Jefferson Township (part 2 of 2)

The Barkdall Murder

One of the events that attracted the attention of the people of Whitley county a generation ago was the Barkdall murder, that occurred in Jefferson township in 1871. Henry Barkdall, Sr., was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, October 15, 1805; was married there and in the year 1839. he emigrated to America. He first settled in Stark county, Ohio, three miles east of Canal Fulton, where he remained about ten years as a renter on a small farm. He then moved to Indiana and first settled in Marshall county. In 1865 he came to Whitley county and settled in the southeast part of Jefferson township, in section 26. At the time of the murder the family consisted of Mr. Barkdall, his wife, who had been blind in both eyes for a number of years, a married son, Henry Barkdall, Jr., and his wife, Charlotte; two married daughters resided in Ohio.

Mr. Barkdall was a man of very violent temper and on the evening of Tuesday, May 16, 1 87 1, he came in from milking the cows and in straining the milk, he spilled some on the floor. Flying into a violent rage, he kicked the table over and broke some of the dishes. He then ordered his wife to pick up the pieces. Being blind, she got down on her knee and began feeling around on the floor, which seemed to increase the old man's rage and he began to kick and beat her in a most brutal manner, continuing un she died from the effects. The daughter-inlaw being present, was a witness to the at fair and Barkdall afterward told her that if she would not tell that he had abused his wife, he would get her something nice. The son had gone to a neighbor's, Mr. Price's, to get some cabbage plants and when he came home his father told him that his mother was dead and his wife had gone to inform the neighbors. It is said that when some of the neighbors arrived they found the old man reading his German Bible, some of whom he told that the old woman had had one of her spells again and that it had taken her off this time. To others he said that she had fallen down stairs.

Dr. John B. Firestone, of Larwill, was county coroner at that time and a coroner's jury was impaneled and sat on the case. After investigating the case, the jury brought in a verdict finding that Catharine Barkdall had met her death by injuries received at the hands of the said Henry Barkdall, Sr., and that the said Henry Barkdall was guilty of murder in the first degree. Dr. D. G. Linvill. of Columbia City, and Dr. F. M. Ihrig, of Coesse, a young physician just beginning to practice, held a post mortem examination which clearly showed that the deceased had come to her death by violence.

Mr. Barkdall was at once arrested and placed in the old jail in Columbia City to await the action of the grand jury. Jacob W. Miller was sheriff at that time. When the grand jury met in November, they promptly indicted Mr. Barkdall for the murder of his wife and he was tried at the November. 1871, term of the Whitley circuit court, before Hon. Robert Lowry, judge. The jury was composed of the following named citizens of the county : Levi Adams, whi 1 was foreman. Jacob Nickey. John Hosack, Charles Ruch, Jacob Cramer. William H. Widup. William A. Clark. Isaac Cox,

Hon. Joseph S. Daily, district attorney at that time, assisted by Hon. A. Y. Hooper and Hon. C. B. Tully, prosecuted the case, while Hon. John Colerick, Col. I. B. Mc- Donald and Louis Newberger defended Mr. Barkdall. The trial began on Saturday morning, November 11, 1871. and lasted four days. The jury, after being out about one hour, returned a verdict finding Barkdall guilty of murder in the second degree and fixing his punishment at imprisonment for life. It seemed that the coroner's jury believed him guilty of murder in the first while the petit jury could only make it second.

Mr. Barkdall was taken to Michigan City by Sheriff Miller on Friday, November 17, 1 87 1, where he lived only a few years. It is said that he was trusty while at prison, was let come and go at will and one morning he was found dead in his cell, lying on his back with his hands folded across his breast.

The Singer Murder

One of the most sensational murders that ever occurred in northern Indiana was that of George M. Singer, who was found murdered on the morning of September 17, 1895, at his residence at Dunfee, Indiana, a little village on the line between Whitley and Allen counties, on the Nickel Plate Rail- Toad, ten miles west of Fort Wayne.

Mr. Singer came to Dunfee some time in 1882, soon after the completion of the railroad, and conducted a general store in which he also kept the postoffice. He was rather an eccentric character and at the time of the murder was living alone, sleeping in a room above his store. He had been married but was divorced from his wife. Two daughters, Mrs. Nora Northop and Lilllie Singer, lived in Paulding county, Ohio.

