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Monroe
1925
Boyd, Harrison L. Boyd [Here are several articles about his murder.]
Source: The Marietta [Ohio] Daily Times; Monday,
January 12, 1925
Murdered Officer Wounded
One of
Yeggs who Slew
Him
ENTIRE COUNTRY ENLISTED IN HUNT FOR THE SLAYERS
Policeman Harrison L. Boyd, who was murdered by bandits
early Sunday morning on Third street below Putnam, marked at least one of his
assailants. This is proved by the
finding of a bloody rag near the scene of the shooting. The cloth was wound about an old chisel that
had been tossed toward the city dump.
The chisel has been identified as having been stolen from the Martin
blacksmith shop.
Jack McFarland, a student at Junior high school, walking
about the scene of the murder on Sunday afternoon came upon the bloody rag and
chisel. They were partially covered by
snow but the rag, about twice the size of a man's handkerchief, was thoroughly
soaked with blood. A tiny bit of flesh
also was attached to the rag.
Apparently the rag had been used to staunch the flow of blood from a
wound, wrapped about the chisel and thrown on the dump as the gunmen fled from
the scene.
H.R. Eggleston, city chemist, was called into the case on
Sunday afternoon and made a chemical analysis.
His tests showed absolutely that the rag was saturated with fresh blood.
Finding of this additional evidence in the case caused the
police to search with renewed activity for a wounded man. Doctors in all neighboring cities and towns
have been asked to watch for anyone who might need medical attention. In the meantime all buildings, basements,
freight cars and even the storm sewers in the vicinity of Third and Butler
streets have been combed in the belief that a wounded man might be found. So far this search has been fruitless.
Coroner N. O.
Whiting, with whom Prosecutor Vernon E. Metcalf is working, will conduct a
formal inquest on Monday afternoon. It
will be held at the mayor's office and the following ten witnesses have been
called: Louis Braun, Jr., J. Mortimer
Smith, Dr. Delaney, and Officers Way, Miller, Kelly, Coffman, and Hune and
Harold Cross. The coroner announced on
Monday that he would issue a burial permit so that funeral services for the
murdered officer may be arranged.
Suspects Brought In
Up to noon on Monday a number of men had been taken into
custody for investigation, but none of them appeared to fit into the case. On Sunday afternoon a stranger, who had
ridden an interurban car to Beverly, was arrested and brought back to this
city. He had talked to the motorman
enroute to Beverly and had remarked that he was beating it out of Marietta
because he fitted the description of one of the men that had killed Officer
Boyd. He says his home is at Byesville. He is being held.
Other local men were picked up from time to time on Sunday
and Monday and early today a stranger was found at Westview, where he had
applied for work. He too is being investigated.
Police Take Charge of Car
A promising lead was found late Sunday night when the
police took charge of a Jewett automobile on Fourth street near the Baptist
church. It had been parked there, with
all curtains up, since early Saturday night.
In the car were found a lot of blankets, cushions and articles of
clothing, and two leather grips that contained sweaters, heavy overshoes, caps,
and other stuff, including a couple cartons of cigarettes. One of the grips contained a cotton blanket
bearing the name of the Monroe hotel at Parkersburg.
The car bears Ohio Monroe tags No. 683-541,* issued at
Waverly, county seat to Pike county.
The police have learned that this car was in Ashland, KY. on Tuesday,
and in Parkersburg On Friday, and that several men had been riding in it.
Shot It Out
With Gang
Another matter being investigated today has to do with the
finding of a Ford coupe that had gone over the bank of the Muskingum river near
Westview. It bears Ohio license tags
No. 1-457,* issued at Columbus.
Blood_______ where __________________________________** the Marietta
officer went to his death in the
discharge of his duty -- of his
fighting a gang of the criminals that
he came upon while they were in the act of burglarizing the Studebaker motor
sales establishment on Third street, below Putnam. He shot it out with the gang and was instantly killed when a
bullet pierced his heart. He fell in
the middle of the street directly in front of the motor sales room.
It is plainly evident that one member of the gang that
killed Boyd was engaged in robbing the Hickman place when he arrived on the
scene. Pals of the yegg were doing lookout
duty across the street, and they killed Boyd.
Before the victim fell lifeless he and his assailants had exchanged not
less than 16 revolver shots, for that many empty shells from their guns were
found in the street.
Passes Through
Body
The bullet that ended the officer's life was a pellet of
38-calibre, and it entered his left breast over the heart. It passed completely through his body,
lodging in his under clothing, where it later was found by the coroner. As it struck it came in contact with a lead
pencil, cutting off about an inch of the latter, and carrying bits of the wood
and lead into the wound. At least two
other bullets and possibly three hit Boyd, one piercing each arm below the
elbow. There was a cut across the front
of his vest that barely raked his body, and this marked the course of a bullet,
which may or may not have been one of those that wounded his arm.
Boyd's assailant, at least when he began firing, was
crouched at the corner of the Martin blacksmith shop directly across the street
from the Studebaker establishment. An
empty gasoline drum stood against the building and it is plain that the gunman
used this as a screen. Boyd was armed with
a German Luger revolver, and the magazine holds nine cartridges. Eight empty shells were found on the street
and one loaded one remained in the clip.
On the opposite side of the street, eight brass shells of straight
design and of 38-calibre were scattered about, thus indicating that eight shots
had been fired from each side of the street.
Officer Falls
Upon Face
When Boyd fell dead he struck on his face near the middle
of the street, and apparently he never moved.
Three men, Louis Braun, Mortimer Smith and Gurner LeForge, were eye
witnesses of the killing and they reached the side of the officer at about the
same time. As they approached they saw
the gunman and his pals running down the west side of Third street. These men are not absolutely certain as to
the number of men who left the scene but think there were three of them. One of the witnesses declares that the
fleeing men separated at Third and Butler streets.
Deputy Sheriffs Way and Lindamood and Constable James
Miller, who were at headquarters when the shooting occurred, were the first
officers to reach the scene. As they
arrived some one called to them that Boyd was dead and that his assailants had
fled down the street. They continued in
pursuit, spreading out into the railroad yards but found no one. They circled about the Butler street tracks,
then passed on toward Third and Church streets. On Church street they accosted Dewey Allen, a Marietta man, and
he called to them that "the two men that killed a policeman ran out Church
street toward Fourth." How Allen
knew that a policeman had been killed was not explained and he was sent to
headquarters for investigation.
Comb City Without
Result
During the hours immediately following the killing, police
and deputy sheriffs combed all of that section of the city surrounding the
scene of the murder. They discovered
that the Studebaker sales rooms, owned by J. B. Hickman & Son, had been
burglarized and later they found that tools had been stolen from the Martin blacksmith
shop across Third street. Several
hammers, two wrecking bars and a screw driver had been taken. Three of the hammers and one of the bars
were found on the ground at the corner of the shop where Boyd's murderer had
begun the fatal battle. The other
wrecking bar and the screw driver were found at the side of Butler street in
front of the A.M. Swan building.
Of the different men who knew at least some of the facts in
connection with the killing, the one who tells the most important story is
Harold Cross. He was on his way out the
railroad tracks to his home and was near Third street when the shooting
began. He saw the dash of the guns then
saw two men running toward him down the west side of Third street. He ducked back out of sight and saw the pair
turn into Butler street along side of some freight cars. He heard them conversing in guarded terms,
but could not distinguish what they were saying. As they emerged from behind the cars they saw him and one of them
said, "Get to hell out of there or we'll finish you." He ran from there out into Second street
past the Pennsylvania passenger station.
Hurry Down Second
Street
From that point, Cross declares that two men went through
between the depot and the express company building, crossed over toward the
front of the National Supply Company store, and hurried on down Second
street. He was standing in front of the
Balley* Grocery Company building as they ran down Second street. Just then, he says, a strange man came down
Second street and he walked over and told him what he had seen. He could not see whether the gunmen passed
into church strreet or continued on down Second.
