MURDER & MAYHEM

A. T. Broadwater Died As Result Of Assault Made Upon Him Monday Evening By George Warnick and Two Sons. Two Assailants Are In Jail. Animosity of Long Standing Between the Dead Man and the Warnicks Given As Cause of Fight Monday - Broadwater Died Yesterday in Cumberland.
Ashford T. Broadwater, known by his associates as "Bud" Broadwater, of Bond, this county, died at the Western Maryland Hospital at Cumberland yesterday morning at 9.30 o'clock, his death resultitg[sic] from a number of injuries he received at the hands of George Warnick and his two sons, William and Lester, of near Bond, who, it is alleged by a number of witnesses to the affair, assaulted Broadwater without provocation. The dead man is about fifty-two years of age,and for a long time there has been bad blood between the Warnicks and Broadwater, culminating on Monday morning by the arrest of Broadwater on a peace warrant sworn out by George Warnick. Broadwater was given a hearing Monday by Justice Teats who bound him over to keep the peace. The Warnicks were in Oaklande at the hearing and all departed on the east bound accommodation for their homes, Bond being their destination. At Bond Junction on the B. & O. the party got off the train and while at the station there the quarrel was renewed., According to a witness while the men were thus engaged George Warnick without a moment's warning struck Broadwater a blow behind the ear and knocked him down. Broadwater upon regaining his feet caught up a club and struck Warnick a glancing blow on the shoulder. The three Warnicks it is alleged, then closed in on Broadwater and Donald Simpson, who accompanied him and thumped and kicked the two men unmercifully, rendering Broadwater unconscious, in which condition he remained until death, and closing .... of Simpson's .......and otherwise abused[??} him. (Unreadable) As soon as possible physicians from Bloomington and Piedmont were summoned to Bond Junction to render aid to Broadwater. They worked on him all Monday night and on Tuesday he was taken to the Cumberland hospital where efforts were resumed to restore him to consciousness, but without avail.The physicians in the latter city did all they could for the injured man. They t.............d (unreadable) the left side of his skull and removed therefrom a large piece of shattered bone. When the physicians raised the bone a large quantity of blood shot into the air. The right side was entirely paralyzed and the left brain was badly lacerated as a result of the rough usage he had received. The physicians at Cumberland stated that the fracture to Broadwater's skull extended from just above his left ear down and backward to the base of his brain. The morning following the fight George and Lester Warnick came to Oakland with the intention of swearing out a warrant for the arrest of Broadwater, but the officers here having been apprised of the serious condition of the man the two Warnicks were placed in jail and a warrant was issued for the arrest of William Warnick. Uup tot he time of going to press this morning Deputy Sheriff Brown, who went to Bond yesterday morning to serve the warrant had not returned to Oakland The body of Broadwater was prepared for burial yesterday after a post mortem had been held by Stat's Attorney Robb of Cumberland, and will arrive at Bond this morning. An inquest will be held there today which will be conducted by Justice A. B. Gonder, who left for tht point at 10 o'clock accompanied by State's Attorney Benninger[??} and Sheriff Austin? Brown. A number of people witnessed the assault made upon Broadwater, all of whom have been summoned and who will appear at the inquest this morning, among them being Mr. and Mrs. John Lantz, the former being B. & O. agent at Bond; George Crow, engineer on the Bond railroad; Mrs. Ashford Broadwater and Carrie and Emma Warnick.
24 August [may be misprint]1908; The Republican (Oakland, Garrett Co., MD)
NB: this was transcribed from a clipping which indicated August 24, 1908 as the date.
Article below I saw the actual newspaper page showing the date of September 24, 1908 in the banner
~Genie
Posted January 5, 2018

CONWAY, Frank J.

Conway Came to This City and Surrendered Himself to the Sheriff and Was Placed in Jail.
Frank J Conway of South Cumberland, Thursday at the town of Westernport, this county, shot his wife dead in front of the Lutheran Church and then came to this city and surrendered himself to the sheriff and was placed in jail. The living and the dead had been attending a carnival in Piedmont and it is alleged that Conway became angry because Mrs Conway had been seen with someone else and that Conway shot her in a quarrel that followed. The bullet passed through her right lung and she fell dead at his feet. Mr Conway left the scene of his crime at once and while it was thought he had escaped, he came on here as stated. The prisoner was for a number of years the owner of a saloon on Virginia Avenue. Some time ago while residing on Woodside Ave, Conway and his wife separated and their relations had been strained ever since. He is about 32 years of age and the deceased 28 years of age. The latter was formerly Miss Gertrude Shannon, a daughter of Mr and Mrs Michael Shannon of Virginia Avenue. She was married a few years ago to Conway, but harmony did not prevail between the two and at one time an action of divorce was filed, but afterwards withdrawn as a reconciliation was affected. Two small children survive. She went to Piedmont Wednesday afternoon. Conway left this city Thursday afternoon at 3:30 for Piedmont to attend the carnival. He was with friends during the morning and afternoon up to the time of his departure. He was not drinking and seemed to be in the best of spirits. Until two weeks ago, Conway was employed as a solicitor here. His father-in-law, Michael Shannon, recently had Conway placed under a $500 peace bond for threatening him. It is said that Conway stated he had too much parents-in-law. He is a brother to Messrs Will and James Conway. The former conducts a saloon on Virginia Ave and the latter is a glassblower and is at present on a trip down the Potomac with the Queen City Fishing Club. Both are popular young men. Conway was mixed up several years ago in a shooting foray in South Cumberland. Mrs. Conway's father, Michael Shannon, is one of South Cumberland's most respected citizens. He is employed as storekeeper by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad company. Mrs Conway is also survived by three sisters and two brothers. Conway says he doesn't know how he got down here whether he walked or rode. He says that when he went to Piedmont, he discovered that his wife had spent the night with a man belonging to the carnival and she was in company with a bad woman. This knowledge he alleges crazed him and he presumes he shot the woman but has no recollection of what he has done. Conway and the deceased had several suits before Justice Wolford recently. Mrs Conway had instituted replevin and other cases against the prisoner. An inquest was held at Westernport Friday and the remains of the dead woman were brought here and taken to her home in South Cumberland. Conway has retained Pearce and Lewis to defend him.
about 1903; source unknown
(Courtesy of Pat Dailey)
Posted January 26, 2013

SEEKING A PARDON
Friends of Frank J Conway See the Governor

Congressman George A Pearre called upon the Governor in the interests of securing a pardon for Frank J Conway, convicted at the October term 1903 of the Allegany County Circuit Court, of murder in the second degree and sentenced to 16 years in the penitentiary. Congressman Pearre was accompanied by Mrs Ellen Conway, the mother, Margaret Conway, a sister and James Conway, brother of the imprisoned man and all strongly urged the pardon. Conway was convicted of killing his wife. Congressman Pearre strongly urged the pardon, principally on the grounds that Conway's wife had acquired bad habits and was frequently in company with other men: that her husband pleaded with her to return to him and lead a proper life, but in vain and it was on an occasion that she was leaving Cumberland with another man that she refused to return with her husband. Thereupon Conway drew a revolver and shot her. Clemency in behalf of Conway is strongly recommended by the Allegany County Commissioners, ex-Senator Wellington, ex-State Senator Lewis and the leading bankers of Cumberland and letters of endorsement from Judge Ferdinand Williams and State's Attorney A A Wilson are also presented with the case. The Governor gave no indication as to what steps he would take in the premises, saying he would hold the case under advisement in the usual way.
Evening Times; Cumberland, Allegany Co, Md., Thursday, December 12, 1907
(Courtesy of Pat Dailey)
Posted January 26, 2013

"Zilhman Man Seriously Shot Christmas Afternoon - Doctors Hold Little Hope For His Life-Harry Shriver Held In Jail Here Charged With Attempt To Murder Aloysius Cullen - Abdomen Is Torn Away By Charge-Shot Down Without Provocation As He Seeks To Quiet Liquor-Crazed Man

Crazed by drink, Harry Shriver, 30, divorced, a miner, shot and probably fatally wounded Aloysius Cullen, 30, married, another miner, and neighbor in Zilhman, a mining village between Frostburg and Mt. Savage, about 5:30 o'clock last evening, with a shotgun. The charge tore a hole in Cullen's lower abdomen above the hip. The shooting was declared to be without provocation. Condition Is Critical Cullen was taken to Miner's Hospital, where he was operated on by Dr. W. O. McLane, Jr., of Frostburg, and Dr. Frank M. Wilson, of Cumberland. His condition was reported as critical today. Shriver was arrested and placed in jail. According to investigation by the authorities, Shriver had been drinking during the afternoon and threatened to kill several people, firing at one group at his boarding house who fled, the charge tearing a hole in the wall of the kitchen. A loaded revolver had been previously taken away from him by a friend. Two belts of shells were taken from him when placed under arrest. Shriver boarded with Mrs. Emma Vizzi, Green Row, Zilhman. It appears that Charles Harden, Earl Harden and Wonford Sween came to the home to see Alfred Vizzi, son of Mrs. Emma Vizzi. Shriver, who was drinking and disorderly, was urged by Mrs, Vizzi to go to his room and behave himself. This was resented by Shriver. He went upstairs to his room and closed the door. When asked to behave himself by the group in the home, Shriver is said to have left the house but later returned with the shotgun, and those present seeing him armed, ran out. Shriver blasted away as several of them ran out the door, the charge tearing a hole in the wall near the kitchen door.

Charles and Earl Harden, brothers, had come from Morantown in their automobile and left the machine standing outside the Vizzi home in the road. Shriver is said to have come out in the yard, and with an oath dared any of them to get in the machine and sit behind the steering wheel, declaring he would kill them. Shriver, it appears, had raised the hood and jerked out the distributor, disabling the car. At this juncture, Aloysius Cullen, living on the same row in Zilhman, came up to see what the trouble was, accompanied by Edgar Shumaker and Ellis Lockhart, young men. They were on the road, when Shriver, holding his weapon, repeated the threat to kill, it was alleged, that he would "kill the first man that got into the machine." Cullen, who knew him well, sought to humor him, by declaring he (Cullen) could not drive a car. This led to an exchange of words, when Shriver, it is declared, suddenly raised the weapon and fired point blank at Cullen. The charge tore his stomach open, and he collapsed, bleeding, in the roadway, his intestines being perforated and torn, the wad from the gun entering them. Ellis Lockhart, Andrew Lennox, Harland Porter, and Harry Lennox, who came up, put Cullen in a machine and drove him to the hospital.

