History of Sandusky County Ohio with Illustrations 1882, Part 58

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made several attempts to take his own life, but was frustrated in this by the constant vigilance of Sheriff Strohl and Deputy Sheriff Burgoon, but it was destined that he should succeed after all. It was on Sunday, October 30, (he was to be hung on, the following Wednesday) when Sperry's children,: Jefferson and Mary Ann (a boy seven years, and a girl eight years old), were brought into his cell to take a final parting of their father. The children were too young to comprehend the situation, and, their father was too reluctant and hardened to give way to any emotional feelings whatever, and so of course their conversation was turned entirely upon minor affairs. Sperry, who had noticed a small pen knife in the boy's hands, asked to look at it, and then returned it again with apart of the blade broken off, but which was not noticed by the boy at that time. Alter taking leave of their father, the children were then taken to what is now called the Kessler House, where for the first time the boy noticed the broken blade. This soon became known, and the sheriff made a most thorough search for the missing part of the blade, but all in vain, since Sperry had concealed it in the lining of his coat. This broken off blade it was which cheated the gallows of its prey, for that very night Sperry cut open some main arteries, and was found dead in his cell the next morning. But we are told that his death was a dreadful one, and in the presence of such a fiend as George Thompson, whom he had begged repeatedly to kill him, so as to end the agony of his sufferings, but which Thompson refused to do, and answered only with mocking laughter. When Thompson was asked why he had not tried to prevent Sperry from killing himself, Thompson (who also was an Englishman) answered, with the air of a bravado, "I rather see a countryman of mine kill himself than see him hung." Thus ended the life of a once good and industrious man, and it goes to show that the terrible fangs of jealousy will sometimes nettle around the best of human kind, and drag them down to the lowest degradation.

THOMPSON MURDER IN BELLEVUE, 1842.

Almost daily we read accounts of some brutal murder, when the motive was nothing else but an, unhappy love affair. Thirty-eight years have rolled by since this murder took place at Bellevue. We have undertaken to acquaint the public with the facts of these two murders, that appear like two dark and ominous spots in the history of our county. It was on the 30th day of May, 1842, when the inhabitants of Bellevue were thrown into a fearful state of excitement by the news-that a murder had been committed right in their midst.

The victim was a Pennsylvania German girl, by the name of Catharine Hamler, and the murderer was an Englishman by the name of George Thompson. Both parties were in the employ of Robert O. Pier, who at that time kept the Exchange Hotel in Bellevue (built by Chapman & Amsden). This

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Thompson, who had paid considerable attention to the girl (who at that time was but eighteen years old); had finally approached her with a proposal of marriage, but was refused by the girl, who emphatically told him that she entertained nothing but friendship toward him. Instead of taking this hint, Thompson kept up his love proposals in a still more persistent manner, until finally, seeing all his efforts crushed to pieces, the thought of murdering this girl entered his mind. The Both day of May, 1842 was destined to become reddened with the blood of his victim. On this day. he took a gun, loaded it properly, and so armed, he proceeded to execute his terrible deed. In order to get up the proper courage and strengthen his nerves, he took several drinks of whiskey, and then went to the hotel, into a back room, close to the stairway leading to the cellar kitchen. Catherine Hamler, who was in this very room, busy with ironing, upon noticing Thompson. with a gun in his hand, became frightened at once, ran out of the room and down the stairway. She was followed by Thompson, and before she had arrived at the last step of the stairs she received the unlucky discharge of Thompson's gun into her back, in the upper part of the shoulder blade, killing her instantly. The hotel keeper's wife, who had been busy in the cellar kitchen, hearing some one coming down stairs in such a hurry, ran out to learn the cause of it, and arrived just in time to catch the girl, who exclaiming: "I'm shot!" expired in her arms. The medical examination proved that the wound was half an inch wide and ten inches deep. We may well imagine what kind of an uproar and general consternation this foul murder created. Thompson was immediately arrested and brought to Fremont, where he was taken to jail and locked in the same cell where Sperry was then awaiting his trial. This was in the summer of 1842, and in September of the same year the grand jury, whose foreman was Mr. Charles Lindsey, found an indictment against Thompson for murder. in the first degree. Shortly afterward Thompson made his escape from jail, but was retaken in Woodville township and brought back to jail.