D. E. Hill, another Marietta boy, also saw the two men running
away from the scene of the murder. He
was enroute up Third street and saw the pair come out of Church street and turn
down Third toward Greene. They were
hurrying and he heard no talk. One of
the men was fairly tall and wore a muddy raincoat and a cap. The other was shorter of stature and wore a
dark coat.
Louis Braun,
Mortimer Smith and Gurner LeForge viewed the shooting from a considerable
distance but are agreed as to the general facts.
Sees Battle in Dark
Braun was enroute home from his restaurant and as he
approached his front door he saw the glare from a flash-light swing across the
Hickman building. He glanced that way,
saw the light flash against the window, then heard a shot. An instant later guns flashed repeatedly and
shots were fired so rapidly that he could not count them. The gun battle was being waged across the
street, participants apparently advancing toward each other. As the one on the east side neared the middle
of the street, he fell, and the firing ceased.
Braun ran to the scene, saw either two or three men running down the
street, and found that their victim was Officer Boyd.
Mortimer Smith had been spending the evening with friends
at the Elmer Thoniley home, two doors above the scene of the murder. As the first shot rang out, Smith and the
others in the party hurried to the front porch. They saw the flash of the battle and saw the victim fall. They also saw men running away from the
scene on the other side of the street and Smith is positive that there were
three of them.
Men Close
Together
Gurner LeForge is a resident of Bay City, Mich. He is an actor with a show company that had
played during the week at the Putnam theatre, and was stopping at the
Wakefield. After he left the theatre on
Saturday night, he walked out to get a lunch and have a smoke, and just
happened to stroll down Third street toward the Thorniley building. He was directly behind Louis Braun, and saw
the whole of the gun battle. He could
not tell how many shots were fired but says there were a number of them and the
participants were so close together that the fire from their guns crossed. He saw the officer fall and was one of three
men to reach his side a few seconds later.
The victim had pitched forward on his face, and his
revolver lay just out of his grasp.
LeForge picked up the weapon and later gave it over to the
authorities. The clip contained but one
load, indicating that Boyd had fired eight
shots at his assailants. As the
gunmen left the scene, LeForge heard one call to the other, "I got him all
right."
Front Window Forced
A search of the Hickman building on Sunday morning showed
that it had been entered through a front office window. The sash had been pried up apparently with a
wrecking bar. Once inside, the robber had
pried a lock from the stockroom door, but nothing was missing from the
room. From there he opened the back
office door and ransacked the safe cabinet.
A box containing valuable papers was dumped on the floor in front of the
gas fire, as though to get the benefit of the light from the stove in looking
them over, but nothing was taken.
The robber evidently escaped from the rear of the building
and the door was propped on the outside.
Tracks in the mud showed that the escaping man had jumped over a brick
wall to the adjoining lot, and from there had made his way to the street.
Shot By The
Lookout
The theory of all who examined the place is that the man
that killed Boyd was a lookout for the one who was robbing the Hickman
place. Apparently he saw Boyd, making
his rounds, approach the Hickman building, and flash his light across the
windows. Knowing that his pal was in
the building, the lookout opened fire.
While the guns were barking, the man in the building passed on out the
rear door, propping the door to head off possible pursuit. Then he circled back to the street and as he
appeared the lookout called to him, "I got him all right," meaning
that he had killed the officer.
That the fight took place directly in front of the Hickman
building is shown by the marks of bullets fired by the gunman. At least five of these hit the
building. Three of them passed through
the large plate glass window, and two of the three hit a new Studebaker sedan
on display in the window. One struck
the edge of a fender and was diverted into one of the headlights. The other hit one of the sash frames on the
side of the top and, striking squarely against the steel, stopped there and
dropped to the floor. The third was
found imbedded in the side wall of the display window.
Many Officers On
Job
Every possible clew that might solve the identity of the
murderers was followed by the officers during the night. A detail of Parkersburg police, in charge of
Lieut. O'Neal, hurried to this city and assisted in the work. Representatives of the West Virginia state
police also came here and Chief Bush, of Williamstown, joined in the work. All deputy sheriffs worked with the police,
Chief Putnam directing the work.
Traffic officers, mounted on motorcycles, combed all roads leading out
of the city.
Just a few minutes after the murder an automobile
containing two or three men passed over the bridge to Williamstown. It was going at a rapid clip but slowed down
at the toll house sufficiently to pay the bridge toll. It disappeared before the officers had had
an opportunity to even start after it.
Automobile
Stolen
Early Sunday morning Gideon Masters, of Mile Run, reported
to the police that his Star touring car had been stolen. Later in the morning it was found abandoned
near the Dye farm at Gravel Bank. A
screw driver had been used to turn on the ignition. Henry Porter, also of Gravel Bank, reported that his new Overland
touring car had been stolen and driven away.
These facts indicated that the murderers might have adopted that means
of making their getaway, changing cars at the Porter home to throw possible
pursuers off the trail. Local police
followed this clew to points below Belpre but found no trace of the Porter car.
Through the medium of the B. & O. railroad officials,
it was learned that a gang of men boarded a west bound freight train in the
Belpre yards, just after 1:30 o'clock on Sunday morning. This might have been the murderers, and
railroad police at all points west were asked to be on guard.
Finding of the tracks in the mud about the rear of the
Hickman building and across the street about the Martin smithy brought to mind
the need of blood hounds to trail the murderers, and in a short time the police
were in communication with James Noffsinger, a railroad detective at
Smithfield, W.Va. He left at once for
Marietta, bringing his dogs to Williamstown just after 10 o'clock on Sunday
morning.
Blood Hounds On
Trail
Noffsinger and his man-hunters were hurried to the scene
and quickly got to work. The telltale
tracks had been protected by boards and although snow was falling the dogs
seemed to take the trail. They started
at the Hickman building and backtracked down the east side of Third street and
out Butler, then worked back and circled the dump below the Martin smithy. At the point where the shooting started, the
dogs took up the main trail and followed down Third to Butler, out Butler past
the express company building, across the tracks there and down Second street
and into Church street, thus veryfying [sic] the story told earlier in the
morning by Harold Cross.
Entering Church street, the dogs hurried along to Third
street, then turned south to Greene and made their way to a point in front of the traction company freight office,
where they lost the trail. Their owner
is positive that the murderers left the ground at that point, evidently having
entered an automobile.
Hundreds
Visit Scene
News of the killing of Boyd spread rapidly through the city
and all during the late hours of the night crowds thronged police headquarters
and stood about the streets. After
daylight the crowds increased in numbers and during Sunday hundreds visited the
scene of the gun battle. so large did
the crowd become that it was with much difficulty that they were held back to
give the blood hounds a chance at the trail.
Parkersburg police, who came back on Sunday, assisted in handling the
crowds and in prosecuting the search.
For several hours on Sunday morning officers scoured the
lower part of the city in an effort to find anyone who might have been wounded
in the fight. Patrolman Boyd had the
reputation of being a good shot, one of the best on the force, and it is hard
to believe that he would have fired eight bullets at such close range without a
hit.
That he may have wounded one of his assailants was
indicated later in the day by the finding of a bloody handkerchief that had
been dropped beside the street. A hand
chisel, evidently dropped by one of the fleeing men, also was found.
Mayor Informs Widow
To Mayor Sprague was delegated the task of breaking the
news of Boyd's death to his family and this sad mission was performed shortly
before 1 o'clock on Sunday morning. He
drove to the Boyd home at 823 Front street and after arousing neighbors, called
Mrs. Boyd to the door. As considerately
as possible the news of her bereavement was made known to the little
woman. She all but swooned when told that
her husband had met death, but she bravely rallied before Mayor Sprague left
the house.
Women of the neighborhood did their best to comfort
her. She and the two little sons of the
dead patrolman were alone when the murder was committed. On Sunday morning the older of the children,
a sturdy boy of four years, was told that his daddy was gone and could not
return. He seemed to realize what had
happened and cried most bitterly.