NOTE: Harry Shriver was later found guilty of second degree murder and was sentenced to eight years in the penitentiary.
"Evening Times" Cumberland, Maryland, Sat 26 Dec 1931
(Courtesy of Shawn McGreevy)
Posted October 17, 2009

DURST, Meno

Charges of murder and assault with intent to kill were filed yesterday afternoon in Garrett County against Andrew Balog Baluch, for slaying one man and wounding another at his service station tavern on Route 40 near the Pennsylvania state line early Friday night. Baluch, who admitted the shooting and said he used two .38 caliber revolvers, is being held without bond in Garrett County jail at Oakland pending a preliminary hearing the first of the week. Authorities identified the dead man as Mino (sic:Meno) Durst, 27, Route 1, Grantsville. His companion, Victor Holliday, near Grantsville, who was wounded in the left elbow, remained in satisfactory condition last night at a Confluence, Pa. hospital. He will be held as a material witness in the case. Baluch was captured by Maryland and Pennsylvania State Police a few hours after the shooting at the home of his brother, John Baluch, east of Addison, Pa., a mile from the scene of the shooting in Maryland, south of the Mason-Dixon line. He surrendered without a struggle and was taken to Oakland. Investigators said the two men, Baluch and his wife had been drinking wine in the Baluch tavern during the late afternoon. After leaving, Baluch told police, the pair returned to the closed establishment and Holliday started beating on the door and demanded entrance. Shortly afterwards Baluch opened fire admittedly intended for Holliday and Durst was hit twice in the abdomen. Both men were rushed by car to Confluence, but Durst, son of Emmanuel Durst, was pronounced dead on arrival.
Cumberland Sunday Times, November 21, 1948
(Courtesy of Sheryl Kelso)
Posted February 6, 2014

This trial continued from April 25 - 28, with the jury returning a verdict of NOT GUILTY.

TRIPLE SHOOTING AT OLDTOWN.
Garrett Luteman Murders William Foley, Mortally Wounds Wm. Warfield Carder,
Shoots Himself and Then Slits His Own Throat
A Monstrous Crime. At 10 o’clock Monday morning, the Civilian received information, of a tragedy at Oldtown, the details of which makes it the most horrible crime ever committed in Allegany county. A Civilian representative was dispatched to the scene of the tragedy. Arriving at Green Spring, 17 miles from the city, he had but a half mile to reach Oldtown, situated along the line of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal. Oldtown is, as its name implies, the oldest settlement in the county. Log cabins, erected in pioneer days, still remind one of the antiquity of the place and the lonely hollow that must have been the scenes of activity during the days of the prosperity of the canal afforded a striking contrast to towns of modern build, where crime is more general, by reason of the assimilation of a homogeneous people of different temperaments, opposite mental and physical traits and the many temptations augmented by the progressive spirit of the age, which lead to hasty action, provoked by the innumerable social and financial problems that arise in the affairs of human life. Here with the “old ditch" no longer in operation, and the intense dullness of the place, makes it almost incredible that a man crazed with the belief that he was being imposed upon by others, would without any effort at concealment, advance with a pistol in hand, shoot one man. who died instantly, then go to another part of the building, fire a bullet into the breast of another man, and with wonderful tact fire two balls into his own head to end the fearful crime of a few minutes. Yet that is what transpired.

Scene of The Tragedy
Along the canal is the two-story building in which John Carder has a general store. Garrett Luteman, a young man about 23 years of age, was employed by Carder nearly three years. Luteman was popular as a salesman, and had many friends. Associated with him in the store were William Warfield Carder, a son of the proprietor, and William Foley, who had been a clerk for sixteen years, which position he relinquished last Saturday, to take charge of his lumber business which had bright prospects by reason of the revival and rebuilding of the canal. Luteman who imagined that the proprietor of the store was taking steps to send him to the penitentiary which is the only reason assigned to his subsequent conduct, took it into his head to avenge the wrong which may have arisen over some money matters. William Foley went to the store early yesterday morning to sell Mr Carder some bark, then he (Mr Foley) was about taking his departure from the store when Luteman advanced and said to Foley, "I want to see you sometime today.", when the latter replied saying, "You are not going to quit on my account", whereupon Luteman drew his pistol, shooting Foley in the right side of his chest and he fell dying almost instantly. With the pistol smoking in his hand, Luteman proceeded towards the counter where G E Emmert (who was taken in the store to fill the vacancy caused by Foley's retirement from the business), noticing Luteman's murderous look, dropped behind the counter and escaped through the door into the wareroom. Luteman continued his progress toward the end of the store room where William Warfield Carder was changing a $20 bill for R N Rice. Without a word Luteman fired and shot Carder in the chest. Carder, Rice being thrown to the floor in the fall. When Rice arose, Luteman said to him “ lf you don’t get out of here I'll shoot you too,” and Rice made his escape, and upon making his exit through the door, heard another shot, but could not say at whom it was fired, but supposed it was fired at Carder, but did not take effect.

Luteman Attempts to Take His Own Life
Luteman then ran out upon the fron t porch when he was met by his brother, who after a desperate struggle succeeded in taking the weapon front him. Luteman then went behind the counter, took a new 32 calibre double action revolver from the show case, and after loading it, fired two shots into his head, one entering above the right eye and the other taking effect about three inches above his left ear. Then, with his face covered with blood, he ran to his home around the road, a distance of 400 yards from the store, where he was met by his mother, who asked him, “ My God, Garrett, what have you done! ” to which he replied: ‘‘God only knows!” The mother ran to a neighbor for assistance, the latter came and took Luteman upstairs and laid him upon a bed in the room. He then went downstairs for some water to bathe the wounded man’s face, and durin g his absence Luteman advanced to the bureau and took from the drawer a razor, with which he slashed his neck, severing the wind-pipe and destroying the larynx. When the neighbor returned he found Luteman lying in a pool of blood, and with a terribe shock discovered that Luteman had slit his own throat, as stated above. Luteman was placed in his bed. People hearing the report of the pistol shots entered the store and placed Carder upon __ and the same was done with Foley's lifeless body. Dr. C arr, of this city, was notified by telegraph, and through the courtesy and kindness of the B & O R R officials, a special engine was placed at his disposal and he immediately left for Oldtown. The doctor entered the store room and found that Carder had a bullet wound in his chest, a little to the right of the lower breast bone and penetrating the left lung. The wound is a fatal one and Carder’s chances for recovery are slim indeed. The doctor also visited Lutemand who, he said, was conscious and strong. When the doctor entered, Luteman held out his arms and laughed. He said that there had been trouble about money matters with Carder and Foley for some time; that last night they had been together fixing up a plan to do him in and he had determined to put an end to it, and he went to the store for that purpose; that he knew he was a goner and had tried to kill himself to save the others the trouble, that he was going to die and had nothing to conceal. The pistol wounds of Luteman are not thought to be fatal but the gash in his neck is liable to cause death at any moment.

He Must Have Been Insane
Luteman's statement to the doctor is not credited by people of the village, who are of the opinion that Luteman was insane. For the last month he has been unwell and upon one occasion he complained to his mother about a pain in his head and she gave him laudanum to apply to his head to ease the pain, and he drank the poison instead of doing what was expected. There is general sympathy expressed for Luteman who, the people state only their belief, that his insanity could have been the only cause for his act. Foley was a large and handsome man 51 years of age. A wife and eleven children survive. Carder is 28 years of age and unmarried. A coroner’s inquest was held and the jury returned a verdict that Wm. Foley came to his death from a pistol shot fired by the hands of Garrett Luteman. The funeral of Foley will take place at 3 o’clock this afternoon. Up to the hour of going to press, Carder and Luteman are still alive.
Cumberland Weekly Civilian; Cumberland, Allegany Co, Md, April 24, 1891 - pg 5, col 4
(Courtesy of Pat Dailey)
Posted October 19, 2015

WOUNDS ARE FATAL ~ Motorman Grimes Shot Twice by John Welsh ~ THE LATTER LAY IN HIDING PLACE
Welsh Alleges That Grimes Was the Despoiler of His Home - Jury Summoned and an Inquest Held Monday Night
John Welsh is in jail and motorman Charles J. Grimes is dead, the result of two bullet wounds inflicted by the former Saturday evening The shooting occurred at the north west corner of the pavilion at Narrows Park, and within a few yards of where the prisoner lives. Welsh alleges that on returning home from his work Saturday evening one of his children informed him that a meeting had been arranged between Grimes and Mrs. Welsh. Securing a revolver of the 38 calibre brand, he concealed himself behind a tree. Later he alleges he saw the couple meet and waiting until he was convinced that his suspicions were correct, he approached the couple and told Grimes to hold up his hands. The latter then, Welsh alleges, made a motion as if to draw a gun and then stepped behind the woman as if to protect himself. Welsh then changed his position so he would not shoot his wife and then fired two shots. He would have fired twice more, but the revolver failed to go off the last two times he pulled the trigger. Grimes, although badly wounded, ran to the street car, which he boarded, in the meantime calling out to those about him to keep "old man Welsh away". H was brought here and taken off at Undertaker Stein's office, where Dr. Brace was called. He was then removed to his home at 75 Highland street. Welsh quietly withdrew to his residence to await the coming of Deputy Sheriff Aaron, into whose custody he gave himself willingly. Mrs. Welsh repaired to the dancing hall, where her daughters were dancing at the time of the shooting, and remained until her husband had been placed in jail. Drs. Brace and Hawkins saw the wounded man on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Drs. Stansbury, Fotchman and Hawkins operated upon Grimes at the Western Maryland hospital, the operation offering the only possibility of saving his life. He failed to rally, however, from the severity of his wound and the shock of the operation and died at 4:40 o'clock. The body was removed to Stein's morgue, after the coroner had viewed the body and an autopsy was conducted by Drs. Brace, Fochtman, Hawkins and Stansbury. An examination of the wound which proved fatal developed that the bullet had entere the body on the left side between the tenth and eleventh ribs, had penetrated the left lobe of the liver, the spleen, the large bowel twice, and in the small bowel three times, lodging in the intercostal muscles, directly oposite[sic] the point of entrance. In contradiction of Welsh's statement that he had witnessed ample proof of the guilt of Grimes before firing the fatal shot it is stated that Grimes had procured for Mrs. Welsh some opiate or narcotic, which she desired to relieve suffering and which Grimes had obtained at Mrs. Welsh's request and was about to deliver to her. Grimes, while retaining consciousness almost to the moment of his death, had nothing to say beyond that he had been shot by Welsh. Welsh is 47 years of age and is the father of eight children. Grimes was 30 years of age and married. Mr. Archibald A. Young has been retained by Mr. Welsh to defend him. Mrs. Welsh was arrested on Monday and placed in jail as a witness. She was immediately bailed out by Mr. J. frank Seiss.

