History of Portage County, Ohio, Part 39

Author: Warner, Beer & co., pub. [from old catalog]; Brown, R. C. (Robert C.); Norris, J. E. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Chicago, Warner, Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 958

USA > Ohio > Portage County > History of Portage County, Ohio > Part 39

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The Portage County Medical Association was organized at a meeting of physicians held at the Gillett House, in Ravenna, in June, 1866. The meet- ing was called to order by Dr. Joseph Waggoner, upon which Dr. P. C. Ben- nett was elected Chairman, and Dr. F. F. McCreary Secretary. The Chair appointed Drs. A. M. Sherman, E. Warrington and O. Ferris a committee to draft a constitution and by-laws for the government of the society, which were subsequently reported and adopted. The following physicians then signified their intention of becoming members of the association viz .: Drs. P. C. Ben- nett, A. Belding, J. G. Lewis, O. Ferris, J. W. Shively, Charles E. Poe, G. B. Baldwin, George Sadler, A. M. Sherman, P. H. Sawyer, Joseph Waggoner, B. F. Pitman, Ezra Rose, E. Warrington, A. W. Alcorn, C. S. Leonard and F. F. McCreary. After their names were recorded they at once proceeded to the election of officers, with the following result: Dr. P. C. Bennett, Presi- dent; Dr. A. Belding, Vice President; Dr. F. F. McCreary, Secretary; Dr. C. S. Leonard, Treasurer. The several committees were then appointed, and Dr. P. Barron admitted as an honorary member, after which the society adjourned to meet at Ravenna, January 27, 1867. On that date Drs. Joseph Price, F. C. Applegate and W. S. Hough were admitted to membership. Dr. Isaac Swift, who located in Ravenna in 1815, was made an honorary member the same day, and at the succeeding June meeting Dr. Joseph De Wolf, who opened an office in Ravenna in 1810, was also admitted to an honorary membership.

The officers of the society elected each June since 1866, have been as fol- lows: 1867-Dr. A. Belding, President; Dr. Joseph Price, Vice-President; Dr. C. S. Leonard, Secretary; Dr. Charles E. Poe, Treasurer. 1868-Dr. Joseph Price, President; Dr. Joseph Waggoner, Vice-President; Dr. George Sadler, Secretary; Dr. O. Ferris, Treasurer. 1869-Dr. Joseph Waggoner, President; Dr. A. M. Sherman, Vice-President; Dr. A. W. Alcorn, Secretary; Dr. E. Warrington, Treasurer. 1870-Dr. A. M. Sherman, President; Dr. C. S. Leonard, Vice-President; Dr. E. W. Price, Secretary; Dr. P. H. Sawyer, Treasurer. 1871-Dr. C. S. Leonard, President; Dr. G. B. Baldwin, Vice- President: Dr. John Ewing, Secretary; Dr. Joseph Waggoner, Treasurer. 1872-Dr. G. B. Baldwin, President; Dr. P. H. Sawyer, Vice-President; Dr. A. W. Alcorn, Secretary; Dr. Joseph Waggoner, Treasurer. 1873-Dr. E. Warrington, President; Dr. F. C. Applegate, Vice-President; Dr. A. W.