Relatives of Mrs. Boyd, residing near Moss Run, were
notified of the tragedy early Sunday and the mother and other relatives came at
once to help care for the dead officer's family.
Representatives of different fraternal societies in which
Boyd had held membership joined in ministering to the family, and the Masonic
order, the Red Men and the American Legion all are doing what they can to
lighten the burden.
Conflicting theories are advanced by the officers in the
case regarding the number of men who were shooting at Officer Boyd when he
fell, some of them arguing that he was confronted by but one man while others
feel that he faced at least two gunmen.
Late Sunday it was discovered that two or threes hots fired
struck the new concrete building of the Farmers Produce Company, which is
separated by an alley from the Hickman building. This, it is argued, indicates that at least two men were firing
at Boyd and that bullets were coming both from in front of the Martin shop and
from a point near the end of a bill board farther down the street.
Submitter's Notes: *The print was small and these numbers were
difficult to read so may be in error.
** Two complete lines were
unreadable on the submitter's copy of the article.
[A side encapsulated
paragraph said:]
BOYD WAS NO. 13
Members of the police force
discovered on Sunday evening that in a large group picture that hangs on the
wall at headquarters, the photograph of Harrison L. Boyd, murdered patrolman,
is No. 13. The picture of the force was
made by a local photographer about four years ago. That Boyd was given the "hoodoo" number had not been
noticed until after his death.
[Submitter’s Note: Here is another article on the murder of
Harrison Boyd.]
Source: The Marietta [Ohio] Daily Times; Tuesday,
January 13, 1925, pp 1+
Omaha Police Hold Suspects
AUTO FOUND HERE DRIVEN BY
YEGGMAN
Jewett Stolen At Ironton
Local Officers Are Informed
SAFES CRACKED BY OCCUPANTS
Had Committed Robberies at
Logan and Chauncey On Trip
There is a well-established theory that the two men who
came into Marietta, in the Jewett car, stolen at Ironton and recovered on
Fourth street above Putnam, are widely known yeggmen, who have been operating
recently out of Columbus and possibly Charleston, W. Va. It is known that they were in the Hocking
valley during the past week and there is evidence to connect them with
robberies at Logan and Chauncey on Wednesday and Thursday nights.
At Logan, O., a large furniture store was robbed and the
safe was cracked, apparently by experts.
At Chauncey a clothing store was robbed, the safe was cracked, and a
large quantity of merchandise was stolen.
Some of the stuff found in the Jewett car here has been identified as
part of it. The Jewett car was stolen
at Ironton the day before the Logan robbery.
The men who are known to have driven the car through
Parkersburg to Marietta, and who registered at the Parkersburg hotel as J. Knox
and H.C .Smith, of Welch, W. Va., were in Logan on the night of the furniture
store robbery, stopped at a Logan hotel, and registered under the same names
used at Parkersburg.
W.C. Lee, an operative of the National Detective Bureau, of
Columbus, arrived in Marietta on Tuesday, trailing the Jewett car and the men
who registered as Knox and Smith. At
police headquarters he furnished detailed information regarding the Hocking
valley robberies and identified a black leather bag found in the Jewett car as
one of those the men carried at the Logan hotel. He likewise identified the caps, sweaters, collars and heavy
overshoes, found in the grips here, as goods stolen in Chauncey.
All of this confirms the belief of the police that the men
who drove the Jewett car into Marietta had a part in the slaying of Officer
Boyd and made their getaway down the Ohio river, using two stolen automobiles
and a pair of horses in their flight.
ARREST MAN WHOSE ARM IS
WOUNDED
Norman Taylor Arrested
While Applying To Hospital
TWO OTHERS ARE BEING
HUNTED
Suspects's Wife and
Brother are Also Held by Police
Omaha Nebr., Jan.
13--Norman Taylor, known in Omaha as a crook who has served time in seven
different penitentiaries for burglary, was arrested here last night, and is
being held for Marietta police on suspicion of connection with the murder of a
policeman in that city Saturday night.
Taylor bears a gunshot wound in his left arm. His arrest followed when he applied at the Frederick hospital for
treatment for the wound.
Following his appearance at the hospital with a gunshot
wound, police were notified, and he was arrested. His description was broadcasted by wireless and was recognized in
Marietta.
With Taylor, under arrest, are his wife and his brother, Ed
Taylor of Omaha. Omaha police believe
two others connected with the Marietta affair are in hiding in this city and
they are being searched for.
Taylor explains his gunshot wounds by saying his wife shot
him accidentally while shooting at fenceposts along the way from St. Paul,
Minn., to Omaha. Taylor says they made
the trip from St. Paul to Omaha Sunday by automobile.
Taylor is well known to Omaha police and has been arrested
here many times. Last summer, when
arrested, he asked for an operation on his head for the removal of a pressure
on the brain which he claimed caused him to commit thefts. He claimed to have suffered an accident when
a child. An examination disclosed a
normal brain and Taylor was sent to St. Paul to be tried on a burglary charge
in that city. Taylor denies all
knowledge of the Marietta murder but says he was in Marietta a number of years
ago. He became hysterical when he
Marietta affair was mentioned to him in jail last night.
Taylor will be held until Ohio authorities can come for him
here.
News Comes By Radio
First news of the arrest of Norman Taylor, Boyd murder
suspect, came by radio on Monday . . . .
[SUBMITTER'S NOTE: MISSING 2 PARAGRAPHS HERE BEFORE CONTINUING
ON PAGE 12]
the B. & O., and could have
made a close connection out of st. Louis for Omaha.
According to men who have had experience in tracing
criminals, Taylor, had he received the wound in Marietta, and knowing that he
had helped to commit murder, would have tried to get to his home in the
shortest possible time. Once in his
home city he could cover up to better advantage than among strangers.
Taylor is said to be a nationally known yegg, and might easily
have been one of a band of crooks believed to have come here by way of Ironton,
Logan, and Parkersburg on Saturday evening.
[Submitter’s Note: Here is another article on the murder of
Harrison Boyd.]
Source: The Marietta [Ohio] Daily Times; Tuesday,
January 13, 1925, pp 1+
BOYD NEAR
YEGGS WHEN BATTLE
BEGAN
NEW THEORY
OF SHOOTING IS
ADVANCED
Witness Declares He Saw
Three Men Firing at Patrolman
STRUNG OUT
NEAR BLACKSMITH SHOP
Officer Had Not Crossed
Third Street, Braun States
"Patrolman Boyd had not crossed Third street before he
was killed. He did not come out of
Union street, but walked out the railroad track below the Thorniley
building. I believe that he discovered
the yeggs in the Martin blacksmith shop, or emerging from it, said something to
them and one of them opened fire. When
the gunmen began shooting at the officer he returned the fire.
"I am positive that there were three men firing at
Boyd, one of them at the lower corner of the Martin shop, and the other two
along on the edge of the dump below the shop.
I distinctly saw the flashes from their guns cross."
This statement was made by Louis Braun, Jr., to The Times
and to the police Monday night. It
completely changes the generally accepted theory that Patrolman Boyd was in
front of the Hickman building, on the east side of Third street, when the gun
battle was launched in which he was shot dead Saturday night.
Supported By
Circumstances
The Martin shop
stands about 50 feet below the railroad siding at the Thorniley building. If Boyd walked out this track, as Braun
believes, he would have reached the street before discovering the men at the
shop. Once he had seen them, he
naturally would have turned in their direction. Thus confronted, and possibly commanded to come out, the yeggs
probably would have opened fire. His
turn toward the shop would have brought Boyd around facing them and directly in
line with the Hickman show window, through which three bullets passed.
