Seward County, Nebraska - Chapter 20, 1916

Chapter 20

Of all the undesirable topics to engage the attention of either writer or reader, murder stands foremost. But with all of its ghastly horrors it is an unavoidable subject for consideration in the past events of Seward county. However the earliest settlers of the county cannot be classed as criminals nor abetors of crime. The first settlers were a law abiding, industerous and honest class of homeseekers and it is a matter worthy of note that no terrible crime was placed upon the court records of Seward county for upwards of twenty years after its first settlement. And those convicted of crime later on were invariably more recent arrivals in the community.

Murder Of Nathan Clough

In regard to this tragedy we are partially at a loss to give exact conditions, having nothing but our memory for a great portion of the details as a guide. There were two brothers, Nathan and Warren Clough residing in the city of Seward. Warren Clough was engaged in keeping a hotel and his brother, Nathan, was a horse breeder and made his home at his brother's hotel, keeping his horses in the hotel bam. The hotel keeper was a married man while his brother was single and it was reported that jealousy existed between the two brothers. One bright spring morning, in the month of May, 1874, Nathan Clough was found dead in the hotel barn, having been slain sometime during the night or morning with an axe. This created a great excitement and people's tongues ran wild. Everybody laid the blame for the bloody deed upon Warren Clough and like everything else that becomes matter of fact by continual wordy speculation the coroners jury brought in a verdict charging Warren Clough with the murder of his brother. The prejudice against the accused had been worked up to such a pitch in the city of Seward that a change of venue was granted :and the trial took place in the neighboring city of York - not very greatly removed from the scenes of the crime nor the exciting prejudice it had created. And outside of this prejudice which seemed to be based upon opinion more than proof, there was none but circumstantial evidence against the man and the strongest of this evidence was reported to have consisted in the conduct and actions of the accused. But he was convicted of murder in the first degree, was sentenced to be hung and all preparations were made for executing the sentence. On the evening before the execution was to take place Governor Garber commuted the sentence to life imprisonment. After serving fifteen years of his sentenance he was pardoned by Governor Thayer. Whether Warren Clough was or was not guilty no one but himself knew, and if innocent no one but himself and the guilty one knew. Jack Trent, a notorious character who was afterwards convicted of burglary at Seward and sentenced to serve three years in the penitentiary, died before his sentence had expired and was reported to have made a statement on his death bed that he killed Nathan Clough, but the confession received no attention or credit, although it was possibly true.

Murder Of George L. Monroe

Orlando J. Casler was a criminaloid. His father served in the New York state penitentiary for manslaughter having killed a man in a quarrel, with a fence stake. Before Orlando came to Nebraska he served a part of a sentence in the Wisconsin state penetentiary for stealing a team of horses, but was pardoned by the governor of that state before the expiration of his sentence. Having a brother, Norman Cas- ler, a homesteader residing in -L- precinct, Seward count}7, Nebraska, and a sister, Mrs. T. H. Tisdale, of Beaver Crossing, when he was released from prison in Wisconsin, in 1874 Orlando came with his family to this county. He made his home for a short time alternately with his brother and sister. Gilbert White, a young, unmarried man had homesteaded the east half of the north-west quarter of section 34, -L- precinct and had made a dugout on the claim and as Orlando Casler wanted a place to live White permite 1 him to move into his dugout. Shortly afterwards young White sold his homestead to B.F. Salnave, but could not give any title other than relinquish his claim and Casler, hearing of the deal, slipped in ahead of Salnave and homesteaded the land. The writer owned the quarter adjoining the said eighty on the east and was intimately acquainted with Casler. He was a soldier in the war of the rebellion, had been severly wounded in the right rhoulder and was drawing a pension of fourteen dollars a month which togother with the rent from the improved land on the White-Salnave homestead provided him with a fair support as compared to other homesteaders, but the all prevailing mania for horses was still with him as it had been in Wisconsin. In the early part of July, 1878, a stranger, a comrade soldier by the name of George L. Monroe, of Missouri, came into the neighborhood driving a plug team of horses hitched to an old style, wide track wagon, the whole outfit perhaps not worth over a hundred dollars. He wanted to sell his team and unfortunately fell into the company of Orlando J. Casler who took him in as an old army comrade. He remained at Casler's dugout two or three days and was seen by several of the neighbors. Fiually Casler proposed to buy his comrade's team, but said they would be obliged to go to Seward to get the money. (This was taken from a statement made at the house of the writer by Mrs. Orlando J. Casler after the murder.) This proposition was accepted by Monroe and on the morning of July 7th the two men got up early and hitching up the team drove to Seward where Monroe was to receive the money for his outfit and go on his way rejoicing and Casler was to take the team. But unfortunately Casler could not get the money in Seward therefore he induced his companion to return home with him. The next link in the chain of Casler's "cussedness" was to get Monroe to camp for the night in the timber on the North Blue river bottom, just outside the city limits of Seward on the road to Beaver Crossing. After they had got settled for the night some other parties came and camped near to them which disturbed Casler and he again induced his companion and they moved farther up the river. This was the last act of George L. Monroe and the last time anybody except Orlando Casler saw him alive. In the morning Casler had some difficulty in catching the horses as they had got loose and while looking for them was met by parties on the street of the city with his clothing all wet. He stated that he had got his clothes wet while running after the horses through the wet grass. But he got the animals and hitched up and drove them home, telling everybody he saw that he had bought the team and that Mr. Monroe had gone on to California. Two or three days later some boys were fishing near the bridge below the two comrades' camping ground and saw the body of a man lodged in some drift wood. They went up to town and reported what they had seen and the officials went and got the body. The man had been shot in the heart, the ball having passed entirely through the body, and a terrible wound had been inflicted upon the side of the forehead, apparently by a blow with a revolver, the cock of it striking and cutting a frightful gash. T. }. Foster, an L precinct citizen and neighbor, happened to be in Seward that day and saw the body which he recognized as that of the man who had been in company with Casler.