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Alcorn, Secretary; Dr. Joseph Waggoner, Treasurer. 1874-Dr. F. C. Apple- gate, President; Dr. A. W. Alcorn, Vice-President; Dr. H. P. Hugus, Secre- tary; Dr. C. S. Leonard, Treasurer. 1875-Dr. A. W. Alcorn, President: Dr. O. Ferris, Vice-President; Dr. H. P. Hugus, Secretary; Dr. C. S. Leonard, Treasurer. 1876-Dr. O. Ferris, President; Dr. George M. Proctor, Vice- President; Dr. H. P. Hugus, Secretary; Dr. C. S. Leonard, Treasurer. 1877 -Dr. George M. Proctor, President; Dr. F. W. Price, Vice-President; Dr. H. P. Hugus, Secretary ; Dr. C. S. Leonard, Treasurer. 1878-Dr. E. W. Price, President; Dr. B. B. Laughead, Vice-President; Dr. H. P. Hugus, Secretary; Dr. C. S. Leonard, Treasurer. 1879-Dr. B. B. Laughead, President; Dr. H. P. Hugus, Vice-President; Dr. A. W. Alcorn, Secretary; Dr. C. S. Leonard, Treasurer. 1880-Dr. H. P. Hugus, President; Dr. H. H. Spiers, Vice-Presi- dent; Dr. F. R. Morath, Secretary; Dr. George M. Proctor, Treasurer. 1881-Dr. H. H. Spiers, President; Dr. W. G. Smith, Vice-President; Dr. H. P. Hugus, Secretary; Dr. A. W. Alcorn, Treasurer. 1882-Dr. W. G. Smith, President; Dr. A. W. Alcorn, First Vice-President; Dr. Charles A. May, Sec- ond Vice-President; Dr. F. R. Morath, Secretary; Dr. H. P. Hugus, Treas- urer. 1883-Dr. Charles A. May, President; Dr. C. S. Leonard, First Vice-President; Dr. Joseph Price, Second Vice-President; Dr. Joseph Wag- goner, Secretary; Dr. B. B. Laughead, Treasurer. 1884-Dr. G. O. Frazier, President; Dr. A. W. Alcorn, First Vice-President; Dr. George M. Proctor, Second Vice-President; Dr. Joseph Waggoner, Secretary; Dr. B. B. Laughead, Treasurer.

The principal object of the society is to stimulate and encourage the dis- semination of medical science among its members, and so control their mode of practice as to bring it within the code of medical ethics usually adopted by the societies of the "regular" school of medicine. The most important feature of such societies is the interchange of thought and discussion which takes place between the members at their meetings. Any strange or difficult cases that may have come under their observation are reported and discussed, and opinions exchanged as to the most successful mode of treatment to be fol- lowed. A well-conducted medical society thus becomes a training school for the profession, and the meetings are looked forward to with much pleasure and interest. The greater number of the "regular" physicians of this county have belonged to the Portage County Medical Association at some period of its existence. Some have died, others have removed from the county, and still others have severed their connection with the society, and no longer take any interest in its doings. The society, however, is continually receiving new members, and is now in a flourishing condition. It contains at this writing (March, 1885,) twenty-two members, whose names are as follows: Drs. Joseph Waggoner, A. W. Alcorn, C. S. Leonard and B. B. Laughead, of Ravenna; Drs. A. M. Sherman, J. W. Shively, E. W. Price and J. D. Davis. of Kent; Dr. E. Warrington, of Atwater; Drs. Joseph Price, G. O. Frazier and C. S. Hiddleson, of Randolph; Drs. W. G. Smith, L. C. Rose, William Jenkins, and B. B. Davis, of Palmyra; Dr. F. C. Applegate, of Windham; Dr. Seth L. Sloan, of Freedom; Dr. George M. Proctor. of Shalersville; Dr. Charles A. May, of Streetsboro; Dr. W. H. McConnell, of Brimfield, and Dr. H. H. Spiers. of Edinburg. In 1866 and 1867, the meetings of the society were semi-annual, in 1868, quarterly, but ever since the latter year they have been monthly, and are productive of great benefit to the members of the association.

Joseph Price

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HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY.

CHAPTER XI.

THE MOST NOTED CRIMINAL EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF PORTAGE COUNTY- TRIALS AND SENTENCES OF THE CULPRITS-THE ALLEGED CRIME OF JOHN MCMANUS-THE MURDER OF MATHEWS BY AUNGHST-THE MURDER OF CUMMINGS BY BARRIS-THE MURDER OF CATHERINE MCKISSON BY HER BROTHER-IN-LAW. DAVID MCKISSON-THE HEATHMAN MANSLAUGHTER CASE -ALANSON BALDWIN STABBED TO DEATH BY HIS NEPHEW, LEMUEL W. PRICE-ATTEMPTED KILLING OF PRENTISS BY FLOWER-THE SHORTS-WIL- SON SHOOTING-THE MURDER OF JOHN RHODENBAUGH BY JACK COOPER AND JOEL BEERY-HARRIET MUSSON MURDERED BY WILSON S. ROOF- SHOOTING OF ALFRED L. HARRIS BY HIS FATHER-THE KELSO-MONTAGUE CASE-THIE NEWELL-ROBERTS AFFAIR.