If, as Braun insists, one of the men was down the street
near the end of the billboard on the dump, that would account for the bullets
striking the Farmers Produce company building, and it would bear out the story
by Braun, already corroborated by that of Gurney LeForge, that the flashes from
their guns crossed. This version
likewise is confirmed by the statement made by J. Mortimer Smith, another eye
witness, who confidently said he saw three men on the west side of Third
street, facing Boyd.
Wounds Indicate Cross
Fire
The Braun version of the affair also is supported by the
nature of the wounds on the dead officer.
Those in his arms apparently were made by the same bullet, and it is
known that in his revolver shooting, Boyd was accustomed to rest the barrel of
his gun, held in his right hand, across his elevated left arm. Apparently a bullet from the side passed
through his arms.
Then, too, there was a bullet mark across his stomach,
which would indicate that he could not have been facing the gun from which it
came. The shot that pierced his heart,
likewise, may have been fired from a position off to Boyd's left, as it passed
into his left breast and out below his right shoulder. This, however, may have been caused by the
bullet coming into contact with a bone in his body.
Boyd Backs Into
Street
As the gun battle opened, Braun says, Boyd advanced well in
front of the blacksmith shop and appeared to be backing into the street as he
fell. Doubtless he saw three guns
flashing and tried to square away, the better to keep all of them in front of
him. From the positions given by Braun,
the gunmen easily could have found cover behind the old gas drum at the corner
of the Martin shop, a tree that stands nearby, and the corner of the billboard
farther down on the dump.
Mr. Braun talked at some length regarding the matter. He was just approaching his home as he saw
Boyd step out below the Thorniley building.
He is positive the officer had not come out of Union street and it is
known that it was his custom frequently to pass through at the rear of the big
wholesale house and circle it to the street.
Heard Voice, Then Shot
As he stepped over the curb, the ray from a searchlight
flashed over the front of the Hickman building. Someone spoke as though giving a command, then a shot was fired. Whether the opening shot came from Boyd's
gun or from that of one of his assailants, Braun cannot say. The flash of the searchlight, he says,
described such an arc that someone might have had hold of Boyd's arm, scuffling
with him. The lamp is a powerful one
and its shaft of light showed high up on the Hickman building.
When Boyd fell to the street, three men started down Third
street. Two of then were side by side,
Braun says, and the third ran back onto the dump and was running in a stooped
position, indicating that he may have been wounded. The finding of the bloody cloth and the chisel back on that part
of the dump bears out this statement.
It is Mr. Braun's belief that the Hickman robbery had been
completed before Boyd reached the neighborhood and that the yeggs had gone back
to the Martin blacksmith shop to get more tools, possibly for a bigger job.
Boyd came out the track below the Thorniley building, discovered the men in the
shop and hailed them. Then the shooting
began.
STORES CLOSED
2:30 TO 3:30
P.M.
Tomorrow--Wednesday
During the funeral
of Patrolman
Harrison L.
Boyd
MERCHANT DIVISION
CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE
[Submitter’s Note:
Here is another article on the murder of Harrison Boyd.]
Source: Marietta [Ohio] Times; Wednesday, January
14, 1925, p 1
FEEL SURE
OUTSIDERS SHOT BOYD
Satisfactory progress with no developments of a definite
nature--this sums up the situation on Wednesday in the Boyd murder. The police department and several outside
agencies are working in close co-operation and all clues, of whatever
character, are being run down.
Virtually every man engaged in the hunt for the dead
policeman's slayers seemed agreed today that the gunmen were outside men and
that none of them were Mariettans.
Nothing had been found up to date to discourage the belief that the gang
came into Marietta in the Jewett automobile that was found on Fourth street.
The department was marking time in the Norman Taylor
matter, awaiting receipt of photographs and finger prints from the police of
Omaha, Nebraska. These are understood
to have been mailed on Tuesday. The
Parkersburg hotel people are positive that they can tell whether Taylor was one
of the men who registered at their hostelry under the names of J. Knox and H.C.
Smith. If the photograph is identified
immediate steps will be taken to bring Taylor to Marietta.
No further trace has been found of the Henry Porter
automobile stolen at Gravel Bank and the conviction that this machine had a
part in the getaway of the gunmen continued to hold an important place in the
chain of facts being welded by the police.
On Tuesday afternoon a report came to headquarters that a
Jewett automobile had been abandoned on the streets of Belpre. The report was verified and it was found
that the car had been stolen at Huntington, W. Va., and was left in Belpre
early Tuesday morning. It is almost an
exact duplicate of the Jewett car found on Fourth street.
Arrest of suspicious characters has been continued by the
police and some of these, at least, are being held. None of them have thrown any light on the Boyd murder.
Matters were quiet in the city during Tuesday night, about
the only disorder reported being the presence of a suspicious man in the
vicinity of Third street and Sacra Via.
He was Emerson Wright, local colored man. He was locked up for investigation.
[Submitter’s Note: Here is another article on the murder of
Harrison Boyd.]
Source: Marietta [Ohio] Times; Wednesday, January
14, 1925, p 1, p 1
TAYLOR IS
NOW WANTED AT
CHICAGO
Omaha Prisoner Suspected
Of Shooting Officer
On Sunday
ALIBI EXPLODED BY
NEWSPAPERS
Marietta To Have Man If
Police Want To Bring Him Back
Omaha, Neb., Jan. 14--Norman A. Taylor, a burglar who has
done time in many prisons, who was arrested here Monday night when he applied
at a hospital to have a wound in his left arm dressed, is now claimed by the Chicago
police as wanted in connection with the shooting and wounding of a policeman in
that city on Sunday. Taylor was taken
into custody after receipt of radio messages that a man who killed a patrolman
in Marietta, Ohio was believed to have been wounded before the officer fell
dead.
Chicago offers to send an officer to Omaha after Taylor,
but Omaha officers will hold the suspect at the disposal of Marietta if the
police of that city still want him. In
the Chicago affair the policeman was wounded but was not killed. The officer surprised burglars at work and a
gun fight followed.
Taylor's alibi that he was in Mankato, Minn., Sunday, and
had his wound dressed in a hospital in that city was shot to pieces when Omaha
newspapers checked all hospitals and doctors in Mankato, and found that
Taylor's story was false. Taylor said
he received the wound in his arm while his wife was shooting at fence posts
from an automobile while coming from St. Paul, Minn., to Omaha.
Taylor still denies any connection with the Marietta
affair.
His wife and brother, Ed Taylor, are being held in jail as
suspects and will be held until Ohio officers arrive here. No traces of two men said to be Taylor's
accomplices in Marietta have been found although police yesterday combed the
underworld thoroughly.
[Submitter’s Note: Here is another article on the murder of
Harrison Boyd.]
Source: Marietta [Ohio] Times; Wednesday, January
14, 1925, p 1 and 3
CITY PAYS
TRIBUTE TO ITS
DEAD
Marietta as a community paused in its busy march of
business on Wednesday to pay final tribute to the memory of Harrison L. R.
Boyd, city patrolman, who was killed in the line of duty on Sunday morning, and
many hundreds of people attended the obsequies which began at the First
Presbyterian church at 2:30 o'clock.
The Masonic order had direct charge of the service, although other
fraternal societies, civic organizations and virtually all city officials and
employes, participated. Rev. Edward B.
Townsend preached the funeral sermon.
The body of the dead officer, taken to a morgue following
his murder, had been removed to the Boyd home, upper Front street, late Monday
afternoon. There it lay, in the bosom
of his family, until Wednesday afternoon.
Scores of floral tributes were sent to the Boyd home and so profuse was
this display that several motor cars were required to move them to the church
and thence to Oak Grove.
Large delegations of the various Masonic bodies were in the
line of march during the services, as were the Red Men, the Modern Woodmen, the
Moose, the American Legion, and city officials and employes. The police force was turned out in uniform,
the fire department marched in a body, and virtually all other city employes
were in line with Mayor Sprague and Director Watson at their head. The Marietta band furnished music.
Police officers and patrolmen from this section of Ohio and
West Virginia were in the procession. A
large delegation from Parkersburg, in uniform, were in line.
