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INDIANA GENEALOGY EXPRESS
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LAWRENCE COUNTY,
INDIANA
HISTORY & GENEALOGY |
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NEWSPAPERS
Source: Nwe Albany Daily Ledger
(New Albany, IN) Vol: XI Issue: 3237 Page: 2
Dated: Feb. 27, 1860
From the Bedford Independent we learn that our old
friend Isaac Rector, for many years a cashier of the
branch at Bedford, of the State Bank of Indiana, has
established an office in the old bank buildings in that
place for the purpose of receiving money on deposit, trading
in gold and silver and buying bills of exchange, &c.
From a personal acquaintance of many years standing with
Mr. Rector, we can safely recommend him to all persons
having business in that line, as a reliable man, and one who
will promptly conduct business as it should be.
Bloomington Republican |
Source: Plain Dealer
(Cleveland, OH) Page: 2
Dated: Apr. 2, 1866
The Bedford, Indiana, Tragedy.
[Special to the Commercial]
In the case of Dr. Benjamin F. Newland, indicted
for the murder of Prof. Madison Evans, at Bedford,
Indiana, recently, a change of venue was taken to Floyd
Circuit Court, and the trial set for the 8th of May next.
The change was granted by Judge Byckell, on affidavit
of the defense that the excitement was so great as to render
it impossible for the defendent to have a fair trial
in the Lawrence Circuit Courts.
There is a good deal of political feeling of
witnesses had been summoned, and a heavy array of legal
talent on each side.
A good deal of political feeling, eh? How is
that? Prof. Evans had, after an artful and
persistent effort - running through two or three years -
succeeded in seducing the daughter of Dr. Newland - a
mere child. The doctor learned the ruin which the
scoundrel had brought upon his family, and he shot him dead
for his infamous crime. It was right that the villain
should die thus at the hands of an outraged father.
But, although Evans was a notoriously bad man - and
had been caught in adultery at Greencastle a short time
before his death - yet he was loyal, ye gods - a
Lincoln Elector, and a pulpit slang-wrangler withal, and
therefore, there is "a good deal of political
excitement" - so much that a change of venue has been
granted in the premises. Newland is under forty
thousand dollar bonds. He is a Democrat, of course. -
Logan Gazette. |
Source: Cincinnati Daily Gaette
(Cincinnati, OH) Page: 2
Dated: Aug. 24, 1867
TRAGEDIES IN INDIANA.
A Woman Murders Her Sister-in-Law - Fatal Affray at Bedford.
From the Salem (Indiana) Times, 22d.
The most shocking affair that ever transpired within
the bounds of Washington county was committed in Gibson
township, between the hour of five and six o'clock on the
morning of Tuesday last. The particulars, so far as we
have been able to gather them, are about as follows:
Jane Williams, an unmarried woman, and aged perhaps
forty years, resides with a married brother in the vicinity
of Little York, a village in Washington county. Her
brother, William Williams, having some business with
one of his neighbors, left his wife and sister, the only
occupants of his own house, and walked to that of his
neighbor, and while absent his sister attacked Mrs. W.
with a knife, while she was preparing breakfast, inflicting
several savage cuts about the throat and neck, cutting her
throat from ear to ear, severing the windpipe entirely, and,
in fact, almost severing the head from the body.
Mr. Williams, who had not yet been absent half
an hour, returned, when his sister met him at the gate and
informed him of the terrible deed she had committed, saying
that she had killed his wife, and was going out after the
neighbors. Her tale, of course, seemed incredible to
Mr. W., but when he entered the house he found his
wife, whom he had left but a few moments before in perfect
health, a ghastly, bleeding corpse upon the floor.
The immediate cause or causes which led to the bloody
deed we are not prepared to relate, but it is said that the
parties have never lived agreeably together.
Mrs. Williams, we are informed, often left home
in the absence of her husband, fearing violence. A
vein of insanity is said to have run through the family of
the murderess, but it does not seem to us that this act
could have been committed in a fit of insanity, when she has
had the life of her victim in view for so long a time.
As we before have stated, she acknowledged the deed from the
first, and said that as God was at the head of all things,
so must he be at the head of this. The murderess was
brought to Salem and lodged in jail, at about 5 o'clock on
the day of the murder, and not until the massive prison door
had creaked on its iron hinges did she manifest the
least concern about the awful crime she had committed.
From the New Albany (Ind.) Commercial, 22d.
