Nodaway County, Missouri - Chapter 35: Crimes and Celebrated Trials, 1910

Chapter 35: Crimes and Celebrated Trials

In every community of all civilized, as well as uncivilized parts of the globe, there have been great crimes committed from time to time, and the laws of the nations have sought to mete out justice as an example and warning to others. Nodaway county has not been worse in this regard than many another county in Missouri, or in other states in the Union, but a few such crimes have been committed and the trials of some have been undertaken by lynch law, and it is the more brutal and shocking of these crimes that this chapter will deal with.

The subjoined cases are known as the McAlpin case, the Tansev tragedy, the assassination of Nicholas Leehmer, the Hogan homicide case, and the famous Talbott brothers case, in which they were hanged for the murder of their father. Doctor Talbott, of this county. These were all rare cases of extreme interest and of inexcusable cause, hence will be recorded here; but only the synopsis of each can be given, for space and propriety forbid all the blood curdling details brought out in the long-drawn-out trials that followed the arrest of the defendants. They doubtless all received justice at the hands of the law, or in other instances at the hands of an excited mob of citizens from this and other counties. These cases will be recorded in the <~*rder in which they occurred.

Murder Of John T. Callicutt

This was in 1866, just at the close of the Civil war. Solomon McAlpin was charged with the murder, which took place in this county, while he was a resident of Page county. Iowa. The case was a mystery until a skeleton was found in February, 1868, after which the crime was made plain and McAlpin was arrested. He. in company with a young companion, John T. Callicut. at Hawleyville. Iowa, set out for St. Joseph with a yoke of oxen and lumber wagon to purchase a load of winter apples. When over the Missouri line it appeared that young McAlpin murdered his friend and that the cause was simply to get possession of the cattle and what little money the comrade might have on his person. The trial lasted four days and nights and excitement ran high. Judge 1. C. Parker tried the case at Maryville. The accused claimed that young Callicut had abandoned the trip and was headed for the far West to seek his fortune, and this was believed by many until the finding of the bullet-riddled skull, two years later, the same being clearly identified by a filled tooth in the dead man's jaw, as well as by many other evidences. The jury found him guilty of murder in the second degree and fixed his punish¬ ment as ten years in the penitentiary. Major B. K. Davis and Capt. Ira V. McMillan appeared for the prosecution; Col. W. P. Hepburn (later congress¬ man) and Judge Morsman, of Clarinda, appeared for the defendant, who had been held on a five thousand dollar bond. The Judge's charge was very touch¬ ing : "It has been decided by twelve men that you are guilty of murder in the second degree. Whether you are guilty of this heinous crime, can be known beyond the possibility of a doubt by none but yourself and the searcher of all hearts. Let me say to you, there is no human sin, however dark, that may not be pardoned, and if you have indeed, imbrued your hands in the innocent blood of your fellow being and your friend, though you may choose that the crime shall forever rankle unrevealed in your own heart, I trust you may find repentance and in God's mercy be forgiven.

"Your father and mother, and your young wife, all bound to you by ties of the strongest nature, having followed you here to stand by you in this last desperate crisis of your fortunes, have thus become, unwillingly, the painful witnesses of this final spectacle of your infamy, and now I sentence you to ten years at hard labor in the penitentiary of this state."

The Tansey Tragedy

"All murders past do stand excused in this/' The pages of criminal his¬ tory, in this or any other commonwealth, do not contain a more diabolical case than that which was committed at Burr Oak Grove, about seven miles south of Quitman, this county, on August 18,1872. August 20th of that year, James Griffev was passing a mover's wagon on Clear creek, four miles southwest of Clearmont. Atchison township, this county, when his attention was attracted to the outfit by a peculiar, disagreeable smell which emitted therefrom. See¬ ing that the wagon had been left recently by someone, he proceeded to examine and if possible learn the cause of the odor, which amounted to a stench. On lifting the cover of the wagon, he beheld the decomposing bodies of five hu¬ man beings ; two men, one woman and two small children.

