Yuba County CA Archives History - Books .....Chapter 10 Crimes And Criminals 1924
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Book Title: History Of Yuba And Sutter Counties

CHAPTER X 
CRIMES AND CRIMINALS 

Near Lynchings 

    If the walls of the Marysville City Jail and of the Yuba County Courthouse
could speak, they could rehearse many sensational events of a criminal nature.
Crime started early to disturb the peace of the new settlement. 

    One of the first crimes, a murder, is told of in a directory of Marysville
compiled in 1856 by George Sturtevant and O. Amy. During the summer of 1850, one
Greenwood, a quarter-breed, killed one Holden, a gambler. Much excitement
prevailed, and Sheriff Twitchell with difficulty prevented the mob from taking
Greenwood from his custody. 

    A few weeks later, one Keiger committed a cold-blooded murder in the street,
in the daytime. The populace was again aroused. Passion prompted summary
vengeance; but reason interposed, and the result was that a large volunteer
guard watched the place used for a jail, then an adobe house at the foot of D
Street, until Keiger could be examined before a magistrate, when he was
committed and sent to a neighboring county jail to await his trial before a duly
constituted court. 

NOTED ROAD BANDITS 

    It is not generally known that the late N. D. Rideout, head of the Rideout
string of banks in Northern California, figured as a victim of highway robbers
in the early fifties, at a time when he was seeking his fortune in the mountain
district of Yuba County. On a Tuesday afternoon, about 4:30 o'clock, in October,
1852, as the Camptonville stage was proceeding to Marysville, it was stopped
when near Dry Creek by six mounted highway-men. They were after the treasure it
carried, which amounted to $100,000. Near the point of attack the road forked,
and Rideout, gold-dust dealer and banker of Camptonville, was on one road and
the stage on the other. Rideout was stopped by the robbers, who all presented
their arms and commanded him to dismount. He hesitated, when one of them
threatened to shoot him. On the threat being made he dismounted, and went toward
the stage on the other road across the ravine. The robbers called him back and
demanded his money. Being satisfied that he had none, his treasure being on the
stage, they took his horse and allowed him to cross over to the stage. The
robbers then commanded the driver of the stage, John Gear, to stop, and
threatened to kill the first man who should oppose them in their designs.
Messenger Dodson, messenger for Langton's Express, immediately drew on the
robbers and commenced firing. His first shot took effect on the spokesman of the
robbers and unhorsed him. Rideout had by this time got to the stage. An
indiscriminate fight now commenced between the robbers and passengers. As many
as forty shots were fired on both sides. The robbers, finding themselves so
stoutly opposed, retreated, leaving the passengers victors of the field of
battle. The driver, John Gear, was shot through the right arm, above the elbow.
Mrs. Tighlman, wife of a Marysville barber, was shot in the head, the ball
entering over the right eye and penetrating the brain. Two other passengers were
wounded. When the stage was stopped and the firing had commenced, one white man
and four Chinamen left and ran back on the road which had been passed over. The
newspaper reports of the occurrence said: "These persons have not been seen since."


Tom Bell 

    Tom Bell and his gang of robbers were suspected of the holdup. Bell, a noted
highwayman of that day, was killed near Auburn in Placer County in 1856. In
stature nearly six feet, he was well proportioned, combining in his frame
strength with action. He was of a sanguine temperament, quick in his motions,
being never at rest. He had sandy hair and a full crop of it, and a light goatee
to match his hair in color. His nose, which was originally well formed and
large, was mashed in the bridge, almost level with his face. This defect
rendered his countenance, which was otherwise prepossessing, somewhat repulsive,
and even hideous when viewed in connection with his lawless practices. His eyes
were a very light blue, of that class which approximates so nearly to a grey,
and in their restless wanderings were constantly sparkling with intelligence. 

    Bell was a native of Alabama. He had received a medical education, and, it
is said, practiced that profession when he first came to California, in 1850. He
first took to mining, and being unlucky at that, his next step was gambling.
When that ceased to pay, he took to the road, and was engaged as a robber for
about two years, in which time he acquired a fame for boldness and success in
this section second only to Joaquin Murietta's. 

    At the outset, it is said, he generally traveled alone, and, for his better
security, wore a coat of armor under his clothes. He never shed the blood of his
victim unless it became absolutely necessary to enforce a compliance with his
demands. It was known that he had associated with him several persons scarcely
less noted than himself, one of whom, an escaped convict named Bill Gristy,
alias Bill White, when the band was broken in upon by a detachment of the
Sacramento and Marysville police, was the only one who escaped. Gristy was
cruel, cunning and blood-thirsty. This scoundrel was in Bell's band for three
months. The band was supposed to number from six to eight, and they ranged the
country along the foothills from the Yuba to Granite City. Their depredations
were mainly confined to the several roads crossing in the neighborhood between
Granite and Gold Hill, in Placer County. The country was rough, broken and
covered with an impenetrable chaparral, in the recesses of which "an army with
banners" might securely hide. Their outrages in this favorite field followed
each other in such rapid succession that scarcely a day passed during the summer
of 1856 without furnishing a newspaper story from the calendar of their
exploits, but in no instance did they shed blood. The plan of the chief was to
frighten the traveler to terms, and avoid the cruelty of murder. 

    On one occasion, Bell and Gristy, with one other, made an attack upon a man
who was traveling from Downieville to Marysville with a large sum of money in
his possession. The traveler resisted, fired upon his assailants, and finally
fled from them toward a deep canyon in which, if he could reach it, he knew he
was safe from pursuit on horseback. Just as he was about to reach his goal,
Gristy fired with a navy revolver and shot him in the thigh, knocking him down.
The robbers relieved him of his money; but instead of dispatching him, or
leaving him to die from the hemorrhage of his wound, "Doctor" Bell kindly and
expertly took up the severed artery, bound up the wound, and just at that moment
hearing a wagon pass, turned to one of his subordinates and ordered him to
attend to the teamster. The wagon was stopped, the driver relieved of his cash,
the wounded man placed 
upon a mattress, hastily made in the bottom of the wagon, and the parties
dismissed, with the injunction to "drive slow and pick their road." The wounded
man requested Bell to tie his (the traveler's) horse behind the wagon. Bell
refused, but assured him that he should have his horse, as he seemed attached to
him, and that he would turn him loose in the woods, after stripping off his
bridle and saddle, which promise he faithfully kept. 

Jim Webster 

    In 1855 and 1856, Jim Webster was the terror of Timbuctoo and vicinity. He
was a highwayman, and robbed and murdered a number of people. A reward was
offered for his capture or death, but no one was daring enough to attempt the
deed. In 1855, he killed three men in a ravine near Timbuctoo, with three shots
from his revolver. After committing numerous depredations and criminal acts, he
was killed by one of his own men. 

