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 120

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 120

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DEATH OF ROBERT GARGETT-SPECIAL GRAND JURY, ETC .- Mr. Gargett, though unconscious all the time, lingered just one week when he also expired. A special grand jury was immediately impaneled which, on June 8, found another true bill against the prisoner, of murder in the first degree, in the killing of Robert Gargett, to which indictment the defendant also pleaded "Not Guilty." A motion was at this time made, by defendant's counsel, for a continuance of the case, on which he was to be first tried (the murder of Mrs. Gargett) until the next term, which was over- ruled, and July 17 was fixed for the trial to commence.

THE TRIAL-IMPANELING JURY, ETC .-- Promptly on the day fixed the case was called, Judge S. W. McClure on the bench, Jacob A. Kohler, Esq., prosecuting attorney, assisted by Hon. Sid- ney Edgerton, Hon. Henry Mckinney and George M. Wright, Esq., appearing on behalf of the State, and General A. C. Voris, H. C. Sanford, Esq., Hon. E. P. Green and R. J. Winters, Esq., on behalf of the defendant. The trial continued two weeks, and dur- ing the whole time the court room was thronged daily by a great crowd of persons, a large proportion of whom were ladies, eager to catch every word spoken in reference to the case.

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A venire of thirty-six jurors had been summoned, and the usual examination as to qualifications had been entered into, but the entire venire was exhausted without securing a single satis- factory juror. A special venire was issued embracing 150 addi- tional names, which was also exhausted before securing a full panel, whereupon a second special venire of 150 names was ordered and finally a third. After the examination and rejection of some- thing over 200 persons, the panel was pronounced full, and the jury was duly sworn, as follows: Justus Rockwell, of Akron; John B. Harrison, of Cuyahoga Falls; Andrew Fenn, of Tallmadge; Garry T. Preston, of Tallmadge; Marcus Brundige, of Akron; Melchiah Sherbondy, of Portage; Samuel Keller, of Tallmadge ;. Alexander M. Russell, of Franklin; Joseph Babb, of Portage; Orlen A. Chapman, of Portage; Edward A. Barber, of Portage ;. and William Prior, Jr., of Northampton.

Three days and a half had thus been consumed in the selection. of the jury, so that the trial proper did not commence until the afternoon of Thursday, July 20. A statement on behalf of the prosecution was made to the jury, by Prosecuting Attorney Kohler, in which a brief history of the case was given from the commencement of the correspondence between the defendant and Chloe Gargett, until his commitment to jail on the charge on which he was about to be tried. General Voris, on behalf of the prisoner, said that he did not want to make any statement on the part of his client, until the evidence for the State had been closed, but simply wished to caution the jury against forming any con- clusions in the case until the evidence on both sides was all in, saying: "We do not ask pity for the accused; we simply ask that. strict justice be done him in every particular."

The following named witnesses were sworn and examined in behalf of the State: J. G. Lacey, of Carson City, Mich., from whom Hunter had borrowed the revolver; Moses McFarlin, with whom he rode from Cleveland to Richfield; Robert Rodney Gargett, son of the deceased, with whom he rode from Richfield to the farm. and who witnessed the killing and was himself wounded; Seth H. Waldo, who also witnessed the shooting; Mrs. Caroline Poole, to whose house Chloe Gargett fled to escape the vengeance of her discarded lover; Elbridge Bigelow, J. E. Buck, W. F. Huddleston, E. S. Oviatt and E. S. Bentley, who made the arrest and conveyed the prisoner to Richfield Center, and thence to the jail in Akron; Dr. Wesley Pope, of Richfield, who made a superficial examina- tion of both Mr. and Mrs. Gargett, after the shooting; Dr. B. S. Chase, of Akron, who made the post-mortem examination of Mrs. Gargett's body; and Captain D. McIntosh, of Elm Hall, Mich., who had heard Hunter threaten the whole family if they did not give up the girl to him. All of these eleven witnesses were searchingly cross-examined, by defendant's counsel, nearly two full days being consumed in their examination.