Shocked though he was, Mr. Griffey at once bethought himself that the man who had doubtless committed the foul crime had recently left and was trying to make good his escape. He immediately sounded the alarm through¬ out the neighborhood and all were soon on the alert for the supposed mur¬ derer. Clearmont was visited first and there it was learned a stranger had called to have a neckyoke repaired; that the man was somewhat intoxicated when he called ; he was soon pointed out and taken into custody. The news of the awful crime flew from house to house and the whole community quickly became aroused. A goodly number of citizens repaired with the prisoner to the place where the wagon had been found by Griffey, but the man refused to give any clue to the bloody deed. Many questions were put to him enroute, hut he refused to talk about the persons or bodies in the wagon. Upon arriving at the scene the party soon discovered that a neckyoke had been broken in trying to cross the creek. Near the wagon was found an ax with which he had attempted to fix the broken wagon attachments. The man sprang for the ax, but was foiled in his attempt. A coroner's inquest was held, after which the bodies were removed from the wagon and buried.

A few persons in the excited crowd wished to bury the murderer with his slain victims. After the last sad rites had been performed over the per¬ sons thus ruthlessly killed, a party of men might have been seen along the banks of Clear creek fastening a rope to the limb of a tree, and when prop¬ erly adjusted and the noose prepared, the prisoner was told to prepare for the worst; that if he had anything to say about the people found dead in the wagon to speak. He was sullen and refused to talk.

But presently and in language that could not be misunderstood, he was invited to step under the limb. The rope was adjusted over his neck, his arms were pinioned, and, without more ceremony, his body was suspended slowly into mid-air until life was almost extinct. He was then lowered and again asked if he wanted to confess what he knew of the case; but again he refused to relate any of the horrors of his crime. The rope wras once more drawn up¬ ward and this process was repeated until he showed a willingness to speak and tell what he knew about the matter. The rope hung loosely from the limb. All parties drew near, and he v:as told to proceed with his statement. The prisoner said his name wras Osburn ; that the parties found in his wagon were Ormes, his wife and two children, and a man named Daniel Dickerson. He stated that all of the party had been killed a few days before at Holton, Kansas, by a man named Joseph Williams ; that the cause of the murder grew out of a love affair between Williams and Mrs. Ormes. He stated that Wil-

Hams had followed the family from the state of Minnesota to Kansas with the avowed purpose of killing them, and that after he had murdered them he had employed him, Osburn, to put them out of the way, and had paid him seven hundred dollars to do so. He said he left Holton, Kansas, with the dead bodies, intending to throw them into the Missouri river, but was unable to reach a point on the river where he could do so unobserved ; that he crossed the Missouri at White Cloud ferry, traveled through Holt county and pene¬ trated Nodaway county to the point where the wagon was discovered without finding an opportunity to unload the bodies without being detected. He ad¬ mitted he had supplied himself with whiskey at Quitman and, to kill re¬ morse and deaden his senses, had drunk freely, and had thrown the seven hundred dollars given him by Williams by the roadside between Quitman and where the wagon was finally found.

The men who made up the "hanging bee" thought his statement far fetched and hence swung him up again, holding him until he was almost dead - then let him down, only to receive about the same statement.

Things looked doubtful to some in the party, and finally it was decided to send to the sheriff and have the supposed man Williams in Kansas looked up at once before further action was taken regarding this man now with his neck in the noose. This was carried out and during the several intervening days the prisoner was secretly guarded in the low land along the Nodaway river, at a place but few knew of. However, the news of the murder spread throughout the country rapidly and hundreds of people flocked to the scene of excitement. There were strange rumors afloat as to the action of the guards themselves. It was foolishly asserted by many present that the pris¬ oner was a Freemason and that his fraternity was shielding him from his just deserts. Strange enough that at so late a day, in a civilized community such notions should have obtained in the minds of men and women of ordi¬ nary intelligence, but such was the case and that occurred in 1872 in Nodaway county.

