Polk County IA Archives History - Books .....Crimes-Jack Jones Shot Down 1898
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ia/iafiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com April 15, 2006, 2:26 am

Book Title: Annals Of Polk County, Iowa And City Of Des Moines

CHAPTER XXIV.
CRIMES-JACK JONES SHOT DOWN.

ONE evening in 1873 the citizens of Des Moines were surprised by the report that
N. L. Yard, a carpenter, had shot and killed Jack Jones, a pioneer citizen. This
report was soon verified. Jones and Yard were neighbors, living in the
northwestern part of the city, and had been well acquainted with each other.
Both were married men with families. But for some time previous the two families
had not been friendly, and it was charged that Jones had also abused or insulted
Mrs. Yard. Jones had been told by Yard not to again come to his house. On the
evening of the fatal affray Jones had been to a well near by and passed through
the lot belonging to Yard. The latter was in the door of his house, and as Jones
came up some words passed between them, and Jones advanced towards the house as
if to reach Yard. The latter's wife stepped in front of her husband and between
the two men, when Yard raised a shotgun, which was heavily charged with ball,
and fired directly at Jones, who fell and died in a short time. There was more
than the usual excitement over the tragedy, but Yard gave himself up to the
officers and was subsequently released on bail. The family and friends of Jones
claimed that it was a deliberate murder, and some severe threats were made, but
fortunately no further encounters occurred.

   At the next term of the District Court, Yard was indicted for the killing of
Jones, and indictments were also found against his wife, Mrs. Rachel E. Yard,
and K. W. Smith as accessories. The latter was a gunsmith of the city, reputed a
man of considerable wealth, and it was charged he loaded the gun, gave it to
Yard, and told him to use it upon Jones on the first provocation. It was also
charged that he was in the house at the time of the shooting, and some alleged
that he, and not Yard, fired the fatal shot.

   When the trial came off in the District Court, the room was crowded with
curious and interested spectators. Judge Josiah Given, now on the Supreme bench,
led in the prosecution, while Judge C. C. Nourse was the leading attorney for
the defence. Judge Nourse, to the surprise of the bar, elected to have all the
defendants tried together. And after the evidence was in he caused another
surprise by, after the opening of the prosecuting attorney, submitting the case
to the jury without further argument. By this move he shut out Judge Given, who
was prepared with a speech which certainly would not have been pleasing to the
defendants. The result showed Judge Nourse's judgment was good. After being
instructed by the court, the jury retired and in due time returned a verdict of
not guilty as to all the defendants. Of these Smith died some years ago, and
Yard and his wife subsequently removed from the State.

JOHN LITTLE.

   From an early day there resided in Des Moines a man named John Little. He
made his home generally on the East Side. He also served as a soldier in an Iowa
regiment during the war. In 1874 he was living here, and was not regarded as a
very bad man. He had a wife and family, and the wife was reported as not
sustaining a character beyond reproach. In the fall of that year Mrs. Little
left town and went to Newton, Jasper County, and it was reported she had become
intimate with a nego man named Tait. Little was known as a resolute, if not
desperate man, and he swore vengeance. Going to Newton in the latter part of
September, 1874, he hunted for Tait and his recreant wife, and finding them one
evening together at a dance in that town, Little then and there shot and killed
Tait. Little then disappeared and the police officers always believe that
towards morning of that same night Little, with perhaps one or two others,
murdered and robbed Mailand at the latter's home on Mud Creek, Camp Township, in
this county.

   Little made good his escape, and as was afterwards learned, went to Texas and
Mexico. Adam Hafner, now a member of the City Council, but then at the head of
the police force of the city, kept a close watch for the return of Little, who
had in the meantime been indicted for the murder of the said Tait in Jasper
County, and for the murder of Mailand in Polk County. After the expiration of
some six months Officer Hafner learned that Little had returned, and was located
on a small patch of ground in the timber in Warren County. Hafner knew Little to
be a desperate man, but he determined to capture him. One evening he, in company
with Hugh Brennan, now a well known attorney, but then on the police force, left
the city on this dangerous expedition. They went in a carriage and were well
armed. During the night they lost their way, but finally managed about daylight
to reach the cabin where it was supposed Little was to be found. Brennan, with
his shotgun, took up a position in the rear of the house, while Hafner boldly
knocked at the front door and then quickly stepped in. Peering around in the dim
light he found the man he wanted lying on the floor. Before Little was fully
awake and could grab his gun, which was hanging on the wall, Hafner had him
covered with his pistol. Being told he must surrender peaceably Little
reluctantly admitted he, for once, had been caught napping. He gave up and was
quickly secured.

