USA > Ohio > Ashland County > History of Ashland County, Ohio > Part 15
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the place appointed by law and execute him by hanging him by the neck until he was dead.
The court decreed that in the meantime between the date of sentence and the time of execution that said Steingraver be confined in the jail of the county in charge of the sheriff.
EXECUTION OF CHARLES STEINGRAVER.
From the Ohio Union, Feb. 4, 1852.
The execution of Charles Steingraver took place on Friday, the 30th day of January, 1852, as ordered and directed by the court. Early in the morning immense numbers of the people were collecting from every section of the country some from a great distance, and directing their course to the execution ground, which was guarded by the military, who were called out for the purpose of suppressing any disturbance which might occur to mar the proceedings, or hin- der the law from being peaceably enforced. By eleven o'clock A. M. there had congregated, it is supposed, from eight to twelve thousand persons; and we are sorry to state, that many of this immense assemblage gave evident signs of in- toxication. It might therefore be submitted whether executing the extreme penalty of the law in this manner brings about the desired reform, viz., of suppressing the awful crime of murder.
Steingraver was led from his cell precisely at twelve o'clock, accompanied by the sheriff and five ministers. He marched from his place of confinement to the gallows under the solemn and impressive notes of the "Dead March" which were calculated to soften the most obdurate and hardened, and impress suitable reflections for the solemnities of death. He shed not a tear-he moved along with a firm and unfaltering step-ascended the scaffold with as little apparent regard for his hard fate as the ox for the slaughter.
His long white robe was calculated to rouse solemn reflections about the destiny of man and his long home, when he returns to his mother earth, and lies mouldering in the dust, wrapped in the slumbers of death-dreamless and quiet.
While religious exercises were taking place on the scaffold, his bearing was firm and unmoved. He knelt and listened to several appropriate and powerful prayers both in German and English, and not until the last prayer was being offered was he seen to shed a tear. He then wept-was much affected; but again braced up, rose with a firmness ill befitting his situation, and requested the sheriff to announce, as his dying words, that he was not guilty of the crime imputed to him. He then requested that the people be exhorted, in German and English, to avoid sins that were calculated to lead them into vice and event- ually to ruin.
He then took his parting leave of the officers and ministers present on the scaffold-submitted calmly to have his arms and feet pinioned-the cap drawn over his head and face-the rope placed around his neck, and drawn up in order to launch him into eternity. The sheriff called out, nineteen minutes till the time expires-ten minutes-five minutes-one minute, during which announcements, he stood like a statue-unshuddering-unmoved, save to incline
TIMES-GAZETTE OFFICE AND FORCE With the Late Mr. Reynolds at the Right. Taken a Short Time Before the Assassination of Mr. Reynolds
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his head a little to the right. A moment before he was precipitated from the scaffold, the sheriff, approaching him, pressed the question, "Steingraver, are you innocent of the crime of murder as charged against you?" with apparent earnestness he replied, "Sheriff, I am innocent." It was now just fifteen min- utes past one o'clock. A moment, and his guilty or guiltless soul was thrust into another world to meet its Creator ; a few spasmodic shrugs of his body and limbs and all was over. He hung suspended by his neck about an hour; was then pronounced dead by the medical men present; his body taken down and placed in a coffin and in something over half an hour it was transferred to an ob- scure place in the Ashland cemetery, and there interred.
During these proceedings the people behaved with decorum, the best of order prevailing throughout, except when the body was precipitated from the scaffold and for a short time became invisible to the crowd. Order, however, was soon restored, and the people quietly dispersed.
THE THORNTON POOL CASE.
The second murder trial in Ashland county was that of Thornton Pool, charged with the killing of Noah Mock, at the town of Orange, on December 17, 1853. The tragedy had its origin in the matter of seven cents that had been used at a raffle. The money belonged to Mock but had been appropriated by Pool, and in the controversy growing out of the affair, Pool stabbed Mock fa- tally. The case was tried at the March term of court, 1854. Alexander Porter was the prosecuting attorney, and Fulton, McCombs and Given were the attor- neys for the defense.