Mr. Singer was a very active member of the organization known as the "A. P. A.," and was very outspoken in the advocacy of the peculiar doctrines of that order. But notwithstanding his eccentricities, Mr. Singer was held in high esteem generally by the people of the community in which he lived and did business. At the time of his death he was about seventy-three years of age.

On the morning of Tuesday, September 17, 1895, A. D. Whitman, the night operator at Dunfee, noticed a ladder leaning against the building below the window of the room in which Mr. Singer slept, and upon investigation, Mr. Singer was found dead, lying upon his bed, his hands and feet securely tied, and a strip which had been torn from a bed sheet was twisted around his neck. Indications were that he had been knocked senseless, as the murderers supposed, with a heavy hickory club, and had been tied so that he could not give the alarm when he revived. But the blow had been harder evidently than was intended and death had resulted. The club was found on the bed and was afterward exhibited at the trial. Evidently robbery had been the object, but no evidence was found that more than a small amount of money had been taken, though there were some who alwavs believed that Mr. Singer had more money in his possession than was at first supposed. The murderer or murderers had entered the old man's room through the window by means of the ladder above mentioned, and had descended to the room below by means of a stairway. The old ladder was a very rickety affair and had been brought from a slaughter-house nearly a mile away. It was afterward on exhibition at G. B. Widdifield's jewelry store in Columbia City, and also figured in the trial. Witnesses who had seen the ladder on the morning of the discovery of the murder, swore that it had been cut off so that it would be of proper length to reach the window, but it had evidently been "doctored" as the ladder exhibited at the trial did not bear out the testimony.

Excitement ran high in Dunfee and vicinity upon the discovery of the murder and if the guilty persons could have been captured at once it is quite likely that Whitley county would have been saved the expense of a costly and useless trial.

Dr. N. I. Kithcart, county coroner, was notified, and with the assistance of Dr. Mc- Googan, of Areola, held an inquest and postmortem which clearly revealed that Mr. Singer had been foully murdered by some person or persons unknown. The building in which the murder was committed stands on the west side of the county line road in Whitley county.

The grand jury was in session at the time of the murder and an investigation was at once commenced, but no indictments were found at that time. On Saturday, October 12th, James Cunningham and William Thompson, who were suspected of being the murderers of Mr. Singer, were arrested at Fort Wayne, and on Saturday, October 19th, they were brought to Columbia City and had a hearing before Benjamin F. Menaugh, justice of the peace, who bound them over to the circuit court.

When the grand jury met in November, they again took up the case and a great many witnesses were called. The grand jury was composed of the following named citizens of the county : William H. Hughes, who was foreman, Samuel Kaufman, Levi Garrison, Lewis Richard, Joseph Myers and Adelbert Barney. After thoroughly investigating the case, the grand jury indicted the said Cunningham and Thompson for the murder of George M. Singer, and an adjourned term of the Whitley circuit court was called, mainly for the purpose of trying the said Cunningham and Thompson for the said murder.

The prisoners demanding a separate trial, Cunningham was placed on trial first. Ivers W. Leonard, deputy prosecuting attorney, assisted by Hon. W. F. McNagny, prosecuted the case, while Hon. James M. Robinson and Hon. A. A. Adams defended Mr. Cunningham. A special venire of jurors had been called and the following named men were accepted and sworn to try the case: Appleton R. Jackson, who was foreman, Clinton Wilcox, Nicholas DePoy, David S. Bechtel, George Belch, William E. Meyers, Bayless Lower, Lewis H. Mowery, John Born, Cyrus Keiser, John S. Norris and Melvin Blain. Wilcox and DePoy were the only members of the regular panel who were retained.

crowds of people. The trial lasted nearly two weeks, the arguments of counsel concluding on' Saturday afternoon, December 14th. Mr. Robinson's speech defending Cunningham was a masterpiece of oratory. He said that it was the first time he had ever known a witness to leave the witness stand and refuse to answer any more questions and the first time he had ever known a case where the prosecuting attorney was sworn as a witness.

