Murder of Joel Drake, Gentry County, Missouri >From "History of Gentry and Worth Counties", Crimes & Incidents, St. Joseph, Mo.: National Historical Company, 1882. ********************************************************************** Joel Drake came to Gentry County about 1858, and purchased a farm two or three miles west of Albany, where he resided many years, subsequent- ly selling his farm and moving to Albany, where he remained about three months and went to Platte County, Missouri. Drake was a reckless, but innocent kind of an individual, his worst fault being that of hard drinking. By this vice he succeeded in squandering the better part of his property. During the war he enlisted in the Union army, but was soon after discharged on account of disability. It is said that his married life was not the most agreeable; the fault probably being his own. John Grable, the murderer, was a brother-in-law of Drake. He resided two or three miles from Albany, and was suspected of having committed a number of crimes while here. During the war he was in the Southern army, and is reported to have been one of the parties who fired the railroad bridge over Platte River, in 1861. On the 30th of December, 1870, Drake and Grable were in Albany for the last time, (they leaving the county on that day for St. Joseph). Drake, while here in December, was engaged in transacting business in the law office of Judge Lewis, and before leaving obtained a check, drawn by Messrs. Degginger, Hundley & Co., on the first National Bank of St. Joseph, for $475, payable to "Joel Drake or order." On the 6th of January, 1870, John Grable went to Parkville, Platte County, to procure a coffin which he said was to bury Joel Drake in, and stated the manner of his death. This excited the suspicion of some neighbors, who, on obtaining a view of the body, demanded an inquest to be held to establish the facts of his death in law. The inquest was held before Squire Davis, and Grable made the following, very unsatisfactory statement, before the jury: "I left Albany, Gentry County, December 31st, in company with Joel Drake. I understood from certain parties that Drake had when he left Albany, a check for $475, which was assigned to me, and I drew the money at the First National Bank, St. Joseph, and paid it over to Drake immediately afterwards. He gave me $120 to give to his wife. In the afternoon he left the boarding house, and I saw nothing of him until Sunday in the afternoon, when I found him in a house of ill fame in the north part of St. Joseph, about one hundred yards from Blacksnake bridge, dead. When I left St. Joseph, I placed the body in the wagon, and did not move it, any more than necessary, until I reached this place. The body was placed in the wagon Sunday evening about nine o'clock, rolled up in a blanket by three men, who threatened in case I told which house I found it at, to swear the murder against me. On that account I did not make the murder known." A young woman named Mary E. Murphy, who got into Grable's wagon at the residence of William Grable, a brother of the prisoner, near Hall's Station, to go to Park- ville, testified after the inquest as follows: "John Grable came to our house last Monday evening, January 3rd; he stayed all night. Tuesday morning we started down here. Drake was in the wagon with us, dead. John Grable was the driver. The body was lying on the back part of the wagon with the head to the tail gate. I was present when the corpse was taken from the wagon, and no blood was dripping from it." The body of Drake exhibited several frightful bruises about the head, evidently inflicted with some blunt instrument. In the wagon there were large spots of blood on the dash board and in front of the seat, and also at the rear end, where the head of the deceased was found lying, while similar spots were observed on the rear axle-tree and wheels, and the vehicle itself exhibited evidences of having been struck with some heavy weapon, all going to prove that the deceased had met his death while in the wagon. These facts were brought out during the coroner's inquest, yet the verdict of the jury was: "We, the jury, on examination of the body of Joel Drake and testimony produced before us, believe the said Joel Drake came to his death by the hands of an assassin unknown to the jury." On Saturday, following the examination, David Bender, formerly of St. Joseph, but at that time residing at Parkville, where Drake and Grable had resided since their removal from Albany, came to St. Joseph and on Sunday morning went before Justice Saltzman and filed the following affidavit: "Personally appeared before me, the under- signed, a justice of the peace within and for the county aforesaid, David Bender, who being duly sworn, upon his oath says that, to the best of his knowledge and belief, one John Grable did, on or about the second day of January, 1870, in the county of Buchanan, State of Miss- ouri, commit murder by taking the life of Joel Drake, and feloniously did commit an assault upon him, the said Joel Drake, with some deadly weapon to him unknown, therewith inflicting divers dangerous wounds upon the person of the said Joel Drake, and from the effects of which said wounds the said Joel Drake did die. DAVID BENDER." On the same day (Sunday) Sheriff Fish, armed with a warrant issued by Justice Salt- zman, started for Parkville, where John Grable was still in charge of the officers of the law. On his way he stopped at Hall's Station and visited the house of William Grable, who was not at home when the offi- cer arrived. Some little children out at the fence were questioned about a wagon having been there with a dead body in it, and their frightened looks and evasive answers were calculated to arouse suspi- cion. The wife of William Grable was then questioned. At first she equivocated, and said she did not know there was a dead body in the wagon, but finally declared she would "not tell a lie about it," and stated that the dead body of Drake was in the wagon. Before the sheriff left, William Grable came home, but denied any knowledge of the dead body being in the wagon, and no pressing could induce him to con- fess his knowledge of such a fact. The sheriff proceeded to Parkville on Sunday, the person of John Grable was delivered to him, on Monday he returned with him to St. Joseph. The examination of the accused was finally fixed for the 18th of January. Upon that day the prisoner was escorted in by the sheriff, his wrists being closely shackled. He looked hard faced and outwardly self possessed, but there was an under- current of feeling manifest and an anxiety that his efforts poorly con- cealed. The prisoner was about thirty-five years of age, with dark hair and olive complexion, face shorn except a thin, blackened mustache; grey eyes, with a dull, stolid expression, giving evidence of dissipa- tion; the contour being on the whole, rather good than bad. The result of his examination was that he was held for trial in the Circuit Court of Buchanan County. It was shown that he murdered his victim in Buch- anan County, or about the line of the same. John Grable said he com- mitted the murder three miles west of Rochester, Andrew County. They were drinking at the time, and were going in the direction of St. Joseph. They got into an altercation, when Grable struck Drake on the head with a breast or neck-yoke, several times, crushing in the skull, after which, he laid him down in the wagon, covered him up and went on to St. Joseph, in the evening of the day on which he killed him, the body remaining in the wagon. After spreeing around in St. Joseph all night, going to houses of ill fame and a number of drinking saloons, he continued his journey the next day to Parkville or to Hall's Station. The greater portion of the money, for which Grable cashed the check of $475, was recovered, being found near the road in the vicinity of Parkville. He was finally tried in the circuit court, found guilty of murder in the first degree, sentenced to death and hanged during 1870, near St. Joseph. ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Joe Miller Penny Harrell ====================================================================