Century history of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and representative citizens 20th, Part 17

Author: McKee, James A., 1865- ed. and comp
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1526

USA > Pennsylvania > Butler County > Butler > Century history of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and representative citizens 20th > Part 17

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THE ESCAPE.

Pending the execution of their- sentence,

the two Biddle men were confined in mur- derers' row in the Allegheny County jail, at Pittsburg, and were under heavy guard. Having previously sawed the bars of their cells and having been supplied with re- volvers and ammunition, the two Biddle men broke out of their cells early on Thursday morning, January 30, 1902, overpowered the prison guard and made their escape through the house of the war- den of the jail, onto the streets. Before leaving the prison they had locked the prison guards in the cells that they had vacated, and had supplied themselves with citizens' clothing taken from the guard's wardrobe. After leaving the jail the two convicts went to a house in Allegheny where they remained all day in hiding and until late that night. The escape of the Biddles was not discovered until after daylight on Thursday morning, and then it was found that they had been assisted. in their escape by Mrs. Kate Soffel, wife of Peter K. Soffel, the warden of the jail, and that she had supplied the prisoners with the steel saws, the revolvers, and the keys with which they had unlocked the doors of the prison into the warden's resi- dence and thence made their escape to the street. Mrs. Soffel was said to be in love with Ed Biddle and as she had disap- peared and could not be found, it was believed that she had gone away with the fugitives. The entire police force of the city of Pittsburg and the detectives of Allegheny County were put to work on the case, but were unable to find any trace of either of the Biddles or of Mrs. Soffel.

It afterward developed that the fugi- tives after escaping from jail had gone to a house in Allegheny where they met Mrs. Soffel, and remained until Thursday night. They then left the city by way of the Perrysville Road, and at Etna they stole a horse and sleigh and drove over the Plank Road to Cooperstown in Butler County. They arrived at the boarding- house of J. A. Snyder, in Cooperstown, on

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Friday morning, January 31, where they called for breakfast and had their horse fed. From Cooperstown they drove over the Plank Road to Butler, crossed over to Springdale, and drove in the direction of Herman Station. They turned, however, crossed over the Lookout Avenue bridge to the north side, drove out Penn Street to Mercer Street, thence to New Castle Street, and thence followed the New Castle Road to Mt. Chestnut, where they arrived at the hotel of James J. Stevenson a little after noon, and called for their dinner. After they had eaten their dinner Mrs. Soffel and Ed Biddle, who represented themselves to be husband and wife, retired to a room on the second floor of the hotel, while Jack Biddle remained on watch on the outside.

THE PURSUIT.

The Pittsburg officers were entirely at sea on Friday morning, and no trace of the fugitives had been found in Allegheny County. Butler County officers did not be- lieve that they would attempt to escape through Butler County, and when the re- port came from Cooperstown that two men and a woman had been seen at that place, who were believed to be the Biddle brothers and Mrs. Soffel, the story was laughed at. About half past eight o'clock, Edward Brown, of Cooperstown, called up Harry T. Rattigan of the Herald office at Butler, on the telephone, and told him that. the Biddles had passed through Coopers- town on their way toward Butler, and asked him to notify the officers. An hour later Frank Holliday, of Cooperstown, drove into Butler, and notified Deputy Sheriff J. R. Hoon that he had seen the Biddles on the Plank Road on their way to Butler, and that they were only a short distance behind him driving in. A posse was organized, consisting of Deputy Sheriff J. R. Hoon, Chief of Police Robert · Ray, Aaron E. Thompson, and Frank Holliday, and the pursuit was commenced.

The rig driven by the fugitives was easily traced from the peculiar manner in which the horse was hitched to the sleigh and from the fact that the parties in the sleigh did not have lap robes, although it was a bitterly cold day. The Butler posse fol- lowed the fugitives toward Herman Sta- tion, but finding that they were off the trail returned to Butler and took up the trail again at New Castle Street in the afternoon.