Business houses,
almost without exception, were closed for an hour, starting at 2:30 o'clock,
and many factories shut down that their employes might attend the
services. In the city schools there was
a concerted pause in activities, while brief talks were given on the duties of
citizenship and the necessity of strict obedience to law.
American Union Lodge No. 1 opened at the Masonic Temple at
3 o'clock and the members and officers went to the Boyd home and escorted the
body to the church. All of the active
pallbearers were members of the Masonic order, although two of them were Red
Men, George E. Wilson and Carl Stephan, two of them were Modern Woodmen, George
Wilking and George D. Schad, and the other two were legionnaires, Murhl Huff
and Harry M. Schafer, who served with Patrolman Boyd when he answered his
country's call during the World War.
All members of the Marietta police force were honorary pallbearers.
Following the services at the church the Masonic ritual was
performed at the grave with Past Master, Ed Morgenstern, delivering the
sermon. The Masonic service was under
the direction of George Edwards, Master of American Union Lodge No. 1, F. &
A.M.
[Submitter’s Note: Here is another article on the murder of
Harrison Boyd.]
Source: The Marietta [Ohio] Times; Thursday, January
15, 1925, p 1
TAYLOR WILL
BE RETURNED TO CHICAGO
Omaha, Neb., Jan. 15--Norman A. Taylor, under arrest in
Omaha, will go to Chicago and stand trial for shooting an officer in that city
on Sunday, rather than go to Marietta and be charged with the murder of a
policeman who was slain early on the same day.
Taylor today practically admitted he did the Chicago
shooting and said he will "take the fall" to save his wife, who is
jointly charged with him and is also under arrest here.
Omaha officers are not sure but that Taylor is taking
credit for the Chicago shooting to escape the Marietta charge.
Northing further had been heard from Marietta officers; and
it is said that officers from Chicago will come here tonight with requisition
papers for Taylor. He has said that he
will go to that city without a fight.
[Submitter’s Note: Here is
another article on the murder of
Harrison Boyd.]
Source: The Marietta [Ohio] Times; Thursday, January
15, 1925, p 1
PINKERTONS WORKING ON BOYD
CASE
Great Detective Agency is
Taking part In Hunt For Slayers
EXPERIENCED MEN
AID LOCAL POLICE
City and County Expected
To Join In Paying of Operatives
Pinkerton detectives have been at work on the Boyd murder
mystery since the first of the week, and have placed a squad of their best men,
from their Pittsburgh office, on the job.
N. J. Lacey, assistant superintendent, of the Pittsburgh district, is in
charge of the case. This means that one
of the biggest and best organized detective forces in the world is engaged in
trailing the murderers.
It is a rule of the Pinkerton organization to pay no
attention to rewards and regardless of how successful may be its clients it
accepts no money thus offered. It works
on a straight contract and its services in the local case will be paid for at
the regular scale of prices. It is
expected that city and county authorities will join in meeting the cost.
Local officers, representing both the city and the county,
are working with the Pinkertons and are cooperating in every possible way. Police authorities both here and in all
surrounding cities and towns are making every effort to find the Boyd
murderers, and every clue, regardless of how trivial it may seem, is being
followed carefully and systematically.
According to Superintendent Lacey the case is just getting
down to a basis where real work begins to count. Naturally, in a crime of this nature, there is a lot of chaff to
be sifted, a lot of unimportant but necessary work to be done and, he says, it
takes about a week to get real bearings on which to start actual detective
work.
The Pinkerton agency is one of the best organized in the
world, having bureaus in all of the principal cities, and today it is
stretching a net for the murderers of Patrolman Boyd.
[Submitter’s Note: Here is
another article on murder of Harrison Boyd.]
Source: The Marietta [Ohio] Times; Thursday, January
15, 1925, p 1
STOLEN AUTO
IS RECOVERED NEAR ATHENS
Thought To Have Been Used
by Yeggs Who Killed Officer
TAKEN FROM
BARN AT GRAVEL
BANK
Abandoned When Supply Of
Gasoline Became Exhausted
Henry Porter's Overland automobile, stolen from his barn at
Gravel Bank last Saturday night, has been recovered in Athens county. It was abandoned along the Belpre-Athens
road about three miles east of the latter city where it had run out of
gasoline. The car was in good condition,
according to the sheriff at Athens, whose men recovered it and notified the
Marietta police.
Finding of this car is an important link in the chain of
facts unearthed in connection with the murder of Policeman Harrison L.
Boyd. It supports strongly the belief that
the murderers, or at least some of them, made their escape in that
direction. Incidentally it bolsters up
the theory that Norman A. Taylor, held by the Omaha, Nebraska, police was
concerned in the Marietta murder. It
would have been necessary for Taylor to reach Athens ahead of train No. 1 on
the B. & O. main line if he were to get through to Omaha by Monday night,
when he was arrested for seeking hospital treatment for a gunshot wound.
The fact that the Overland car was driven to a point near
Athens also strengthens the belief that the yeggs who killed Boyd are the men
who came in here in the Jewett automobile found on Fourth street. That gang is known to have been operating in
the Hocking valley and down along the Ohio river, using either Columbus or
Charleston, W. Va. as their headquarters.
They check up with the gang that cracked a safe in a Logan furniture
store and later robbed a clothing store at Chauncey.
In order to complete the evidence of a getaway down the
Ohio river it was necessary to find the Porter car. Apparently the same men stole both the Gideon Masters car at Mile
Run, later abandoned near Gravel Bank, and the Porter car. The Star car showed evidence of hard driving
and had to be abandoned. Then the
Porter car was taken from a barn nearby.
It was used to make the run toward Athens and it carried its occupants
to within three miles of that city.
Once in Athens, the yeggs could have escaped either toward Cincinnati,
into West Virginia, or to Columbus.
The owner of the Porter car went to Athens on Wednesday
evening and recovered it, having been informed by Chief Putnam of its recovery.
[Submitter’s Note: Here is
another article on murder of Harrison Boyd.]
Source: The Marietta [Ohio] Times; Thursday, January
15, 1925, p 2
Impressive Services
Mark Funeral of
Officer Boyd
High on the hill near the center of Oak Grove, overlooking
the city in whose service he died, the remains of Harrison L. Boyd, murdered
patrolman, were laid to rest on Wednesday afternoon. As the cold winter sun dropped behind the western hills, its rays
glinted on the rifles of an armed squad that fired a three-volley salute over
this grave. Then the clear notes of a
bugle wafted across the city, sounding taps, the military signal for rest. Another faithful soldier had gone to his
reward.
Many hundreds of men, women and children braved the
chilling air and the ice and snow of the mid winter day to pay final respects
to Officer Boyd, and massed about the open grave on that bleak hillside, stood
silent with bowed heads as the impressive ceremonies were carried to
conclusion.
What is believed to have been the largest Masonic escort on
an occasion of this sort in the history of American Union Lodge accompanied the
remains of their dead brother to his final resting place. Other orders, Red Men, Woodmen and Moose,
swelled the throng, while the American Legion of Marietta Post was out
enmasse. The local military company
furnished an armed guard for the casket.
Officers of the
Masonic order, E.C. Morgenstern in charge, conducted the service at the grave,
and the ritual was impressively performed.
Rev. E.B.Townsend gave the final prayers, then the fraternal brothers of
the departed dropped their tributes of evergreen on the grave. The military salute was fired by a squad of
men who saw service with Office Boyd and taps were sounded by Dick Van Duson, a
city fireman.
The procession that escorted the casket from the church to
the grave was a long one, all of the different bodies marching in order, the
Marietta Band leading the way. The
uniformed police, with all of Officer Boyd's former colleagues, a squad from
Parkersburg and Williamstown, the county sheriff and his men and visiting
police officials had a place of honor in line.
[Submitter’s Note: Here is
another article on the murder of Harrison Boyd.]