We are called upon again this morning to chronicle
one of those terrible tragedies which have lately become so
frequent. As will be seen from a special dispatch in
another column, William Vestal, of Bedford, was shot
and mortally wounded by Henry Ewald, a noted
desperado and saloon keeper of that place. The
occurrence took place soon after dark last night, and up to
ten o'clock Vestal was still alive, although the
physicians said there was no hope of his recovery.
Mr. Vestal was a brother of the Louisville, New
Albany & Chicago Railroad, at that point, and was considered
a very peaceable citizen.
Vestal had been drinking, but from the accounts
we have received, it appears that Ewald had no
provocation for the deed. Two shots were fired, the
latter taking effect in the neck. Ewald was
arrested at once and placed in jail.
The greatest excitement prevailed among the citizens,
and at a late hour last night they were holding a meeting at
the Court House for the purpose of administering summary
justice upon the murderer. It is to be hoped that
better counsels will prevail, and that the law will be
allowed to take its course. |
Source: Cincinnati Daily
Gazette (Cincinnati, OH) Page: 1
Dated: Nov. 25, 1871
Fire in Bedford, Indiana
Special Dispatch to the Cincinnati Gazette
BEDFORD, IND., Nov. 24.
Our new graded school building burned down this morning
at 2 o'clock. Loss $27,000. The cause of the
fire is unknown. No insurance.
The building was erected last summer, and was a very
substantial structure.
School had been going on only about two months. |
Source: Cincinnati Daily
Enquirer (Cincinnati, OH) Vol: XXXI Issue: 297
Page: 2
Dated: Oct. 24, 1873
THE INDIANA HORROR
Full Details of the Terrible Tragedy at Bedford
[From Louisville Courier-Journal, Yesterday.]
The horrible butchery of nearly an entire family at
Bedford, Lawrence County, Ind., on Sunday night, has created
the most intense excitement all through Southern Indiana,
and especially that portion on the line of the New Albany
and Chicago Railroad. Our New Albany Reporter has
gained further and more detailed particulars of the terrible
deed of blood. The oldest girl of the murdered man
states that all of the children were in bed, and that her
father came in and commenced cutting all of the children.
It appears that Morrow then came from the front room,
where he had gone to bed, the screams of the children
arousing him. Morrow and the wife of
Christopher both grappled with the desperate and
infuriated man; Mrs. Christopher holding to the arm
and leg of her husband, who is one-legged.
Christopher, in the meantime, made a savage onslaught
upon Morrow with the knife, when the latter, after a
desperate struggle, got the knife from the hand of
Christopher, and commenced stabbing him. He also,
by the statement of the daughter, drew a revolver and was
going to shoot Christopher, when Mrs. Christopher
exclaimed, "Don't shoot, you might kill one of hate
children." Morrow then threw the pistol down
and again commenced inflicting his terrible stabs upon the
already dying man. While Mrs. Christopher
was holding her husband, or when she first came into the
room, she received the bloody and dangerous cuts from her
insane husband. Her wounds, however, it is stated,
will not prove fatal. Mrs. Christopher makes
the following statement of the bloody affair.
On Saturday night Mr. Christopher complained of
Mr. John H. Morrow being too familiar with her, and
had a revolver which he had bought in Bedford, and that he
intended to kill Mr. M. with it. She got the
pistol from him and gave it to Mr. Morrow. Mr.
Morrow and she went over to William French's, and
stated that their lives had been threatened by C.,
and that they wished to stay all night. French's
wife refused them the privilege. They then went back
to the house, and Christopher and Morrow made
up and they stayed all night. On Sunday evening
Morrow came over to Christopher's, and after
sitting a while went to bed. About nine o'clock
Christopher got up and commenced stabbing the children.
She undertook to prevent him, and called to Morrow
for assistance. Morrow grappled with
Christopher, and was cut by him in four or five places.
Morrow fell over Christopher and wrenched the
knife cut of his hand, and raised partly up and stabbed
Christopher.
At the Coroner's jury Morrow was sworn, and
gave the following statement:
He said that, on account of the quarrels with his
family about Mrs. Christopher and himself, he
frequently stayed at Christopher's house and ate
meals there. That he and Mrs. Christopher went
over to Melvin French's house on Saturday night, and
asked the privilege of staying all night, in consequence of
C.'s having threatened their lives, but Mrs. F.
refused to let them stay. They then went back and
went to bed, and that all passed off quietly that night.
