Anderson County KS Archives History - Books .....Chapter X 1877
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Book Title: THE HISTORY OF ANDERSON COUNTY, FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT TO THE FOURTH OF JULY, 1876.

CHAPTER X.

  Attempt to Poison Banta—Trial of Theodore Royer for Horse Stealing—His
Suspicious Disappearance—Marriage of Lou. Phillips and Sarah Potter—His
Death—Her Arrest for Murder—Examination, Escape, Return, Re-arrest and Trial—
Murder of James Lowry—Trial of his murderers—Conviction of Ford—His Pardon by
the Governor— Trial and Acquittal of Tusteson and Knouff —Murder of Mrs. Adaline
Duren—Capture and Execution of the Murderer.

  IN 1857 a family named Banta settled on the South Pottowatomie, about three
miles northeast of Garnett. The members of the family were Henry H. Banta, his
wife Mary O. Banta, and their three children. They came from Wisconsin, and were
formerly from New York to that State. Banta was then a young man, vigorous and
athletic. He was possessed of a considerable sum of money. He built a house on
his claim, and commenced opening a farm, where he expected to make a home for
himself and family. His wife was possessed of beauty and personal attraction.
There settled in the neighborhood, about the same time, a man named Jeremiah
Brown, from Kentucky, possessing neither beauty nor talent, money nor personal
attraction, but was a sort of uncouth, daring character, representing himself to
be a widower. The young wife of Banta, from unaccountable reasons, became
attached to Brown, and rumors of their undue familiarity began to circulate in
the neighborhood. About that time Banta was taken ill, and lingered for a long
time. It was suspicioned that he was suffering from the effects of poison, and,
from the conduct of Brown and Mrs. Banta, it was believed that they had in this
manner attempted to dispose of him. The suspicion grew so strong, and the
sentiment so increased against Brown, that he left the county in the night time;
and Mrs. Banta soon after left for California, where she soon after married
another man. She left Banta in a helpless condition. He lingered for many
months, and partially recovered, with his lower extremities partially paralyzed,
which rendered him unable to perform manual labor. Banta afterwards married a
widow lady named Poteet, and now resides in the city of Garnett, almost a
helpless invalid.

  In the fall of 1857 and the early part of 1858 a class of men came into the
Territory for the purpose of speculating, having no respect for any one; and, in
order to procure stock in trade, commenced borrowing horses in the absence of
the owners. One of this class, in the winter of 1858, made his headquarters on
the North Pottowatomie, near the claim of Rezin Porter. His name was Theodore
Royer. He was a young man, about 25 years of age, born in Ohio. Early in the
spring of 1858 he commenced to gather in his stock of horses. He went to the
house of Samuel McCush, near the town of Berea, and found a horse that suited
him, and in the darkness of the night he haltered and quietly rode him away. On
the next morning McCush discovered that his horse had been stolen, and soon
learned that Royer had been seen in possession of him. McCush then went before
D. D. Judy, a justice of the peace, and procured a warrant for the arrest of
Royer. G. A. Cook, sheriff, pursued Royer to the town of Burlington, arrested
and brought him back to Anderson county for trial. Royer had a preliminary
examination before D. D. Judy, J. P., who held him in a recognizance to appear
for trial at the next term of the court having criminal jurisdiction. Royer was
committed to the jail of the county, being unable to give bail. The sheriff kept
him under guard for some time at his farm; but the county commissioners ordered
the sheriff to have the prisoner kept at Shannon, the county seat. So Samuel
McDaniel was made deputy sheriff, and Royer was turned over to him, at his home
near Shannon, where McDaniel placed Royer in irons. A certain class of men had
been clamorous for the hanging of Royer; and one morning soon after the prisoner
was put in McDaniel's care it was discovered that Royer was missing. The
circumstances were strong that the clamorous persons were guilty of his murder.
The remains of Royer were never found, but there was no doubt that he had been
hung and his remains sunk in the river. The people of the county never justified
this outrageous mobbing of a prisoner, and it was regarded as a high-handed
outrage against the law of the land.

  In the trial of Royer, before Justice Judy, quite a lively and amusing
discussion occurred between D. W. Houston, who had been appointed to prosecute,
and Samuel Anderson, counsel for defendant, on a motion to set aside the writ,
for the reason that the warrant commanded the body of Royer to be brought before
the justice, "dead or alive." Anderson, somewhat intoxicated, with the warrant
in his hand, addressed the court, reading the warrant to the words, "bring him
forthwith, dead or alive;" then, in a loud voice, said: "Great Jewhilikins! who
ever heard of such a warrant—to bring a man dead or alive! If this man had been
dead and buried three days, the officer must dig him up and bring his stinking
carcass before this right honorable court, to answer the charge of horse
stealing." Houston replied to the argument in an amusing style.