About nine o'clock on Saturday night it was reported that the jury had reached a verdict, and Judge Adair was notified and proceeded to call court. Again a large crowd gathered in the court room and when the judge read the verdict of the jury, "Not Guilty," a mighty cheer was given and many people shook hands with Mr. Cunningham and congratulated him upon his release. Cunningham shook hands with kis attorneys and the jury and seemed' to be the happiest man in the court room at the time. Upon motion of the prosecuting attorney, the case against Thompson was dismissed and thus ended all prospects of bringing the murderers of old man Singer to justice. It was pretty generally believed that Cunningham was guilty and it is said that it took four ballots for the jury to reach their verdict, three voting "guilty" on the first ballot, but the doubt was so strong that he was given the benefit of the doubt. The old adage, "Murder will out," seems to be slow in proving itself true in this case, but if we take the case of Eugene Aram and other noted criminal cases for precedents, there is still time for vindication.

Interesting Incidents

A colored man, whose name is not now remembered, resided in the southern part r>i Jefferson township for a short time in 1870. The following incident is related in connection with this fact : At the township election in October, 1870, Otho Clark, who was the township trustee, was a candidate for reelection on the Democratic ticket. John Crowell, although a strong Democrat, was opposed to the election of Mr. Clark and as the Republicans had made no nominations for township officers, on the morning of the election Mr. Crowell went to William Bell and urged him to be a candidate for trustee, assuring him of his support and influence. Mr. Bell consented to the use of his name and when the ballots were counted it was learned that he was elected by a majority of one vote and as the colored man had voted, he was credited with Mr. Bell's election.

William Bell was one of the best educated men of the early pioneers of this part of Whitley county. He had taught school in Ohio and after coming to Indiana he continued teaching for a number of years. Besides his term as trustee, he also served two terms as justice of the peace, and as administrator he settled a number of estates. He settled in Jefferson township in 1845 and resided there until his death. March 19, 1 89 1, aged nearly eighty years.

His widow, Sarah (Alexander) Bell, died July 19, 1906, aged ninety-one years, seven months and eighteen days. She was born in Waldo county, Maine, and was the

William M. Gillespie says that a man by the name of Frank DnPee was one of the early pioneers of Jefferson township. He was half Indian and half French and when the Indians were sent west by the government from Raccoon Village, DnPee hid in the woods until the excitement was over as he desired to live with the white people. Afterward, DuPee married a daughter of Jonathan Chadeon and lived in a log cabin on the land afterward owned by William Jeffries in section 24. In 1851 he loaded his goods on a wagon and started west, saying that he was going to Marshall county and that was the last seen or heard of" him by Mr. Gillespie. When William Jeffries first settled in the township, he and his family occupied the cabin vacated by DuPee.

A number of fatal accidents have taken place in Jefferson township, some of which may be mentioned here. In clearing the land and felling the large trees, it is not surprising that a number of men lost their lives. Mention has already been made of Levi Decker, who was killed by a rebounding limb when falling a bee tree, and his death was one of the first to occur in the township. In the fall of 1880, a young man by the name of Withrow was killed by the falling of a lodged limb while sawing logs with David Geiger. Withrow was buried in Evergreen cemetery and his faithful dog guarded the grave for several days after the burial. On April 4, 1881, John Blake was killed by a falling limb and in the summer of 1884 Louis Jerome was killed by a falling snag while hauling logs.

killed on a saw-mill on the Illinois road and at the raising of Frederick Schoenauer's barn in May, 18S1, Jacob Berry was killed and Isaac Dickerson badly injured by the falling of a large plate.

October 6, 1879, D. C. Robbins was instantly killed by falling from a building in the village of Forest and in the autumn of 1885, Christian Bixler was killed by beingthrown from a wagon by the horses running away while returning from Fort Wayne.

The Village Of Forest

The history of the village of Forest begins with the erection of a saw-mill in 1854, by Miller Brothers. This mill was quite a large building, the frame being composed of massive timbers that were hewn by hand. It stood on the west side of the public road in Washington township and after being operated several years by the Millers it was sold to Beckley Brothers who conducted the same until 1864, when they sold to Charles Livenspargar, who, with various partners, operated the mill for man}- years. The building was destroyed by fire in February, 1 89 1, and was never rebuilt.