He remained in jail until shortly after Sperry's suicide, when he and several other prisoners again made good their escape. Before we proceed any further, we will give our readers a detailed account of Thompson's escape which was furnished us by Mr. Michael McBride, of Woodville, to whom, and also to Mr. Stephen Brown, of Woodville, we feel greatly indebted. Mr. McBride's letter to us reads as follows:

"On the first occasion of Thompson's breaking jail, in his journeying to escape, he reached a house about a half-mite to the westward of my place, then owned and occupied by John P. Elderkin, sr., now a resident of Fremont, and, in knocking for admission, he was met at the door by Mr. Stephen Brown,

of Woodville, who at that time was a boarder at Elderkin's. Thompson then told Mr. Brown that he. was hungry, and would like to get something to eat, and then disclosed the fact that he was Thompson,. the murderer, and at the same time expressing himself as lacking in hope in the prospect of making good his escape; in consequence of which he requested Brown to be instrumental in returning him to jail, telling him at the same time that a reward, without doubt, would be offered for his arrest, and therefore he might as well obtain the same as anybody else. After listening to this conversation, Brown remarked that he was only a boarder at said house, (Elderkin being absent at the time,) therefore he had no rightful authority to give him anything to eat; 'but,' said he, 'I will accompany you to Woodville, and there you can obtain eatables, and the matter of your return to jail can be settled also. This proposition was accepted and carried out, and it was arranged, when at the village, to have Mr. Wood return the prisoner to jail, which he accordingly did. From the [reported] fact of Wood having expected a reward for the return, and failing in this, he was so chagrined that he told Thompson, upon separating from him in Fremont, that if he succeeded in escaping again, he desired him to make for his (Wood's) home, and, if he reached it in safety, he would use his endeavor to further his escape by letting him have one of his horses in order to accelerate the same. The two individuals then bade each other good-bye, Thompson at the same time telling Wood that he might expect him with him again just one week from that date, and this he fulfilled to the very day. o much for Mr. Stephen Brown's information, and now the thread of this story is followed still further by what I elicited from a conversation with Captain Andrew Nuhfer, of Woodville, who says that Thompson, when making his second escape, arrived in Woodville in the night and entered a blacksmith shop belong to said Nuhfer, and there cut the fetters from his wrists by means of tools in the shop. Nuhfer plainly discovered traces of some one having used his forge and tools when he entered his shop next morning. It seems that the prisoner, after having rid himself of his fetters, carried the same; with the connecting chain, and threw them behind a barn belonging to Wood, and soon after, having procured a horse from Mr. Wood, he set out on horseback to make good his escape. The horse, upon proving to lack endurance, was soon abandoned, and the escape continued, otherwise successfully, until the stage driver informed on him. The chain and handcuffs, lying behind Wood's barn, were subsequently appropriated as the property of Mr. Wood, and Nuhfer says that Mr. Wood conceived the idea of putting the same to some use he had in view, by, in the first place, having, the same remodeled into a complete chain by the blacksmith, This idea was carried out and Nuhfer did the work of remodeling."

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Mr. I. K. Seaman's information upon this subject coincides in the main with that of Mr. McBride. Mr. Seaman was, during the years of 1842 and 1843, toll- gate keeper near Woodville, and remembers distinctly that Thompson had been seen close to an old oak tree, about half a mile north of Woodville. Seaman says that he and Amos E. Wood had taken the prisoner to the jail in Fremont. A week later Thompson again came back to Woodville, where he met Wood and Seaman, whom he begged to stick to the promise they had made to him and further his escape. Mr. Wood told Thompson that his promise should be kept, whereupon he and Seaman went with Thompson to Nuhfer's blacksmith shop, where Thompson got rid of his fetters. Thompson staid at Seaman's house over night, and the next morning, sufficiently provided for with eatables and other necessaries, he went on his journey. A part of the distance from Woodville to Perrysburg he made in a sleigh. From Perrysburg, he travelled west until he reached Ottawa, Illinois. Mr. Seaman is of the opinion that the name of the stage-driver who finally discovered Thompson, was Jackson. He also says that Thompson after this last capture never attempted another escape. He had free access to Sheriff Strohl's yard, where he split wood and made himself generally useful, and that Thompson, had he chosen to do so, could have escaped very easily, especially where nearly all the farmers in the neighborhood rather sympathized and pitied him and would have furthered his escape; but Thompson was prepared to die, and continually thought of his victim, poor Catharine Hamler, whom he never could forget and whom he professed to love up to his death.