  In the years 1859 and 1860 there lived a family on the North Pottowatomie
named Alderman, consisting of Alderman and his wife. In the winter of 1859 and
1860 a young woman named Sarah Potter came to live with Alderman's family. She
was a large, healthy, fine-looking lady. There lived, also, in the neighborhood
a young man, by the name of Leon Phillips. He was an industrious young man, of
good character, and had considerable property. During the winter, through the
influence of Alderman and wife, a marriage was effected between Phillips and
Sarah Potter. Phillips and his young wife lived within a half mile of
Alderman's, after their marriage, the families visiting back and forth, and to
all appearances the newly married couple were enjoying a high degree of marital
happiness. Scarcely six weeks had elapsed until Phillips was taken severely
sick, and some days afterward doctors were called, but Phillips lingered only a
few days and died, but before his death the conduct of his wife was such as to
create suspicion against her. A few hours before his death she insisted that he
should make a will, which he did, willing one-half of his property to his
brother in Europe and the other half to his wife. The morning after the death of
Phillips, and before he had been deposited in his grave, his wife sent Alderman
to consult with counsel to know whether or not the will could be set aside. In
about three davs after his burial her conduct had been so suspicious that the
entire neighborhood believed that Phillips had come to his death by foul means;
and a complaint was made before M. G. Carr, J. P., who thereupon empanneled a
coroner’s jury, and had the body taken up and examined by Drs. Blunt and
Lindsay, who gave it as their opinion that Phillips came to his death by arsenic
poison. The coroner's jury returned a verdict in accordance with the opinion of
the physicians, and that Sarah Phillips, Henry Alderman and Hannah Alderman were
guilty of the murder of Phillips. They were arrested and brought before Justice
Hidden for examination on the charge. The State was represented by W. A.
Johnson, county attorney, assisted by W. Spriggs and D..W. Houston, and the
defense by J. B. Stitt, S. J. Crawford, T. A. Shinn, R. B. Mitchell and Byron P.
Ayres. On the preliminary examination Alderman and wife were discharged, but
Sarah Phillips was committed to answer the charge of murder in the first degree.
There being no jail in the county, and none in this part of the Territory, she
was kept in charge of the sheriff, under the orders of the county commissioners,
at the Garnett House. For two or three months she was allowed to receive and
entertain her friends at the hotel; but one evening after supper, when all was
quiet, a buggy was driven into town, and about 11 o'clock at night it was
discovered that the prisoner had made her escape, and no trace of her could be
found. The grand jury that met at the next term of court found an indictment
against her for the murder of Phillips.

  In 1862 she returned to Kansas, but in the meantime she had been in
Cincinnati, Ohio, and had married again. She was again arrested, and made a
second escape, but was retaken before she got out of the county. At the
September term of the court she had employed Wilson Shannon and G. W. Smith to
defend her; and at their instance the case was .removed to Douglas county for
trial. She was tried in Lawrence in the fall of 1862. The jury failed to agree,
there being nine for conviction and three for acquittal. She was never again
brought to trial; being admitted to bail, she fled the country. The cost of this
trial to the county was over three thousand dollars. There was no doubt of the
guilt of the prisoner, but owing to many of the witnesses being absent, in the
army, she escaped the deserved punishment of the law.

  In the early settlement of the eastern part of the county, on Sugar creek,
near where H. K. Robinson now lives, settled a young man by the name of James
Lowry. He was an industrious young man, with a wife and three children, and had
opened a small farm, built a small stone house, and made other improvements. On
the 15th of October, 1861, Lowry came in from his work in his field, went to his
stable and took out his horse to drive up his cattle from the prairie, and just
as he attempted to mount he received a shot in the back, which penetrated the
spinal chord, causing death in a few hours. The shot was fired by some cowardly
assassin from behind a stone wall. He escaped through the brush and timber, and
no one saw who fired it. The dastardly assassination caused great excitement
throughout the country. The grand jury that convened in the spring of 1862, on
investigating the matter, found an indictment against Nelson Tusteson, William
Ford, E. W. Knouff and Luther Bacon for murder in the first degree. The accused
were soon after arrested and confined in the Paola jail until the special term
of the district court in July, 1862. The defendants employed D. P. Lowe, W.
Spriggs, J.G. Lindsay, Judge Hall and Samuel Stinson. The State was represented
by S. A. Riggs, Wilson Shannon and W. A. Johnson. The case came on for trial at
the July term, 1862, and defendants asked for separate trials. William Ford was
first put on trial, occupying two weeks, which resulted in a verdict of "guilty
of murder in the first degree." He was then sentenced to be executed by hanging
by the neck till dead, on the 5th of September, following. His case was carried
to the Supreme Court, and before the court passed upon the case Governor
Robinson pardoned him, which was one of his last official acts; and there were
many surmises as to why the Governor pardoned him. The State entered a nolle
prosequi as to Bacon, to use him as a witness. Knouff was put on trial at the
close of Ford's trial, but the jury failed to agree. Knouff and Tusteson asked
for a removal of the case from Anderson county, which was granted, and the case
removed to Franklin county for trial, and was tried there in 1863, and Knouff
and Tusteson acquitted, on account of so many of the witnesses being absent in
the army.

