Putnam County, Indiana - Chapter 13: Noted Murder Trials, 1910

The first murder in Putnam county was followed almost immediately by the first suicide. It occurred in what is now Cloverdale township in 1824, and is thus described by Capt. H. B. Martin, of that place : "Among those who settled in this vicinity at that time were Thomas James, James Robinson. Ambrose Bandy, John Macy and Andrew Kilgore. The first named of these was the victim, the second the perpetrator of the murder and suicide. James was living with his wife and three children in a small cabin situated near what is known as the 'Granny Nelson Spring.' He had entered a quarter section of land lying west of his temporary home and embracing the ground now occupied by the Cloverdale cemetery. The land was then covered with huge and towering walnut, poplar, sugar and ash trees and was considered one of the best locations in the surrounding country. Robinson had settled and built him a cabin on a choice piece of land one-half mile south of James, and was living there with his wife and children. In that early day every article of clothing worn by the settlers was spun, woven and manufactured at home. Flax and tow linen furnished the summer wear. And it was concerning a trifling quantity of flax that the quarrel arose which ended in the bloody deeds we are narrating. It appears that Robinson's wife had employed Mrs. Eunice Bandy, wife of Ambrose Bandy, to spin some flax. The calculating and economical housewives of that time knew just how much thread a pound of the raw material would make. And after ]\Irs. Bandy returned the spun flax. ^^Irs. Robinson weighed it and told some of her neighbors that the quantit}- returned was short one 'dozen.' This was gossipped about b}- the neighbor women, till it reached the ears of the parties accu.'ied of embezzling one 'dozen.' Ambrose Bandy, the husband, became much incensed and threatened to sue Robinson and his wife for slander. Thi-^ in turn enraged Robinson, who was a morose, sulky and very quicktempered man. He became unfriendly with every one of his neighbors who had talked about the affair of the flax thread or whom he suspected of having friendly relations with the Bandys. He was especially angered at Bandy, James. Macy and Kilgore.

"A few da}s before the committal of the crimes, which deprived two famihes of their protectors and made orphans of eight httle children in the lonely frontier settlement, Mr. and Mrs. Bandy visited James, remaining over night. This perhaps sealed the fate of the latter. A few days afterwards Robinson arose on a bright sunshiny morning (in April. 1824), and. after carefully loading his rifle informed his family that thereafter they would have to take care of themselves, that he should do no more for them, and left his cabin, gun in hand. He first went to Bandy's, evidently with the intention of making him the first victim, for he had previously declared that there were seven persons in the neighborhood that he meant to destroy, referring to Bandy and his friends before mentioned and the wives of some of them. Bandy saw him approaching and hid behind a tree until he went away. He ne.xt proceeded to the home of Kilgore. who was also fortunate enough to perceive him while he was at a distance and conceal himself. Robinson next turned his attention to Macy. Macy's cabin stood on the present site of Alexander McCurrv-'s residence in Cloverdale. When Robinson approached. Macy and his son James were together in a clearing in front of their humble dwelling, and the bloodthirsty assassin's heart failed him. He could not strike down the father in the presence of his little son, and walked swiftly by without raising his head or speaking, and wended his way to James'. James was alone in the forest hewing puncheons to floor a house he was preparing to build on his own land. He felled a tree, by mistake. a little south of the boundary of his land, near the southeast corner and was consequently a few feet south of the present Mount Meridian road. The leaves were peeping from the bursting buds, birds were twittering above him in the branches of the tall trees, while rank vegetation was springing from the rich soil at his feet. The season, his prospects and surroundings all tended to make life to him sweet, desirable and enjoyable. He was bowed o\er his work unaware of danger and most probably congratulating himself upon his happy selection of a location, and thinking of a future in which figured conspicuously a cleared wilderness, teeming fields of grain and a comfortable home for his wife and little ones, when a stinging pain through his body and a ringing report of a rifie ended his dream and blasted his hopes. Robinson had skulked through the forest and dodged from tree to tree, as an Indian approaches his foe. until within fifty yards of his unoflFending victim and then, taking (leli])erate aim. fired the fatal shot. The ball passed through James' left arm and through his body from side to side, lodging against the skin.

