Contra Costa County CA Archives History - Books .....Death Of An Unknown Man 1882
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Book Title: History Of Contra Costa County, California

   DEATH OF AN UNKNOWN MAN.—The Contra Costa Gazette of March 22, 1879, has the
following: " We mentioned last week that the body of a man, some time dead, was
found on the afternoon of the 13th inst., on Hyde's ranch, about four miles
south of Cornwall station, and that Coronor Hiller had gone up to hold an
inquest. Following is the verdict of the inquest:

   'We, the jury summoned to inquire into the cause of the death of a man found
on the 13th day of March, 1879, lying on the ranch of F. A. Hyde, caught in the
fence dividing the lands of said Hyde and W. E. Whitney, having viewed the body
and heard the testimony presented, on our oaths do say, that from the evidence
we suppose his name to be Levy Gish, aged about thirty years, nativity unknown,
and that he came to his death some time in the first part of March, 1879, the
exact date being uncertain and that his death was caused by violence, but by
whose act is to the jury unknown.

   'Hyde's Ranch, March 14, 1879.

   'Signed: A. A. Hadley, B. K. Walker, Thomas Prichard, Wm. Fahy, Lewis H.
Abbott, John Tepe, W. J. Whitney, Joseph McCloskey.'

   "The body was that of a man apparently between thirty and thirty-five years
of age, about five feet seven or eight inches in height, with fine brown curly
hair, curling in small curls all over his head, and reddish moustache, no beard,
dressed in light colored cassimere pants, dark-brown striped calico shirt, with
undershirt made of flour-sacks having the brand of the Kern River Mills, hickory
outside shirt, old boots with tops cut off, and no coat on body. The body, with
a bullet or bludgeon wound on the back of the head, was found lying on the west
of the fence dividing land of Hyde from land of W. E. Whitney.   Both feet were
through between the pickets, apparently caught while he was endeavoring to get
over the fence. The body was lying partially on the left side, with left arm
bent up under it and right arm extending upwards and in front of face, and
sleeve of shirt drawn up over the hand. About twenty-five feet from the body,
along near the fence, there were signs of a struggle, the ground being torn up
and a great deal of blood on the lower part of the fence, and some hair from the
head of the deceased on the pickets. Some four or five feet from the fence lay a
pair of new gray blankets with a great deal of blood on them, and near them an
old coat very much wrinkled and a great deal of blood on it and curls of hair
similar to that on the man's head, and on the blanket. Near the head of the body
lay a pair of blankets similar to the others, but clean, rolled up and not tied,
a black felt hat, and a letter from Abram S. Gish addressed to Levy Gish, Ellis
Station, dated in October, 1870. Over the fence about twenty feet from the body
was an account of sales of wheat and a letter dated March 6th, 1871, from Bryant
& Cook, Commission Merchants, San Francisco, addressed " Levy Gish, Ellis
Station." The body had evidently been lying there six or eight days.

   "Constable Erwin, of Point of Timber, has since been at Martinez, where Mr.
Hiller has the effects found with the body, has identified the pants, and, from
the description, is satisfied that the man is one whom he arrested February
25th, with two others, for burglarizing Peter Swift's house near Point of
Timber, and found in his possession five letters directed to Levy Gish, Ellis,
and Moore's Landing. The men were taken by Erwin to Antioch and lodged in jail
there, and the same night broke out and decamped. Erwin also identifies the coat
as one that was worn by one of the companions of the deceased when arrested, but
the coat then worn by him was of a better style and quality. The probability is
strong, therefore, that the dead man was one of the three fugitive burglars, who
received his death wound at the hands of his companions, or some other unknown
person or persons, within a short time after their escape from the Antioch
lock-up. It could hardly have occurred immediately after, as the ground where
the body was found had been marked when wet, in the death struggles of the
deceased, and it did not rain until several days after their break out, on the
morning of February 26th. It may, therefore, be inferred that they remained
somewhere concealed in the neighborhood for, possibly, a week or more, there
being no way of determining when the supposed murder was committed, further than
that, from the condition of the body, it could not have been less than eight or
ten days before the remains were discovered, and it must have been after the
rains of the first week in the month had softened the before hard dry ground.