As the hours went by the prisoner became fretful and worried, knowing all the time that his story of a man in Kansas had been made up from whole cloth, with no foundation whatever; he was certain the truth was soon to be made known and feared his fate. He wanted to be taken to some place of safety where he might write out his complete confession. The guard then took him to the house of William Lamme. where, in an upstairs room, he spent the forenoon in writing out the details of his foul crime. The storm was fast centering about him. Fate bad sealed his fortunes. No one was to blame lint himself.

Before noon from three to four hundred men had gathered at the house, which had every door and window fastened so that no injury should come to him until the messenger should return from Kansas. In fact, the local search¬ ing party had already returned from Burr Oak Grove and there it was learned that six or seven miles out of Quitman, by a camp that two men, woman and children had been murdered in cold blood. When this was made known the fury of the mob was great. It was at once demanded that the man be brought forth from the house and he was led out to the front portico, surrounded by many resolute citizens who kept him from being strung up at once. He then and there told the story of his awful deed. He then gave his real name as Alexander Worth Tansey. He stated that his wife and mother-in-law were living at Mt. Ayr, Ringgold county, Iowa; that he had been in Kansas and there fell in company with the murdered family; that he was traveling with them to his home in Iowa. He said he was out of money, and while in camp at Burr Oak Grove the thought came to him that he could murder all of the parties with whom he was traveling and thus get possession of their property. He then detailed the horrors of the crime, which will not be given place here. A revolver and an ax were his weapons.

Many wanted, after hearing his confession, to take him to a nearby tree and end his miserable existence. But the cool, better judgment of the pro¬ prietor of the farm house and others prevailed for a time and he was spared yet a little longer. Towards evening the officers of Atchison township took charge of the prisoner and removed him to Clearmont, enroute to Maryville. But the people were so excited that they rose en masse and took him from the officers and hanged him to a tree on Clear creek, just south of Clearmont village.

The bodies of the murdered persons were sadly buried in a land of strangers; a subscription was raised and a tablet, with an appropriate in¬ scription, was soon erected over their graves.

After Tansey was dead, his head was severed from his body and conveved to Maryville, where it was for some time preserved in alcohol. It is related that a negative was taken of his head, from which many photographs were taken. Later, the head was sent to New York City for dissection. His body was buried near the tree on which he was hanged.

Some days after this occurred Mrs. Tansey, the wife, came down from Mt. Ayr, Iowa, and upon hearing of the manner in which he had murdered the movers, she stated that she would leave his body where a just vengeance had laid it, and returned to her Iowa home.

Assassination Of Nicholas Leeiimer

In 1874 this county was wrought up over another foul murder. It was that of Nicholas Leehmer, a German by birth. His wife was known as Eva Betta Leehmer and they had one son, David. The family removed from Buffalo, New York, in 1865, coming to Maryville in 1870, resided here one year and then moved to the country, locating on section 36, township 64, range 37. On their removal from Buffalo, they were accompanied by a young man named Martin Fluegal, also a German whom they had known from his early boyhood. He was a fine type of the stolid German temperament. He seemed to have been greatly attached to the Leehmer family, especially to the wife and mother. The lands of the young German and Leehmer joined and on March 6, 1874, Mr. Leehmer took his wife to Maryville for a visit, and re¬ turned home, promising to return and take his wife home the following Tuesday. On Sunday, March 8, the son, David Leehmer, left his father at home at eight o'clock in the morning and started for Maryville, arriving about noon. He dined that day with Martin Fluegal, John Sweitzer and Mrs. Leehmer. Fluegal was seen at two o'clock in the afternoon at the brewery, half a mile south of Maryville. He left there about sundown. He admitted that he rode west of Maryville, on the natural road to the home of Mr. Leeh¬ mer.

Leehmer was observed by the neighbors about his place on Sunday and was last seen alive about sundown. Sunday night was damp and cloudy - no moonlight. About ten o'clock that Sunday night the single report of a fire¬ arm was heard at the house. This shot was heard by several persons going home from church services. Later a horse and rider went by, running very fast, but the night was too dark to observe who it was.

