POSTMASTERS. 51. James Stevenson '51 to 53. JoEmery Higbey, '56 to '59. H. B. F. Webster, '63 to '65. Warren 30, '66. John Moir, Jr., July 1st, A. R. Prescott from Jan. 1, 1878. Money Elijah Stevenson, '49 to siah D. Reed, '53 to '56. Hazelton, '59 to '63. G. Stiles, Sept. 2, '65, to June '66, to Dec. 31, '77. order office since 1870. SECRET SOCIETIES. A. F. & A. M.-Lodge designated "Brotherly Love", No. 204; Chartered in June, 1866. First W. M., G. F. Webster. Present W. M., S. S. Powers. Membership, 43. I. O. O. F.-Lodge designated "Postville," No. 266. Instituted December, 1873. H. P. Dawes first N. G. Present N. G., Jacob Meyer. Membership, 39. A. O. U. W.-Chartered and designated "Noble," No. 51, of Iowa. Present M. W., T. B. Easton. Membership, 28. Eclipse No. 96, Iowa Legion of Honor.-Chartered 1879. Present membership, 25, Hall Roberts, president. Post Collegium, No. 52, V. A. S. Fraternity.-Instituted May 1882. H. A. Stowe, rector. Membership, 33. James Perry, scribe. POSTVILLE BUSINESS DIRECTORY, 1882. Mayor, Norman J. Beedy; Recorder, B. F. Taylor. Attorneys: Burling & Stowe, John T. Clark, S. S. Powers. Insurance Agents: F. S. Burling, H. Dawes, O. E. Omley, S. S. Powers. Postmaster, Alva R. Prescott. Agent C., M. & St. P. R. R., James F. Wilson. Lumber-J. S. Mott. Hardware and tinware-Matthew Beucher, Mott & McAdam, H. Stone. Drugs, medicines and books-Bayless, Douglass & Co., Anton Staadt. Co. Restaurants-Edward Sheehy, John Thoma. Agricultural implements-C. A. Leithold, Kemmerer, Lamb & Pumps and windmills-A. F. Marston. Carpenters-C. P. Darling, H. P. Dawes, T. M. Miller, J. W. Sheehy, H. B. Taylor, E. E. Wilson. Hotels "Commercial," J. M. Lisher; "Burlington," Burhans Bros. Painters J. B. Reed, E. H. Putnam, Taylor, Phillip Deitzler. Photographer-B. F. Taylor. Cornet Band-D'Estaing Harrington, Leader; Gottfried, Staadt, Secretary. General merchandise-John A. Finney, Luhman & Sanders, F. W. Roberts, Skelton & McEwen, Ward & Meyer. Clothing-D. Osterdock. Fruit and confectionery-Peter Miller, John Moir, Jr. Blacksmiths-Myer & Hecker, E. Parsons, G. W. Stafford. Cabinet makers and furniture dealers-T. B. Easton, August Koevening, A. W. McDaneld. Machine and repair shop-Dresser & Fairchild. Milliners and dressmakers-Canfield & Jones, Duff & Cross, Viola Hunter. Barber-J. K. Phillips. Company D, 4th Regiment, I. N. G.-James Perry, Captain. CHAPTER VIII. Criminal Episodes; The Gorman Robbery; "Borrowing" Horses; Assassination of Cunningham; Murder of Barney Leavy; The Minert Murder; "Shoving the Queer;" An Uncle Murders His Nephew; a Postville Burglary; Fatal Stabbing Affray; A Defaulting Postmaster; Shooting of Matt. Beuscher; Other Fatal Affrays, Burglaries, Assaults, etc. We have already stated that the first term of District Court held in this county was at Columbus in July, 1852, Judge Wilson presiding, though we have reason to believe that Judge Grant appeared and tried cases in vacation prior to that date, in 1850, or '51. Previous to 1849 we were attached to Clayton County for judicial purposes. At the November term, 1853, at Waukon, numerous bills were found by the grand jury against parties for assault and battery, gambling and betting, keeping gambling house, selling liquor, etc. In nearly every case the defendant was ordered to be arrested and held in $200 bonds; and at a later term they were nearly, or quite all of them discharged. Nov. 9, 1853, Elias Topliff was indicted for official misdemeanor in the exercise of his official duties, as County Judge, arising, it is presumed, from the county seat controversy. He took a change of venue to Winneshiek County, and the case was dismissed. The first criminal action brought to trial was on the 9th of November, 1853, "The State of Iowa vs. Grove A. Warner and James A. Davis," upon an indictment for robbery. The defendants lived at or near Merrian's Ford (now Myron), and Warner had served as clerk of the old "Commissioners' Court,' Justice of the Peace, and we believe a shoemaker by trade. seems that Thos. and Jerry Gorman came into possession of some $600 or $700, and in considering where to place it for safety against the time they should have occasion to use it, one of them consulted Justice Warner. That night-or some night shortly after the Gormans were robbed of all they had about them, which happened to be only about $60, they having found a depository for the main portion of their funds. Warner skipped out, and two years later his bondsmen were mulcted in default of his appearance. Davis stood trial, was convicted of "robbery in the first degree," and sentenced to the penitentiary for ten years. S. Goodridge was prosecuting attorney, and John Laughlin, of Post, Sheriff. Since that day our county has been cursed with her share of criminals, though it has never been her lot to witness an execution. It is impossible to give anything like a full list of the crimes that have been brought to public notice within our borders; but a brief reference to the worst and more prominent of them seems called for in a work of this character. There was at one time a great demand in this western country for "borrowed" horses; and so great was the apparent demand that it was found necessary in this county, as well as in many others, to sometimes send out armed patrols to search the country for those who did the borrowing, that is in cases, of course, where it was done without leave. We cannot say that actual lynching was ever practiced, but certain it is that some parties were badly scared; and it is also certain that more than one desperate character was arrested and brought to justice by them, and others informed that another part of the country would doubtless prove more conducive to their health. We regret that we have not the data from which to cite instances, but there are doubtless those still living who might write an interesting chapter on this subject. The first case of horse stealing we have run across in our researches is that of David Clark, examined in Lansing in December, 1858, and committed to the Decorah jail. His plan was said to be, after stealing an animal, to run him off and sell him, and then lie about until he got a chance to poison the horse to destroy the evidence. The grand jury found a bill against him May 25, 1859, but before he could be brought to trial he escaped from jail by