"Jack Williams' Ghost" 

    George Shanks was a noted highwayman, usually called "Jack Williams' Ghost."
He was a waiter in a hotel at Camptonville, and left there when he was sixteen
years of age. He was afterward shot by Stephen Vanard, between San Juan and Nevada.


Tommie Brown and Brother 

    In October, 1876, Tommie Brown and his brother, who had been terrorizing all
the northern part of the State, robbed the stage near the toll-house, one mile
west of the Oregon House, the brother going to the head of the horses and Tom
leveling his gun on the driver. E. Scammond, a banker from Downieville, was on
the stage with $18,000 in dust, and leveled his gun on Brown, who also changed
his aim to Scammond. Both fired at the same time. Scammond fell in the stage
with several buckshot wounds, and after a little difficulty in securing the
horses, which were frightened by the firing, the passengers, mail and express
were robbed, and the stage was allowed to proceed. The $18,000 was not secured,
as the dust was hidden in the gun case, valise and trunk, which Scammond
recovered. A party pursued the Browns, and coming upon their camp, fired upon
them and mortally wounded the brother. Tom gave himself up and was sentenced to
San Quentin for a term of ten years. When brought back as a witness in another
case, he managed to escape from the Marysville city jail, April 26, 1877.
Rearrested in Oregon after robbing the Shasta stage, he pleaded guilty when
arraigned, and had seven years added to his prison term. Photographs of Tommie
Brown and his brother are in the archives of the sheriff's office in Marysville. 

"Black Bart" 

    In later years "Black Bart," another noted stage robber, figured in outrages
up and down the State. After he was captured and exposed, he told the officers
he frequently visited Marysville without being recognized. He was known during
his career as "Black Bart, the Po 8," because of the rhymes he left at the scene
of his crimes. 

OTHER NOTED CRIMINALS AND CRIMES 
Killing of "Mountain Scott" 

    Shortly after noon on June 2, 1868, Hank L. McCoy and Jim Leaman, members of
the Marysville force, went to the lower section of the city to arrest Charles
Williams, alias "Mountain Scott," who was wanted for the murder of a man named
Ritter at Michigan Bar, and who was suspected of the killing of a Marysville
policeman, "Butch" Dobler, a short time before. On turning the corner of B and
First Streets, the officers espied "Mountain Scott" seated in front of an
Italian store. When the fugitive observed the officers coming, he immediately
started to run across the levee, the officers in pursuit. When he reached the
top of the embankment, he turned and fired a shot at his pursuers, which went
wide of the mark. When Leaman returned the fire, the man ran down the levee to
the corner of First Street and California Alley, now Chestnut Street. McCoy then
opened fire, and his aim proved good at two attempts. "Mountain Scott" dropped,
and died almost instantly. He had taken two shots at McCoy, however, before he
fell, and officer Leaman had resumed shooting. It was later ascertained that the
deceased was a noted criminal, wanted for several offenses; that he was a native
of Jamaica, aged thirty years; and that his correct name was Charles Williams. 

Murder of Dr. Gray 

    On the evening of July 4, 1868, while firecrackers and pistols still were
popping in celebration of the nation's natal day, a shot was fired which went
unnoticed amid the uproar, and because unnoticed gave the killer of Dr. J. B.
Gray, prominent Marysville physician, time to make a get-away, which, however,
proved short-lived. 

    While Dr. Gray was standing near the door of the Magnolia saloon, afterward
known as Foster's Bar, talking with a friend, Rufus Swett, former resident of La
Porte, Plumas County, and of St. Louis, Sierra County, approached and engaged
Dr. Gray in conversation in a low tone. Friends of Dr. Gray who were standing
near testified at the coroner's inquest that the first words they heard from Dr.
Gray were, "Get away from me; I don't want to have anything to do with you." To
which Swett replied: "I am a big enough man for you." The next instant a shot
rang out, and "then Dr. Gray moved toward the curb, saying, "He has shot me
through and through!" Swett ran up D Street to Third, over Third to E, across E
diagonally to the corner of E and Third, thence to Commercial Alley, down to the
Yuba River levee, and up the river to the bridge, which then crossed the river
at E Street and was known as the "Hawley Bridge." Twenty or thirty citizens,
aroused by cries of "Stop the murderer!" and "Go to the bridge!" followed after
Swett. The one to reach him first turned back when Swett leveled his pistol at
him. Search for Swett that night proved futile, though citizens and police kept
strict vigil. 

    The next morning, at 10 o'clock, William Elliott reported seeing Swett at
the corner of Fifteenth and Yuba Streets, and also reported that a mare
belonging to J. Joy was stolen soon after Swett was seen there. Thinking that
this was a plan to throw them off the scent, the officers paid but little
attention to the story. 

    That night city Marshal Nightingill, police officer Dan Derrickson, Deputy
Sheriff Hewitt, and a man named John Stincer, armed with shotguns, proceeded to
the home of William Totman, a friend of Swett, on Yuba Street, and lay in wait,
having worked out a theory that Swett would call there. Soon Swett appeared and
was ordered by Derrickson to throw up his hands, which he reluctantly did, at
the same time assuring Derrickson that his pistol was empty. Derrickson called
the other officers and soon had Swett marching toward the city, arms upraised.
As the party passed the Totman house, Swett asked permission to go in and get a
drink, but this was refused him. 

    As a train of cars standing on the track at A and Sixth Streets was passed,
Swett suddenly dodged behind the last car and took to his heels. Although
Derrickson tripped and fell, he recovered soon enough to fire, the charge taking
effect in Swett's left forearm. It was then an easy matter to land Swett at the
city jail. Here a crowd of citizens assembled and demanded that Swett be hung,
but the mob was soon subdued with assurances that the law would mete out justice
in the case. 

    Swett told the officers that he did not fire the first shot, and did not
dream of violence on Dr. Gray's part. He said the difficulty arose out of Dr.
Gray's betraying Mrs. Swett. 

    The coroner's jury was made up of Fred N. Pauly, D. H. Harney, E. W.
Whitney, Emmett Brown, Fred C. Chase, W. C. Swain, L. T. Crane, and J. T.
Dickey. Their verdict held Swett accountable for the slaying. Dr. R. H.
McDaniel, father of the present superior judge, Dr. E. T. Wilkins and Dr. L.
Lasvigne were witnesses at the inquest. A. Suss, merchant, Thomas McDermott,
then familiarly known as "Mac, the Baker," and A. Lloyd testified as
eye-witnesses to the shooting of Dr. Gray. The funeral of Dr. Gray was largely
attended, as he was very popular in the community and had many friends
throughout the State. 