In the meantime the Pittsburg officers were notified and at three o'clock in the afternoon Detectives John Roach, A. H. Swinehart and Charles McGovern, of the Bureau of Detectives of Pittsburg, arrived at Butler on the Bessemer train and were met at the depot by J. A. Snyder, of Cooperstown, with a team and sleigh ready for the road. The county commissioners of Allegheny County had offered a re- ward of $5,000 for the return of the two Biddle men dead or alive, or $2,500 for either one of them. The Biddles were known to be men of desperate character, capable of committing any crime to effect their escape, and it was believed that they would die before they would allow them- selves to be recaptured. The Pittsburg officers had the death of Fitzgerald in mind and a long list of crimes committed by the Biddles, and they came prepared for a desperate encounter. The officers were armed with Winchester repeating shot- guns loaded with buck-shot, and each man carried his revolver in his pocket. By this time the trail of the fugitives was easily found, and the Pittsburg posse left at once in the direction of Prospect, traveling over the New Castle Road. At Mt. Chestnut they inquired at William Watson's store and were told that a rig answering the de- scription given had passed the store a little after dinner going in the direction of Pros- pect. The posse drove on to Prospect, where they met the Butler officers, but at that point the trail had been lost. The tired horses were changed at this place

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for fresh ones and the officers telephoned to the surrounding points in the county endeavoring to pick up the lost trail. While they were waiting, a telephone mes- sage from Mt. Chestnut said that the Biddles had just left the hotel at Mt. Chestnut, going in the direction of Pros- pect. The two posses then started back toward Butler together.

While this pursuit was going on Mrs. Soffel and Ed Biddle were resting quietly at the Stevenson Hotel in Mt. Chestnut and Jack Biddle was keeping watch on the outside. When the second posse passed Mt. Chestnut, Jack Biddle hitched up the horse and sleigh, called his companions, and they left Mt. Chestnut, following the New Castle Road. Ignorance of the roads in the country and the general direction in which they were traveling caused them to keep the main road, and to drive directly to their death. About a mile from Mt. Chestnut they stopped at the farm house of J. F. Wagner, which one of the Biddles entered and stole a shot-gun, but fortunately could find no ammunition. They then went on, and about midway between Mt. Chestnut and Prospect at a dip of the road, near the farm of Elliott Robb, they encountered the officers.

When about one hundred yards from the Biddles the officers identified the rig and immediately got ready for action. The horses were placed in charge of J. A. Snyder, and the two posses formed a line across the road and called for the fugi- tives to halt. Ed Biddle rose in the sleigh and fired his revolver at the posse, and a general battle ensued, in which both Ed and Jack Biddle were mortally wounded and Mrs. Soffel was slightly wounded by a shot from a revolver. Deputy Sheriff Hoon took charge of the prisoners and they were brought to Butler and lodged in jail about six o'clock in the evening. The shooting took place about five o'clock in the evening, and as the prisoners had to be hauled a distance of seven miles through

a blinding snowstorm which had come up, their condition was a pitiable one when they arrived in Butler. The two Biddles were taken to the third floor of the jail where they were given surgical attention, and Mrs. Soffel was taken to the Butler County General Hospital where she was kept under guard. Realizing that death was near at hand, Ed Biddle asked for a priest, and Rev. Father Walsh, of Butler, was sent for and heard his confession on Friday night, and the confession of Jack Biddle on Saturday afternoon. Jack Bid- dle died at 7:35 p. m. on Saturday, Febru- ary 1, and Ed Biddle died at 11 o'clock Saturday night.

The news that the Biddles had been cap- tured reached Pittsburg about 6 o'clock Friday evening, and caused the greatest excitement. The Pittsburg newspapers chartered a special train and about 10 o'clock in the evening arrived in Butler, bringing with them all the newspaper re- porters available in the city, the chief of police of Pittsburg, and a number of the officers of Detective Bureau of Allegheny County, as well as a number of extra tele- graph operators sent out by the Western Union and the Postal Telegraph com- panies to handle the news. That night all the telegraph wires leading out of Butler were kept hot and inquiries came pouring in from newspapers all over the United States, asking for an account of the battle. During the two days following special writers from Chicago and New York papers were on the ground and artists from several of the large weekly illus- trated papers of the country were here taking pictures of the various places at which the Biddles had stopped and of the battle-ground.

On Sunday, February 2, Coroner John L. Jones held an inquest on the bodies of the Biddle brothers, which was attended by John R. Henninger, district attorney of Butler County, and A. M. Christley, and William Z. Murrin on the part of

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Sheriff Thomas R. Hoon. The jury was composed of William A. Stein, Louis B. Stein, Jacob Keck, Esq., J. A. Walter, A. M. Flack and Harry T. Rattigan. The witnesses before the inquest were John Roach, A. H. Swinehart, A. E. Thompson, Frank Holliday, J. A. Snyder and Deputy Sheriff J. R. Hoon. Previous to the hold- ing of the inquest an autopsy was held by Dr. J. C. Atwell and Dr. McCurdy Bricker, which was witnessed by Drs. George K. McAdoo, J. J. Schultis, W. C. McCandless, G. J. Peters, J. McAlpin, R. H. Pillow and .J. C. Boyle.