INSANITY THE DEFENSE .- On the coming in of court, on Satur- day morning, July 22, the sixth day of the trial, Prosecutor Kohler, on behalf of the State, announced that the prosecution rested, whereupon General Voris proceeded to state to the jury the line of defense which would be presented on behalf of the accused, saying: "We expect to prove that the accused, John H. Hunter, at the time he committed the deed for which he is being

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INSANITY THE DEFENSE.

tried, and for several months prior to that time, was insane, and to such a degree that he had not the power of self-control, or the ability to form a sane judgment as to his actions." General Voris then proceeded to detail, at length, the grounds upon which his theory was based; the impairment of his mind by a blow received upon his head a year or two before; the unnatural and insane actions of the accused, in connection with his love affairs, and his troubles, and his real or imaginary wrongs emanating therefrom.

Though the time between the commission of the crime and the day set for the trial had been short, the indefatigable counsel for the defense had worked up a very large array of evidently honest testimony in support of the theory advanced. Affidavits were read from Mrs. Fidelia A. Betts, of Pewamo, Mich., with whom Hunter had boarded several weeks two or three years before, upon whom he had often called when in Pewamo, and to whom he had told his troubles about " his girl;" Jonathan E. Moser, hotel-keeper at Pewamo, with whom he had also boarded, and with whom he took supper on the eve of his departure for Ohio; George W. Palmer, of Bloomer, Mich., for whom he had worked six or eight weeks, and with whom he boarded during that time; Henry M. Robinson, of Bloomer, for whom he worked and with whom he boarded for about two weeks in April, 1871, and to whom he told the story of his wrongs; Augustus C. Burnham, and Mr. and Mrs. Orlando Goldthrite, of Carson City; Franklin M. Pruden, of Bloomer; Mrs. Sarah Ann Scott, James Moorman and Fred E. Scott, of Carson City, to all of whom he had repeatedly told his tale of woe, and uttered his maledictions against those by whom his separation from " his girl" had been brought about.

Oral testimony was also given in support of the insanity theory by Rev. Lathrop Cooley, then of Akron, who had visited the prisoner in jail, Lawyer D. M. Wilson, of Youngstown, and J. J. Hall, Esq., of Akron, who had conversed with him in jail; William McNeil, Ransom Cole, O. H. Fitts, and Daniel Peck, who had known him in Peninsula some five or six years before, as to his general cheerful deportment at that time. Drs. William Bowen, J. J. Smith and Charles R. Merriman testified as experts on the subject of insanity, based upon the testimony of witnesses, and the hypothetical cases stated by counsel, that they would pro- nounce him insane, or at least a monomaniac upon the subject of " his girl." The defense, after reading a portion of the correspondence between Hunter and Miss Gargett; a pretty full synopsis of which is given earlier in this narrative, for the double purpose of showing a marriage agreement (which the counsel for the State conceded) and of accounting for the disturbance of the defendant's mind, announced, soon after the convening of court on Tuesday afternoon, July 25, that the defense rested.

TESTIMONY IN REBUTTAL .- E. W. Stuart, Esq., testified to read- ing to the defendant, in the jail, an affidavit for continuance which had been prepared by his counsel, which he had signed and sworn to in regular form. James Gargett testified as to his conduct at his house, as heretofore detailed, and in regard to a conversation had with him in the jail in which Hunter seemed to fully realize what he had done, saying that "he wouldn't have done it, if he ( James). hadn't opposed him so." Hiram Alexander, George Torrey, George Boyd, Dr. Edward Wilson, F. Oliver, William McCloud, Dr. Daniel

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Brant and Isaac Gee, of Elm Hall; and H. P. Miller, of Carson City, Mich., all of whom had known Hunter during his residence in that vicinity, and were familiar with his habits and actions, tes- tified to their belief in his sanity, while Jacob Fillius, S. B. Price and Carlisle Birge, of Hudson, who had known him there, in 1865, testified to his boastful and excitable disposition, while living there. Norman Oviatt, of Richfield, had seen nothing strange about him while helping Rodney Gargett load lumber at his mill an hour or so before the murder. N. W. Goodhue and Charles Rinehart had talked with him in jail without discovering any signs of insanity about him, while Sheriff Curtiss, who had him in charge, had never discovered anything unusual in his conduct, when others were not present. Drs. Thomas McEbright, E. W. Howard and E. Hitchcock, of Akron, were examined, as experts, and testified, that from the testimony given and the hypotheses submitted, he was, in their opinion, of sound mind at the time he committed the deed.