"On receiving the wound. James straightened up and looking in the direction of the report, saw his murderer in the act of lowering his weapon, the smoke- of the discharge curling above his head. He contemplated his assassin for a moment and then ran with the speed of a stricken deer to his cabin, about two hundred yards distant, and bounded into the midst of his terrified family, the blood spurting in a stream from the wound in his side. A messenger was dispatched to Greencastle and in due time returned with Doctor Lowe. The young and inexperienced physician removed the ball and then directed his efforts to healing the external wounds. James lingered twentv-eight days and died of blood poisoning, which no doubt could have been obviated by skillful treatment. After firing the fatal shot. Robinson returned home. His oldest child, a daughter, was at home caring for the babv, and his wife and other children were absent at work in a clearing some distance from the cabin. He re-loaded his rifle and attached one end of a string to the trigger and the other to a peg sticking in the wall on the outside of the house, cocked the piece and placed the muzzle against his left breast over his heart, and by drawing it towards him, discharged it. The ball passed through his heart, causing instant death. He was buried on his own land. His children grew to man-and womanhood in this locality, but finally moved awav. His widow remarried and raised a large family by the second marriage.

"Two of James' sons lived to old age, one of them. Stanfield P., filling the office of county commissioner for several years. James, himself, was a representative type of the early Kentucky immigrant in Putnam county. He was tall, straight and well proportioned. As a neighbor he was kind, hospitable and generous and his tragic and untimely death cast a pall of gloomy dread and sorrow over the isolated settlement in the wilderness long after he was gone."

For many years after the death of Thomas James the security, peace and dignity of the county was undisturbed. But in 1840 a second murder occurred which, while no more atrocious than the taking off of James, is noteworthy in that the accused was arrested, tried and paid the penalty with his life. It was the first judicial execution in the county. As those who were living at the time or had personal knowledge of the incident have long since passed away, it might have been difficult to gather the required facts but for the timely discovery of a pamphlet printed at the time the tragedy took place and which contains an authentic account of the unfortunate occurrence. Reference is made to the murder of Abraham Rhinearson, in the summer of 1840. by William Thompson. The pamphlet, which

The author, J. L. Belotte. was a Methodist preacher, who was the murderer's spiritual adviser and to whom the confession was made. It is somewhat minute and voluminous so that only a brief recital of the material facts can be attempted here.

In the summer of 1840 the body of a man who had been dead several days was found in a lonely spot in the woods in the south end of Clinton township, about seven miles from Greencastle. All the indications pointed to death by violence, but owing to the advanced state of decomposition, it was impossible to identify the remains. Later a hat was discovered, in some bushes nearby, in the inside of which was a letter addressed to Abraham Rhinearson, Bloomington, Iowa. John Lynch, the town constable, in an endeavor to unravel the mystery, went to Iowa and there learned that, shortly before, Rhinearson and William Thompson, whose home was at Middletown. in Henry county, in this state, had set out from Iowa too-ether, headed for Indiana. Returning here. Lynch and George Thompson, also of this place, made a trip to Henry county, where they arrested Rhinearson's fellow traveler, William Thompson, and brought him to Greencastle. Either en route hither or soon after his arrival Thompson confessed his crime, stating that as he himself was about out of money he had killed his companion for the paltry sum the latter had, which hardly exceeded five dollars. On arrival at Greencastle he was brought before James M. Grooms, justice of the peace, and after a brief preliminary inquirv- returned to jail to await the action of the circuit court. Early in Januarv-. 1841, he was arraio-ned for trial before Judge Elisha Huntington and. being unable to hire counsel. the court ordered John Cowgill, Edward McGaughey and Henry Secrest to conduct his defense. The prosecuting attorney was Delana R. Eckels. The jury consisted of James Xosler, foreman, Joseph Crow, John Robinson. Enoch Wright, Nathaniel Jones. William Christy. John Wilson, lohn Clear- waters, Ouinton VanDyke, Isaiah Goodwin, Jonathan MuUinix and Jacob Pearcy. About fifteen witnesses were examined and the case submitted to the jury without argument by the counsel on either side. The judge dehvered the charge to the juiy in a very feehng and impartial manner. The latter retired to their room and in about twenty minutes returned a verdict of guilty. On Friday, January 15th, the prisoner was brought into court and formally sentenced. He was condemned to death, the date of the execution being fixed for February 12th.

As it was the first execution in the county, a deep interest was manifested in the subsequent proceedings. The place selected was a grove south of town near the corner of Locust and Berry streets, now occupied by the residence of the late Charles Leuteke. It was a bitterly cold day and was onlv made endurable by numerous fires over the grounds around which the great crowd present gathered in groups. When the condemned man, driven in a wagon from the jail and seated on his coffin, reached the place of execution the pressure to see him was so great the local militia company, under command of Gen. George K. Steele, was necessary to keep the crowd back. The rope, containing twenty-four strands of hemp, made by the late Thomas Talbott, was attached to the limb of a large elm tree beneath which was the platform on which the condemned man sat while the religious service which preceded the execution, took place. A hymn or two were sung, the music being led by Aaron Stewart, a singer of local renown, and it is said the condemned man joined in the songs in a voice full, clear and without a tremor. The Rev. Air. Belotte was present and led the services. Evan L. Kercheval, the sheriff, at the proper time sprung the trap and the sentence of the law was carried out without delay or mishap of any kind.