What Mrs. Welsh Says
Mrs. Welsh says that Grimes brought her some laudanum and had motioned to her to come and get it and that Grimes was unbuttoning his coat to give her the medicine when she saw her husband's pistol glistening around the corner of one of the buildings. When her husband was about to shoot Mrs. Welsh sy that she called to him to shoot her, not to shoot Charlie. She say that she would sooner it would have been her than Charlie., She pulled Charlie's head down to save him.

HELD RESPONSIBLE
The Coroner's Jury Holds Welsh for the Grand Jury
The coroner's jury in the case of Charles Grimes, who was shot by John Welsh at Narrows Park Saturday night held the latter for the grand jury. There were several witnesses examined, but the testimony brought out does not materially change the facts that have already been npublished. Mrs. Welsh, wife of the prisoner, testified as follows: Having been ill for two days previous to the shooting she requested her daughter to rpcure some laundanum. Being unable to come downtown herself her daughter asked Grimes to get the drug and bring it up with him on the eight o'clock car. This Grimes forgot to do, but finishing his day's work at eight o'clock he procured the laundanum at Holtzman's drug store and returned to the park on the 8:40 car. Mrs. Welsh had taken her two younger children and her daughter, Glendolyne to the dancing pavilion at the park. While dancing her daughter noticed Grimes at the window and he at the same time motioned for her to come outside. The daughter did nto cease dancing but told her mother as she glided by that Grimes was outside and told her to go out and get the medicine, which she did. Grimes unbuttoned his coat and took the vial from his inside pocket and had just presented it to her when Welsh stepped out from behind a tree and said "Hold up your hands". Mrs. Welsh turning saw her husband with a pistol in his hand. She immediately stepped between the two men and threw up her hands to protect Grimes. Welsh stepped to one side and shot.
Cumberland Alleganian, Cumberland, MD; January 22, 1903
(Courtesy of Charles Riend/transcribed by Genie)
Posted October 19, 2015

"In a recent paper published in your journal on the subject of Allegany county murders, I stated another would be furnished soon upon the same general topic or subject. I will now do what was then promised or suggested. The murder trials to be written up in this paper will be such as resulted in acquittal or in punishment less than execution.
The first of the kind to be recalled is that of Richard W. Clarke, of Flintstone. He was indicted at the April court, 1851, for the murder of his wife. In the following month he was tried for wife murder and was found guilty of murder in the second degree by a jury, and was sentenced to a confinement in the penitentiary for 18 years. His punisment.

The next case of the kind was that of the noted Nancy Hufferd, of what is now Garrett county. She was indicted at the October term of the Circuit Court for Allegany Co., 1851, for the murder of Mrs. Samuel Engle by administering poison to her at the birth of her first child, which caused her death in about a week after the birth of the child. Mrs. Hufferd being the nurse of Mrs. Engle in her sickness in which there was nothing unusual in the beginning, but suddenly she became alarming ill and died. Suspicions at once arose in and out of the Engle mansion that there had been foul play. The physician, Dr. J. H. Patterson was of that belief, and before the burial of the victim, he made a post mortem examination of her but could not make any discovery of the poison believed to have been administered to her. She was buried in due time, but the belief and excitement spread over the whole neighborhood which led to the disinterment of the woman and a second post mortem examination was made by Drs. Patterson, Hermann and J. H. Bruce, who had just comenced the practice. The stomach was taken from the deceased and intrusted to Dr. Termann to be sent to Prof. Aikin, of Baltimore, for examination. The suspect, Nancy Hufferd, was promptly arrested and committed to the Allegany county jail in September, '57." [note: should read 1851]. "Her trial was had about the first of the following November before Judge Wiesel. James M. Schley state's attorney, and the great Frank Thomas were prosecutors. She was ably defended by T. I. McKaig and George A. Pearre. The jury were as follows: Domnick Mattingly, Sol Vroman, Wm. Anderson, Aza Beall of Thomas, Adam Gower, Amon Wilson, John Long, Alpheus W. Beall, Jacob W. Rawlings, Thos. D. Dawson, George P. Mong and Joseph Hughes. All these jurors have been dead many years. John Long was the only home juror. The were 38 [note: it looks like 38 but hard to make out] witnesses in this notorious case, for and against; nine living according to best knowledge and information. Five doctors, J. H. Patterson, H. Hermann, J. J. Bruce, S. P. Smith, T. A. Healy, all deceased for many years. Dr. Bruce, the yougest of five, left us in 1884, a great loss. But there remains one who will remembers[sic] this tragedy and even witnessed some of it.
The evidence on the part of the State was circumstantial. The main fact was that the accused had purchased about the time a lot of arsenic from a store in Grantsville with the remark she wanted to make salve for her sore leg, but there was no sore leg. There was no further tracing of the poison up to the time of this trial. Prof. Aiken testified that he found no arsenic in the stomach he examined. The woman was acquitted on the evidence adduced. But after the trial was over and Nancy Hufferd a free worman, the remainder of the deadly poison was found in a corner of a bureau drawer in the house of Mr. Engle. Who can say the verdict would have been the same if the remaining poison had been produced at the trial. She was acquitted according to the rules of law; but there was hardly one in the whole neighborhood believed her to be innocent.
Her history was an unsavory one in a general way. She was married 4 or 5 times, certainly the former number. Her first husband was John Yeast, a strong, healthy man, died unexpectedly if not mysteriously in 1834. Some slight suspicions then of of an unnatural death. In a short time she was again married; this time to John Layman, a very respectible man and a prominent one, died in 1845, a natural death from cancer. Her next marriage was with Philip Hufferd, of Somerset Co., Pa. In a few years she was again a widow - this husband died suddenly, it was said after eating pumpkin pie. Suspicions arose but no investigations or legal proceedings. She at once returned to her old neighborhood and was soon on the hunt of another husband. She had a choice but failed to get the one she wanted. This was only a short time before her trial. She persevered and in the course of a few years she found another husband in the person of Holmes Wiley, a well known citizen of Garrett county, but she did not live to see his death. They both died natural deaths many years ago.
There was this strange thing about this noted woman. She always wanted a man or husband, yet she never bore a child in her long checkerd life. She is remembered by only a few and cared for by none, it may be said.
Dr. Patterson, mentioned, was a prominent physician of the old county twice elected to our Legislature. He took the sad death of his patient Mrs. Engle, very sorrowfully. He died three months later. Will state the writer saw the first post mortem examination at the request of Dr. Patterson. It was not a desirable spectacle. Two cases in our court in the same year involving wife murder."

Was Drunk at the Time.
PARKERSBURG, W. Va., Oct. 18. - Daniel Shaum has been sentenced to be hanged Friday, Feb. 2, 1894, in the jail yard of the county of Hampshire of this state. Shaum killed William Iser. He was intoxicated at the time. He pleaded with the court before he was sentenced, saying: "I am willing to go to the penitentiary for life and sign a paper that I will never ask to come out." His plea was vain.
SOURCE: The Marion Daily Star; Marion, Ohio; Oct. 18, 1893; page 1.
(Courtesy of Wendy Mammoliti)
Posted October 13, 2012

DRUNKEN BRAWL ENDS IN DEATH OF YOUNG MINER ~ SLIVER OF GLASS CUTS BACK OF HUGH LASHBAUGH, LONACONING, AND PENETRATES LUNG ~ During Street Quarrel Victim Is Pushed Through Glass Door of Union Street Saloon
Lonaconing, Md., Nov. 27 ~ Special -- The open violation of the prohibition amendment in Lonaconing and the wave of drunkenness that has swept this community during the past several weeks, was brought to a climax, many citizens contend, early this morninig in the death of Hugh Lashbaugh, 27 years old, at his home on St. Mary's Terrace. Lashbaugh was pushed against the glass door of McFarland & Doolin's saloon, Union street, during a quarrel between him and a man named Johnson. It is said they had been drinking. A jagged piece of glass shaped like a stiletto, pierce his back, and punctured his lung, and which, in the belief of physicians who attended him caused his death, twenty-four hours later. Acting Coroner Oliver H. Bruce and States Attorney Fuller Barnard, Jr., are investigating the circumstances of his death. Lashbaugh it is alleged engaged in a dispute with another companion named "Mont" Johnson at 4 o'clock Thanksgiving morning on Union street in front of the saloon of McFarland & Doolin. Lashbaugh, it is claimed defied Johnson to fight him and removing his overcoat and top coat, attempted to strike his opponent. Johnson, it is declared was unwilling to engage in a struggle and pushed Lashbaugh away, the latter falling against the glass door with great force, smashing the glass and a sliver, several inches in length pierced his back, from which the blood gushed. The injured man was assisted to the office of Dr. J. O. Bullock, who discovered a piece of double thickness of glass nearly four inches in length had pierced his back near the middle rib. After removing the glass, the physician dressed his injury and took him to his home in his automobile. Lashbaugh's condition becoming worse, his family yesteray summoned Dr. W. Q. Skilling, who made a further examination and found that Lashbaugh's lung had been penetrated and that air bubbles were issuing from the wound. Lashbaugh gradually grew worse, and death ensued at 2:30 this morning. The dead man was the son of George Lashbaugh, and was employed as a miner. He was a member of the Knights of Pythias and Junior Order United American Mechanics, and was well known in Lonaconing. He is survived by his parents, three brothers, John, Daniel and Alexander, and two sisters, Mrs. Nicholson Ellbeck(?) and Miss Edna Lashbaugh, at home. He was unmarried.

Quarrel Over Cards
According to reports, the quarrel started during the time the participants were engaged in a card game in a saloon on Jackson street. It is understood that Lashbaugh and his companions left the card table and on reaching a point in front of McFarland & Doolin's place, renewed their controversy. It is said that one of the young men in the crowd flashed a pistol which was later taken from him.

Mob Kidnaps Balliff
Earlier Thanksgiving Eve, the Town Balliff, according to report, was "kidnapped" in a holiday prank, carried to the town lockup, relieved of his keys and police paraphernalia, locked in one of the steel cells and left until some time Thanksgiving Day, before his plight was discovered.