   The officers brought Little to Des Moines and afterwards finding that, though
they had little if any douht of his guilt, they had doubt as to their having
sufficient proof to convict him of the murder of Mailand, it was determined to
hand him over to the Jasper County authorities, who were anxious to place him on
trial for the murder of Tait. Accordingly Little was taken to Jasper County, and
in due course was tried, convicted and sentenced to the penitentiary for life.
After serving seventeen years at Fort Madison Little was given a pardon and
returned to Des Moines. In a short time afterwards it is understood he made a
homestead claim in Dakota, behaved himself and was doing well at the time of his
death, not long ago.

WIFE MURDER.

   One of the most brutal murders ever known in Des Moines was .the murder of
his wife by Henry O. Osborn, near the corner of Second and Elm streets in 1880.
Mrs. Osborn was a very handsome woman of less than twenty-five years of age, and
her husband Henry was but little older. They lived south of the Coon and he was
by occupation a coal miner. Late in the afternoon of the murder Mrs. Osborn had
come into town for the purpose of taking home some washing she had done that
day, and was on her way home when at the place designated she met her husband.
After some conversation between the two the husband knocked the wife down with
his fist, and then, apparently frantic with rage, picked up a stone weighing
several pounds, now in the curiosity cabinet at police headquarters, and struck
her one or more violent blows upon the left side of the face. These blows
crushed her head and face in a horrible manner, and death followed almost
instantly.

   The alarm was given at once. The body was taken into Dr. Campbell's office
near by, but nothing could be done to save her; life was gone. The police
immediately instituted a search for the murderer, but being misled by reports
they failed to find him. He had run up the railroad track and hid in a box car,
where he remained several hours, but getting thoroughly chilled with the cold
was finally forced to come out and seek for a warmer place. He then went up the
railroad track to the water works and took refuge from the cold in the boiler
room. There he finally told something of what he had done, and was advised to
surrender himself to the officers. Early the following morning he surrendered
himself to the police and was placed in jail. In time he was indicted for
murder, had a trial, was convicted and sentenced to be hanged by the neck until
dead. His attorney took a number of exceptions and appealed to the Supreme
Court. After some time had passed the higher court made an order for a new
trial. A second time Osborn faced a jury in the District Court, was again
convicted and sentenced to the penitentiary for life. Osborn was a quiet though
somewhat sulky man, and had maintained a fair reputation prior to the murder. He
was, however, of a jealous disposition, and to jealousy of his wife was
attributed his murderous assault. It is understood he yet remains a prisoner at
Fort Madison, serving the sentence imposed upon him by the jury and court.

HENRY SCRIBNER.

   One evening about 9 o'clock in September, 1881, Henry Scribner, a prominent
citizen and business man of Dos Moines, who had then lived here some twenty-five
years, was found lying senseless on the sidewalk in front of a coal office on
Sixth street, between Locust and Walnut. He had evidently been knocked down and
terribly injured. He was taken to his home on Sycamore, now Grand avenue, and
Fifth street. Physicians were called and everything possible done to save his
life. He, however, never recovered full consciousness, and died some twenty-four
hours after the blows had been struck, without being able to give any
information as to who his murderer or murderers were. The excitement over this
murder of a prominent citizen on a public street; at this early hour of the
evening was very great, and every effort was made to discover the guilty man,
but without any certain result. One theory was that he had been beaten by a man
named James Harris, whose wild and brutal, if not crazy actions immediately
prior to and following the murder of Henry Scribner gave much color to the
theory. Then Scribner, who after the blows had been received, had laid senseless
and hopeless, and yet was not robbed. His watch, money, and other personal
effects had not been touched. These and other facts added to the mystery.