    Investigation into Swett's past showed that he left La Porte after arousing
suspicion that he had committed burglary. He also had gained an unenviable
reputation at Conner Creek and St. Louis. 

    On October 14, the grand jury of Yuba County returned an indictment accusing
Swett of the murder of Dr. Gray. The true bill was signed by J. H. Roberts as
foreman of the jury. R. R. Merrill, as district attorney, and Barney Eilerman,
as county clerk, took the usual part in the proceedings. S. M. Bliss was the
county judge before whom the indictment was presented. 

    Swett employed J. G. Eastman, Marysville attorney with a State-wide
reputation, to defend him. Eastman challenged the indictment upon the grounds
that the grand jurors were not drawn and empaneled in accordance with the law,
and that all the jurors empaneled had formed an opinion that Swett was guilty of
the crime. This demurrer availed the defendant nothing. 

    One week after the grand jury indictment was returned against Swett —
October 22, to be specific — the prisoner took leave of the county jail by
night. He was locked in an iron cell as usual on the previous evening. In the
morning the jailer found the cell door open, a hole cut through the east wall of
the jail, and steps made from the staves of a bucket forming an ingenious
stairway up the outside wall overlooking the yard. When the news of the escape
was broadcasted, the citizens of Marysville, especially the friends of Dr. Gray,
were far from complimentary of Sheriff A. P. Spear, who had ignored warnings
that he should keep a night watch at the jail during the incarceration of Swett,
and take other precautions. It was openly charged that the sheriff connived at
the escape. A reward of $300 was offered for the capture of Swett. 

    On December 30, at the request of the district attorney, District Judge I.
S. Belcher issued a bench warrant for the rearrest of Swett, who was reported as
having been seen in South America; but he was never retaken. 

Decker-Jewett Bank Robbery 

    The latter half of the year 1873 provided enough excitement for the
officials of the city of Marysville and the officers of Yuba County to offset a
season of quiet that for some time had prevailed. It was in that period that the
futile attempt to rob the Decker-Jewett Bank, then located at First and High
Streets, was made. 

    About 3 o'clock in the afternoon of July 11, 1873, John H. Jewett was
standing behind the counter of the bank acting as cashier, and the late A. C.
Bingham was engaged in a curtained counting room of the bank near by, out of
public view. Supposing that Jewett was alone, a man slipped up and leveled a
six-shooter at his head, saying, "Don't you move!" Jewett, quickly comprehending
the situation, crouched down and moved behind a desk, exclaiming at the same
time, addressing Bingham, "The gun!" 

    There were four double-barreled shotguns in different places in the bank.
Jewett seized the nearest, not far from where he had taken refuge. The robber
passed inside the railing and grappled with Jewett, just as he was grasping the
gun, and struck him on the head with his revolver. Bingham, rising from his
seat, fired a shot at the robber with a pistol. The stubborn resistance from the
bank officials, coupled with the fact that he was receiving no assistance from
his accomplices, determined the robber to retreat. But before he made his exit,
Bingham, from over the curtains of his desk, fired both barrels of a shotgun
loaded with buckshot point blank at the retreating robber. Jewett also fired
once with his shotgun. The man staggered through the door and fell on the
sidewalk. Jewett followed, and was about to shoot again, when the man begged to
be spared, saying, "Don't, I am dying." 

    John A. Toney, the partner of the dying man, unhitched the wounded robber's
horse, standing in front of the bank, and mounting the animal, rode rapidly
toward E Street, and on to Yuba City. The wounded robber proved to be James
Collins, alias Frank Whipple, and best known in the section as "Big Frank." He
was as fine a specimen of man as can be imagined, those who knew him say. When
he was carried to the police station, doctors found that twenty buckshot had
entered at the small of his back, two were found near the crown of his head, and
one in his neck. He died that night in the jail, after suffering great agony. 

    Before dying, Collins implicated P. W. Winkley, who had served the city both
as city marshal and chief of the fire department, as the master brain in the
plan to rob the bank. He had during his death agony, earlier in the day, asked
A. C. Bingham, who called on him, if Winkley had said anything to him about the
plan to rob the bank. Bingham assured him that Winkley had not done so.
Bingham's suspicions were at once aroused; and it afterward transpired that the
plot was framed in Winkley's saloon in Yuba City, two days before, between "Big
Frank," John A. Toney and Winkley. Winkley was to take a station at the corner
of First and D Streets and give the necessary signals. He was to take off his
hat and replace it when he thought the time ripe to act. It was then recalled by
citizens that Winkley was seen hastening from the vicinity of the bank when the
shooting began, something quite unlike anything he was ever before known to do
at a time of peril and public excitement, as he was a brave fellow, according to
his police record. Winkley was arrested, and was convicted of complicity in the
attempted robbery. He served a term in the penitentiary. 

    Officers Hank L. McCoy, father of Charles J. McCoy, the present sheriff of
Yuba County, and Mike Hogan took up the pursuit of Toney, the trail leading
through Sutter County and into Colusa County. In the territory now known as
Glenn County, a constable apprehended Toney. Handcuffing him, he placed him on
the robber's own animal, a racer, and, mounting one of his own, rode alongside.
The start was made for Marysville. Reaching a watering-trough at a small town,
the constable decided that the horses needed water; but no sooner had he
dismounted for the purpose of watering the horses than Toney gave his horse the
spurs and was off at lightning speed. He made a clever get-away, and found
security for a time in the Lava Beds in the northern part of the State. Hank
McCoy did not quit the chase, however. Suspecting the direction Toney had taken,
he followed on horseback, and was rewarded by coming upon his man. There was a
gun battle in which Toney received a broken arm. He then gave up, and was
returned to Marysville by McCoy. He paid the same penalty as Winkley. 

Killing of Dennis Dufficy 

    Marysville was thrown into a state of excitement on the evening of Saturday,
August 1, 1874, about 5:30 o'clock, when it became known that Dennis Dufficy, of
the firm of Rohr & Dufficy, furniture dealers on D Street between Fourth and
Fifth, had been stabbed, perhaps fatally, by his brother-in-law, John B. Rohr.
Soon the store and the street held a crowd of excited persons, seeking the
details of the affray. 