We now proceed to acquaint our readers with the final capture of George Thompson. It was in the fall of 1843 when a certain stage-driver left this vicinity in order to take mail matter to the far West. In the fore part of October this stage-driver came to Ottawa, county seat of La Salle county, Illinois, and stopped, with some of his passengers, at the same hotel where at that time George Thompson was employed as hostler, As chance would have It, one of the passengers had a conversation with the stage-driver about what time they intended to go back home. George Thompson, who happened to stand near by, became an attentive listener to their conversation from the fact that he heard the names of Bellevue and Lower Sandusky mentioned. The stage- driver, although acquainted in Ottawa, still did not know Thompson personally, and when he noticed the sudden change in Thompson's face from a living red to a deathly pallor, he exclaimed, "Well! what is the matter with you?" Thompson, finding it hard to control his emotion, begged the stage-driver not to betray him, telling him at the same time that he was the murderer of Catharine Hamler. The stage-driver, astonished over the discovery he

had made, immediately sent this information to Sheriff Strohl, who, after receiving the same communicated it to Prosecuting Attorney W. W. Culver. In consequence of this, the county commissioners, Messrs. Paul Tew, Jones Smith and James Rose, (A. Coles was auditor at that time,) on the 8th day of December, 1843, ordered the sum of one hundred dollars paid to Sheriff Strohl to enable him to go and get Thompson. In the meantime the necessary papers of requisition had been made out by Governor Thomas W. Bartley, whereupon Thompson had been imprisoned in Ottawa until the arrival of Sheriff Strohl, who finally returned with his prisoner in the fore part of March, 1844. His trial commenced in June before a jury composed of the following persons, to wit: Joseph Reed, James P: Berry, Benjamin Inman, Archibald Rice, James A. Fisher, William Boyles, Abraham Gems, Washington Noble, Michael McBride, Stephen Lee, John Weeks, and Amos K. Hammond. Thompson was defended by Brice J. Bartlett (father of Colonel Joseph R. Bartlett) and Cooper K. Watson. The State was represented by W. W. Culver and L. B. Otis. The presiding judge was Ozias Bowen, assisted by the Messrs. Isaac Knapp, Alpheus McIntyre, and George Overmeier. During the trial the counsel for the defendant tried their best to show that Thompson, at the committal of the murder, was not in his own mind and not capable of distinguishing right from wrong. This was corroborated by the testimony of a young Irishman, who said that he and Thompson had once been employed together as sailors upon the same ship, and upon landing on a British isle in the West Indies, Thompson there had had a severe case of sunstroke, the effects of which, in his opinion, Thompson never could have overcome. The theory of temporary insanity was prepared and skillfully worked upon by the able counsel for the defense. The State, on the contrary, proved by sufficient testimony, that during his stay in Bellevue Thompson never had shown the least signs of insanity, and had not only talked good common sense but had proved himself an upright and industrious man. Mr. Robert O. Pier, the keeper of the Exchange Hotel in Bellevue, testified that while in his employ Thompson had behaved admirably, and had fulfilled promptly all duties required of him, and that in his opinion Thompson knew perfectly well to tell right from wrong. After the arguments on both sides were concluded judge Bowen instructed the jury, who

then retired about noon. They remained out about four hours, and at their first ballot the jury stood ten for guilty in the first degree; one, William Boyles, for acquittal, and Michael McBride for guilty in the second degree. Boyles kept hanging back for several hours but finally consented, and shortly after three o'clock on the 10th day of June, the jury brought in their verdict of guilty in the first degree, The defense filed a mo-