The site of the village was originally owned by William Bell, who sold to Calvin Maring. In 1854 Allen Quick purchased one-fourth of an acre of land of William Bell and built a residence which is still standing and is a part of the house occupied by Charles Livenspargar. Mr. Quick also built a house on the corner where Samuel Brock now resides and from 1859 to i860 he was the first trustee of Jefferson township under the new law. In 1866 he was elected county recorder and filled that office four years. He died in Columbia City, May 13, 1903. Meanwhile Calvin Maring laid out several lots and in 1866 Myers Brothers built a blacksmithshop on the corner opposite where Dr. White's office now is and Henry Myers erected a dwelling-house on the same lot. Soon after a wagon and carriage shop was erected in connection with the blacksmithshop, but both buildings were destroyed by fire in the autumn of 1870.

In the spring of 1867, Elwood Nichols erected a large building on the lot now owned by Mrs. J. C. Raber and soon after sold the lot and building to James S. Baker, who put in a stock of dry goods and groceries valued at one thousand dollars. Mr. Baker conducted the business for about three years and although he was a leader in the church and superintendent of the Sundayschool, tradition says that he kept a barrel on tap in the back room that contained something stronger than cider. This store building, together with a dwelling-house adjoining, was destroyed by fire, February 27, 1875. At that time Marshal Wright was conducting a general store in the building. In the fall of 1870, Dr. Richards erected a building in which for many years a drug store was conducted and is still standing, being occupied now by Daniel Redman for a harness and repair shop. Other improvements slowly followed and during all these years the place had been known as "Sodom,"

"Lickskillet," etc., and now some of the citizens began to think the place should have a proper name. Accordingly when Dr. Richards' building was completed, a meeting was called for the purpose of naming the town. An oyster supper was a feature of the gathering and the question before the meeting was settled by ballot. Several names were proposed. Charles Livenspargar was desirous of having the place named "Canton," in remembrance of his native town in Ohio, but "Forest" won the day and as Forest the place has since been known. When Laud postoffice was moved to the town in 1880, the question came up of changing the name of the town so that the name of the town and the postoffice should be the same. The postoffice department refused to recognize the name "Forest" as there was already a postoffice in the state by that name. Another meeting was called and another ballot taken with the same result. The people refused to give up the name of "Forest" and so the name of the postoffice remained "Laud" and the name of the town remained "Forest." When the postoffice was discontinued in 1903, it was supposed that the name "Laud" would never more be heard, but not so, as the town is called "Laud" about as often as it is called "Forest."

In 1878 G. M. Bainbridge, of Columbia City, erected a large frame building in the south part of the town in which he placed a large stock of general merchandise in charge of Manford D. Yontz, who conducted the same until 1882, when he was elected county auditor, when Mr. Bainbridge sold the building and a two-thirds interest in the goods to Leonard S. Maring, and

Simon Bennet became the manager of the business. In the spring of 1884, Mr. Bainbridge sold his entire interest in the store to Mr. Maring and at Mr. Maring's death, in 1892, Mr. Bennet came into possession of the store and is still conducting the business.

In 1880 D. V. White put up a building in which Edwards & Anderson, of Columbia City, put in a stock of hardware. They soon after sold to James W. Burwell, who conducted a successful business for several years. In 1885 L. L. Kimmel purchased a lot of Lewis Deems on the west side of the street upon which he erected a building in which for several years he conducted a general hardware business, having purchased the stock of Mr. Burwell.

The first drug store in the village was started in the autumn of 1870, in the building erected by Dr. Richards, by Blount & Hoover, of Huntington, and was conducted by a man by the name of McGovney ; the store afterward passed into the hands of Marshall Wright, then to M. G. Wright, William Metzler, Perry Long, Deems & Raber and is to-day conducted by Warren J. Deems as a drug and general store.

