The killing of the canal driver, Nathan Cummins, in 1832, by Abner S. Barris, a dissolute denizen of Northampton, his arrest, trial and conviction of murder in the second degree, imprisonment and death, is given in full elsewhere. This, with the traditional killing of one or two troublesome Indians within the township, by Jonathan Willliams, a pioneer hunter of the neighborhood, and the reputed killing of a young German laborer upon the canal in 1826, by a gang of infuriated Irish laborers, constitutes the entire early "civilized" homicidal history of the township.

In minor crookedness, however, her early history, if fully writ- ten up, would simply be immense, though even then, the majority of her people were pre-eminently orderly and upright. Passing by, therefore, the depredations of that sweet-scented pair of burg- lars, thieves and neighborhood pests, of a third of a century ago- "Lishe" Wait and George Sapp-and the more extensive and more important financial operations of her other long-time dis- tinguished citizens, "Jim" and "Dan" Brown, fully treated of elsewhere, we will close this chapter with a brief account of her two latest homicides-the killing of Elisha Whipple, by Patrick Dunn, in 1878, and the killing of John Tedrow, by Thomas Brook, in 1882, as follows:

865

THE DUNN-WHIPPLE HOMICIDE.

Patrick Dunn was born in Tipperary county, Ireland, in 1830, and emigrated to America in 1850, then twenty years of age. Stop- ping a short time with a sister, in Connecticut, he went to Illinois, where he remained a few months, when, in the fall of 1850, he came to Ohio, first stopping at Twinsburg, where, after a short sojourn with Ezra Starkweather, he worked for Ezra Clark about two years, while there attending school part of the time. He after- wards worked at Aurora and Solon. September 11, 1857, he was married to Catharine Jones, in Cleveland, returning with his wife « to Solon, where he continued to work until the breaking out of the War, in 1861, when he enlisted in the army.

Serving faithfully three years, under Blunt, Steele, Solomon and Wier, in Arkansas and the Indian Territory, he was honorably discharged in 1864, returning to his family in Solon, soon after which he bought a partially cleared farm of 73 acres in the northi- west part of the township of Northampton.

Dunn was rather small of stature, quiet and pleasant in his bearing, and industrious and economical in his habits, Mrs. Dunn being somewhat more sprightly and sociably inclined, with little 'or no education and refinement, but withal a diligent, tidy and frugal housekeeper. In the purchase of the farm, though paid for with Dunn's previous earnings, and his bounty money and savings as a soldier, he readily assented to the suggestion of his wife to place the title to the newly purchased farni in her name, both jointly working faithfully for its improvement for several years.

BEGINNING OF THE TROUBLE .- Family matters appear to have gone along smoothly enough, until about 1875, or 1876, when differences seem to have arisen between the husband and the wife, the exact nature of which is unknown to the writer. In these dif- ferences their oldest child, and only son, Harry W., then some 17 or 18 years of age, seems to have sided with his mother, while certain of the neighbors also appeared to take quite a lively interest in their affairs, especially the late Loyal J. Mix, the adjoining land- owner upon the north and west, and Elisha Whipple, a bachelor, residing with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Chauncey Whipple, owners of the adjoining farm upon the south. Mix was the owner of a dilapidated log shanty standing near the line of Dunn's land, which had been a great annoyance to the Dunns, by reason of the objectionable tenants to whom it had from time to time been rented. Hard words had ensued between Dunn and Mix, in regard to the matter, and when finally, while standing vacant in the Fall of 1876, the shanty was burned, Mix charged Dunn with setting it on fire, also accusing him of having cut the throat of a colt that was running in a contiguous pasture.

INDICTED FOR ARSON .- Nearly a year later, in the latter part of 1877, Mix filed an affidavit against Dunn, before Justice Abial L. Waite, charging Dunn with arson, placing the value of the burned shanty at $50 and, largely on the strength of the testimony of the wife and son, Dunn was bound over to court, the grand jury at the October term, 1877, on the same testimony, finding a bill of indict- ment against him for that crime.

