O day of rest and gladness, O day of joy and light,
O balm of care and sadness, most beautiful, most bright:
On Thee, the high and lowly, through ages joined in tune,
Sing holy, holy, holy, to the great God Triune.

On Thee, at the creation, the light first had its birth;
On Thee, for our salvation, Christ rose from depths of earth;
On Thee, our Lord, victorious, the Spirit sent from heaven,
And thus on Thee, most glorious, a triple light was given.

Thou art a port, protected from storms that round us rise;
A garden, intersected with streams of paradise;
Thou art a cooling fountain in life’s dry, dreary sand;
From thee, like Pisgah’s mountain, we view our promised land.

Thou art a holy ladder, where angels go and come;
Each Sunday finds us gladder, nearer to heaven, our home;
A day of sweet refection, thou art a day of love,
A day of resurrection from earth to things above.

Today on weary nations the heavenly manna falls;
To holy convocations the silver trumpet calls,
Where Gospel light is glowing with pure and radiant beams,
And living water flowing, with soul refreshing streams.

New graces ever gaining from this our day of rest,
We reach the rest remaining to spirits of the blessed.
To Holy Ghost be praises, to Father, and to Son;
The church her voice upraises to Thee, blessed Three in One.

Christopher Wordsworth was born this date 10/30/1807, Bocking, Essex, England.  He was a nephew to William Wordsworth the poet.  He was headmaster of Harrow Boys School and a member of the Church of England was archdeacon of Westminster and later bishop of Lincoln. Christopher was an outstanding Greek scholar and published many works, including a commentary of the Bible.  Today we remember him for one of his 127 hymns  ”O Day of Rest and Gladness.”  He died 3/20/1885 at Lincoln, England.

His statement about hymns is worth knowing, “It is the first duty of a hymn to teach sound doctrine and thence to save souls.”

As predicted the boat launch was a rather uncomfortable affair with many a bump and jolt as I slid down the helictical trough and into basin that flowed out into the sewers.

The steam engine behind me hissed as the drive gear slowly pushed me forward into the gloom of the brick tunnels. Slime and other unmentionable detritus could be seen all around me and I knew that to fall into the water beneath me would almost certainly be fatal, So with a renewed effort to keep the small steam skiff on an even keel I gingerly coaxed it forwards in what I estimated was the direction of Slade’s. Sure enough, a few tense minutes later I did indeed come to the brick step that acted as small dick to the shop but even here, aside from a small sign indicating I had found Slade’s, I could find no discernable clues.

Maybe I was too late? Maybe the illicit goods had already been delivered and moved on? Maybe, just maybe, I told myself, I was barking down the wrong sewer and on the end of an elaborate practical joke. I was just toying with thought when I heard it.

A loud splash, as though a substantial weight had hit the water, followed by a long, low, near-animal moan that turned my blood to ice. It was a sound I hoped I’d never hear again. It was a sound I hadn’t heard since the fall of the second Lincoln Line back in ‘85. It was the sound of a soul trapped between life and death. It was the sound of one that was no longer human. It was the sound of one of Feg’s own. It was the sound of a Zombie! And it was here in the dark sewers with me!

****{}****

To be continued…
All the “The Mysterious Note” posts can be read here.

*****{*}*****

Rock Island Prison

Image from CensusDiggins.com.

THE PIONEERS.

Pioneer Notes and Memorial Sketches for the Month of November, 1884.

Memorial Sketches.

Nicholas Ramey, John Colville and Wayne McCaddon, were well known residents of Licking county, Ohio, who, many years ago, long before the “Great Rebellion,” removed to Iowa, and settled themselves for the remainder of their lives in that thrifty and rapidly growing young State of the Great West. Early in the was the General Government established a rebel prison on Rock Island, in the Mississippi river, on the eastern borders of Iowa, and devolved the duty on that State to furnish a regiment of soldiers to perform guard duty in said prison.

Governor Kirkwood deemed it proper to enlist men for that service who were too old to perform active military duty at the front, and thereby save his young men for the field. He accordingly organized the celebrated “gray-beard regiment,” composed of old men who had passed the military age and mustered them into the service to perform guard duty as above indicated, during the war. The three old citizens of this county above named were volunteer soldiers of this regiment, and served until the war closed. The first named (Mr. Ramey) died early in 1882, aged 90 years, and a notice of him appeared in our memorial sketches for the month of March of said year.

Mr. John Colville, the second of this trio of gray-beard patriots, died December 6th, 1882, aged 86, as appears from our memorial sketches for said month and year. And now we have information recently obtained, of the death of the last named of these veteran Union soldiers, (Wayne McCadden) who died at his residence in Dexter, Dallas county, Iowa, at the ripe age of 77 years. He was the youngest son of Mr. John McCaddon, who, in his youth, was a soldier under General George Rogers Clark, in an expedition against the Shawnee Indians on the Mad River, in 1780, having enlisted under that gallant leader at the Falls of the Ohio. He was subsequently a pioneer settler in Newark, where he for many years conducted a tannery, his son the subject of this sketch, being his partner in said business.

Previous to embarking as the active partner with his father, in 1826, Wayne McCaddon was a clerk in the store of his brother-in-law, Mr. George Baker, who is still remembered by a few of our citizens, as one of the pioneer merchants and produce dealers of Newark. The introduction of his elegant and accomplished bride to the young society of Newark was one of the social events of 1830. The youthful Kentucky stranger-bride of more that fifty years ago, we learn, is still living in her Iowa home, now in dignified, venerated, matronly widowhood. Wayne McCaddon was one of the deputy marshals engaged in taking the census in a part of Licking county in 1840, and not long after that year he permanently located in Iowa. His ailment, which was of a cancerous nature, was painful and protracted.

A number of his children, as well as his aged life partner, survive him.

As will be observed Wayne McCaddon inherited a propensity for soldiering from his patriotic father, and as much may be said of John Colville, who was intuitively heroic, for his father and three brothers actively participated in our last war with England.

And it may be remarked in this parting tribute to these three old-time soldier friends, volunteers in the “gray-beard regiment, of Iowa,” that Nicholas Ramey, who was a native of France, probably also inherited military proclivities, for while a young man he was a soldier in the armies of the great Napoleon, serving with the French army in the campaign in Spain and elsewhere.

Wayne McCaddon’s father reached the age of 90 years, and his mother was not much younger at her death. And of a large family of sons and daughters nearly all attained to a great age, several of whom that are still living have long since been octogenarians, and one, (Mrs. Baker) is nearly as old as her father was at his death. They were probably the most long-lived family, consisting of so large a number of persons, that ever lived in Licking county. Of the five surviving members of this pioneer family the youngest is now seventy-four years old.

Wayne McCaddon and the writer were associates, friends, and companions more than fifty years ago. We were jointly engaged in the performance of some small official duties, too, in 1840, such as enumerating the inhabitants of a portion of our county, by authority of Congress. Soon after that we parted; our almost daily intercourse was suddenly terminated — he seeking a home towards the setting sun, and I remaining as hitherto a sojourner here. We recall but one visit from him after leaving here, and that was a generation ago. A score or more of his old friends, on that occasion, by way of a testimonial of their personal regard tendered him a supper at the American House, Smith & Moody being the proprietors. That evening’s entertainment and services were characterized by hilarity, good cheer and kindly feeling. It was marked by the enjoyment and expression of a degree of good will and fraternity seldom witnessed; indeed it was one of those jestive occasions the recollection of which would long have a lodgement in the memory, serve as a land-mark along life’s journey, and be held in retrospection as an oasis in a barren, dreary waste. Benjamin Briggs, Jonathan Taylor, James Parker, B.B. Taylor, John Lanceford, Lucius Case, Wm. P. Morrison, A.W. Dennis and others were participants in these exercises and festivities, and all of them (except the last named and the writer) preceded our friend McCaddon to “the realms beyond.” Many friends and relatives of the deceased tender their warmest sympathies to the members of the bereaved family.

Mrs. Baker’s Death.

After the foregoing notice of Wayne McCaddon was written, information of he decease of his oldest sister, Mrs. Nancy Baker, was received. She had been living with one of her sisters in Canton, Ohio, for many years, and died there November 18, 1884 at the ripe age of 90 years, 6 months and some days. Mr. George Baker, her husband, was a widely known merchant of Newark, who died here about 40 years ago, and Mrs. Baker did not live here long after that. She was the oldest daughter of John McCaddon, and Wayne McCaddon was her youngest brother. Mr. and Mrs. Baker are often mentioned in terms of commendation in Newark church circles, because of their generous contributions to Trinity Episcopal Church, which Mr. Baker was chiefly instrumental in erecting.

Newark Daily Advocate (Newark, Ohio) Nov 28, 1884

Napolean's Army (Image from www.life.com)

Iowa Letter.
OSKALOOSA, IOWA, March 10, 1882.

EDITOR ADVOCATE — On the 6th of this month, Nicholas Ramey, a former resident of your county, died at Kirkville, a small town fourteen miles south of here, at the age of 90 years. He was a native of France and a veteran of the wars. Mr. Ramey was a lieutenant in the Grand Army under Napoleon; was captured at Salamanca, Spain, and while he was being transported on a British vessel bound for London, assisted in a mutiny, which was successful, and made his escape to America. He became a soldier of the Republic in the was of 1812. He also served during the war of the late rebellion as principal musician of the 37th Iowa (Graybeard) regiment. The pioneers of Licking will remember him as the great admirer of Napoleon. He organized a company at Newark, headed, I believe, by Moody Smith and went with them to Gibralter, to recover treasures hidden there by his great commander. When the writer was a small boy, Mr. Ramey lived close to Newark on the farm of S.D. King, on the road leading from there to Granville. He has children and grand-children residing in our city and county. Mrs. Anderson, of Chatham, was one of his daughters. He was totally blind before he died. He was buried with Masonic honors on the 8th inst.

J.

Daily Advocate (Newark, Ohio) Mar 23, 1882

THE PIONEERS.

MR. JOHN COLVILLE.

Mr. Colville was one of our early settlers and a long time resident of this county. He was a son of Major Colville, born in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, September 5, 1797, and settled in Licking county in 1824. The subject of this sketch was the youngest of four sons, and his father and three brothers rendered service in the war of 1812, he being too young to “go a soldiering.” His father was a major, and his brother Samuel was a captain, while his brothers Robert and James were in the ranks, and all served during the war.

John Colville in 1828, united in marriage with Eliza Turner, who died in 1841, he surviving her 41 years. He removed to Iowa many years ago, and died at the residence of his nephew, D.H. Colville, near Oscaloosa, Mahaska county, in said State, December 6, 1882, in the 86th year of his age. The Colville family was of Scotch-Irish ancestry, long-lived, vigorous, patriotic.

So patriotic was John that upon the call of his country during the late rebellion, though 65 years old, he (in company with Nicholas Ramy and Wayne McCaddon, both former venerable citizens of Licking county,) enlisted in the celebrated gray-beard regiment of Iowa, and served to the close of the war. His devotion to his country and military services probably led to impaired vision while on duty, which gradually grew more dim with advancing years, so that he endured total blindness during the last four years of his life, but a beneficent government smoothed his pathway to the tomb by granting him a liberal pension.

Daily Advocate (Newark, Ohio) Dec 27, 1882

Image from http://iagenweb.org/mahaska

Death of a Former Resident of Licking County.

Mr. John Colville, Sr., formerly of this county, died at the residence of O.H. Colville, in Oskaloosa, Iowa, on Wednesday, Dec. 6, aged 84 years, two months and three days. He was buried at the old cemetery at Oskaloosa.

Mr. Colville removed from Virginia to Licking county, in 1825, where he remained until 1854, when he removed to Mahaska county, Iowa, where he has ever since resided. For the past two or three years he has been entirely blind. It will be with feeling of regret that his many friends in Licking county will learn of his demise.

Daily Advocate (Newark, Ohio) Dec 13, 1882

Canton, Ohio (Image from www.epodunk.com)

MRS. ELIZABETH COCKE.

Included in our memorial sketches for November 1884, were two members of the numerous and long-lived John McCadden family, early and for many years well known people in Newark, of respectability and character. Mr. Wayne McCadden [McCaddon] and his sister Mrs. George Baker, were those of whose decease we made mention then. Another of those aged people has since died, one of the eldest born. Mrs. Elizabeth Cocke was long a resident of Canton, Ohio, where her husband, who was a prominent man, died some years ago. Mrs. Cocke died in that city, January 28, 1885, at the advanced age of 84 years and six months. Mrs. VanHorn, of Zanesville, and Mrs. Marvin, of Newark, are two of her surviving sisters.

Mr. John McCadden there father, who long since deceased, was one of the veterans of our revolutionary war, and was personally identified with Indian warfare on Ohio soil long before the establishment of civil government here serving in the army of Gen. George Rogers Clark on that famous expedition to the Indian towns on the Mad river in 1780. A letter now before me written by the father of the deceased in 1842, when he was eighty-five years of age, gives interesting details of the expedition commanded by Gen. George Rogers Clark, in 1780, of which he was a member, having enlisted in it at the Falls of the Ohio, when he was twenty-three years old. His letter also tells how he was detailed as one of the men that stood guard in protecting those who were at work upon the block house built where Cincinnati now stands, and which was the first structure ever erected upon the site of that city, it being some years before Fort Washington was built.

