Green City (part 5 of 14)

AGAIN ARRESTED, TRIED AND COoNVICTED. - Among others arrested by the officers at this period, March, 1838, was one Jonathan DeCourcey, a tavern keeper at Johnson's Corners, in Norton township, and one of Brown's' most trusted lieutenants. Finding himself fairly in the toils, DeCourcey sought immunity by turning informer against his principal. Brown was accordingly arrested by Constable Hurlbut, of Richfield, and examined before Justice James W. Weld, of the same township, in the Court House at Medina, on the 10th day of April, a large number of witnesses being in attendance. The charge was having $10 and $50 counterfeit bills on the bank of Rochester, N. Y., in his possession with intent to pass the same, and of having offered to sell De Courcey $6,000 thereof.

He was held to bail in the sum of $10,000, and at the June term of the Court of Common Pleas for Medina county, was duly indicted for the offense. The trial was postponed until the October term, Brown's $10,000 bonds being renewed, with Alonzo Dee, William T. Mather and William King, as sureties; De Courcey also being indicted and held to bail in the sum of $3,000, with Abel Dickinson as surety, for making and counterfeiting a Mexican 'dollar. Both cases were again postponed until the March term of the court, 1839.

Trairorous DrCourcrty. - As the day for the trial approached, an effort was made by Brown and his friends to get rid of De- Courcey, and his damaging testimony. He was offered $400 in money, a well-secured note for $200, and a gold watch, with the promise of indemnity for his bail, to "absquatulate" to Texas. This proposition the old sinner pretended to accept, but after getting possession of the money, watch and note, and just on the eve of starting for Texas, under the escort of one of Brown's trusted henchmen, William Hicks, of Canal Fulton, he managed to give the officers the wink, and both DeCourcey and his escort were overhauled and brought back to Medina and lodged in jail in time for trial; Brown also being taken into custody on a Bench warrant, and lodged in jail.

CONVICTED AND STARTED FOR THE " PEN."' - The trial of Brown finally came off early in March, 1839, and though the most eminent counsel of the time were employed in his defense, and though every effort was made to break down the testimony of DeCourcey, and the collateral evidence by which he was supported, the jury after a very brief deliberation, brought in a verdict of guilty, and he was immediately sentenced to the penitentiary for the period of seven years.

AN EXTRAORDINARY RrIpE. - The sentence was pronounced about the middle of the afternoon. In anticipation of the result, a bill of exceptions had been prepared, with which William T. Mather, the brother-in-law of Brown, immediately started on horseback for Rocky River, near Cleveland, to secure the allowance of a writ of error, and a stay of proceedings, from Supreme Judge, Reuben Wood. The writer happened, on the same afternoon, to be riding in the same primitive manner, from Brunswick to Medina, meeting Mather midway, about an hour before sunset. The clay roads of that vicinity were then almost impassable, making traveling very slow, and on my suggesting that, as they would probably start Brown towards Columbus early in the morning, he could hardly make it, he replied that he had relays of horses provided, and would be sure to get back to Medina before daylight the next the county jail. Falling in with the crowd, which immediately began to gather in front of the jail, but a-few brief moments elapsed before the colossal form of Brown was seen to emerge" from the building, with his hands and feet thoroughlyironed. He was assisted into the coach by the officers, and, with the sheriff and two assistants, immediately started for Columbus. Simultaneous with the starting of the coach, another swift messenger, on a fleet horse, was started towards Cleveland, to admonish Mather of the action of the authorities, and, if possible, accelerate his speed.

MaTHEer Too Mucu For THEM. - Notwithstanding their hot haste, the officers were destined never to reach Columbus with their distinguished prisoner. Mather, having secured Judge Wood's signature to his document, at once started upon the back track, reaching Medina about one o'clock in the morning. After a brief rest and a partaking of refreshments, mounting a fresh horse he started toward Columbus, overtaking the stage just as it was pulling out of Loudonville, a little after daylight the next morning - an equestrian feat nearly, if not quite equal to those attributed to old "Jim" himself, as above related.

New TrIAL - FINAL AcguiTrAL. - The discomfited sheriff and his assistants, could do nothing less than to 'about face," and wend their way back to Medina, where they arrived at just about the same hour of leaving the evening before; the writer meeting and "greeting" them about midway between Medina and Seville. The proceedings in error were argued before the Supreme Court, in Cleveland, August 7, 1839, and a new trial granted. At the September term of Medina Common Pleas, the case was again called for trial, but the main witness for the State - the slippery DeCourcey - was found to be non est, having finally been "spirited away," resulting in a continuance of the case, until the March term, 1840, when it was nollied. The case against DeCourcey had been continued from term to term until his non-appearance at the September term of the court, as aforesaid, when his bail was declared forfeited, and, so far as the writer is advised, Jonathan DeCourcey has never again been seen in Ohio, and has, in all probability, long since gone to his final account.

[Dr. A. K. Ewing relates the following ancedote in connection with Brown's Medina trial: Constables Culver and Hurlbut had but one horse between them, on which to return to Richfield, which was the property of Culver, and who generously proposed to 'ride and tie," telling Hurlbut to ride on until he got tired, then hitch the horse by the side of the road for him to take his turn at riding when he came up. Hurlbut, being fond of practical jokes failed to get tired, until he reached Richfield, leaving the ep vee of the horse to foot it the entire distance, some fifteen miles.]

A SIMILAR EXPERIENCE IN PoRTAGE County. - In June, 1838 Marshal Mills arrested, near Buffalo, a resident of Akron by the name of Willard W. Stevens, for passing or dealing in counterfeit money, and lodged him in jail at Ravenna. After getting behind the bars, Stevens turned informer against his principal, "Jim" Brown, directing where a quantity of spurious money, purchased by him from Brown, could be found in the cellar of the house then occupied by his family, on Howard street, in Akron. Finding the money as indicated, Mills, undera warrant issued upon the affidavit of Stevens, arrested Brown, who was held to bail by Justice Jacob Brown in the sum of $9,000 to answer to the charge before the Court of Common Pleas, Stevens, meantime, in view of his valuable service to the State, being released from jail on his own recognizance to appear as a witness in the case.

_An indictment was duly found, and the day for the trial fixed. A jury was impaneled and the witnesses were called, all of whom responded but Mr. Willard W. Stevens. The main witness for the State had "mysteriously" disappeared and the memories of those who were to corroborate him had mysteriously failed, thus leaving the overconfiding officers again in the lurch, and scoring another triumph for the greatest "financier" of his time, "Jim" Brown. Stevens never again returned to Summit county, but spent several years in Georgia, afterwards rejoining his family in Western New York, where the writer met him, the industrious tiller of a farm, in 1846, and who is now, at about the age of 84 years, a respectable citizen of one of Western counties of Ohio.

In Cuyanoca County, Axso. - Contemporaneous with the cases above written of, Brown was arrested by the officers of Cuyahoga County, upon a similar charge, and held to bail in the sum of $1,000, slipping through the meshes of the law in about the same manner asin the two instances above named, thus demonstrating the great danger of public officers and courts of justice relying upon confederates in crime for evidence to convict their fellows.

UncLE SAM GRAppLES With HimM. - His immediate active coadjutors - Ashley, Latta, De Courcey, etc., and a large number of lesser lights, having been driven from the neighborhood, out of the business, or into the penitentiary, "Old Jim,' as he was then familiarly called, remained comparatively quiescent for a number of years, being elected Justice of the Peace for the township of Northampton in October, 1845; though events to be hereinafter narrated will abundantly demonstrate that for a considerable period, he continued to maintain his high standing as chief of the Bureau of Bogus Banking, in the West, if not of America.

Though he was observed to have many mysterious visitors, both at his Northampton home and in his local haunts, no further overt act, either by himself or those under him, had attracted the attention of the authorities, until the summer of 1846, when he was again arrested for counterfeiting United States coin. In the meantime the new county of Summit had been erected and organized, and at the date mentioned the late William S. C. Otis was prosecuting attorney, while the late Judge Samuel W. McClure, then living at Cuyahoga Falls, was a United States commissioner for Summit county. Otis was energetic and persevering in pursuit of crime, and McClure was prompt and decisive as a magistrate and judge. The examination was held at the Court House, occupying several days, with a large crowd of spectators constantly in attendance. The prosecution was fought inch by inch by Judge Rufus P. Spalding, attorney for the defense. But the evidence was so conclusive that Commissioner McClure held Brown to bail in the sum of $20,000, to answer to the United States District Court for Ohio, at Columbus.

the attorneys, and on which he had reserved his decision. After his arrest, and before his examination, as above, McClure called at the jail to ascertain the result of said civil suit, whereupon Brown > pronounced judgment in favor of McClure's client and quietly expressed the hope that the forthcoming examination before Commissioner McClure might be equally favorable to him.]

CoMMITTED TO THE FRANKLIN County JArIL. - Brown's earlier hold upon the confidence of responsible parties having become lessened by lapse of time and change of circumstances, he was unable to procure so large an amount of bail, and was accordingly committed to the jail of Franklin County, at Columbus. Subsequently, however, on the application of Judge Spalding, one of the judges of the U.S. District Court reduced the bail to $5,000, which was secured, and the distinguished defendant was released from custody.

The trial commenced at Columbus, on Saturday, August 1, 1846, Justice John McLean, of the United States Court, presiding, assisted by Judge Humphrey H. Leavitt of the U. S. District Court of Ohio. The indictment charged Brown with " making and uttering and assisting to make and utter counterfeit gold and silver coin, and counterfeit notes in the similitude of bank notes." Hon. Thomas W. Bartley, U. S. District Attorney for Ohio, and William S. C. Otis, Prosecuting Attorney for Summit County, conducted the case on the part of the Government, and Hon. Noah M. Swayne (afterwards one of the Judges of the U. S. Supreme Court) and Hon. Rufus P. Spalding represented the defense. The trial lasted six days and was most exciting throughout, the Court, towards the end, on an intimation that if the trial should be likely to go against him the defendant would abscond, issuing a Bench warrant, ordering Brown into custody. A large number of witnesses were in attendance, the main effort of the defense being to impeach the testimony of the witnesses for the prosecution, which was largely in the nature of State's evidence, by implicated parties, to clear themselves from similar accusations.