The next and last judicial execution in Putnam county took place in the jail yard, west of the public square, in Greencastle, on Friday, December 18, 1857. Alanv persons who witnessed it are still living. The prisoner was Greenbury O. Mullinix. who, on the loth of the preceding April, had murdered his wife, Martha Ann Sublett, to whom he had been married exactly one month. The murder, which occurred near Manhattan, was equally brutal and unprovoked. From the account in the weekly paper of the period it appears that the wife "had tied up a bundle of clothing in the morning and was hurrying through with her housework in order to prepare for her baptism, which was to take place that day. Mullinix. her husband, was opposed to her joining church and after feeding the stock returned to the house in a very angrv mood. The faithful and unsuspecting wife had prepared breakfast and welcomed her husband with a propitiating smile. Evidently, after a few words, the bmte struck her down with a fire shovel. \\ hen Doctor Layman arrived he found her lying on the floor with her head crushed and beyond all human help. Her husband claimed that some unknown person had made the attack while he was absent at the barn, but later he confessed that he had committed the bloody deed himself." He was promptly arrested and in a few days appeared before Joseph F. Farley and John S. Jennings, justices of the peace, who. on the i6th inst., after a careful inquiry and the examination of numerous witnesses, committed the prisoner to jail on the charge of murder in the first degree to await the action of the circuit court. The case came on for trial in the latter court Tuesday, October 13, 1857. and was not disposed of till the following Saturday. John A. Matson, D. E. Williamson and R. S. Ragan appeared for the accused and John P. Usher. John Cowgill and ]\Iilton A. Osborn for the state. Judge James Hanna presided at the trial. "The prisoner." says the Putnam County Banner, "was ably defended by his counsel who placed the issue of the case upon the ground that the prisoner at the time he committed the rash act and for years previously had been laboring under the effects of an insane mind." Numerous instances were cited by witnesses and were dwelt and commented upon by defendant's counsel in a masterly manner to establish this in the minds of the jury, but, as the result has shown, to no effect. All the evidence adduced on both sides having been heard, as well as the arguments of counsel, the case was submitted to the jury on Thursday evening, who. after retiring for about an hour, brought in the following verdict ; "We the jury find the defendant guilty as charged in the indictment and that he suffer death." The verdict was signed by all the jurors as follows : Philip Carpenter, William B. Wilson. W. B. Cunningham. James E. Talbott. Robert Smith, Tames L. Wilson, Edward R. Shackelford, Thomas Sutherlin. John INIiller, Washington Breckenridge, George W. Kurtz and Russell Crawford.

On Fridav afternoon the defendant was brought into court to receive his sentence. After reciting the facts brought out at the trial and the resulting verdict of the jury, the court then announced: "It is therefore considered bv the court that you be returned to the county jail whence you came and that vou be there kept in safe custody until Friday, the 20th day of November next, and that you then be brought forth between the hours of ten o'clock in the forenoon and two o'clock in the afternoon of that day and taken from thence to the place of execution and be then and there hanged by the neck till you are dead."

"During the delivery of the sentence," relates The Banner, "the prisoner stood up before the judge and the audience in the most firm and undaunted manner, e\incing a stoicism and indifference almost unparalleled by those who have been arraigned before the bar of justice for similar offenses. To the question of His Honor, 'Are you prepared to stand before that all-seeing Judge, seated upon the throne of eternal justice, and declare your innocence?' he replied, 'I am!' And after the judge had concluded his sentence and the sheriff was about to take him back to jail, in a haughty and indignant manner, he said to the judge, "I thank you for the execution.' "

