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 96

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 96

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THE SENTENCE.

"JAMES PARKS :- You have been indicted by the grand jury of this county for the murder of William Beatson; you have been tried by a traverse jury, before whom you have had the benefit of able counsel. They have brought to your defense a laborious and searching examination of the evidence against you, as well as an earnest and careful presentation of everything that could be pro- duced in your favor. The jury have listened patiently and atten- tively to the evidence, and the pleadings of your counsel, and have arrived at the conclusion that you are guilty. Have you anything to say why the sentence of the law should not be pronounced against you ?"

Mr. Parks responded in a firm voice :- "May it please your Honor, I have the best reason in the world why sentence should not be passed. I have represented that through my counsel. I have nothing more to add; I have told, through them, the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

The Court :- "You have had a fair and impartial trial by an intelligent and unbiased jury. They have returned a verdict of guilty against you, and with that verdict the court is satisfied. You have wilfully and deliberately taken the life of a fellow being, and in so doing you have forfeited your own. The penalty of the law is death. It is a painful duty to pronounce upon you the sen- tence of the law, but having given full consideration to every argument urged against it, I can find nothing to excuse me from the discharge of this duty. The sentence of the court is, therefore, that you be removed hence to the jail of this county, and there safely kept until the 26th day of May next, when you will be taken thence to the place of execution, where, between the hours of 9 o'clock in the forenoon, and 2 o'clock in the afternoon, you will be hanged by the neck until you are dead."

PARKS MAKES A "STATEMENT."-The report of the trial was soon afterwards published in pamphlet form, to which was added a document of nearly twenty pages, written by Parks himself. He commenced by denying that, before leaving England, he had ever engaged in poaching, burglary, etc., or had ever been in prison there. He then relates, in detail, his crookedness and imprison- ment in this country; his connection with a "strange woman" and his saloon-keeping. in Cleveland; his visit to England, marriage to his cousin, return to America, substantially as stated by Mr. Otis. He then reiterates the story of the " accidental." death of Beatson at the railroad bridge, and of his ghastly work in arraying himself in Beatson's coat tied about his waist for an apron, and in cutting off the head with a knife taken from Beatson's pocket, and his dis- position of the body, head, clothing, etc., attributing his proceed- ings to his fear that the true story of the death of Beatson would not be believed because of his (Parks') previous bad character; saying, in that connection: "If anybody thinks that it was not

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

hateful to my feelings, they are very much mistaken. I conceived that the necessity of the case was in a great degree excusable; as much so as it is to dispose of the dead in the various ways they do, in order to prevent them from injuring the living; and I shall here state, with all due respect to the feelings of others, that I think it does not matter what is done with a dead body, providing it does not injure the feelings of living friends. I did not do any crime whatever, and I can vindicate myself by the laws of heaven and of reason. The previous tyrannical conventionalism of society imposed the task on me; I never sought for it, and did not like it. 1 may have sinned. Nay, I have sinned, but I have suffered, have repented, but I could not be forgiven. When will society cease to hunt a man down for one error? After punishing him with a pen- alty ten times greater than his offense, they are not satisfied. How often is the law made the weapon of the vilest malignity and its penalties the most dire revenge !"

WRIT OF ERROR ALLOWED-EXECUTION POSTPONED .- A bill of exceptions having been prepared, and duly signed by Judge Hum- phreyville, application was made to Judge Bartley, of the Supreme Court, for a writ of error, which was finally granted, and the case reserved for hearing in the Supreme Court. The granting of the writ and the postponement of the execution, created the most intense excitement throughout the county. Sheriff Seward had already had a gallows constructed, and was making other prepa- rations for the execution, all of which were now indefinitely post- poned. Yet, notwithstanding the fact that the postponement was widely published, and notwithstanding the hanging, when consummated, would be private, and within the walls of the jail, on the day set for the execution a large and excited crowd of peo- ple, men, women and children, assembled about the jail, it being estimated that there were at least 2,000 persons from outside of Akron, in attendance.