Later in the term, trial was had before Judge Newell D. Tib- bals. After a patient hearing of the case, under the charge of Judge Tibbals, the jury, after brief deliberation, through its fore- man, the late Clement J. Kolb, of Akron, returned a verdict of not

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

guilty, the impression very largely obtaining that the entire pro- ceedings were the offspring of spite, partaking rather of the nature of a conspiracy to get rid of Dunn, by securing his incarceration in the penitentiary, than a desire to further the ends of justice and vindicate the law.

PETITION FOR DIVORCE .- These accusations and proceedings very greatly augmented the family discords, and undoubtedly drew forth many hard words from Dunn, and equally spirited retorts from the wife and the grown up son, Harry, the oldest daughter, Mary, then about 15 years old, partially siding with the inother in the family imbroglio.

Immediately after the acquittal of Dunn on the charge of arson, a petition for divorce was filed by Mrs. Dunn, through her attorney, the late Frederick S. Hanford, charging Dunn with gross neglect of duty for three years last past, and with extreme cruelty, and praying that she be granted a decree of divorce, with a restoration of her maiden name, Catharine Jones, the custody of her children, Harry W., 19; Mary T., 15; and Lotta M., 3; and the confirmation to her of the 73 acre farm of which she already held the fee, and all the personal property thereon; a supplemental petition also asking for an injunction restraining him from inter- ference with her person or the property in question. The answer to the above named petition, filed by Dunn, through his counsel, the late Nathaniel W Goodhue, Esq., denied the charges of gross neglect of duty and cruelty; admitted that Mrs. Dunn held the title to the land, but denied that she was the sole owner, it being bought with his money, and that ever since taking possession he had worked industriously for its improvement, paid the taxes, etc .; that all the personal property was his, and that for the past two or three years she had been very unkind; had crossed, annoyed and worried him in every conceivable manner, for the purpose of driving him from home, etc. The divorce suit came on for hearing at the May term of the court, 1878, before Judge Tibbals. In addition to the statements of the wife, the son'and oldest daughter, a number of the neighbors testified against Dunn, Elisha Whipple being especially active in procuring and giving evidence favorable to the petitioner and damaging to defendant, providing Mrs. Dunn with money with which to carry on her suit and pay to Dunn the few hundred dollars of alimony, which it was finally conceded he was entitled to, should the prayer be granted, as Judge Tibbals, after a patient hearing of the case, concluded had better be done, and a divorce was entered accordingly.

THE ANIMOSITY DEEPENS .- Of course, these occurrences very greatly embittered Dunn against all the parties who had been instrumental, as he believed, in despoiling him of his property, and driving him from his home, and especially against Elisha Whipple whom he regarded as very largely the instigator of the proceeding, for his own selfish ends and sinister purposes

In the meantime, however, yielding to the inevitable, Dunn, after assisting several of the neighbors in haying and harvesting, about the middle of August, 1878, secured permanent employment with Mr. Edward McCauley, in the south part of Hudson township. Here he faithfully worked until the latter part of October, when he worked for a month or six weeks for Mr. Henry Scott, of North- ampton, returning to Mr. McCauley's in the fore part of December.

867

PROVIDES HIMSELF WITH A REVOLVER.

LINGERING AFFECTION FOR FAMILY .- Though working faithfully, and at times manifesting considerable cheerfulness, Dunn talked .a good deal about his troubles, and, though speaking bitterly against Whipple, Mix and others, who had meddled in his domestic affairs, still seemed to retain a good degree of affection for his family, at one time signifying his intention to buy a cow for his woman, and expressing the hope that he might be again reconciled to his wife, and help to pay off the mortgage of $650, which she had placed upon the farm in favor of Whipple for money furnished as above indicated. His affection for his two daughters was very marked, especially for little four year old Lotta, quite often going to the house and taking to them some little tokens of affection and remembrance