The principal witness was the son of a highly respectable farmer in a neighboring town, who had been inveigled into the business by the blandishments of Brown, and to whom Brown had from time to time sold counterfeit money in exchange for a horse, yoke of oxen, etc., at the rate of 20 cents on the dollar for paper money and 33 1-3 for coin, the latter mostly quarter eagles. Sheriff Lewis M. Janes testified that on the same day that Brown was arrested by Deputy United States Marshal Ithiel Mills, he (Janes) searched Brown's house, in Northampton, where he found, under the garret floor, and in the boxing of the cornice, several parts of a copper-plate press; in a barrel in the garret a large number of zinc and copper cups, parts of two galvanic batteries; in a trunk in the store-room, a large quantity of bank-note paper, one ream entire and unbroken, and in the secretary sundry letters and other evidence of crookedness.

IN THE PENITENTIARY AT LaAst. - The trial, including the arguments of counsel and the charge of Judge McLean, occupied six full days, the court-room being crowded throughout, Notwithstanding the powerful defense and able and eloquent arguments of his counsel, Messrs. Swayne and Spalding, the jury disposed of the case in just two hours, returning a verdict of guilty of uttering counterfeit, United States coin, as charged in the indictment, and Brown was immediately sentenced by Judge McLean to ten years' penal servitude in the Ohio Penitentiary, in Ae institution he was duly installed on the 10th day of August, .

This was his first actual imprisonment, under sentence, during more than a quarter of a century of continuous crime, owing to the skill of himself and the gang in suborning and spiriting away witnesses. Indeed, he seemed to have had, from the beginning, a - sort of premonition of the final result, often remarking to his friends, between his arrest and his conviction, that while he had always been syccessful in dodging the pains and penalties of State law, and could generally manage to worry out a county, he was fearful that " Uncle Sam" would prove too much for him.

DASTARDLY AcT OF RETALIATION. - On the night' of Sunday, August 16, 1846, just one week after the conviction of Brown, as above narrated, the large barn of the father of the principal witness against him (the old gentleman also having been an important witness in the case), was destroyed by: an incendiary fire, with its contents, hay, oats, wheat, two horses and other property, together with several stacks of wheat upon the outside, the loss being from $1,000 to $1,200, with no insurance. Though. there was no tangible proof to that effect, it was generally believed that the barn was fired by some member of the gang in retaliation for what was regarded as an act of treachery against the chief officer of the fraternity, by one of his subordinates, and well illustrates the risks that testifying against the gang involved in those early times.

His DEMEANOR IN Prison. - His incarceration was a heavy blow to his pride and manhood, and though he outwardly maintained his usual serenity and dignity, his spirits were evidently severely crushed thereby. Yet by his correct deportment, as well as by his commanding presence, he soon won the confidence, and even the respect, of both the officers of the prison, and of his fellow-convicts, for the writer, only a few months after his first incarceration, on visiting the prison, found him already installed as " file leader" of the foremost: platoon, in the lock-step march of the convicts between the shops and the dining hall, cells, etc., and a magnificent leader he made, too. It was, indeed, a sorrowful sight, even to the writer who had labored so hard, in connection with the officers of justice, and subjected himself to such imminent risks of personal injury. in his efforts (through his paper) to break up the gang, to see even this "chief of sinners,' in sucha humiliating position.

A Parpon Farrty Won. - It was not long, however, before Mr. Brown was taken from the ranks, and from the shops, and assigned to lighter and more congenial duties, and finally given special charge of the prison hospital. While thus serving, the cholera broke out in the prison, making fearful havoc among the inmates. In this emergency, Brown was ever cool-headed and calm, and by his example, encouragement and unfaltering attention to the sick, undoubtedly carried many a poor fellow through, who would otherwise have succumbed to the fell destroyer.

This heroism and devotion was so highly appreciated by the officers of the prison, that they heartily seconded the efforts that were soon afterwards inaugurated by his friends, under the leadership of his ever-faithful and only daughter, Laura M. Brown (the late Mrs. Prof. Bronson) for his pardon, which was granted by President Zachary Taylor, just four months and a half after his inauguration, the pardon reaching Columbus, and Brown being set at liberty, on the 22nd day of July, 1849; two years, eleven months and twelve days from the date of his incarceration.

From Bap To Worsr. - The free pardon from President Taylor, and the restoration of Brown to liberty and citizenship, was not followed by that reform of his associations and habits that his family and friends had anticipated. His prestige, as the greatest "financier" of the age, had gone from him, and his scepter, as the great captain of the gang, had departed. He now,more than ever, began to consort with both men and women of the baser sort, and to indulge to excess in strong drinks and other degrading habits, while correspondingly lowering himself in his chosen profession.

Mrs. Brown SEEks A Divorce. - To such an extent did his evil habits, and his consequent immoral conduct, prevail, that the . wife of his youth and early manhood - she, who had, for so many long years, faithfully clung to him, in both "evil and good report;" she, who, while personal purity and conjugal loyalty remained, was ever ready to fly to his side, whenever he was in trouble, was finally compelled to appeal to the court for a decree of separation. Her petition was filed in the Court of Common Pleas, of Summit county, April 16, 1851. After setting forth the date of their marriage, and of her faithful performance of all her wifely duties, she says: ,

"Your petitioner further represents that during the last ten" years, and longer, the said James Brown hath been unmindful of, and hath wholly refused to discharge, the duties and obligations resting on him as the husband of your petitioner; that during all that time he hath entirely neglected to provide food or clothing, or the bare necessaries of life for your petitioner, and that but for the care and protection of her children, who supported her, your petitioner would have been in a state of utter destitution. Your petitioner further represents, that the said James Brown hath been an habitual drunkard for the last three years and more. Your petitioner further represents, that on or about the 8th day . of October, 1850, the said James Brown, by threats of personal violence, and by putting your petitioner in extreme fear of her life, drove her from his house in the night time, and compelled her to seek refuge and protection from a neighbor, since which time she hath not lived or cohabited with him, etc."

The case was heard before President Judge, George Bliss, and Associate Judges, Sylvester H. Thompson, Tohn Hov and Peter Voris, at the December term, 1851, the prayer ot tne petitioner being granted, and a decree of divorce entered accordingly; there being thenceforth absolutely no intercourse between Brown and his family during the remainder of his life.

In THE MicuIGAN PENITENTIARY. - From this time on his course was rapidly downward, his habits of dissipation not only increasing, but rendering him less cautiousin the handling of the "goods" in which he dealt. In February, 1855, Brown, with several of his pupils and confederates, were arrested by Marshal Dryden, of Columbus, and taken to that city, for manufacturing and handling spurious coin, but finally released without prosecution; though a few years later (March, 1859) a large quantity of bogus quarters were plowed up in the garden formerly occupied by the family with whom Brown for several years resided. In the Winter of 1859-60, Brown visited a former pupil of his in this county, Elihu Chilson, then a resident of Kent county, Mich. Here, either through his own imprudence, or Chilson's treachery, the officials of thatcounty got "onto" his operations, and "run himin." He was indicted, tried and convicted "for having in his possession, with intent to pass, a counterfeit bill," and sentenced to three years' imprisonment in the penitentiary of that state. He was © received at the prison March 17, 1860, and served his full term.

A ProposeD LITERARY VENTURE. - While he was thus incarcerated, the writer and the late Sherman Blocker opened negotiations with Mr. Brown for the publication of his auto-biography, in book form, the profits to be equally divided between the three. Mr. Blocker visited him in prison, and supposed that the arrangements had been fully consummated, the warden offering him every facility for the prosecution of the work, when he got ready to commence operations. Returning home to make the necessary preparations, Mr. Blocker soon afterwards received a letter from Brown, demanding, as a pre-requisite to performance, on his part, that we should first secure his pardon from the penitentiary. This, of course, we could not undertake to do, and the project fell through.

STILL THE " VICTIM OF PERSECUTION."' - Returning to Ohio, after his discharge from the Michigan penitentiary, Brown was almost immediately again placed under surveillance by the minions of the law, being on the the 23rd day of May, 1863, arrested in Cleveland by a deputy U.S. Marshal, for having altered treasury notes in his possession, with the purpose of passing them. Nothing of the kind being found upon his person, and other evidence promised failing to materialize, after being kept in jail a few days, he was released from custody.

LARGE FIND oF POSTAL AND OTHER CURRENCY. - About the middle of February, 1865, some school children found an old oyster can in a stack of hay, near the " Yellow Creek" headquarters of the gang, in which were packed from $3,000 to $4,000 of counterfeit scrip and bank notes, but the ownership of said wealth was never fully ascertained, though the conjecture was that, as Brown had recently returned from the east, it belonged to him. Though the boys who found the scrip in question, supposing it to be good, {and acting under the too prevalent impression that whatever a person finds belongs to him) had divided it up among themselves, and their comrades. Mr. William Hardy, township trustee, and Justice James R. Brown, succeeded in recovering the most of it, and handing it over to the proper authorities.