Orgy of Drunkenness
The town was without a balliff during the Lashbaugh incident, and drunkenness, rowdyism and disorder prevailed throughout the night. Late Thanksgiving Day, a balliff was sworn in by the City Council, but he too, was taken to his home by a number of friends, where he remained. There is widespread complaint in Lonaconing over the disorderly conditions that have recently prevailed. It is declared intoxicants are openly sold to men and youths without any attempt of restraint, and a veritable orgy of disorderly fights and rowdyism has prevailed.
Saturday, November 27, 1920; Cumberland Evening Times, Cumberland, Maryland, pg. 1, col. 7
(Courtesy of Charles Riend/transcribed by Genie)
Posted January 16, 2016

Aug 3, 1947--James W. Hoover, 28, of Jennings, is in the Garrett county jail at Oakland, where he is held in connection with the death of Elzie F. Layman, Shade Mills farmer Wednesday night. Layman was deliberately run down by a truck operated by Hoover, police said he had admitted.

TRUCK DRIVER HELD IN DEATH SORRY FOR ACT ~ JAMES W. HOOVER, 28, SAYS HE WOULDN'T HAVE STRUCK MAN IF HE HADN'T BEEN DRINKING.

Sept 23, 1947. HOOVER GUILTY IN DEATH OF ELZIE LAYMAN ~ JENNINGS MAN CONVICTED OF MURDER IN SECOND DEGREE IN OAKLAND ONE-DAY TRIAL

BARTON, Md., April 11 [Special]—
Great excitement has been created in this town by the belief, now pretty general, that the death of Mrs. Alex Lyons, who died in child-birth Sunday, was occasioned by a beating she received at the hands of her husband. So great became the indignation of citizens that for a time Lyon's life was in danger. He was arrested by Constable Smith and this morning a coroner's jury was summoned by Squire MrConnell. The jury proceeded to the cemetery, and in its presence, the body was exhumed. The remains were taken to a shed, the lid taken off the coffin and the body viewed by the jury, when the inquest was dismissed until 2 o'clock this afternoon. Dr. Skilling, of Lonaconing, and Dr. Boucher, of Barton, during the absence of the jury, held a post mortem examination, the result of which will be made known when the jury reconvenes.

About 3:30 this afternoon the coroner's jury had arrived at a conclusion as to the cause of Mrs. Lyon's death, and while the testimony of the children showed very rough handling of their mother by Lyons, the jury did not think it sufficient to hold the husband responsible for his wife's death. While their verdict has not been formulated, it will acquit Lyons of the awful charge of uxorcide. It appeared from the testimony that Mrs. Lyons died at 5:30 o'clock Sunday morning, the child having been born dead at 5 o'clock. The testimony of the 15 year old daughter, Irene, was damaging against her father. The cause of death as developed by the post mortem, being shock, superinduced by hemmorrhage.
The jury of inquest was composed of the following: Henry Creutzbnrg, foreman; Jacob Briant, James Welsh, R.H.Snyder, John Boals, B. J. Baker, Peter McGuire, Samuel Bradley, James W. Moore, J. F. Dawson, J. D. Shearer, Geo. W. Barnes.
Evening Times; Cumberland, Allegany Co, Md., Thursday, April 11, 1895 - pg 1, col 3
(Courtesy of Pat Dailey)
Posted October 4, 2010

McGINNIS, Mrs. Mollie

GLAD LARUE'S MURDER TRIAL SET FOR FEB. 1 ~ Youth Charged With Killing Pittsburgh Woman Not Uneasy Over Outcome
SHOW MUCH INTEREST ~ John M. Henry, Able Pittsburgh Attorney, Formerly of LaVale, to Defend Accused-Frostburg, Md., Jan 11. Glad LaRue, aged 24 years, son of Richard LaRue, living between the Big and Little Savage Mountain on the National Road, west of here, will go on trial Saturday, Feb. 1, at Pittsburgh, Pa., for the murder of Mrs. Mollie McGuinnis, East Pittsburgh, Friday, Sept. 11. Attorney John M. Henry, Pittsburgh, a former Vale Summit youth, will represent Larue and is expected to arrive in Frostburg early this week to go over certain details in connection with the case with members of Larue's family. Larue's case is causing much local interest. Events surrounding the case are gruesome and much publicity was given the case at the time. Mrs. McGuinnis was returning home from a shopping trip in Wilkinsburg, Pa., and was near the home of a neighbor when it is alleged Larue accosted her. It is alleged, Larue had a piece of lead pipe in his hand and pursuing Mrs. McGuinnis up a flight of stairs to the apartment of a neighbor, battered the door down which was closed in his face and grabbed Mrs. McGuinnis, hitting her over the head into unconsciousness. She died later. Larue was not caught in Pittsburgh, but several days after the crime the Frostburg police seized him as he was about to make a getaway from his father's home on the National Road. The accused is known to many Frostburg people."
Evening Times, Cumberland, Maryland, 11 Jan 1926
(Courtesy of Shawn McGreevy)
Posted August 4, 2011

McGINNIS, Mrs. Mollie

LARUE FOUND GUILTY
Frostburg Man Is Convicted of Killing Woman ~ Pittsburgh Jury Returns First Degree Verdict After Deliberating More Than 70 Hours
LIFE IMPRISONMENT IS RECOMMENDED ~ LaRue Was Arrested In Frostburg Few Days After Beating Victim To Death
Pittsburgh, Pa., March 6--Glad LaRue, of Frostburg, Md., was found guilty of first degree murder today for the slaying near here on September 11 of Mrs. Mollie McGinnis. Mrs. McGinnis was found beaten to death near her home. The jury deliberated 70 hours and recommended life inprisonment. LaRue was arrested in Frostburg a few days after the slaying and was charged with accosting the woman on a road near her home and beating her when she attempted to escape. Mrs. McGinnis was returning to her home from from a shopping trip in Wilkinsburg. She was nearing the home of Mrs. Howard Moore, a neighbor, with whom she left her children, Howard, aged four, and Edward, aged six, when a man accosted her. Observing a piece of lead pipe in his hand, Mrs. McGinnis ran into the Moore house and bolted the door.
PURSUED HER INTO HOUSE
The man pursued her and when admittance was refused, battered down the door and chased Mrs. McGinnis out of the house. He seized her at the head of a stairway leading from the yard of the Moore home and beat her on the head with the pipe. She struggled until she lost consciousness. Her husband, Howard McGinnis, was asleep in his home about 300 feet away. LaRue had been in jail at Pittsburgh on a concealed weapon charge and was paroled in July.
FORMERLY LIVED IN LIBERTY
LaRue formerly boarded at the home of Mrs. R. E. Jenkins, mother of Mrs. Moore, at 128 Lambert street, East Liberty, Pa. Police learned that Mrs. McGinnis had refused to rent LaRue a room in her home shortly before the killing. LaRue, according to the authorities, had threatened to "get someone" after Mrs. McGinnis and Mrs. Jenkins had refused board."
Evening Times, Cumberland, Maryland, 6 June 1926
(Courtesy of Shawn McGreevy)
Posted August 4, 2011

McGREEVY SLAYERS NOT TO SEEK NEW TRIAL
Greensburg. Pa., May 27 --Attorneys for Paul E. Hoggs, Russell C. Wentz and John Greenwald, Pittsburgh District youths, announced today they would not seek a new trial on charges that the young men killed Francis J. McGreevy, road stand proprietor.
The youths were convicted of first degree murder last week and the jury recommended life imprisonment.
Cumberland Evening Times; Wednesday, 27 May 1931
~Genie
Posted June 22, 2011

HOLD INQUEST ON KILLING OF PETER J MCGUIRE
Alvin Ricker, Taxicab Driver Held In Jail, Admits Stabbing, Claims Self-Defense.
Fight at Roadhouse ~ Killing Said to Follow Dispute Over Taxicab Business Between City and Resort.
At an inquest conducted at 2 o'clock this afternoon at the City-Hall, by a Coroner's jury investigate the death of Peter Joseph McGuire, 34 years old, who was stabbed and killed by Alvin A. Ricker, 24 years old, a taxi driver, in an alleged roadhouse brawl, about 3 o'clock Sunday morning on the Amicelle Road, the jury recommended that Ricker be held for the action of the Grand Jury on the charge of murder. A woman who gave her name as Mrs. Milion Kraetor of Baltimore, is held in jail with Ricker as a material witness. McGuire was stabbed in the heart and died in a few minutes. Ricker, the authorities say, admits the killing, but claims self-defense and that he knifed McGuire when the latter beat him over the head with a blackjack. From what the county authorities can learn, the killing followed a quarrel between McGuire and Ricker over the taxicab business to the resort. It appears Rickers was not working but in his own car had driven with a negro to Cresaptown after midnight and stopped at the roadhouse on his return. Peter McGuire was making a call on the telephone for a taxicab at the time. It is asserted Ricker objected to the company belng called, and protested that either McElfish company or the Yellow Cab company should be given the business. During the argument, Clark Shanholtz, a taxicabman arrived at the resort. The couple that wanted the cab gave their names, as Mr. and Mrs. Milton Kraeter, 520 South Fifteenth Street, Baltimore.

Say Ricker Shot at Car Wheel.
Shanholtz declares that when he arrived, Ricker was angry and pulled out a revolver and fired a shot at the front wheel of Shanholtz's machine. The shot brought McGuire to the door, who ordered that the shooting must cease and that he did not want any trouble. Walter Coughenour, proprietor of a cab company, who was also present, states McGuire went inside and bolted the door and called again on the telephone. Ricker, he asserts, broke in the door and grabbed the telephone from McGuire's hands. Ricker was finally persuaded to leave. McGuire is said to have then gone to the cellar and procured a shotgun and is alleged to have pointed it at Coughenour, accusing him of breaking in the door which the latter denied. Coughenour clalms to have tried to pacify both men and got both weapons away and drove down the road and threw them over the bank and returned to Cumberland in his taxicab.

Stabbing Follows Fight
Ricker and McGuire were alone in the room and the dispute was resumed and later engaged in a fistfight out on the roadside. Ricker is reported as stating McGuire hit him over the head and (Ricker) pulled out a knife and stabbed him. After the stabbing McGuire [went] 50 or 75 feet back into the roadhouse and fell into the arms of Michael Monahan of Midland and died. The police were notified and Walter Snowden, colored, a special officer in charge of traffic sign maintenance met Ricker walking on the road near Dreyer's and brought him to Police Headquarters in his sidecar. Ricker said his gasoline had given out and he left his car on the side of the road. He was placed in jail.