    It developed that the only persons present at the cutting were Dufficy, his
father-in-law and partner, and his brother-in-law. The elder Rohr and Dufficy
had a disagreement over business matters, during which, it was alleged, Dufficy
used improper language toward his father-in-law and slapped him in the face,
whereupon John B. Rohr, who was employed in the store, resented the treatment of
his father, saying he would not see him abused and struck. At this juncture,
Dufficy turned upon young Rohr and knocked him down. Rohr, on recovering
himself, drew his pocket-knife, which had a long, sharp blade, and warned
Dufficy to let him alone. Paying no heed to the warning and drawn knife, Dufficy
approached Rohr and endeavored to strike him with a high chair, or stool. It was
then Rohr used the knife, inflicting a wound on the left side of the abdomen,
severing the intestine. Dufficy ran to the street, followed by Ruhr, who carried
his knife in his hand. 

    On meeting Oscar Stone and David Kertchem, Dufficy informed them that he was
mortally wounded, and asked that a doctor be called. Ex-Sheriff Matt Woods, who
happened along, took Rohr into custody and delivered him to polic officers McCoy
and Murphy at the station. Dufficy was taken to the drug store of Scott & Flint,
where he was examined by Dr. S. J. S. Rogers, and given first aid. According to
the physician Dufficy's condition was made highly alarming because of the fact
that he insisted that he was going to die from the wound, which, in the opinion
of the doctor, was not necessarily fatal. Dufficy died two days later, on August 3.


    At the October term of the grand jury, A. B. Crook, foreman, an indictment
was returned by that body charging Rohr with the murder of Dufficy. E. A. Davis,
who later became the judge of the joint superior court of Yuba and Sutter
Counties, introduced the testimony, as district attorney. On May 7, 1875, Rohr
secured his dismissal upon the grounds of self-defense. 

    To those acquainted with the present-day language of a grand-jury indictment
and a court complaint, the reading of the "true bill," returned against Rohr
will prove of interest. The indictment, in part, used this language: 

    "The said John B. Rohr, on the first day of August, 1874, with force and
arms in and upon the body of Dennis Dufficy, then and there being, feloniously
and wilfully did assault and, with a certain knife, which the said John B. Rohr
in his right hand had and held, the said Dennis Dufficy in and upon the belly of
the said Dennis Dufficy, then and there did feloniously and wilfully strike and
thrust, giving to said Dennis Dufficy then and there and with the knife
aforesaid, in and upon the belly aforesaid, one mortal wound, of which said
mortal wound the said Dennis Dufficy, from the first day of August, 1874, until
the third day of August, 1874, did languish and languishingly did live, on which
third day of August the said Dennis Dufficy did die of said mortal wound." 

    The warrant of arrest in this case issued from the mayor's court and was
signed by William Hawley, the then mayor of Marysville. 

Race-track Murder 

    About four o'clock on the morning of November 30, 1878, John McDaniel,
lessee of the Marysville race-track, now known as Knight's Recreation Park, and
upon which the links of the Marysville Golf Club are located, was aroused by his
wife, who heard noises as if someone was jimmying a door on the premises.
McDaniel started to investigate, and within a foot or two of his bedroom door
encountered a Chinese, who proved to be Ah Ben. It is thought that McDaniel, who
was a brave man, seized the visitor, having been robbed a few nights before.
Mrs. McDaniel heard a tussle, and presently heard her husband cry out, "Oh, my
God, help! help!" When she reached him, McDaniel and the Chinaman were still
struggling. Although fatally wounded, McDaniel was doing his best to secure his
murderer. Mrs. McDaniel pulled the Chinese away, and as she did so her husband
staggered into the open, fell, and soon expired from a wound he had received in
the breast from an inch-and-a-quarter chisel carried by Ah Ben. In the hand of
the deceased was found a poniard blade, which, it is supposed, he wrenched from
his murderer's hand and used in self-defense. The Chinese showed a stab in the
left arm, and bruises on his face, proving that the struggle with his victim had
been a desperate one. 

    Ah Ben turned upon Mrs. McDaniel, and she was forced to back away from his
grasp. About this time, Ah Joe, Chinese cook in the employ of the McDaniel
family, rushed out of the dining-room to her assistance. The murderer, at sight
of Ah Joe, started to run; but the cook, at the risk of winning the condemnation
of his race, followed and caught Ah Ben. He knocked the murderer down, hog-tied
him, and then brought him back to the house, where he was kept until delivered
to the custody of Police Officers John Colford and Mike Hogan. Constable Ezra
Brow, who lived in the neighborhood, had been sent for, and he helped in the
landing of Ah Ben in the city prison. 

    That evening an autopsy was held by Coroner George Fronk, assisted by Drs.
C. C. Harrington, C. E. Stone, and S. J. S. Rogers, all now deceased. The
death-wound was found in the region of the stomach, the chisel having penetrated
between the ribs and pierced the liver in its course. Besides his widow,
McDaniel left six children, five of whom are still living. They are Mrs. Henry
Blue, wife of Councilman Blue, Mrs. Harry S. Day, and Harry McDaniel, all of
Marysville, and Mrs. Charles Day, of Berkeley, and George McDaniel, of Stockton.
Another daughter, Mrs. George Crossley, died about two years ago. 

    Soon after dark on the evening of the same day, a mob organized on the
corner of D and Third Streets. During the day the populace had become aroused
because of the cruel murder of McDaniel, who was a popular and esteemed citizen.
Some said the community would be disgraced if Ah Ben were allowed to live
through the day. At dusk the bell-ringer, a darkey who was employed in those
days to spread sudden news and announce auction sales, got busy, and through his
efforts a crowd of 300 or 400 assembled. A box had been placed at the
intersection of Third and D, from which S. L. Howard, an attorney, made a speech
calculated to incite the mob and induce it to proceed to the county jail, break
down the iron doors, seize Ah Ben, and hang him. While the mob was at the height
of its fury, Hon. John H. Jewett, Marysville banker, stepped to the box and made
an effort to convince the turbulent crowd that they were acting unwisely and
imprudently, and should disperse as good citizens. But the crowd manifested true
mob spirit by stifling free speech. Jewett was interrupted by such a noise as to
render his remarks inaudible. A. C. Bingham, former councilman, and later mayor,
endeavored also to address the crowd, with but little better success. Bingham
resented the cat-calls of the crowd, and for a time it looked as if he would mix
things with the offenders. Knowing Bingham to be fearless, the mob gave closer
attention toward the close of his address, which was along the same line as
Jewett's. 

    Howard was again called to the box. He made a speech at this time that
rendered him liable to arrest. Finally, the meeting resolved to go to the jail
and secure the murderer. A long rope had been obtained, and this was placed in
the hands of Howard. Then there was a call, and a question as to who should be
the leader. To the shouts "Who shall lead?" came the reply of all the mob,
"Howard! Howard!" But Howard appeared a better talker than leader of a forlorn
hope, and held back. A few men seized him, however, placed him in an express
wagon, and ordered the driver to proceed to the county jail at Sixth and D Streets.