SHERIFF Buriison Takes A Hanp In. - June 17, 1865, Sheriff Burlison arrested, in Akron, a man by the name of Leonard Hill, with a large amount of spurious money in his possession. Becoming satisfied that Hill had got his funds from that distinguished 4financier,' Brown was taken into custody also, together with one Thaddeus Nighman, of Canton, the entire haul of postal scrip, treasury notes and miscellaneous bank bills, being between $10,000 and $12,000. A few days later, as a part of the same gang, Burlison arrested a man named Hunter, at Apple Creek, and three men named Daugherty, Rapp and Eshelbaum, at West Salem, while

Marshal Bill's deputies gathered in some eight or ten others who had been spotted by Burlison, at Crestline and Cardington, together with a press, plates, burglars' tool, etc. These were all transferred to the jail in Cleveland. The most, if not all, were held to bail to answer to the U. S. District Court, and, on giving bond, Brown was released from custody. |

BEForE A HiGHER TRIBUNAL. - On returning from Cleveland - whither he had been to look after his case - -upon a coal boat, on Saturday evening, December 9th, 1865, while passing through the Peninsula lock, in attempting to walk from the stern to the bow, either by the unsteadiness of his step, or by a sudden jar, he was precipitated from the running board to the bottom of the boat, breaking his shoulder and fracturing his skull. He was conveyed, in an insensible condition, to his boarding place, near Yellow Creek Basin, where he died on Sunday evening, December 10th, 1865, at the age of 67 years and 5 months. ,

The. remains of the deceased were, by his neighbors and 'associates, taken to the cemetery, at the village of Boston, where, without any special ceremony, they were laid beside those of his honored parents, whose memory he had so signally disgraced. Thus miserably ended the ignoble life of one of the most extensive and accomplished criminals of the Nineteenth Century, - a man who, by both nature and education, was well qualified to shine in the counsels of the nation, but who, by his blandishments, and, wrongly directed talents and energy, did more to corrupt the youth of the Western country who were brought within the scope of his baleful influence, than any score of his compeers in crime, as shrewd and dextrous, in the management of men and money, as many of them in reality were.

Of course, so brief a sketch as this, though more comprehensive than any hitherto written, is utterly inadequate to a full and perfect biography of "Jim" Brown and the mischief he has wrought. Though pleasant in manner, sympathetic and benevo- Jent in his impulses, and liberal to a fault, in cases of suffering and want, the fact still remains that he led hundreds of young men to ruin, disgrace, imprisonment and, possibly, death - thereby bringing hundreds of families to grief and despair; his . own household not even being exempt, as evidenced by what has. been written, and by what is yet to follow.

Mr. Brown's Famiry. - Of Mr. Brown's family, the following may properly be said in conclusion: The eldest son, Daniel M., died in Northampton, January 21, 1851, aged 31 years and 8 months. The devoted but divorced wife, Lucy Mather Brown, died in Akron August 21, 1884, aged 84 years and 6 months. Their only daughter, Laura M., a very accomplished lady, and talented artist, and who: so faithfully remained steadfast to the erring father, so long as any hope of his reformation remained, was, in the early fifties, married to Mr. John Frankenstein, of the city of Springfield, a portrait and landscape painter of considerable celebrity in Southern Ohio. Mr. Frankenstein's habits and conduct proving uncongenial and offensive, she returned to Summit county a few years later, and in 1859 obtained a decree of divorce from him: She soon afterwards married Prof. C. P. Bronson, of New York, eminent as a teacher of, and lecturer upon, physiology, elocution, etc., with whom she happily lived until his death, April 25, 1868, at the age of 64 years and 5 months, his remains being brought to Akron for interment. Mrs. Bronson also died in New York, September 25,1885, at the age of 61, her remains now reposing beside those of her husband in Glendale Cemetery. The early impression - somewhat prevalent even to this day - that Laura did the filling in of her father's counterfeit money, though she wrote a most beautiful hand, had no foundation whatever, her abhorrence of the business being outspoken and unequivocal.

The younger son, James R. Brown, Esq., always a thoroughly upright, intelligent and courteous gentleman, lived upon his large and well cultivated farm, in the township of Northampton, until his death, March 20, 1889, his family still remaining upon the old homestead.

Asa proper companion-piece for, and a fitting sequel to, the career of the greatest illicit "financier" of his time, "Jim" Brown, herein above narrated, a brief sketch of the exploits of his eldest son, Daniel M. Brown, will right here be in order. .

"Dan" was, in many respects, entirely unlike his father, being of fair complexion, with light blue or gray eyes and light brown hair, and though nearly or quite six feet in height, somewhat effeminate and extremely gentle in his appearance and manner. But, notwithstanding his gentle ways, and in spite of the better counsels of bis intelligent and faithful mother and only sister, he seemed to take spontaneously to the evil courses of his father, except in the matter of excessive drink - though it is said that that father, while luring the cherished sons of other fathers to their ruin, earnestly sought to have him engage in some more honorable calling.

"TREADING IN THE Footsteps." - Just how early "Dan" commenced to dabble in contraband money, is not now ascertainable. As early, however, as February, 1838, the following, under the above heading, was copied from the Cleveland Advertiser into - one of the local papers of Akron:

"A young man by the name of Brown, a son of the notorious James Brown, of Akron, was brought from Elyria, yesterday, to our jail. He was taken up as a counterfeiter, some $20,000 in counterfeit money having been found on or about his person. There was also a man with him passing by the name of Rathbun, with several aliases. Why they were brought to this county we do not know, unless it is that the facility with which Brown frees himself from his irons has somewhat alarmed the officers of our neighboring county. It is said that he sawed his irons apart three times while he was in Elyria. 'Train up a child in the way he goes.'"

LorAIN OFFICERS OuTWITTED. - Young Brown, at this time, was under 18 years of age, and yet, young as he was, he was altogether too old for the Lorain county officials. It seems that he and his comhpanion were arrested in the saddle, somewhere in Medina county, and, under guard, taken immediately to Elyria. Before being searched, however, he was permitted to go into the hotel stable and rub down his horse, and instruct his hostler as to its care while he was in custody. On finally being searched, no counterfeit money, or other evidence of crookedness, was found on his person. But there was found, among the straw bedding of his horse's stall, a large amount of counterfeit money. For lack of conclusive evidence, however, that he put it there, or had ever had it in his possession, though held to bail by the examining magistrate, and committed to jail as above stated, no bill was found against him by the Grand Jury, and "Dan," in this, his - initial wrestle with the law, was discharged from custody. His ; companion, Rathbun, was indicted, escaped from jail, was recaptured, his case continued for several terms, and finally released from custody without being brought to trial.

His SuBsEQUENT CAREER. - Perhaps for the reason that the course he was pursuing was disapproved of by his father, as it was most certainly distressing to his mother and the rest of the family, young Brown kept entirely aloof from his native hills and valleys, in his crooked operations, fora number of years devoting himself to "business" in the Maumee and Black Swamp country, in northwestern Ohio, and in southern Michigan, northern Indiana, and other portions of the then Great West. Yet "Dan" often visited his old haunts, and doubtless regarded this as his home, the 300-acre farm ever since occupied by the family having been purchased by him in the early forties, and he being united in marriage to his cousin, Minerva A. Darrow, of this county, in 1845.

SoME OF His WESTERN OPERATIONS. - While undoubtedly continuing to deal more or less extensively in paper ''money," his attention seems to have been early turned more especially towards promoting the "resumption of specie payments'' - by the production of bogus coin of such an excellent quality as to almost defy detection. In 1842, George C. Bates, Esq., now of Denver, Colorado, was United States District Attorney for the State of Michigan. Through a deputy in Oakland county, in the southeast portion of the State, Mr. Bates learned that finely executed dollars, halves and quarters, were being largely circulated all over that region of the country, and planned a trip to the neighborhood to reconnoiter.

AN ImporRTANT DiscovERY. - Before starting, however, his attention was called to a suspicious cask, or puncheon, filled with some heavy substance, which, by its tendency to change its center of gravity, when being handled, had attracted the notice of the parties in Detroit with whom it had been left for shipment to "Daniel West," at Portsmouth, the southern terminus of the Ohio canal, via steamer to Cleveland. Calling to his aid a deputy U. S. Marshal, Mr. Bates proceeded to open the huge cask, and found therin a splendidly constructed screw press for cutting, stamping and milling coin, with its immense levers and weights, together with a full paraphernalia of coiners' tools, of most perfect finish, and quite a large supply of plate metal ready for the mint, a quantity of unfinished coins, etc.

Carefully replacing this apparatus and material, Mr. Bates permitted it to be shipped to its destination, as per consignment, at the same time sending a Deputy Marshal along, incog., to apprehend the man, or men, who should call to get it.

AGAIN TOO SHARP FOR 'EmM. - But though as vigilant, probably, as the average U. S. official, Mr. " Daniel West," was altogether too sharp for the Michigan Deputy Marshal, for, almost under his very nose, while passing from the steamer into a warehouse, in Cleveland, to be transferred to a "through" boat for Portsmouth, the puncheon, with its precious contents, mysteriously disappeared, and the discomfited Michigander was compelled to return to

Detroit with the humiliating confession to the District Attorney, that he had been outwitted by wily Dan, or some of his satellites. _ OAKLAND County DiscLosurrs. - The District Attorney then visited the neighborhood where he had been informed so large a product of this mill was in circulation. Taking his wife and the young son of U.S. Marshal Howard, of Detroit, with him, as a blind, Mr. Bates, in the disguise of a hunter, traveled over the entire region named, and soon found that some $40,000 or $50,000 of the bogus coin had been manufactured by Dan Brown and his accomplices, most of whom were ignorant but honest farmers, who had, by Dan, been inveigled into the business under the pretense that, as it could not be distinguished from the genuine, it was no crime, or even sin,to pass it. Nine of these men were arrested and taken to Detroit, and the United States Court being then in session, they were indicted, tried and sentenced to the penitentiary. Two of these deluded farmers soon died of grief in prison, and a few years later several of them were pardoned by the President on the recommendation of the District Attorney.