MUNDA MURDERED.

   There was a murder committed in 1876 in Dallas County, near the Polk County
line. Jasper Mason, of Jasper County, was traveling with a man by the name of
Martin Munda. One morning the dead body of Munda was found a short distance from
the town of De Soto. He had evidently been shot and killed. An inquest was held,
and as it was known that Mason had been with the dead man in De Soto and
elsewhere, a search was made for Mason, who had suddenly disappeared. In a short
time he was found at his old home in or near Prairie City, and was arrested. He
was taken back to Dallas County, where he was almost immediately indicted for
the murder of Munda. He was soon placed on trial and pleaded that he had killed
Munda in self-defence, after the latter had attacked him in a quarrel between
the two. This defence was regarded as insufficient, Mason was found guilty and
sentenced to imprisonment in the penitentiary at Fort Madison during life. There
he was taken and has remained in confinement for nearly twenty years. At this
writing he and his friends are making an effort to secure his pardon and a
discharge from the penitentiary, where he has been serving so long a time.

GEORGE-EPPS.

   In 1883 there lived in Des Moines a man with some negro blood in him who went
by the name of Doctor Epps. He claimed to be an "Indian doctor," and was also a
barber, having his shop in the basement under the Iowa National Bank, corner of
Fourth and Walnut streets. He made his home on the East Side, on Fourth street,
below Court avenue. At the same time there was in the city a man named Fountain
George, in the employ of Mills & Co., in their large printing house. He was
generally regarded as a quiet, inoffensive man, and was at times subject to
epileptic fits. Fountain George had gone over on the East Side, called for Dr.
Epps, and after having some conversation, Epps started to run up the sidewalk
when George fired at him with a pistol, and then following his victim up again
fired. His aim was good, and Dr. Epps fell mortally wounded to the sidewalk, and
in a short time was a dead man. George was promptly arrested, without any
trouble, and claimed the shooting had been done because of the wrongful action
of the deceased towards a young female relative of George's, and upon the trial,
which in due course followed in the District Court, this provocation was set up
as a partial defense and also the fact that George was subject to certain mental
and physical ailments. But they were all without avail. George was found guilty
of murder in the first degree and sentenced to be hanged. An appeal was taken to
the Supreme Court, and there the judgment was affirmed. It then devolved upon
the Governor to fix the day for his execution. But representations were made of
the facts as to the condition, mentally and physically, of George, then in the
penitentiary, and the Governor postponed from time to time appointing a day. The
case was handed from one Governor to his successor, and finally this tragedy was
ended by the death of George in the penitentiary, where he had been confined
from the time of his conviction.

HORSE STEALING.

   From the earliest days of the white settlement of the country, the stealing
of horses was more or less a prevalent, though dangerous, pursuit in Polk
County. No doubt prior to the appearance of the whites, the Indians were engaged
in stealing horses or "ponies" from those of other tribes and became experts in
this work. But it remained for City Marshal Hafner, in August, 1885, to make the
largest haul of stolen horses at one draw of the legal net ever known in Iowa.
At the Rock Island Railroad stock yards in that month he captured seventeen
stolen horses. They were brought there and ownership claimed by one Thomas
Shields, a Canadian, who had gathered them up over a large scope of country
without the consent of their real owners. Fifteen of these captured horses were
returned to their owners, and Shields, who was wanted in four States for his
infractions of the law, was tried and convicted in an Iowa court and sentenced
to five years in the penitentiary. This was very good work on the part of
Officer Hafner, but what was his reward? He kept two of the horses, and some
$1,000 in cash captured with them from Shields, and after paying out all the
money to claimants and recovering fifteen horses for them, he had to be
defendant in several suits, and had to finally pay out $235 of his own money,
and also bear the expense of keeping two of the horses for one entire year. This
certainly was not encouraging to an honest, faithful officer.

CRANE KILLS BLEECKMAN.