At first, Parks was quite alarmed at the size and somewhat emphatic demonstrations of the crowd-fearing an uninvited visit of Judge Lynch, and expressed a desire to be locked up in his cell, but at length becoming reassured, as he explained, by the large number of "ladies" in the throng, he not only sought to gratify morbid curiosity, by exhibiting himself freely at the grated win- dow, but also harangued the crowd, asserting his innocence, and pointing out the fearful wrong of hanging an innocent man. His speech, however, did not have a very mollifying effect upon the crowd, for many of them intimated, in no measured or stinted terms, that they would relish no better sport than to help "string him up," and so intense was the disappointment, and so firm was the belief that he was guilty of the horrible crime attributed to him, it only needed a bold and determined leader to have essayed . the attempt, though the authorities were pretty well prepared against the consummation of such an effort.

PLANNING TO ESCAPE FROM JAIL .- Among the prisoners con- fined in the jail, at this time, was a man named Case, whose brother, from Kent, was permitted to visit him. On his leaving the jail, the second time, Sheriff Seward noticing something peculiar in his manner, concluded to search him and was rewarded by finding concealed upon his person the pattern for a key to the jail locks then in use, and a couple of notes in Parks'

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NEW TRIAL-CHANGE OF VENUE.

handwriting, addressed to his brother-in-law, George Dickinson, of which the following are copies:

DEAR BROTHER :- The bearer of this is a friend of mine. Help him to what he wants, a key and a saw-good saw. Be sure, if you do, old Copper Knob is safe. Tatersley, gunsmith, or some jeweler. I need not tell you this is of great importance. I need not tell you more; this man will tell you all.

Yours, OLD COPPER KNOB.

The other note read:

"The saw must not be more than three-quarters of an inch broad, and the back of it must not be any thicker than the edge. It should have a sort of a handle, as a bow cannot be used for want of room between the bars. The barrel of the key must run down as far as the shoulder, but about four threads at the nose of the key is all that is wanted. I send you an exact pat- tern of wood, only make a better shoulder, and a better handle. The barrel is an exact fit, and impression made on the nose of the wood is made with the screw that is inside the locks. The threads on the screw are not very fine. If we had some lead or zinc we might make a key."

Hitherto, Sheriff Seward had shown his prisoner great lenity, granting him the range of the jail corridors during the day and only locking him in his cell at night. From this time on he deemed it advisable to keep him confined in his own cell, only let- ting him out for exercise for a short time each morning and even- ing. Parks became highly indignant at this further curtailment of his liberty, and manifested a disposition to make the sheriff and assistants as much trouble as possible.

At length, one morning, after being given his customary exer- cise by the faithful turnkey, the late Chris. Metzler, Parks utterly refused to re-enter his cell, making such savage demonstrations as to frighten poor Chris. nearly out of his senses. Deputy Sheriff George W. Marriner, was called in to quell the insubordination, and ordered Mr. Parks into his cell, refusing to enter which, and making some hostile demonstrations towards Marriner, the latter suddenly planted his brawny fist between the eyes of the former and knocked him nearly the entire length of the corridor, then seized him by the collar and dragged him into the cell. From this time on, while he remained in the jail here, Parks was per- fectly docile and amiable.

WRIT OF ERROR SUSTAINED-NEW TRIAL GRANTED' The hear- ing of the Parks writ of error case was taken up out of the regular order, on the calendar of the Supreme court, and after being ably argued, pro and con, by counsel on either side, a decision was reached early in August, 1854. The writ was sustained and a new trial granted on the single ground that the verdict of the jury was informal. This remanded the case to the court of Common Pleas of Summit county, unless a change of venue should be granted by said court. At the November terni of court a motion was made for a change of venue, on the ground that on account of the prejudice against the accused, he could not have a fair and impartial trial in Summit county, which motion was granted by Judge Humphrey- ville, who ordered the case to be transferred to Cuyahoga county, though Parks himself expressed a wish to be tried in Portage county. In accordance with this arrangement, on the 5th day of January, 1855, Parks was taken to Cleveland and transferred to the custody of Sheriff Spangler by Sheriff Seward.

