USA > Ohio > Hancock County > History of Hancock county, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 8
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28
Judge Whitely says that it did not certainly appear on the trial, just who did inflict the wounds, as some evidence tended to show that the step-mother had also taken a part in the assault. At the April term, in 1856, the following jury were empannelled, before whom Foster was tried : Lower Walters, William Moffat, Peter Byal, Benjamin Dud- ley, Richard Wall. Samuel Ramsey, Hugh Boyles, Samuel Knowlen, Perry Edgington, John Boyles, Samuel Huffman, Eli Paxon. Verdict, Manslaughter. Sentence, five years in the Penitentiary at hard labor. After about two years service, Foster died.
The trial was conducted on the part of the State by Wil- liam Gribben, Prosecuting Attorney, assisted by William Mungen, the defense by M. C. Whitely and Andrew Cottin- berry.
In 1868, there lived in Findley, a man by the nameof Adam Conkle, whose wife was not of the Mrs. Ceaser kind- above suspicion -- and it was alleged that she had been fre- quently visited by one James Winnell, a young man employed about the offices in the court house, as copyist. He was almost a stranger, and but little known of him, other than that he was a dissipated rough.
These visits coming to the knowledge of Conkle, he warned Winnell not to come near his house, nor to hold any communication whatever with his wife, on penalty of being killed. Winnell, whilst on one of his sprees, in April, 1868, visited the residence of Conkle, who then resided in the frame building on east Main Cross street, adjoining the residence of James Robinson. Being apprised of his visit, Conkle
123
Murder of Winnell.
immediately hurried home, and on ascending the stairs, found Winnell and his wife in a room together. He of course, highly excited, commanded Winnell to leave, who no doubt being afraid of bodily harm, seized a cavalry saber which chanced to be in the room, assaulted Conkle, drove him from the room, and made his escape down the stairway. There- upon Conkle seized a loaded shotgun standing in the hall and gave pursuit. Winnell fled across the lot in the rear of the house, crossed into the alley known as Hyatt's Alley, down which he made his way towards Main street, hotly pursued by Conkle. Wheu about two hundred feet east of Main street, Winnell being closely pressed, turned upon Conkle, with the saber which he still retained, when Conkle. fired at him, the charge entering near the left temple, caus- ing instant death.
Conkle gave himself up, and after a Coroner's inquest was held on the body of Winnell, had a preliminary hearing before E. T. Dunn, Esq., who held him to answer to the Grand Jury, in a bond of $1,500.
In October, 1868, the following named Grand Jury, to- wit: Isaac Davis, B. Finch, Job Phillips, Adam Roth, J. H. Wilson, Robert Crawford, Washington Martin, John Henry, L. C. Groves, John Reed, Henry Bowers, John Palmer, Eli Paxon, Samuel Creighton, and G. W. Galloway, returned a true bill of indictment for murder in the second degree.
The trial was had in November, 1868, before Judge James Pillars and the following jury : Aaron Cole, Jacob Groul, Jacob Thompson, Frederick Ernst, Samuel Mosier, Joseph Helms, Joseph Morrell, A. S. Beek, Henry Bayless, Jacob H. Loehr, Washington Eaton and Jacob Harris. The de- fense was that the prisoner, at the time of killing, was act-
121
History of Hancock County.
ing in self-defense, having been attacked by Winnell with a deadly weapon. Verdict of the jury, not guilty.
The prosecution was conducted by William H. Anderson, now of North Baltimore, who was then Prosecuting Attor- ney, assisted by A. B. Shafer. The defense was conducted by Henry Brown, J. F. Burket and A. Blockford, of Findley, and W. V. Layton, Wapakonetta. A great number of wit- nesses were examined, and the case was closely tried, but the verdict was generally regarded as a just one. Conkle left the county at once, and has been lost sight of. The woman in the case, also left, before the day of trial, and has never returned.
The town was shocked on the morning of February 3d, 1873, by the report that Jacob Gartee, a young man about twenty years of age, and whose parents resided in the town, had deliberately and in cold blood, murdered Nicholas Ben- sing, residing on the farm of M. D. Shafer, Esq., just east of town, on the Tiffin road. Sheriff Henry and Coroner Karst, accompanied by Marshal Ruhl, had already, during the night, been informed of the murder, it having occurred early in the evening of the 2d of February, and were on the spot, and before daylight of the 3d, had the murderer under arrest.