  A widow lady named Adaline Duren settled in Garnett in the summer of 1857,
with her two children, Junius and Mary L. She was one of the Louisville colony,
was about forty-five years of age, quiet, industrious and highly respected. She
supported herself and children by her own industry and economy. She resided on
Fifth avenue, between Oak and Walnut streets, in the house now occupied and
owned by Mrs. S. J. Hamilton. One evening in August, 1864, Dr. Derby was to
lecture on the science of phrenology, and most of the people of the town (it
being a pleasant evening) had gone to hear the lecture. Her son Junius was
absent in Illinois, and her daughter, Mary, at the lecture; she was left alone,
sitting by the bureau, reading. After the conclusion of the lecture Mary
returned and found the lamp burning, and saw the book she left her mother
reading lying on the floor, and the doors open; and on the floor near by was a
pool of blood, but saw not her mother. She at once gave the alarm; and in a
short time search was made and the body found at the northwest corner of the
house. She was lying on her back, terribly mutilated, her skull broken on the
left side, also near the top of the head, and her head was almost severed from
the body. On examination prints of a bloody hand were found in several places. A
coroner's jury was empanneled and medical witnesses called, who examined the
body, and found that she had been outraged as well as horribly mutilated. The
whole community was startled at this horrible murder and outrage, and every one
who could render any assistance turned out to find who was the perpetrator. The
citizens early next morning met at Moler's Hall and organized for the purpose of
finding the assassin. Two or three persons were brought in and questioned, but
nothing elicited that gave any clue to the murder. In the afternoon some bloody
clothing belonging to a negro named Warren, who was working for D. W. Houston,
was found. Warren was brought before the committee in Moler's Hall, and examined
in regard to the matter. He then told many different stories concerning the
bloody clothing, which were unsatisfactory; and on examination blood was found
on his legs and shoes; and finding no sufficient excuse for the same, he
confessed the crime, and gave a detailed account of the affair. He said he went
to Mrs. Duren's house, where she was sitting by the bureau reading; that he had
an ax in his hand, and stepped into the door, before she had time to get up, and
struck her a blow on the head and knocked her out of the chair, on the floor,
senseless, and then outraged her person; then he got up and stood there a few
moments, and she became conscious, and got up and went out at the west door,
when he went out at the front door and went around and met her at the north end
of the house, and struck her another blow with the ax and knocked her down, and
then with the blade of the ax struck her on the neck, entirely severing the
bone. He outraged her twice after this, then threw the ax over the fence, and
went to his room and to bed. 

After this confession the committee decided that inasmuch as there was no jail
in the county, and no probability of the matter being heard by a court soon, and
there being no doubt as to his guilt, and the country being in a state of war,
that Warren should be taken out and hanged by the neck till dead. He was kept
under guard until 1 o'clock p. m. on the following day, when he was taken to the
scaffolding at the jail, then in process of construction, and publicly executed
by hanging, in the presence of the largest number of persons that had ever
assembled in Garnett. It was the work of a mob, but the state of the country,
the enormity of the crime, and there being no doubt as to the guilt, were such
that the execution was justified by the entire people.

  This county has been as free from scenes of mob violence as any county of its
age; but this outrage was more than the people could bear, when in the midst of
a struggle that ^threatened the liberty of a nation, and an invading army of
rebels, under General Price, sixty thousand strong, within a few miles of our
border, which soon after we had to meet on the bloody field of carnage within
twenty-five miles of the spot where this crime was committed. Had the country
been at peace, our citizens would not have consented to the hanging; and it can
only be justified on the ground that three-fourths of all the able-bodied men
were absent in the service of their country, and their wives, mothers and
daughters were at home, almost without protection, and at the same time many
characters of Warren's kind were roaming about the country. It was a time when
we could not fight the enemy and protect our families from such assassins, and
guard our mothers, wives and daughters against their fiendish outrages. We
recognize the fact that mob violence is terrible at any time; but this was its
sternest phaze, [sic] and a part of the history of our county, and we cannot now
avoid giving it.



Additional Comments:
THE HISTORY OF ANDERSON COUNTY,
FROM ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT TO THE FOURTH OF JULY, 1876.
BY
W. A. JOHNSON,
CHAIRMAN OF HISTORICAL COMMITTEE.

PUBLISHED BY KAUFFMAN & ILER, GARNETT PLAINDEALER,
1877.

Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1877, by
KAUFFMAN & ILER, In the office of the Librarian of Congress,Washington, D. C.


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