The case was set for trial in Judge Starkweather's court about the middle of January, but, at the request of defendant's counsel,

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

was postponed until February 15, 1855. When the case was called, on the day named, Mr. Otis announced that Messrs. Bliss and Wol- cott, who had been assigned to the defense in Summit county, would be unable to further act in the premises, and Mr. Parks chose Hiram Griswold, Esq., and the court named Amos Coe, Esq., as his assistant, while A. G. Riddle, Esq., was called to the assist- ance of Prosecutor Edgerton. To give the new counsel for the defense time to familiarize themselves with the case, a further postponement was granted until the 6th day of March, at which time the trial was proceeded with. Prosecutor Edgerton made a statement of the case to the jury substantially the same as liad been made by Mr. Upson on the former trial, and Mr. Griswold, for the accused, embodying the same line of defense as before, giving, in addition, as a reason for the two men going to Pittsburg, that "the purlieus of that city were much more favorable for the commission of crime than any portion of Summit county," and that Beatson, instead of Parks, insisted on footing it back to Hud- son on the night of the alleged murder.

The jury were escorted to Cuyahoga Falls, to view the scene of the murder, by Sheriff Spangler, accompanied by Messrs. Edger- ton and Griswold. Most of the witnesses examined upon the first trial also testified in this, and while several new witnesses were introduced on both sides, but little new evidence bearing upon the case was elicited. The testimony closed on Monday, March 12, and the arguments of counsel occupied nearly three days. The Cleve- land Herald, in its report of the trial, after a very glowing tribute to Mr. Griswold for his masterly defense, and his eloquent plea in the behalf of the accused, and his wife and child, and after giv- ing a very full synopsis of Mr. Edgerton's closing argument, on behalf of the State, concluded as follows:

Mr. Edgerton closed his remarks with a powerful and eloquent appeal to the jury, displaying the enormity of the offense, and the horrible facts connected therewith; characterized the case as withont a parallel in the history of crimes in Ohio, and begged of the jury to lose sight of the hus- band and father, and see only before them their duty to the community and to a fellow man. Mr. Edgerton was solemn, eloquent and impassioned, and spoke with such feeling as showed that the responsibility of the case was resting heavily upon him. Mr. Edgerton has shown, through the whole trial, that a complete discharge of a stern duty towards the community was his aim; not the triumph in a inere law suit.

CHARGE OF THE COURT-VERDICT OF THE JURY.

Judge Starkweather's charge to the jury was stated by the Herald to have been delivered "in a style at once simple and elo- quent," as he referred to the long and exciting trial; the responsi- bility resting upon the jury; the nature of the alleged crime and the statutes defining and punishing the same; his entire charge occupying about three-quarters of an hour. The jury retired at 3 o'clock P. M., and returned into the court with their verdict at 8 o'clock in the evening, again pronouncing James Parks, alias James Dickinson, "Guilty of Murder in the First Degree."

ANOTHER MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL-SENTENCE, ETC .- Mr. Gris- wold immediately moved for a new trial, for six alleged reasons of error and informality, which motion, after argument in its support (Mr. Edgerton declining to speak in opposition), was promptly overruled by Judge Starkweather, who immediately

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A BLASPHEMOUS TIRADE.

proceeded to sentence the prisoner. Asking him the usual question as to whether he had anything to say why the sentence of law, for the crime of which he had been convicted, should not be pro- nounced, Parks pulled a large roll of manuscript out of his- pocket and commenced to read. After he had read nearly three hours the judge interrupted him, and, in very appropriate and impressive terms, sentenced him to be hung on the first Friday in June, 1855.

His faithful counsel again applied to the Supreme Court for the allowance of a writ of error, on several purely technical grounds, which application, on full hearing, was denied, and preparations were accordingly made by Sheriff Seward, of Summit, and Sheriff Spangler, of Cuyahoga, for carrying out the sentence.

ATTEMPTS AT ESCAPE, SUICIDE, ETC .- Besides making a desper- ate attempt to escape, by means of keys and a revolver, smuggled into the jail by his wife or other friends, he also made two nearly successful attempts at suicide-one by poison, on the Saturday evening previous to the day set for his execution, and another by cutting his throat on the night preceding his execution, both of which were prevented by his wary custodians.

A MOST BLASPHEMOUS LETTER .- The day previous to his exe- cution, and before his last desperate attempt to take his own life, he penned a bitterly ribald and blasphemous tirade, from which the following is an extract:

When I meet Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven, he will congratulate me, for my case is parallel with his, with only a little exception. There were only two false witnesses against him, and there were some twenty that were false witnesses against me. But I attribute that to the alteration of the statute and the increase in population since Christ's time; for when he was tried they hunted the whole kingdom and could find but two, but they had to hunt over a very small portion of the kingdom and found plenty who were ready to testify against me. The reason why my case is parallel with Christ's is this: They have parted my garments as they did his, for they have already given away my boots to some person, I know not who, and I suppose to-morrow upon my vestments they will cast lots, and then they will sit down and watch my body and perhaps steal me. They set up over his head his accusation, written : "This is Jesus, the king of the Jews;" but I suppose they will set up over my head my accusation, written: "This is James Parks, the murderer," It may be true of Christ, but it is a lie concerning me.