    When the crowd arrived in front of the courthouse, they halted; and on
looking for Howard, they found he was missing. At this critical moment Mayor N.
D. Rideout, early-day banker, took a position on the courthouse steps and
briefly addressed the crowd, advising law and order. He told the mob that the
jail was strongly guarded, the sheriff firm, and that forcible entry would
surely mean the needless loss of valuable lives, which he would regret to see.
Mayor Rideout was followed by Sheriff Hank L. McCoy, who appeared on the steps
with his chief deputy, Ike N. Aldrich, who later became justice of the peace of
Marysville Township. McCoy assured the mob that if Ah Ben were taken from the
jail it would not be without bloodshed. At this the mob returned down street,
and generally dispersed. They decided that the sheriff meant every word he
uttered. Up to a late hour that night, however, there was a disgruntled crowd of
twenty or thirty assembled near the end of the D Street bridge, loath to give
up; but they, too, dispersed about midnight. Ah Ben was tried before Judge Phil
W. Keyser and a jury; he was convicted, and sentenced to be hanged in the
courthouse yard, as was then the custom. On Friday, March 14, 1879, the murder
of McDaniel was expiated on the gallows before a throng that crowded the
courtyard. Many a lad played truant from school, in hope of getting a glimpse of
the execution, which many did from the treetops and housetops in the
neighborhood of the courthouse. The hanging was well planned and successfully
executed. In an interview with a newspaper man before his execution, Ah Ben, an
ignorant individual, declared he would kill McDaniel again under like
circumstances. Drs. R. H. McDaniel, David Powell, C. C. Harrington, A. B.
Caldwell, and B. Phillips comprised the coterie of physicians who pronounced Ah
Ben dead. 

Murder in Schimpville 

    One of the most cruel murders in the criminal annals of Marysville was that
committed at an early morning hour on October 23, 1882, at the Jacob Schimp
dairy in the eastern portion of the city. Between Matthias Blumer and Fred
Schindler, milkers in the employ of Jacob Schimp, a hatred had grown up,
occasioned by jealousy over a woman. Blumer picked a quarrel with Schindler and,
when the latter defended himself, beat him to death with a hammer. He hid the
body first in a manger, and then buried it under the floor of the barn. That
night he loaded the body into a wagon and threw it into Simmerly Slough, east of
the City Cemetery. A Chinese fisherman pulled the body to the surface, and the
arrest of Blumer followed. He claimed he acted in self-defense when Schindler, a
younger man, attacked him with a pitchfork. Blumer was convicted and sent to San
Quentin, but escaped and was free a long time before he was discovered in an
Eastern State and returned to the penitentiary. 

Assassination of George Ball 

    At 12:30 o'clock on the morning of July 16, 1890, the Marysville fire
department responded to an alarm sounded on account, of a fire at the rear of
the Belding Soda Works, corner of Second and Elm Streets. The fire seemed to
have started under the floor of a room adjoining a stable where the delivery
horse was kept. The blaze had spread to hay on the floor of the barn; but as it
had not gained much headway, the firemen had little trouble in quelling it. They
left the place without suspecting anything unusual. 

    Officers and friends of George Ball, popular manager of the soda factory,
wondered at his non-appearance at the fire; and when Lisa, the daughter of John
Stevenson, residing next door to the soda works, told her parents and the police
that she heard cries emanating from the building shortly before the fire was
discovered, close investigation was made of the premises by Deputy Sheriff John
Colford, Police Officer "Fawn" Clark, and Mr. Stevenson. In a short time the
mutilated body of Ball was found under the partially burned straw on the barn
floor. Save for a finger ring well known to his friends, the remains were
unrecognizable. By the side of the body was a cast-iron pipe two feet in length,
with which Ball had been battered unmercifully about the head. The body had been
buried in the straw and the fire started in the hope of concealing the murder.
Ball's gold watch and chain were missing, and it was found that the murderers
had opened a safe in the office, without reward. No money was ever placed in the
safe. 

    Suspicion first pointed to Chinese residing in the vicinity, but this theory
was not pursued for long. On April 30, 1891, the mystery began to clear, with
the arrest at Sacramento, by Chief of Police Drew, of William J. Ousley, a
mulatto, and Henry Smith, a negro. Smith proved an alibi and was released.
Ousley, a victim of lung trouble, died in the Yuba County jail on August 9 of
the same year. Before he passed away he made a confession to Deputy Sheriff Tom
E. Bevan, admitting his complicity, and implicating a colored man named George
Maddux and one George Collins, who a short time before was killed in Stockton.
Maddux was apprehended in a southern county and was returned to Marysville,
tried, convicted and sent to prison for life. Ousley told the officers that
Collins planned the job, and that he acted as lookout to tell the other two of
the entry of Ball into the building. They knew that his last act before retiring
was to water his horse. They took a position in the barn and felled Ball when he
entered. A dish-washer called "Shorty Knight," who worked with Ousley in a
Marysville restaurant just prior to the murder, was the person who gave to Chief
of Police Drew, of Sacramento, the first clew to the murderers. 

A Christmas Day Crime 

    Strangely in keeping with a belief that for a long time was held in
Marysville, to the effect that a murder is committed in the city every twenty
years on Christmas Day, Edward Raymond, a painter, shot and killed Thomas Brice,
orchard worker, at the intersection of the F Street levee and Second Street, on
December 25, 1891. The men had a dispute over a dollar loan made while both were
drinking and gambling. Witnesses said Raymond was trying to induce Brice to
accompany him to Yuba City, when Raymond suddenly drew a revolver and fired.
Brice died in a short time. Raymond was arrested by Police Officer F. B. Crane
and Joseph Heyl. He was held to answer to the Superior Court on a murder charge,
but escaped from the Yuba County jail by scaling the wall with a rope. The
officers contended that Raymond received help from the outside. He was never
retaken, although reports came in frequently that he was in hiding in his native
State, Texas. 

Robbery of Oregon Express 

    Marysville has never experienced a more exciting day than Saturday, March
30, 1895. Shortly after midnight of that day, the Oregon Express train was held
up and robbed by two handsome bandits, who turned out to be Jack Brady, alias
McGuire, and J. W. Browning, erstwhile farm hands who for several months had
been employed on ranches in Linda Township, and had attended dances throughout
the countryside, and caused many a female heart to go pit-a-pat. The train made
a short stop at Wheatland en route north, and at that point the two robbers
boarded the blind baggage. When the train was within four miles of Marysville,
Fireman Nethercutt was surprised at having a revolver thrust in his face by one
of the robbers. The other man gave orders to Engineer Bowser to stop the train,
which was done. The engine force was then compelled to accompany the robbers to
the express car, which was broken into. 