The facts, as they were afterwards developed, were sub- stantially these : Gartee had been in the employof Bensing for some time, chopping wood, and boarded in the family. On the night of the murder, having armed himself with a single barreled pistol, he gave notice at the supper table, that he was going into town. Mrs. Bensing, the wife of the murdered man, gave him a letter to mail, and he started, but instead of going directly to town, he concealed himself in the log barn in which the chickens were kept, where by caus-
-
125
Murder of Bensing.
ing an alarm amongst the chickens, he induced Bensing to approach, to ascertain the cause, and when within a few feet of him, placed the pistol between the logs and fired, striking Bensing in the breast, who retreated a few steps, fell and expired just as his wife, who had been alarmed by the re- port, could reach him. Gartee then ran down the lane, and across the fields, to the Tiffin road, near the residence of Wm. Snyder, and thence to town.
After remaining in town a short time, he started to return to Bensing's, but was met on the road by a messenger, who informed him of Bensing's death, and a request that he return to town, and inform the friends of the murdered man. Gartee returned with the friends, and the officers having become convinced that Gartee was the murderer, boldly charged him with the crime, which he admitted, and pointed out the place where the pistol was secreted. He was immediately arrest- ed and lodged in jail.
Ugly rumors were afloat that the wife of the murdered man, was perhaps, a party to the crime, and the fact that the prisoner and the murdered man were good friends, and had no quarrel, and there being no apparent cause for the commis- sion of so cold blooded a murder, gave some color to the truth of these rumors. At the preliminary examination held before D. B. Beardsley,.J. P., which was a most rigid one, so far as Mrs. Bensing was concerned, no evidence sus- taining the theory of her guilt was found. Gartee was com- mitted without bail, for the crime of murder.
On the 28th of May, 1873, the Grand Jury, to-wit: Geo. Heck, David Lee, William Howard, Alfred Davis, Adam Stineman, Jackson Currie, Simon Bushong, Anthony Hunt- ington, Joseph Fleck, Elias Wilson, J. C. Brown, Eliab Has-
126
History of Hancock County.
san, A. J. Bushong and Henry D. Taylor, returned an in- dictment of murder in the first degree,
The case came up for trial, on a plea of not guilty, before Judge Pillars, and a jury as follows: William Hartman, Peter Hosler, Michael Glauner, David Bish, Alexander Phillips, J. L. Hartman, Jacob Bushong, Daniel Hoy, Charles S. Kelley, John Boyles, Henry Shuler and L. D. Smith. The trial began on the 29th day of July, and occu- pied about ten days. The plea for the defense was insanity. The prosecution was conducted by Prosecuting Attorney George F. Pendleton, and W. H. Anderson, and the prison- er was defended by Henry Brown and M. D. Shafer. Ver- dict of the jury, "Murder in the Second Degree." The prisoner was sentenced to the penitentiary for life, at which place he died in less than a year from the time of his sen- tence.
Orange Township, and all that part of the county, was thrown into a state of the wildest excitement, on account of the death by poison, of Mrs. Malissa Charles, wife of John Charles, on the 6th day of June, 1876. This excitement was intensified when it was known that Isaac B. Charles, a brother of the husband of the deceased, had been arrested, charged with the crime of murder. At the preliminary ex- amination, before W. M. McKinley, Esq., as well as on the final trial, the circumstances connected with the case, were about as follows :
Mrs. Charles had made bread from flour purchased shortly before at Ada, O., and the family partaking of it, became suddenly sick, eleven of them in all, and Mrs. Charle's died from its effects. The prosecution had two theories regard- ing the matter. One was, that the flour, after being pur- chased at Ada, had remained in the wagon standing in an
127
Murder of Mrs. Charles.
alley, while the family were at dinner, and that whilst there, the sack had been opened by the prisoner, and poison intro- duced, which showed its presence in the bread.
The other theory was that the poison-arsenic-had been placed in the yeast crock at the house of the murdered woman, by Isaac B. Charles, whilst on a visit to the family, and that the poison had been obtained from a quantity pur- chased by John Charles, husband of the woman, for the purpose of killing rats, and left in the room where the yeast crock stood, which was a kind of up ground cellar.
The cause for the poisoning-for there appeared no ap- parent one-was said to be found in the fact that, Isaac B. Charles, having formerly been Treasurer of the village of Ada, and about to become a defaulter, made.use of a large sum of money belonging to the estate of his father, of which estate he was the administrator, and now that a set- tlement was to be made, formed the plan of murdering, by poison or otherwise, all who stood between himself and the balance of his father's fortune, and that the poisoning of this family was but the first step in the plan.