More "SHArP" OFFICERS OuTWITTED. - " Dan" Brown was also indicted by the same Grand Jury, but, previous to this, finding that the atmosphere of Michigan was too "sultry" for either comfort or safety, after shipping his machinery, as above stated, he had taken some $40,000 of his product to other markets, out of which, at wholesale rates, it is supposed that he realized from $15,- 000 to $20,000. The District Attorney now turned his attention to tracing the whereabouts of Dan Brown, alias "Dan West." Learning, through anintercepted letter, passing through the Detroit postoffice, that his man would be at a certain hotel in St. Louis, on Christmas eve, Mr. Bates sent his deputy marshal and a detective thither, armed with the necessary documents, to secure his arrest: and return to Michigan. On their arrival at the hotel in question, the sharp detectives not only entered their own names and places of residence on the hotel register, but, seeing the name of "Daniel West" on the same page, they innocently inquired of the supposed clerk, standing behind the counter, if Mr. West was in, saying that they would like to speak with him. Now it so happened that the office clerk had temporarily stepped out, and the party of whom the inquiry had been made, was the veritable " Dan West," otherwise Dan Brown, himself. Coolly and politely saying to the newcomers that he would call Mr. West, Mr. Brown passed out through the kitchen, and a few minutes later was on board a Mississippi steamer, en route for Little Rock, Arkansas, a point often visited by him about those days.

A Currous Srory. - The main features of Young Brown's Michigan and St. Louis exploits, as above related, were compiled from a letter from ex-District Attorney Bates, published in the Cleveland Leader, in November, 1885. Mr. Bates then goes on to relate that, having retired from the office of District Attorney, and at liberty to defend Dan, if he chose to employ him, Brown sent his sister, a very beautiful and accomplished girl, to retain him to end the trouble in which her brother was then placed; offering him $800 in gold and her watch and chain; telling him that her father, old James Brown was in the penitentiary; that Dan was married and his wife was in delicate health; that her mother was old, and that if he could and would end the prosecution against

Bates declined to accept a retainer, without first having an in- - terview with "Dan," somewhere in Ohio, when, after showing him all the evidence against him, taken before the Grand Jury, if he concluded to take the risk, and go to trial, he (Bates) would then take the $1,000 and do his best to clear him from the indictment, and if successful he was to be paid $1,000 more. It was finally arranged, through correspondence, that Mr. Bates should go to Maumee, where parties would meet him and take him to the trysting place, where, for the first time, he was to meet the wily young counterfeiter, face to face.

INTERESTING INTERVIEW. - Mr. Bates goes on to state that, reaching Maumee about daylight, he was taken by the party sent to meet him, to a dismantled old brick stage house, about six miles out,'on the Perrysburg pike, the house being kept by a repulsive old woman,and all of its appointments of the most dilapidated character, except the single room occupied by Brown, which was both elegant and luxurious. The interview itself we will let Mr. ex-District Attorney Bates relate in his own graphic, though perhaps somewhat exaggerated, language, as follows:

" Brown received me with the grace of a prince. He apologized for bringing me there alone, by saying that I had hunted him so closely, pursued him so vigorously, that he feared I might still entrap him into custody, at which I at once told him that if that was his opinion of me I would instantly leave him and walk back to Maumee; that so long as I was attorney for the United States I would pursue any criminal unto death, but that now Il was ready, if he saw fit, after reading all the evidence, to take his retainer and defend him, if I could, through the courts.

"He made a pitcher of punch and offered it to me, but I declined to drink until he first did so, to which he replied with elegant grace; 'Bates, gentlemen of our profession never drink. It won't do. Had not my father and his counsel been drunk at Columbus, at his trial, he would never have been convicted of passing a half-eagle gold coin, for we never pass spurious money. We are wholesale counterfeit coiners and only sell to retail dealers, who buy from us well-knowing that the coin is spurious.'

"So I drank the punch from a silver goblet out of a solid silver pitcher, and went to work all that winter's day. I went over the evidence again and again, pointed out the danger of that lady witness, his old sweetheart, then living in Detroit, and now a religious old grandmother there. I told him that if United States District Attorney Norvell did not find her, I would guarantee his acquittal, but if she came into court he was a convict beyond hope. Finally he decided that the risk was too great, and that he would not venture it, but offered to pay me a large sum of money to retain me in the future, which I declined, saying: 'Pay me for my team in coming here; that is all I can or will take, for it may happen that I shall be United States District Attorney again; and if so, I shall again go for you, and try and send you where those

His Operations In California

_ "We parted then and there, but before parting he took out his ivory flute and played the ' Last Rose of Summer' with an exquisite taste that I have never heard equalled except once, in San Francisco, when Ole Bull, Max Strakosch and Patti's eldest sister, Mrs. | ees as united in its execution, after dinner at Felix Argenti's, in

Mr. Bates then goes on to say that his successor, as district attorney, having died in 1848, he was reappointed to that office, and soon afterwards commenced hunting for Dan, with the view . of pushing the prosecution againt him, under the indictment

Mr. Bates CorroporaTeD. - On the trial of James Brown, the father, in the United States District Court for Ohio, at Columbus, in August, 1846, as detailed in the foregoing pages, United States Deputy Marshal Thomas McKinstry, of Cleveland, was a witness in behalf of the prosecution. Marshal. McKinstry testified that having heard that there had been a large bogus machine brought to Cleveland and afterwards removed from there, and being anxious to capture it, he had an interview with Brown upon the subject. d

"Brown told me," said the Marshal, "that his son Daniel had got into difficulty in Michigan, and if I would do so and so to aid him, he would do so and so to aid me in getting the machine. I exacted from him an earnest that he would do as he proposed, and he gave me acounterfeit gold piece to show what could be done."

BRILLIANT CALIFORNIA SCHEME. - As many of the readers of these chapters will remember, the writer was one among the vast army of gold seekers that crossed the plains and mountains to California in 1850. With the two or three hundred other Summit county people who sought the golden shores, that year, was

- William T. Mather, a former well-known and highly respected business man of Akron. Mr. Mather was a brother of the late Mrs. Lucy M. Brown, wife of "Jim" Brown, heretofore written of, and consequently own uncle to the younger "Dan" Brown.

Mr. Mather engaged in business in Sacramento City, where, and in San Francisco, the writer had the pleasure of meeting him several times during the summer and fall of 1850, and the winter of 1850, 51. About the middle of November, 1850, Mr. Mather, then just recovering from a severe fit of sickness, in Sacramento, came down to the Bay City, to escape from the pestilential atmosphere of cholera-stricken Sacramento, in which some half dozen Akronians had just succumbed to the terrible scourge within as many days. While conversing with Mr. Mather one day, he said: "Tane, who do you suppose I saw the other day, at Sacramento, on his way home to Ohio?" "Give it up!" I replied; "there are so many fellows flitting homeward just now, it would be difficult to guess." 4"Well," said he, it was that hopeful nephew of mine, Dan Brown." "Dan Brown!" I exclaimed; "I didn't know he was in this country." "O, yes," said Mather, "he roughed it across the plains with the crowd, last spring." '"What'she been doing?" Linquired. "You tell!" responded Mather. "When I put that question to Dan, he kinder laughed, and said, 'O, I've been speculating a little." "How much of a 'pile' has he got?" Iinquired. "Well, he wouldn't tell me much about it, but I kinder guess he'll get home with .

$75,000, or $80,000 - that is, if he lives to get home, for he's in mighty poor health; consumption I guess." 'Why didn't you tell him to hunt me up? I might have given him some assistance in getting' off,' said I. "Oh," laughingly replied Mather, "I thought it might. revive unpleasant memories between you. You used to give him and: old Jim fits in the Buzzard, you know."

GREAT EXCITEMENT IN THE "Diccrns." - Up to this time there had been no paper money of any description whatever, in circulation in California - gold and silver coin, or gold dust and nuggets, at so much per grain or ounce, being the only mediums of financial and commercial traffic and exchange. Up to this time, too, it was expensive sending money home to friends in the States, by express, or through the banks, and both burdensome and extremely hazardous, for the fortunate miner to undertake to carry his gold dust home, or from place to place in the mines, upon his person.

In the States, following the disastrous panic of 1837, a system of State Safety Fund Banks had been established, in which the inhabitants of those States had the utmost confidence. Among the very stanchest of these institutions was the old State Bank of Missouri. What wonder is it then, that, when a gentlemanly appearing traveling broker appeared among the miners, with bright, new and crisp $50 and $100 bills on their favorite home bank, the hundreds and thousands of " Pukes," as the emigrants from Missouri had been nick-named, then in the mines, should eagerly jump at them, even paying a small premium in gold dust at current rates?

A very brief period served to work up so large a demand for these notes, that the "Agent" of the bank, as he represented himself to be, found no difficulty in working off large blocks of his. "currency,' not only among the miners themselves but also among the local brokers of the interior, the execution of the bills being so perfect as to defy detection from any but the most skillful experts, a distinction to which but few of the brokers of that country could at that time properly lay claim. It was believed _ that from $80,000 to $100,000 of the spurious money was thus exchanged for coin or dust.

The very nature of the supply and demand was such that for ° many weeks none of the crisp paper "money'' found its way to the large cities, or entered into general traffic, and thus for a long time escaped detection. But when the fraud was finally discovered, it may well be imagined there was consternation in the camps of both digger and broker, in the mining regions. Indignation meetings were held, and committees were appointed and detectives employed to ferret out and bring the wily offender to justice, through the then popular tribunal of Judge Lynch.

_ _Ipéntrry, Pursurr, Erc. - The vigilantes found little difficulty in fixing the identity of the adroit operator, and tracing him to. San Francisco, and on board the Panama steamer. But he had a month or more the start of them, and there were no railroads or telegraphs there in those days, by which a fleeing criminal could be headed off before reaching his destination. They could only bide their time, and await the sailing of one of the semi-monthly steamers which left San Francisco for Panama about the first of January, 1851,

Death Closes His Career

Home IN TIME To Drg. - In the meantime the fleeing fugitive reached New York in a greatly enfeebled condition. Here, in response to a telegram, he is met by friends who aid him to reach the family homestead in Northampton; alive. The inroads of his - insidious malady (scurvy) and the fatigue of the long and tedious journey, however, had so told upon him, that it was evident to both himself and friends, his tenure of physical life was very short, and a few brief hours might bring the end.