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tion for a new trial, but the judges overruled said motion; whereupon the accused was asked to arise, and when questioned whether he had anything to say why judgment should not be passed upon him, Thompson answered that he had nothing more to say. Then Judge Bowen addressed the prisoner as follows: "George Thompson, you have been accused, tried, and found guilty of the greatest crime known in the annals of the law in this State. You have been tried by a jury of twelve men, chosen by yourself; you have had a decidedly impartial trial; you have been defended by the most able counsel, who have tried the utmost on their part to withhold a verdict of guilty; you have tried to show that you were afflicted with temporary insanity, but for the sake of humanity, it has been clearly proven that on the 30th day of May, 1842, you willfully, maliciously and knowingly killed Catharine Hamler. The laws of this State for the crime of which you have been found guilty punish with a dishonorable death on the scaffold; but the law in this is more merciful than you have been toward your victim, and gives you ample time to repent of your terrible crime. Do not resort to any vain hopes of pardon but use your short time for repenting, for which purpose you may have the religious consolation of a minister of your own free choice. And now there remains nothing else for me to do but to pronounce sentence upon you according to the laws of our commonwealth. Thus reads-the sentence: 'That you George Thompson, prisoner before the bar, be taken back to jail, whence you came, and there remain under close confinement until Friday, the 12th day of July, 1844, on which day, between the hours of 10 o'clock A. M. and 2 o'clock P. M., you shall be taken to the place of execution, and there hung by your neck until you are dead, and may God have mercy upon your soul."

Thompson, who was quite overcome with emotion by the reading of his death warrant, was then taken back to jail. What a change had taken place in this man, for it was but two years previous, that this very George Thompson had shown and proved himself such a perfect brute, deprived of all human affection, at the time of John Sperry's suicide, and henceforth he became an entirely changed and repentant man. There were many persons who visited him during his last confinement, to whom he talked and conversed freely about the murder and its victim, poor Catharine Hamler, who, he said, was constantly before his eyes and troubled his mind considerably. Once upon being asked by Mr. David Betts whether he sincerely repented of his terrible deed, he answered: "I have loved this Catharine Hamler more than any other person in the world, and since she rejected my love I concluded to make certain that no other person should have her."

Thompson was a member of the English Protestant Episcopal church, but he refused to see any

Protestant minister and demanded a Catholic priest. His wish was complied with and he received occasional visits from a French priest. by the name of Josephus Projectus Macheboeuf, the present apostolic vicar at Denver, Colorado, and also from Father McNamee, of Tiffin. Rev. Macheboeuf at that time had charge of several parishes, as Peru, Sandusky, and several other places. At the beginning of the year 1880 he was in Rome, where he had an interview with Pope Leo XIII, who, according to the London Tablet, is said to have expressed very favorable comments on the ministerial efforts of this Rev. Macheboeuf. The day of execution drew near, and Sheriff Strohl made the necessary preparations for the same. Mr. John Sendelbach took the measure and made the coffin, and Mrs. Sarah Barkimer, nee Parish; who still resides here in Fremont on Elliott Street, on the east side of the river, made a white shroud, to which a white cap was attached. Thompson was hung in this very shroud. Sheriff Strohl, who himself was a carpenter by trade, erected the gallows, enclosing the space (twenty by, thirty feet) with a board fence, twelve feet high.

The day before the execution Rev. Macheboeuf held holy mass in the prisoner's cell; on which occasion Mr. Ambrose Ochs assisted, who at that time was learning the wagonmaker's trade with Mr. Balt. Keefer. Thompson expressed great fear that after the execution his body might come under the eager hands and knives of science-hungry physicians, and he therefore begged of Rev. T. McNamee, who lived at Tiffin, to see to it that his body was laid in consecrated earth, which was solemnly pledged to him. The 12th day of July, 1844, the day set for the execution, had finally come. The prisoner awoke early and after partaking of a light breakfast was visited by Rev. J. McNamee, who administered the holy sacrament, after which Thompson put on the white shroud, of which we have spoken already.

In the mean time a great crowd of people had congregated around the outside enclosure (the very place where now stands the new addition of the courthouse) and some desperate fellows, eager to become eyewitnesses of this sad spectacle, tried their best to break down the enclosure. Sheriff Strohl, after having become aware of these facts, concluded to have the prisoner executed in the morning instead of in the afternoon, as had been his first intention. Shortly after 11 o'clock he led Thompson, accompanied by the priest, out of his cell to the fatal platform of the gallows. All at once some one cried: "He is coming!" and at that moment, Mr. J. R. Francisco, from Ballville, who was stationed inside the enclosure as a custodian and armed with a gun, observed that some one was trying to cut a hole through the board fence, and before he could prevent it, one of the boards had been torn off, and in less than no