A LL organized communities, it matters not what may be their geographical location or their general moral and religious status, have criminal rec- ords, some of which are replete with deeds of violence and bloodshed, while others are not quite so bad. There are many facts of a criminal character of such importance belonging to the legitimate history of Portage County, that they cannot with historical propriety be left out of this work. It is not the intention of the writer to give a record of all the deeds of a criminal nature that have been committed in this county, but only those where life was taken, or where the culprit was tried for murder or intent to commit that crime.

The first murder trial that occurred in Portage County took place at the October term of the Court of Common Pleas, in 1813, whereof Hon. Benjamin Ruggles was President Judge, and Aaron Norton, Amzi Atwater and Samuel Forward, Associates. John McManus was the defendant in this case, being indicted for the murder of Betsy McManus, his wife, and lived on what was then and since known as the Bell lot, in Ravenna Township. The indictment charged that McManus assaulted his wife while she was lying in bed, soon after the birth of a child, and struck her with a boot-jack, breaking the shoulder- blade and one of the ribs upon the right side, making a wound eight inches long and six inches wide, and that he also kicked her. The injuries were in- flicted on the 12th of May, 1813, and the woman died upon the 27th of the Benjamin Whedon was the foreman of the grand jury finding

same month. the indictment. The following are the names of the jurors before whom the case was tried: Gipson McDaniels, Jr., Palmyra; Isaac Osmun, Boston; Paul Williams, Portage; James McCormick, Springfield; Asher Gurley, Rootstown; William Sprague, Tallmadge; Theophilus Anthony, Atwater; George Walker, Hudson; Jonathan Foster, Mantua; Robert Taylor and David Way, Suffield; William Price, Ravenna. The case was conducted by Peter Hitchcock as Prosecuting Attorney, and by Benjamin Tappan and John C. Wright for the defense. After a protracted and exciting trial, the defense claiming that the woman died of child-bed fever, the accused was acquitted of the charge of murder, and discharged. McManus is described as a quarrelsome man, who was perpetually in trouble, and indicted for assault and battery several times. He was a volunteer in the war of 1812, and from ailments contracted in that service died in 1814 or 1815.

The first premeditated murder in this county was the killing of Epaphras Mathews by Henry Aunghst, August 20, 1814. Capt. Waller, of Palmyra

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Township, while on his way to Ravenna, discovered the body of a man lying behind a log, in the woods, near the schoolhouse now standing on the corners of the Charlestown and Edinburg roads, a mile and a quarter east of Ra- venna. The body proved to be that of Epaphras Mathews, a peddler, of Pittsburgh, Penn. An investigation proved that Mathews was last seen at the tavern at Campbellsport, on the 20th of August, and on the same day by a party grinding scythes in front of the present residence of Richard J. Thomp- son. It was noticed that a man was traveling with him, and to this man sus- picion attached as the murderer. On the night of August 19, Mathews and the strange man, who afterward proved to be Henry Aunghst, stayed at the tavern of Jabez Gilbert, in Palmyra. Taking these facts as a starting point, Robert Eaton and Lewis Ely started in pursuit of the murderer, whom they followed about a month, and arrested in a blacksmith shop in Center County, Penn. They were paid by the county $222.87 for their services and damages inflicted upon their horses in apprehending and bringing the culprit back to Ravenna. Mr. Ely was also paid the $100 reward which had been offered for the capture of Aunghst, and Abraham Reed was paid $28.50 for eight days spent in hunt- ing for the murderer. The meshes of the inevitable fatality surrounding a murderer seemed woven about Aunghst, and without any of the modern resources for tracing a great criminal, his pursuers at once struck his trail, and steadily followed him until their pursuit culminated in his capture.