About three o'clock the next morning we were awakened by a terriffic pounding upon our dugout door and when we asked who was there, were both surprised and somewhat frightened at the reply that it was the sheriff of Seward county. Well, we didn't believe him and told him so. We also told him that the. sheriff of Seward county had no business coming around our house in such a way at that time of night. lie said there had been a murder committed and we were only one of several persons he wanted to see before daylight. We told him there was no murderer in that part of the country, and he said that he guessed there was. He said he only wanted to subpena us as a witness before a coroner's jury. We then opened the door and he came in and served his subpena and told us to be ready to go at daylight, that there were several teams going and we could ride with some one of them. We got a "rushed'' breakfast just in time to climb into the wagon with Roland Reed and sons, Charley and Horatio. Our dugout at that time was about forty rods west of Casler's and the witnesses who had been notified to go were requested to tarry a little until the sheriff and his deputy had got Casler started on the road so we waited a few minutes and saw Casler drive out towards Seward. The sheriff had schemed to keep Casler in ignorance as to what he was wanted in Seward tor and permitted him to drive his recently acquired team and take his wife with him. But the sheriff and deputy were very careful to ride in their buggy just behind and close up to Casler's team while the string of witnesses followed along in the rear. While Casler in the leading conveyance sat as if in deep meditation the entire journey to Seward, the attitude ot the two men in the buggy displaying a feeling of reverence, and the escort of neighbors with solemn and blanched faces following as stated we were constantly impressed with thoughts of a funeral. And such it seemed to amount to so far as Casler was con- cerned. It was the last cortege of sorrowing neighors to follow him, and if not to his last resting place, it proved to be to the place of his just doom. On that trip his doubts and fears were, no doubt many, but he did not realize its real meaning until he arrived in Seward where he was immediately arrested an placed in jail.

It has been said that "murder will out," and if this one didn't "out" in every way it would be difficult to find one that did. It was a very bungling job of crime. Casler had undoubtedly made an effort to sink the body in the river, but excitement had caused him to make practialh7 a failure of it. The wet condition of his clothing in the morning points directly to this conclusion. It was evident that he had shot and killed Monroe with the man's own revolver, and shot him while sleeping in his wagon as there was a bullet hole in the bottom of the wagon box. He had Monroe's revolver hid in his stable. He had also his victim's pocketbook and private papers hid in his bed. Monroe's satchel containing clothes and other things was found, hidden in a hedge fence at the side of the road leading to Beaver Crossing. In his effort to conceal his guilt Casler made the blunder of telling his wife all about it and permitting her to know even the hiding place of the stuff. When officers searched his home for evidence she told them where to find the pocketpook, papers and revolver. This lady was a frequent visitor at our dugout and came there as soon as she returned home after her husband's arrest and her talk removed every doubt from our mind in regard to his guilt. She did not pretend to say that he was not guilty. In fact she did not make any effort to conceal his guilt. She said that he hid Monroe's things and that she told him when doing so: 'Why Lant, They Will Find You Out!"