Legal as well as medical counsel was hastily summoned and his temporal affairs speedily adjusted. The 300 acre homestead was deeded to his brother, James R. Brown, December 27, 1850, (the consideration named in the deed being $3,000); his money - whether in large or small amounts, and whether honestly or dishonestly acquired - was distributed according to his wishes, among his friends and relatives by his own hand.

Having thus closed his earthly affairs, on the 2ist day of January, 1851, at the age of 31 years and 8 months, he peacefully closed his eyes upon earthly scenes, and passed into the presence of the Great Judge, whose justice he could not question, and whose decrees he could notevade. He was quietly buried upon the home farm in Northampton, and a neat marble monument erected over his grave, his remains being subsequently removed to Akron Rural

_ tracing their man to that city, and from thence to Ohio. Reaching Cleveland, inquiry revealed the fact that the man they were searching for, was dead. This statement the committee discredited, believing it to be a ruse to throw the officers of justice off the track. Arriving in Akron, they were referred to the attorney, Hon. Rufus P. Spalding, who had aided in closing up his business affairs, and the physian, Dr. Alpheus Kilbourn, who had attended him in his last hours, both of whom assured them that the man they were in pursuit of was in reality dead.

The committee were still incredulous, and onethe number, an experienced California detective, was delegated to visit the family homestead and solicit permission to disinter the body; his statement being that his father, in one of the Southern or Western States, had become surety for " Daniel West," in the sum of $3,000 from the payment of which proof of West's death would relieve him. Permission for the disinterment was readily given, and the removal of the lid of the casket instantly convinced the pursuing party that the cadaverous remains therein reposing were indeed those of "Dan West," the well known alias of Daniel M. Brown. ; ;

Thus passed away pne of the most expert and, for his years, one of the most successful counterfeiters in America, In conclusion it is but just to say that while the surviving relatives naturally feel extremely sensitive in regard to any mention, either public or private, of the subjects of this chapter, they are all held in the highest esteem by their neighbors and acquaintances, and should not, and will not, in. any degree whatsoever, be held accountable for the wrongful actions of their talented but misguided ancestors. ;

Chapter Xli

NORTHFIELD TOWNSHIP - EARLY SETTLEMENT - MILITARY AND CIVIL STATUS - MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF RUPERT CHARLESWORTH - RUMORS OF FOUL PLAY - ARREST OF DORSEY W. VIERS, AFTER NEARLY FIVE YEARS, FOR THE CRIME OF MURDER - PROTRACTED TRIAL AND NARROW ESCAPE FROM CONVICTION - -LONG AND TIRELESS SEARCH FOR THE MISSING MAN - SUCCESS AT LAST - RETURN OF CHARLESWORTH AFTER NEARLY FIFTEEN YEARS - LARGE PUBLIC MEETING - CHARLESWORTH FULLY IDENTIFIED - VIERS TRIUMPHANTLY VINDICATED - A GENUINE "ROMANCE IN REAL REE" i is not the province of this work to enter into a full detail of _the origin and early settlement of the several townships of the county, or to give full personal descriptions of all the pioneer residents thereof, or of all their battlings with privations, hardships, Indians and wild beasts. This has already been quite thoroughly done by others, and its reproduction, here, would not only make the work undertaken by the writer too voluminous, but also involve an unwarrantable appropriation of the researches and labors of others.

Though regarded, by its original Connecticut proprietors, as one of the very best townships upon the Western Reserve, Northfield, for reasons not necessary to enumerate here, was not fully opened to settlement as early as some of the contiguous townships now embraced within the limits of Summit county. For the purposes of this work, it is sufficient to note the fact that Northfield's first settler was Mr. Isaac Bacon, from Massachusetts, who with his family located on lot 63, about a mile and a half northwest of the Center, in April, 1807; the next accession being the family of his brother-in-law, Jeremiah Cranmer, in June, 1810.

NAME, ORGANIZATION, Erc. - At an informal meeting of all the male inhabitants of the township, assembled for the purpose of aiding a new-comer to erect a cabin, the question of naming the township was raised, and various names were suggested, but none seemed to meet with general favor until Jeremiah Cranmer mentioned that of Northfield (probably from a town of that name in his native State), which was finally adopted by the company and Northfield it has been to the present day, and appropriately so, as being on the extreme north side of Portage county, then, and of Summit county, now.

THE First Evection. - Though perhaps one or more justices. of the peace had previously been appointed for the township by the governor, the first actual organization, as far as can now be ascertained, was on the 24th day of May, 1819. On that day an election seems to have been held at the cabin of William Cranny, John Britt acting as Moderator, Jeremiah Cranmer and John Duncan as Judges, and Orrin Wilcox as Clerk. The officers elected were: Trustees, George Wallace, Jeremiah Cranmer and

Early Settlement, Population, Etc

John Duncan; Clerk, Henry Wood; Overseers of the Poor, William 'Cranny and William T. Mather; Fence Viewers, Robert Wallace and Maurice Cranmer; Constables, Edward Coyne and Abraham. 'Cranmer; Treasurer, Watrous Mather; Road Supervisors, John Duncan, Abel Havens, Daniel Robertson and Abner Hunt.

AMES W. WALLACE, - son of J George and Harriet (Menough) Wallace, born at Youngstown, Ohio, November 27, 1803, soon removed with parents to Geauga county, thence, in 1810, to Cleveland, and engaged in hotel-keeping. In 1814, the father built saw, grist and woolen mills at the Falls of Brandywine Creek, in Northfield, also placing quite a large stock of goods there in charge of the 13-year-old boy, James, these and other operations engaged in by the family, giving to Brandywine more than a local repute as a business center for many years. In 1825, James, with his brother George Y. {ten years later sheriff of Portage county, and in 1842, treasurer of Summit county, by appointment, for nearly a year), besides taking entire charge of the business at Brandywine, built several miles of canal and aqueduct near Massillon and Roscoe; when canal opened, boated two years; was then five years with Giddings,

James W. Wallace

Baldwin, Pease & Co., afterwards Andrews, Baldwin & Co.,as purchas- days, Mrs. Wallace having died ing agent in Winter, and in charge March 15, 1885, aged 67 years. The of boats in Summer; then two years agent for Boston Land Company; then, in 1838, returned to Brandywine, in addition to manufacturing, largely engaging in farming. In 1871, Mr. Wallace removed to "Maple Mound," near Macedonia, where he resided until his death, September 24, 1887, at the age of 83 years, 9 months and 27 children are - George, who died in Pomeroy, Iowa, August 26, 1880; Hiram Hanchett and Mary Emeline (Mrs. Lorin Bliss), Northfield Center; Kentucky ; Joseph, died young; Leonard Case, near Macedonia, and Marjorie Stanhope, now wife of Henry P. R. Hamilton, of St. Paul, Minnesota.

Rarip SETTLEMENT. - For the next ten or twelve years new accessions to the population were almost continuous, so that by 1830 the township was pretty well settled and improved, including quite a hamlet at the center, a brisk manufacturing village at the Falls of Brandywine Creek, in the south part of the township, and quite extensive lumbering operations a mile or so further up that stream, at Little York. By 1840 the township had almost reached its maximum of population, the census of that year showing the number of inhabitants in the township to be 1,031, while the census of 1880 accorded to it a population of 1,076, and that of 1890 a population of 940 souls, only; a falling off of 91 in fifty years, though this is even better than some of the townships of the county have done during that period.

The causes for this seeming declension may largely be found in the changed and improved methods of doing business - the introduction of labor-saving machinery requiring a less number of hands upon the farm and a correspondingly greater number in mechanical operations - and in the absorption of the minor mechanical and mercantile operations of town 'centers, villages and hamlets, by the cities and general railroad centers of the country.

NorTHFIELD IN Pusiic Sprrir. - Though bounded by the Cuyahoga river, upon the west, and though more or less adversely affected, morally, by the location of the Ohio canal through its entire western border, the township of Northfield was originally peopled with, and is still inhabited by, as intelligent and honorable a population as any other community upon the proverbially intelligent and orderly Western Reserve. It has also contributed its full share in behalf of the freedom and unity of the Nation and in support of the local institutions of the county. As young as she was, Northfield was well represented in the War of 1812, (though only the names of Henry Wood and Jonathan Hesser are now remembered as soldiers in that war) and in War of the Rebellion she furnished more than her full quota of patriotic and faithful soldiers, as will be seen from the following roster kindly compiled for us by Ambrose W. Bliss, Esq., supplemented by the assessors' enumeration for 1865:

Jericho, Chittenden county, Vermont, December 6, 1806; common school education; reared on farm; at 18 learned carpenter and millwright's trade; in 1833, came to Ohio, working on public works at Cleveland and Black river; May 9, 1839, was married to Miss Emeline Palmer, a native of Windsor, Connecticut, born April 5, 1815, and has since been a continuous resident of Northfield. While extensively engaged in farming, at the same time Mr. Bliss for many years diligently plied his trade, building aqueducts, and lock-gates on canal, bridges, etc. Politically, Mr. Bliss was originally a Whig, and since its organization has been an earnest supporter of the Republican party; has held several important township offices, and for two full terms of three years each - from 1854 to 1860 - ably filled the responsible office of county commissioner. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bliss - Ellen, living at home; Lorin, farmer in Northfield; George, living at home; and Horace, the latter enlisting in Company C, 115th O.V. L, in August, 1862, and dying, from disease contracted in the army, February 20,

Northfield In Office

In county affairs, also, the township has borne a highly honorable part. GrorGE Y. WALLACE (brother of the late James W. Wallace, Esq., of Macedonia,) was sheriff of Portage county for four years, immediately preceding the erection of Summit, and, on the death of Summit county's first treasurer, William O'Brien, Esq., of Hudson, in February, 1842, Mr. Wallace was appointed by the Commissioners to fill the vacancy, which he did with great acceptance for nearly a year.