The trial resulted in a verdict of murder in the second degree, and the sentence of the court was, that Thornton Pool be taken hence by the sheriff to the county jail and from there thence within sixty days from the rising of the court be taken by the sheriff to the Ohio penitentiary, there to remain in con- finement and to be kept at hard labor for a period of ten years.
THE GRIBBEN-HORN MURDER CASE.
One of Ashland county's most atrocious murders was that of Harry Williams which occurred at Polk at about three o'clock on the morning of March 25, 1883, and for which William H. Gribben and George A. Horn were executed upon the scaffold. The murder was the result of a quarrel and was committed when the parties were in a state of intoxication. There had been bad feeling between the parties for some time and meeting at West Salem. Saturday evening. March 24. taunting words passed between the parties and the murder resulted after they had reached their home town of Polk. We quote from Judge Jabez Dick- ey's charge to the jury at the close of the trial.
"The indictment charges in substance, that William Henry Gribben, on the twenty-fifth day of March. 1883, at the county of Ashland and State of Ohio, unlawfully, willfully, purposely and feloniously. and of deliberate and premeditated malice did make an assault on one Henry Williams, by striking
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him in the head with a certain stone and a certain axe, with the intent then and there, him the said Henry Williams, unlawfully, willfully, purposely and feloniously and of deliberate and premeditated malice to kill and murder. And by reason of the blows so struck, with the stone and axe, certain mortal wounds were inflicted in and upon the head of him the said Henry Williams, and of which mortal wounds he, then and there, instantly died. And that the said William Henry Gribben, by the means and in the manner aforesaid, un- lawfully, wilfully and feloniously and of deliberate and premeditated malice, him, the said Henry Williams, did kill and murder.
"The indictment will be before you and you will look to it for a more par- ticular statement of the charge. While the indictment charges the prisoner jointly with one George Andrew Horn, you will treat it as though it was a- gainst the defendant, William Henry Gribben, alone; each defendant being entitled to a separate trial."
On Thursday, February 7, 1884, Gribben and Horn were sentenced by the court to be hanged on Friday, May 16.
On the day of the execution a crowd of about eight thousand persons as- sembled in and around the courthouse grounds. A militia company was present to preserve order.
There was much fear that the enclosure would be torn down which was not at all lessened by the three or four shots which were fired. It was a time of suspense and horror to those inside the enclosure. They could not see what was going on outside and had to depend on their ears for information.
There were plenty of men who would have followed a leader right against the militia. The crowd was massed at the south end of the courtyard, and made most of their demonstration on that side. As the time of the execution ap- proached the crowd grew bolder, and several attempts were made to tear down the fence, but the soldiers stood firm. The police were utterly unable to con-
trol the crowd. Several times they attempted to make arrests, but their prisoners were taken from them before they could hardly move. During the attacks on the fence a stone was thrown by some one in the crowd which struck one of the militia men on the head.
Some one took one of the bayonets from the rifle of one of the militia and threw it back towards the soldiers. It struck one man and disabled him from active service. Had the execution been an hour later there would have been bloodshed for each moment the crowd grew bolder. The entrance gate was on this side and was doubly guarded; as those who had tickets to witness the execution were admitted loud and derisive cries went up from the enraged crowd and loud and deep were the curses heaped upon the sheriff for admitting so many, vet calling out the military to keep the execution from being private.
The crowd was led by a tall farmer to whom the guns of the militia had no terror. He and several others turned their attention to the woodhouse, and part of the side was soon torn off, but the gap was filled with four soldiers. The former, nothing daunted, grabbed the guns by the bayonets and some one in the rear struck one of the guard with a stone.
An extra company was brought from the south side to reinforce the guards
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at this side. If there had been fifty men like the one who tore down the wood- house they would have made an entrance to the yard.
The sheriff hurried Gribben on to the trap doors and the ropes were quickly adjusted by Sheriff Brown around Horn's neck and by Ex-Sheriff Gay of Mans- field around Gribbens.
There was a delay of a few seconds and then the voice of the minister was heard in prayer. He had uttered but a few words when Sheriff Gates sprung the trap and the bodies were precipitated downwards to death. Both men were killed instantly ; there was a few spasmodic jerks of the muscles and all was over.