one, but the usual indispensable formalities together with the presentation of all the evidence in the matter which would aid the jury in coming to a just and impartial conclusion required several day's time. But with a very short deliberation the jury returned a verdict of guilt against Orlando J. Casler for the murder of George L. Monroe. He was sentenced by Judge Post, of York, before whom the trial was conducted, to be hung on the 20th day of May, 1879.

On the morning of the day Casler was to be executed it seemed that everybody excepting the writer was on the road to Seward and there was an immense throng gathered in the city early in the day. And the precautions the sheriff had taken to observe the law and exclude the public from witnessing the revolting scene were, in the hands of that host of excited citizens, many of whom were lawless, as frail as chaff before a tornado. He had erected an inclosure of boards around the gallows and outlined a limited space, placing an equiped corps of dupities as a guard, warning people not to pass the limited line. But just before the fateful hour arrived a general rush was made, upon the line of deputies and the board inclosure, which swept everything out of the way of a complete and general view of the gallows and the proceedings about to be enacted there. It was the general impression among the people that Orlando Casler deserved to be hung and the prevalent desire to know that it was done impressed many with an idea that seeing it done was the only way of knowing it had been done. And this seemed to be the only way to satisfy the public demand for the execution of a bad and dangerous character. Had Sheriff John Sulivan failed in the performance of the terrible duty set before him, the mob would have performed it lor him. But he did not shrink from his duty and Orlando J. Casler paid the prescribed penalty for his crime at the appointed time in accordance with the law so far as the mob had permitted him to do. Of course a public execution was contrary to state statutes, but the sheriff had no other alternative. He had to strain the law to obey it and to prevent a greater violation of it by the mob than had already been enacted.

The last words of Orlando J. Casler at the closing scenes of his life were reported immediatly after the execution by several of his nearest neighbors who witnessed the entire proceedings at the execution as follows: "Before God and man I am innocent."

The Bates-Thomas Tragedy

In March 1880 a terrible tragedy occurred at a school house in B precinct near where the village of Bee is located. A protracted meeting was being held at the school house and there was a family bv the name of Bates residing in the locality who were very much enthused with the spirit of the meeting and were taking a prominent part in the exercises. There were also some rough characters in the neighborhood by the name of Thomas who were harboring a grudge against the Bateses, and to satisfy their wrath they vented their spite upon the meetings. Being allaround toughs they had no difficulty in enlisting 'others of the same lawless spirit in making an effort to break up the meetings by a system of lawless disturbance. This kind of overbearing conduct was continued until patient forbearance upon the part of the church people ceased to be a virtue and violent threats were made as to what would be the result if the rowdies did not cease to disturbe the exercises. Preparations were made and one night the church people went to the meeting armed to defend their rights and the toughs went prepared for trouble which it seems they were looking for. An exchange of angry words was quickly followed by blows. Revolvers were brought into action by both sides resulting in the death of William Bates and the fatal wounding of Hillard Thomas.

James Thomas received a wound in the hip, Isreal Bates was wounded in the thigh and Luther Bates received a severe wound in the head infiisted with a spade. What brought the row to a close without further bloodshed has not been fully determined, but it was probably on account of the disabling of the principal leaders in the affray. Certainly it brought about the desired purpose of the toughs and broke up the meeting. And it seems strange that such a shamefully outrageous violation of law and order upon their part, resulting in the murder of a respected citizen, was permitted to go without punishment or even satisfactory investigation. We fail to understand that the law would hold those toughs guiltless of murder on the theory that the church people prepared to defend their rights. They were in their own home and should have been as free to defend it as a private citizen would be to defend his home and he would have a right to be prepared for that purpose with a dozen or more Gatling guns if necessary. And if a citizen was killed in the defense of home with those Gatling guns the party who committed the deed would be guilty of murder just the same as if he had killed that citizen while sleeping. There is scarcely room for a doubt that several of those meeting disturbers should have been forced to account for the willful murder of William Bates.