STILL FURTHER CAUSE FOR ANIMOSITY .- In addition to having been Mrs. Dunn's confidential adviser in the family and property troubles above noted, Whipple claimed that there was a balance of some $20 or $25 due from Dunn to him on some previous business transactions, the validity of which claim Dunn denied, and about which angry and threatening words had passed on both sides, Whipple giving out, among the neighbors, his intention to collect the same by garnisheeing Dunn's wages, and Dunn declaring to the party who informed him of Whipple's intention, that if Whipple undertook to do that he'd " fix him," etc. The frequent visits of Mrs. Dunn to the Whipple mansion, and the numerous calls of Whipple upon the divorced wife, were reported to Dunn, from time to time, all of which, if not inspiring in the breast of Dunn a spirit of vengeance at least caused him to anticipate trouble if they should happen to come in collision during one of his occasional visits to his old home.

PURCHASING A REVOLVER .- This was the condition of affairs in January, 1879. About the 24th of that month Dunn visited Hudson Village, where he bought from Mr. John L. Chapman a small five-shooter revolver, with cartridges to match. On his return to McCauley's he retired to bed without saying anything about his purchase, The next morning, at the breakfast table, Dunn remarked that he wished he had a revolver so that he could shoot some of the bats that were flying about his room. Mrs. McCauley responded that if she was not mistaken she heard a revolver snap as he (Dunn) was going up stairs the evening before, Dunn saying, in reply, "I guess not."

VISITS NORTHAMPTON .- Obtaining $5 on account, from Mr. McCauley, on Saturday afternoon, January 25th, Dunn started for Northampton to be gone over Sunday. Saturday night he staid with Alonzo Cox, the third farmi east of his old home; spent Sunday visiting among his old neighbors, calling during the day to see his children, and speaking kindly to his late wife, who had for several days been confined to her bed by sickness. He spent Sunday night at the house of Mr. Merwin Gibbs, the second farm south of his old place, the Whipple farin lying between.

THE FATAL RENCOUNTER .-- About 8 o'clock, on Monday morning, Dunn left the house of Mr. Gibbs, saying that he was going to the river, his old home being directly upon his route. As he neared the house, standing at the north side of the east and west road, and facing south, he discovered a horse hitched to a small peach tree near the southeast corner of the house, there being no fence

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

between the house and the street. Surmising that the horse in question belonged to Elisha Whipple, his naturally impulsive temper was at once aroused, and when Whipple opened the door in response to his knock, with an opprobrious epithet he indig- nantly inquired what he (Whipple) was doing there? Maddened at the vile name applied to him, Whipple rushed upon Dunn, and being much the larger and stronger man, bore him to the ground, in the struggle tearing his coat and inflicting several cuts and bruises upon his face and hands.

The only witnesses to this scene, were Mrs. Dunn through the open door, and the little four-year-old girl; Mrs. Dunn afterwards- testifying that Dunn cried " Whipple let me up!" to which Whipple responded, "I will when you learn to behave yourself," upon which both rose to their feet. The little girl closing the door at this point, there were no witnesses to what followed, except that Mrs. Dunn saw Dunn rush past the window followed by Whipple.

Dunn's version of the affair was that, on rising to his feet, other angry words ensued, Dunn applying the same opprobrious epithet he had previously made use of, when Whipple again started for him, he (Dunn) retreating backwards toward the street. As Whipple bore down on him, fearing for his own life he drew the revolver from his pocket, and as Whipple fell upon him, bearing him again to the earth, he fired, blood immediately spurting from Whipple's mouth and completely saturating Dunn's- face and clothing as he lay under the heavy body of his antago- nist completely helpless.