Newark Daily Advocate (Newark, Ohio) Mar 3, 1885

Watercolor of an antique high wheel bicycle.  Circa 1885.  The print is for sale at my shop.

Original Image from www.jbrucevoyles.com

William Smearman, of Huntingdon, was stabbed at a camp meeting near Newton Hamilton on Thursday while quelling a disturbance, and died soon afterward.

Daily Gazette and Bulletin (Williamsport, Pennsylvania) Aug 26, 1884

The PDF of the above article can be found HERE

HUNTINGDON, PA, Jan 18 — The case of Curtin McClain, of Orbisonia, this county, who was tried at Lewistown last week for the killing of Wm. Smearman, of this city, at the Newton Hamilton camp meeting last August, the jury at a late hour last night returned a verdict of murder in the first degree. The general expectation was that the verdict would be of a less degree.

The Indiana Democrat (Indiana, Pennsylvania) Jan 15, 1885

Escaped from Mifflin County Jail.

William Prindle, of Belleville, held for horse stealing; Ben Taylor, a negro, held for disorderly conduct, and two Germans, charged with highway robbery escaped from the Mifflin county jail, at Lewistown, last night. The two first named have been retaken, but the Germans are still at large. Curtin McClain, under sentence of death for the murder of William Smearman, had an opportunity to escape with them, but refused to go.

Daily Gazette and Bulletin (Williamsport, Pennsylvania) Aug 13, 1885

Gov. Pattison of Pennsylvania has fixed the 19th of November next for the execution of Curtin McClain, under sentence of death for the murder of William Smearman, in a brawl at a camp-meeting last year.

The Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) Sep 24, 1885

McClain to be imprisoned for Life.

The pardon board held a secret meeting on Thursday last, at which the members reviewed the new evidence in the Curtin McClain case, convicted of murder and sentenced to be hanged. At noon they decided to recommend a commutation of the death sentence to imprisonment for life. They are all of the opinion that he committed the act, but that it was not done at a time to justify a verdict of murder in the first degree. The action of the board knocks out the decision of the supreme as well as the lower court and the jury.

The Indiana Democrat (Indiana, Pennsylvania) Nov 5, 1885

Image from www.uiwalumni.org

MANY CASES HEARD BY PARDON BOARD

By Associated Press.

Harrisburg, May 17. The Board of Pardons recommended pardons today for Curtain McClain, of Orbisonia, serving a life sentence in the Western penitentiary for murder; John Kelly, of Susquehanna, voluntary manslaughter; William H. Trout, of Lebanon, larceny; J.C. Fox, Allegheny, misdemeanor; John Keller, Allegheny, larceny.

The board refused to commute to life imprisonment the sentence of Frank J. Krause, of Allentown, and commuted that of William Hinchliffe, of Philadelphia.

Daily Gazette and Bulletin (Williamsport, Pennsylvania) May 18,  1900

OLD LANDMARK TO GO

The deal was closed late Saturday for the sale of the Newton Hamilton camp meeting grounds to the McVey Real Estate Company, for $8,000. The purchase includes the buildings and grove of virgin white oak timber, which will be cut and converted into lumber and the plot of ground sold as building lots.

The plot has been the site of annual camp meetings of the Methodists of the Juniata valley for half a century and was one of the great show places of the valley. In fact it was often a grave question whether the good done at these sessions overbalanced the evil until 1882, when Curtin McClain, of Orbinsonia, killed William Smearsman, of Huntingdon, with a butcher knife in a drunken brawl on the grounds, after which it dwindled to almost nothing. Of late years it has been used chiefly as a summer resort, the cottages being rented for the summer.

Clearfield Progress (Clearfield, Pennsylvania) May 6, 1920

THE TRAGEDY OF THE CAMP GROUNDS

By ALBERT M. RUNG
820 North 16th St., Harrisburg, Pa.

Hugh Brown, we are told, obtained a warrant for a tract of land in 1762 upon which the borough of Newton Hamilton is situated, but apparently some attempt at settlement was made shortly as the name of Muhlenberg was given to the locality back in Provincial days. The record shows that after Brown’s death the land then passed to Margaret Hamilton, as she was assessed with sixty acres in 1783. Probably the name was changed to Hamiltonville about this time, then to Newton Hamilton about 1828 when the locality saw boom times by construction of the Juniata Canal. In that year the settlement is said to have consisted of but four log huts, but erection of a number of inns, stores and homes soon followed.

Camp Meeting Grounds Established 1872

A hundred and ten years after Brown’s warrant a stock company was organized with a capital of $16,500 for the purchase of thirty-six acres of land nearby and erection of suitable buildings thereon for the purpose of holding annual camp meetings. Thus the

Juniata Valley Camp Meeting grounds came into existence.

These meetings, which were held for ten days each August, always drew a heavy attendance from all parts of Pennsylvania, and on Sundays excursion trains were operated from such distances as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, when thousands of visitors crowded the village and camp grounds.

Unfortunately, many who came had no thought of attending services held upon the grounds and a lawless and vicious element who became intoxicated, caroused and insulted women and children and defied all attempts to enforce law and order, was always certain to be in town.

Huntingdon Man Was Murder Victim

On August 21, 1884, a group of young men from Orbisonia came to Newton Hamilton under the influences of liquor and continued indulging to such an extent that all became exceptionally boisterous and belligerent. Soon afterwards they were observed starting from the “sheep-pen” (an enclosure built near the station to permit control of crowds in boarding trains) in pursuit of some young fellow who dashed towards the woods in an effort to escape. The young man was William Smearman, of Huntingdon. The cause of the difficulty was never explained fully and subsequent developments showed that Smearman bore an excellent reputation in his home town and had never engaged in altercations of any kind. However, he was apparently overtaken and his lifeless body, found soon afterwards, indicated he had been stabbed to death.

Undeniable evidence was promptly uncovered, pointing to Curtin McClain of Orbisonia as the slayer, and Constable McElhone and Editor B.E. Morrison of Newton Hamilton arrested McClain at his home on the following day. En route to Lewistown, McElhone and Morrison found it necessary to leave the East Broad Top train approaching Mount Union and proceed a short distance along the Pennsylvania Railroad, where an eastbound train was instructed to take them on board, as it was feared McClain would be lynched upon arrival in Mount Union. With the prisoner lodged in jail at Lewistown, Sheriff Garett departed the next day for Orbisonia and arrested three of McClain’s comrades who were implicated in the crime.

The murder of Smearman, occurring upon grounds set aside for religious activities, came as a distinct shock to the people of Pennsylvania as many papers of the state had carried a daily account of proceedings at the camp grounds by reason of unusual interest manifested by their readers. The tragic affair came on the closing day of the season, causing some speculation as to whether the annual event could survive and if the terrible happening would lead directors of the association to announce its abandonment.

McClain Found Guilty; Sentence Commuted To Life Imprisonment

McClain’s trial before Judge Bucher in Lewistown in January, 1885, brought out that Smearman had left a widow and two small children, the youngest but a few months old, and the accused had made a confession which his attorneys tried to have expunged. The district attorney was aided by R.M. Speer of Huntingdon. The jury, after being out many hours, returned a verdict of murder in the first degree against McClain.

A request for a new trial by attorneys Andrew Reed and F.H. Culbertson was refused by Judge Bucher on March 26. An appeal was taken to the Supreme Court (the Superior Court had not been created), who likewise refused the appeal in June 1885.

Various attempts were then made to have the Board of Pardons review the case for the purpose of commuting McClain’s sentence to life imprisonment — Governor Pattison had set the date of execution for November 21, 1885 — and in this they were successful.

The following excerpt is taken from the Board’s findings:

“The evidence discovered since the trial and sentence presents a case not free from difficulty, and while the new evidence serves in some degree to raise a doubt as to whether the killing was not in a conflict under great excitement and hot blood, and before reason had sufficient time to resume her sway, it does not raise that character of doubt that if we were sitting as jurors would require us to acquit the prisoner or even to reduce its degree, but on the contrary, the weight of the evidence submitted still leaves us with the belief that the prisoner inflicted the fatal wounds, and that he is a man so reckless of the rights of others as to be dangerous to the peace and order of society. But remembering that we are not to overlook the fact that a refusal by us now to act would consign the prisoner to death, we feel that at such a time and under all the circumstances of merciful exercise of our jurisdiction, to recommend the commutation of his sentence to that of imprisonment for life.”

It will be noted that the Board of Pardons, while finding little to justify commutation for McClain, did not wish to assume responsibility for his execution. Smearman, it was claimed, had struck McClain in the mouth, thereby arousing the latter’s anger which led to the slaying. Such an alibi would have appeared weak indeed against the fact that McClain had purchased the knife which was used to kill Smearman, just the day before in Orbisonia. This fact showed beyond all doubt the vicious intention of the slayer, who deliberately sought a quarrel.

Tragedy Claimed Another Life

The tragedy had claimed the life of another, however. Two months before McClain’s sentence was commuted Henry Smearman, aged 27, died from grief over the loss of his brother. He also resided in Huntingdon and likewise left a young widow and two daughters.

McClain was taken to the Western Penitentiary with previous assurance by his friends that good conduct would greatly aid his chances for a pardon. The writer is unaware if any such efforts had been made before 1896, when, according to the Pittsburgh Times of January 4, a determined effort was started in McClain’s behalf by James M. Place, a publisher from Harrisburg, who was said to have been a friend of the McClain family.

According to the Times, Place claimed his search for evidence during the intervening ten years disclosed that McClain had not committed the murder; that he was not even in any fight upon the camp grounds; the slayer was a person who had promptly left the country and he (Place) would furnish the name of the guilty one. Place’s statement brought a quick response from Editor Morrison, editor of the Newton Hamilton Watchman, previously recalled who said:

“The statement (Place’s) of McClain is pure fabrication. ****Curtin McClain bought the butcher knife, was seen with the butcher knife in his possession on the steamboat at Newton Hamilton and on or near where the murder was committed. And McClain was proven to be the man who started the fight. Furthermore, McClain confessed to the writer, who was one of the officers that brought him from Orbisonia, that he killed Smearman because he (Smearman) hit him in the mouth. If McClain was put on trial again there is positive proof, by newly discovered evidence, that he was the identical man that committed the cowardly deed, and none other. We trust that the law will be allowed to take its course, regardless of Mr. Place’s efforts to free a cold-blooded murderer.”

Whether Morrison’s outburst served in balking the plan to free McClain is unknown to your chronicler, who made an effort to learn the outcome. However, during a visit to the home of Mr. and Mrs. D.P. Bowman of Orbisonia the past Summer, the closing act in McClain’s career was unfolded.

Pardon Granted McClain

Mrs. Bowman produced a clipping from “The Grit” of May 19, 1900, captioned, “McClain Is Pardoned,” and telling how the prisoner had been granted freedom by the Board of Pardons a few days earlier. “The Grit,” in quoting a special correspondent from Harrisburg said:

“Curtin McClain yesterday had the stigma of murderer removed from him. The Board of Pardons recommended his pardon by the Governor, and the Executive, in response has caused to issue the document that restores this young man to freedom, and to his friends, but alas! not to his aged mother, who firm in her belief in his innocence of the crime of which he was convicted over 15 years ago, had labored and lived in the hope of seeing justice done her son, only to totter to the grave disappointed in the one desire of her life, a few short weeks before the correctness of her faith was made manifest to all the world, and her erring but too severely punished son was released from a felon’s gloomy cell and bidden to walk again in the bright light of the sun, a free man.”

Yes, McClain was freed. James Place and Attorney Culbertson had won another victory for the prisoner through the Board of Pardons. Once could easily sympathize with McClain’s heart-broken mother, but what of the two broken homes in Huntingdon which McClain’s brutal crime had created? In this instance justice did not triumph.

The writer learned from the Bowmans that McClain had gone to some section in Franklin County after his release and nothing further was heard of him.

While the shocking affair left a certain stigma on the Newton Hamilton camp grounds, the management made every effort to have full protection of the camp and a group of guards from Lewistown and Huntingdon was used for this purpose. The annual gatherings apparently lost little patronage as the seasonal visitors continued to tax the grounds and railroad facilities for many years afterwards.

Somewhat curious about McClain’s progress after given his freedom, the writer stopped at the office of the Board of Pardons several months ago. A ledger taken from a vault revealed various steps in the former prisoner’s career from the time of the murder to his release from prison, and here a final line was inscribed, “Granted pardon May 17, 1900,” which concluded all information the office possessed of Curtin McClain.

Daily News (Huntingdon, Pennsylvania) Dec 8, 1951

*****

If you want to read more about the case: McClain versus Commonwealth, can be found on pages 263-270, in:

Pennsylvania state reports, Volume CX.
containing
CASES ADJUDGED in the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

By ALBERT A. OUTERBRIDGE, State Reporter
VOL. XIV.