    Unsatisfactory returns from their search in the express car determined the
robbers to visit the day coaches. After forming a sack from a leg of an old pair
of overalls, the robbers forced the fireman to enter the first day coach with
them, and the engineer to follow behind them. At the point of revolvers, the
passengers were compelled to place all their coin and valuables in the sack,
among their victims being several men from Yuba and Sutter Counties. 

    The robbers next visited the smoker. At this juncture Brakeman Simmons
recalled that Sheriff John J. Bogard of Tehama County was sleeping in a Pullman
of the train. He remembered also that Bogard, than whom there was no more
fearless officer in California, had adjured him some time before that if ever a
train hold-up was attempted, and he was on the train, Simmons was to apprise
him. Simmons accordingly got word to Sheriff Bogard through the Pullman porter.
Partially dressing himself, Bogard made his way to the smoker. He entered one
end as the robbers entered the other. Crouching behind a car seat, Bogard took
deliberate aim and shot the taller of the robbers through the heart, killing him
instantly. In less time than it takes to write it, a shot rang out from the
doorway the sheriff had just entered. The bullet entered Bogard's back in the
region of the kidneys, and in a short time he was dead from loss of blood. As
the source of the shot which killed the sheriff was never definitely determined,
many believe to this day that there was a third robber in the gang, and that
when he heard the shot which killed one of his pals he took revenge. 

    Brady, the surviving robber, immediately left the car after the death of his
partner, Browning, not even waiting to take a purse containing $51 which had
been dropped alongside Browning's body. Brady, it was afterward learned, made
his way to Marysville on a bicycle, two of which were in hiding under a wagon
bridge near the scene of the robbery. Clerks in Marysville hotels recalled that
two young men, purporting to be farm hands and answering the descriptions of the
train robbers, had frequently taken lodgings with them, and from this clue the
officers worked. The hotel clerks, on viewing the body of the dead robber, had
their suspicions confirmed, and officers took up the trail of Brady, who proved
more than elusive. It was not until the following July that he was apprehended
in the jungles near Sacramento. He was convicted and sent to the penitentiary
for life. One juror saved him from hanging. 

    The train robbery was the signal for extra editions of the Marysville
papers, and this city received nation-wide notice through press reports of the
crime. For two days throngs visited the Marysville morgue to view the remains of
the brave sheriff and the handsome young robber. The pistol with which Sheriff
Bogard killed Browning was one that the people of Tehama County presented him in
recognition of his faithful service in office. 

Murder of Julius Pier 

    On the night of May 1, 1895, Julius Pier, aged Hebrew second-hand dealer on
C Street, between Second and Third, was murdered at the rear of his store, where
he slept. He was found next morning gagged and hog-tied, and showing signs of
having made a fight, against odds, for his life. Police Officer Hugh McCoy, who
worked on the case with City Marshal J. A. Maben, discovered in a toilet bowl at
the rear of the premises a portion of the shirt which was used to throttle Pier
to death. This clew led to the apprehension of Stuart A. Green, alias George
Duroy, a young electrician, who a few days before had installed an electric bell
in the police station for the city. He was wearing the shirt at that time, and
McCoy remembered it on account of the flashy pattern. Shortly after his arrest,
Green confessed and implicated a barber, at the same time admitting that his was
the master mind, and that he had planned to rob Pier for his money. When Pier
resisted, the pair murdered him, slowly strangling him to death. Green was well
connected in the East. His father came to Marysville and employed counsel who
saved him from the gallows, the jury voting for life imprisonment. Marshall J.
Miller, his barber accomplice, who conducted a shop on Second Street, near C,
went into court and pleaded guilty. There was nothing for the court to do but
pronounce the death penalty. He was executed at San Quentin prison on September
28, 1896, after the supreme court had affirmed the judgment of the lower court. 

Tragic Results of I. W. W. Agitation in the Hop-fields 

    On Sunday evening, August 3, 1913, the people of Marysville were startled by
news from Wheatland, twelve miles south, that Edward T. Manwell, district
attorney of Yuba County, had lost his life, that Sheriff George H. Voss had been
mortally wounded and that a deputy sheriff named Thomas Riordan had been killed,
as the result of an I. W. W. agitation in the camp of the hop-pickers on the
Durst Brothers' place, which adjoined Wheatland. Citizens, aided by the police,
at once formed relief parties, and these parties hastened, armed, to the scene.
Coroner J. K. Kelly and his deputies, with City Marshal C. J. McCoy, now
sheriff, were among the first to arrive at Wheatland, where they found the
residents terrorized by the awful events of the afternoon. 

    Investigation proved that the trouble in the hop-fields had been brewing for
several days. Agents of the I. W. W. had worked, in their usual way, to cause
the men and women employed by Durst Brothers to become dissatisfied with their
wage and with camp conditions as regarded sanitation and other matters. On the
clay prior to the murder of the district attorney and the attack upon the
sheriff, a committee headed by the leaders of the I. W. W. contingent had waited
upon R. H. Durst of Durst Brothers with a written demand for an increase in the
pickers' rates, for movable toilets in the field, for separate toilets for the
women, for "high-pole" men, for lemonade made from lemons instead of acid, for
the delivery of drinking water in the field twice a day, and for a committee
from the pickers to inspect the hops and pass on them. Early in the morning of
the fatal day, a second visit was paid Durst by the committee. Durst accepted
some of the terms and vetoed others, chiefly the demand for increased pay,
saying he would continue to pay the wages generally paid in California by
growers of hops. 

    Durst visited Wheatland, and without swearing to a complaint, demanded that
Constable Lee Anderson arrest the leader of the strikers. Complying with Durst's
request, Anderson went to the field and attempted to arrest the man pointed out
by Durst. The reception given Anderson was a rough one, Anderson having
confessed that he did not have a warrant of arrest. Returning to Wheatland, he
had a complaint drawn. Armed with a warrant, he now made another attempt to
arrest the leader. This time he received a reception even warmer than the first.
In the scrimmage, in which women pickers as well as men participated, Anderson
was wounded in the arm, and was fortunate to escape with his life. 

    Again repairing to Wheatland, Anderson notified Sheriff G. H. Voss over the
phone of the conditions, and advised immediate action. The sheriff assembled
several deputies in Marysville, among them the man Riordan, whom he knew to be
fearless, and proceeded to Wheatland. Arriving there, he was met by District
Attorney Manwell, who had spent the day in Wheatland on legal business. Manwell
volunteered to accompany the posse to the scene of the trouble. 