DUNN'S VOLUNTARY SURRENDER .- Responsive to the screams. of the little girl who had climbed to the window, Mrs. Dunn arose trom her sick bed, and hastily throwing a shawl over her head and shoulders, opened the door just in time to see Dunn, who had rolled the bloody body of Whipple off from himself, rising to his feet, at about which time the son, Harry, who was at the time doing the chores at the barn, appeared upon the scene, and as he supposed saw his father rising up off the body of Whipple, which was then lying upon its back. Dunn, who in the struggle to free himself from the weight of his dead antagonist's body, had dropped his revolver in the snow, gathered up his battered hat, and returned to the farm of Mr. Gibbs, where a number of men were engaged in threshing, among them Mr. George Chase, one of the constables of the township, to whom he voluntarily surren- dered himself, telling what he had done and how and why he did it.

CORONER'S INQUEST .- The tragic affair created the most intense excitement in the neighborhood, and so rapidly extending to other localities, that before noon The Daily BEACON reporter, Mr. George W. Kummer, was upon the ground and back to. the office again with a full report of the affair in time for that evening's issue of the paper. Justice William Viall, for the time being, acting as Coroner, issued a warrant to Constable Orrin Markham, who summoned a jury of inquest as follows: James Harrington, Abial L. Waite, Wesley J. Wise, Edwin Folk, William McLoney and Philip Klein. Although the cause of the death of Whipple was apparent from Dunn's own statement, the testimony of Harry Dunn, Catharine Jones (the late Mrs. Dunn), Frederick Hart, Merwin Gibbs and Drs. J. M. Crafts and W. S. Hough, was

869

INDICTMENT, TRIAL, ETC.

taken, the two latter having performed an autopsy upon the body. From the fact that blood had spurted from the mouth of Whipple upon his prostrate slayer beneath him, it was at first supposed that the ball had passed through the mouth and into the brain. The examination, however, showed that the ball entered the left breast between the second and third ribs, passing through both lungs, through the upper edge of the eighth rib, and lodging in the right shoulder-blade, corroborative of Dunn's statement; Dr. Crafts testifying that the person shooting must have been above; or the person shot stooping forward; other testimony showing that the ground was slightly descending from the house to the road, and that it was 42 feet from the door-step to where Dunn and Whipple fell.

PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION .- The verdict of the coroner's jury was, of course, to the effect that Whipple came to his death by a revolver-shot fired by Dunn. Justice Viall issued a warrant duly charging Dunn, already in custody, with deliberate and malicious murder, and the defendant, waiving an examination, was taken to Akron the same evening, by Constable Chase, and duly consigned to the custody of Mr. Albert T. Manning, the writer's very efficient jailor at that time.

INDICTMENT, TRIAL, ETC .- At the May term of the Court of Common Pleas, 1879, Judge Newell D. Tibbals on the Bench, Prosecuting Attorney Edward W. Stuart laid Justice Viall's transcript of the case before the Grand Jury for that term, constituted as follows: L. E. Humphrey, Frank Ehrich, Orson Cook, M. C. Danforth, C. Fell, John Gottwalt, S. N. Weston, Williston Alling, George L. Bishop, Oliver P. Falor, Joseph Jennings, Orrin L. Walker, Benjamin F. Thompson, John Allen and A. V. Amerman.

A "true bill" charging the defendant with premeditated and malicious murder was returned. On this indictment the prisoner was arraigned on the 23d day of June, 1879, entering a plea of not guilty, Gen. Alvin C. Voris and Gov. Sidney Edgerton defending, and Hon. Henry Mckinney, of Cleveland, assisting Prosecutor Stuart, on behalf of the State.

OBTAINING A JURY .- A full day and a half was consumed in procuring a jury, 119 persons being examined in all, before the panel was declared full, as follows: H. H. Bliss, of Northfield; J. L. Bender, Springfield; J. B. Richardson, Tallmadge; S. L. Oviatt, Northfield; Wallace S. Saxton, Fifth Ward, Akron; B. S. Braddock, Richfield; A. S. Wheeler, Cuyahoga Falls; Jacob Clouner, Spring- field; Alfred Wood, Second Ward; David Hanscom, First Ward; George F. Kent, Sixth Ward; and Smith Pangborn, Fourth Ward.