The trap fell precisely at ten thirty a. m. The bodies were both pro- nounced dead in twenty minutes. Both their necks were broken by the fall. It was a perfect execution and there was not one mistake made unless in view of the excited, yelling crowd there was some little hurry in the final preparation of the men.
The scene on the scaffold was one of confusion and disorder made so by the crowds who would listen to no reason or argument. It was almost impossible to make out what Gribben said so loud was the noise.
Horn was perfectly calm and cool, He spoke to but few and was as calm and cool apparently as ever in his life.
Both men walked up the narrow stairs leading from the jail unsupported and also out of the window to the scaffold.
There were less than one hundred and fifty spectators inside the enclosure. One man lit a paper and attempted to set fire to the woodhouse on the north side.
The Polk company was placed at one of the most exposed points, but every man stood to his post. Theirs was a most trying position because they were personally acquainted with a large number of those who were trying to get in. Several of them were struck with stones and clubs, but fortunately none serious- ly hurt. They will make good witnesses before the grand jury.
THE STEIN-PORTER TRAGEDY.
The most importnt case investigated by the grand jury of Ashland county at the October (1908) term of common pleas court, was the Stein-Porter tragedy at Loudonville, which occurred Friday afternoon, August 14, 1908. The following is taken from one of the local papers :
"A wave of horror passed over Ashland county when the awful news was told and it became known that Miss Hester Porter, a highly respected lady of that town had been mysteriously shot twice in the back of the head and instantly killed and that Morris B. Stein, a prominent young business man of Des Moines, Iowa, had also been shot and killed, at Miss Porter's home in Loudonville. Since that terrible event there has been a great deal said and printed in the newspapers over the state, also at Des Moines, Iowa, where young Stein resided. Many were of the firm belief that it was a case of double murder; while others were inclined to the belief that it was a case of murder and suicide-that either . Stein shot Miss Porter and then himself or vice versa. At all events, the
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double tragedy has been a mystery, for the solution of which Prosecutor Frey has been diligently working since it happened. The prosecutor has been of the firm belief that Mrs. Mary Bayard, a sister of Miss Porter, and her daughter, Mrs. Morris B. Stein, wife of the dead young man, both of Des Moines, and who were visiting at Loudonville at the time of the tragedy, knew more about the affair than they testified to at the inquest held by Coroner Ash at Loudonville the day following the killing.
There was considerable interest manifested in what action the grand jury would take in this Stein-Porter case. The jury took up the case on Wednesday afternoon and heard the testimony of fourteen witnesses. It is understood that the jurors took five or six ballots, including two Friday morning, and each time the vote stood eleven for indictment for murder against Mrs. Bayard and daughter, Mrs. Stein, and four against an indictment. It is also stated that some of the jurors got into a very heated argument while in session this morning and for a time it looked as though there would be trouble among them.
The grand jurors also reported that they complied with the court's instruc- tions and examined the county jail, etc., and that everything was found in proper condition as required by the statutes."
THE JUNE FROST OF 1859.
On Sunday morning, June 5, a great sheet of frost covered the hills and valleys in this part of Ohio, and was particularly severe in Ashland county. The spring season of that year compared somewhat with that of 1816, in which year there were frosts every month in the year. The frosts of 1816, although severe did not do as much damage as that of 1859. A writer to the State Com- missioner of Statistics states: That after February in 1859, the weather had some extraordinary changes. Part of March and the first part of April, the season was very favorable and appearances promised one of the best of harvests. The fall grain looked more healthy than usual until the 4th of June, when after a rain, it clouded up and flakes of snow were seen flying in the air. On the morning of the 5th there was more than a common frost-it was a severe freeze. Ice had been formed from one-half to five-eights in thickness. Everything froze of the plant kind. Wheat and rye froze in the blossom, corn in the stock, potatoes and other vines to the ground. Some of the corn recovered, but the greater part of it did not. The weather was changeable. the greater part of the time cold, and on the morning of the Fourth of July there was another frost which froze the corn on flat and swampy land the second time.