There had been no quarrel on Sunday night - Christopher
going to bed in the back room. Between nine and
ten o'clock he was awakened by the screams of the children
and Mrs. Christopher. He started to go nto the
bed-room and met Christopher at the bedroom door,
with the bed-clothes wrapped around him. He states
that he does not recollect what took place afterward, till
he himself and Christopher lying on the floor, he
with his heels on Christopher's breast, and
Christopher striking at him with a knife. He
wrenched the knife out of his hand and commenced cutting
Christopher. He testifies that he tried his best
to kill Christopher, to prevent his doing further
injury to himself and the family.
Drs. Benjamin Newland and John D. Simpson
held a post mortem examination upon the body of
Christopher, and found twenty-seven wounds. Among
others was a wound severing the jugular vein. The
verdict of the jury was that the deceased came to his death
from wounds inflicted by John H. Morrow.
The wounds inflicted upon the oldest daughter, a
girl about ten years of age, are the most sever, one of them
being a deep cut in the breast, penetrating to the lung,
which has caused bleeding internally. At noon
yesterday it was not thought that she could survive her
injuries. The wounds on the other two children are not
considered serious, much less fatal. The baby was but
slightly cut. Morrow does not seem to have any
regrets for the part he played in the dreadful tragedy,
holding that all he did was done in self-defense, and that
had it not been for him Christopher would have
murdered the entire family. Public opinion holds that
Morrow did wrong in going repeatedly to
Christopher's house when he knew that Christopher
was madly jealous of him. The trial of Morrow
will commence in a few days. |
Indianapolis Sentinel
(Indianapolis, IN) Vol: XXIII Issue: 219 Page 1
Dated: Feb. 5, 1875
GENERAL TELEGRAMS.
THE BEDFORD MURDERERS.
THEIR ARREST - FIERCE RESISTANCE OF BACHTEL - THE
EXAMINATION - COMMITTAL OF THE PRISONERS - NO DANGER FROM
JUDGE LYNCH - PUBLIC SENTIMENT
(By Telegraph to the Sentinel)
BEDFORD, IND., Feb. 4. - George Bachtel and
Arthur Bissot, the murderers of George G. Carney,
were arrested at Olney, Ill., on the 2d inst. In
making the arrests the marshal of Olney and a Cincinnati
drummer came very near losing their lives. Bachtel,
who is a desperate character, shot four times at the marshal
and twice at the drummer before he would surrender.
Bissot surrendered without showing fight. They
were securely bound and brought to Mitchell last
night by the deputy sheriff with a posse of men brought
here. They were received at the depot by about four
hundred men, boys, women, etc., all anxious to see the
bloody demons, but I am glad to say that there was no
disposition whatever manifested toward lynching. They
were taken before Esquire Rector and, waiving a
preliminary examination, where then conducted to jail to
await the action of the grand jury, which does not convene
until May next. I have been told by those who had them
in charge that they do not deny the killing of Carney.
The verdict before the coroner's jury was that they
confessed to four different persons the killing.
Bachtel is one of the worst men that has ever lived in
this county. He is a noted robber and desperado, but
this is the first time he has ever been accused of the
terrible crime of murder. Bissot is a mere boy
and an industrious, hardworking lad, but for some time he
has been a boon companion of Bachtel's, and has
doubtless been with him in some of the former robberies.
There is a full determination on the part of the citizens to
have dealt to these young men the full plenty of the law
executed by a court of justice, but from all that I can
learn from conferring with the citizens, there is no danger
whatever of a mob's lynching them. I am satisfied that
the citizens here would turn out en masse to protect them
from a mob. These people ask for justice through the
law and will have it in a legal and no other way.
Mr. Carney our murdered night watch, was a gentleman and
an honest and faithful servant of the people. He was
shot down while in the line of duty, but his friends and all
the citizens ask only that the just penalty of the law may
be executed against his murderers. The excitement is
now all over and Bedford is a quiet a town as there is in
Indiana. Bachtel is cross and refuses to talk,
but Bissot is as usual, smiling and very cheerful, to
all appearance. |
Source: Jackson Citizen Patriot
(Jackson, MI) Vol: XXX Issue: 44 Page: 3
Dated: May 15, 1893
AN INDIANA LYNCH.
MURDERER TURLEY HANGED BY A MOB AT BEDFORD, IND.
Forty-Three Masked Men Compel the Sheriff to Deliver the
Keys to the Jail. - Then Turley, Who Murdered a Conductor,
Was Taken From His Cell and Lynched in the Jail Yard.