Source: The Marietta [Ohio] Times; Friday, January
16, 1925, p 1
REWARD FOR
SLAYER NOW AVAILABLE
City Council on Thursday evening provided $1,000 with which
to take care of the reward offered for the arrest and conviction of the
murderers of Patrolman Boyd, began action toward replenishing a secret service
fund of $5,000 with which to hunt down the criminals, and took steps to furnish
the safety director with funds with which to equip the police force with new,
high-power guns, holsters, and ammunition.
All members were present except Councilman Summers.
Money for the reward was provided by resolution and the
auditor is authorized to draw it from the contingent fund or the city general
fund. The money for the guns and
ammunition comes from the same source and $275 is appropriated.
Mayor Sprague called attention of Council to the need of
money in the secret service fund. He
said that money is being spent pretty rapidly and quite a lot may be
needed. He thought the city should have
a fund of not less than $5,000 with which to finance the search for Officer
Boyd's murderers. He desired that
Council act as a whole in the matter and said if the city is not able to put up
the money he feels he can go outside
and get $10,000 if necessary in private
subscriptions.
Councilman Steadman thought the city should "spare no
expense" in the effort to get the murderers. Councilman Brooker asked the mayor if he were sure that $5,000
would be sufficient. Solicitor Ogle
warned them not to move too rapidly.
"The cause may be a worthy one, but I can not see where you are
going to get the money," the solicitor warned. He explained that the contingent fund of the general fund is the only place where money is kept for
such emergencies, and it contained but $5,000 at the beginning of the
year. He suggested that the finance
committee give careful consideration to the matter.
After a brief discussion, motion to refer the matter to the
finance committee prevailed, with the understanding that in the event that
hurried action is necessary President Carleton will call an early meeting of
the legislative body.
[Submitter’s Note: Here is
another article on murder of Harrison
Boyd.]
Source: The Marietta [Ohio] Times; Friday, January
16, 1925, page 1
BOYD TRUST
FUND PLAN UNDER
WAY
Following out instructions given by the Marietta Rotary
Club at its meeting on Thursday, the welfare committee of the organization has
called a meeting of heads of all the local luncheon clubs to be held at the
banking room of the Peoples Banking & Trust Company on Friday evening at 7
o'clock, at which time definite plans will be formulated for handling the
proposed trust fund for assisting with the care of the widow and two small sons
of Harrison L. Boyd, dead patrolman.
The welfare committee, of which L.D. Strecker is chairman,
has asked that all other local organizations join in the movement so that there
will be no wasted effort and no mistakes made in the handling of this matter,
and it is assured that Kiwanis, the Civitans, the Lions and the Marietta Ad
Club will be represented. Mayor Sprague
likewise has been asked to be present.
At a preliminary meeting on Friday, the committee asked the
Peoples Banking & Trust Company to serve as trustee for the fund, and while
the matter is left open until the evening meeting is convened, officers of the
bank have expressed their willingness to comply and to do all in their power to
bring success to the undertaking. If
they act in this capacity, the bank's officers have made it clear that they
will serve without compensation of any sort.
[Submitter’s Note: Here is
another article on murder of Harrison Boyd.]
Source: The Marietta [Ohio] Times; Friday, January
16, 1925, page 5
TAYLOR NOT
IMPLICATED IN MURDER
Norman A. Taylor, Omaha crook, had no part in the killing of
Patrolman Boyd, it is decided, and he has been taken back to Chicago to face a
charge of shooting a policeman in that city last Sunday.
Late Thursday afternoon a letter came from the Omaha
police, bringing a picture of Taylor, together with copies of his finger
prints. A Pinkerton detective took the
photograph immediately to Parkersburg and submitted it to hotel and railroad
people, and none of them could identify it as the picture of a man who stopped
there last Saturday while enroute to Marietta, or of any person who may have
been a passenger on a B. & O. train going west on Sunday morning.
With this lead definitely cleared up local police and
detectives turned their attention once more to the tracing of the two men who
came into Marietta in the Jewett car parked on Fourth street, and left later in
the night after the murder in a Star car stolen at Mile Run, exchanging it for
an Overland machine at the Porter farm at Gravel Bank.
Where the trail of these men turned after they reached
Athens is the problem that must be solved, it is felt, and to that end the
detectives are bending every effort.
The pair are known to have figured in a number of robberies in southern
Ohio and much is known of their activities.
It is believed that in due time some definite trace of them will be
found.
The detectives have checked and re-checked all incidents
surrounding the Boyd murder and gradually they are centering in the belief that
but two men faced the officer when he fell dead on Third street. Every place that suspects of any sort were
seen either just before or following the crome [sic] there were two of them,
all witnesses now being agreed as to this.
Cariens, Norman Lee Cariens
Source: The Wayne County [Illinois] Press; Thursday,
15 Oct 1925
Norman Lee, son of Edgar and Flora Cariens, was born
February 18th, 1923; departed this life October 3rd, 1925, age one year, seven
months and fifteen days. He leaves a
father, mother, little sister Juanita May, two grandfathers, two grandmothers
and a host of other relatives and friends.
A precious one from us is gone
A voice we loved is stilled,
A place is vacant in our home,
Which never can be filled.
Christman, Infant
Christman
Source: Monroe County death records and St. John's church records
The Infant son of Elmer and Clara Claus CHRISTMAN was stillborn in July 1925.
His burial was made in the St. John's Middle Church cemetery in Summit
township.
Clegg, T. F. (Thoburn)
Clegg
T. F. Clegg obituaty July 31,
1924 Spirit of Democracy newspaper
T. F. Clegg, merchant and
postmaster at Round Bottom, died Thursday morning, July 24th, following a
stroke of paralysis some days before. Mr. Clegg was 57 years old and leaves a
wife, (Sarah Eva Smittle) 3 sons, 1 daughter and many other relatives and
friends to mourn. The funeral services were held Sunday afternoon at the Chapel
Hill M.E. Church, by Rev. Young of Cameron, after services at the home.
Interment by Bauer & Willison at Chapel Hill.
Diehl,
Flavia/Flevier Diehl nee Franke
Flevier FRANKE
DIEHL born FRANKE; d 24 Apr 1925; bur 26 Apr 1925 in Oaklawn
Cemetery, Woodsfield, OH; wife of late Peter DIEHL; born 30 Nov 1828 in Weimar,
Sachsen Weimar, Germany; d in Woodsfield; survived by 1 son and 2 daughters.
Goddard, Louisa Jane Goddard
Spirit of Democracy,
Woodsfield, Ohio, dated
Last Thursday morning, January 22d, relatives and friends of
Mrs. Louisa Jane Goddard were sadly grieved to learn of her sudden and
unexpected death as a result of heart failure.
Mrs. Goddard who had been slightly indisposed the day and
evening preceding her death was found dead in her bed Thursday morning. Members
of the family had waited on her at intervals during the night, and did all they
could for her, feeling quite sure she was not seriously ill, as indicated by
her conversation and appearance.
Mrs. Goddard was the widow of the late Ex-Treasurer James M. Goddard,
who died very suddenly in the Woodsfield M. E. church on Sunday morning,
She leaves to mourn her death the following children: William
Goddard of Sardis; Mrs. Ed Schar of Rittman, Ohio; George Goddard of
Bartletsville, Oklahoma; Mrs. Grover C. Soles, Harold and Clyde W. Goddard,
Mrs. Urban Patton and Misses Lucy Goddard and Bessie Smittle of Woodsfield, all
of whom were present at the funeral, which was held at the Soles home on Maple
avenue last Sunday afternoon, with Rev. J. Fleming Cash in charge of the
funeral services, which were attended by a large concourse of relatives and
friends from far and near, who wished to pay a tribute of respect with flowers
and their presence to a well spent life of noble achievements.