   "It will be remembered by our readers that we mentioned the arrest last week
of four tramps by Constable Gift, at the Granger's hay barn, on suspicion that
they might have had something to do with the burglary of Blum's store and safe,
but, as nothing was disclosed that would warrant their being held in custody,
they were turned loose. Now from the description, and other circumstances, Mr.
Erwin is confident that two of these persons were the same that he arrested for
the Point of Timber burglary and placed in the Antioch lock-up with the man
since found dead. The coat worn by one of the men arrested here Mr. Erwin is
confident was the one worn by the deceased when he made the arrest at the Point
of Timber, and the coat found near the dead body, which is now in the keeping of
Coroner Hiller, Mr. Erwin identified as one worn by one of the other persons
whom he arrested and lodged in the Antioch lock-up, allowing them, after search,
and taking from them a dirk and pocket knife, to retain a bag containing
clothing and among other articles a blouse similar to one which these tramps,
while held in jail here, gave to one of the prisoners confined there awaiting
trial. On these circumstances and other facts, which it may not be judicious to
mention here, the inference is justified that two, if not all four of this tramp
party are implicated in the murder, and warrants have been issued for their
arrest."

   The Antioch Ledger of March 1st had the following report of the arrest and
escape of the burglars:—

   " Three tramps, who gave their names as John Sullivan, Charles Williams and
William Dency, broke into Peter Swift's house, situated near the Salt Pond,
Point of Timber, about nine o'clock Tuesday morning, and appropriated to their
own use a suit of clothes, a quantity of food, and sundry other articles. Swift
was absent at work in the field; missing the stolen property shortly after, he
procured a warrant from Justice Carey, and Constable Erwin overtook and arrested
the parties near the Point of Timber school-house. They were brought to Antioch
Tuesday evening and confined in the town jail, to await trial the following
morning. Erwin visited the jail premises at midnight and finding his captives
secure, retired, but in the morning discovered that the trio had departed.
Though thoroughly searched when placed in confinement, they had cut off a
two-inch plank about a foot above the floor, pried it off and were free. It is
evident the cutting was not done with a knife, but was evidently the work of a
chisel or small hatchet. It is also apparent that they were furnished the
necessary implements by outside parties. A knot hole in one of the planks had
been enlarged from the outside so as to admit of an instrument two inches in
diameter.

   "In answer to letters addressed to them for information relating to Levy
Gish, presumed to have been a resident of that vicinity, Coroner Hiller, since
the foregoing was in type, has learned, from the Postmaster and Constable at
Ellis, that the person is now living in San Diego county, from whence a letter
written by him on the 5th instant has been received at Ellis. They inform Mr.
Hiller that the cabin Gish formerly occupied was recently broken into and rifled
by tramps, who are presumed to have taken away the letters addressed to Gish,
which were found by Constable Erwin when he made the arrests at the Point of
Timber and those found near the dead body on Hyde's ranch, and which led the
jury to presume that the name of the deceased was Levy Gish, who, as now
appears, is doubtless alive and well in San Diego county, while some other name
belonged to the dead, and probably murdered man."


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY,
CALIFORNIA,
INCLUDING ITS GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, TOPOGRAPHY, CLIMATOGRAPHY AND DESCRIPTION;
TOGETHER WITH A RECORD OF THE MEXICAN GRANTS; THE BEAR FLAG WAR; THE MOUNT
DIABLO COAL FIELDS; THE EARLY HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT, COMPILED FROM THE MOST
AUTHENTIC SOURCES; THE NAMES OF ORIGINAL SPANISH AND MEXICAN PIONEERS; FULL
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF THE COUNTY; SEPARATE HISTORY OF EACH TOWNSHIP, SHOWING
THE ADVANCE IN POPULATION AND AGRICULTURE;
ALSO,
Incidents of Pioneer Life; and Biographical Sketches
OF EARLY AND PROMINENT SETTLERS AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN;
AMD OF ITS TOWNS, VILLAGES, CHURCHES, SECRET SOCIETIES, ETC.
ILLUSTRATED.
SAN FRANCISCO: W. A. SLOCUM & CO., PUBLISHERS
1882.


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