THE EXECUTION-DYING SPEECH, ETC .- At ten minutes before 12 o'clock, on Friday June 1, 1855, Sheriff Seward and, Marshal Jabez Fitch, escorted the malefactor to the scaffold in the corridor of the Cleveland jail-the same gallows which had been con- structed for his execution here-in addition to the various " statements" previously furnished to the press, by permission of Sheriff Spangler, making the following speech:

Well, gentlemen, there are but comparatively few present, and my words will be few. If I wished to say more I have not the strength to do so. I see among you some of my jurors. I have no reflection upon your verdict; you did your duty. I should have been glad to have spared the people the horror of an execution. My attempt to do so yesterday, by ending my life by my own hands, was not for my benefit, but for those I leave behind. I had hoped to prevent my child and relations from the reproach which this will bring upon them. I knew that I was not a murderer, and had a right to. dispose of my existence as much as the laws and society had to do so. That William Beatson fell and killed himself, is true. I am no murderer in any way. I might say so much, commend myself to God and stop. But, gentle- men, the trial by jury is not yet perfected. Human approaches to truth are but difficult and uncertain. I regret that the bent of my mind and the scope

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

of my understanding are misunderstood, I never dreamed of murder. My conscience would never have dared to conceive of it. That I murdered Beat- son for his money is absurd. He was a poor man, with less money than myself. I had no malignity towards him, and feel none towards any human being.

Continuing for some time in laudation of liis wife, and com- mending her and their child to the kind consideration of the public, and expressing the hope that the intelligence of his ignominous death might be mercifully kept from his aged parents in England, he took a short rest, during which time a purse of nearly $50 was contributed by the spectators for the benefit of his wife and child. Resuming his remarks, after speaking in warm praise of Sheriff Seward, Sheriff Spangler and the other officers who had had him in their care, and the several attorneys who had defended him, concluded his speech as follows:

We cannot recall the past. Would to God that I could do so. But I know no such thing as fear. I am misunderstood; have had little or no education; have tried to learn much by resorting to books that good men search; am familiar with the scriptures, and believe that we shall only arrive at that perfection which man's heart strives after in the next world. I thank you for your kindness to my wife. I have no clergyman present. I had expected Dr. Perry, but my request to him I must have sealed up with a package of papers I gave to my wife yesterday. I was educated in the belief of the Church of England, like my forefathers. I leave the world at peace with all mankind, without censure upon any one. I again assure all that I amı no murderer in any respect, by thought or deed. With these words I prepare to meet my God.

At precisely 1 o'clock, his arms and feet were pinioned; the rope was adjusted about his neck and he took his stand upon the drop. He then requested to be permitted to give the signal himself, which was granted by Sheriff Spangler, and a handker- chief was placed in his hand for that purpose. The cap was drawn down over his face; a moment or two of silence followed, when with the distinctly uttered words, "I die an innocent man," he dropped the handkerchief, the trap instantly fell, the body drop- ping about six feet, resulting in the complete dislocation of the neck and instant death, not a struggle or tremor of limb or muscle being visible.

MRS. PARKS SUES PROSECUTING ATTORNEY EDGERTON .- It will be remembered that a considerable sum of money, mostly in gold coin, was found upon the person of Mrs. Parks and her brothers, when they were arrested at Utica, which was supposed to have been taken by Parks from the body of his victim. The major part of this money was claimed by Mrs. Parks to be her individual property, while the balance was claimed by her two brothers, the small sum of about $50, only, being admitted, by Parks, to have been taken from the body of Beatson, while he was engaged in the bloody work of preparing it for concealment. There was consider- able conflicting testimony as to the amount of money possessed by Beatson, and some evidence tending to show that what he did possess was the property of one William Gee, then deceased, obtained by fraud or forgery, from a bank in Buffalo. Ascertain- ing as nearly as possible the amount belonging to the two brothers of Mrs. Parks, Mr. Edgerton paid it over to them, and retained the balance, as the property of the heirs of William Beatson, or William Gee, as the proof should thereafter determine, cover- ing the same into the county treasury.