    On their arrival at the hop-fields, the officers found that an indignation
meeting was in progress, with one man perched on a box in the center of a dance
platform, making a speech of an incendiary character. Making his way through the
crowd, Manwell sought the cause for the gathering. As he did so the strikers
surged around him, and about the sheriff and his deputies. In the excitement, a
portion of the platform broke down, as did the box the speaker was standing
upon. This seemed to intensify the bad blood among the rioters. As Manwell stood
with his arm upraised, and with cigar in hand, appealing to the strikers to
"keep the peace," he was shot down, and died almost instantly. 

    The rioters then turned their attention to the other "Scissorsville
officers," this being the term by which the leader had referred to the sheriff
and others in his speech before their arrival. Sheriff Voss was next attacked. A
large Porto Rican among the strikers secured the sheriff's club, and was beating
him over the head with it when Deputy Sheriff Henry Daken, a resident of
Wheatland, unloaded one barrel of his shotgun into the back of Voss' assailant,
killing him instantly. Just who shot the man Riordan was never learned with
certainty. 

    After killing the Porto Rican, Deputy Sheriff Daken was compelled to shoot
another man, a Mexican, in the hand. His gun was then empty, and he was forced
to flee the mob. He arrived at the store building pursued by about twenty of the
rioters. Taking a position behind the counter, after the doors were locked, he
exchanged his clothing for other garments provided him, and shaved off his
moustache. Thus disguised, he was able peaceably to retreat from the building
toward evening, after the mob had threatened to burn the place. Daken was later
the principal witness at the trial of the murderers of District Attorney
Manwell. But for the work of Daken, the horde probably would have murdered every
one of the sheriff's deputies. 

    The unfortunate district attorney was a member of the Wheatland branch of
Odd Fellows. Members of the lodge, as soon as they learned of the murder, formed
a committee to go to the scene of the crime and recover the body. At risk of
being treated roughly, the committee well performed their disagreeable task.
They met some faint opposition, but finally, on proving that their mission was a
peaceable and a sacred one, were able to remove the remains to their hall, to
rest there till the arrival of the coroner. 

    Several suspects were arrested by City Marshal C. J. McCoy and taken to the
County Jail in Marysville. On the following morning, Adjt.-Gen. E. A. Forbes,
close friend of Manwell and former resident of Yuba County, ordered Company I,
of Oroville, and Company G, of Sacramento, together with Troop B of the latter
place, to Wheatland, where martial law reigned for several days. 

    Sheriff Voss was removed to a Marysville hospital, where he was forced to
remain until well into September before reporting at his office. For a time his
life was despaired of; and while he lived for several years after this
experience, his friends contended that his life was cut short by the treatment
he received on "bloody Sunday" at Wheatland. 

    Through arrests made, and through further investigation, E. B. Stanwood, who
was appointed by the supervisors to succeed E. T. Manwell as district attorney,
learned with the aid of other officers that "Blackie" Ford and Herman D. Suhr
were the ringleaders among the I. W. W. rioters. Ford was traced to Winnemucca,
Nev., and returned on August 18 to Marysville, where he was recognized; as a man
who previously had preached I. W. W. doctrine in the county-seat, Suhr was taken
in Prescott, Ariz. 

    The trial of Ford and Suhr, together with that of several suspects indicted
by the grand jury for the murder of Manwell, began on January 12, 1914. In the
court-room appeared a number of "sob-sisters," some representing a San Francisco
journal, and some others, members of organizations allied with the I. W. W. The
latter organization rented a house across from the courthouse and established
headquarters there, sending out literature intended to create sympathy for the
men on trial. The jurors chosen to hear the evidence were A. F. Folsom, Browns
Valley; W. H. Finch, eastern Yuba County; A. J. McCarty, Hammonton; C. E.
Stephenson and Frank Platte, Marysville; Emile Picard, who later was one of the
victims, with his wife, in a double murder, mentioned in this chapter; C. E.
Shogren, August Erickson, and Edward Carlson, all of Arboga; R. E. Alderman, of
Waldo; John J. Norton, of Marigold; and W. Bainbridge, of Rackerby. A. C.
Allread, a Marysville blacksmith, was selected by agreement as an alternate
juror, to take part in the verdict in the event of sickness or death of any
member of the jury. Daily attendants at the trial were men well known as active
in I. W. W. ranks. Such as were suspected of being present for ulterior purposes
were closely watched by the officers. 

    District Attorney Stanwood was assisted in the prosecution of the defendants
by W. H. Carlin, well-known Marysville attorney, who bore a State-wide
reputation as a criminal lawyer, but who always preferred to be on the side of
the defense. It was proven by the prosecution that Suhr had, during the
agitation at Wheatland, sent a telegram to I. W. W. headquarters at San
Francisco, ordering that "more wobblies be sent to Wheatland." A verdict of
conviction was returned against both Ford and Suhr, and they were given life
sentences. Several unsuccessful attempts have been made to secure their parole,
but to no avail. Judge E. P. McDaniel, who presided at their trial, would never
take a part in any movement toward commutation of sentence or parole. 

In Memoriam 

    Edward Tecumseh Manwell was a native of Wheatland. He taught school a number
of years in his native county, at the same time studying law. His first
political office was that of Assemblyman; and he served two terms as a
representative from this district, then known as the Eighth Assembly District.
He next was chosen county superintendent of schools, holding the office from
1906 to 1910. In 1910, he succeeded Fred H. Greely, present county auditor and
recorder, as district attorney, filling the office until his death. He was a
member of the Masonic fraternity, as well as of the Odd Fellows, and had served
as a member of the National Guard. 

Manwell was survived by his widow and eight children, the oldest being Ray
Manwell, who at the time this is written is himself filling the office of
district attorney. The remains of Edward T. Manwell rest in the family plot at
Wheatland. The funeral procession that proceeded from Wheatland, where the
services were held, to the grave, was attended by people from all walks of life
in Yuba and the surrounding counties. 

    The conviction of Ford and Suhr has for years caused the I. W. W.'s to give
this section a wide berth. The Wheatland tragedy, it should be added, had the
effect of arousing the people of the State to legislation providing more
definite rules for camps where workers are employed, particularly as to sanitary
conditions, proper housing, water supply, etc. 

Murder of the Picards 

    The only double murder recorded in the annals of Yuba County took place on
the night of April 29, 1915, at the "Bit House," a roadside place on he
Marysville-Oroville highway, seven miles north of Marysville. The victims were
Emile Picard, an aged Frenchman, and his wife, Ellen Picard, who was
considerably younger. Connected with the place was a bar, through which an
entrance could be gained to their living-rooms. 