The Samuel Bowker-Granger Tragedy

In the matter of the above named tragedy, which as near as our memory serves us, occured in the fall of 1880, there were five persons involved. The Grangers consisted of father, a daughter and two sons, the fifth being Samuel Bowker, the whole terrible affair being the result of a loose tongue on the part of Bowker about the Granger daughter and sister. The daughter had recently been married and Bowker engaged in the use of disrespectful language about the young lady and her marriage in presence of her father who resented Bowker's insulting manner with a strong protest which brought on a quarrel resulting in Bowker, who prided himself on his pugilism, striking Mr. Granger and knocking him down. These parties resided near Milford and the two brothers, Milton and John Granger were in the mercantile business in East Millord, now Grover. A few days after the assault upon their father Mr. Bowker was passing the sons' store and they came out and invited him to get out of his wagon. He immediately accepted the invitation and taking off his coat announced himself ready for the two brothers. With angry and violent words the fight commenced, Milton Granger soon drawing a revolver fired two shots at Bowker who kuocked the revolver from his hand when John Granger drew a revolver, firing five times at Bowker. Two of these shots took effect, one of which struck near the shoulder and passing to the spine caused Mr. Bowker's death. The Granger brothers were indited for murder and on trial plead guilt}7 of manslaughter which was accepted by the court. They were sentenced to serve ten years in the penitentiay which term they served.

Had the Granger brothers went into the fight without the revolvers and accidently got hold of a weapon and killed their antagonist their plea would have been more plausible and they would perhaps received a lighter sentence. But the fact that each was armed with death dealing weapons was evidence of premeditated intent to kill Mr. Bowker. His violent conduct following up and defending a cowardly vocal assault upon a young lady's name reaped its reward and had much to do with mitigating the sentence and public opinion of the Granger brothers.

Murder Of Mrs. Patrick

given name we are at this time unable to state, and family seemed to be very rough and lawless. The}7 frequently engaged in family strife and one day in the early part of April, 1882, Mr. and Mrs. Patrick and two sons were returning to their home from Seward when a family quarrel was commenced between the boys and their father. This seemed to go from bad to worse until it resulted in a revolver battle. In trying to stand between the combatants, Mrs. Patrick, the wife of one and mother of the others, was killed by a shot from her husband's revolver. He was indited for murder, was tried, found guilty and given a sentence of life imprisonment in the penitentiary. After serving several years of his sentence he was pardoned by the governor.

Murder Of The Leavitt Children

As W. W. Cox was a member of the grand jury which investigated this, the most brutish of all Seward county murders, we will quote his account of it. It occured in 1889.

"In the southern part of D precinct there lived a family by the name of Leavitt. They were old residents, but unfortunately they were not popular with their neighbors. There had been much trouble about their stock and various matters. Mr. Leavitt was a man in general bad repute and it made against him in this terrible trying hour. As appeared in the evidence before the grand jury, of which the author was a member, Mr. and Mrs. Leavitt had an errand one evening at Gresham, about five or six miles distant, leaving their two young daughters in charge of the house. Upon their return late in the evening, they found the two little girls, one about eleven and the other thirteen years old lying in the yard with their throats cut. Suspicions were arroused against different parties. A grand jury was speedly summond. The jury was in session ten days and every avenue was searched diligently. It developed that there was a deadly enmity existing against Leavitts in the community and some were ready to believe that the old couple had murdered their own children; but there was no evidence to justify such a suspicion only that their general reputation as citizens was not of a high order. There was no evidence of any possible motive to commit such a deed. Some of the neighbors seemed very little concerned in the matter, according to their own testimony. We will give a few questions and their answers.

"This is the way the evidence ran with one neighbor, and yet scarcely no suspicion was placed at his door, only a suspicion that he was brutal.