A (lav or two before November 20th, the date set for the execution. Governor Willard, in answer to the appeal of the prisoner's father, granted a respite until Friday, December i8th, awaiting the action of the supreme court; but the latter court declined to interfere and at the appointed time the sentence of the law was duly carried out. The hnal chapter in the unfortunate affair is thus narrated in the Banner in its issue of December 23, 1857: "On Fridav, the iSth inst., at eleven minutes past eleven o'clock a. m.. Greenbury O. Mullinix was executed at this place in accordance with the requirements of the law, for the murder of his wife last April. Up to the time of his execution and even upon the scaffold, with death in its worst form and with all its horrors staring him in the face, he persisted in his innocence, although he had two or three months previously declared that he had committed the deed - that he had imbrued his hands in the blood of his innocent and unoffending wife! After being led upon the scaffold by the sheriff, William L. Farrow, accompanied by Rev. E. W. Fisk, of the Presbyterian church, and Rev. William Atherton, of the Methodist church, and after an impressive and appropriate prayer by Mr. Fisk. the sheriff asked the prisoner if he had anything to say, to which he replied that he had nothing to say except that he was innocent and that he felt better than when they made him confess to the murder of his wife. (He was compelled to make this acknowledgment, as he alleged, thinking that he would be taken from his confinement immediately and hanged, preferring the latter punishment to the former.) After it was found he hafl nothing further to say Mr. Farrow, the sheriff, proceeded to prepare him for the ordeal through which he was about to pass, by first tving his hands behind him and then drawing a cap over his face and tying it under his chin. This accomplished, the rope was next put around his neck and while the sheriff was thus engaged, having adjusted the rope a little too tight, the prisijner. in a jovial and unconcerned manner, said: 'Bill, this is rather tight," following the remark by a big laugh and apparently as unconcerned as if he was only about to engage in a little jesting freak. The rope being properlv adjusted, the rope that held the platform on which the prisoner stood was severed and the one around the pri.soner's neck breaking, he alighted upon the ground and \valke<! some two or three yards, making ihu'- ing the time a kintl of unnatural sound, when he was taken under the scaffold, hoisted up. tlie rope tied and there in the presence of the recpnsite number of witnesses the unf<irtunate being was suft'ered to hang suspended by the neck for the space of thirty-three minutes, and until pronounced death He did not struggle unusually hard and apparently died as easily as most of those who atone for their crimes upon the gallows, .\fter he had hung a sufficient length of time, his remains were placed in a coffin procured by the sheriff, after w liich thev were conveyed by one or two frienils to the family residence of the father near ^[anhattan.

"This unfortunate being to the last manifested the utmost indift'erence in regard to his future state, treating with scorn and contempt the ministers of the gospel who called upon him and endeavored to point him to that God who is e\'er nierciful to fallen man. But all was useless. Even on the morning before his execution, he used profane language and all the time declared that it was no use for him to ask forgiveness for his evil deeds, for he had committed none. It is due to Mr. Farnjw. our sheriff, to state that the accident which occurretl at the execution in the breaking of the rope was not the result of carelessness on his part. fur. as we learn, he took the precaution to try the rope effectually l)efore selecting it for the purpose, yet from some unaccountable cause it broke.

"Mullinix was born one mile east of Manhattan, in this county; was a little past twenty-five years of age; was always a dissolute, disobedient character, as well while under the control of his parents as afterwards. He was married to Martha, daughter oi David Sublett. of this county, on the loth of March last and on the morning of Friday, the lOth day of .\pril ensuing, he put an end to her life. The free and unrestrained use of intoxicating drinks, togetlier with a want of proi)er parental contnil. it is said, have been the main instruments in bringing upon him the terrible fate which has just i^een \isited upon his head."

To deal with or attempt to describe all the murders and murder trials which ha\e taken place in the county would swell this volume to unjustifiable proportiiins. nor would any real good accrue from recalling a subject so gruesome and forbidding. Rut now that we have seen fit io notice that feature of our criminal history we can not well pass to other subjects without a brief reference to what was, for many years, the most noteworthy and astounding crime e\-er committed in the count}".