THE ARGUMENTS OF COUNSEL .- The testimony being all in, Gov. Edgerton opened the argument, on the part of the State, on Thurs- day morning, occupying about two hours, in a masterly review of the circumstances attending the homicide, and of the principles of law governing such cases; spoke of the increasing tendency to interpose the plea of insanity in cases of fearful crimes; analyzed the testimony bearing on that phase of the defense, during his remarks, paying a glowing tribute to the tact and bravery of Mrs. Poole, in shielding the stricken and fleeing, and suddenly orphaned, Chloe Gargett, from the murderous fury of her discarded lover.

H. C. Sanford, Esq., opened for the defense, occupying the bal- ance of the day (about six hours), in an exhaustive presentation of the authorities bearing upon insanity and homicidal mania, citing many of the acts and expressions of Hunter, both in regard to his love troubles and other matters, developed by the testimony, as fully establishing his lack of responsibility for the act which he had committed, and closed with a very eloquent and earnest appeal to the jury to deal justly and impartially by the accused in the rendition of their verdict, as they should answer to their con- sciences and their God.

Gen. A. C. Voris followed his colleague on the defense, com- mencing his address immediately on the coming in of the Court, on Friday morning, July 26, and occupying the entire forenoon. It was one of the most masterly efforts of the General's professional life, covering the entire range of medical jurisprudence upon the subject of lunacy and mental disturbances, and their relation to acts of violence; quoting extensively from both medical and judicial authors; reviewing and dissecting the testimony; com- menting on and combatting the argument of Gov. Edgerton on behalf of the State, and closing with a very impressive appeal to the jury to save the life of the defendant, saying: "Remember that if you make a mistake against this man's life, you cannot go beyond the grave to rectify it. May God guide you to a true deliv- erance on this awfully momentous occasion, and we shall be con- tent with your verdict. Gentlemen, the scales of justice are in your hands. To your deliberations are committed the most weighty interests that concern mankind. What you are now doing will sound to eternity. For the life of this man we trust you."

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CHARGE, VERDICT, SENTENCE, ETC.

Hon. J. A. Kohler followed Gen. Voris, with the closing argu- ment for the State, occupying all of Friday afternoon. The crime of malicious and premeditated murder, as well as the various other degrees of homicide, was clearly defined; the statutes pertaining thereto quoted; and in relation to the defense of insanity which had been interposed, the charge of Judge Birchard to the jury in a similar case was cited: "Was the accused a free agent in form- ing the purpose to kill? Was he, at the time the act was com- mitted, capable of judging whether that act was right or wrong? If you say nay, he is innocent; if yea, and you find the killing to have been done purposely, with deliberate and premeditated malice, he is guilty." The entire effort of Mr. Kohler was clear, concise, logical, eloquent and impassioned; closing his remarks to the jury with these words: "You answer to God for the manner in which you discharge your duty and leave other ministers of justice to the same great Being, for the manner in which they dis- charge theirs. We are not law-makers; it is our duty to enforce the law as it is, and to bring its penalties to bear against the law- breaker. May wisdom direct you in your investigations of the. case, so that justice may be vindicated, and that you may, in the spirit of your oaths, make true deliverance between the State and the accused."

THE CHARGE-THE VERDICT .- On Saturday morning, July 29, the thirteenth day of the trial, Judge McClure gave his charge to the jury, occupying a little over half an hour in its delivery. The · Judge, after defining the different degrees of homicide, and the law applicable thereto, and properly defining and explaining the terms, deliberation, premeditation, malice, etc., proceeded to quote, and adopt as his own, the language of Judge Boynton in his charge to the jury upon the trial of Vendruth D. Washburn, upon a similar offense, and with a similar defense, a year or so before, and in conclusion said: "Gentlemen, I have now discharged my duties, imperfectly it may be, but faithfully and impartially, I hope; I leave you to discharge yours, in full confidence that you will discharge them fearlessly and faithfully. If the defendant was insane at the time he committed the bloody deed with which he stands charged, it would be cruelty to convict. But, if not insane, it would be equally cruel to society to turn him loose again." The jury retired to their room at about 9 o'clock, and at 11:30 returned into the court with their verdict, which was read by the clerk as follows:

" We the jury, impaneled and sworn to well and truly try, and true deliv- erance make, between the State of Ohio and the prisoner at the bar, John H. Hunter, do find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree.

WM. PRIOR, JR., foreman."