THomaAS WILSON, of Northfield (a brother-in-law of Mr. Wallace), was Summit county's first sheriff, holding that office four years and seven months, and it is safe to say that the office was never more ably and faithfully filled than during his incumbency; Mr. John C. Wallace, of Northfield, acting as Mr. Wilson's chief deputy.

Cour. Minron Artuur, of Northfield, was Summit's second' regularly elected treasurer, Holding the position for three consecu~_ tive terms, from 1842 to 1848. Though Mr. Arthur was as upright and honest a man as ever breathed, yet his administration of the | office was sadly unfortunate - a shortage of several thousand dollars appearing against him on his transferring the office to his. successor. It was believed by those best informed upon the subject, that he was victimized by parties in whom he had confided, and whom he had permitted to manipulate the books and funds, which were not then under the efficient system of checks that at present obtains in that office. Every dollar of his property was turned over to his bondsmen, who, under a special act of the Legislature, made a satisfactory settlement of the matter with the Commissioners; but, though Mr. Arthur was believed to be entirely guiltless of any intentional wrong,by the entire community, he was greatly humiliated by the affair,and doubtless. carried down to a premature death thereby.

AmBROSE W. Biss, Esq., a native of Chittenden county, Vermont, still living, hale and hearty, where he located fifty-two years ago, at the Center of Northfield, has not only been one of the most intelligent and enterprising citizens of that township, but has also, in various ways, rendered valuable service to both the County, State and Nation; filling, most acceptably, the important position of county commissioner for two consecutive terms, of three years each, from 1854 to 1860. Mr. Bliss was born December 6, 1806, and is consequently, at this writing, nearly 85 years of age.

CapTAIN JoHN A. MEANS, a native of Allegheny county, Pa.,. in 1833, then 22 years of age, settled on an uncultivated farm, a mile or so south of the center of Northfield, not only proving an industrious and model farmer, but also devoting much time to the profession of a surveyor, receiving the appointment of deputy sur-- veyor for Portage county in 1836. In 1860, Mr. Means was elected clerk of the Court of Common Pleas for Summit county for three years. On the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion, in 1861,. leaving the office in charge of hisson and deputy, Nathan A. Means, he organized Company C, 115th Regiment, O. V. I., of which he was elected Captain, serving three years. In 1869, Capt. Means was again elected Clerk of Courts for three years, serving his full term with marked fidelity and acceptance. See portrait and biography on page 373. '

AvuGustTus Curtiss, one of Northfield's volunteer soldiery, but after the War, settled in Portage township, was elected sheriff of Summit county in October, 1868, re-elected in 1870, and on the expiration of his own second term, continued in the management of the office during the regulation two terms of his successor, Lieut. Levi J. McMurray, who was in poor health during a good portion of his incumbencey. Portrait and biography on page 665.

ABOUNDING IN THRILLING INCIDENT. - Yet, notwithstanding the generally peaceable and order-loving character of its inhabitants, Northfield has furnished a larger share of exciting and thrilling incident than the average of her sister townships of either Portage or Summit counties, not counting the many perilous encounters of her early pioneers with Indians, wild beasts, etc.

The Viers-Charlesworth Episode

public mind of Northfield and vicinity, and which, though heretofore pretty fully narrated by the writer and others, it is highly phere should be here reproduced, occurred substantially as fol- Ows:

Dorsey W. Viers was born on the territory now covered by the city of Steubenville, May 19, 1790, and is said to have been the first white male child born in what is now Jefferson county, over seven years before that county was organized,and sometwelve years - before Ohio became a state. Mr. Viers was enrolled asa soldier in the War of 1812, at the close of which he lived a short time in Pittsburg, working at the tanner's trade. Sometime previous to 1820, he removed to Northfield, the town records of that year (1820), ° showing that he was then elected one of the supervisors of the township.

On.coming to Northfield, Viers purchased, and settled upon, a quarter section of land in the northwest portion of the township, in handy proximity to the Cuyahoga river and the contemplated Ohio canal, building for himself and family the regulation log cabin of the period and other farm buildings to match. In addition to his farming operations, young Viers- - stalwart, active and enterprising - figured quite extensively as a contractor and speculator; being at the time this chapter opens (1826) a sub-contractor upon quite a large section of the canal.

Upon the completion of his job on the canal, he built a large number of bridges over the canal and other water courses of the vicinity, erected school houses, private residences, stores, etc., one of his contracts, a few years later, being the erection in Akron, for Messrs. May and Brown- - Thomas P. May, of Cleveland, and Jacob Brown, Esq., of Akron - of the large brick block at the corner of South Main and Exchange streets, known for many years, as May's Block, but now known as the Clarendon Hotel, and owned by Mr. Ferd. Schumacher.

This diversified employment naturally brought Mr. Viers into companionship with much of the rougher element of the communities in which he operated, and while not especially dissipated or profligate himself, his genial good nature, and his open-handed liberality and zealous hilarity, in all private and public social gatherings, caused him to be regarded asa "hail-fellow well-met," by the jolly bloods by whom he was surrounded.

Ruprerr CHARLESWORTH. - A year or two previous to this, there had come into the vicinity, a rollicking young Englishman, by the name of Rupert Charlesworth, who soon became a great favorite in the social circles of the neighborhood. With no visible employment, he yet appeared always to have plenty of money, and was lavishly liberal in its distribution, whenever "treats" were to be paid for, or other expenses of fun and frolic were to be provided; his givings-out, as well as his general bearing, conveying the impression that he was a scion of English nobility, in disgrace at home, and temporarily exiled until his offense should be condoned by his aristocratic father.

Between this wild but agreeable young Englishman and Viers, a mutual friendship immediately sprung up, and in a short ' time he became a regular boarder in Viers' family, though often absenting himself from the house, and the neighborhood, for days, and sometimes weeks at a time. But suddenly, in the month of July, 1826, Charlesworth entirely disappeared. His absence from his accustomed haunts soon began to be noticed and commented on. Inquiries were made of Viers and his wife, the answers to which, it was alleged, were contradictory and improbable. In addition to exaggerated repetitions of these questions and answers, one of the constables of the township asserted that, having a warrant for the arrest of Charlesworth, and going to Viers' house early in the morning, he not only did not find his man, but did find Mrs. Viers vigorously engaged in scrubbing the ~ floor; a very unusual proceeding at so early an hour.

Rumor on Rumor PiLep. - As time passed on rumors of the most damaging character against Viers multiplied. One person had distinctly heard the report of a gun from the direction of Viers' house on the alleged night of Charlesworth's disappearance. Another reported that, having occasion to visit the premises soon afterwards, he had noticed blood upon the bars of the fence, between the house and the woods. The girl, who was employed as a domestic in the family at the time, asserted that simultaneously with Charlesworth's disappearance, a blanket was missing from the bed he had occupied, which was afterwards found under a pile of rubbish, covered with spots of what appeared to be clots of dried blood, but which was immediately burned up by the family; while another party had discovered, under a pile of logs and brush in the woods, a short distance back of the house, what was supposed to be a human skeleton, but which, on afterwards returning with a companion, to examine it, was found to have been removed.

These and a hundred other similar stories were rehearsed an reiterated with such persistence, and such apparent truthfulness, that they finally came to be accepted as facts, and the excitement and suspicion against Viers and family increased with each passing month, being greatly augmented by the alleged fact that Charlesworth was known to be in possession of quite large sums of money while boarding with Viers, and that whereas, Viers, previous to the disappearance of Charlesworth, was very short of mouey, immediately thereafter he was very flush, and was making lavish expenditures in building himself a nice large brick house, and making other improvements upon his farm that his legitimate earnings did not warrant.

Viers ARRESTED FOR Murpsr.- - Finally these. rumors and reports, like the mountain avalanche, increasing in volume as they onward rolled, and gaining in velocity, as they increased in size, culminated, in January, 1831, four years anda half after the disappearance of Charlesworth, in the apprehension and arraignment of Viers, on the charge of murder. ;

The affidavit was filed before, and the warrant issued by, George Y. Wallace, Esq., of Brandywine, then one of the justices of the peace for Northfield township, afterwards. sheriff of Portage county for two terms, and subsequently treasurer of Summit county for nearly a year, as above stated.

The trial proper, before the examining magistrate, lasted over a week, though some 17 or 18 days elapsed between the arrest and the final conclusion of the investigation. All of the above alleged

Wonderful Pluck And Perseverance

"'facts" were duly and solemnly sworn to, and many other extremely damaging "circumstances" adduced during the trial, and it was supposed by the large crowd of people in attendance, that a clear case of homicide had been established, when two witnesses from the western part of the State were brought forward by the defense, who swore positively that they knew 'Charlesworth well, minutely describing his personal appearance and characteristics, and most emphatically asseverating that they had seen him alive and well, subsequent to his disappearance from Northfield. This testimony turned the scale in Viers' favor, and he was accordingly discharged by Justice Wallace.

REMARKABLE SEARCH FOR THE Missinc Man. - The greater number of those in attendance were greatly dissatisfied with the result, believing that the two witnesses alluded to had been bribed by Viers, or his friends, to testify in his behalf. True, there were many good men who did not believe Viers guilty of so heinous a crime; but the rumor-mongers of the neighborhood thought otherwise, and were so clamorous for blood that, had Lynch Law been in vogue in those days, it would undoubtedly have fared hard with him. It was, indeed, a terrible ordeal for both Viers and his family to pass through; the arrest and trial being even more endurable than the continued suspicion and obloquy which followed.

But though comparatively unlearned, Dorsey W. Viers possessed, in those days, the pluck and perseverance of a bloodhound, and immediately inaugurated a vigorous and comprehensive scheme for the restoration of his good name; while his devoted wife - greatly his superior in education and culture - rendered the most valuable aid towards lifting from the family the dark cloud of disgrace that had come upon them.