ED BIDDLE A SUICIDE.

The evidence presented before the in- quest was that when the posse met the Biddles on the road, Ed Biddle pulled a revolver and began to shoot. Then the shooting became general on both sides. The autopsy revealed the fact that after shooting at the officers Ed Biddle had turned his revolver on himself and inflicted a wound in the region of the heart that would in itself have proved fatal. The verdict returned by the coroner's jury after hearing all the evidence, was that Ed Biddle had come to his death by a gun shot wound inflicted by. himself, and that John Biddle had come to his death while resisting arrest. The jury relieved the officers of all responsibility and com- mended them for their brave conduct. The fact that the Biddles intended to cheat the gallows in the event that they failed in making their escape from jail was developed after the inquest, when on examining their clothing a quantity of strychnine pellets were discovered hidden in the waistband of Jack Biddle's trousers.

On Sunday evening the bodies of the Biddles were placed in the corridor of the residence part of the jail and the doors opened to the public. For three hours a continuous stream of people passed the coffins of the dead desperadoes. On Mon- day, February 3, the bodies were taken to

Pittsburg by the Butler County officers and turned over to the officials of Alle- gheny County. Subsequently a contro- versy arose over the reward offered by the commissioners of Allegheny County, the Pittsburg officers putting in a claim for all of it. The Butler County officers contested the claim and carried the matter into the courts of Allegheny County, but a settlement was agreed upon and the re- ward was divided among all the officers connected with the capture.

Mrs. Soffel, who had taken such a prom- inent part in the escape of the Biddles, was kept at the Butler County General Hospital until she had recovered from the shock brought on by the exposure to the inclement weather on Friday, January 31, and the bullet wound she received in the breast, and was then returned to Allegheny County. She was tried on the charge of assisting the Biddle brothers in escaping from jail, convicted and served her sen- tence in the penitentiary. Subsequently she attempted to go on the stage in a play entitled "A Desperate Chance," but was refused admission to the theaters in west- ern Pennsylvania, and her career as an actress was doomed to failure. Several dramas were written in which the escape of the Biddle brothers and their subse- quent capture was used as the basis of the play, but they did not meet with popular approval.

In May, 1902, some persons who were supposed to be friends of the Biddle boys, or else sentimentally inclined, erected a stone marker at the roadside where the Biddles were shot in Franklin Township. On Decoration Day this stone marker was decorated with flowers. The residents of the community did not appreciate this memorial, and the marker was taken away.

THE COUNTY HOME.

From the formation of the county until 1898 each township and borough was con- stituted a separate poor district and pro-

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vided for the care of the paupers and in- digent persons within their respective dis- tricts. While this arrangement had its advantages it proved unsatisfactory in many ways and in 1898 the county com- missioners submitted the question of erect- ing a county home to a vote of the people at the spring election held on February 15. While the proposition was vigorously opposed in some localities it was carried by a good majority in the county and im- mediate steps were taken toward purchas- ing a farm and erecting suitable buildings on it. On December 24, 1898, commis- sioners John Mitchell, Harmon Seaton and D. H. Sutton employed Owesley and Boucherle, architects of Youngstown, Ohio, to prepare plans and specifications for buildings. In the meantime the ques- tion of a suitable site was under discussion and the commissioners were offered the choice of three or four locations; one of these was the Wall farm near Evans City, another was the Stevenson and Bach farms on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at the present site of East Butler, and the third was the John Doerr farm in Butler Town- ship south of the borough line. The Adams farm at Wick Station on the Bessemer road was also offered. On Janu- ary 25, 1899, the commissioners considered a resolution to the effect that the John Doerr farm of two hundred acres could be purchased at the price of $70 per acre. The board was hopelessly divided on the resolution and the vote stood Mitchell and Seaton for and Sutton against it. It was argued by the opposers of the Doerr farm location that it was too far away from the railroad and that it would be difficult to procure and maintain a sufficient supply of water. An appeal was taken from the action of the commissioners by D. H. Sut- ton and others and the matter was brought before Judge John M. Greer for a hearing.