783

MR. EDGERTON TRIUMPHANT.

Some time after the execution of Parks, his wife under the name of Betsy Dickinson, instituted proceedings in the Court of Common Pleas of Cuyahoga county against Mr. Edgerton, for the recovery of the money, her attorneys watching their opportunity to get service upon him in that county. The case was closely con- tested in the Common Pleas, and finally carried to the District Court of that county, where it came to a final hearing, to a jury, in September, 1861, a verdict, under instructions from the court, being rendered for the defendant, and as neither the heirs of William Beatson or William Gee, have ever appeared to claim the same, the money in question has inured to the benefit of the people of Summit county, as a partial reimbursement for the large expense incurred in apprehending, convicting and executing the perpetra- tor of one of the most diabolical murders ever committed within her borders.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP-CURIOUS LEGAL QUESTION-LOCATION, EARLY RESOUR- CES, ETC .- UNFORTUNATE VILLAGE PROJECTS-BUSINESS EMPORIUMS- THREE VILLAGES IN ONE-PIONEER SETTLERS AND INCIDENTS-ORGANI- ZATION OF TOWNSHIP-FRANKLIN'S INDUSTRIES-MILITARY SERVICES- THE SAUTER-SHEETES TRAGEDY-OSTER-KERNAN HOMICIDE-HONORABLE CIVIL RECORD, ETC.

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.

WE are now about to extend our researches and observations beyond the "sacred precincts" of the renowned Western Reserve, or "Cheesedom" as the rest of the State have been wont to call us, and to descend into "Dutchdom," as Stark, Wayne, and other Pennsylvania and German settled counties were for- merly designated by the dwellers upon said Western Reserve.

CURIOUS LEGAL QUESTION .- Like Coventry, Franklin township is formed of two distinct parts, from two separate surveys; that portion lying east of the Tuscarawas river having been ceded by the Indians to the United States in 1785, and surveyed by Eben- ezer Buckingham in 1800, while the title to that portion west of the river remained in the Indians until 1805, the survey being made by Joseph Harwell in 1807.

And, in this connection, arises the somewhat complex legal question as to the ownership of the Tuscarawas and Cuyahoga rivers, the Indians having, by the two separate treaties named, ceded to the government the lands east and west of those rivers, but not the rivers themselves. Suppose the lineal descendants of the chief, or chiefs; who executed said treaties, should come forward and claim said streams, would the Ohio law of prescription, or adverse possession of over twenty-one years, hold good, and if so to whom, the United States government itself, the State of Ohio, or the individual owners of the abutting lands upon either side of the streams in question? -

WHERE AND HOW LOCATED .- Franklin is designated on the records as Township 2, Range 10, and though somewhat broken in portions by hills, rivers, creeks, lakes and marshes, is one of the best farming townships in the county, besides being largely under- laid by beds of the most excellent quality of bituminous coal. This township, and its eastern neighbor, Green, are each nearly six miles square, while it will be remembered that the townships of the Reserve are uniformly five miles square, only. Hence, there is a breaking of joints in the north and south lines between the two townships originally connected with Stark county, and their neighbors upon the north, Franklin abutting on both Norton and Coventry, with Green upon the east, Lawrence, Stark county, upon the south, and Chippewa, Wayne county, upon the west.

FRANKLIN'S WATER-COURSES, LAKES, ETC .- This township is traversed its entire length, diagonally from north to south, by the Tuscarawas river, being joined near the southwest corner by the

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FRANKLIN'S BUSINESS EMPORIUMS.

Chippewa river (formerly Indian Creek); the Ohio Canal also fol- lowing the general course of the Tuscarawas through the township. There are also quite a number of smaller streams, in various por- tions of the township, which, with Mud Lake, in the southeast, covering about 50 acres, and Turkey Foot Lake, in the northeast corner, covering, with its numerous lagoons, sloughs and marshes, nearly 1,000 acres, gives to the township a most abundant water supply-Turkey Foot now forming a portion of the great chain of contiguous reservoirs that replenish the Ohio canal for navigation purposes, in the dry season of the year.

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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