THE SENTENCE -- THE PRISONER'S SPEECH .- During the rendition of the verdict, the prisoner sat with his face in his hands, and his elbows resting on his knees, listening attentively to the reading, with a seeming full comprehension .of its import, but making no especial demonstration of feeling except through a slight trem- bling of the knees. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the prisoner was brought into court for sentence, an immense throng of people being in attendance. A motion for a new trial, submitted by defendant's counsel, was overruled by the Court, and the

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

condemned man was commanded to stand up to receive his sen- tence. On his rising to his feet, Judge McClure said:

"On the second day of June, 1871, the Grand Jury of the county of Sum- mit returned an indictment against you, charging you, in substance, that on the 27th day of May last, in the township of Riclifield, in said county, you. murdered Elizabeth Gargett. To this charge you interposed a plea of not guilty. The determination of the issues, thus joined, has been submitted to a jury of able and impartial men. Your defense has been conducted by able counsel, who have left no fair or honorable means untried which tended, in any degree, to manifest your innocence of a crime so monstrous and if established, so disastrous to your earthly hopes. That jury has returned a verdict declaring you guilty of murder in the first degree, thus sustaining the charge described. Having thus informed you of the verdict of the jury, in accordance with the requirements of the law, in accordance with the provisions of the same law. I now ask you whether you have any- thing to say why judgment should not now be pronounced against you, subjecting you to the penalty prescribed for such crime ?"

The prisoner, in a low but firm tone of voice, and without any special manifestation of excitement, proceeded to speak as follows.

"Your Honor, I think I have been dealt with unjustly. My first reason is that I had not the witnesses to prove my case, that I wanted iny attorneys to get for me. There have been witnesses here on the stand with whom I never had any 'acquaintance whatever. I have been charged on the stand by Dr. Torrey, that I owed him $60 for board. I deny it. I never owed him a cent more than $30. They deny that I ever had an interview with my girl at Elm Hall, but it is not so. I'did see her twelve, yes, fourteen evenings. I was to uphold her in every shape and form. They have denied me a right- eous trial. They have accused ine of shooting Mrs. Gargett. I say I never remember seeing her at all. So help me God! So help me God! I never saw her! I never had any recollection of Mrs. Gargett. I remember seeing Mr. Gargett, the first and last. I am not a murderer. The last I remember is jumping off the wagon. I bought the revolver for the purpose of shooting myself if I did not get my girl. I don't value my life. My girl is what I die for, and this is what I die for. They tore out my heart in Michigan. When I went to see her they kicked me out of the house. They never brought her here to the trial. They had a right to bring her here and Mrs. Stiles. Inever was afraid to meet her. They treated me as a child. I never harbored any- thing against Mrs. Gargett. I gave her time to overlook the engagement, but they were all satisfied with me. I told Mr. and Mrs. Gargett, last Fall, that I was a poor man ; that I had traveled a great deal and spent a great deal of money. It may have been foolish ; but we are all foolish. I was going to settle down. I have been a true man to her. The last time I saw my girl was at the hotel in Elin Hall, and George Torrey, who swore my life away, held the horses as I helped her into the cutter. It was then that she said she would stick to me if the devil was at the back door. I am willing to die for my girl, but not for murder. It is not for the murder of Mrs. Gargett that I die. I do not recollect her-I do not recollect her-I do not, I say, recollect her. When they say she was not at Elm Hall, they say what is not. true. Chloe was in Eln Hall three weeks, and we visited together. This is the truth from the lips of a dying man. If I had money to bring my witnesses to Ohio, I would be an innocent inan to-day. I am no murderer. I am destitute; I have no relations in America. I did not know what. was ahead of me. I was willing to die, but, Oh, God! I wanted to bid her good bye. I was ready to lay down my life for my girl in Michigan. When I went to James Gargett's to see her, he said I couldn't see her. I asked him why ? He said she didn't want to see me. I said she did want to see me. When she came down stairs-I shall never forget it to my dying day-she sat with her head down as if her heart would break with bitter grief, because she couldn't speak to me, and I knew she wanted to see nie. Mr. Gargett told her she should not see me, and they kicked mne out of the house. I told her to come to Elin Hall and I'd see her. Three days after she sent me a letter saying : "Come over, John, for you are the man I love," and I went. They said I came to shoot her. I would die first. In my right mind I would shoot no one. There never was a more sensitive man in the world than I am. I am not a murderer ! I am not a murderer! God forbid that I should be a murderer ! I have suffered more in this love affair than