County Officers Called
An investigation was made by Assistant Chief of Police J. P. Minnicks, Qfficers John Caesen, John Smallwood, and Deputy Sheriffs A. J. Cromwell, D. W. Mason, County Investigator Terrence J. Boyle and State's Attorney William A. Huster. The authorities found several men and women at the road house, but all denied any knowledge of the fight and killing claiming they were inside. These included Milton Kraeter, whose wife is being held. The Kraeters' are said to have a four-year-old child in Baltimore. The guns and knife were taken in charge by State's Attorney Huster. The pocketknife is of the folding hunting variety, with stiletto-like blade six inches long.

Funeral Tuesday
McGuire's body was removed to Allegany Hospital. An autopsy was performed by Drs. W. F. Williams and Joseph H. Spicer. The physicians said McGuire received a flesh wound in the right side and a wound in the heart. The body was prepared for burial yesterday and taken to the home of his brother, Thomas McGuire, 703 Frederick street. The funeral will be held at 9 o'clock, Tuesday morning from St. Michael's Catholic' church, Frostburg and burial will be in the church cemetery. He is survived by a widow and two young children, Vida and Colleen who make their home with their grandmother, Mrs. Mary Cavanaugh, at Zihlman. His widow is said to live in Pittsburgh, Pa. He is also survived by his mother, living in Washington D.C, two brothers, and three sisters, Mrs James Murphy and Mrs. Walter Kirby, Washington, D. C, Patrick McGuire of Midland, and James and Thomas McGuire of Cumberland. A brother, Richard McGuire, died about two months ago. The roadhouse is owned by Thomas McGuire.
Cumberland Evening Times; Cumberland, Allegany Co, Md., Monday, November 16, 1925 - pg 16, col 1
(Courtesy of Pat Dailey)
Posted March 12, 2011

AN OLD QUARREL ENDS IN MURDER ~ John Moody Shot Down On Street in Frostburg By Ed Welsh, Ex-Miner.
Frank Welsh Was Discharged as a Miner, and Accused Moody of Being the Cause ~ Welsh Brothers and Moody Met Saturday Night
The peace and quiet of the little city of Frostburg was broken in upon Saturday evening and the people were startled by a sudden outbreak of crime unprecedented in the history of the town. Murder and robbery mingled in quick succession. While John Moody a miner, lay upon the sidewalk of Main street, breathing his life away from a bullet wound at the hands of Edward Welsh, an ex-miner, unknown assailants chloroformed and robbed Mrs. Harry Williams of $100, and burglars a short time previous robbed the Cumberland & Pennsylvania railroad station.
The story of the murder and the facts with the same, are so far as they are obtainable as follows:
The crime originated with bad blood that existed between Moody and Frank Welsh, a brother of the man who fired the deadly ball, Moody had secured employment with the Consolidation Coal Co., about the time that Frank Welsh was discharged, and the latter it is alleged, suspected the former with having had something to do with his losing his job.
Saturday was a pay day, and about 11 o'clock that night the Welsh brothers and Moody met in Monahan's saloon, at the corner of Main and Grant streets, where a quarrel started that was carried out into the street. Frank Welsh and Moody continued the quarrel, when it is alleged, Edward Welsh drew a gun and fired, the ball striking Moody in the head, inflicted such a deadly wound that death resulted at 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon at his home on Centre street, Frostburg.
It is alleged that a revolver dropped out of Moody's pocket as he fell. After the tragedy, Welsh went to his home to tell what had occurred, and to make arrangements to surrender himself to the officers of the law, but the latter called at the house and placed Welsh under arrest, and placed him in the town lock-up, but later bringing him to this city and placing him in jail.
A jury was empaneled and an inquest held by Justice John Chambers fin the council chamber at Frostburg last night. State's Attorney A.A. Williamson was present. A number of witnesses were examined, the jury holding Welsh responsible for the crime. The dead man was well known in Frostburg. He formerly conducted a saloon and managed the Frostburg baseball team. He was unmarried and is survived by his aged mother, two sisters, Miss Mary Moody, residing there, and Miss Emma Moody, a teacher in the Flintstone school, and three brothers, Messrs. Orlando, William and Joseph Moody, all of Frostburg.
Edward Welsh, who faces the serious charge, has a wife and two small children. Since leaving the mines he had been working for the local ice company. He will not receive a preliminary hearing and his case will be directly investigated by the grand jury.
CLAIMS SELF DEFENSE
A Times representative called at the jail to see the accused, but the latter said that he did not want to see any one. The only reference that he has made about the affair since his incarceration here was to state to the jail officials that he acted in self-defense. His friends are anxious and ready to go on his bond, but the offense is not a bailable one. It is said that there is much bad feeling in and around Frostburg, and the situation is not a desireable one. Winter is here and many of the miners are out of employment, and some of the latter, at least, think that they have lost their employment through the work of others. But is is to be hoped that things will calm down without any further harm.
The outbreak of crime caused the greatest excitement to prevail that the mountain town has witnessed for many a day.
THE JURY
The jury of inquest was composed as follows: Uriah Jones, foreman; T. H. Morgan, A.P. Burton, John Jeffries, George C. Nevill, David Kelly, W.D. Burton, Owen England, Charles A. Ehm, James A. Parker and Wm. Hawkins.
The Evening Times - Cumberland, Maryland - Monday - December 11, 1905 - Front Page
(Courtesy of Bob Thompson)
Posted July 22, 2010

FROSTBURG
The pistol which Mr. Edward Welsh shot Mr. John P. Moody with was located by Constable John T. Lewis, who turned it over to State's Attorney Wilson. It is a Colts D.A. 41 calibre, double action, six-inch blue steel barrel, six chambers, army make revolver.
The Evening Times - Cumberland, Maryland - Wednesday - December 13, 1905 - Page 3
(Courtesy of Bob Thompson)
Posted July 22, 2010

Ira Cleveland Carson, of Nora Indiana, charged with the murder of Conrad Schaidt, a young man of Cumberland, who was to have been married on Christmas day, was arrested last Friday afternoon by deputy sheriff Don Davis, while working on the Twin Mountain Railroad, several miles from Keyser. Carson at first refused to accompany the officer, but later they persuaded him to surrender and quietly go with them. He was taken to Cumberland on 14 Fri evening and lodged in jail.
On the morning of December 18, while working at the Creek bridge on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, just east of Cumberland. Carson struck Conrad Schaidt over the head with a shovel used in mixing concrete, fracturing his skull at the base of the brain and driving it down over the nose and into the ears bursting them. Schaidt died early Christmas morning at the Alleghany Hospital from meningitis, produced by the injury.
After the assault, Carson, who was given his pay check by Foreman McKernan, cooly went to a bank and had it cashed and then disappeared. The coroner's jury sat last Tuesday night and rendered a verdict fixing the crime on Carson. The testimony showed that the assault was unprovoked and that Schaidt was in the act of raising the handles of his wheelbarrow when Carson, who claimed that Schaidt was in his way, bore down on his head with the shovel. The men had not quarreled.
Carson, since his arrest, stated that the men had been teasing him all morning and he struck Schaidt in a fit of desperation. Carson is a floating laborer and the men who had been working with him said he acted as if there was something in his past that he did not care to tell.
Carson had engaged board at Keyser last Saturday week and since that time had been working on the railroad. Sheriff Corfield at first interviewed the boarding house keeper and found that the new boarder answered the description of the man wanted. Going in an automobile with Deputy Sheriff Davis to the railroad work, Sheriff Corfield found the man wanted and Carson admitted that he struck Schaidt with a shovel, but he did not think hard enough to kill him, nor was it his intention to kill him.
Keyser Tribune, January 5, 1912
(Courtesy of Patti McDonald)
Posted July 29, 2010

Mother of Three Children Shoots Husband in Bed ~ 24-Year-Old Wife Married Man of 44 When She Was Only 13
GRANTSVILLE, Md., Oct. 27 - Mrs. Beulah Virginia Stevey, 24, is being held in the Garrett County jail at Oakland, pending formal charges of first degree murder which will be placed against her at a preliminary hearing this week. Mrs. Stevey shot her husband, Jacob Stevey, 57, as he lay across the bed at their home in Shade Hollow, a short distance west of here. He died at the Miners Hospital, Frostburg, at 1:20 o'clock Thursday afternoon, about an hour after being admitted. It was at first reported that the fatal wound had been self inflicted. Officers who investigated the case became suspicious of the wife however, when it was noticed that the shot which struck the man in the left temple and left shoulder had also pierced his right hand. Neither were there any traces of powder burns on his clothing or person. County authorities questioned the woman here and later took her to Oakland where she was held for investigation. After several hours' questioning however, she confessed to the slaying of her husband, early Friday morning and placed her signed statement in the hands of States Attorney Neil C. Fraley.
Mrs. Stevey told officials that she was glad she had shot her husband and said she had been planning the murder for more than a week. Throughout the entire procedure she maintained a calm, cold attitute. It was reported that she had previously attempted to purchase a quantity of poison at a local store, but the clerk had refused to sell it to her.
The shooting occurred about 10 o'clock Thursday morning. According to the wife's statement, Stevey, who was employed at the G. E. Sloan Coal Company mine, near Grantsville, had come home about the middle of the morning, after an argument with a foreman. He went into the bedroom without speaking to her, and laid down on the bed. She said he had often threatened to kill her and their three small children, and she decided to shoot him for their protection. He was awake, she told officers, when she entered the room and fired the single-barrelled twenty-gauge shot gun at him. She then took the three babies and walked to the highway where she was picked up by some hunters who brought her to Grantsville where she summoned the State Police. Troopers Frank Beamer, Jr., and C. D. Mades responded. They went to the home where they found the man unconscious and bleeding profusely from his wounds. The gun was found lying near his feet. The officers took him to the office of Dr. N. R. Davis, Grantsville physician, who sent them on to the Frostburg Hospital. He died without regaining consciousness about an hour later.
Corp. John H. Doud and Corp. Thomas Currie, of the State Police, States Attorney Neil C. Fraley, Sheriff William Owens and Deputy James Mitchell, came to Grantsville to investigate the affair. Dr. E. I. Baumgartner, deputy medical examiner, performed the autopsy.
Mrs. Stevey was formerly Beulah Virginia Warnick, of near Vale Summit. Both of her parents died last February. She said she was married at the age of 13 and expected another child in March. County officials stated Stevey had been arrested on a charge of entering a home near here, but had recently been released under bond. He and his wife had quarrelled on numerous occasions they were told.
Stevey was a son of the late Alex and Hester Stevey. He came to Grantsville from Midlothian, where his family had resided for about forty years. Besides his wife and their three children, Emma Virginia, 6, Leroy, 5, and Ronnie, 2, he is survived by a brother, Alex Stevey, Midlothian, and two sisters, Mrs. Nancy McManus, Franklin, and Laura Stevey, Wellersburg. He enlisted in the U.S. Army during the World War and served overseas from April 16, until July 22, 1919, taking part in several major battles, including St. Mihiel and the Meuse Argonne.
Funeral services were held Sunday from the Hafer Funeral Home in charge of the Farrady Post American Legion, Frostburg, of which he was a member.
Meyersdale Republican, October 30, 1941
(Courtesy of Sheryl Kelso)
Posted February 5, 2011