    The dastardly crime was discovered by Harvey Smullin, clerk for his father,
S. N. D. Smullin, a grocer of Honcut. Young Smullin, early in the morning,
entered the Picard kitchen with an order of groceries, and was surprised not to
find Mrs. Picard there to greet him. Going to the dining room, he came upon the
kneeling form of Mrs. Picard, her hands joined as if in prayer, and her head
upturned as if pleading with her murderer to spare her life. Mrs. Picard was
dead from two bullet wounds, one entering between the mouth and ear, and the
other entering the neck and terminating in the spinal cord, as the post-mortem
examination afterward showed. The remains of Picard were found in the barn on
the place. Smullin rushed to the home of J. E. Strain and told of his discovery.
Strain at once telephoned the news to Sheriff C. J. McCoy, who with his deputies
and the newspaper men was soon at the scene of the crime. The first theory was
that the couple were robbed of their money and killed because they recognized
the operators. But when two purses were found on the premises — one in the bar
and the other in Mrs. Picard's lodgings — with $140 in coin in them, the
officers were puzzled, but for a short time only. 

    Behind an old clock in the barroom, Sheriff McCoy came upon a business card
bearing the name and address of William Shannon, cobbler of Honcut, who was
recognized by the neighbors of the Picards as a drinking man who frequently
visited their place. Later in the day, Sheriff McCoy met a farm hand who said he
observed a man answering Shannon's description walking along the road between
Ramirez Station on the Western Pacific Railroad and the Picard place. That was
about six o'clock in the evening; and the coroner's office had reported to the
officers that the Picards, according to their observations of the bodies, had
been killed about that hour. Two days later a man serving time on the chain-gang
in Marysville, for drunkenness, told the police that he had seen a man burning a
pair of overalls in a heating stove at the rear of the Chicago Saloon. In the
stove the officers found the buttons from the overalls and a patent mark, all of
which corresponded with those on the brand of overalls William Shannon always wore.


    Shannon was arrested at the Western Pacific depot as he was about to board a
train for Honcut. The wife of Shannon, when visited at Honcut a few days before,
told Sheriff McCoy that her husband had left home on the night the murder was
committed and had not returned. She said she thought he had gone to Marysville
for a spree. 

    Although he weakened after placed in jail, and made remarks in the hearing
of his fellow prisoners indicating a troubled conscience, Shannon never
confessed. He went to trial and was convicted. Certain peculiarities on the
soles of his boots corresponding to tracks found on the Picard premises helped
the jury to agree that the defendant was the murderer. One juryman, however,
saved him from the gallows, and he was given a life term. He now is endeavoring
to secure a parole. 

    Picard was a man of education, and when young was employed as buyer of silks
for a wholesale house in New York. His remains, with those of his wife, rest in
the Marysville Cemetery. 

VICTIMS AMONG THE POLICE 

John Sperbeck 

    In the period between September 6, 1915, and February 6, 1922, Marysville
lost three policemen at the hands of assassins. Police Officer John Sperbeck was
the first to receive a fatal bullet wound. About four o'clock on the afternoon
of September 6, 1915, while Sperbeck was on duty at the police station, word
came that a Chinese store on C Street, between First and Second, had just been
held up by a youthful-looking bandit, and the contents of the till taken.
Sperbeck at once responded, and with Chief of Police C. A. Smith traced the
robber to a lumber-yard near the corner of Fourth and C Streets and found him
hiding behind a pile of lumber, where he was changing his outer clothing for
some he had previously placed there. He flashed a gun on Smith, at the same time
taking refuge behind another stack of lumber. Smith shouted to Sperbeck to
beware of the man, and the next moment a shot rang out. The robber had espied
Sperbeck taking aim at him from another portion of the yard, while crouched
behind some timbers. The robber's aim was true, the shot striking Sperbeck in
the back of the head and inflicting a fatal wound from which he died about seven
o'clock that evening, in a hospital to which citizens had hurried him. He never
regained consciousness. 

    The murderer proved to be Kosta Kromphold, alais John W. McLarney, a New
York lad, only eighteen years of age. He was caught in the Yuba River bottom
east of the city while trying to escape a horde of citizens who took up the
trail from the lumber-yard. The jury that tried him returned a verdict of murder
in the first degree, and he was hanged at Folsom prison. 

James Mock 

    Policeman James Mock was shot at a spot in the jungles, a short distance
from the Western Pacific passenger depot on K Street, on May 7, 1918, while in
the discharge of his duties. His murderer was a colored man named William
Shortridge, who was traced to the spot after he had attempted an early morning
robbery at the Dawson House, a hostelry of pioneer days which was wrecked in the
year 1922 to make way for the service station now located at Second and E
Streets. Mock died a few days after he was shot. 

    Mock was in the act of placing his handcuffs on Shortridge when the negro
wrenched the officer's pistol from him and fired. He escaped, but was found by
citizens in the afternoon of the same day hiding in a grain-field south of the
city. He, too, was convicted and hanged. 

Francis M. Heenan 

About 9: 30 o'clock in the evening of February 6, 1922, Police Officer Francis
M. Heenan had his attention attracted, as he was walking along C Street, between
First and Second, to a pistol shot fired in the Canteen Saloon at the northwest
corner of Second and C Streets. Hastening, with a citizen, to the swinging doors
of the place, Heenan observed that a hold-up was being enacted. Bolting through
the doors, without seeming to realize the seriousness of the situation, he came
face to face with the robber. In a flash the man fired a shot into the officer's
breast, killing him almost instantly. The murderer lost no time. He was seen to
hasten along the north side of Second Street to Elm, where he changed his course
up that narrow street; and although citizens at once took up the trail, he
covered his tracks completely. Many explanations have been made as to how he got
away, but none has been accepted as the correct one. 

    Joe "Silver" Kelly, alias Con Connelly, is wanted for this crime. There is a
reward of $800 on his head, $300 of which was offered immediately by the owner
of the Canteen Saloon, and the remainder by the city council. The fact that
Kelly was in Marysville on the day preceding the night of the murder, and could
not be found after the shooting, convinced Chief of Police C. A. Smith and
Sheriff McCoy that he was the murderer of Heenan. Circulars have been sent to
all parts of the world giving Kelly's description, and heralding the reward, but
so far to no avail. 

    In the early days, an officer named "Butch" Dobler was killed by a Mexican
near the spot where Officer Heenan was murdered. In this instance, also, the
murderer made a successful get-away. 


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

HISTORY OF YUBA and SUTTER COUNTIES 
CALIFORNIA 
WITH 
Biographical Sketches OF 
The Leading Men and Women of the Counties Who Have Been Identified with Their
Growth and Development from the Early Days to the Present 

HISTORY BY 
PETER J. DELAY 

ILLUSTRATED 
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME 

HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY 
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
1924

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/yuba/history/1924/historyo/chapter1323gms.txt

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