Interment in Oaklawn cemetery by the side of her husband, with
W. P. Galbraith serving as funeral director.
Goodhart, Josie
Gale Goodhart, nee Everett
Source: The [Cambridge, Ohio] Jeffersonian; 30 Jul
1925
MRS. H.
C. GOODHART
Mrs. H. C. Goodhart, age 38 years, who had been ill from complications
for two years, passed away Thursday morning at 2 o'clock at her home, No. 229
North Sixth street, Byesville.
Mrs. Goodhart was well known and highly respected in the
community in which she lived. She was a
member of the M.E. church and Eastern Star lodge of Byesville. Surviving are her husband; two daughters,
Gertrude and Evelyn, of the home; parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Everett, of
Batesville, and two sisters, Mrs. Addie Calvert, of Bridgeport, and Mrs. Nellie
Krong,* of Texas.
Funeral services
will be held Saturday afternoon at 1:30 o'clock at the Byesville M. E. church,
conducted by the pastor, Rev. Giffin.
The members of the Byesville Eastern Star lodge will attend the services
in a body and conduct ritualistic services.
Interment will be made at Northwood cemetery, Cambridge.
*Submitter's Note: This name should be KRONING.
Harbin, Albert R. Harbin
Spirit of Democracy,
Woodsfield, Ohio, dated,
Albert R. Harbin of Shadyside, while visiting her mother, Mrs.
Minnie Briggs of this place for a few days, died rather suddenly at the Briggs
home last Friday of heart trouble.
He was 49 years old and
leaves a wife and three daughters.
The funeral took place last
Sunday afternoon from the Briggs home with Rev. J. C. Sharburn of the local
Free Methodist Church and Rev. Hopkins of Zanesville in charge. Bauer &
Willison served as funeral directors. Interment in Oaklawn cemetery.
Jeffers, Louise Jeffers nee Lopp
Spirit of Democracy,
Woodsfield, Ohio, dated,
A sad death occurred at Beallsville on New Years day, when
Mrs. I. N. Jeffers passed to her eternal reward. The Beallsville correspondent
to the Monroe republican tells the sad story as follows:
“The death of Mrs. Mrs. Louise (Lopp) Jeffers, wife of I. N.
Jeffers, occurred at the family residence after an illness of less than two
days. Mr. Jeffers retired at the usual hour Tuesday evening after banking the
furnace for the night, leaving Mrs. Jeffers who had been occupying a room on
the first floor during the cold weather, sitting in her chair. At an early hour
Wednesday morning their son, Vernon had occasion to call at the paternal home
before starting on his mail route. He found his mother sitting in her chair as
his father had left her the evening before. She was unconscious and in a
serious condition from the exposure to the cold. A physician was called who
found that she had suffered a stroke of paralysis and also contracted pneumonia
which resulted in her death Thursday afternoon.
She is survived by her husband, two sons, Bert of Medina and
Vernon of Beallsville, and two daughters, Mrs. Mary Mellott of Beallsville and
Mrs. Lettie Radde of Loraine.
She was a kind mother and a good woman and gave her friends a
thrill at the Centennial, Nov. 1st, when she appeared in a pageant
dress in a riding habit of the past, wearing a black calico slat sunbonnet and
sitting in her saddle as firmly as in her girlhood days.
The family has the sympathy of their many friends.”
Lapp, Sarah L. Lapp
Spirit of Democracy,
Woodsfield, Ohio, dated,
Relatives and many friends of Monroe County were grieved to
learn of the sudden death of Mrs. Sarah L. Lapp of Dennison, Ohio, by an
automobile and passenger train collision, which also resulted in the severe
injury of her son Harry and daughter, Miss Estella Lapp, who were with her in
an automobile at the time of the accident.
Mrs. Lapp, who met her sudden death on this occasion, was the widow
of the late Dr. Lapp, ex-auditor of Monroe County, and was born at Laings, this
county. She is a sister of Mrs. W. Everett Moore of Woodsfield, who attended
the funeral Tuesday.
A freight train on the Pennsylvania railroad at Dennison had
broken to permit several automobiles to cross the tracks. The Lapp family, with
Harry M. driving, were the first to cross, and in doing so were struck by a
fast passenger train. The yard men were no doubt to blame for not giving the
proper signals to automobiles and the trainmen.
Harry Lapp had a collar bone broken and was otherwise badly
hurt. His sister, Miss Estella, supervisor of music in Dennison public schools,
had a hip broken, was otherwise severely hurt.
Latta, Thomas Latta
Source: The Cambridge [Ohio] Jeffersonian; Tuesday 5
May 1925
QUAKER CITY, May 5--Thomas Latta, a prominent school
teacher of Eldon, passed away Saturday morning following a brief illness of
pneumonia, at the age of 59 years.
He had not enjoyed the best of
health during the winter and about one week ago contracted pneumonia.
He was united in marriage to
Miss Mary Burris and no children were born to this union.*
Funeral services were conducted
by the Rev. M.S. Spear and interment was made at the Calais Cemetery.
*Submitter's Note: Thomas and Mary had one child, Thomas Burris Latta, who was born and died
in 1896. He is also buried in the
Calais Cemetery in Monroe County, Ohio.
McPeek,
Norma McPeek, nee DeNoon
Source: The Moundsville [West Virginia] Echo; 20 Apr
1925
MRS. RUSSELL
M'PEEK
VICTIM OF PNEUMONIA
Mrs. Norma McPeek, 26, wife of Russell McPeek, died
Saturday afternoon at 4:45 o'clock in the family home at 427 Clinton avenue
following two days illness of pneumonia.
Mrs. McPeek was taken ill on Thursday of pneumonia, and
despite all medical aid, expired Saturday afternoon. She was very well known in this community and the sense of loss
is acute.
Surviving are her husband, two daughters, Mary Lee and
Maxine, her mother, Mrs. Iva DeNoon of
Moundsville, and six sisters, Mrs. Winifred Nelson of Moundsville, Mrs. William
Wright, of Uniontown, Pa., Cleo, Mildred, Clara and Beulah, all at home. One brother Robert, at home, also survives.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday afternoon at 2
o'clock in the late home with Rev. W.W. Sutton of Calvary M.E. Church in
charge.
Miller, Pearly Leo Miller
Source: A book containing summaries of obituaries
for Wayne Co., Illinois, composed by Bettie Wheat, in the library at Fairfield,
Wayne Co., Illinois; from newspaper dated 7 May 1925
Pearly, son of John and Lizzie Miller b. Fairfield, Feb.
25, 1887. He died at Urbana Apr. 22,*
1925. Three children.** Veran, Kay and Victor. Also leaves his parents, one brother, Wm. of
Urbana and one sister Mrs. J. T. Ashenfelter of Decatur. Bestow cemetery. Told who came.
Submitter's Notes:
* The Illinois Statewide Death Index gives April 23 as the
date of death.
**From the 1920 and the 1930 census and the obituary of
Pearly's son Victor, the children are Vera Lee who married a Cox, W. Kay
(male), Victor, and also another son Bobbie born after his father's death later
in 1925.
Morris, Alfred E. Morris
Source: The Cannelton [Indiana] Telephone newspaper;
9 Oct 1925 [posted on the FINDAGRAVE web site*]
The infant son of Mr. and Mrs. Harmon Morris passed away
last week. The funeral took place Wednesday afternoon. Interment at the Greenwood cemetery. Rev E N
Ropssier of the M E church officiating.
*Submitted by P.E.
Frichtl.
Myers, Frances Myers
Spirit of Democracy,
Woodsfield, Ohio, dated,
Miss Frances Myers, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. O. E. Myers, died
at her home on Eastern avenue Friday, February 6th, after a
lingering illness from tuberculosis, aged 20 years, 9 months and 10 days.
She was born
She was a member of St. Sylvester’s R. C. Church.
The funeral service was held
in that church at
She leaves beside her father
and mother, one sister, Mrs. Chas. Hoover of Cleveland. Her father O. E. Myers
is a son of the late A. Myers and her mother, a daughter of the late Danielwire
Dougherty.