At one time James G. Dyer conducted a small grocery store, as also did Newton Boles, Lewis Deems & Son, George W. Irwin and George W. Baugher. George W. Kelsey is conducting a grocery store in the town at the present time. Brock & Coolman, Samuel D. Raber and William Schoenauer have been engaged in the hardware business in the town. Edward C. Schoenauer conducted the only hardware business in the village for several years and recently sold to Daniel Tachantz & Company.

The town has not been without a blacksmithshop since Myers Brothers started their shop in 1866, since which time the village "smithy" has been operated by Erastus Witham, Richard White, Louis Lavine, Victor Vincent, John Bitner, Frank Zellers, C. E. Rothmel, etc.

In 1883 William Tschantz purchased a lot of Charles Livenspargar and put up a building for a saloon. After the building was completed, Mr. Tschantz obtained a license and started his business of retailing spirits in less quantities than a quart to the thirsty citizens of Forest. He was not a very shrewd business man, evidently, for there were soon so many indictments returned against him by the grand jury for violating the liquor law, that he could not get his license renewed and the business went into other hands. William H. Pence conducted the business for several years and it is said that he run the saloon as nearly according to law as such a business can be run. Afterward John Runier became manager of the place and soon the saloon became such a nuisance that the people began to discuss various plans to get rid of it. About this time Mr. Runier sold out to a man by the name of Hamilton, of North Manchester, who sent a notorious character, who called himself a "cow boy," to take charge of the business.

The women of the town and community organized for the purpose of fighting the saloon and held many meetings. Upon two or three occasions they went in a body to the saloon to prevail upon Mr. Hamilton to give up the business. On one of these occasions the "cow boy" made some great boasts and told the ladies that he had been employed to run a saloon in Forest and he proposed to do it if it took blood.

Soon after this some one entered the saloon at the dead of night, when the manager was temporarily absent from the village, and opened every barrel, cask and bottle in the room and let the contents run out. It was said that the slop was ankle deep on the floor the next morning. Soon after this calamity, Mr. Hamilton moved his furniture from the building and the town and that was the last of the saloon. The building in which the saloon was conducted is now occupied by Warren J. Deems as a drug and general store, and is owned by the 1. O. O. F. Lodge.

Dr. John Quincy Adams Banta settled on the farm now owned by Dr. S. R. White, about 1843, and was the first physician in the community, where he practiced his profession for several years. Since 1863 Dr. John Richards has practiced medicine here and he is one of the pioneer physicians of Whitley county. Dr. S. R. White has been a resident of Forest for thirty-six years and during the past twenty-five years he has been a practicing physician and surgeon and has had a large and successful practice. He was the first physician in Whitley county to purchase an automobile which has been used in his business for several years and is considered indispensable by him.

Dr. James Richards, a brother of Dr. John Richards, was located in Forest for several years and Drs. Hammond, Koontz, Putt. Gregg, Kemp, and others have been located here at different times.

Forest lodge. No. 546, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was organized May 5, 1877, with the following charter members: Marshall Wright, Francis M. McDonald, Edward B. North. Moses T. Simon and James F. Johnson. The lodge is still in existence and at the present time is in a flourishing condition.

The Knights of the Maccabees lodge was organized in the spring of 1895 and flourished for several years but finally disbanded, some of the members transferring their membership to the lodge in Columbia City.

Forest Grange was organized in 1874 at the Kaufman schoolhouse in Washington township and in 1892, they built their present hall in the village, which was dedicated July 2$, 1892, Hon. Aaron Jones, of South Bend, delivering an oration.

is a divided town, "half and half" as it were ; all of the town on the east side of the highway running north and south is in Jefferson township, and all on the west side is in Washington township. The business places are about equally divided on each side of Main street, but Jefferson township has the schoolhouse, the church and most of the dwelling-houses. This "Main street" in early times in winter was a series of frozen gorges and hummocks, in fall and spring, a sea of mud and in summer a continuing dust heap, lined on each side by the everlasting dust-covered rag weed ; but it was the best street in town.