An indictment for " Murder by Poison" was found on the 21st of October, 1876, by William Bright, Noah Spitler, S. M. F. Bame, W. H. Todd, John Wyant, Augustus Hortzie, A. S. Beck, Isaac Cooper, S. B. Leonard, G. W. Ernst, Wil- liam Russell, D. D. McCahon, Henry Rudisell, David Bibler and Hugh Fellers. After much delay, and the interposition of a number of motions, the case was finally tried in Jan- uary, 1877, before Judge Pillars, and a Jury, on general plea of "Not Guilty." The Jury were Thomas H. Taylor, Hugh McConnell, Abraham Overholtz, Oliver Powell, John Haddox, William Anderson, Isaac Davis, E. C. Palmer, Frederick Mack, Joseph Wilson, John Reed and John
128
History of Hancock County.
Cusae. Verdict, "Guilty of Murder in Second Degree." The prosecution was ably conducted by. Henry Brown, Prosecuting Attorney assisted by Frank H. Dougherty, of Kenton, and W. H. Whitely, of Findley, and the defense was stubbornly made by A. Blackford, J. F. Basket and J. H. Smick, of Ada. Charles was sentenced to the Peniten- tiary for life, where he is now serving his sentence.
In 1-77 there lived in the village of Benton, Henry K. Nott and Frank H. Knapp, both physicians, and both in practice. Unfortunately there had sprung up bad feelings between the two, the result, no doubt, of professional jealousy, and the over officious meddling by friends of both parties, and although a great amount of brave talk and loud boast- ings, as to what would be done, accompanied by ugly threats, yet no one could believe that much else than a war of words, or at the farthest, a little round at fisticuffs would be the result. Imagine the consternation which spread over the village, when the astounded inhabitants real- ized that Dr. Knapp had in broad day light shot Dr. Nott to death, in one of the streets of the village.
Dr. Knapp was at once arrested, taken before John Berg- man, Esq., who at once remanded him to the jail of the county to await the action of the Grand Jury. Intense ex- citement prevailed, and the friends of the two unfortunate men took sides, and for a time society was so torn up, that almost everybody in the village, or who came to it, were regarded with suspicion by one side or the other. The killing was done on the 15th day of November, 1877, and the court being then in session, a special Grand Jury were duly impanneled on the 5th day of December, composed of William Anderson, D. J. Cory, Henry Byal, Moses Louthen, J. C. Garnett, Frank Karst, sr., B. F. Kimmens, William Mc-
129
Murder of Dr. Nott.
Kinnis, Daniel Buck, Henry N. Cronninger, John Markel, Samuel Moyer, A. J. L. Hartman, Charles E. Jordan and Abraham Yerger, who returned a verdict of "Murder in the First degree."
Upon this indictment the defendant was tried on a plea of "Not Guilty," the defense being that the shooting was done in self-defense, claiming that the murdered man had made an assault on the defendant, just previous to the shoot- ing, and that he had fired two shots at the defendant, intending to kill him, and that to save his own life the de- fendent did the shooting which killed Dr. Nott. This the prosecution denied, and alleged and sought to prove, that at the time of the shooting, and just previously thereto, there had been no quarrel, no meeting in fact between the par- ties, but that the defendant had gone to the lower end of the village, procured a gun, came back, sought out his victim, whom he found on a side street, approached him unperceived, and without notice, deliberately shot him, from the effects of which Dr. Nott immediately expired. Upon these declara- tions the cause was tried before a Jury, empanneled after all the motions and objections known in criminal practice were made and overruled, Judge Pillars presiding. The Jury were A. J. Nunamaker, James Stafford, George Biggs, G. W. Rinehart, A. C. Warden, Ephraim Leiber, William Vance, J. P. Lee, John Adams, H. H. Alban, David Comer and P. H. Powell. After a trial which lasted twelve days, and arguments covering three days more, the jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty. Prosecuting Atttorney Henry Brown and E. T. Dunn conducted the prosecution, and A. Blackford and M. D. Shafer managed the defense.
Such is the history of murders and murder trials in this county, and it is to be hoped that this will forever complete
.
130
History of Hancock County.
that history. In these cases, as in all others, there was of course a diversity of opinions as to the guilt or innocence of the parties, and the characters of the murdered men did not pass without severe criticism in some instances. The only regret of every good citizen is that the rec- ords of our otherwise fair county should be compelled to record such monster infractions of the law.