   In 1882 George Crane, a young man who was born and reared in Des Moines and
Bloomfield Township, his father being James Crane, a well known pioneer merchant
and farmer, came to town with Emil Bleeckman,, a son of a neighbor. After
spending some time in the city, during which time it is said Crane drank more or
less liquor, while Bleeckman remained sober, the two young men started on their
way home. In some manner a quarrel arose between them, and culminated at the
gate near the home of Bleeckman. After a short altercation there Crane drew a
pistol, which he carried, and fired at Bleeckman. The wound was of such a nature
that after lingering a day or two the wounded man died. There was much
excitement over the tragedy, but the law was allowed to take its course. Crane
was arrested, indicted by the grand jury and tried in the District Court, Judge
W. H. McHenry presiding. After an exciting legal contest Crane was acquitted and
set free.

DEAD BODY FOUND.

   In February, 1884, the dead body of an unknown man was found one morning
lying in an alley south of Court avenue, between First and Second streets.
Subsequent information gave the name of the man as Williams, a traveler from an
Eastern State. The body was buried in Woodland Cemetery, and although the police
had suspicions of some of the inmates of disorderly houses then existing in the
neighborhood no proof could he found, and the murder was being forgotten. In
March, 1885, a sensation was caused by one Harry Wolfe having his wife, Carrie,
arrested for adultery. They were both hard characters, and on trial before the
justice, Carrie was discharged. This excited the wrath of Harry, and then he
charged that at the time of the murder of Williams, more than a year previous,
he and his wife were keeping a house of ill-fame on Court avenue; that the night
of his death Williams came to their house, and went into a room with his,
Wolfe's wife. Later he heard a shot, rushed in and found his wife, with a pistol
in her hand, standing over the dead body of Williams; that he and his wife took
some eight dollars in money from the body, and then carried it out and placed it
where it was found the next morning. He also stated Williams had some three
thousand dollars in money, which his wife got hold of before the shooting, and
which she had secreted. This was the substance of the story told by Harry Wolfe.
They were both arrested. Carrie Wolfe vehemently denied the story, and alleged
that Harry had been drinking excessively for so long a time that he had become
crazy, and did not know what he was talking about; that he had imagined the
whole story in regard to her committing the murder; that she knew nothing about
it. Wolfe and his wife were placed in jail for a time, and the officers made
further investigation. But they were without avail, so far as obtaining legal
proof, and finally Wolfe and his wife were let go free. The murder of Williams
was then allowed to take its place in the too large list of undiscovered and
unexplained crimes of the county.

SMITH SHOOTS REYNOLDS.

   In 1883 Scott Smith shot James Reynolds, and in about one week thereafter
Reynolds died from the effects of the wounds. Smith was a young man, who had
been mostly reared in this city, and was an expert gunsmith. He had a fair
reputation, though he would occasionally drink more than a temperate man should.
Reynolds was also a young man, who had lived for years in Des Moines, but was
regarded as being inclined to go with a crowd of not very reputable citizens. On
the night of the shooting Smith was in an alley south of Walnut street, between
Sixth and Seventh, when he was approached by Reynolds, who demanded from him
money with which to purchase whisky or for some other purpose. Smith refused to
be thus "held up" for this or any other purpose, and upon being approached by
Reynolds in a threatening manner, drew a pistol and fired. As before stated
Reynolds was mortally wounded and some days after died. Smith was promptly
arrested, and after the death of Reynolds was indicted for murder and
subsequently stood his trial in the District Court. There he was convicted of
manslaughter. He appealed and gave bonds, yet he continually brooded over this
and perhaps other matters, and finally some time thereafter ended all his
earthly troubles by putting an end to his own life.

KILLING OF YOUNG KEMP.

   June 17, 1891, a difficulty occurred among some youno-men and boys at the
Holiness Camp meeting held in the northern portion of Des Moines. John A. Jones,
a son of an early settler of the same name, made an attack upon James F. Kemp,
son of T. G. J. Kemp, and inflicted mortal wounds upon him with a razor. It was
charged he caught Kemp by the head and with the razor made a fearful wound,
cutting the jugular vein and into the spinal column. Young Kemp was immediately
cared for, but despite the skill of the surgeons he died some fifteen hours
after the wounds had been inflicted. He was only seventeen years of age, while
Jones was in his twenty-first year. Jones was arrested, and after a trial in the
District Court the following year the jury failed to agree. Some time after this
another trial was had, and after a protracted legal fight the jury returned a
verdict finding young Jones guilty of murder in the second degree. Judge Holmes
then sentenced him to confinement in the penitentiary for the term of fifteen
years. The Supreme Court affirmed this sentence and Jones is now serving his
allotted term in the State penitentiary.