Containing
Cases Argued at January Term, 1885, May Term, 1885, and October and November Term, 1885

NEW YORK AND ALBANY:
BANKS $ BROTHERS, LAW PUBLISHERS. 1888

According to information found on Ancestry.com, after Curtin McClain was released, he lived with his daughter and her family in Cambria Co., PA.  His death record (he died in 1940) states he was a hotel proprietor, one census record lists his occupation as proprietor – confectionery and an earlier one lists labor – hotel.

We praise Thee, O God!
For the Son of Thy love,
For Jesus Who died,
And is now gone above.

Refrain

Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Hallelujah! Amen.
Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Revive us again.

2. We praise Thee, O God!
For Thy Spirit of light,
Who hath shown us our Savior,
And scattered our night.

3. All glory and praise
To the Lamb that was slain,
Who hath borne all our sins,
And hath cleansed every stain.

4. All glory and praise
To the God of all grace,
Who hast brought us, and sought us,
And guided our ways.

 5. Revive us again;
Fill each heart with Thy love;
May each soul be rekindled
With fire from above.

William Paton Mackay, MD, died this date,  8/22/1885 at Portree, Scotland.  After graduating from the University of Edinburgh and practicing medicine he was ordained, and in 1868 started pastoring Prospect Street Presbyterian Church in Hull.  Mackay was born 5/13/1839 at Montrose, Scotland.

Inserto el artículo completo que en 1885 —el año del cólera y el de la vacunación Ferrán— publicó otro científico valenciano, el geólogo y astrónomo José Joaquín Landerer Climent (1841-1922)  en La Ilustración Española y Americana del 30 de mayo de 1885, pp. 322-323. Landerer nunca cursó de forma oficial ninguna carrera. Conocedor de varios idiomas, sus trabajos se publicaron en varias revistas extranjeras. Una de sus principales obras fue Principios de Geología y Paleontología (Barcelona, Librería religiosa, 1878).

«Cuando las cien trompetas de la Fama llevan la de Ferrán a todos los ámbitos de la tierra, fuera en La Ilustración, hasta cierto punto, faltar a la misión que se impone de dar a conocer en sus columnas las celebridades contemporáneas, y delito de lesa amistad en el autor de estas líneas el no contribuir a hacer resaltar, ante el mundo selecto de sus lectores en ambos hemisferios, la figura del eminente médico tortosino.

El asunto de que se trata es ya del dominio público, merced a la prensa, que se ha encargado de divulgarlo. Ferran está tan cerca de haber encontrado el medio de resistir los embates del terrible microbio colerígeno, que bien puede decirse que de las cien partes del camino para llegar a la posesión de la verdad lleva ya andadas las noventa y nueve y nueve décimas. Tiene ya en su favor la sanción de la lógica; sólo le falta la del tiempo.

Pero sobre esto de que le falta la sanción del tiempo habría mucho que decir, porque interpretándolo en el sentido en que el vulgo de nuestro país lo hace, parecería indicar que la solución del trascendental problema dista todavía mucho de ser real. Este fenómeno de interpretacion, tan general en España, reconoce por causa la falta de instrucción científica, porque aquí, donde cada cual entiende á su manera el remedio de nuestro atraso intelectual, es consiguiente que la opinión ande siempre desorientada. Mientras unos abogan en discursos admirables por el fomento de la instrucción política, otros aseguran, en obras monumentales, que «los pueblos mueren por la lengua», y hacen converger toda la atención sobre la pureza del lenguaje; ¡como si la decadencia de las sociedades fuese un proceso filológico! Todo el mundo se anda, como suele decirse, por las ramas, y nadie para mientes en el tronco, en la necesidad de un plan de enseñanza exento de absurdideces; resultando de tal desbarajuste lo que no puede menos de suceder, que marchemos á la cola de todo progreso, y que en más de una ocasión merezcamos á la culta Europa deplorable concepto, como se colige del informe que la Academia de Ciencias de París ha dado no ha mucho, calificando benignamente de insignificantes o inútiles los procedimientos para curar el cólera, descritos en doscientas treinta y tantas cartas que, procedentes de España, le han sido dirigidas. Idéntico concepto le habremos merecido, sin duda, cuando supo que bien cortadas plumas españolas lanzaban á los cuatro vientos de la publicidad, y con insistencia digna de mejor causa, el resultado de una observación piramidal, a saber: que los microbios resistían a la acción de los ácidos enérgicos, incluso el agua regia.

Lo único que le falta a la doctrina de Ferran es corroborarse en vastas epidemias. De la que pudiera llamarse experiencia menor ha salido triunfante, o lo que es lo mismo, los resultados de la experimentación en los animales y la interpretación racional de los hechos observados en las comarcas donde la enfermedad sienta hoy sus reales, conspiran todos á robustecerla. Lo sensible del caso es que el docto observador tenga que tropezar con una nueva dificultad, pues hasta se pone en duda que la enfermedad que reina en dichas comarcas sea realmente la que intenta combatir. Parecería imposible que, aun prescindiendo del cuadro de síntomas generales, y fijándose principalmente en la marcha evolutiva del microorganismo que en ello interviene, pueda existir divergencia de apreciación en lo tocante al diagnóstico, aunque tuviera que hacerse, si fuese necesario, la parte que a la acción modificante del clima y de la estación corresponden en alguna variante de detalle, procediendo asi con la lógica impuesta por el estudio de la evolución morfológica a través de las edades todas de la fase orgánica del globo terrestre. Parecería imposible, repito, semejante discrepancia de pareceres, a no poderse atribuir en gran parte a lo poco estudiada que entre nosotros está todavía la doctrina panspermista y al escaso aprecio en que se tienen sus procedimientos de investigación y de examen. Y sin embargo, así es y así será hasta que los trabajos de Tyndall, de Pastear, de Pierre Miquel, de Duclaux, operen a expensas sólo del tiempo, ya que falla el impulso director en nuestra patria, una revolución en los espíritus, e informen el criterio de cuantos combaten las nuevas ideas. No sé quién ha dicho que “de la discusión brota la luz”, pero no debe ser verdad muy general, porque de la controversia que ahora se sustenta no brotan sino la oscuridad y las tinieblas, hasta el punto de que el público no sabe a qué atenerse.

Es de advertir que la gloria de Ferrán no consiste sólo en haber descubierto la eficacia de la vacunación colérica, o de la colerizacion, hablando con propiedad, sino en haber sido el primero que ha puesto de manifiesto todas las fases de la evolución del microbio, del baccillus virgula, descubierto por Koch. Inteligencia clara para discurrir en lo que a la ciencia se contrae, ha comprendido que lo uno era complemento necesario de lo otro, y ha querido descifrar todos los enigmas que tan compleja cuestión envuelve. No cabe duda de que lo ha conseguido totalmente, y de ello da tantas pruebas, y razones tan adecuadas y convincentes, que no hay más remedio que rendirse á la evidencia. El que estas lineas suscribe es amigo suyo, y por virtud de esa amistad, y no por propia suficiencia, comprende lo que Vale y cuánto pudiera su ánimo decaer ante las escabrosidades de investigación tan profunda, y más de una vez ha solido decirle: «Adelante, Ferran: V. ha de ser el Pasteur español, y no tendría disculpa si no continuase estos trabajos.)». Confieso que no esperaba menos, y apelo de mi aserto á su propio testimonio.

Iniciado en la severidad de experimentación que Claudio Bernard y Pasteur establecieran, encanta la técnica que ha seguido hasta llegar a fundar su doctrina, y el rigorismo con que ha procedido en los detalles más minuciosos. Las preparaciones microscópicas, los cultivos y los conejillos sometidos a múltiples pruebas, son los elementos de la órbita que recorre noche y dia nuestro infatigable microbiólogo. Las conquistas se suceden una tras otra; el terrible microbio se domestica en sus manos, y al fin llega al coronamiento de la obra, a adquirir la certidumbre de que domina el ciclo completo del temido organismo, la atenuación de su actividad patogenética y la inmunidad que, respecto de nuevas inoculaciones de cultivo, contraen los seres vivos previamente inoculados. Entonces es cuando se decide a inocularse, y él y su compañero don Inocente Pauli, que tanto ha contribuido con su perspicuidad y con sus luces a hacerle la labor menos ingrata,
Se inoculan del cólera, sufren un remedo de la enfermedad en su forma más benigna, y, por consiguiente, resisten; nuevas inoculaciones apenas les producen efecto, y queda demostrado en circulo, estrecho, es verdad, pero tangible, que el árbol de la teoría, cultivado con tanto trabajo de estudio, de tiempo y de dinero, daba sazonado fruto, el fruto práctico suspirado. Posteriormente nuevas experiencias
han venido a confirmar de una manera brillante aquel resultado.

Adquirida la seguridad de que la colerizacion es inofensiva, nada menos expuesto que generalizar su valor de innunidad con respecto a los embates del cólera formal y mortífero, como las vacunas de la viruela y de la fiebre amarilla preservan de la enfermedad. Es cuestión de paralelismo de causas y de efectos que el ojo avizor y el criterio ilustrado vislumbran en lontananza. Asi se explica que desde aquel día memorable sea inmenso el número de personas colerizadas, como que hasta la fecha se eleva ya a siete mil. Ni un solo caso desgraciado es garantía creciente de lo inofensivo del procedimiento, obteniendo á cambio y a tan poca costa todas las apetecibles de preservación. Las poblaciones del vasto llano que se extiende al Oeste de Valencia lo han comprendido tan bien, que se someten, en su mayor parte, a la vacunación, practicada en primer término por el mismo doctor Ferrán, que ha volado allá, como era natural, al solo anuncio de que el huésped del Ganges había aparecido en aquellas comarcas, en  donde hace de las suyas, si bien, para consuelo de las gentes, bajo la forma de casos sospechosos, aunque acordonables. Por lo visto, vuelve a practicarse el sistema impopular de los cordones. ¿No fuera más práctico y eficaz establecer que cada población sana se cuide de no dejar entrar nada que proceda de puntos infestados? La cuestión es gravísima bajo muchos conceptos y merece meditarse por quien corresponda.

Después de la rápida reseña que antecede, no puede menos de despertarse en el lector la curiosidad de conocer a nuestro sabio, y nada más justo que satisfacerla.

Don Jaime Ferran nació en Corbera (Tarragona), el 1 de Febrero de 1852; cursó la segunda enseñanza en los Institutos de Tortosa y Tarragona, y en la F’acultad de medicina de Barcelona hizo todos los estudios de la carrera, que terminó en Diciembre de 1873, instalándose un año después en Tortosa, en donde ha ejercido y ejerce con lucimiento su profesión, y cuenta con una clientela respetable por su número y calidad, a la que atiende con verdadero interés. Es muy amante de su familia y amigo de sus amigos, y su carácter bondadoso, desinteresado y por todo extremo complaciente, le ha granjeado muchas simpatías.

Espíritus amplios como el suyo no pueden acomodarse a la estrecha cuadrícula trazada por las atenciones fijas de su cargo, y una vez cumplidos con conciencia los deberes que éstas imponen, Ferrán aprovecha todos los momentos hábiles para dedicarse a otros estudios afines con la Medicina; y como no sólo es hombre de ciencia, sino artista, hasta encuentra tiempo para cultivar la fotografía y dominar el asunto más allá de lo imaginable, y pintar cuadros de historia y retratos al óleo de un perfecto parecido, como lo demuestra el que ha hecho del que estas líneas suscribe. Cuando se hallaba en el apogeo de sus aficiones pictóricas, me decía: «Desengáñese V.; he errado la vocación; yo nací para el arte» «No— le contesté; — V. ha nacido para la ciencia; y si no, al tiempo».Poco después se enamora de mi microscopio para el estudio de las rocas, me hace encargar a Nachet uno para estudios histológicos, y aquí comienza a entrar en relaciones con los pequeños organismos y a apoderarse de sus secretos. Para las necesidades de su técnica le he visto improvisar aparatos con los medios más rudimentarios; él mismo se ha ideado las estufas para los cultivos de microbios, y soplado los tubos y las bolas de vidrio, de que se hace tanto consumo en esta experimentación; en una palabra, es el hombre habilidoso por excelencia.

Ferrán no es rico; y como en el verano pasado se presentase ocasión de estudiar a fondo las cuestiones relativas al cólera en el Mediodía de Francia, y sus recursos habían quedado harto quebrantados por los gastos que entrañan los libros e instrumentos necesarios en estos estudios, acudió al concurso que a la sazón abria el Municipio de Barcelona, obteniendo el cargo de naturalista microbiólogo de la comision nombrada para estudiar la enfermedad en Tolón y Marsella. De este viaje regresó sin otra ganancia que la mayor instrucción, por los datos recogidos y las ideas atesoradas, ideas que han germinado lentamente durante el invierno en el laboratorio de su entendimiento y fructificado en el de su casa, produciendo, por último, los resultados que el público conoce.