There were a few other indictments found for felonies of the kind treated of in this chapter, but parties were never put on trial under the indictments. In 1854, Philemon P. Pool was indicted for an assault with intent to kill. Sam- uel Ramsey was indicted for stabbing Nicholas Oram with intent to kill. Dr. R. J. Haggerty was indicted for the kill- ing of Dr. Mansfield at Mt. Blanchard, and Levi Chain was indicted for the killing of his son Jerry at Findley, by stab- bing him with a pocket knife. All these cases were dis- posed of on pleas for less offences.
131
Deer Lick-Plum Orchard.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE DEER-LICK-PLUM ORCHARD-JOHNNY APPLESEEDS.
A BOUT two and a half miles west of Findley, on the north side of the river, and on the farm now owned and occupied by Richard M. Watson, was a "Deer Lick," or spring, impregnated with salt, which was a favorite resort, as well for the timid deer, as for the roaming red man. To this spring the deer were attracted, and near it the hunter had erected his look-out high up in the trees upon which he would seat himself, and patiently wait for the appearance of the unsuspecting game, and the first intimation the doomed animal had of the presence of danger, was the crashing of a bullet through its brain.
Eight miles down the river from Findley, and on the north bank, is the " Plum-Orchard," or "Indian Green," and "Indian Burying-Ground." The timber was removed from a considerable tract of land, and there are still to be seen the remains of earth-works, running parallel with and a short distance from the river. They seem to have been thrown up as a protection against an attack by water, or by land from the opposite side of the river. In the rear of these fortifi- cations, was the Indian burying-ground, flanked on the north by a heavy and dense forest.
The number of fruit trees found already growing in differ- ent parts of the county by the first settlers, was evidence of the visits of "Johnny Appleseeds," as he was familiarly
132
History of Hancock County.
called. This eccentric individual was regarded as a relig- ious enthusiast, of the Swedenborgian persuasion, who acted as a kind of missionary amongst the Indians, and who, in his perambulations through the wilderness, planted the seeds of the different kinds of fruits, so that in many places in the county, there were fruit trees in great numbers, and some of them already producing fruit, at its first settlement.
The writer hereof remembers having seen "Johnny " in the year 1839 or 1840, perhaps the last time he ever visited the county. He was at that time quite an old man, and did not appear to have a very great quantity of this world's goods. He was regarded as an intelligent, harmless, but slightly demented man. At all times sociable, but eccen- tric, full of pleasant story, and good advice, after his fash- ion, he was always made welcome by the pioneers.
A short time since I read an article in the Cleveland Leader, by a correspondent at Mansfield, Ohio, in which allusion was made to this man, and whilst it seems to me, that it is a rather exaggerated account of his appearance, and peculiarities, I am tempted to re-produce it here, for I am sure that any incidents connected with the life and history, of this, to us almost unknown being, until he made his ap- pearance here-or rather until the first settlers made their appearance, will be of interest to the older readers at least.
The writer of the article alluded to and which is entitled, 'Men of Function. The Notables who have made the city of Mansfield a stopping place," says: "There is still an- other character who assists in making Mansfield, and Rich- land County of some historical consequence. Years ago, among the forests in this neighborhood, tramped a half nude specimen of humanity, a regular "Old Mortality" in some respects, whom the straggling settlers knew as 'Johnny
133
Johnny Appleseeds.
Appleseeds.' Protected from the winter blasts, and summer storms, by nothing save a coffee sack, he traversed the whole of Central and Eastern Ohio, time and again, planting ap- pleseeds as he went.
" He was first seen in Ohio in 1801, and with him an old blind horse, drawing in an aged and infirm wagon, a quanti- ty of appleseeds. These seeds he planted in Eastern Ohio, along the banks of rivers snd creeks. Returning to Penn- sylvania, Johnny disposed of his steed and equipments, and gathering up several bushels of seeds at the cider presses in Western Pennsylvania, he started for Ohio with them on his back. For years he kept on in the even tenor of his way, starting orchards all over this part of the state, but when emigrants from other states began to pour in and take up the land in Ohio, poor Johnny found his occupation gone, amd taking up his coffee sack, moved into Indiana, where he continued to plant appleseeds for some time, when death overtook him, and he was laid away in a country church yard, a few miles from Fort Wayne.