GRAND JURY CALLED BACK TO CONSIDER CASE OF MRS. STEVEY
WOMAN CONFESSES TO FATALLY SHOOTING HER HUSBAND ON OCTOBER 23
The Grand Jury for the September term of the Circuit Court is being recalled tomorrow to decide on whether or not an indictment shall be issued against Mrs. Beulah Stevey, 24, who confessed to the murder of her husband on October 23.
Mrs. Stevey, though her attorney, waived a preliminary hearing as has been held without bail in the county jail since she was brought in for questioning a few hours after her husband died.
Her husband, Jacob Stevey, died in Miners’ Hospital, Frostburg, as the result of a gunshot wound in his left temple. The man was shot while lying across a bed in the couple’s home west of Grantsville and his wife told officers that he had committed suicide.
She later confessed. Wounds on the left shoulder and right hand led officers to believe that the wound could not have been self-inflicted.
Two of Mrs. Stevey’s children have been taken to Swanton where they are being cared for by Mrs. Stevey’s sister, Mrs. Paugh. They are Emma Virginia, 6, and Leroy William. Another son, Ronald Lee, about 2, remains with his mother. All three had been placed in jail with their mother for a few days.
In the event an indictment is returned by the grand jury the petit jury panel for the September Term will be recalled to try the case the latter part of November or early in December, according to Neil C. Fraley, State’s Attorney.

MRS. STEVEY IS INDICTED FOR SLAYING OF HUSBAND
SEPTEMBER GRAND JURY RECALLED LAST FRIDAY TO HEAR EVIDENCE; WOMAN TO GO ON TRIAL SOON
Mrs. Beulah Virginia Stevey, twenty-four-year-old mother of three children, was indicted by the Garrett County Grand Jury, in special session, last Friday for the fatal shooting of her husband, Jacob Stevey, at their home near Grantsville.
The September Term Circuit Court jurymen, recalled especially to consider the shot-gun slaying of the 57-year-old miner last month, were in session for an hour before they returned to the court room and delivered to Associate Judge Huster, who presided, their findings, charging the woman with murder.
State’s Attorney Neil C. Fraley said the petit jury panel for the September Term would be recalled to try the case late this month or early December. The nest grand jury would not have convened until in March of next year.
Stevey died on October 23 in Miners’ Hospital, Frostburg, a few hours after he had suffered a gunshot wound in his left temple.
At first telling officers her husband had committed suicide, Mrs. Stevey finally confessed that she shot him because he had threatened to kill both her and their three children; that she feared Stevey was "losing his mind" and might carry out his threat.
Mrs. Stevey has been held in the Garrett County Jail without bail since the shooting and will remain there until her trail. Two of the children are with the woman’s sister at Swanton, while the youngest remains with his mother. The accused woman told Mr. Fraley she was married at the age of fifteen. She is a native of near Midlothian, Allegany county.

DECEMBER 8 IS DATE SET FOR MURDER TRIAL
CASE AGAINST MRS. BEULAH STEVEY WILL BE HEARD BY ALL THREE JUDGES OF THIS CIRCUIT
The petit jury for the September Term of the Circuit Court is being recalled on Monday, December 8, for the trail of Mrs. Beulah Stevey, 24, who was indicted for the fatal shooting of her husband, Jacob Stevey, at their home near Grantsville, on October 23.
This was announced yesterday by the court. All three judges, Chief Judge D. Lindley Sloan, and Associate Judges William A. Huster and Joseph D. Mish, will be on the bench.
Mrs. Stevey was indicted by the Grand Jury in special session, on Friday, November 7, after being in session one hour. She has been in the county jail since the day of the shooting. After telling officers her husband had committed suicide she finally confessed that she shot him because he had threatened to kill both her and her children.

MURDER TRAIL SCHEDULED FORM MONDAY, DECEMBER 8
MRS. STEVEY CONFESSED SLAYING HER HUSBAND TO AUTHORITES AND WAS INDICTED ON NOVEMBER 7
Mrs. Beulah Virginia Stevey who is aged 24 years, will go on trail in the Garrett County Circuit Court next Monday, December 8, for the confessed murder of her husband, Jacob Stevey, aged 57, at their home west of Grantsville on October 23.
Mrs. Stevey was indicted for the crime by the September Term of the Grand Jury, called into special session on Friday, November 7.
The indictment was returned by the jury after being in session less than one hour.
The woman confessed to county officers that she shot her husband because he had threatened to kill both her and her three children. Previous to making a confession of the crime, Mrs. Stevey told the officers that he had committed suicide.
Members of the September Term petit jury have been recalled to hear the case.
Chief Judge D. Lindley Sloan and his associates, Judge William A. Huster and Judge Joseph D. Mish, will reside the trail.

MRS. STEVEY IS GIVEN TWO YEARS MANSLAUGHTER ~ CONFESSED SLAYING HER HUSBAND, DECLARING HER LIFE AND THOSE OF CHILDREN HAD BEEN THREATENED

With Chief Judge D. Lindley Sloan of the Garrett County Circuit Court declaring that the ends of justice could be best served by a light sentence, Mrs. Beulah Virginia Stevey, 24, self-confessed slayer of her husband, Jacob Stevey, 57, was given two years in the House of Correction on Monday morning at a special session of the Court. Judge Sloan and Judge Huster were both on the bench.
As court was called, the two attorneys, W. W. Dawson and Asa T. Matthews, appointed by the Court to defend Mrs. Stevey asked for a plea of guilty of manslaughter, instead of murder in the first degree, and the plea was accepted by the State’s Attorney Neil C. Fraley.
Both defense attorneys pointed out their belief in society owing a duty to an individual and that the accused had been one of fourteen children, born in poverty, with no advantages, no education, no clothing and no food to speak of.
They gave evidence to show that the life of the woman had been of continuance struggles for existence, that her life had been threatened at least four or five times by her husband; that she had been thrown out of her house by her husband many times, twice during late pregnancy. They said it was their belief also that the woman’s life and the lives of her three children would have been forfeited had she not killed him first. They asked for leinency.
The State’s attorney reviewed the case briefly and declared he felt the interests of justice could be served in accepting the plea of manslaughter.
Judge Sloan declared the State was "perfectly right in accepting the plea. No jury would have convicted this woman of murder, under the circumstances, and at the time no jury would have been justified in rendering a verdict of not guilty, but I can readly believe she had reached the limit of her endurance, " he added.
"What worries us are those children," the Court continued. Two children, aged four and six, are now in a farm home near Deer Park, placed there by the Welfare Board. The other child, one and one-half years old, who had remained in the jail with his mother, was also given over to the Welfare Board Monday morning, to be placed in proper environment.
Mrs. Stevey told her attorneys that the first kind treatment she ever received had been in the Garrett County Jail. She had been there since October 23. Another child is expected in March. She was married at the age of fourteen in Allegany county.
In concluding his remarks, Judge Sloan said:
"The ends of justice will be served by a sentences of two years in the House of Corrections."

Taken from the Cumberland Times. 12-9-1941
MRS. STEVEY GETS TWO YEARS AT JESSUP - SLAYER OF HUSBAND SENTENCED AFTER CHARGE REDUCED TO MANSLAUGHTER

OAKLAND, Md. Dec. 9 (AP) Mrs. Beulah Virginia Stevey, 24-year-old mother of three children, began a two-years sentence in the House of Correction today for slaying her husband last October 23.

Mrs. Stevey who pleaded guilty to manslaughter after the Garrett County Grand Jury had indicted her for murder of Jacob Stevey, 57, was sentenced by Chief Judge D. Lindley Sloan.

Judge Sloan said the State’s assent to the reduction of the charge was "perfectly right", and added that while no jury would likely have convicted her of murder, no jury "would have been justified in rendering a verdict of not guilty."

She was charged with shooting her husband at their Grantsville home. At first maintaining Stevey had shot himself, Mrs. Stevey later admitted shooting him because, she said, he had threatened her and the children. Defense attorneys said her life had been "a continuous struggle for existence" and that Stevey twice had "thrown her out of the house."

Mrs. Stevey expects another child in March.
Judge Sloan directed that two children, 4 and 6 years old, be placed in a Deer Park farm house under supervision of the welfare board and that the other child, 1 ½ years old, be cared for by the board.

Taken from the Cumberland Times. 10-27-1942.
HUSBAND SLAYER GRANTED PAROLE - GARRETT COUNTY WOMAN HAD BEEN GIVEN TWO YEARS FOR MANSLAUGHTER

BALTIMORE, OCT 27 (AP) Eleven paroles have been granted and one fine remitted by Governor O’Connor upon the recommendation at the State Director of Parole and Probation.…..