Some weeks prior to the murder, Mathews and Aunghst left Pittsburgh in company, and traveled together until the hour of the murder. What pretext Aunghst gave to his victim is unknown, but upon his confession he stated that his purpose was to effect a robbery of his friend and companion. At first his plan was to seize and bind Mathews to a tree in the woods, rob him and flee, but chance, or destiny, frustrated the. purpose in each instance. Once, when in the woods near Poland, when a suitable moment seemed to have arrived, Deacon Sacket, of Tallmadge, traveling with his wife, came upon them. The Deacon knew Mathews well, and the meeting was an agreeable one between the two friends, and formed an important link in the chain of evidence against the murderer, as Deacon Sacket afterward visited Aunghst in jail and recog- nized him as the man he saw with Mathews in the woods near Poland. At times on their travels, when going into a village, Aunghst would take some goods and visit a few of the houses making sales, giving the money up to Mathews. The idea of murdering Mathews, Aunghst stated, first occurred to him about the time they reached Campbellsport. So many times had various plans of robbery been frustrated, that, grown desperate, when this suggested itself he acted upon it at the first opportunity. The murder was committed with a blue beech fence stake or club, which the murderer purloined from the premises of Gen. John Campbell, at the "Port." Coming to the spot where the murder was committed, he dealt his victim a vigorous blow with the club. Seeing at once he had given his victim a death-blow, he seized the body, threw it over a log and the club after it; next unharnessed the horse and turned it loose in the woods, dropping the harness on the thills, rifled the wagon and walked off. The money obtained consisted of $270 or thereabouts, in coin, which the murderer tied up in a pocket handkerchief. Coming to Ravenna, Aunghst stopped at Greer's Tavern, got a drink of whisky and enquired the road to Pittsburgh. While at the tavern he placed his handkerchief of coin on the bar. He was next seen at Daniel Collins', in Rootstown, and in the afternoon of the same day in Randolph, and the next day in Deerfield, enquir- ing, from point to point, the road to Pittsburgh. Next we hear of him at Canfield, where he bought a horse, paying for it in silver. Next at Petersburg,

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where he fell in with Gen. Simon Perkins and Judge Calvin Austin. With Gen. Perkins he exchanged the greater portion of his silver for paper money, stating that he had made it boating on the river, and, intending to buy some land near Wooster, had brought the silver, supposing he could do better with it than with paper money. Not liking the country as well as he expected, he was going back, and had got tired of "lugging the coin " So the General gave him all the paper money he had with him for coin. So from point to point he was traced on his route to Pittsburgh, and from that city to the forge in Center County, where he was arrested.

At the January term of the Court of Common Pleas, in 1815, the grand jury, of which Wiley Hamilton was foreman, found an indictment against Aunghst. He was arraigned and plead not guilty, and the case continued. At the October term, 1815, Hon. George Tod, Presiding Judge, his counsel, John C. Wright, moved his discharge in consequence of some error in the indict- ment. The Court overruled the motion. The grand jury, however, of which Erastus Carter was foreman, found a new indictment, which was certified to the Supreme Court, the prisoner electing to be tried by that court.

At the June term, 1816, he was again indicted, Lewis Day being foreman of the grand jury, and Darius Lyman Prosecuting Attorney. These proceed- ings were certified to the Supreme Court. This last indictment proved to be sound, and at the September term, 1816, of the Supreme Court, Hon. Ethan Allen Brown, of Cincinnati, and Hon. Jessup N. Couch, of Chillicothe, upon the bench, the trial was had. Darius Lyman and Benjamin Tappan were the attorneys for the State, and John C. Wright for the defense. A motion for change of venue to Columbiana County was made, it being alleged that the prisoner could not have an impartial trial in this county. The motion was overruled, and the trial proceeded.

The following persons out of a panel of thirty six were chosen as the jury to try the case: Daniel Collins, Rootstown; Simeon Crane, Lyman Hine, Asa K. Burroughs, and David Hine, of Shalersville; David Thompson, Ravenna; . Benoni Thompson, Shalersville; Joseph Lewis, Palmyra; Daniel Burroughs, Shalersville; Elijah Burroughs, Shalersville; Frederick Willard, Franklin; J. F. Wells, of Ravenna. The trial terminated in finding the accused guilty of murder in the first degree; whereupon the following sentence was pro- nounced :

It is considered, by the Court, that the said Henry Aunghst be taken from hence to the Jail of the County of Portage, from whence he came, there to remain until the last Satur- day of November next, being the 30th day of November, on which day he be taken to the place of execution, between the hours of 12 o'clock at noon and 2 o'clock in the after- noon, and there to be hanged by the neck until he be dead.