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time at all, other boards followed until finally the whole fence had disappeared, thereby exposing the sad spectacle to the entire public. After prayer by Rev. McNamee, he was asked by Sheriff Strohl whether he had anything more to say, to which Thompson simply shook his head. His arms and legs were then tied, the fatal noose laid around his neck, the white cap drawn over his face, and upon a given signal the trap was sprung and Thompson dangled in the air between heaven and earth. Thompson's neck was not broken but he died of strangulation, the knot of the noose having slipped under the chin. He still breathed after a lapse of fifteen minutes, and the moving of the muscles of the different parts of the body gave sufficient proof of the dreadful death agony that was taking place in that man. In twenty minutes Thompson was pronounced dead by Drs. L. Q. Rawson and Peter Beaugrand, and fifteen minutes before 12 o'clock the body was taken from the gallows, put into the coffin, and given in charge of Rev. J. McNamee, who had it taken to Tiffin and buried in the Catholic cemetery, thus keeping the solemn pledge he had given to Thompson. It is said that after the crowd had dispersed certain rumors went afloat that Thompson had not been dead at the time he was cut down, and that on the way to Tiffin Father McNamee had made successful attempts at bringing Thompson back to life again. These rumors found their culminative point in the statement that Thompson had been seen near Fort Seneca. Of course these were only rumors, based upon the stupidity and sickly imagination of some foolish people, and certainly must have added greatly to the amusement of the above-named and certainly well-learned and skilful physicians.

In the early history of the practitioners at the bar we find a peculiar class of men, of which the present day does not furnish a correct likeness. From the date of the or- ganization of the county in the year 1820 until as late as 1840, or thereabouts, the larger portion of the litigated cases in the courts of the county were conducted by law- yers from other and sometimes remote lo- calities. They were chiefly men who had at- tained a wide reputation for talent and ability in the profession, and whenever plaintiff or defendant retained one of such a reputation the other side was sure to employ another of similar acquirements and ability to match him. The early local lawyers were poor, and there were in fact no law libraries worth noticing, and they of course

could not refer to authorities on many questions which arose. But attorneys from older towns and cities had access to law books and could therefore make a better display in arguing cases to court or jury; hence they were preferred by litigants in the early times of the jurisprudence of the county. For such reasons, at every term of the earlier courts there came to attend court such men as Picket Lattimer, Ebenezer Lane, Phillip R. Hopkins, Ebenezer Andrews, of Huron county, and later, Charles L. Boalt, and Samuel T. Worcester, Cortland Lattimer, Thaddeus B. Sturges, Francis D. Parrish, John R. Osborn, E. B .. Saddler, and Joseph M. Root, of the same county. Though F. D. Parrish and E. B. Saddler were residents of Sandusky and placed outside of Huron county by the erection of Erie county, they were, at the time spoken of, within the limits of Huron county. There were, at every term of the court, John M. May, of Mansfield, Richland county, Orris Parrish, of Columbus, Ohio, Andrew Coffinberry and John C. Spink, of Wood county, Ohio, and occasionally such then as Thomas Ewing and Willis Silliman were found in the courtroom, though not often in this, to them, remote part of the State. Excepting Ewing and Silliman, in their early practice here, all travelled on horseback with the common pleas judge from county seat to county seat, and during their stay made a home at the best tavern at the county seat. They all travelled in company on horseback and carried copies of pleadings, briefs, and a change of shirts in saddlebags or valise. When on the road or off duty at the tavern they were a social, often a convivial collection of talented men away from home. In court they were as earnest and talented on behalf of their clients as any lawyers of the present day can be. Cards, whiskey, story telling, and dancing and

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singing songs were the alternate amuse- ments, and the whole tavern was kept happy where they stopped.

After charging and sending out the grand jury, the presiding judge would next take the docket and call the cases for trial in the same order as they stood upon the docket, and every case was disposed of, for that time at least. The cases were continued, tried or dismissed when called. This practice compelled attorneys and clients to be ready for trial at all times during the term. Therefore all clients and witnesses attended constantly until their cases were disposed of. The attendance upon court, therefore, was much greater than at present. In fact, for a few days after opening court there was usually a large gathering of country people, something like what we now see when a menagerie or circus is on exhibition. Woe to the attorney who was not prepared to try his case. He usually found no indulgence from the court. There was in the earlier courts far more prompt and rapid disposal of cases than there is at present by the court.

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History of Sandusky County Ohio with Illustrations 1882, Part 58

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