How THE SEARCH Was MaprE. - To this end Mrs. Viers, with the pen of a ready writer, wrote hundreds of letters, to public officers and others, in all parts of the country, from whence it was supposed any tidings of the missing man could be obtained, while Mr. Viers, himself, commenced a most diligent personal search for him. Following up the clue obtained from the two witnesses who had come'to his relief upon the trial, he tracked him from point to point, in the West, where he finally learned that Charlesworth had returned to England. To England he went, only to find that Charlesworth had again.sailed for the United States, destined to New Orleans. Returning home, after a brief sojourn with his family, he went to New Orleans, and after a protracted search, not finding his man, he visited and thoroughly explored all the principal river towns between that city and Cincinnati.

Tue "MurRDERED" MAN Founp Auive. - Thus was the search persistently kept up by Mr. and Mrs. Viers, both by correspondence and personal excursions, between nine and ten years, when, nearly fifteen years after his disappearance, Viers accidentally stumbled upon his man in Detroit. They were both so changed by time that they did not at first recognize each other; but Charlesworth, hearing Viers inquiring for him of others, at a hotel where they were both stopping, and thus learning who he was, took him aside and disclosed his own identity to him. His story was, substantially, that having passed a counterfeit bill upon a prominent citizen of a neighboring town, and surmising (what was indeed true) that proceeding were being instituted for his arrest, he had secretly left the house of his friend,'and gone West, under an assumed name; still another name having been taken on his. . return from England, and under which, having married, he was. then living in one of the interior towns of Michigan. é

CHARLESWORTH Revisirs Summit County. - On learning of the dire trouble and disgrace which his clandestine departure from Northfield had brought upon his old friend and family, he volunteered to come with him to Ohio, and exhibit himself to his old cronies and acquaintances, on condition that his then place of residence, and his assumed cognomen should be kept secret.

Thus, in about the year 1840 or 1841, Rupert Charlesworth and his alleged murderer, together visited Northfield, Boston, Akron, and other points in this vicinity, where the former conversed freely with, and was fully recognized by, a large number of persons, who had known him well before his disappearance, and the mystery was fondly supposed, by its victims, to have been wholly cleared up. After a few days' sojourn in the neighborhood, Charlesworth again took his departure, and returned to Michigan.

Gossip To'THE. Front AGAIN. - No sooner had Charlesworth left the vicinity than vile rumor, and virulent gossip, again asserted themselves in the intimation that the Rupert Charlesworth that Viers had exhibited, was not the missing Rupert Charlesworth, at all, but a cousin, bearing astrong resemblance to him, that Viers had hired to personate him, which it was held could readily be done, by a little posting up from Viers. This theory was industriously promulgated by the enemies of Viers, and within a few months the alleged imposture was pretty generally believed in, and the guilt of Viers thus doubly confirmed in the minds of quite a large portion of the community. Under these circumstances, some two or three years later, about 1843 or 1844, Viers again hunted up his man, and again brought him to Ohio, determined, this time, to. settle the matter at once and forever.

CHARLESWORTH AGAIN ExntpITep. - Hand-bills were posted in Northfield and adjoining townships, announcing that ona given day, Rupert Charlesworth, the man that Dorsey W. Viers was supposed to have murdered, in 1826, would exhibit himself at the Methodist Church, at the Center of Northfield, and that all persons who had known him, while a resident of that neighborhood, were invited to be present and make a thorough examination .as to his identity.

The meeting was largely attended by a curious and deeply interested audience. A regular organization was effected, with George Y. Wallace, Esq., before whom Viers had formerly been tried, as chairman of the meeting, and the,entire day was consumed in the investigation. Not only were Charlesworth's physical features and peculiarities closely scrutinized, his voice and manner of expression carefully noted, but questions and 'cross-questions were plied by those who had formerly been intimate with him, in such a manner that no attempted imposture could possibly have escaped detection. Not only did he recognize and readily name persons that he had not seen for seventeen or eighteen years, but, in reply to their various interrogatories, incidents and circumstances known only to himself and each individual questioner, were promptly and truthfully related.

_ ComPLETE VINDICATION. - At the close of the examination, late in the afternoon, a vote was taken as to whether the man then and there present, was, or was not, the Rupert Charlesworth, whom Dorsey W. Viers was accused of murdering? 'Theaffirmative vote was overwhelmingly and enthusiastically unanimous, only a single ' negative vote being given, and that from the brother of a man who several years before had been executed for the murder of another brother's wife, and in whose behalf secret and persistent efforts had been made to cast suspicion upon Viers, because of the cloud of obloquy that had so long rested upon him. From the date of that meeting that cloud was raised, and the reputation of Dorsey W. Viers was fully vindicated.

REMOVAL FROM NORTHFIELD TO CovENTRY. - In the meantime the three sons of Mr. Viers - James McClintock, Elisha J. and Edward H. - had grown to manhood and had become settled as prosperous farmers in the township of Norton, whither the father, having disposed of his possessions in Northfield, followed them, a few years later, occupying a small farm in the township of Coventry, opposite to that of hisson Elisha J., in Norton, where he continued to reside until his death, on the night of March 10, 1884, at the ripe old age of 94; his youngest son, Edward H. Viers,a highly respected resident of Norton, only, surviving him.

The principal items of the foregoing account of the very remarkable experiences of this remarkable man, were furnished the writer, by Mr. Viers and his wife nearly fifty years ago, soon after his final vindication, with a view to their publication then ; but before getting them into shape the notes were mislaid, and are now reproduced mainly from memory, aided, as to one or two of the earlier dates, in the brief mention thereof, by General L. V. Bierce, in his historical reminiscences published in 1854.

Chapter Xlii

NORTHFIELD'S SECOND GREAT SENSATION - MURDER OF CATHARINE M'KISSON - DEADLY ASSAULT UPON HER DAUGHTER, LUCINDA CRONINGER - ARREST OF SAMUEL M'KISSON, FATHER-IN-LAW TO THE MURDERED WOMAN - SUBSEQUENT ARREST OF DAVID .M'KISSON, THE BROTHER-IN-LAW OF CATHARINE AND LOVER OF LUCINDA - THE FATHER TRIED AND ACQUITTED - THE SON TRIED, CONVICTED AND EXECUTED - CIRCUMSTANTIAL STRONGER THAN POSITIVE EVIDENCE - FULL HISTORY OF THE CRIME, TRIAL, SENTENCE AND EXECUTION - DYING SPEECIE UPON THE GALLOWS - BITTER COLD DAY, ETC. .

The Great Northfield Tragedy

of the time was perpetrated in the township of Northfield, then the extreme northwestern township of Portage county, and now a portion of Summit county. Several years previously, there had settled in the western portion of that township, and about midway between the center and the Cuyahoga river, one Samuel McKisson, who had quite a large family of grown up sons and daughters. ,

The eldest son, Robert, having married a widow, Mrs. Catherine Croninger, with a grown up daughter, Lucinda, had settled upon a farm adjoining that of his father upon the west, on which he had erected the regulation log cabin of the period, with but a single room upon the ground floor; and a low sleeping apartment in the loft overhead. Having been bred a mechanic, Robert was frequently absent from home, for considerable periods of time, employing a young man named Johnson to do his farm work. The younger brother of Robert, David McKisson, was a tailor by trade, working, for longer or shorter periods in Hudson, Akron, Middlebury, Canton and other towns and villages in Northeastern Ohio, but, by reason of his reckless and dissipated habits, being unable to hold a situation for any considerable length of time. ki

THE B&GINNING OF THE TRoUBLE. - Notwithstanding his tramping propensities, and because of his inability to retain a situation for any great length of time, David was in the habit of bringing up at his father's every few months, during which visits he was thrown much into the society of his brother Robert's stepdaughter, Lucinda Croninger, between whom and himself a mutual attachment was soon formed, and mutual tokens of affection exchanged. In this case, however, as in many others of like character, the "course of true love" did not run entirely "smooth," for his sister-in-law, the mother of Lucinda, vigorously opposed the match. Warm words between the mother and the suitor were frequently indulged in, which at length engendered virulent illfeeling, and in which crimination and recrimination were freely bandied; the husband and brother, Robert, in his occasional visits home, on being informed of the status of affairs, taking sides with his wife, and severely reprimanding and chastising his brother for the course he was pursuing, and virtually, if not in positive terms, forbidding him to come upon the premises. In these discussions other members of the McKisson family had also become seriously involved, and the ill-feeling was particularly bitter between Samuel McKisson, the father, and his daughterin-law, Catharine McKisson.

MEDITATING VENGEANCE. - In this condition of affairs, with the old gentleman at bitter enmity with his daughter-in-law, and David in a state of ferocious wrath, at the interference of his sister-in-law and her husband in his love affairs, the latter, early in the Spring of 1837, left the neighborhood, and engaged to go to Turtle Island, at the mouth of Maumee Bay, to chop cord-wood. On his way thither, he called upon a married sister, then living in Cleveland, to whom, in rehearsing his troubles, he was alleged to have said that he would some day go back to Northfield and kill Robert's wife, and then if Lucinda would not have him she might "go to hell." This threat, however, was thought by his sister, and other friends cognizant thereof, to be a mere ebullition of anger at his disappointment, which absence would. soon abate, and as several weeks elapsed without any recurrence of the troubles, all fears of personal injury to Robert, or his family, had been entirely dismissed from their minds.

Tue BLow Suppenity Fauris. - The single-room log house, occupied by the family of Robert, fronted east, the large stone fireplace being upon the south end, and two beds occupying the north end of the room; that occupied by Robert and his wife on the west, and that occupied by Lucinda upon the east side of the room.

' Robert being absent from home working at his trade in Cleveland, on the night of July 24th, 1837, the beds thus situated, were occupied by the mother and her two little boys, and by the daughter, respectively, so that a person, passing from the front and only door of the house, would have to pass the bed of the daughter to reach that of the mother.