A number of witnesses from surround- ing counties were put on the stand by the opposition to show that the Doerr farm

was not a suitable location and after a lengthy hearing the court decided that it did not have jurisdiction in the matter and that the choice of a location lay with a majority of the board of commissioners. On March 20, 1899, the commissioners passed a resolution to the effect that the Doerr farm be purchased and at the same time issued bonds to the amount of $15,000 for the purchase of the farm. Pending the issuing of the bonds the commission- ers secured a temporary loan of $8,000 to apply on the first payment on the farm. On the 5th of April the commissioners employed Owesley and Boucherle as archi- tects to supervise the construction of the building and on the 28th of June the archi- tects' plans were adopted. Bids were ad- vertised for and opened on July 25, 1899, for the erection of the building. The fol- lowing bids were received at that time :

William Feigle of Butler $61,798

Henry Schenck of Erie. 67,611

Constable Bros. of Erie .. 65,985

G. Krutt & Co., Findlay, Ohio. 63,657

Thomas Lightbody, Youngstown, Ohio

57,876

George Schenck, Butler. 56,590

Edward Dunbaugh, Evans City 64,260

Fred Rausher, Butler. 61,726

On the basis of the above bids and cer- tain changes in the plans amounting to $1,132, making a total of $57,722, the con- tract was awarded to George Schenck, of Butler, for the erection of the buildings. Other contracts awarded were the heat- ing and ventilating to McGinnis, Smith & Co., of Pittsburg, for $23,511; electric wiring to the Youngstown Electric Light Company, Youngstown, Ohio, $3,286; plumbing to Frank Huff, of Butler, for $4,372; sewage system to C. F. L. Mc- Quistion, of Butler, for $4,250; water tower and tank to C. F. L. McQuistion, of Butler, for $1,850; combination electric light and gas fixtures to the Butler Light, Heat & Motor Company, for $904. On August 22, 1899, the plans for the build- ings were presented to the court for ap- proval. Judge Greer took exceptions to

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the location of the buildings on the north- western corner of the farm, favoring a location on the Saxonburg Road, and took occasion to say that he was powerless in the matter as the question of location lay entirely with the commissioners. The commissioners were not unanimous on many other matters pertaining to the pur- chase of the county farm and the erection of the buildings as well as the matter of the location, and on the resolution select- ing the present location of the buildings Commissioner Sutton voted nay. On September 29, 1899, the commissioners issued bonds to the amount of $100,000 at 31/2 per cent. for the purpose of paying the expenses of building. The estimated cost of the buildings and improvements upon which the bond issue was based is as fol- lows:

Buildings .$57,872

Heating and ventilating

23,511

Plumbing

4,372

Sewage

4,200

Storm sewer

1,000

Water tower and tank

2,000

Electric wiring

1,683

Water well

237

Inspector's services

200

Architect's services

4,925

On August 14,, 1900, commissioners awarded the contract to Fred Winters for the masonry of a barn and the con- tract for the superstructure to Cooper Brothers, of Valencia. The buildings were completed in October, 1900, and on the 25th of that month the poor from the north end of the county were received and installed in the new home.

The buildings are constructed of brick with Berea stone trimmings and are equipped with every modern appliance for the comfort and security of the inmates. When the commissioners settled with the contractor on September 11, 1900, extras were allowed to amount to $10,056. At the same time a bond issue was made to the amount of $1,600 bearing 31/2 per cent. in- terest to pay for the additional expenses and buildings that had not been counted

in the regular estimate. The total cost of the farm and buildings to the county was about $132,000.

When the county farm was opened for the reception of inmates in October, 1900, Joseph Graham, of Whitestown, was in- stalled as superintendent and farmer, and Mrs. Joseph Graham as matron, and Dr. A. M. Neyman, of Butler, was appointed physician. Hiram Gillespie was employed as engineer December 11, 1900, and re- mained until January, 1904, when he was succeeded by S. M. Wright. Edward Sloan is the present incumbent. In Janu- ary, 1904, Mrs. Mary Graham was ap- pointed assistant matron, and the same year Dr. L. R. Hazlett was appointed physician. In January, 1906, Oliver W. Stoughten was appointed superintendent to succeed Joseph Graham, who had re- signed, and Mrs. Oliver Stoughten was appointed matron. Dr. McCurdy Bricker was appointed physician, and at his death in 1908 Dr. J. C. Caldwell was appointed to fill the vacancy.

THE TEMPERANCE CAUSE.