Aunghst was from twenty-five to thirty years of age, and was six feet, seven inches high. He was a man of powerful muscular organization and great strength. He was a foundry-man, or iron-worker, by trade, but natur- ally sluggish in his motions and movements. It was told of him that when at work in Pittsburgh he would pick up a trip-hammer, weighing 500 pounds, and lift it into an old-fashioned Pennsylvania wagon. He was a man of easy die- position. The Jail in which he was confined, was a log one, and the Jailer was in the habit of storing some of his household effects in the prison portion of the Jail. One day the Jailer's wife --- Mrs. Mason -- went into the prison to deposit a spinning-wheel. Aunghst pushed her aside at the door and ran out. Mrs. Mason gave the alarm, and immediate pursuit was made. After running a short distance Aunghst gave out and turned back to his pursuers, laughing, and gave up the race, and, puffing and blowing, came back to the Jail. This

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old log-building in which Aunghst was confined from the time of capture until his execution, was the first Jail erected in the county. The prisoner was a German, or a " Pennsylvania Dutchman," and Howard Carter says that though he feigned his inability to speak or understand English during the trial, could subsequently converse glibly enough with the school children who would stand upon a barrel and talk through the iron grating covering the win- dow of his cell.

When the day of execution arrived, November 30, 1816, Asa K. Burroughs was Sheriff of the county, and William Coolman, William Frazer and Almon Babcock his deputies. A militia force was called out, under command of Col. Solomon Day, of Deerfield, as special guard on the occasion. The gallows was erected in the center of what is now Sycamore Street, near the corner of Spruce, and about 1,800 people witnessed the execution. Upon the gallows Aunghst made a partial confession, the substance of which the writer has given in the foregoing account. The neck of the wretched man was dislocated, but not broken by the drop, and after being pronounced dead, the body was cut down and buried near the foot of the scaffold.

The night after the execution the body was dug up by some parties, who doubtless desired it for anatomical purposes. They were discovered soon after the body was out of the coffin, and attempted to flee with it. Hot pursuit was made, and they were forced to drop their prize, and left it on what is now the corner of Oak and Meridian Streets. The body was carried to the Court House and guarded that night. The next day a party of German residents of the town took the body with the intention of sinking it in " Mother Ward's Pond," to "keep it from the doctors." William Tappan, an erratic Justice of the Peace, pursued this party, and commanded them, in the name of the State of Ohio, to return the body. This they did with fear and trembling, and again the body lay in state at the Court House, surrounded by the Sheriff's posse. It was finally re-interred in the original grave, the coffin being filled with lime, and the largest log possible placed upon it. It was rumored that the doctors got the body after all, but Homer Frazer says: "I was present when the grave was opened many years afterward, and the skeleton was found in a fair state of preservation."

The next murder trial on record is that of Abner S. Barris for the murder of Nathan Cummings, December 9, 1832. This murder was committed on the canal north of the village of Akron, which was then included in Portage County, and the victim was a lad who drove the horses for the canal-boat. Barris, it seems, had had a quarrel with the helmsman of the boat, and in order to have his revenge had secreted himself at the side of the tow-path, with a gun, intending to shoot the helmsman. As the boat came up, putting him in range of his adversary, Barris took aim and fired, missing his intended mark, the shot taking effect upon the left side of the neck of the lad, Nathan Cummings, causing almost instant death. Suspicion at once attached to Barris, and with but little delay he was arrested and lodged in jail at Ravenna. At the session of the March term of the Court of Common Pleas, whereof Matthew Birchard was President Judge, and Elkanah Richardson, Elias Harmon and George B. De Peyster were Associate Judges, an indictment for murder was found against Barris by the grand jury, of which Jonathan Metcalf, of Hud- son, was foreman.