On August the 11th and on the 28th there were frosts. Also in May and September there were light frosts, and on October 9th there was a heavy frost, which froze the corn fodder and soft corn. After that the weather was more favorable for the remainder of the autumn.
Another report to the state commissioner gives the following account of frost disasters of that and other years: In 1834 destructive frosts took place in May, as late as from the 13th to the 18th, six mornings in succession, destroying all the fruit and much corn and wheat. But the wheat was then in blossom,
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and in a great measure recovered by pushing up new stocks from the uninjured roots, and produced a small crop. The corn was replanted, and warm rains succeeding, the farmer was blessed with a fair return for his labor by the kind- ness of Him who has said "Seedtime and harvest shall not fail." Even so in the year 1859, where the fields were immediately replanted as late as the 10th of June. The crop of corn was fairly good. The damage by the frost was a serious loss as the previous year had been unfruitful.
While the climate of Ashland county does not differ generally from that of its neighboring counties, yet an incident was related by the Rev. Seamans, at a meeting of the Ashland County Historical Society that is out of the ordinary, which is this: That upon one season back in the pioneer days snow fell on the 6th day of June to the depth of six inches, and that the young robins were frozen to death in their nests; another statement was that in 1823 frost destroyed all the corn in the month of August, but it resprouted and produced quite a crop.
VI.
TOWNSHIPS
We turn from events of a more general character to enter into detail and specific account of the organization and settlement of the townships.
MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP.
Montgomery township was surveyed by Jonathan Cox, in 1807, and the same year the survey was platted and certified to Jarad Mansfield, surveyor general of the United States. The township was organized by the commissioners of Richland county in 1816. Prior to that time Vermillion and Montgomery each elected one justice of the peace and acted as one township. The pioneers of Montgomery, at the period of its organization, are believed to have been Robert Newell, Daniel Carter, Jacob Fry, Benjamin Cuppy, Henry Baughman, Samuel Burns, Daniel Mickey, Solomon Urie, Samuel Urie, Jacob Figley, Wil- liam Montgomery, Jacob Crouse, James Kuykendall, Joseph Markley, John McNaull, Michael Springer, John Springer, Henry Springer, Daniel and Henry Vautilburg, and probably a few others not now remembered. The first justice of the peace was Robert Newell, who was succeeded by Daniel Carter, Sr.
The date of the settlement of Montgomery township may be said to have commenced about the year 1818, the settlers prior to that time being very few in number. From 1818 until about 1821, the township had received consider- able accessions to its population. Squire Newell was the largest landholder, he being the owner of one thousand acres ; the next largest was a Mr. Lanterman, of Trumbull county, who was the owner of about nine hundred acres, embracing what was later known as the "Tunker Settlement." Under the laws of congress in force at that time, no one could enter less than a quarter section, and very few of the original settlers entered more than that quantity. These quarters were often divided and sometimes subdivided by the original purchasers, and sold to other settlers, which had a strong tendency to promote the density of the
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settlement, and develop the resources of the country. No better agricultural lands can be found in the state than those in this township.
In the southern part of Montgomery township was the well known Wyandot trail which in 1761 was followed by Rogers and his rangers in their route to the forks of the Muskingum on their return to Fort DuQuesne. It was also the route of General Beall on his expedition to Sandusky. This trail passes into Milton township and then into Richland county.
Montgomery, lying back from the principal streams, was not settled as early as the other parts of the county, as no settlers were found within its limits until several years after the settlement at Greentown. It was mid-winter when the first settler arrived and his shelter until his cabin was built was an open-ended tent. He cut and hauled the logs for his cabin as quickly as possible, but could not raise it without help, and had to travel sixteen miles through the forest to get the fourth man for that purpose. This cabin was one mile northeast of the present town of Ashland.
These pioneers were brave men with a determined purpose to thus settle in the dense woods, in January with no shelter from the cold, the snow, the wolves, the bears, etc., but a tent.
But after the war of 1812, the county and township began to fill up quite rapidly and their pioneer history is much the same as has been written of the pioneers in other townships. As soon as the settlers could get a clearing about their cabins, and provide for their immediate wants, they began to plan about schools and churches.