JOSÉ J. LANDERER»

Jaime Ferrán, José J. Landerer, Ilustración Española y Americana, Cólera, 1885

Montréal, 1885. Un train provenant de Toronto a à son bord un passager qui présente des symptômes d’une maladie contagieuse: la variole. Que faire pour éviter que le mal se propage et fasse des victimes parmi la population? C’est cette question que le jeu L’épidémie de variole, 1885 vous permet d’explorer.

L’épidémie de variole, 1885 a été produit par le musée Pointe-à-Callière de Montréal. Le principe est simple: on vous présente des situations et vous devez prendre une décision – la bonne! Mine de rien, vous en apprenez beaucoup sur cette épidémie qui a vraiment eu lieu en 1885 à Montréal. Le tout est agrémenté d’images de l’époque.

L’interface est joli, mais sobre, comme il se doit pour ce genre de sujet. J’aime bien le concept du jeu, qui nous invite à analyser la situation et à faire des choix. Cela me rappelle les livres ”dont vous êtes le héros”. Vos choix influencent la suite de l’histoire.

Prévoyez environ 15 minutes pour compléter le jeu.

Adresse: www.jeuxpac.net/jeu2d-intro-f.html

Complément:
Clip produit par le musée McCord sur l’épidémie de variole à Montréal en 1885.

Billets reliés:

• Une épave raconte: jeu en ligne sur l’archéologie
• Bâtir Montréal (jeu en ligne)
• Le code perdu – jeu en ligne sur l’histoire du Québec
• La grippe espagnole de 1918-1919 à Montréal

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Pour recevoir les mises à jour de ce blogue par courriel cliquez ici

Great Hanging at Gainesville

Image from Footnote.com

For background information on the incident that motivated E. Junius Foster to celebrate the death of Col. William C. Young, scroll down and read The Great  Hanging at Gainesville.

In 1863 the Rev. Newton Chance of Texas killed an editor in Sherman, and moved to Mississippi. At that time he was a lawyer, but afterwards he entered the ministry. Recently he returned to Texas, and while on a visit to Sherman was arrested for the murder committed 22 years ago.

Daily Kennebec Journal (Augusta, Maine) Oct 10, 1885

A Murder Trial at Sherman.
[SPECIAL TO THE NEWS.]

SHERMAN, December 1. — THe case of the State of Texas vs. Newton Chance, charged with the murder of E. Junius Foster, in this city, twenty-three years ago, was taken up in the District Court this afternoon and after some considerable time a jury was inpaneled.

S.F. Young, of San Antonio, was the first witness placed on the stand, and the substance of his testimony, was that on the night of the 10th of October, 1863, Newton Chance and James Young went with E. Junius Foster to the residence of Jas. Chiles on North Travis street, and that in a short time he heard Foster call out that he believed they intended to murder him. In a few minutes he heard the report of a gun and then saw three men ride off. He identified the defendant as the man who fired the shot that killed.

J.H. Cummins, of Pottsboro, in this county was next placed on the stand, and testified that about dusk, on the 10th day of October, 1863, he was walking up North Travis street, when he heard what he thought to be gunshots in quick succession. He hurried to the scene, and found E. Junius Foster in a dying condition from gunshot wounds in his side. He told him (Cummins) that Newton Chance was the man who did it.

Judge C.C. Binkley was next placed on the stand. He testified to having helped carry Foster to the office of the Sherman Patriot, which he (Foster) was at that time editing. He was district judge at the time. Cox and Young were tried for implication and found not guilty.

Several other witnesses were examined, and the case is still slowly dragging along, and the evidence will not be completed before tomorrow.

A strange coincidence in this trial is that the indictment was filed on December 1, 1865 — just twenty years ago.

Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas) Dec 2, 1885

The Sherman Murder Trial
[SPECIAL TO THE NEWS.]

SHERMAN, December 3 — In the case of the State of Texas vs. Newton Chance, charged with the murder of E. Junius Foster, the testimony for the defense culminated in the introduction of Jim Young on the stand. It will be remembered that Young is one of the three indicted on the 1st day of December, 1865. He was the first of the three tried, and in this case Young was a witness for the defense. The entire audience were thrown into a state of excitement when the witness Young to-day testified that he himself did the killing, and that Cox and Chance had nothing to do with it.

The self acknowledged slayer gave as his reasons for so doing that E. Junius Foster, who was editing a Republican paper in this city in 1863, said that the killing of his (Young’s) father was the best thing that ever happened for northern Texas.

Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas) Dec 3, 1885

Newton Chance Acquitted.
[SPECIAL TO THE NEWS.]

SHERMAN, December 3. — The principal theme of conversation, on the streets this afternoon, has been the verdict in the case of the commonwealth vs. Newton Chance, charged with the murder of E. Junius Foster, on North Davis street, in this city, on October 10, 1863.

The following verdict was handed in about noon:

“We, the jury, find the defendant, Newton Chance, not guilty, as charged in the indictment. W.E. STAPLES, Foreman.

There was quite a dense throng in the courtroom when the verdict was rendered, and quite an affecting scene took place, as the aged prisoner shook hands with everybody he came to, while tears rolled down his cheeks.

Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas) Dec 4, 1885

Murder Will Out.
SHERMAN, Texas, Dec. 4.

Yesterday Newton Chance, an aged intenerate preacher, was on trial for the murder of E. Junius Foster, editor of a newspaper in 1863, when a man named James Young came forward voluntarily and confessed that he was the murderer. Chance was acquitted amid great rejoicing.

Reno Evening Gazette (Reno, Nevada) Dec 4, 1885

Jim McCormick vs. Bob Caruthers 10/23/1885,@ West Side Park

NO GAME 7 AS DMB REPLAYER LAMENTS

The St Louis Browns denied me a game 7 by roughing up White Stocking starter Jim McCormick for 13 hits and 8 runs, winning by a score of 8-3.

Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the 4th, Cap Anson came to bat with the bases loaded, 2 outs and Brown’s starter Bob Caruthers on the ropes. Anson drilled a 3-1 pitch to deep left field that was run down by Tip O’Neill, ending the rally and taking the life out of a White Stocking team that had battled hard for the 1st 5 games. Caruthers would settle down allowing only 1 hit over the last 4 innings.

10/23/1885, STL85-CHI85, West Side Park
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
1885 Browns            0  2  2  0  1  2  1  0  0     8 13  5    11  2
1885 White Stockings   1  0  0  2  0  0  0  0  0     3  7  5     7  0

Browns               AB  R  H BI   AVG    White Stockings      AB  R  H BI   AVG
Comiskey          1b  5  0  2  1  .133    Kelly             rf  5  0  0  0  .138
Gleason           ss  5  2  0  0  .185    Anson             1b  4  1  1  0  .250
Welch             cf  5  2  1  1  .179    Dalrymple         lf  4  0  1  1  .320
O’Neill           lf  5  2  2  1  .269    Gore              cf  4  1  1  0  .231
Barkley           2b  4  0  1  2  .167    Burns             ss  4  0  0  0  .231
Bushong           c   4  0  1  1  .261    Williamson        3b  4  1  0  0  .182
Nicol             rf  4  1  2  0  .238    Pfeffer           2b  4  0  1  0  .231
Latham            3b  5  0  3  1  .227    Flint             c   4  0  1  0  .250
Caruthers         p   4  1  1  1  .250    McCormick         p   4  0  2  1  .250
                     41  8 13  8                               37  3  7  2

Browns                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Caruthers        W 3-0           9.0  7  3  1  0  3 116  75  1.33
                                 9.0  7  3  1  0  3 116  75

White Stockings                  INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
McCormick        L 1-2           9.0 13  8  3  4  0 148  91  1.26
                                 9.0 13  8  3  4  0 148  91

E-Comiskey, Gleason 2, Barkley 2, Burns 2, Williamson, Pfeffer 2. 2B-O’Neill,
Barkley, Anson. 3B-Comiskey, Welch. SB-Latham(2). CS-Barkley, Nicol. K-Kelly,
Williamson, Pfeffer. BB-Comiskey, Bushong, Nicol, Caruthers. SF-Barkley.
PB-Bushong 2, Flint. WP-Caruthers.
GWRBI: Caruthers
Temperature: 56, Sky: cloudy, Wind: out to left at 13 MPH.

 SUMMARY: The Browns finally won the Championship that Chris Von Der Ahe was denied 124 years ago. They didn’t out hit or out pitch the White Stockings, but they got the clutch hit when they needed it, and they didn’t have Tom Burns playing shortstop for them. Mr Burns managed to commit 11 errors in this series allowing the Browns to come from behind in all 4 wins.

MVP Bob Caruthers won 3 games, and allowed only 1 base on balls in 27 IP.

                                                              MVP- Bob Caruthers  3-0, 1.33 ERA, 3 CG

DMB team batting — 1885 Chicago White Stockings                         
                              League championship — as of 10/23/1885                              

S Name               P    AVG   OBP   SPC    G   AB    H  2B  3B  HR    R  RBI   BB    K HBP  IW  SB  CS
  Dalrymple*         lf  .320  .393  .520    6   25    8   3   1   0    5    3    3    3   0   0   1   1
  Flint              c   .250  .280  .250    6   24    6   0   0   0    1    4    1    6   0   0   0   0
  Anson              1b  .250  .300  .500    6   28    7   2   1   1    6    5    2    2   0   0   0   0
  McCormick          sp  .250  .250  .417    3   12    3   0   1   0    0    2    0    3   0   0   0   0
  Burns              ss  .231  .259  .423    6   26    6   0   1   1    3    5    1    1   0   0   1   0
  Gore*              cf  .231  .259  .308    6   26    6   0   1   0    6    3    1    0   0   0   1   0
  Pfeffer            2b  .231  .231  .269    6   26    6   1   0   0    2    1    0    3   0   0   0   0
  Williamson         3b  .182  .333  .182    6   22    4   0   0   0    3    1    5    4   0   0   0   0
  Kelly              rf  .138  .194  .172    6   29    4   1   0   0    3    0    2    5   0   0   0   0
  Clarkson           sp  .100  .100  .100    3   10    1   0   0   0    1    0    0    1   0   0   0   0
  Sunday*            rf  .000  .000  .000    1    1    0   0   0   0    0    0    0    0   0   0   0   0
  Kennedy*           sp  .000  .000  .000    0    0    0   0   0   0    0    0    0    0   0   0   0   0
  Total                  .223  .270  .323    6  229   51   7   5   2   30   24   15   28   0   0   3   1

                             DMB team batting — 1885 St. Louis Browns                             
                              League championship — as of 10/23/1885                              

S Name               P    AVG   OBP   SPC    G   AB    H  2B  3B  HR    R  RBI   BB    K HBP  IW  SB  CS
  O’Neill            lf  .269  .321  .423    6   26    7   1   0   1    8    3    2    2   0   0   0   0
  Bushong            c   .261  .296  .261    6   23    6   0   0   0    1    7    2    2   0   0   0   0
  Caruthers*         sp  .250  .308  .333    3   12    3   1   0   0    4    2    1    1   0   0   0   0
  Nicol              rf  .238  .273  .238    5   21    5   0   0   0    4    1    1    1   0   0   0   1
  Latham             3b  .227  .261  .227    6   22    5   0   0   0    2    1    1    0   0   0   2   1
  Foutz              sp  .200  .167  .200    3   10    2   0   0   0    0    3    0    0   0   0   1   0
  Gleason            ss  .185  .241  .185    6   27    5   0   0   0    5    0    1    0   1   0   1   0
  Welch              cf  .179  .207  .429    6   28    5   0   2   1    7    3    1    2   0   0   1   0
  Barkley            2b  .167  .192  .208    6   24    4   1   0   0    1    3    1    1   0   0   0   1
  Robinson           lf  .143  .143  .143    2    7    1   0   0   0    1    0    0    0   0   0   0   0
  Comiskey           1b  .133  .161  .300    6   30    4   0   1   1    2    6    1    0   0   0   0   0
  McGinnis           sp  .000  .000  .000    1    0    0   0   0   0    0    0    0    0   0   0   0   0
  Total                  .204  .239  .283    6  230   47   3   3   3   35   29   11    9   1   0   5   3

DMB team pitching — 1885 Chicago White Stockings                         
                              League championship — as of 10/23/1885                              

S Name               P     ERA   W   L   S   G  GS  CG SHO     INN    H    R   ER   BB    K  HR GDP    BF
  McCormick          sp   1.26   1   2   0   3   3   3   0    28.2   25   16    4    6    2   1   0   126
  Clarkson           sp   2.33   1   2   0   3   3   3   0    27.0   22   19    7    5    7   2   0   123
  Total                   1.78   2   4   0   6   6   6   0    55.2   47   35   11   11    9   3   0   249

                             DMB team pitching — 1885 St. Louis Browns                            
                              League championship — as of 10/23/1885                              

S Name               P     ERA   W   L   S   G  GS  CG SHO     INN    H    R   ER   BB    K  HR GDP    BF
  McGinnis           sp   0.00   0   0   0   1   0   0   0     0.1    0    0    0    1    0   0   0     2
  Caruthers          sp   1.33   3   0   0   3   3   3   0    27.0   30   12    4    1   12   1   4   120
  Foutz              sp   3.07   1   2   0   3   3   2   0    29.1   21   18   10   13   16   1   3   126
  Total                   2.22   4   2   0   6   6   5   0    56.2   51   30   14   15   28   2   7   248

Dave Foutz vs. John Clarkson 10/22/1885, @ West Side Park

CAP ANSON KEEPS WHITE  STOCKINGS ALIVE WITH EXTRA INNING HEROICS.