Monday morning, about nine o'clock, a neighbor called at the .home of Mr. Leehmer, on business. The door was slightly ajar. The dog jumped at the man and a lamb stuck its head out of the door. The neighbor thrust it back and pulled the door shut, believing that the family were all absent. Others passed the house the same day and heard the loud lowing of cattle, as if they wanted water to drink. Monday, at twilight, Mrs. Leehmer and son David, about thirteen years of age, returned from Maryville. They found the door closed and opened it. The lamb jumped out as they entered. 1 he room was dark. Mrs. Leehmer, supposing her husband had fallen asleep, felt for his head upon the pillow of the bed. Her hand touched his forehead - it was icv cold. He was dead. The son was sent to spread the alarm ; neighbors came and they discovered a red cover thrown over his form and a pillow lay upon his heart. His arms were pressed down and straightened by his sides. His drawers were rolled up and thrust between his lower limbs as if planned to gather blood. His other clothes were hanging on the bed-post. A hole ap¬ peared in his shirt near the left side, in front. Around this hole were unmis¬ takable signs of powder-burn. On the shirt being removed the gunshot wound was observed three inches below the left nipple. It was probed to the depth of tw elve inches. The ball had sped downward ; he could not have sur¬ vived more than ten minutes. No fire arms or deadly weapons were found in the house, consequently it could not have been an act of his own - a suicide. It was a foul murder. The dead man had no money before his death in the house. There was no evidence of a struggle in death. Possibly the assassin rode along on his horse and took deadly aim and fired from outside the room - this will never be determined.

An inquest was speedily held and suspicion was at once fastened on young Fluegal and he was arrested at his mother's house in Maryville by Henry Nel¬ son, marshal of the town. He made no statements for or against his guilt. On March 19, 1874, he was indicted for murder in the first degree. Horace M. Jackson was prosecuting attorney. Major B. Iv. Davis defended. The papers were faulty and a second indictment followed, when he entered a plea of not guilty and the trial came on and he was found guilty as charged in the indict¬ ment. Major Davis moved for a new trial. Judge Henry S. Kelley was then on the bench, and the motion was finally sustained. The accused stoutly denied his guilt and during his more than fifty days' jail confinement no turn¬ ing or confession was had from his lips.

The second trial commenced March 24, 1875, anc^ then appeared the new prosecuting attorney, Cyrus A. Anthony, assisted by Horace M. Jackson. La¬ fayette Dawson and John Edwards were retained by the accused. Much ex¬ citement prevailed at this second trial. New evidence had been discovered, including the prisoner's tracks with those of his horse. In December, 1873, the young German had a quarrel with the murdered man concerning some rows of corn which he accused Leehmer of husking on his land and he then threatened to "shut his wind off.'' Again later, he had been heard to re¬ mark that he would "shoot Leehmer's heart out." It was also shown, or tried to be proven, that he was too intimate with Eva Betta. the wife of Leeh¬ mer. Blood was found on his saddle skirt and his horse upon returning to Maryville was found spattered with mud. The trial closed and of the jurymen were for acquittal, while three wanted to bring in a verdict for mur- der in the second degree. He had then been in county jail a year or more and his friends advised him to plead guilty of murder in the manslaughter degree, which he did April 2, 1875. He was then, under the existing law, sentenced for five years in the penitentiary, but, by good behavior, was al¬ lowed pardon by the governor at the end of three- fourths of that period.

The Hogan Homicide

A sad tragedy occurred October 9, 1879, at Burlington Junction, which brought about one of the most interesting trials ever witnessed in Nodaway county. Otto Sharp, on the 8th of the month named, was charged with forgery. Justice Henry F. Baker issued the warrant, which was placed in the hands of John Q. Adams, then constable in Lincoln township. He, with Isaac Weddle, started to arrest Sharp, but soon after starting it was learned that he was a very dangerous man, hence P. P. Fox, Hiram Fox, James George and one William Brown left Lemar Station to join Adams and his companion and assist in making the arrest. A very exciting time was had in chasing and finally capturing the man, who had engaged a liveryman to take him to some distant town, but was overhauled en route by Adams and his companions. He made good his escape, but was again captured in Ball Brothers barn at Burlington Junction. In trying to make the arrest, Martin Edward Hogan, then acting as constable at Burlington Junction, was shot by Sharp through the heart and only survived a short time. Adams disarmed the culprit and effected the arrest of the man.