"Old Hopewell" was the first erected here. It was called "Old" from the fact that later there was another of the same name erected in the town of Ashland. The old church was erected of logs, a mile west of Ashland, in 1819, by the Presbyterians.
LAKE TOWNSHIP.
Lake township was surveyed in 1807, and was organized on the 5th day of September, 1814, as it now is, except that a part or the whole of Washington township, Holmes county, was then included within its borders and so remained until the erection of Holmes county in January, 1824.
There is no town in Lake township. By the operation of the act of 1846, erecting Ashland county, Lake, which had already been shorn of its full pro- .portions, by the erection of Holmes county, became further reduced, and has now a smaller area than township organization in the county, except Mifflin. It is sometimes called "Little Lake," yet, notwithstanding its decimation of territory, the census report shows that it has increased in population favorably with the townships of the county.
Population in 1820 311
Population in 1830 552
Population in 1840 .. 1145
As many references are made in the memoranda of the early settlers to this
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mill, it may be a matter of interest to state that it was erected by Nathan G. Odell, in the spring of 1812. Mr. Odell entered the tract upon which the mill is located in April, 1810, and at once commenced his improvement, and in March, 1811, removed his family to the place. He was the first white settler within the limits of what is now Clinton township, Wayne county. He died in Michigan, in 1833, at the age of sixty-seven. The building was originally constructed of hewn logs.
In December, 1807, Joshua Oram, and family, immigrated to Fairfield county, Ohio, from the state of Maryland. In November, 1811, the family removed to Lake township, and entered and commenced improvement upon a quarter which, by subsequent divisions, became a part of the township of Clinton. In the fall of 1812, the family of Mr. Oram, with several others, established a fort near the southern line of Lake township, where they remained about three months. In 1815 his father sold the farm he originally purchased, and entered the northeast and southeast quarters of section 15, Lake township, and immedi- ately commenced improvement upon the former quarter. After residing upon this land about three years, he sold to Asahel Webster, and removed to the southeast quarter, which he improved and made his residence until his decease, which occurred on the 27th day of August, 1831.
When his father commenced his residence in Lake, there was not a white family residing within the limits of what now forms the township. When he raised his second cabin, in 1815, he traveled a circuit of ten miles to gather the necessary force of men for the purpose.
The supplies of breadstuffs were obtained from Knox county, which was then considered the "Egypt" of the country, where the corn purchased was ground at Shrimplin's Mill, and was brought home on packhorses during the winter season, and on canoes when the streams were navigable. After the neighborhood began to raise its own supplies of corn, it was prepared for con- verting into bread by breaking up into wooden mortars, an article which be- longed to nearly every cabin, and which was regarded as an indispensable machine in the domestic economy. The mills were so remote that many families subsisted for months, upon this domestic meal.
The Presbyterians and German Lutherans were the first church organiza- tions in the religious field in Lake township; the Presbyterians having an organi- zation there as early as 1826, other denominations coming later.
MOHICAN TOWNSHIP.
Mohican township was surveyed in 1807 by Jonathan Cox. On the 11th of April, 1812, the commissioners of Wayne county divided the county into four townships-the western part, including what are now Jackson, Perry, Mohican and Lake, and part of Washington in Holmes county, and the west half of what are now Clinton, Plain, Chester and Congress in Wayne county, and organized this territory as one township, under the name of Mohican. Thus Mohican township once embraced an area equal in extent to one-half of that which now constitutes Ashland county. Mohican was among the first settled and the first
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organized of any of the townships which now compose Ashland county. The population of Mohican township in 1820 was six hundred and thirty-two; in 1830, one thousand three hundred and sixteen; in 1860, one thousand seven hundred and twelve.
Thomas Eagle arrived in the township of Mohican on the 2d day of May, 1809, having succeeded the family of Alexander Finley a few weeks. His family then consisted of his wife and daughter Amelia. He first opened a small farm on the land now owned and occupied by Henry Treace. In the early part of the war, he, together with several of his neighbors, removed their families to the fort, at Wooster, as security against attacks by Indians.
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