Trailing 4-1 after 5 innings the White Stockings staged another comeback scoring 2 runs in the 6th on a 2 out single from Silver Flint, and 2 runs in the 7th aided by a Cap Anson triple to take a brief 5-4 lead.

In the 8th the Browns tied the score on a Doc Bushong single after the 1st two Browns reached via  White Stocking  errors.

In the 10th Mickey Welch tripled to lead off the inning, and scored on a passed ball to give the Browns a 6-5 lead and putting them just 3 outs from a DMB championship.

A tired but game Dave Foutz walked the leadoff hitter in the 10th. Oh those bases on balls!!!! A Fred Pfeffer single and a John Clarkson sac bunt put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs. Mike Kelly coaxed a walk from Foutz to bring Cap Anson up with the bases loaded. Anson did not disappoint, smacking the game winning hit into centerfield. The White Stockings were able to overcome 8 errors, 4 by shortstop Tom Burns, a DMB World Series record.

So far this has been the best DMB World Series to date with 3 of the 5 games going extra innings. I’ll be rooting for a White Stocking win in game 6 to send this series to a 1st ever DMB World Series game 7.

10/22/1885, STL85-CHI85, West Side Park
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10     R  H  E   LOB DP
1885 Browns            2  0  2  0  0  0  0  1  0  1     6  4  7     7  1
1885 White Stockings   0  1  0  0  0  2  2  0  0  2     7 11  8    11  0

Browns               AB  R  H BI   AVG    White Stockings      AB  R  H BI   AVG
Comiskey          1b  5  0  0  0  .080    Kelly             rf  5  1  1  0  .167
Gleason           ss  4  2  0  0  .227    Anson             1b  5  1  2  3  .250
Welch             cf  5  3  1  0  .174    Dalrymple         lf  4  0  1  0  .333
O’Neill           lf  4  1  0  0  .238    Gore              cf  5  1  2  0  .227
Barkley           2b  4  0  0  0  .150    Burns             ss  5  1  1  0  .273
Bushong           c   5  0  2  3  .263    Williamson        3b  3  2  1  0  .222
Robinson          rf  5  0  0  0  .143    Pfeffer           2b  5  1  1  0  .227
Latham            3b  4  0  0  0  .118    Flint             c   5  0  2  2  .250
Foutz             p   4  0  1  0  .200    Clarkson          p   3  0  0  0  .100
                     40  6  4  3                               40  7 11  5

Browns                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Foutz            L 1-2           9.2 11  7  3  5  3 175 108  3.07
                                 9.2 11  7  3  5  3 175 108

White Stockings                  INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Clarkson         W 1-2          10.0  4  6  0  3  2 158 103  2.33
                                10.0  4  6  0  3  2 158 103

E-Gleason 2, O’Neill, Barkley 2, Latham 2, Kelly, Burns 4, Williamson,
Flint 2. 2B-Kelly, Dalrymple. 3B-Welch, Anson, Gore. SB-Gleason(1), Welch(1),
Burns(1). CS-Dalrymple. K-O’Neill, Barkley, Kelly, Flint 2. BB-Gleason,
O’Neill, Barkley, Kelly, Anson, Dalrymple, Williamson 2. SH-Clarkson 2.
PB-Flint.
GWRBI: Anson
Temperature: 63, Field: wet, Sky: clear, Wind: out to right at 10 MPH.

Jim McCormick vs. Dave Foutz 10/17/1885, @ Sportsman’s Park

WHITE STOCKINGS COME BACK IN FASHION

Trailing by 2 runs in the 9th the White Stockings pulled themselves up from around the ankles of elimination to tie the score and win it in extra innings.

Dave Foutz had taken a 1 hit shutout into the 8th before tiring in the 9th. Abner Dalrymple walked with 1 out in the 9th, Sam Barkley booted a ground ball, and Tom Burns tripled to deep center field to tie the game at 3.

In the bottom of the 9th the Browns had runners on the corners with 1 out when Hugh Nicol smacked a groundball right at 1st baseman Cap Anson. He threw Tip O’Neill  out at the plate just as he was sliding in for the Series winning run.

In the 10th Tom Burns capped a 4 run out burst with a 3 run home run to center, giving him 5 rbis, a DMB World Series record, and giving the White Stockings the much needed win.

10/17/1885, CHI85-STL85, Sportsman’s Park
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10     R  H  E   LOB DP
1885 White Stockings   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  2  4     7  6  3     6  0
1885 Browns            0  0  0  1  1  0  0  1  0  0     3  5  1     6  1

White Stockings      AB  R  H BI   AVG    Browns               AB  R  H BI   AVG
Kelly             rf  5  0  0  0  .158    Comiskey          1b  5  0  0  0  .100
Anson             1b  4  1  0  0  .211    Gleason           ss  5  0  1  0  .278
Dalrymple         lf  3  2  1  0  .353    Welch             cf  5  0  0  0  .167
Gore              cf  4  2  1  1  .176    O’Neill           lf  4  1  2  1  .294
Burns             ss  5  1  3  5  .294    Barkley           2b  3  0  0  0  .188
Williamson        3b  3  0  0  0  .200    Bushong           c   3  0  0  0  .214
Pfeffer           2b  5  0  0  0  .235    Nicol             rf  4  0  0  0  .176
Flint             c   3  1  0  0  .200    Latham            3b  3  2  1  0  .154
McCormick         p   4  0  1  1  .125    Foutz             p   3  0  1  2  .167
                     36  7  6  7           McGinnis         p   0  0  0  0  .000
                                                               35  3  5  3

White Stockings                  INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
McCormick        W 1-1          10.0  5  3  1  2  2 129  85  0.46
                                10.0  5  3  1  2  2 129  85

Browns                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Foutz            L 1-1           9.2  6  7  6  6  7 146  79  3.20
McGinnis                         0.1  0  0  0  1  0   7   3  0.00
                                10.0  6  7  6  7  7 153  82

E-Gore, Pfeffer, Flint, Barkley. 3B-Burns, McCormick. HR-Burns(1),
O’Neill(1). SB-Latham(1), Foutz(1). K-Kelly 2, Burns, Williamson, Flint,
McCormick 2, Welch, Bushong. BB-Anson, Dalrymple 2, Gore, Williamson 2,
Flint, Bushong, Latham. SH-Barkley. SF-Foutz. PB-Flint, Bushong.
GWRBI: Gore
Temperature: 70, Sky: clear, Wind: left to right at 1 MPH.

John Clarkson vs. Bob Caruthers 10/16/1885,@ Sportsman’s Park

HOMERUNS FLY AS BROWNS WIN AGAIN

A DMB record 3 homeruns flew out of Sportsman’s Park, 2 by the high flying Browns as they once again came from behind to beat the White Stockings.

Abner Dalrymple doubled in Mike Kelly, and George Gore singled in Dalrymple to give the Pale Hose an early 1st inning lead. Dalrymple doubled again in the 3rd, and showed some daring base running by taking off for third on a steal attempt. Brown’s catcher Bushong was so surprised to see Dalrymple take off that his throw sailed into left field allowing Dalrymple to score, giving the White Stockings a 3-1 lead.

In the 3rd the Browns put on a power display never before seen in the DMB. Charles Comisky slammed a 2 run home run,    to tie the score, and one batter later Curt Welch hit a solo shot deep into the left field stands. The 1st 2 home run game in this replay.

Not to be outdone Cap Anson sent a ball into the left field stands for an unprecedented 3rd home run of the game. With the score now tied in the 5th, Abner Dalrymple kept up his extra base hit barrage by banging a long triple to center, his 3rd extra base hit of the game. Dalrymple would score on a groundout to once again put the White Stockings up by a run.

In the 7th Charles Comiskey would stroke a 2 rbi single, his 3rd and 4th rbis of the game to put the Browns up for good. Giving the Browns their 3rd come from behind victory in this series.

10/16/1885, CHI85-STL85, Sportsman’s Park
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
1885 White Stockings   2  0  1  0  2  0  0  0  0     5  9  2     7  0
1885 Browns            0  1  3  0  0  0  2  1  x     7  9  5     6  0

White Stockings      AB  R  H BI   AVG    Browns               AB  R  H BI   AVG
Kelly             rf  5  1  2  0  .214    Comiskey          1b  5  1  2  4  .133
Anson             1b  5  1  1  1  .267    Gleason           ss  4  0  0  0  .308
Dalrymple         lf  5  3  3  1  .357    Welch             cf  3  1  1  1  .231
Gore              cf  4  0  1  2  .154    O’Neill           lf  3  1  1  0  .231
Burns             ss  4  0  0  0  .167    Barkley           2b  4  0  0  0  .231
Williamson        3b  3  0  0  0  .250    Bushong           c   3  0  1  1  .273
Pfeffer           2b  4  0  1  0  .333    Nicol             rf  4  1  1  0  .231
Flint             c   4  0  1  0  .250    Latham            3b  2  0  0  0  .100
Clarkson          p   3  0  0  0  .143     Robinson         ph  2  1  1  0  .500
                     37  5  9  4          Caruthers         p   4  2  2  1  .250
                                                               34  7  9  7
White Stockings                  INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Clarkson         L 0-2           8.0  9  7  5  2  3 138  89  3.71
                                 8.0  9  7  5  2  3 138  89
Browns                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Caruthers        W 2-0           9.0  9  5  2  1  6 131  87  1.50
                                 9.0  9  5  2  1  6 131  87

STL: Robinson batted for Latham in the 7th
     Robinson moved to 3b in the 8th

E-Burns, Pfeffer, Barkley 3, Bushong 2. 2B-Dalrymple 2, Caruthers.
3B-Dalrymple. HR-Anson(1), Comiskey(1), Welch(1). SB-Dalrymple(1).
K-Williamson, Pfeffer 2, Flint 2, Clarkson, O’Neill, Bushong, Nicol.
BB-Williamson, Welch, O’Neill. SH-Clarkson. SF-Bushong. PB-Flint, Bushong.
WP-Caruthers.
GWRBI: Comiskey
Temperature: 71, Sky: clear, Wind: out to left at 10 MPH.

                                                                         View of Sportsman’s Park in 1885, just before opening day.

Jim McCormick vs. Dave Foutz 10/15/1885, @ Sportsman’s Park

BROWNS BATTLE BACK AGAIN AS WHITE STOCKING DEFENSE FALTERS

The White Stockings took a 4-0 lead after scoring 2 runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings. The big blows were a Fred Pfeffer double in the 2nd and a Cap Anson double in the 3rd. But as in game 1 the Browns came back thanks to some shoddy White Stocking defense. The 5th inning started with an error by third baseman Ned Williamson. 2 more White Stocking errors would follow, with the inning ending on 2 out rbi singles from Curt Welch and Tip O’Neill. All 4 runs scored would be unearned.

Both the pitching and defense would settle down and this game went into extra innings with the score knotted at 4 apiece.

The White Stockings would go down 1-2-3 in the 10th, and the Browns looked to do the same in their half of the inning as the 1st 2 Brownies grounded out. But the White Stocking defense would rear it’s ugly head once more, when Billy Sunday, who had pinch hit earlier, dropped an easy fly ball off the bat of Tip O’Neill. Not to be out done, left fielder Abner Dalrymple would settle under a Sam Barkley fly ball, only to have it pop out of his hands(No gloves yet!!) allowing O’Neill to score the winning run.

Rumors of several White Stockings being in the pocket of gamblers has quickly circulated through the windy city. Can Cap Anson get his teammates to play with more determination and integrity, before this series gets away from them?

10/15/1885, CHI85-STL85, Sportsman’s Park
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10     R  H  E   LOB DP
1885 White Stockings   0  2  2  0  0  0  0  0  0  0     4  4  6     4  0
1885 Browns            0  0  0  0  4  0  0  0  0  1     5  7  4     7  1

White Stockings      AB  R  H BI   AVG    Browns               AB  R  H BI   AVG
Kelly             rf  4  1  0  0  .111    Comiskey          1b  5  1  0  0  .000
Anson             1b  5  1  1  1  .300    Gleason           ss  5  1  4  0  .444
Dalrymple         lf  4  0  0  0  .222    Welch             cf  5  0  1  1  .200
Gore              cf  4  1  0  0  .111    O’Neill           lf  5  1  1  1  .200
Burns             ss  3  0  0  0  .250    Barkley           2b  5  0  0  0  .333
Williamson        3b  4  0  0  0  .333    Bushong           c   4  1  0  0  .250
Pfeffer           2b  4  1  2  1  .375    Nicol             rf  4  1  1  0  .222
Flint             c   3  0  1  1  .250    Latham            3b  4  0  0  0  .125
Sunday           ph  1  0  0  0  .000    Foutz             p   3  0  0  1  .000
McCormick         p   4  0  0  0  .000                         40  5  7  3
                     36  4  4  3

White Stockings                  INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
McCormick        L 0-1           9.2  7  5  0  0  0 136  90  0.00
                                 9.2  7  5  0  0  0 136  90
Browns                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Foutz            W 1-0          10.0  4  4  1  2  6 131  88  0.90
                                10.0  4  4  1  2  6 131  88

CHI: Sunday batted for Flint in the 9th
     Kelly moved to c in the 9th
     Sunday moved to rf in the 9th
E-Dalrymple, Gore, Burns 2, Williamson, Sunday, Comiskey, Bushong, Latham 2.
2B-Anson, Pfeffer. SB-Gore(1). K-Kelly, Anson, Dalrymple, Williamson, Flint,
McCormick. BB-Kelly, Burns. SF-Foutz. WP-Foutz.
Temperature: 55, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 10 MPH.