Olson, Mary Elizabeth
Olson nee Morris
Mary Elizabeth Olson nee Morris, daughter of
John A. and Sarah Morris, was born December 2, 1864 at Woodsfield, Ohio where
she grew to young womanhood. In 1879 she
moved with her parents to Kansas, locating near Sedgwick and later at
Halstead. While living there she was
married, March 14, 1883 to Andrew J. Olson and to this union eight children
were born, two preceding her to their heavenly home.
She came of a musical family and until her
voice was weakened by diphtheria just before her marriage, was a talented
singer and her solos were demanded at the entertainments in her home town.
She with her husband and one child came to
Kiowa County, March 14, 1885, taking up a claim 3 miles north west of
Mullinville and made that their home till in August 1903 at which time they
came to Greensburg and since this has been their home.
When a young woman Mrs. Olson
joined the Christian Church and later became a member of the Methodist Church
of this town. She has lived an earnest
and conscientious Christian life, always a good wife, a perfect
mother---passing from life on Mother’s Day, May 10, 1925, after a lingering
illness and since the discovery of cancer a couple of years ago, was almost
continually under medical treatment.
Her calm, even temper, easy smile, her
motherliness made her loved by all, she left no enemies, all were her
friends. She leaves to mourn her loss,
her husband and six children, Mrs. Edith M. Pedigo, Carl A., Clarence H., and
Marjorie of Greensburg; Mrs. Cassie S. Kelley of Meade and Ernest M. of Dodge
City, beside a brother, J. W. Morris of Fairview, Oklahoma and a sister Harriet Beal of Colwich and her
several grandchildren.
She departed this life Sunday morning at seven
o’clock at the age of 60 years, 5 months and 8 days. All her children were with her to the last.
The funeral services were conducted by Rev.
Hestwood at the Methodist Church at 2:30 p.m. Monday, May 11th. Interment in Fairview Cemetery.
Card of Thanks: We wish to express our gratitude for the many evidences of
friendship, the floral offerings and the kindly offices of the friends during
the illness and after the death of wife and mother. J. Olson and family
Powless, Tilden H. Powless
Source: A book containing
summaries of obituaries for Wayne Co., Illinois, composed by Bettie Wheat, in
the library at Fairfield, Wayne Co., Illinois
Tildon* H. Powless, only son of John and Amanda Powless was
born Wayne co, IL. Jan. 5, 1876. D.
Jan. 20,** 1925. He m. Winnie Schell
Sept. 12, 1896. They had nine children. One little girl died in infancy.
Submitter's Notes:
* On the tombstone the spelling is TILDEN.
** The Illinois Statewide Death Index gives Jan. 30 as the
death date. His wife's obituary gives
his death date as Jan. 28.
Rothenbuhler, Elizabeth Jane Rothenbuhler
Spirit of Democracy,
Woodsfield, Ohio, dated,
Elizabeth Jane, infant child of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel
Rothenbuhler, of Cameron, Ohio, died suddenly in the early morning of
“ Suffer the little ones to
come unto me for such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” In the case of little children
we can truly sing “Asleep in Jesus.” May we attain to their eternal purity!
Burial in Grandview cemetery, Belmont County. Funeral services
conducted at both home and Grandview church by John C. Atkinson of Clarington.
Funeral directors, Bauer & Willison.
Source: The Topeka [Kansas] State Journal; 4 Nov
1925
F. SARDOU IS DEAD
ONE OF FIRST RESIDENTS
OF TOPEKA DIES
TODAY
PROMINENT FRUIT
GROWER CAME HERE
IN 1854
Freeman Sardou, 71, one of the first residents of Topeka,
died at 1:20 o'clock this afternoon at his home, 702 Grattan street. He graduated in 1870 from the first graded
school course provided in Topeka and had been a resident of the city since
August 28, 1954. He was at one time one
of the most prominent fruit growers in this section of the state, and was
extensively engaged for some years in the canning business.
Mr. Sardou was born on the Atlantic ocean January 16, 1854,
while his mother and father were en route to America. His father Charles Sardou was a French refugee, forced to flee
from his native land because of his conspicuous part in the French revolution of
1848. With a party of his mates,
numbering seventeen, he seized a vessel on the Italian coast and made the
voyage to America.
CAME TO
TOPEKA IN 1854
Charles Sardou, together with J. B. Billard, and two others
came to Topeka, August 28, 1854, and the Sardous’ first house was a
dugout. When the revolution following
the war with Prussia broke out in France in 1870, Charles Sardou returned and
helped to establish the republic.
Freeman Sardou, remaining behind, grew to manhood in Topeka,
walking two miles a day for many years to attend a school at Tenth and Jackson
streets. Subsequently he attended the
Harrison and Lincoln schools. He was
one of the five forming the first class of Topeka high school in 1869.
After completing his education he learned the tinner's
trade in St. Louis and followed that line for thirteen years. In 1883 he took
charge of his father's farm on the outskirts of Topeka. It was at that time one of the most beautiful
suburban places of which Topeka boasted and bore a huge number of fine fruit
trees.
Mr. Sardou was married September 26, 1878, to Miss Mary A.
Morris.
There are two sons--George and Charles Sardou--both
prominent here in the electrical business.
During the flood of 1903 Mr. Sardou and his sons were
credited with rescuing more than 300 persons whose lives were imperiled by the
rising waters, and in token of appreciation by the citizens, all were given
gold medals appropriately inscribed.
Funeral arrangements have not been made.
Schell, Sarah Leota Schell, nee Galiher
Source: The Wayne Co. [Illinois] Press; 23 Jul 1925
MRS. JAMES
W. SHELL*
Sarah Leota, daughter of A. J. and Margaret F. Galiher, was
born in Wayne county, Illinois, February 14, 1881. She grew to womanhood in the Pure Gold neighborhood.
She was united in marriage to James W. Shell,* July 2nd,
1902. This union was blessed with 4
children, two having died in infancy and one son Dale passed away at the age of
16 years on November 18th, 1921 and she leaves one daughter Frances. Early in life she professed her faith in
Jesus Christ as her savior and united with the General Baptist church at
Victory.
For several months she has been in failing health and on
Sunday night after having attended church services at Oak Valley she took
seriously ill and after a couple days and nights of intense suffering the
spirit took its flight from the mortal body at 12:30 o'clock, Wednesday morning
at the age of 44 years, 4 months and 24 days.
All that medical skill and loving care could do to relieve her suffering
was done but to no avail.
She is survived by her husband and daughter and one
son-in-law and an aged father, stepmother and three brothers and 6 sisters and
one half-sister and 6 half-brothers, besides a host of other relatives and
friends.
Funeral services were conducted at Oak Valley Wednesday
afternoon at 2:30 o'clock by Warren W. Crippin after which the body was laid to
rest in the Oak Valley cemetery in the family lot, with many floral offerings.
*Submitter's Note: This name is usually spelled SCHELL.
Staib, Frances Gertrude Staib, nee Kurtzman
Source: Monroe County, Ohio, newspaper; Thursday,
March 26, 1925
Mrs. Oscar Staib who died at a Wheeling hospital early
Friday morning and whose remains were brought down Friday evening and taken to
her late home, where funeral services were held Sunday, with interment at a
nearby cemetery.
Thompson,
Raymond Arthur Thompson
Source: The Indianapolis [Indiana] Star; Friday, 6
Mar 1925
SHELBYVILLE -- Raymond Arthur Thompson, 32 years old, is
dead* at his home in Waldron. Surviving
is the widow, Mrs. Eunive [sic--Eunice] Thompson; two daughters, his
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Thompson; three brothers, Warnie Thompson of
Indianapolis, and Orville Thompson and Roscoe Thompson of Shelby county.
*Submitter's Note: His death certificate said he died of
tuberculosis and that a factor in the death was his being gassed in World War
I.
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