At the January term of circuit court at Maryville, with Judge H. S. Kelley on the bench, the trial was had. The man was charged with murder in the first degree, and the case lasted ten days. The prosecution was con¬ ducted by W. W. Ramsay, prosecuting attorney, and his law partner, John Edwards, Esq. They made it clear that the accused was trying to escape from justice, having committed a forgery, and that any officer or good citizen had the right to shoot at him. which the party did, and that in his turning in defiance of the officers and killing Hogan, he had committed murder and should lie punished according to the laws of Missouri.

The defense was conducted by Hon. Lafayette Dawson, Scribner R. Beech and L. M. Lane, who claimed self-defense and that Hogan came to his death by the unskillfulness of the physician called to dress. the wound.

The jury found Sharp guilty of murder in the first degree. Motion for a new trial was refused by the court and sentence passed that he be hanged on the 26th day of March, 1880. The case was appealed to the supreme court upon briefs prepared by W. W. Ramsay, with Attorney-General J. L. Smith, for the state, and by Scribner R. Beech and L. M. Lane for the defendant. Only three days before he was to be executed the decision came that the case was reversed and a new trial ordered.

The point of reversal was that the trial judge in his "charge'7 had used the expression "deliberately," which was defined to mean "intentionally, pur¬ posely, considerately," therefore if the defendant formed a design to kill, and was conscious of such purpose, it was deliberate, whereas, it should have been defined to mean, "that which was done in a cool state of the blood."

At the next trial, defense took the case before another judge. Cyrus A. Anthony was selected as the special judge in the case. The case was also re¬ moved to Atchinson county for trial. There, the case resulted in an acquittal of Sharp, who a year before had caused the death of Martin Edward Hogan. His life was saved by the exact definition of the one single word "deliberation." He was the first person to be sentenced to hang in Nodaway county.

Dr. Talbott Murdered By His Sons

The crime of parricide is one of the most reprehensible known to the an¬ nals of history. A well known, deserving physician of Nodaway county was killed in his own home, in a thickly settled community, by members of his own household on September 18, 1880. thirty years ago, and the revolting crime still remains vivid in the minds of all now living who had knowledge of the terrible tragedy.

Dr. Perry H. Talbott was shot at his home, about seven miles to the south of Maryville, by his sons, who also had accomplices in the plot. The Doctor was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, in 1827, graduated at Starling Medical College of Columbus, Ohio, in 1849, ancl the following year came West to seek his fortune. He finally located in this county, having 'first crossed the plains to California in 1852. He was a typical border doctor-, one possessed of much ability and a good education. He was, however, fond of cards and sports. He was frequently seen in this section riding or driving a gray mule. He rose rapidly in his profession and accumulated much prop¬ erty. He represented this district in the Legislature in 1856-57. and during the Civil war espoused the Union cause and was a surgeon it? the Twenty- - - - ^ fifth Missouri Regiment. After the war he took up politics and was several became a Greenbacker ancl believed in the labor movement. It may be said that his mind was not on his family as a good father's should be; he neglected his sons and allowed them to grow up as they pleased, ungoverned and un¬ cared for. His home became an arsenal of firearms and all of his children were familiar with their use.

On the day previous to his death at the hands of his children (as the evidence brought out) he had been attending the county fair at Maryville, returning home in his buggy about six o'clock in the evening. He was shot by an assassin that night at nine o'clock through the window. Upon his re¬ turn from Maryville, he found a professional call awaiting him and went at once to visit a sick child. He came back and in his room was showing his son Albert the copyright for a book that he was publishing. The wife had retired in a nearby room and he sat in his shirt sleeves by the bed, while the son was sitting beside a table near by, his arm on the window sill. A shot was fired from the direction of the window and took effect in his breast, the ball passing clear through his body and drew blood on the calf of the wife's leg, then entering the plastering. The ball weighed an ounce and a half and was large enough to have filled the barrel of a shot gun. The Doctor's hand being up to his breast at the time, his fingers were partly shot away. He fell, saying to his wife, "Belle, My God, I am shot." He survived until the next day at about two o'clock and was conscious up to within five minutes of his death.