Bob Caruthers vs. John Clarkson 10/14/1885, @, West Side Park

Von Der Ahe’s “Poys” Come Back For Game 1 Victory.

Bob Caruthers gave up 14 hits and trailed 4-2 after 5 innings, but he settled down, pitching shutout ball the rest of the way, as the “Poys” game back to win 6-4.

The White Stockings scored single runs in 4 of the 1st 5 innings, 3 of them unearned as the Brownies committed 7 errors. The White Stockings played loose with the ball as well, committing 8 errors of their own. Clay Dalrymple dropped a 2 out fly ball in the 6th that allowed the tieing run to score for the Browns. Back to back errors by Mike Kelly and Fred Pfeffer in the 7th allowed the winning run to score. The Browns would add an insurance run in the 8th without the benefit of a hit, thanks to a throwing error from shortstop Tom Burns and a passed ball.

Both teams combined for 23 hits, all singles, and 15 errors, committed by 11 different players.

10/14/1885, STL85-CHI85, West Side Park
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
1885 Browns            0  0  2  0  0  2  1  1  0     6  9  7    10  2
1885 White Stockings   1  0  1  1  1  0  0  0  0     4 14  8    13  0

Browns               AB  R  H BI   AVG    White Stockings      AB  R  H BI   AVG
Comiskey          1b  5  0  0  1  .000    Kelly             rf  5  0  1  0  .200
Gleason           ss  4  0  0  0  .000    Anson             1b  5  1  2  0  .400
Welch             cf  5  1  1  0  .200    Dalrymple         lf  5  0  2  1  .400
O’Neill           lf  5  2  1  0  .200    Gore              cf  5  1  1  0  .200
Barkley           2b  4  1  3  1  .750    Burns             ss  5  1  2  0  .400
Bushong           c   4  0  2  2  .500    Williamson        3b  5  0  3  1  .600
Nicol             rf  5  1  1  1  .200    Pfeffer           2b  4  0  1  0  .250
Latham            3b  4  0  1  0  .250    Flint             c   5  0  1  1  .200
Caruthers         p   4  1  0  0  .000    Clarkson          p   4  1  1  0  .250
                     40  6  9  5                               43  4 14  3

Browns                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Caruthers        W 1-0           9.0 14  4  1  0  3 144 103  1.00
                                 9.0 14  4  1  0  3 144 103

White Stockings                  INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Clarkson         L 0-1           9.0  9  6  2  0  2 123  87  2.00
                                 9.0  9  6  2  0  2 123  87

E-Comiskey, Gleason 2, O’Neill 2, Bushong, Nicol, Kelly, Anson, Dalrymple 2,
Gore, Burns 2, Pfeffer. CS-Latham. K-Welch, Caruthers, Anson, Dalrymple 2.
SH-Barkley, Pfeffer. SF-Bushong. HBP-Gleason. PB-Flint 2. HB-Clarkson.
GWRBI: Bushong
Temperature: 51, Sky: clear, Wind: in from right at 9 MPH.

The first topic we’ll discuss at here at GT History is the multiple mascots the Institute has had in its history as well as Tech’s nicknames (i.e. Buzz, the Ramblin’ Wreck, the Golden Tornadoes, the Blacksmiths, the Techs, and the Engineers) and how the colors came to be.

The Colors:

The Georgia Institute of Technology was signed into law on October 13, 1885, and opened its doors to students in 1888. As the fledgling institute struggled to get its feet off the ground, students clamored for extracurricular activities. As they set up a baseball team, the sport of football soon started to grow on the minds of the students.

In 1891, as the rivalry between Tech and UGA in baseball had just started, around 200 Tech students attended the Auburn/Georgia game (obviously rooting for Auburn). Before the game, a committee was formed to decide what colors to wear to the game. They decided upon old gold and white (Tangent: old gold had been one of Georgia’s official colors, but Dr. Charles H. Herty said the color reminded him of yellow which symbolizes cowardice and the university then dropped the color) as a slap in the face to their cross-state rival. This was the start of the Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate between the two schools.

Two years later, Tech played their first football game against UGA. In the game, women from the Lucy Cobb Institute for Girls (located in Athens and now a part of the UGA campus) acted as cheerleaders for GT, wearing white and gold-the now official colors of the Institute.

The Nicknames:

The Georgia Tech football team was first referred to as the Tech’s from 1893 until 1910. In 1902, newspapers started calling the team “Blacksmiths” because of the large amount of metal work that was being completed in the Institute’s Mechanical and Manufacturing departments. Starting in 1905, the Atlanta Constitution referred to the team as the “Yellowjackets” (one word) because of the yellow jackets the team’s supporters wore to the games. Some writers still refer to Tech teams as the “Engineers” because of Tech’s Engineering background. However, today’s nickname, and the most pervasive throughout Tech’s history, is the “Yellow Jackets”.

The Mascots:

• Buzz:

Buzz and the Ramblin Wreck are the current Georgia Tech mascots. Buzz (seen below) first appeared in 1972 and was reinvented in 1979.

Yellow Jacket Design Through The Years

In 1972, Judi McNair donned a homemade yellow jacket costume and performed at all home games as well as rode on the Ramblin Wreck. In 1979, after McNair graduated, Richie Bland, unaware of McNair’s attempt as Buzz, paid $1,400 for a costume from a theme park costume designer and wore the suit to a football game versus Tennessee without permission from the Institute. In 1980, the character was named Buzz Bee (shortened to Buzz since yellow jackets are not bees) and adopted by the Institute.

The Modern Buzz

• The Ramblin’ Wreck:

The term “Ramblin’ Wreck” refers to the students of the Institute. It has been in use ever since the 1890s when Tech students created makeshift vehicles for use in the jungles of South America (these vehicles were created from whatever the students could find and would keep the engines running). Workers that saw the machines referred to them as the “Rambling Wrecks from Georgia Tech”.

The Early Wreck

The first traces of the modern “Ramblin’ Wreck” go back to Dean Floyd Field. The Dean drove a Ford Model T to and from class from 1916 to 1928. The car fascinated all who saw it because of a large black box attached to the back (the contents of which were never revealed to the students).

In 1960, Dean Jim Dull realized that Tech students were fascinated with classic cars and decided an official “Ramblin’ Wreck” was needed. He employed newspaper adds, radio commercials, and other media to find the perfect pre-war Ford to represent the Institute. One day, Dull looked outside his apartment window (in a building which is now Towers Dorm) to see a Ford Model A (owned by Captain Ted Johnson-a Delta Airlines Pilot) sitting in the parking lot. Johnson and his son had spent two years and $1,800 to refurbish the car (which they found in a junkyard). When Johnson returned to his car after visiting Tech, he found a note on his windshield from Dull, who asked to buy the car to serve as Tech’s mascot. Johnson agreed to donate it to the Institute (eventually returning the $1,000 Dull originally paid him) and the Athletic Association gained ownership in 1961.

The Ramblin’ Wreck was unveiled at the Georgia Tech v. Rice University game on September 30, 1961 (where Tech won 24-0). It now leads the team onto Grant Field at every home game.

The Modern Ramblin' Wreck

The 10th DMB World Series pits the Chicago White Stockings against the St Louis Browns. The White Stockings make their 4th appearance in the series, having won 2 DMB Championships in their 3 previous attempts.  Some of the usual suspects have been here before; Abner Dalrymple, Fred Pfeffer, Cap Anson, Tom Burns, Mike Kelly, Ned Willimason, Silver Flint, and Mike McCormick return to the World Series, along with newcomers, John Clarkson, and Billy Sunday. The White Stockings led the league in runs(834) with 4 players scoring over 100 times, led by Mike “King” Kelly’s 124 runs. Abner Dalrymple paced the NL with 11 home runs.

On the hill the White Stockings have league leader John Clarkson and his 53 wins. Jim McCormick pitched in with “only” 20 wins.

The St Louis Browns make their 1st appearance in the DMB World Series.

Browns’ owner Chris Von Der Ahe, was one of the 1st “colorful” owners in baseball, a la Bill Veeck, Charles O. Finley and George Steinbrenner. He bought a baseball team for the purpose of selling his beer in the stands. The German born Von Der Ahe would say, “Nothing is too goot for my poys!” He loved the attention, he loved to promote his team, but he knew very little about the game itself. He once bragged that he had the largest baseball diamond in the world. When he was told that all diamonds were the same size, he then said that he had the biggest infield. He would stage wild west show, dog races, and fireworks displays to draw bigger crowds.

His Browns were led by the blazing fast Arlie Latham, Hugh Nicol and a young Charles Comiskey. The reason for their success was not their offense which managed only a .246 team average, but their pitching. Bob Caruthers’ 40 wins and 2.07 ERA would lead the league. Dave Foutz would win a meager 33 games.

After the season both teams agreed to meet in the 2nd "World Series". The best of 7 series was for a winner take all $1,000 purse.

Game 1 ended in a 5-5 tie.

Game 2 came to a halt in the 6th inning with the White Stockings leading 5-4. Brown’s Player-Manager, Charlie Comiskey pulled his team off the field in protest of what he considered an incorrect call by umpire Dave Sullivan. The game was ultimately forfeited to Chicago.

When the next 4 games were split, both Managers agreed to count the forfeited game as a tie, thus making game 7 the deciding game of the Series. The Browns won easily 13-4 and temporarily claimed themselves Champions of the World. Unfortunately, not only didn’t the Browns collect the $1,000 purse, but the next issue of The Sporting Life proclaimed the Series a 3-3 tie, denying Chris Von Der Ahe his much coveted World Championship.

This is the 1st DMB match-up that I can use the actual starting pitchers as played in the 7 game series, as well as the actual dates of the games played. So we can finally determine after 124 years who was actually the Champion of the World in 1885.

On paper the White Stockings are offensively superior to the Browns, while the pitching is more evenly matched. I will be rooting for Von Der Ahe’s “poys”, but this just might be the 1st DMB series to go to a 7th game.

William Ashley Sunday                                    

Born: Nov. 19, 1862 Ames, Iowa

Died: Nov. 6, 1935 Chicago, Illinois 

Billy Sunday was the 3rd son born to William and Mary Jane Sunday. His father, a Civil War soldier would die within weeks of Billy’s birth. Raised by his mother he would spend time living in an orphanage, grow up to play baseball on a championship team, and become one of the best known evangelists in American history.

In 1883 he was signed on to play with the Chicago White Stockings at the urging of Cap Anson. Although a mediocre hitter, and initially a dazzling, if not erratic outfielder, he was known for his blazing speed. His personality, blazing speed and the ability to make long running catches of a fly ball made him a fan favorite.

Albert Spalding when asked to describe Sunday’s ball skills said, “People love to see him run.”

A match race between Sunday and the speedy Arlie Latham garnered national attention. Sunday easily won the 100 yd. sprint.

In 1887, while walking the streets of Chicago with several of his White Stocking teammates they came upon a group of people preaching in the streets. Billy would follow them to the Pacific Garden Mission and become a frequent visitor, eventually converting. Eschewing the “bad habits” of the professional ballplayer from that moment on, refusing to play Sunday ball, and teaching Sunday school at the local YMCA.

After playing on 2 pennant winners with the White Stockings(1885, 1886) Billy would sign on with the Pittsburg Alleghenys becoming a fulltime player for the 1st time in his career.  Although he would not hit for much average, he would steal 71 and 84 bases, and lead all outfielders in double plays in 1890, his last season.

Retiring at the age of 28 Billy and his wife Nell would make evangelism their full time profession. Starting out in small towns, preaching in town halls, churches, and when his popularity started rising in temporary wooden tabernacles that could hold up to 15,000 people.       

He eventually became the most prominent evangelists in the country in the early 20th Century. Befriending dignitaries, aristocrats and several Presidents; he was also influential in the passing of the 18th Amendment, the Prohibition of alcohol.

It is estimated that he preached to over 100 million people. A loud, dramatic, and personable speaker, he would often use baseball references, such as, “throw a fastball at the devil”, during his sermons.