The pioneer temperance worker in But- ler County was John Welsh, a soldier of the Revolution, who settled in Connoque- nessing Township about 1800. He was for many years a total abstainer, and was one of the early advocates of the temperance movement. The year 1829 saw the begin- ning of temperance agitation in the county, a county temperance society being organ- ized at Butler February 9, with Rev. John Coulter as president. Another was organ- ized the same year at Mount Nebo Church at Whitestown, which was presided over by Rev. Reid Bracken, with Robert Walker as secretary and Matthew McClure treas- urer. This society had twenty-four mem- bers enrolled on April 28, 1829, who pledged themselves against supporting any man for office who was known to be an habitual drinker of liquor. The action taken by this society is probably the first

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movement taken by the temperance people in the way of associating temperance with politics.

An anti-temperance society was formed in Concord Township, August 21, 1830, with Andrew Christie president and John Christie secretary. The movement gained votaries in every township before the close of 1830, while the Theobald Matthew idea of temperance, as inculcated in Ire- land, spread rapidly throughout the coun- ties of this commonwealth.

A temperance wave swept over the county in 1831 and 1832, when William Campbell and Matthew S. Lowrie visited every house in Butler and tendered the pledge, which was generally signed by the women and children. Another pledge was presented to the people of the borough in 1836, and was signed by a majority of the residents of the town. These recurring temperance waves continued from 1829 until 1840. each organization . taking a share in teaching the wisdom of abstain- ing from strong drink, and each was cred- ited with the accomplishment of much good. The movement received a tem- porary setback, however, in the political compaign of 1840 and 1844, which appears to have demoralized the county socially and many of the converts to temperance returned to their old convivial ways. In 1848 the moralists again resumed hostili- ties and attacking the evil of strong drink with fresh vigor soon saw encouraging re- sults.

TEMPERANCE ORGANIZATIONS.

Butler Division No. 207, Sons of Tem- perance, was organized in April, 1848, by Robert Carnahan. This was followed by the organization of township and borough branches throughout the county and ulti- mately by the organization of the youth into temperance companies.

The Boys' Hope Section, Cadets of Temperance, was organized in April, 1850,

but the organization died out before the close of the year.

The Independent Order of Good Tem- plers was a secret order organized for the purpose of carrying on temperance work. Several lodges were organized in Butler County, and the society at one time had a large membership. While the Good Tem- plers accomplished much good, yet the liquor traffic grew and prospered from year to year with little abatement of the evils arising therefrom. Finally many of the earnest women of the county became enlisted in the temperance cause and of- fered themselves as soldiers of the new crusade which had its inception at Hills- boro, Ohio, in December, 1873. The "Woman's Crusade" led to the organiza- tion of the "Woman's Christian Temper- ance Union" in 1874, which spread through Pennsylvania the following year and in- vaded Butler County in 1880.

The pioneer branch of the "Woman's Christian Temperance Union" in Butler County was organized at Harrisville, July 22, 1880, with eleven members. On No- vember 23, 1881, the Butler County Woman's Christian Temperance Union was organized in the First Presbyterian Church of Butler by . Mrs. Frances L. Swift, president, and Mrs. Ellen M. Wat- son, secretary, of the State W. C. T. U., with but seven members. Miss Mary E. Sullivan was elected president of the county union, and Mrs. Nanny D. Black, secretary, both of Butler. While a vice- president was named for each township in the county. The local Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Butler Borough was : organized by Miss Mary E. Sullivan in the United Presbyterian Church, February 13, 1882, with fourteen members. Miss Sullivan and Mrs. Black were elected president and secretary of the local union. At the close of the first year a second call was sent out for a county W. C. T. U. con- vention to be held in Butler and in re- sponse to this call about thirty women met

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in the First Presbyterian Church in But- ler, November 6, 1882, when the State organizer, Miss Narcissa E. White, as- sisted by Mrs. Frances L. Swift, reorgan- ized the county auxiliary to the State W. C. T. U. Mrs. Elizabeth R. Daine, of Buffalo Township, was elected president of the county union, and Miss Mary E. Sullivan corresponding secretary. Mrs. Nanny D. Black was elected recording sec- retary, Miss Aggie Shaw, of Harrisville, treasurer, and Mrs. A. G. Brown, of Ren- frew, vice-president. At the State con- vention held at Oil City, October 11 and 12, 1882, the Butler union was represented by Mrs. N. A. Bryson and Mrs. Isaiah J. McBride, and the Harrisville union by Mrs. Chester and Mrs. Webster. The work of the organization was continued for the next five or six years until nearly every part of the county had been reached, and over five hundred members had been enrolled in the various local unions.

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Century history of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and representative citizens 20th, Part 17

Author: McKee, James A., 1865- ed. and comp Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1526

Author: McKee, James A., 1865- ed. and comp
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1526