On the morning oi January 7. 1861. the bcjdies of Tilghman H. Hanna and wife, who lived in the village oi Ch-oveland, were found in bed foullv murdered. The murderer had slain them with an axe, during the night while asleep, crushing their skulls and otherwise mutilating them. Not content with destroying his victims, the murderer had committed little acts of vandalism such as splitting into kindling wood pieces of furniture, ornaments. etc. As no valuables were disturbed or missing, it was evident that robbery could not liave been the motive. The murderer or murderers had entered the house through a back window and after their bloody work had deliberately unlocked and walked out of the front door. A memorandum book lying on a table in the bedroom contained several vulgar and indecent sentences which the murderer had written across one of the pages. One of the sentences was, 'T have done the deed - now G - d - you, ketch me if you ken." Suspicion soon pointed in the direction of Goodlow H. Evans, known as Harper Evans. a young man about twenty years old, who lived in the community, and he was promptly arrested and, after a careful investigation by James Shoemaker and A. F. Wright, justices of the peace in Floyd township, placed in the county jail at Greencastle to await the action of the circuit court. Meanwhile two separate indictments had been returned by the grand jury for the murder of Hanna and his wife, upon both of which the prisoner had been arraigned and plead "not guilty." "Upon the call of the case for trial on Monday, the 8th inst.," says the Banner in its issue April 11, 1861, "the prosecution appeared by Willis G. Neff, prosecuting attorney, assisted by D. R. Eckels and John Hanna ; the prisoner in person and by Williamson & Daggy and Joseph E. McDonald, of Indianapolis. A venire of seventy-five jurors had been ordered from the south part of the county and now appeared. After the examination of the latter, which consumed almost the entire first dav. the following jur\men were selected and duly sworn to try the case : Samuel Gardner. Samuel B. Gilmore, John Trout, James M. Lain, Bunsle Hair, Samuel Parks, Isaac Harris, Andrew J. Albright, William M. Walden. Henry B. Martin, Jacob Hixon and Thomas Hinote. The examination of witnesses, of whom over a hundred were in attendance, was begun on Tuesday. The testimony pointed strongly to the guilt of the accused, the most convincing circumstance being the writing in the memorandum book found in the room where the murder took place and which was proved to be that of the defendant. The court room was crowded to its utmost capacity during the entire time by the throngs who watched the proceedings with breathless interest. "The hearing of the evidence closed on Thursday evening," relates the Banner. "Frida}' morning the argument of the case opened with a well conceived and forci!)le speech on the part of the prosecution by John Hanna, Esq., occupying the greater part of the forenoon. His was followed bv a most ingeiiiouslv logical effort for the defense by the Hon. Joseph E. McDonald, taking up the remainder of the forenoon and greater part of the afternoon of the same day. The able and eloquent gentleman is certainly the greatest master of the art of rcductio ad ahsiirdam it has ever been our fortune to listen to - fully equal in ability to the author of 'Historic Doubts as to the Existence of Napoleon Boneparte' and almost capable of causing one to disbelieve the reality of his own existence could he but for a moment ignore the broad and bare facts of daily life passing around him. Judge Eckels followed in a most convincing and closely compacted argument for the prosecution, occupying the remainder of Friday afternoon, and closing on Saturday morning, leaving no doubt, if any existed, of the guilt of the prisoner. Mr. Williamson closed the argument on Saturday afternoon in an ingeniously labored and lengthy efifort for the defense. After a clear and able charge by Judge Clavpool, the jury retired to deliberate on their verdict. About seven o'clock Saturday evening, having been out but an hour or two, the jury returned their \'er(lict, 'imprisonment for life.' "

All things considered, it was the most noted and memorable criminal trial in the history of the count}-. The strongest lawyers at the local bar were engaged and one attorney from Indianapolis, Joseph E. McDonald, afterwards United States senator, was later added by the defense. Much of the credit for the conviction was due Judge D. R. Eckels, who led the prosecution. His management of that side of the case was vigorous and unrelenting, displaying great legal acumen and the most profound knowledge of English and American jurisprudence. During the trial the bombardment of Ft. Sumter took place and. judging from the papers of the day, that memorable and historic occurrence divided with the trial the public interest and attention. It was one of the most exciting weeks in the history of Greencastle. At three o'clock Sundav morning, the day after his conviction, Evans tried to commit suicide in the jail. The circumstances are thus set forth in the Banner: "On the second morning after the commencement of his trial Evans succeeded in secreting a case knife (unnoticed by the jailor) by breaking it in pieces and shoving it into the crevices of the wall. One of these pieces, about an inch and a half long, he spent most of his time in sharpening on the stone in his cell. Some time in the night he requested his guard to withdraw from his cell to the entrv adjoining, as he wanted to sleep. About three o'clock in the morning, as stated, he got up and. holding a mirror in one hand and a bit of knife in the other, he. after iive attempts, succeeded in entirely severing the jugular vein of his neck, from which he bled profusely, so much so that he soon fainted, when the bloorl stopped Bowing. He was found about 8 o'clock Sab- bath morning weltering in his own blood. Doctors Preston and ElHs were called in and tor some time it was doubtful whether he would recover or not." In about four days he had so far recovered as to be able to tra\-el. whereupon he was taken to the prison at Jeffersonville to begin his sentence. Several years later, and before the close of the war. he succeeiled in escaping from the prison and was never seen or heard from afterwards. About nineteen years ago his brother Noah was tried and convicted on the charge of having killed Erastus R. Adams, in the town of Roachdale. He was also given a life sentence, and died while in prison at Michigan City.