The family retired about 9 o'clock, the hired man, Johnson, in the loft, as before described, reached by means of a ladder in the southeast corner. As was customary, in those early days, before friction matches had come into general use, the embers of the fire, which had cooked the evening meal, had been carefully "raked up," on the capacious hearth, and from them some slight glimmers from the charring coal produced a sort of dim illumination of the apartment, after the "tallow dip" had been extinguished for the night. The entire household had fallen asleep, with no thought of impending danger, nor dream of fear, the door being left unfastened because of the momentarily expected arrival home of the husband and father from Cleveland.

Suddenly the daughter was awakened by the opening of the door. Rising up in bed, she saw a man, in his shirt sleeves, and dressed in dark pantaloons, enter the room with an axe in his hand. As she raised up she received a blow from the axe, upon the side of her head, which rendered her momently insensible. On recovering consciousness, she saw her mother lying upon the floor and the man standing over her with the axe, which he struck into her right shoulder. The daughter immediately screamed " murder," which awoke Johnson, who sprang out of bed, upon hearing which, the assassin fled from the house, giving the daughter another blow with the axe, as he passed, but which, fortunately, produced a flesh wound only.

Tue FATHER-IN-LAW DENOUNCED AS THE ASSASSIN. - Johnson, on comprehending the situation, immediately started for assistance, and on reaching the house of a neighbor, Col. Pardon A. Brooks, found that it was just 11 o'clock. On the return of Johnson with help, Mrs. McKisson was found to be still alive, and in possession of her faculties. On being inquired of, by Col. Brooks, if she knew who committed the deed, she replied, "Old Sammy McKisson." Being again asked if she was sure it was Samuel McKisson, she replied, 'Oh, yes, Oh, yes," and then almost immediately became unconscious, and a few hours later expired. The daughter, also, asseverated that the man she had seen enter the room, and strike the fatal blows, was Samuel McKisson.

The old gentleman was accordingly taken into custody, and held for trial, and as the news of the tragedy spread rapidly from house to house, and from mouth to mouth, almost the entire township was upon the ground, and the wildest excitement prevailed by daylight the next morning. It was found, by the examining physicians, that the deceased had. received three blows from the axe; one on theright side of the head, the whole width of the blade penetrating the brain to the depth of one inch, and from which the brains were oozing; one on the back of the head which had cleaved off a large part of the scalp and a piece of the skull the size of a silver dollar, leaving the brain bare, but without wounding it; and the third, the blow which the daughter had witnessed, in the right shoulder, and passing through the shoulder bones and ribs into the chest. It was supposed that, being awakened by the blow upon the back of the head, Mrs. McKisson sprang out of bed when she was felled to the floor by the burying of the blade of the axe in her brain, as stated, the blow upon the shoulder, penetrating the chest, immediately following her fall upon the floor.

A New PHASE IN THE TERRIBLE AFFAIR. - Though still believing the old man, Samuel McKisson, to be a party to the murder, if not the actual perpetrator thereof, the investigations by the neighbors and officers, the next day, put an entirely new aspect upon the tragic affair. The axe with which the deed had been perpetrated, belonged to the family, and had been taken from the cleat, on which it hung, upon the outside of the house, between the door and the southeast corner. This axe, covered with blood, was found some distance from the house, ona foot path running northwesterky from the house to the canal, and in an opposite direction from where Samuel McKisson lived. It was soon afterwards learned that a man was seen or heard running on that path, from the direction of the murder towards the canal, at about 11 o'clock that night, and also that about an hour before sunset, on the evening of the murder, David McKisson was seen to leave Kittlewell's grocery, at 18 mile Lock, on the canal, without a coat, and dressed in dark pantaloons, and go in a northeasterly direction towards the scene of the murder. The path on which the bloody axe was found, let it be remembered, was a mile or more in length, through dense woods, and over quite a precipitous hill, descending from the house of the murder tothe canal. It was also shown that about 1 o'clock in the morning, David McKisson, inthe same dress,

Father And Son Under Arrest

: These facts, coupled with the circumstance that he had left his work at Turtle Island, and had come into the neighborhood of his home, and after going in the direction thereof, without calling

.upon any of his relatives or friends, had started back to his place of employment, was proof conclusive, in the minds of the most sagacious people of the neighborhood, that David, instead of his father, was the actual perpetrator of the-horrible crime, though owing to the bitter enmity known to exist between the old gentleman and his daughter-in-law, it was still generally believed that he was, somehow or other, mixed up with the affair.

PuRsuIT AND ARREST OF Davin McKisson. - A warrant was accordingly issued by Justice George Lillie, and''a constable, with two assistants, started for Turtle Island to secure David's arrest. There being no railroads in those days, and no communication by telegraph then as now, all operations of this kind were extremely slow. It afterwards transpired that, on reaching Cleveland, David had, by mistake, taken a boat bound down the Lake, instead of up, and had gone east as far as Fairport, some 30 niles, at which point he had to wait several hours for an up bound boat, on which to return to Cleveland en route to the Island. In the meantime his pursuers had passed through Cleveland, taking a boat bound for

On reaching Cleveland, on his return from Fairport, David, still without a coat, accidentally met an old acquaintance upon the wharf, who informed him of the murder, the arrest of his father, and that three men had gone to the Island to arrest him, advising him to return home to see about it. To this' he indifferently replied that if that was so, he should probably see the men when he got to the Island. Continuing on the same boat on which he had come from Fairport, he went to Detroit, and from thence to the Island, via Manhattan, and yet arriving there several hours before his pursuers did.

Bioopy Suirt Founp 1n His Trunx. - When the pursuing party reached the Island, and took him into custody, he appeared to know the cause of his arrest, and, without asking what the charge against him was, or to be shown the warrant, bid his employers and his comrades good-by, saying that he should never see them again, etc. In his trunk was found a soiled shirt with blood upon the shoulder and several spatters of blood upon the bosom, which he could not rationally account for, and in his attempt to do so, seriously contradicted himself. He remarked to his captors, though not informed by them of the crime for which he was arrested, that he was willing to die except for the disgrace it would bring upon his brothers and sisters, and afterwards, on being told of the death of his sister-in-law and the arrest of his father, as her murderer, said his father was innocent of the crime.

At another time he said that he had committed so many crimes without detection he thought he could do anything without being found out, but that it was "all over with him now." On reaching Northfield, when brought into the presence of his brother Robert, he manifested great agony of mind, and said: 'Robert, I little thought what was said when we parted in the lane would bring me to this," and when Robert asked, "Has it ?" he replied,

FATHER AND Son JorntLy INpIcTED. - Justice Lillie, before whom the preliminary examinations were had, held both of the accused to answer to the crime of murder, before the Court of Common Pleas of Portage county, and both were committed to jail. At the September term of court (1837), a "true bill" was. found against both, by the Grand Jury. Though jointly indicted, separate trials were granted by the court, Hon. Van R. Humphrey presiding, and special venires for jurors were issued in each case. Samuel McKisson was tried first, a full history of the family troubles, as well as of the circumstances attending the murder, being gone into, the case being conducted with his usual vigor, by Prosecuting Attorney, Lucius V. Bierce, assisted by Eben Newton, Esq., and a most able defense was made by David K. Cartter, and Wylys Silliman, Esqs. Under the clear-cut charge of the court, so characteristic of Judge Humphrey in his prime, the jury, after a very brief consideration of the case, pronounced Samuel McKisson not guilty. Immediately following the acquittal of the father, the son was put upon his trial to a jury impaneled from the special venire issued in the case. Much of the testimony that was given witnesses were sworn and exanuined, touching David's actions and utterances prior and subsequent to the commission of the crime of which. he was accused. Special emphasis was given, by counsel for the defense, to the dying declarations of the murdered woman, while in full possession of her faculties, that Samuel McKisson had struck the fatal blows, and the full corroboration of that dying declaration, by the surviving daughter, who witnessed the infliction of at least one of those blows, and who had herself nearly shared the same fate;-while, by unreliable circumstances, only, could the defendant then on trial, be connected with the horrible affair. Inch by inch was the legal battle fought, not only in the examination and cross-examination of witnesses, and the rules of law governing the case, butin the arguments of both Prosecuting Attorney L. V. Bierce and Eben Newton, Esq., for the State, and Messrs. Rufus P. Spalding, David Tod and Noah M. Humphrey on behalf of the defense. After a repetition of the principal points contained in his former charge, with the addition of such matters as more particularly applied to the case in hand, Judge Humphrey gave the case to the jury, who, after several hours deliberatign, returned their verdict, finding David McKisson guilty of murder in the first degree.

_A motion was made by defendant's counsel for a new trial, which was promptly overruled by the court. After giving counsel a few days to prepare and file a bill of exceptions, should they desire to do so, Judge Humphrey ordered the sheriff to bring the condemned man before the court for sentence.

Commanding the prisoner to stand up, Judge Humphrey, in the presence of a dense crowd of interested spectators, proceeded to pronounce sentence upon him as follows:

"Davip MCKIsson: - The Grand Jury of this county have returned a Bill of Indictment against you, charging you with the crime of murder. To that Indictment you have pleaded 'Not guilty." Counsel of your choive, able and learned in the law, have been assigned, to advise and aid you to meet the accusation, and make your defense. Plenary process, the resources of the State, have been at your command to compel the attendance of witnesses, in order to manifest your innocence. A traverse jury, almost of your own selection, and against whom you had nothing to urge, has been impaneled to pass, under a solemn appeal to heaven, between you and the State. Before that jury you have met your accusers, and the witnesses against you, 'face to face'; you have listened to their testimony, and also introduced such proof as was in your power, to exculpate you from the charge. You have heard the arguments of counsel for the State, and also sat under the powerful appeal of counsel in your own behalf; and after a patient, full and impartial hearing, that jury, under the tremendous convictions of duty, in view of their responsibility to God and their country, have found you " Guilty of Murder in the First Degree;" and, I regret to say, that the evidence is such as to compel the court to fully concur in the finding of the jury. Upon that verdict arises the melancholy duty of announcing the dreadful sentence of the law; and have you anything to say why that sentence should not now be pronounced?"