The prisoner, electing to be tried in the Supreme Court, was tried at the September term of that court, 1833. Hon. Ebenezer Lane, of Norwalk, pre- sided at this term, and Lucius V. Bierce was Prosecuting Attorney. The fol- lowing persons constituted the jury before whom the trial took place, having

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been selected from a panel of thirty-six men: Elisha Garrett, Garrettsville; William N. Merwin, Palmyra: Daniel Everett, Nelson; George Y. Wallace, Northfield; Lyman Hine, Shalersville; Enoch Drake, Freedom; Caleb Atwater and John A. Whittlesey, Atwater; Jonah Hine, Randolph; Abel Sabin, Randolph; Merrick Ely, Deerfield; Joseph Lewis, Palmyra. The trial was not protracted, and scarcely any witnesses were examined save the hands upon the canal-boat. The jury returned a verdict of guilty of murder in the second degree. The Court sentenced Barris to the penitentiary for life.

Barris never, according to the writer's information, denied the commission of the murder, and a remark he made when brought to Ravenna will show his own conviction on the subject. When first brought to town he was taken to the Globe Tavern, kept by William Coolman, Esq. Mr. Coolman recognizing Barris, said to him that he was told he was charged with a desperate crime. Barris looked at him a moment, drew himself up, and then replied, "It was not Abner Barris that did it, it was whisky." Barris was a day laborer, a rather passionate man, and about forty years of age. He worked in Ravenna by the month about a year. not long previous to this occurrence. It is under- stood that Barris died a number of years ago in the penitentiary.

The McKisson murder was committed in the township of Northfield in what is now Summit County, on Monday, July 24. 1837. The victim of this mur- der was Mrs. Catherine McKisson, the wife of Robert McKisson, a stout, robust woman about thirty-five years of age, and weighed 175 pounds. The murder was committed about 11 o'clock at night. Robert McKisson, the hus- band, was absent from home at the time, and the family consisted of Mrs. McKisson and her daughter (by a former marriage), Lucinda Croninger, and a man named John Johnson. The two women slept in the same room in dif- ferent beds and Johnson up stairs. That night Johnson went to bed about dark, the two women between 9 and 10 o'clock. The murderer entered Mrs. McKisson's room and in doing so aroused Lucinda, who was rendered tempor- arily senseless by a blow on the head, but recovered enough to see the last blow that was struck her mother. The murderous weapon used was an axe, with which the blows were given Mrs. McKisson, one on her back, one on the top of her head and one on the side of her head. The mortal wound was upon the right side of the head, about two inches deepy four inches long and half an inch wide. Mrs. McKisson lived until the next day-July 25-and declared the murderer to be Samuel McKisson, the father of her husband. Lucinda, the daughter (aged about eighteen), was also positive that Samuel McKisson was the murderer. Samuel McKisson was arrested the next day by Col. Arthur. He was a man about seventy-two years old, and was somewhat crippled in his hand. He manifested no trepidation and even went to his son's house and kissed the corpse.

Suspicion was attached to David McKisson, son of Samuel and brother of Robert. He was seen in the neighborhood the evening of the murder, and it was well known that in the March previous he had a bitter quarrel with his brother, and entertained ill will toward his wife. Col. Arthur set out in pur- suit of David, and, the Saturday after the murder, arrested him on Turtle Island, in Maumee Bay. When found by Col. Arthur he was on a pile driver, and was told he must go with the Colonel. He did so without demur, said good- bye to some of the workmen, saving, "I shall never see you again," or "I never expect to see you again." This was before he was told why Col. Arthur wanted him. After being brought back he had an interview with his brother Robert, who said to him, "What have you brought us to, David?" "What have I brought you to, Robert?" was the reply. "No, these hands never did that

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History of Portage County, Ohio, Part 39

Author: Warner, Beer & co., pub. [from old catalog]; Brown, R. C. (Robert C.); Norris, J. E. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Chicago, Warner, Beers & co. Number of Pages: 958

Author: Warner, Beer & co., pub. [from old catalog]; Brown, R. C. (Robert C.); Norris, J. E. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Chicago, Warner, Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 958