Paroles include:
Beulah Warnick Stevey, 24, sentenced to two years for manslaughter in Garrett county.
(All above Courtesy of Ace Humbertson)
Posted April 11, 2015

TURNER, Miss May

With the top of her head blown off, Miss May Turner of New Baltimore, Somerset County, was found at the home of Howard Corley near New Buena Vista, Juniata Township, this county, Sunday afternoon, breathing her last. Corley says he believes the girl committed suicide, but this theory is discredited by all who have been connected with the investigation. The discrediting of the suicide theory advanced by Corley is due to the fact that the almost lifeless body of the girl was found in the room, with the shotgun containing a recently-exploded shell standing nearby, while there was a broken pane of glass in the window through which the shot had entered and numerous tiny leaden pellets were found imbedded in the wall in range with the hole in the window pane. Broken glass was strewn over the table at which the young lady was sitting when shot, and the floor was covered with spots of blood and pieces of the broken glass. There is no doubt that the person who fired the shot at the girl placed the weapon in the room after the crime was committed in order to leave the impression that the girl had fired the shot that ended her life. According to all the information obtained, Miss Turner, who is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Emanuel Turner, of *New Baltimore, last Thursday went to the home of Corley, who is her uncle, to keep house for him during the absence of Mrs. Corley, who was visiting her father, Solomon Ritchey, in Napier Township, this county. Miss Turner had in her care at the time three small children. Corley said he was out in the haymow of his barn at the time the girl was shot and that the first he knew of the tragedy was when one of his little sons ran to him and told him of finding the wounded girl in the room. Corley says he did not hear the shot. The child when questioned said he was playing in an outhouse when he heard the shot and soon afterward found the wounded girl and ran to the barn, telling his father what had happened. Corley then notified Squire Bittner, the nearest neighbor, and when Mr. Bittner appeared he found the girl unconscious and breathing her last, a gaping wound in the head being the cause of death. Sheriff Grant Dodson, Deputy Sheriff Andrew Dodson, District Attorney D. C. Reiley and Miss Lulu Naus, a stenographer, went to New Buena Vista Monday morning and secured all the evidence available, including a statement from Corley to the effect that he believed the girl had fired the shot that ended her life. When Corley was shown how the shot had plowed through the window and some of the leaden missiles had struck the wall on the other side of the room, he is reported to have said that he could offer no explanation as to these phases of the situation. So far as could be learned from the county officials who investigated the case, no motive for the crime has yet been established. It is believed, however, that evidence of direct nature is being withheld for the inquest, which is expected to place the crime upon the suspect. It is said that Corley was drunk Saturday night and Sunday, and when in this condition is considered a bad man. Squire L. C. Markle of New Buena Vista, acting deputy coroner, empaneled the following jury: S. C. Mowry, John M. Housel, H. E. Whisker, Bruce Zeigler, A. P. Suter and Harry Suter, which met on Monday and questioned Corley, his children and several others, but no agreement was reached by the jury. It is likely that another meeting will be held today, when a verdict will be rendered, as to how the young girl came to her death, and who is responsible for the deed. The funeral of the murdered girl was held Wednesday morning at New Baltimore in the Roman Catholic Church, of which she was a member. She was about 18 years old, was a comely young lady, and was held in high esteem by all who knew her.
The Bedford Gazette, October 24, 1913
(Courtesy of Sheryl Kelso)
Posted June 4, 2011

*[note:The Cumberland Evening Times of October 21, 1913, states that Miss Turner was the daughter of Emanuel Turner of New Buena Vista rather than New Baltimore.]

The coroner's jury in the case of Miss May Turner, who was shot and killed near New Buena Vista Sunday, October 19, re-convened last Friday morning at 9 o'clock at the office of Justice of the Peace L. C. Markel, who had been deputized as coroner, to act in place of the Coroner, Dr. J. G. Hanks, of Breezewood. John Corley, the 11-year-old son of Howard Corley, at whose home the tragedy occurred, testified that he was examining the gun on the porch, just outside the window, and had it over his arm when it was accidentally discharged, the shot passing through the glass and striking the girl as she sat by the table. The father still insisted that he knew nothing of the affair, having been at the barn at the time. He also stated that the boy had loaded the gun himself. Forrest Corley, aged eight, testified that his brother John had gone into the house and brought the gun out. His testimony was, however, not taken into consideration. The younger brother, Paul, aged four, was not placed on the stand. John Corley is small for his age and seems rather illiterate for a child of 11. His story Friday was in conflict with his assertions on Monday of last week, that he was in the yard when he heard the shot and went into the house to find his cousin dying. The coroner's jury verdict was that May Turner had come to her death by murder or unlawful killing, either by Howard Corley or his son John, probably the son, with the father accessory. Both were arrested about 5 o'clock last Friday evening and brought to Bedford by Sheriff Grant Dodson, in company with District Attorney D. C. Reiley and his stenographer, Miss Lulu Naus. The prisoners were lodged in separate cells in the county jail with the hope that further confession would clear up the remaining mystery of the tragedy. Howard Corley is 42 years old, short in stature, weighs 160 pounds, with sandy mustache. His wife, who is 38 years old, is badly crippled and for this reason had her niece with her to assist in the household duties. The latest development in the case is the petitioning for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of Howard Corley and his 11-year-old son John Corley. The writ was allowed Tuesday evening and fixed November 8, as to whether the father and son shall be released from jail until their trial, which is fixed for the term of court beginning November 10. The father still maintains that he did not hear the shot that killed the girl. The son now states that he was on the porch with the shotgun, which was accidentally discharged, the charge of shot striking the girl, who was sitting inside the house. The boy says he extracted the exploded shell and buried it in the potato patch, later standing the gun in a corner of the house.
The Bedford Gazette, October 31, 1913
(Courtesy of Sheryl Kelso)
Posted June 4, 2011

The habeas corpus proceedings in the matter of the discharge of Howard Corley and his 11-year-old son John, confined in jail here for several weeks on the charge of causing the death of May Turner at New Buena Vista on October 19, occupied the greater part of Monday afternoon, and resulted in the discharge of both defendants from custody, Judge J. M. Woods deciding that there was not sufficient evidence to warrant holding them for trial. Corley, with his wife and son, left for his home in the evening. A number of witnesses testified practically to the same effect—that the uncle of the dead girl was drunk that day; that he had left the village for his home, a mile away, in an intoxicated condition. All verified Corley's evidence at the inquest as to the location of the farm, as to the position of the body when found and as to the fact that the girl had lived an hour after the shooting. They stated that Corley had told the same story right along, about being at the barn at the time of the shooting and not knowing anything about it until his boy had called him. District Attorney D. C. Reiley was unable to produce any evidence positively connecting Howard Corley with the crime. The boy not having reached the years of legal accountability, was not held. The Corleys were represented by Attorney Frank E. Colvin. The District Attorney was assisted by Hon. J. H. Longenecker.
The Bedford Gazette, November 14, 1913
(Courtesy of Sheryl Kelso)
Posted June 4, 2011

From a friend who was on the ground at the time of the discovery of the dead body, we learn the folloiwng history of the case, and all the particulars attending to it. It appears that the deceased was married to a Miss -- Shaffer, a German girl of foreign birth, of 20 or 22 years of age, and by her had one child--that he left home early on Sunday morning the 30th day of October, accompanied by Henry Pritts, who had been residing with him, with the intention, it is said, of hunting hoop-poles--that they had a smooth-bore gun wiht them, and that about noon the same day the man, Pritts returned, but unaccompanied by Weimer. Thus matters stood for a day or two, when his friends becoming uneasy at his prolonged absence, several searches were made during the week by his relatives and neighbors, but without success. On Sunday last the people of that neighborhood and many from this town, Berlin, Berlely's Mills, Meyers' Mills, Centreville, Milford, &c., turned out on a general hunt,and the result was the finding of the dead body of Weimer about noon on that day, close to the public road leading from Myers' Mills to Centreville, two of three miles from his residence, by a party belonging to the Summit and Berlin companies. When found he was lying upon his back in a very open woods, clear of underbrush, and where he might have been seen a considerable distance. The gun was lying upon his body, which had evidently been placed there after dath, with the muzzle of it extending up to the chin, but elevated some four or five inches above the face, and a forked stick about four feet long was laid along upon the top of it, with the fork against the trigger, apparently for the purpose of inducing the belief that he had shot himself; but such a supposition is rebutted by all the attendant circumstances. The unanimous opinion was, that he was shot by some one unknown. There were suspicious circumstances enough eveloped to justify the arrest of Henry Priss and the wife of deceased, for the time bein g, but the woman was subsequently discharged, and Pritts committed to prison yesterday (Tuesday) about noon. The case, of course, will undergo a judicial investigation; and as our regular term of Court is but one week hence, we refrain from saying anything further in regard to it, as it would be unfair to the prisoner to make statements through a public journal, founded upon rumor that might tend to predjudice the mids of jurors. When that investigation does take place, we will endeavor to give a full and accurate report of the evidence given on the trial, the Judge's charge to the jusry, and all the incidents connected therewith as soon as it is concluded. The deceased was about 27 years of age. The age of Pritts is between 55 and 60.

Since writing the above, additional particulars have been received. The officer who brought the prisoner to jail informs us that Mrs. Weimer, the wife of deceased, made a confession before Squire Walker, of Summit township, on Monday last, in which she states, among other things, that up to Thursday last Pritts had kept the fate of her husband concealed from her, but that on that day he had voluntarily acknowledged that he had killed him, and likewise told her how and where he had committed the crime-- that subsequent to the death of Weimer, and previous to said acqnowledgment[sic], he had made several proposals of marriagae which were indignantly rejected, -- that upon one occasion he had insisted that she should give her husband poison, which the prisoner had apparently purchased for that purpose, in his coffee, which she refused to do. She also states that knowing the desire of htis man Pritts to take the life of deceased, she had advised him when taking down his gun, preparatory to going into the woods witht ehf ormer, not to do so, rearing that something sderious might occur. --And further, that Pritts, when he confessed to her that he had killed Weimer, told her that she must keep it a secret for if it was found out they would both be hung.
Saturday, November 19, 1859; Democratic Alleganian (Cumberland, MD)
~Genie
Posted April 7, 2018

[NB: A jury found Pritts guilty of first degree murder on February 10, 1860.
A death warrant was issued by Gov. William F. Parker and he was hanged June 22, 1880]

NOT GUILTY
Ellsworth Humbertson was declared not guilty by the Circuit Court of Allegany county, of administering polson.
Frederick News, November 6, 1897

ACCUSED OF MURDER--A Coroner's Jury Holds Al.[sic] Humbertson Responsible for Death of Miss Minnie Woerner.
Special Dispatch to the Baltimore Sun)
Cumberland, Md., Aug. 3 - Al.[sic] Humbertson, a former street car conductor, has been arrested and charged with the murder of Minnie Woerner, the seventeen year old daughter of Christopher Woerner, of Cumberland. Constable Ward found him at his sister's home at 1 o'clock this morning and took him to jail. Dr. Harold D. Miller, J. Jones Wilson and E.T.Duke, who held a post-mortem examination of the firl, testified to the coroner's jury that their investigation showed that poisonous drugs had been administered to her. The father testified that his daughter stated on her deathbed that she had taken powders given her by Humbertson. Mr. Woerner also said Humbertson came to him expressing sorrow over Miss Woerner's death, and stating that while "on the bum" to Baltimore he had received a telegram announcing the occurrence. The time Humbertson said he received the telegram was two hours before the girl died. The coroner's jury returned a verdict of death from poison administered by Al.[sic] Humbertson.
The Baltimore Sun, 4 Aug 1897
(Courtesy of Theresa Burba)