The Billy Sunday Blizzard is still remembered locally here in Northeast Pa almost 100 years after it’s occurrence. On March 2, 1914 Billy Sunday was holding service in downtown Scranton when a late season blizzard brought 14 inches of snow and 45 mph winds, crippling the city. Billy is quoted as saying, “ Oh God, get out there and grab that blizzard by the snout and shake the daylights out of it so that this crowd may get home.” 2,500 people would be stranded inside the tabernacle, 4 people would die while trying to get home.

Billy Sunday would die in 1935 at the age of 72 after suffering a heart attack.

Batting Record
Year Team      G    AB    R    H  2B  3B  HR  RBI   BB   SO HBP   SB   AVG   OBP   SLG   BFW Year Team
1883 CHI N    14    54    6   13   4   0   0    5    1   18           .241  .255  .315  -0.5 1883 CHI N
1884 CHI N    43   176   25   39   4   1   4   28    4   36           .222  .239  .324  -1.5 1884 CHI N
1885 CHI N    46   172   36   44   3   3   2   20   12   33           .256  .304  .343  -0.7 1885 CHI N
1886 CHI N    28   103   16   25   2   2   0    6    7   26       10  .243  .291  .301  -0.5 1886 CHI N
1887 CHI N    50   199   41   58   6   6   3   32   21   20   1   34  .291  .362  .427  -0.9 1887 CHI N
1888 PIT N   120   505   69  119  14   3   0   15   12   36   2   71  .236  .256  .275  -0.2 1888 PIT N
1889 PIT N    81   321   62   77  10   6   2   25   27   33   4   47  .240  .307  .327   0.0 1889 PIT N
1890 PIT N    86   358   58   92   9   2   1   33   32   20   5   56  .257  .327  .302   0.5 1890 PIT N
1890 PHI N    31   119   26   31   3   1   0    6   18    7   2   28  .261  .367  .303   0.1 1890 PHI N
1890 TOT N   117   477   84  123  12   3   1   39   50   27   7   84  .258  .337  .302   0.6 1890 TOT N
Total        499  2007  339  498  55  24  12  170  134  229  14i 246i .248  .300  .317  -3.7 Total
Year Team      G    AB    R    H  2B  3B  HR  RBI   BB   SO HBP   SB   AVG   OBP   SLG   BFW Year Team

1885

The Union Association disbanded in January, after St Louis Maroons’ owner Henry Lucas moved to the NL, replacing the bankrupt Cleveland Blues.

The AA went from 12 to 8 teams. Out were Virginia, Toledo, and Indianapolis. Also out was the Columbus franchise, which merged with the Pittsburgh Alleghenys.

In the NL the Chicago White Stockings won 32 of their first 38 games, but were still unable to shake the NY Giants. With 8 games to play the Giants trailed by a mere 2 games. But after losing 3 out of 4 from the White Stockings, they fell 4 games back, thus giving the NL pennant to the White Stockings.

Chicago was led on offense by Cap Anson and his League leading 108 rbis, and Abner Dalrymple’s League leading 11 HRs. On the mound, John Clarkson won 53 games while pitching 623 innings. #2 starter Jim McCormick went 20-4, pitching 24 complete games.

Arthur Irwin of the Providence Grays added padding to a buckskin glove to protect his two broken fingers, making the 1st known fielder’s glove.

Chris Von Der Ahe’s St. Louis Browns easily won the AA, outdistancing the 2nd place Reds by 16 games. The Browns moved into 1st place on May 7th and remained there for the rest of the season. They were led by the pitching performances of Bob Caruthers and Dave Foutz, winning 40 and 33 games respectively.

On June 25th George Strief of the Philadelphia Athletics set a major league record with 4 triples against the Brooklyn Grays.

1885 Final Standings

NL

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Chicago White Stockings        113   87   25    1  .777     -   834  468
New York Giants                112   85   27    0  .759   2.0   689  370
Philadelphia Phillies          111   56   54    1  .509  30.0   513  511
Providence Grays               111   53   57    1  .482  33.0   446  536
Boston Beaneaters              113   46   66    1  .411  41.0   526  589
Detroit Wolverines             108   41   67    0  .380  44.0   516  582
Buffalo Bisons                 113   38   74    1  .339  49.0   502  766
St. Louis Maroons              111   36   72    3  .333  49.0   390  594

AA

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
St. Louis Browns               112   79   33    0  .705     -   677  461
Cincinnati Reds                112   63   49    0  .563  16.0   642  576
Pittsburgh Alleghenys          111   56   55    0  .505  22.5   547  537
Philadelphia Athletics         113   55   57    1  .491  24.0   764  691
Brooklyn Grays                 112   53   59    0  .473  26.0   624  648
Louisville Colonels            112   53   59    0  .473  26.0   557  598
New York Metropolitans         108   44   64    0  .407  33.0   528  686
Baltimore Orioles              110   41   68    1  .376  36.5   542  684

NATIONAL LEAGUE	AMERICAN ASSOCIATION
AVG.- Roger Connor(NY)-.371	AVG.- Pete Browning(LOU)-.362
HRs- Abner Dalrymple(CHI)- 11	HRs- Harry Stovey(PHIL)- 13
RBI- Cap Anson(CHI)- 108	RBI- Frank Fennelly(CINC)- 89
WINS- John Clarkson(CHI)- 53	WINS- Bob Caruthers(STL)- 40
ERA- Tim Keefe(NY)- 1.58	ERA- Bob Caruthers(STL)- 2.07
K’S- John Clarkson(CHI)- 308	K’S- Ed Morris(PIT)- 298

WORLD EVENTS:

BORN:

Sinclair Lewis-2/7

Slim Sallee-2/3

Bess Truman-2/13

Admiral Chester Nimitz-2/24

Ring Lardner-3/6

Billie Burke(Glenda-Wizard of Oz)- 8/26

D. H. Lawrence-9/11

George S. Patton-11/11

DEATHS:

Victor Hugo- 5/22

Ulysses S. Grant-7/23

1/4- The 1st successful appendectomy is performed

2/18- “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is published.

2/21- Washinton Monument is dedicated.

3/28- Salvation Army is organized.

5/13- “Good Housekeeping” magazine is 1st published.

6/13-Louis Pasteur successfully tests his rabies vaccine on a small boy who had been bitten by a rabid dog.

9/15-Jumbo the giant elephant of PT Barnum fame dies in a train wreck

 o fotografie realizata in jurul anului 1885, in care protagonistul este acest baietel a carui varsta se estimeaza a fi de 5 ani. ce este remarcabil, intrand in contextul istoric, este parul lasat liber si drept pe spate, evitandu-se buclele, un element definitoriu pentru acea perioada. de asemenea, stilul vestimentar is worthy of note. o rochita neagra, cu un design elaborat, si un guler peste umeri Fauntleroy.

Martin County Courthouse in Shoals, Indiana

Some background on the Archer Gang, posted by Jan Taylor, on Rootsweb.com.

Much has been written about the Archer Gang. This was one of the reckless gangs who brought fear and terror to the hearts of many. Today they have all faded into history and only their stories remain to be told and retold, stories which always seem to hold great interest and sometimes an air of romance about them. How the outlaws lived and died and about the crimes, they committed in Orange, Dubois and Martin counties in Southern Indiana. The Archer Gang made their headquarters in what is now known as Lost River Township in Martin County, next to the county line. This gang was made up of family members being Thomas Sr., Sam, John, Martin and young Martin Jr. The remaining family members were Sam Marley, first cousin; Kinder Smith,nephew; and John Lynch, related by marriage.

You can read the rest at the link above.

A Sheriff Defeated.

VINCENNES, Ind., Dec. 29. — Sheriff John A. Padgett arrived here from Martin county, Ind., seeking John B. Archer, who is wanted for the murder of John Bunch, a farmer of that county, who disappeared four years ago. The crime was fastened upon Archer by the recent confession of his deserted wife, who said that Archer murdered Bunch for his money, boiled the flesh of the body in a boiler and buried the bones. Padgett found Archer on a farm five miles south of here. Archer and two companions barricaded themselves in a house and threatened to shoot the officer. Padgett thereupon returned here for re-enforcements and has got a posse of fifteen men to go out with him and capture Archer dead or alive.

The Olean Democrat (Olean, New York) Dec 31, 1885

BAGGED ON A FARM.
An Alleged Murderer Caught near Vincennes, Indiana.

By Telegraph to the GAZETTE.
SHOALS, Ind., December 30. — John B. Archer, who is charged with the murder of John B.*[Samuel A.] Bunch, four years ago, was captured at the farm of Leroy Boyd, five miles south of Vincennes, and brought to the Martin county jail, Tuesday, by sheriff Podgett**. David Crane, another of the gang, was also arrested here and lodged in jail. Both state that Bunch was killed by the Archer gang in July, 1882, because he had aided a farm hand of his named Morley***, in escaping from the country. It seems that Morley had killed one of the Archers.

Daily Gazette, The (Fort Wayne, Indiana) Dec 31, 1885

*There appears to be a mix-up/typo regarding the victim’s name in the article above. Based on the “History of Orange County Indiana, Bunch’s name was Samuel, not John. **Podgett is probably Padgett as well. ***Morley is actually Marley.

A Murderer Caught.

POPULAR BLUFF, Mo., Jan. 2.
Tom Archer, charged with the murder of Jno. B.* Bunch, near Shoals, Martin Co., Indiana, in 1881, was arrested in this city late Thursday night by City Marshall Miles. Archer had just arrived and getting considerably under the influence of liquor, divulged his name to the Marshall. In 1881 John B. Bunch was murdered near Shoals and his body sunk in the river and afterwards is supposed to have been taken up by the perpetrators of the crime and burned. Tom Archer, this same Archer, and a man named Lynch are charged with committing the deed. All have been arrested.

Reno Evening Gazette (Reno, Nevada) Jan 2, 1886

SWINGING FROM TREES.

THREE DESPERADOES SUMMARILY DEALT WITH IN INDIANA.

A Father, Brother, and Son’s Murderous Career.

Three leaders of a gang of desperadoes in Martin county, Ind., have just received summary punishment at the hands of a midnight band of lynchers. Details of the affair are as follows:

Precisely at 11:30 o’clock a vigilance committee of about 100, composed of men from Martin and Orange counties surrounded the jail at Shoals. The lynchers were very quiet and orderly, and the sheriff was first aroused by the barking of his dog, followed by a knock on the door. He asked who was there, and the answer was a crashing in of the front door, followed by heavy blows which completely demolished it. The mob then went to the jail door and knocked off the lock and were dismayed to find another which would not yield to blows. After about twenty minutes a man in the crowd was found who understood opening the cell door. It yielded to his efforts and the lynchers rushed in and grabbed all three of the intended victims, Thomas, Martin, and John Archer, the latter the son of Thomas, the ringleaders of what is known as the Archer gang. The mob was provided with the necessary tools both to get in and to capture them if they made any resistance. Several of them had long iron hooks with which to grab the prisoners around the neck if they resisted without endangering their own lives.

When the Archer gang saw the lynchers they offered no resistance, and when asked if they had anything to say they refused to speak. Their hands were tied behind their backs, and they were taken over to the court house yard. They were again asked if they had any confession to make, and, still no reply being given by any of them they were unceremoniously strung up to young maple trees. Tom Archer, the oldest one of the gang, about sixty years of age, was hanged first. Martin Archer, brother to Tom, aged about forty-five years, was suspended next. John Archer, son of Tom Archer, who was about thirty years old, was hung to a tree with his hands tied behind him, about thirty feet from his father.

The crimes for which the three men were hanged comprise almost everything in the criminal calendar from murder to petty thieving. For twenty-five years they had been a reigning terror, both in Martin and Orange counties, and had terrorized the community in which they lived until the people did not know when they went to bed at night whether they would be murdered before morning or their houses burned down. They never failed to visit vengeance for a fancied slight, and many a farmer in Orange and Martin counties had lost considerable sums of money by daring robbery, the theft of cattle, or the burning down of barns and houses. Martin Archer had a family living in Southwest Township, Orange county, who are well thought of. Two of his children are young ladies teaching school in that section of the country. Old Tom Archer, as he was called, lived in Martin county, Columbia township, and had a large family, every one of whom are under indictments for larceny, arson and murder, an bear a bad name generally. John Archer, formerly lived in Columbia township, and in the past year had been living seven miles east of Vincennes, where he was captured two months ago and brought to Shoals by Sheriff Padgett. The chief cause for their being hanged was the confession of John Lynch, anther member of the gang, who is in the Washington Daviess county jail. He made a confession and told where the bones of a man named Bunch, one of the victims, were. They were found in two different graves, the body having been cut lengthwise, and each piece being buried separate. It seems that unknown parties followed the officials when they went to the place where Bunch was buried and saw them exhume the remains. Word was immediately spread over the county, and the vigilants prepared themselves accordingly.

The Delta Herald (Delta, Pennsylvania) Mar 19, 1886

In a trial on Thursday of a brother for shooting at the man who had assaulted his sister, while on trial for the crime in the Criminal Court, Judge Clark gave the jury this charge:

“The current history of crime in this country is that, with rare exceptions, juries will not convict a man of murder for killing another man who has in any of the forms of licentiousness violated the virtue and chastity of a female who stands in the near relation of wife, daughter, or sister to the slayer. This results from a higher degree of civilization and a more elevated plane of common sense that recognizes the truth that nothing so justly exasperates and more heats the blood than such an offense against a near female relative, and that therefore if hot blood should in any case extenuate homicide much more should it in such cases.”