SMITH POISONED.

  In April, 1894, Michael Smith, a well known railroad engineer, died in Des
Moines very suddenly, although he had been more or less unwell for some time.
Smith was a married man, having a wife, Betsey Smith, who had children by a
former husband. Some months before his death, Smith had been shot at night while
in bed with his wife. This shot had made him blind. At the time of the shooting
it was suspected, if not directly charged, that Mrs. Smith, his wife, had fired
the shot, though she claimed it had been fired by some strange man who had
entered their room at night, and whom she did not know. And again it was claimed
that Smith had been shot because he had been too intimate with another man's
wife. After Smith's death the suspicions of foul play were fully aroused, and
taking the circumstances surrounding the case it was more than suspected death
had been caused by the administration of poison; that Mrs. Smith was anxious to
become free from a now blind and almost helpless husband, and at the same time
secure what little might be left of his savings and also a few thousand dollars
of insurance then upon his life. A post mortem examination was had and an
analysis showed the presence of enough of the poison, "Rough on Rats," to have
killed more than one healthy man.

   Mrs. Smith was arrested, and after some delay indicted, and was put on trial
in the District Court in June, 1894. There were in the Smith family at the time
of his death Mrs. Betsy Smith, her daughter Cora and her sister, Mrs. Scoville
or Lederer. The latter was nominally the keeper of the boarding house, and among
the other boarders was George Belaire, an intimate associate of Mrs. Smith and
to whom she had given considerable amounts of her husband's money with which to
carry on a saloon. On the trial Mrs. Scoville, her sister, was the only one who
testified to the giving of the poison to Smith by his wife. This witness
testified she had seen her sister administer the poison to her husband several
times, but was forced to admit she had sworn falsely on a previous occasion. A
number of other witnesses testified to the shameless neglect of her blind and
sick husband, and that on the night of his death she prevented the calling of a
physician until it was too late to save his life.

   County Attorney Davis prosecuted the case with zeal and ability, while the
defense was mainly in the hands of F. B. Huckstep, an able attorney of this
city, assisted by H. F. Dale. The former's address to the jury is spoken of as
one of the most able legal efforts in the history of the court. He unmercifully
flayed some of the witnesses for the prosecution, and was especially severe upon
the man Belaire, who after wronging the dead man had accepted money and other
favors from Betsy Smith, pretended to be her best friend, and then sought to
convict her of a heinous crime with perjured testimony. But the eloquence,
ability and zeal of Attorney Huckstep could not save Betsy Smith. The jury found
her guilty of murder, and she was sentenced to imprisonment for life in the
Anamosa penitentiary, where she now is. Attorneys Huckstep and Dale, however,
perfected an appeal to the Supreme Court, and are confident that the higher
court will reverse and set aside the verdict against Betsy Smith.

   Then in a few months followed the strangest part of this tragedy. Cora, the
daughter of Betsy Smith, and stepdaughter of Michael Smith, voluntarily comes
forward and confesses that she herself did adminster poison to her stepfather,
and that her aunt, Mrs. Lederer or Scoville, did also administer to him poison,
and from the effects of the same he died. But she solemnly swears that her
mother never did administer poison to him or have anything to do with its
administration. Cora, a young woman, about twenty years of age, upon her own
voluntary confession, was found guilty of murder, and sentenced to the
penitentiary for life. She is now with her mother at Anamosa penitentiary. The
sister of Betsy Smith is reported as again married and removed from the State.

KILLED ON PUBLIC STREET.