FROM CUMBERLAND ~ Ellsworth Humbertson, Charged With Poisoning Minnie Woerner, On Trial.
[Special Dispatch to the Baltimore Sun]
Cumberland, MD., Nov. 4- Ellsworth Humbertson is on trial before Judges Boyd and Sloan on the charge of murder. Minnie Woerner, a young girl, died from poison by arsenic alleged to have been administered by Humbertson. Drs. Edward Duke and J. Jones Wilson, Professor Tonry, of Baltimore, and others testified as to the fact that the girl's death was caused by arsenical poisoning. Professor Tonry, who examined the girl's stomach, found arsenic in it. Dr. H.? B. Miller, who attended the girl during her sickness, stated that he could not positively give the cause of the girl's death.
The Baltimore Sun, 5 Nov 1897
(Courtesy of Theresa Burba)

ALDERTON, DIEHL, OLPHIN, STEWART

TOWN HILL 27 Mar 1899 Big Fight at Town Hill following a dance. Involved were Albert Alderton, John Stewart, Mr Olphin, Alvey Alderton and Silas Diehl, who received the most of it, a blow to the head by a plank and may not live. (8 paragraph story with follow-up articles for several days)
Excerpts from The Cumberland Times;Transcribed by Charles Often
[note: Silas Diehl died ten days later on April 7, 1899 ~ Genie]
Posted June 6, 2011

BYRD, Allison

Allison Byrd, 23 years old, a Markleysburg resident, remained in a critical condition today, the victim of a self-inflicted bullet wound. The bullet from a savage rifle ripped through the youth's abdomen while he was sitting on the running board of his car at Markleysburg after an argument with his 16 year old girl friend, Margaret Nicola of Markleysburg. The couple had come to Uniontown on Sunday to visit Mr. and Mrs. Robert Collins of rear 84 Highland Ave. It was reported that they had a quarrel and that she refused to return home with him. She made the return trip to Markleysburg with her brother-in-law and sister, Mr. and Mrs. Collins, while Byrd followed in his own machine. When they reached Markleysburg, Byrd took the rifle from his car and was sitting on the running board a few yards from the other three when the gun discharged. He was rushed to the Uniontown Hospital where an emergency operation was performed. The bullet entered the abdomen and emerged at the hip. Questioned by State Motor Police, Byrd reportedly stated that he was attempting to remove the bullet from the gun when it exploded.
Uniontown Herald, December 11, 1939
(Courtesy of Sheryl Kelso)
Posted February 18. 2017

Saturday Night Frostburg Was Startled by a Shooting Affair That Came Near Resulting in a Lynching.
Wounded Brought to Hospital

"This town was thrown into a state of excitement on account of a shooting affray which occurred upon the main street of the town about 10:30 o'clock Saturday evening and as a result two men are lying in the hospital in Cumberland, hovering between life and death, and the man who did the shooting is in the county jail, painfully wounded as a result of a gunshot wound inflicted by an officer in attempting his arrest. The facts leading up to the cause of the shooting were given to the Times correspondent by Mr. D. S. Brooks, superintendent for the selling force of men arrived in this place Saturday evening and were quartered at the Gladstone Hotel. Prior to coming here they were working in and around Cumberland. Sometime during last week Mr. J. W. Campbell, one of the salesmen, commenced to imbibe too freely, and Mr. Brooks found it necessary on Saturday to dismiss him and pay him the amount of money due him. Mr. Campbell had previously worked for the company and had on one occasion drawn an amount of money by draft which was not due him, and which he had never returned to the company. About three weeks ago he commenced to work for the company again and it was understood when he started that he would reimburse the company for the amount due them from his salary, and when Mr. Brooks settled with him on Saturday he retained this amount, which angered Campbell to some extent, yet he acknowledged the amount should be paid. Mr. Brooks left Cumberland on the 8 o'clock street car and came to Frostburg, Mr. Campbell informing him that he was coming to Frostburg on the next car, as he expected to get some mail at that place.

When the 10 o'clock car from Cumberland arrived here, Campbell got off and was very much under the influence of liquor, and going into the Gladstone Hotel, he registered as J. W. Campbell, and gave his residence as "Everywhere" and remarked when going in the hotel that he had blood in his eye, and would just as soon hang upon a telegraph pole as anywhere else. After registering he spoke to Mr. Brooks about the money he had retained from his salary. Mr. Brooks in answering him told him that the matter had been satisfactorily settled and he did not care to converse about it, but hoped they would be friends. At this time Mr. Brooks was called to the telephone booth, to answer a call from Cumberland, and upon returning to the office Campbell whipped out his gun, which was of .38 calibre, and fired at Mr. Brooks. The gun was so close to him that the flash of the discharge was felt on his face. Mr. Brown[sic] started to get away from him, when he again fired two more shots at him, and it was the first of these three shots that wounded Mr. Charles Martin, one of the employes[sic] of Mr. Brooks, the ball entering his body and lodging near the heart. Mr. Brooks by this time had gotten out to the sidewalk and started down street closely followed by Campbell, who from a position in front of the Gladstone fired at him again.

About the time the third shot was fired Constable John Bartolon was standing in front of Wittig Bros. store and hearing the shots started to investigate and when about half way across the street he saw Campbell coming down street. Campbell at once opened fire on Bartolon who about that time slipped and fell, the shot passed over him. This is the shot that is supposed struck Mr. Merino Bruno, an Italian miner, who was standing in front of G. W. Hocking and Son's shoe store, and who is now in the hospital in Cumberland in a serious condition. By the time Bartolon got to his feet Campbell had passed him and was still following Brooks down street. Bartolon pulled his gun and made chase to try and get his man without wounding him, but Campbell turning saw him with his gun in his hand and at once opened fire on him. Bartolon, crouching low, returned the shot, shooting low in order to avoid hitting any of the people who were on the street.

Campbell again shot at Bartolon, this time inflicting a slight flesh wound in his left side. Bartolon returned the fire, this time shooting low, and caught his man in the leg near the hip, the ball passing through his leg. Bartolon again attempted to use his gun and it missed fire and he jumped into the store of Albert Spitznas to examine it, and while doing this Campbell started down Payne Alley, when he was grabbed by Mr. Sylvester Crowe and thrown to the ground, assisted by Mr. Alf. Schofield, who took the gun from Campbell. By this time a large crowd had gathered and Campbell was hurried to the town lockup and placed behind the bars, and the sheriff of the county was notified, who later came to Frostburg in an automobile and took the prisoner to Cumberland and placed him in the county jail.

After the excitement had abated the wounded men, Mr. Martin and Mr. Bruno, were taken in charge by Drs. McLane, Griffith, Denauley, Price and Walker, and everything possible was done to relieve their suffering. Later they were placed upon a special car furnished by Supt. Jno. E. Taylor of the electric road, and hurried to the Western Maryland Hospital.
Mr. Brooks, the superintendent of the Wrought Iron Range Company, regrets this shooting affair, and says there was no provocation for the act, and nothing done by him or any of his men justified the attack made by Mr. Campbell. Mr. Brooks seems to be a gentleman in every way and has with him eight other men who seem to be steady and industrious, and they all expressed themselves to the Times correspondent as being surprised at the dastardly attempt made upon the life of their manager, for when they left Campbell in Cumberland he seemed to be friendly with them all, but they attribute his mad act to his being dismissed and the imbibing of too much liquor.

There was considerable excitement after the shooting and a number of men in the immense crowd of people suggested lynching Campbell, but no attempt was made and he was landed in the town jail without any interference on the jpart of anyone.
Constable Bartolon is being congratulated today upon the brave manner in which he stood his ground when Campbell was shooting at him. Even after he was wounded, and had he so desired, he could have killed his man. But rather than do that, he shot low, hoping to disable him and in this way got him alive and place him behind the bars, and let the law take its course with him, and this he accomplished. Although knowing that in facing the drunken man mad[sic], who was about 15 feet away from him, he was putting his life in danger, he took these chances believing that it was his duty to protect the lives of the hundreds of people who were on the street at the time the shooting commenced, and in doing so demonstrated that he was no coward and would perform his duty, regardless of consequences. Mr. Campbell, the man who did the shooting is a resident of Baltimore. Mr. Martin, one of the men who was shot in the Gladstone hotel, is a resident of Chambersburg, PA. and is the hostler in charge of the seven teams which Mr. Books and his men use in their work. Mr. Merino Bruno is a resident of Eckhart and a miner by occupation, and a very industrious and steady young man. The two wounded men, who were brought here as stated above, were taken to the Western Maryland Hospital. At nine o'clock this morning Dr. Hawkins, who is attending both of the men, stated that while neither of them was out of danger, that their condition at the above hour was fairly good, and that Martin was in good shape. Later, this afternoon it was stated that Mr. Martin was getting along nicely, but that Bruno was very critically ill, but that he too, was doing fairly well. The wounded men when they were brought here Saturday night, were taken to the hospital in ambulances from Stein's undertaking establishment.

Frostburg, Sept. 2 - Mrs. Evelyn McKenzie, 28, who gave her address as 1810 North Charles street, Baltimore, was treated last night at Miners' Hospital for pistol wounds in her left thigh, said to have been inflicted by Frank Carey, 29, West Loo street, this city. According to city police, Mrs. McKenzie and her sister, Mrs. Enlow Wampler, Severn, Md., and her brother, Edgar McKenzie, this city, were leaving the Little Ritz restaurant, West Main street, about 9 p.m. when Carey, seated in a car parked in front of the establishment, fired five shots from a .38 calibre revolver at Mrs. McKenzie. One shot pierced her thigh, but the wound was treated at the hospital, and she was able to leave. Carey, who had been arrested here on several other occasions, is said to have remarked to the investigating officers that he was sorry that all five of the shots did not hit her. According to Mrs. Wampler, she and Mrs. McKenzie had arrived here yesterday from Baltimore for a visit with relatives. She said they went to the Little Ritz about 8 p.m. Seeing Carey in the parked car, she said she and her sister decided to leave the restuarant. Mrs. Wampler said that Carey had threatened her sister on previous occasions, and that Mrs. McKenzie had left Frostburg about three months ago and obtained work in Baltimore to get away from Carey. She said that Carey had come to Baltimore several times but that her sister had refused to go out with him. According to Trooper Beamer, Carey, who has a cork leg and a glass eye, said he wanted to put Mrs. McKenzie in the same condition as he is in. Following the shooting, city police said that Carey went into the Little Ritz and sat down at the bar. He did not resist arrest but admitted the shooting to the local police officers, who lodged him in the city jail. According to a signed statement to the State's Attorney's office, Carey admitted the shooting and told of the jealousy rankling in his bosom ever since he was "jilted" by Mrs. McKenzie. Mrs. McKenzie had been employed in the kitchen of the Little Ritz until about three months ago.
The Cumberland Evening Times, September 2, 1942
(Courtesy of Sheryl Kelso)
Posted March 18, 2011