" His name was John Chapman, and it is thought he was born in Massachusetts. He was a regularly constituted minister in the Swedenborgian Church, and always carried with him several books on pious subjects, which he would leave with a settler whom he thought needed spiritual brac- ing up. During the coldest weather, he refused to wear shoes, and upon one occasion, when forced to accept a pair from a kind hearted farmer, he came to Mansfield, which was then but a small village, and gave them to a poor fami- ly, who were going west. When he first came to Ohio, he accepted the cast off clothing of the settlers, but afterwards became convinced he was getting too proud and worldly, and finally he adopted the coffee sack suit, in which he died.
134
History of Hancock County.
" His head was protected from Old Sol's smiles, by a tin pan, which was also used as a culinary utensil, when he was overtaken by hunger in the woods. He believed it a sin to tread upon a worm, or eat flesh of any kind, hence he never took turkey on Thanksgiving, or fish during Lent. His wounds he would sew up with a red hot iron, and then ap- ply the juice of certain weeds to cure the burns.
" His appletrees he sold to the settlers, and if they were too poor to pay him, he would give them a receipt in full up to date. He was a small wiry man, with black eyes, and long unkempt hair and whiskers. He has left several mon- uments of his good deeds, in the shape of huge appletrees, near this city, which still continue to bear fruit and protect the weary and foot sore traveller from the scorching sun of summer."
After the advent of Johnny into our county, he dressed as other men, poor men, shoes and all, and I have never heard of his selling, or demanding a price for his appletrees.
Of this eccentric man, Henry Howe, in his valuable work, "Historical Collections of Ohio," says : " At an early day there was a very eccentric character, who frequently was in this region. His name was Jonathan Chapman, but he was usually known as 'Johnny Appleseeds.' He was supposed to be originally from New England, and had imbibed an uncon- trolable passion for rearing and cultivating apple trees from the seed. He first made his appearance in western Penn- sylvania, and from thence made his way into Ohio, keeping on the outskirts of the settlements. He planted his seeds in spots of cleared ground, and on the banks of the streams.
" When the settlers began to flock in and open up farms, Johnny was ready for them with his trees, which he either gave away. or sold for some trifle, as an old coat, or any
135
Appleseeds and the Bear.
other article of which he could make use. His personal appearance was as singular as his character. He was a small, chubbed man, quick and restless in his motions and conversation. He wore his hair and beard long, and had a sparkling black eye. He lived the roughest life, and often slept in the woods. He went barefooted, and often travelled miles through the snow in that way. In religious belief, he was a follower of Sweedenborg, leading a most blameless life. Wherever he went, he circulated Swedenborgian works. He was careful not to injure any animal, and thought hunt- ing morally wrong.
"This story is told of him, as illustrating his kindness of heart. On one cool autumnal night, whilst lying by his camp fire in the woods, he observed that the musquitoes flew in the blaze and were burnt. Johnny thereupon brought water and quenched the fire, afterwards saying : ' God forbid that I should build a fire for my comfort, that should be the means of destroying any of His creatures.'
" At another time, he made his camp fire at the end of a hollow log, in which he intended to pass the night, but find- ing it occupied by a bear and her cubs, he removed his fire to the other end, and slept on the snow in the open air, rather than disturb the bear. (I think I would have done the same thing. Au.)
" An itinerant preacher was holding forth on the public square in Mansfield, and exclaimed: ‘Where is the bare- footed. christian travelling to heaven ?' Johnny, who was lying on his back on some timber, taking the question in its literal sense, raised his bare feet in the air, and shouted : 'Here he is!'"
136
History of Hancock County.
CHAPTER XX.
PRESENT COURT HOUSE-NEW JAIL-INFIRMARY.
N a former chapter I have spoken of the old frame Court I
House, and the old log Jail, which did good service in their time, but had to give way to more suitable buildings, and whatever of interest connected with them remains only as a memory. The fact that the county has built three jails and but two Court Houses, is perhaps not a very flat- tering commentary on the morals of the county, unless we remember that our people failed to put up substantial jails, a mistake which was not made in the building of a Court House.
As early as 1837 the project of building a new Court House was agitated, and in that year action was taken by the County Commissioners to its speedy erection. At their June session of that year it was "Resolved that the Com- missioners of the county will borrow the sum of ten thou- and dollars for the purpose of building Public Buildings in Findley." It was also at the same session "Ordered that the Auditor shall give notice in the Findley Courier, that proposals will be received on the 4th day of July next, at the Auditor's office in Findley, to make 200,000 good brick to build county buildings in Findley," and "Ordered that a draft or model shall be drawn of a Court House suitable for the county, at the expense of the county."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.