"On an adjoining farm was a man by the name of Gerd Stienblack who had had much trouble with Leavitt about unruly stock, and there was much bad blood existing. When he was told of the murder he did not care enough to go and see, although he lived less than half a mile distant. However he seemed agitated, but gave vent to the idea that it was no concern ol his. Stienblack was summoned before the jury and when closely and sharply cross questioned he became much excited and as the old saying is, "He danced like a chicken on a hot griddle." He was on the witness

'There was a wide spread suspicion in the jury room and among the people that he knew all about the murder, but the jury was not able to agree or to fix the awful crime at the door of any person, and with many it remains a mystery to this day. But now after the long years have passed, we are free to say that we have never had occasion to change our mind that at least one of the guilty parties met his God before that jury closed its session. Below we give a letter left by Mr. Stienblack, in German, but translated by Rev. Father Gruber. The letter is without date and reads as follows:

"I do not want to have spread my name town. Therefore, greeting once more. I am not guilt}7 of the deed. This my wife and daughter know as well as I, for I dared to tell the truth. But it is too late now. And so has the deed been attributed also to me, of which nevertheless I an quite innocent. My beloved wife and daughter, God will give that we see each other in eternity again. Gerd Stienblack."

This is Mr. Cox's story, of that murder, as a juror who investigated the crime. In view of what did develope before that grand jury, according to his statement, the truth of which there is no room for a doubt, the Leavitt family, whatever they may have been, good or bad, had some terrible bad and dangerous neighbors, leaving out of consideration the murder of the little girls. That the murder of tbose two little girls without a possible motive, was the act of a mad or insane person seems apparant. And the whole conduct of Gerd Stienblack, leading up to and including his almost incomprehensive letter and his self destruction point him out distinctly as a mad-man. Whether he was responsible or not, if he committed the murder, is a matter of grave doubt. Again his insanity may have resulted from excitement and fear that he was in danger of having to account for the crime. But that he was insane there is no room for doubt. No sane person ever committed suicide.

Murder And Suicide At Seward

The citizens of the city of Seward, and in fact of the whole county of Seward, were horror-stricken on the evening of June 25th, 1902, by the report that the murder of one and the suicide of another of the city's well known business men had been committed that evening. A. D. Lange shot and killed John Hand on the street and after walking one block to his home fired one shot into his own body and one shot into his head. All of the physicians in the city were soon in attendance, but he was out of the reach of human assistance and passed away in a short time.

The cause of this terrible tragedy is the same one that has prompted more such shocking homicides than any other one thing in the world - a fickle wife and a foolish man. John Hand had been paying illegitimate attention to Lange's wife for over two years which had brought about a muscular encounter between the two men about a year previous to the final end, and yet Hand foolishly presisted in his attentions to the lady. And the result, with all of its heartrending features, was not surprising to many of Seward's citizens who were well aware of the conditions as they had existed for a long time.

The men were both in business in Seward, Lange being a dealer in groceries which business Hand had just previously sold out of to engage in the sale of pumps and windmills. Hand left a wife and several children, some of them grown.

Jacob Votava Murder

October 29th, 1906, one of the workmen on the B. & M. rail road grade through that section, discovered Mr. Votava lying on his bed in his house and after a time became satisfied that the man was dead. He gave the alarm and an investigation showed that he had been dead several days. A coroner's jury was summoned and rendered a verdict that he had been murdered by shooting. Indications pointed to the fact that two persons had occupied the house the night of the murder, but no clue was learned as to who committed the crime. Votava was supposed to have some valuables and just before his murder had sold some hogs and suspicion was prevalent that he was murdered for his money. Everything of value that could be carried away had been taken from the place. Mr. Votava was about forty years old and had no relatives in Seward county.

The Bert Pickrel Tragedy

A shocking and terrible tragedy occured in the city of Seward, January 9th, 191 3, when a young wife was shot to death by a jealous husband of only five weeks. On an acquaintance of only two weeks Bert Pickrel married a young girl, became jealous on account of her conduct with other men, and procuring a loaded shotgun entered her sitting room, and with the pretense that he was going hunting stepped behind the young woman and discharged the contents of the gun in the back of her head, literally tearing it to pieces. This case involves love, marriage, jealousy and murder in the brief period of seven weeks. This lover, jealous husband and murderer possibly was mentally unbalanced which would form the only basis for even a partial excuse for his horrible crime. He was placed in jail where he waited until the convening of the district court when he plead guilty of murder in the second degree and was sentenced to serve twenty-five years in the state penitentiary.