The examination of witnesses consumed nearly three days, 113 in all being in attendance and nearly all sworn and examined. Prosecutor Stuart occupied about four hours in his opening argument for the State; Gen. Voris and Gov. Edgerton about five hours each for the defense, and Judge Mckinney closing the argument in behalf of the prosecution in a plea of about three hours, all earnest, able and eloquent efforts.

The charge of Judge Tibbals was exhaustive and perspicuous, and so satisfactory to counsel on both sides that no additional sug- gestions were made by either, elaborately explaining to the jury the different degrees of homicide, and the rules of law applicable

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

to each, carefully explaining the law of self-defense or justifiable homicide, and especially admonishing the jury to weigh well the testimony in regard to the sanity of the defendant, who, if found to be insane at the time of the commission of the act, would be' entitled to a full and unconditional acquittal.

A "COMPROMISE" VERDICT .- The jury retired to their room at 5:30 P. M., Tuesday, July 1, the eighth day of the trial. At 9 A. M., Wednesday, the jury requested more light upon the subject of pre- meditation, and were recharged by Judge Tibbals upon that point. At 2:35 P. M., the jury, through their foreman, Mr. David Hanscom,. rendered a verdict of "murder in the second degree."

It afterwards transpired that after a unanimous ballot against. the hypothesis of insanity, the first ballot as to the degree of guilt stood: First degree, 7; second degree, 4; manslaughter, 1. Sev- eral precisely similar ballots ensued, when the manslaughter man announced his willingness to vote for second degree, but could go no further, and many ballots followed, 7 to 5. At the end of 24 hours, one of the first degree men proposed to yield to the second degree men, in order to avoid the trouble and expense of another trial, but some of his fellows objected on the ground that if a life- sentence to prison, only, was imposed, after a few years, through the intercession of friends and interested counsel, he would be set at liberty again by some tender-hearted governor.

Some juror being aware of the fact that among other pre -- requisites for the procurement of a pardon was a petition or recom- mendation from the jury, before whom the conviction was had to. that effect, and it was then and there solemnly agreed, in a writing signed by all, and placed in the hands of the foreman, that none of them would ever sign such a petition, or recommendation, without the consent of all the rest, and hence, probably, the failure of the effort to secure a pardon for poor Dunn, some two or three years. ago.

Quere .-- Was not such an agreement, on the part of the jury, a proceeding- that would have invalidated the verdict, had it been known, and advantage- taken of it at the time, and, if so, is it yet too late for the friends of the pris -- oner to make it available in his behalf?

PRONOUNCING SENTENCE .- No motion for a new trial having been filed, on Monday, July 9, 1879, at 11:15 A. M., the prisoner was. brought in for sentence. Commanding him to stand up, after a brief reference to the crime charged, the fairness of the trial, the- verdict of the jury, etc., Judge Tibbals inquired of the prisoner if he had anything to say why the sentence of the law should not be- pronounced? Dunn replied, in substance, that what he did was done in self-defense, and the Judge was proceeding to comment. on the fearfulness of the offense which had been committed, and the presumption that when a man thus took the law into his own hands to redress a real or supposed provocation, the party must be a desperate character, and unsafe as an associate for his fellow men. At this point Dunn again spoke: ¿

"I had no idea, Your Honor, when I went to my wife's house, that day, of meeting Whipple. When I went to go into the house, Whipple held the door open about six inches, and then I asked him what he was doing there? Before I had finished the first sen- tence he pitched onto me and cut me in the head and cheek .. Then he threw me down in the mud and tore my clothes. When I

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Author: Lane, Samuel A. (Samuel Alanson), 1815-1905 Publication date: 1892 Publisher: Akron, Ohio : Beacon Job Department Number of Pages: 1228

Author: Lane, Samuel A. (Samuel Alanson), 1815-1905
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Akron, Ohio : Beacon Job Department
Number of Pages: 1228