   A murder of recent date is yet fresh in the minds of most of the citizens of
the comity. On the night of the 19th of May, 1894, Lucius Blake Ridpath, a
conductor on the Great Western Railroad, who was then residing with his family
on Third street, Des Moines, while on his way from his home to the railroad
station to take charge of his train, was assaulted, shot and killed by two, then
unknown, highwaymen. This murder, so sudden and unprovoked, caused much
excitement among the citizens generally, and especially among the hundreds of
railroad men in the city.

   Fortunately the police officers were enabled to soon lay their hands upon the
perpetrators of .the crime. On the following day John Hamil and John Krout were
arrested charged with the crime, and upon the following day George Weems was
also arrested as one of the guilty parties. It was soon learned beyond a doubt
that the proper persons had been secured, and John Krout was anxious to tell all
he knew about the tragedy. After the arrest of these men, they being young
fellows of about the age of twenty years, the excitement became more intense,
and threats of lynch law were freely made. A large crowd gathered at or near the
police station, many of whom were wild with excitement, and for a time it looked
as if swift punishment would follow the crime at the hands of exasperated
railroad men and other citizens, Fortunately, through persuasion and the prompt
action of the police and sheriff's officers, and the lack of organization among
the people present, the prisoners were protected from violence. They were
committed without bail, but when the officers with their prisoners reached the
vicinity of the county jail they found another large throng of maddened citizens
there gathered. With some trouble and a determined show of force the prisoners
were finally lodged in jail. But as the crowd lingered around the jail for
hours, and appearances indicated a probable more determined attempt to reach and
injure the prisoners, the sheriff wisely determined to place them out of the
reach of the mob. Accordingly the deputies disguised the prisoners and
themselves and quietly slipped out of the jail and hurried them to a safe place
outside of the city. There they were kept until the excitement had somewhat
abated, when they were returned to the county jail.

   Hamil and Weems were promptly indicted, and Krout, who was regarded as the
least guilty of the three, was used as a witness for the State, and finally let
go free. A strong effort was made by the defence to obtain a change of venue to
another county, on account of the excitement and alleged prejudice against the
defendants in city and county, but these motions were promptly over-ruled by
Judge Balliet, who presided in the District Court, and at the following July
term they were each tided separately upon the charge of murder in the first
degree. Weems was first placed on trial, and the jury promptly returned a
verdict of guilty, fixing death as the punishment. Hamil's trial followed, and
he, too, was convicted and the death penalty fixed. During the trial John Krout,
one of the defendants, testified that he, Krout, Weems and Hamil were together
for several hours immediately prior to the murder of Ridpath; that they visited
several saloons and houses of ill repute; that they then started out for the
purpose of holding some one up; that they met Ridpath on Third street, and Weems
and Hamil crossed the street; that he heard a shot fired and saw the men run
away; that he then crossed the street to where the murdered man lay. Also, that
he afterwards met Weems and Hamil and asked the latter what he had done with his
revolver, and Hamil said he had "planted it;" that this night was the first time
he had ever met Weems or Hamil. Other witnesses testified that Hamil, Weems and
Krout were together on the night of the murder of Ridpath.

   The convicted murderers, Weems and Hamil, were sentenced to be hanged by the
neck until dead, and in accordance with the laws of the State they were sent to
the penitentiary at Fort Madison to await the carrying out of the sentence, and
the results of the appeals taken to the Supreme Court in both cases. The Supreme
Court some months ago affirmed the judgment of the lower court. A motion,
however, for a rehearing has been filed, and this motion remains undisposed of
at this writing. Should the Supreme Court reaffirm its former decision it will
devolve upon the Governor to fix the time when these two young convicted
murderers shall be hanged in accordance with the original sentence in the
District Court.   The Governor or the General Assembly may pardon or commute the
sentence, although, as far as known, no steps in the latter direction have been
taken by the friends of the murderers.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

ANNALS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA,
AND
CITY OF DES MOINES
BY WILL PORTER.

"And this volume, dedicated to its people, sets forth in attractive style all
the facts and incidents that go to make up the history of which all citizens are
justly proud."
—Major Hoyt Sherman.

GEO. A. MILLLER PRINTING COMPANY,
PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS,
DES MOINES, IOWA,
1898.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ia/polk/history/1898/annalsof/crimesja52nms.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/iafiles/

File size: 29.6 Kb