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INCIDENTS OF THE TRIAL.

twelve men in the agonies of of death-more than all the men in Ohio. I. suffered more than I could hide, and I knew it. When I received the note I. went over to James Gargett's to see her, knocked, went in, and was received with all the greeting of a kind and loving heart. I visited her and revisited her. They can't deny it. She was loving every time. She told her sister Mary, before she left: "Mary, you give my love to John, and tell him I will ever prove true to him." That's true The next thing I heard was that she had gone back on me, and they kicked me, and I have never seen her since. They would not bring her here to testify on the stand because it would gratify me. No, it would please me too much. My last dying words will be: " GOD BLESS THE GIRL I LOVE !"

Judge McClure then resumed:

"Notwithstanding your statements, Mr. Hunter, I am under the painful necessity of saying to you that, in my judgment, the verdict of the jury is fully justified by the evidence upon which it is based. I do not see how, without violating the solemn oath that was administered to them, they could have returned a different verdict. It therefore becomes my duty, and it is a painful one, I assure you, and one from which I would gladly escape, were it possible for me to do so-to pronounce upon you the extreme penalty known to the law. Before, however, announcing the sentence in form, per- mit me to remark that the same power, which prescribed the penalty for the crime of which you have been convicted, has also humanely provided that at least one hundred days shall intervene between the sentence and judg- ment and the day appointed for the execution thereof. The design of the delay is two-fold. First, to enable your counsel, in the event they may think error has been committed by the Court, during the progress of the trial, to take the necessary steps to reverse the judgment on that account; and sec- ondly, and perhaps mainly, to give you time to make such preparations as you may deem necessary for your approaching doom. In regard to such preparations I have no advice to give you. Divided as the world now is into different sects, I have long believed that each and every man should be left to his own untrammeled judgment in regard to matters of such immense importance. Actuated by such conviction, most sincerely entertained, I leave you entirely free to adopt such course as your own judgment shall dictate. Nothing more remains for me to say except the following: It is the judgment of this court, and the sentence of the law, that you be taken hence to the jail of this county; that you be there safely and securely kept, by tlie jailer thereof, until Tuesday, the 21st day of November. 1871, and that on that day, you, John H. Hunter, be taken to the place of execution prescribed by law, and that then and there, between the hours of 10 A. M., and 12 o'clock M., of said day, you be hanged by the neck until you are dead."

INCIDENTS OF THE TRIAL .- It will be remembered that insanity was the sole defense of the condemned man, the killing of both Mr. and Mrs. Gargett, and the wounding of the son, Rodney. by Hunter, being conceded. This theory, the jury, by their verdict decided to be untrue, and hence, assuming the justness of the ver- dict, all of his demonstrations in that line, after his incarceration in jail, and during the trial, were simply "put on" for effect, as most of those who witnessed them at the time believed them to be. For instance, while the trial was in progress he would often go off into fits of immoderate laughter, or indulge in appalling facial contortions with violent gesticulations, and at one time, while the attorney for the State was cross-examining one of the defendant's medical experts, by a hypothetical question in which occurred the clause, "supposing Chloe Gargett, while visiting Elm Hall, frankly told Hunter she would not have him." Hunter sprang to his feet, and shaking his fist at the questioner, yelled at the top of his voice, "You're a liar, sir! You're a liar ! You're a liar!" but on being taken hold of by the sheriff and ordered to take his seat, and keep quiet he immediately obeyed him. At another time, while being conducted from the jail to the court room, he broke out into a series of most violent ravings, cursing, swearing and

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using the most obscene language, refusing to take a seat when ordered by the sheriff to do so, and violently struggling with that officer and his deputies until sharply spoken to by the Court, when he immediately sat down and became quiet, except in the way of some rather emphatic gesticulations.

In an interview with the writer, then editor of The Beacon, Hunter had promised to sit for his picture, with a view of having it engraved for publication in connection with a history of the trial. Seating him at the proper distance from the instrument, Mr. Battels would bring the camera to the desired focus, and just as he was ready to remove the black cloth, Hunter would break out into an "uncontrollable" fit of laughter, which would disar- range the entire affair. This he repeated some six or eight times, until Sheriff Curtiss said to him somewhat sternly: "Come John, stop your fooling, or you won't get any dinner today," when he quieted right down, and the negative was speedily completed.

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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