The sheriff of this county was then Henry Toel and the the prosecuting at¬ torney was W. W. Ramsay. An inquest was held and the verdict was that Doctor Talbott had come to his death, assassinated by some unknown person. From the very start the family had been suspicioned. The knife marks on the ill-shaped ball were hard to explain away. The seeming coolness of the en¬ tire family was another point that tended to cause suspicion on the part of the general public. Then came a rumor from the Talbott mansion that the house had been attacked by armed men, an entrance made, a battle fought, revolvers and shotguns had been emptied at short range. But there was no evidence of all this rioting, save the dead man and the single bullet hole in the ceiling.

About this juncture there appeared a man named Jonas V. Brighton, a detective from Kansas City, who soon had the confidence of the two sons of the Doctor. They told him the story and admitted their guilt to him. In the meantime! other evidence had been ferreted out and warrants were made out for the Toys' arrest. This was performed by Sheriff Toel, Hosea Tor- ranee and Nicholas Jones; the hired man, Henry Wyatt, was at the same time arrested. The prisoners were taken to Maryville, where the preliminary hear¬ ing was held October 27-28, 1880, and resulted in all three being bound over on the charge of murder in the first degree, while the wife of Doctor Talbott was held under a bond of one thousand dollars. The grand jury in Novem¬ ber failed to find a bill against the wife, but held the other parties for trial. The trial consumed ten days and excited more interest than any case ever held in northern Missouri, representatives of the leading dailies in Chicago, Cin¬ cinnati and New York being present to report the evidence. The defense was ably conducted by Lafayette Dawson, Thomas J. Johnston and M. G. Moran, while the prosecution was conducted by the prosecuting attorney, assisted by John Edwards and Scribner R. Beech. At request of the defense, the case was tried before Hon. John C. Howell, of another judicial district. The case went to the jury and two hours later it returned its verdict as follows : "We the jury, find the defendant, Charles E. Talbott, and the defendant, Albert P. Talbott, guilty of murder in the first degree."

The Judge in his sentence made use of the following paragraphs: "This is no time for speech making, but rather for solemn thought and melancholy reflection. No doubt the defendants are sufficiently impressed with the gravity of the situation. If they are guilty - and they know whether they are or not - I can only recommend to them that they heartily repent of their crime, and have washed from their souls the foul stain produced by this awful violation of human and divine law."

The Judge then asked the defendants if they had any legal reason why the judgment of the court should not be pronounced on them, to which each responded: "I have; I am not guilty of the charge." His Honor continued: "The jury says you are guilty, and therefore it is considered and adjudged by the court that you be taken hence to the county jail of Nodaway county, and confined therein till the 25th day of March, t 88 1 , and that on that day you be taken thence by the sheriff to the place of execution, and that you be hanged by the neck till you be dead, and may God have mercy on your souls."

The Judge - manly man that he was - broke down and wept; strong men cried and women shrieked aloud. The agony of the mother was indeed ter¬ rible. She clung to her sons and would not be torn from them. Albert's coolness forsook him and he too wept bitterly; his mother and his affianced both must be bidden a long farewell. Charles was perceptibly moved, but to no great extent. 0

The end had not yet come. A motion for an appeal to the supreme court was made and granted and the boys were placed in the jail at Sav^nntih! But when the decision was rendered which affirmed the lower court, they were placed in the jail at St. Joseph, and within a few weeks a plot was discovered by which they expected to make good their escape. Great efforts were made to gain executive clemency, but all they procured was a respite of sentence to July instead of June, when both suffered the penalty of their crime.

This was a prominent case in crime's record book, for Doctor Talbott was a popular physician, had resided here thirty years, had made a clean record and accumulated wealth.

Henry Wyatt, while jointly indicted with the defendants, had been granted a severance in the trial and was introduced by the state and gave the principal testimony, detailing all the plots and plans preceding the murder.