Crime and Criminals.

Little Murders

 

(A bad weekend in the Midwest -
From Daily Inter Ocean , Chicago, Illinois, January 30, 1877)
 

Crime and Criminals.

Another Horrible Chapter of Murder and Murderous Affrays.

Another Whisky Murder—Fatal Stabbing.

Special Telegram to the Inter Ocean.

Decatur, Ill. Jan. 29.—On Saturday night Joab Wilkinson took from Decatur to Niantic a jug of whisky, which he distributed to some of his friends. A riot grew out of it, in which three Connihan brothers attacked a Mr. Carson, one of them striking him with a grubbing hoe, breaking his skull. The doctors have trepanned it, and he may recover. Today the parties were committed to await the result.

Last night Mr. McCall got into an altercation with Douglas Morris, at the house of the latter, in Decatur, and stabbed him twice, it is feared, fatally. McCall was at once arrested and lodged in jail.

Still Another Terrible Example

Special Telegram to the Inter Ocean.
Huntington, Ind., Jan. 29.—A house of Ill-fame at this place on Sunday afternoon was the scene of a bloody and fatal fight. Thomas E. Billings, the keeper, attempted to eject Delatus Shaffer, the clerk of the Hubbell House. Shaffer was intoxicated, and was very noisy, and was abusing the inmates. Finally Billings drew a revolver and shot his assailant, the ball entering the right side and inflicting a wound which will probably prove fatal. Billings was arrested a short time after and taken to Fort Wayne for safe keeping. He has kept a house of ill-fame at that place for several years.

The Manheim Tragedy.

Richards & Anderson

On a sunny December morning in 1857, Mrs. Anna Garber and Mrs. Elizabeth Ream were raped and murdered in Mrs. Garber’s home in Manheim, Pennsylvania. Evidence overwhelmingly pointed to Alexander Anderson and Henry Richards, two African American workmen seen in the neighborhood. Though there was little doubt as to who committed the murders, a question still remained: would they be tried by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or would the case would be handled by "Judge Lynch."

Husband Murder.

Little Murders

 

(From Daily Inter Ocean , Chicago, Illinois, December 19, 1877)
 

Husband Murder.

Cincinnati, Ohio, Dec. 18—The trial of Mrs. Creighton for the murder of her husband, which has been progressing at Lancaster (Ohio) for several days, was given to the jury at 10 o’clock yesterday. The jury has been out over twenty-four hours. It is thought they will disagree.

Cincinnati, Ohio, Dec. 18—The jury in the Creighton murder case, after a deliberation of twenty-six hours., returned a verdict of manslaughter at 12 o’clock to-day, which is considered a compromise verdict. The first vote stood four for murder in the first and eight for the second degree, which was finally changed to ten for acquittal and two for conviction, the latter two holding out to the end. The particulars of the murder are substantially these: On the 2d of last January Henry Creighton was found dead in his house by neighbors aroused by his wife, who confessed to having killed him in self-defense. There were no witnesses to the murder but Eddie Garland, her 12-year-old son by a former husband. His wife is believed, according to the testimony to have married his property rather than the man, with whom she lived in continuous warfare. On the morning of his death she says he had chased her about the house, shooting at her, and finally, with a broad-ax, drove her to defend herself, when she killed him by throwing an iron mortar and a nail-puller. A motion for a new trial by her counsel is now being entertained by Judge Wright.

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"Husband Murder." Daily Inter Ocean 19 Dec 1877: 5.

Samuel Moore Williams.

Little Murders:

From Defenders and Offenders:

Samuel Moore Williams.

"Samuel Moore Williams in 1879 committed a cold blooded murder in Garrard County, Ky. He fled to California, but was followed by detectives. He was then twenty-five years old, 5ft. 11in. He is something of a musician, playing the violin and guitar, and is fond of frequenting saloons. Is in the habit of boasting of being a Southerner and a confederate."

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Defenders and offenders. New York: D. Buchner & Co., 1888.