The man was acquitted, of course, but the charge of the judge has attracted no little attention and comment among lawyers and others.

Judge D.O? Heffner and Sheriff J.A. Padgett, of Martin County, have sent a request to the Governor for troops to assist in preserving the peace at the preliminary examinations of Sam Archer and Lynch, to be held at Shoals Wednesday next. The Governor has instructed the Attorney-General to have a company of militia ready.

The New York Times (New York, New York) Mar 21, 1886

THE LAST OF THE ARCHER GANG.
SAM ARCHER TO BE HANGED AND JOHN D. LYNCH TO GO TO PRISON.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., March 27. — A special dispatch from Shoals, Ind., gives the conclusion of the trial of Sam Archer, the last of the gang three of whom were recently lynched in the Court House yard. The trial has been proceeding since Wednesday, the prisoner being under the guard of a company of State militia from this city. After the Judge had charged the jury they retired, but were not out more than an hour when they agreed upon the verdict, as follows:

“We, the jury, find the defendant, Samuel Archer, not guilty as charged in the second count of the indictment, and we do find the defendant, Samuel Archer, guilty of murder in the first degree as charged in the first count of the indictment, and assess his punishment at death.”

The prisoner, who sat facing the jury, moved not a muscle, but sat motionless as he had during the whole of his trial, yet his face showed that he was in deep thought. The attorneys asked for a new trial, which the Judge overruled. Another motion was made asking an arrest of judgement, which was also overruled, and then the Judge addressed the prisoner as follows:

“It has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt that you willfully and maliciously took the life of Samuel A. Bunch, making you guilty of the charge proffered against you of murder in the first degree, for which crime you shall suffer death. You shall hang by your neck in the jail yard in West Shoals until you are dead on the 9th day of July, 1886.”

Had the Judge fixed the date three days later it would have been the fourth anniversary of the murder for which Archer forfeits his life. In the meantime the Judge ordered that the prisoner be kept in close confinement in the Martin County Jail or such other place of safety as the court may from time to time direct. The prisoner was then removed to his cell. He was gazed at by hundreds as he passed through the long lines of people on either side of the walk through which he was required to pass.

The court room was then cleared of part of the spectators, and John D. Lynch, the last of the notorious gang, and through whom the principal evidence was obtained which fixed the guilt of his comrade, was called to answer the charge of perjury. He pleaded guilty, and was immediately sentenced to three years at hard labor in the State prison. He was removed to jail to remain until afternoon, when he was taken to the station under the escort of Sheriff Padgett and the militia, and arrived at the Jeffersonville.

Prison this evening.

Since the conviction and sentence of Sam Archer it is currently and authentically reported that he has exposed the entire gang, and that some startling revelations will be the result. It is thought the Archer gang is not the proper appellation, and that the organization extends over some half dozen counties at least, and that Mart Archer, the acknowledged leader in this locality, ranks no higher than second lieutenant as compared with some of the other leaders.

The New York Times (New York, New York) Mar 28, 1886

ENJOYING KILLING PEOPLE.

VINCENNES, Ind., April 2. Samuel Archer, sentenced to be hanged July 9 for his many crimes, confessed in jail yesterday that the testimony of John Lynch against him was correct from beginning to end, and attributes the misfortunes and criminal actions of the Archer family to his uncle, Martin Archer who, Sam said, seemed to enjoy killing people.

The New York Times (New York, New York) Apr 3, 1886

MOB LAW IN INDIANA.
THE TERRIBLE PUNISHMENT METED OUT TO KINDER SMITH.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., March 16. — A Shoals (Martin County) special to the Journal says: Much violence seems to have spread to adjoining counties. A report was current here today for the first time that a bold attempt at lynching was made on Friday night last near French Lick, Orange County. This was not generally known until to-day. The victim was Kinder Smith, a nephew of the late Thomas and Mart Archer, who expiated their crimes more fully. Smith was a desperate character, and was supposed to be implicated in the horrible crimes perpetuated by the family in this county. The mob captured their victim at the house of Bennett Grigsbey. The lynchers, about 35 in number, surrounded the house and demanded the surrender of Smith, who was soon in their possession. They then marched him in  their midst to a dark woods near by, where a rope was in readiness. A noose was hastily made and placed over his neck. The spokesman then ordered the lynchers to make ready. He placed one end of the rope over a limb of a tree and the mob pulled up Smith’s body, leaving him dangling in the air for a few moments, when, fearing death would free their victim, he was lowered to the ground. After recovering consciousness he was again swung in midair until he began to turn black, when he was again lowered and asked to tell what he knew of the Archer gang and their crimes. He said he knew nothing. He was then raised by the rope and lowered again. This time he was almost past saving, but after a short time revived sufficiently to speak, when he was again asked what he knew of the Archer gang, and if he was a member, and, receiving no answer, they decided to try, the whipping post. A large bunch of hickory switches were obtained and he was given 40 lashes. When he was again asked for the desired information he said he was innocent, and begged for mercy, when they agreed to free him on condition that he would leave that section of the State and never again return. He accepted the proposition, and they told him that if he were seen here again a like punishment would be inflicted. The people in that section of the country are determined to protect themselves and property at all hazards, and mob law is the last resort, and they claim it is justifiable in this case, believing that there are some persons yet at large who are as deeply implicated as those already dealt with.

The New York Times (New York, New York) Mar 17, 1886

NOTES OF THE DAY.

The Governor of Indiana positively declines to interfere with the sentence of death pronounced against Sam Archer, at Shoals.

The Daily Review (Decatur, Illinois) May 7, 1886

PAID THE PENALTY.

Samuel Archer, Member of a Noted Gang of Desperadoes, Hanged at Shoals, Ind.

A Brief History of the Bloody Crimes for Which He and His Brothers Suffered Death.

SAM ARCHER HANGED.

SHOALS, Ind., July 10. — Sam Archer, one of the members of the famous Archer gang of desperadoes, received the reward of his many crimes yesterday from the hands of the sheriff, being hanged for the brutal murder of Samuel A. Burch on the 11th of July, 1882. The story of the murder, as condensed from the confession of Lynch, one of the gang, is as follows: On the 3d of July, 1882, Sam Marley and Matt Archer got into a difficulty, resulting in the fatal shooting of Archer and Marley. This enraged the older Archers, as they were called, very much, and they determined to punish Marley at the first opportunity, and to accomplish this end they organized themselves into a gang of six members, viz Tom, Mart, John and Sam Archer, John D. Lynch and David Crane. Mart was chosen captain and adviser. The work of ferreting out the hiding place of Marley began. Bunch’s house was guarded constantly, as suspicion rested on him as the one who was aiding Marley to escape. This espionage did not reveal the desired information and the Archers resolved to kill Bunch if he refused to reveal Marley’s hiding-place. They seized him, took him to a cave and murdered him. Nothing was learned of Bunch’s fate until last winter, when the deserted wife of John Archer, who had taken refuge in the Martin County Poor Asylum, gave evidence that caused the arrest of the Archers. On March 9, 1886, a mob attacked the jail at Shoals, battered down the doors, and, seizing Mart, Thomas and John Archer, father, son and brother, lynched them. A week later Sam Archer was arrested in Fountain County and brought here, and was tried and convicted as above stated. Sam Archer leaves a mother, two sisters and two brothers. His oldest brother is serving a term in the penitentiary for grand larceny, while the youngest is serving time in the reform school at Plainfield. The fate of the Archer family is a hard one. Four of them have been victims of the gallows and two others are in prison.

The Daily Review (Decatur, Illinois) Jul 11, 1886

THE STANFIELD TRAGEDY.

The Coroner Acquits Archer of Her Murder and Renders a Verdict That She Suicided.

VINCENNES, Ind., Dec 22. The coroner rendered a verdict in the case of the tragic death of Miss Stanfield in Martin County, to the effect that she committed suicide by shooting. The preliminary trial of Charles Archer, charged with her death, was held, and yesterday he was liberated. He testified that he was with her the night before her death and that she took his revolver and hid it. He asked her why she did so and she said she was going to commit suicide. The next morning (Saturday) he saw her walking along the road toward a church. He hastened toward her. She turned on him and pulled out the revolver and told him if he came any further she would shoot herself. He had ruined her and would not marry her and she was going to die. She placed the revolver to her breast and fired, the ball entering her heart. Archer then gave the alarm. The testimony of the physicians who held the postmortem; was that she could not have inflicted the wound on herself; that she must have been sitting down when shot. General dissatisfaction was felt at the coroner’s verdict, and another warrant was issued for Archer’s arrest, but it is rumored that he has fled the country.

The Dunkirk Observer Journal (Dunkirk, New York) Dec 22, 1887

John Lynch, who several years ago belonged to the Archer gang of desperadoes, who terrorized southern Indiana, is dead. He was the last of the crowd to pass away.

Fort Wayne News (Fort Wayne, Indiana) Dec 19, 1894

image from wildtexasart.com

Old Hatreds Cause Many Deaths in Indiana Feud: Date Back to Year 1882 Shoals, Ind.

Oct. 4 — Another life has been forfeited and the sixth member of the Archer family of Southern Martin County, has “died with his boots on” as a result of a family feud that has raged there for several years, it was revealed here, following the fatal shooting from ambush of Clyde Archer nineteen recently.

For years Hoosiers have been wont to look with pity, if not disdain, on the family feuds which members of warring families of the Bluegrass State. But apparently in Indiana’s backyard a family feud has been raging for years between the Archers and Stanfield families which has resulted in several deaths.

Clyde Archer met his death Tuesday, August 15. About a year previous young Archer had killed his man at French Lick, Ind., when he stabbed Roy Stanfield, a neighbor, who accused Archer of stealing some money. He was acquitted in court on a plea of self-defense.

Row is of Old Standing.

The two families had harbored ill feelings against each other for many years following the killing of Annabel Stanfield by Charles Archer, an uncle of Clyde. The older Archer was acquitted of this crime, and a few years later a brother of Clyde was freed of a murder charge.

Back in 1882 Martin Archer was killed by a man named Morley, who was afraid Archer might tell of a larceny job in which the murderer, his victim and John B. Bunch were implicated. This killing aroused the ire of the Archer family, the member of which swore vengeance.

The Archers, accompanied by John Lynch, went in search of Marley and, being unable to find him, discovered Bunch. When Bunch declined to reveal the hiding place of Marley the Archers bound him took him to Saltpeter Cave in Orange County, Ind. a lonely spot near the home of Tom Archer.

Here they again demanded of Bunch that he tell where Marley was hiding. As Bunch repeated his statement that he did not know the whereabouts of Marley the Archers shot him to death and left his body in the cave several days.

Later they removed the corpse, placed it upon a pile of brush that had been saturated with coal oil, and burned it. Then a tree was felled and placed over the ashes to prevent discovery of the crime.

Confesses to Crime.

Fours years later, Lynch, conscience-stricken, confessed to the crime. Following the confession Thomas Archer, sixty-five, and Martin Archer, fifty, brothers, were arrested. Then John Archer, thirty, was taken into custody in connection with the grewsome murder.

All three were placed in jail at Shoals, Sam Archer, father of John, and another member of the murder band, was still at large.

At midnight, March 9, 1886, a band of armed, masked men visited the Shoals jail, removed the three Archers and hanged them to trees in the courthouse yard. Their bodies were permitted to hang there until 11 o’clock the next morning.

A short time later Sam Archer was apprehended, tried, convicted and sentenced to be hanged. The execution took place July 9, 1886 in the presence of what was termed a “circus day” crowd assembled about the scaffold.

All that saved Lynch from being a victim of the executions of the mob that hanged the three Archers was the fact that he was confined in the Daviess County Jail.

Since that time the hatred between the two families has grown apace, and, members of each family are on guard always for an outbreak of the feud.

Olean Evening Times (Olean, New York) Oct 6, 1922

More newspaper transcriptions (New York Times articles) can be found at this link.

“Jesus Bids Us Shine”  (1868)

Jesus bids us shine
With a pure, clear light,
Like a little candle
Burning in the night.
In this world of darkness
So let us shine—
You in your small corner,
And I in mine.

Jesus bids us shine,
First of all for Him;
Well He sees and knows it,
If our light grows dim.
He looks down from Heaven
To see us shine—
You in your small corner,
And I in mine.

Jesus bids us shine,
Then, for all around;
Many kinds of darkness
In the world are found—
Sin and want and sorrow;
So we must shine—
You in your small corner,
And I in mine.

Susan Bogert Warner died this date (3/17/1885) in Highland Falls, NY.  She held Bible classes for cadets at West Point.  She (and her sister Anna) were daughters of Henry Warner a New York lawyer who was radically hurt by the 1837 depression.  Susan is buried at the Unit­ed States Mil­i­ta­ry Acad­e­my, West Point.