Almost ever since the first settlements, Forest and vicinity have been annoyed by people who have the reputation of making their living otherwise than by the sweat of the brows. Houses and stores have been

One day during the presidential campaign of 1864, the family of Moses Fairchild attended a rally in Columbia City and when they returned in the evening they found that the house had been ransacked and robbed of some money and quite a quantity of goods taken. The alarm was at once given and watch parties stationed at each cross roads in the vicinity during the following night, hoping to intercept the robbers as they should endeavor to get out of the country with the stolen goods. At this time a family by the name of "Empie," who had the reputation of taking things that did not belong to them, lived about one-half mile north of the village. The family consisted of the parents, Joshua Empie and wife, who at that time were quite aged, and four sons, Washington, William, Peter and Andrew. They were partial to patriotic and scriptural names. During the night, the parties who were stationed at Maring's schoolhouse heard a wagon approaching from the south and when it came near they called for a halt, but the driver applied the whip and in spite of all efforts to stop them, went by and drove to the north with the horses on the run. The parties who were guarding the crossroads in the village hearing the wagon coming and the parties at Maring's corners yelling, made an effort to stop the wagon but without success and it continued north at a furious rate; the sound of the rattling of the wagon on the still night air could be heard for miles.

and the wagon was brought to a stand still, when it was found that the parties in the wagon were William and Peter Empie and that they had a load of cabbage, potatoes and other forage, but not any of the goods taken from Mr. Fairchild. However, they were taken in charge and an effort made to ascertain if they had committed the robbery. It is said that a rope placed around the neck of Peter and thrown over the limb of a tree, induced him to confess and tell where the goods were concealed, but on going to the place nothing was found and it was afterward pretty generally believed that the Empies had had no hand in the robbery and that Peter's confession was the result of fright. Mr. Fairchild's good were never recovered and the robbers never brought to justice.

A few years after this robbery, the Empies sold their land and in 1869 they left the country and it was said that they went to Michigan. William Empie was at one time convicted of stealing a sheep and served a sentence in the old jail at Columbia City.

When Allen Quick was township trustee, his house was burglarized and quite a sum of money that belonged to the township funds was stolen and never recovered.

On the night of September 16, 1884, a large safe in the general store of Leonard S. Maring was blown open and about thirty dollars in money taken as well as some goods from the store and no clew to the robbers was ever found.

years. If it could get that blessing so greatly desired by all inland towns, a railroad, it would soon become a place of much importance as it is centrally located and in the midst of a thriving farming community. A number of lines have been surveyed at different times through or near the town but for some reasons the roads have failed to materialize.

The Village Of Raber

When the postoffice was established at Raber in 1883, it was the start of a town that has since grown to a village of some importance. Before the establishment of the postoffice, the place was known as "Mowrey's Crossing," and' trains stopped there only on a special order. For a brief time Samuel Clark, in connection with the postoffice, conducted a small grocery store which he afterward sold to Thomas J. Berry. Mr. Berry continued the business until his death in 1901, since which time the store has been conducted by William Bogner, Ben Cotterly, Dunfee & Brahm and is now conducted by Frank C. Brahm, who is doing a good business. From 1890 to 1893, a general store was conducted in the village by Charles A. Mowrey.

In 1888, William M. Crowell erected an elevator and for a number of years bought and shipped grain and the business is now continued by his son, Oscar C. Crowell. Mr. Crowell is also doing a good business in handling coal, drain and building tile, fence posts, etc.

The Village Of Dunfee

Soon after the building of the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, a station was established where the railroad crosses the Whitley and Allen county line and soon after a postoffice was located there which was named "Dunfee," and George M. Singer was appointed postmaster. Mr. Singer served until he was mysteriously murdered in 1895, when William McWhirter was appointed as his successor and has served until the present time. Mr. Singer conducted a general store in connection with the postoffice, which business has been continued by Mr. McWhirter. Dunfee is quite a good shipping point. Considerable live stock has been shipped from here by F. M. Kaufman, W. A. Hiler and others. A saw-mill did a good business here for a number of years, but it has long since served its purpose.

Dunfee has a Christian church and two lodges, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Modern Woodmen. The former was organized January 11, 1901, with sixteen charter members. The lodge is in a prosperous condition with a permanent memship of fifty and owns the building in which the meetings are held, which is located on the Whitley county side of the county line street.