nearly killing the jailer, and was never recaptured. A remarkable case was that of Wm. Presho, a most desperate character, who was arrested for stealing horses from the livery in Waukon, we believe, in the spring of 1865. His trial came off at Lansing in June following, and on the 17th of that month he was found guilty and sentenced to two years in the Fort Madison penitentiary. Sheriff Palmer started down river with him aboard a stern wheel steamer, taking along one Dr. Hall, a man well known and highly respected, as an assistant. Late one evening Hall accompanied Presho to the stern of the boat, and both disappeared. As soon as they were missed a search was made, but neither was found, and the theory received credence for several years that both were drowned, as it was supposed that Presho had attempted to drown his guard and had gone down with him, being handcuffed at the time. Presho afterward turned up alive and sound, and his version of the affair is said to be, that after knocking Hall insensible and throwing him into the river (Hall was rather slight, while the prisoner was powerful and an excellent swimmer) he jumped over and supported himself upon a board close by the wheel, where he was concealed by a projection above and escaped discovery in the darkness when the search was made, and when the boat made her next landing he dropped into the water and got safely to the shore. Be that as it may, he escaped, and was again at his old tricks. Stealing a valuable horse somewhere in the central part of the State, he run the animal off into Minnesota and entered it in a race. The owner followed in search, passing through Waukon, and it is said discovered his horse just as it was coming victorious from the race course, having won the purse. Seeking the pretended owner, he demanded how he came by the animal, and Presho answered that he had a bill of sale which he would produce if he would accompany him to his hotel. The man did so, accompanying Presho to his room, where the latter went coolly to his trunk and taking a revolver in each hand confronted the rightful owner of the horse, declaring "there is my bill of sale, dyou!" He then cleared out, but was pursued, and swam the Minnesota river, while several shots were fired at him from the shore he had just left. He was never apprehended, we believe, but has been seen several times since then; and it is said. he ran a stock farm for several years in Nebraska or Kansas. One of the earliest murders in the county, of which we have any account, occurred in Linton township in 1863 or 1864, the particulars being substantially as follows. It appears that a difficulty of long standing existed between one Girard Riley and a neighbor named Cunningham, and finally Riley assassinated him, lying in wait in a wood, as he passed by. The murderer had made due preparations for the awful deed, loading his gun and firing on the unsuspecting man from the rear, at a time when he least of all expected to meet his deadly enemy. He had carefully saddled a horse, and as soon as the deed was committed made good his escape from the county, and was never heard of afterward until in the winter of 1874 and 1875, when Sheriff Hewitt received a letter from one John O'Toole, at Lexington, Ky., to the effect that if he would come to Lexington he (O'Toole) would point out to him a man named Girard Riley, who committed a murder in Lin ton township some eleven years previous. Acting upon the request of O'Toole, the Sheriff procured from Gov. Carpenter, of this State, a requisition on the Governor of Kentucky, aimed with which he started for Lexington, and was soon in communication with the writer of the letter. Judge of the indignation and astonishment of the official, when O'Toole doggedly refused to point out the whereabouts of the man, or to give any information whatever about him, unless Mr. Hewitt would pay him in cash $300. His claims were based upon a statement to the effect that he had been Riley's neighbor and friend; that he was perfectly familiar with all the circumstances and facts of the tragedy; that he was shortly afterward in communication with the murderer, and finally both settled in Kentucky. There O'Toole loaned Riley $300 to start in business. This sum he demanded back from Riley, but the fellow coolly informed his benefactor and friend that all his property was in his wife's name; that O'Toole could not make him pay it, and he refused point blank to return the money. Determined to seek revenge, he told Riley that he would yet be even with him; and in due time the letter to Sheriff Hewitt was written, and that official summoned. He stated that Riley was living under an assumed name, and was in good circumstances; that all he (O'Toole) wanted was the borrowed money, and if that was forthcoming he would at once deliver him up. The Sheriff refused to comply with this demand, but consulted with the Sheriff of Lexington County, and put him in possession of all the facts; and with the promise of all the assistance in the power of that official the case still rests. Perhaps the most foul murder ever perpetrated in the county was that of Barney Leavy by Charles O'Neill, on Lansing Ridge, in 1860, the circumstances being as follows: Leavy was a teamster between Lansing and Decorah, and much of the time put up at Marsden's, on the Ridge. O'Neill lived not far from there on the same road. One Sunday a young man by the name of Hughes, somewhat intoxicated, was driving back and forth along the road, and stopped with a companion at Mauch's brewery for a glass of beer, where he met Leavy and got into an altercation with him, both being in a mood to indulge in pugilism. One or two Sundays after this occurrence it was being talked over at Mauch's, when Leavy, in the presence of O'Neill, declared he could whip Hughes; whereupon O'Neill, who was an old friend of young Hughes' father, with whom he had chummed in California, resented his language and hot words passed between them. At a later hour, after they had left the brewery, Leavy whipped O'Neill, who then went home and armed himself with a knife and gun, but apparently concluding that the knife would do the work the best, secreted the latter under the fence. He then proceeded to a point on the road where he knew Leavy would pass, and which was darker than elsewhere, the trees at that time |