BEDFORD, Ind., Mary 15 - At
2:10 this morning a mob of 100 men appeared before the jail
here, forced the sheriff to give up the keys, and took
John Turley, who murdered Conductor J. F. Price
at Seymour, from his cell and hanged him in the jail yard.
Turley begged for his life, but his appeals were met
with silence.
The lynching was conduced in a most orderly manner,
Turley's cries being the only sound heard.
After lynching their man, the mob requested that the body
should not be taken down until daylight, after which they
dispersed. The mob hanged Turley to a tree in
the jail yard, within twelve feet of the railroad track, so
all passing trains this morning can see his body.
There were forty-three men at the jail masked, and about
fifty or sixty standing guard at different points over the
city.
Turley's crime was the murder of Conductor J.
F. Price, of the Mississippi & Ohio road. The
assassination was as cowardly as it was brutal. It
seems that Turley tendered an old pass when asked for
his fare, which the conductor refused. After an
altercation Turley's father, a wealthy stock dealer
of Lawrence county, paid his fair for him. Price
then left and was standing in the door, with his back toward
Turley, who was closely following him, when the
latter fired twice, each bullet piercing the kidneys and
passing forward and through the stomach of his victim.
Price lingered a few hours, regaining consciousness
only within a few moments before his death. |
Source: Freeman
(Indianapolis, IN) Vol: 5 Issue: 20 Page: 4
Dated: May 20, 1893
ABOUT once a year, Indiana serves notice on the outside
world, that Judge Lynch is not entirely out of
business on the Hoosier diggins. The hanging of
John Turley, at Bedford, early Sunday morning, the man
who shot Conductor Price, was a cold-blooded piece of
business, engaged in by all accounts, by the "best" people
in that section. Mob law is to be condemned whether in
South Carolina or Indiana, and it is to be hoped the guilty
parties in the above case, will be apprehended and punished
accordingly. |
Source: Indiana State Journal
(Indianapolis, IN) Vol: LXXX Issue: 21 Page: 2
Dated: May 26, 1897
TWO MURDERS ACQUITTED.
Judge's Instructions at Bedford Cleared Brown and Sexton.
BEDFORD, Ind., May 21. - After
nearly twelve hours' deliberation the jury in the
Brown-Sexton murder trial returned a verdict of not
guilty to-day. The prisoners were congratulated by the
crowd on their narrow escape. But for action of one
juror, who understood the law held a man guilty until proved
innocent, a verdict would have been given in two hours.
They left for Louisville to-night. They invaded
Indiana. |
Source: Indiana State Journal
(Indianapolis, IN) Vol: LXXIV Issue: 11 Page: 5
Dated: Mar. 15, 1899
Robbing Officials Fined Only $10
BEDFORD, Ind., March 13. - The
investigation of Lawrence county officials started by
Judge Martin last November has passed through all
formalities, from the indictments to the rendering of
judgments on pleas of guilty by the Various defendants.
The matter quietly went through its various stages because
newspapers kept still about the rottenness exposed.
The Bedford Democrat was very severe last campaign, but it
cooled down later on because it depends largely on
Republican patronage. Indictments against county and
ex-county commissioners, ex-county auditor, ex-mayor of
Bedford and two justices of the peace of Shawswick township
were sustained. The matter is now virtually at an end,
brought about by the officials disgorging and taking nominal
fines of $10. the lowest penalty. |
Source: Springfield
Republican (Springfield, MA) Issue: 257 Page: 5
Dated: Jan. 26, 1904
THE BEDFORD MURDER CASE.
Indiana Detectives Believe They Have Established a Motive
for the Crime
Detectives at work on the
mystery of the murder of Miss Sarah Schaefer, teacher
of Latin in the Bedford (Ind.) schools, believe they have
established a motive for the crime. They are satisfied
that the tall man in the long overcoat who was seen lurking
in the vicinity of Johnson's house is the murderer
and that the man is the one who was annoying Miss
Schaefer. The police believe that this man was
enamored of Miss Schaefer and that she had repulsed
him. Brooding over his passion for the young woman and
determined to have an interview with her, the police think
the man had made up his mind to kill her if she again
resented his advances and watched for her as she left the
Johnson boarding house.
Joseph Heitger yesterday at Bloomington, Ind.,
whose name has been mentioned a connection with that of
Sarah Schaefer, called on a representative of the
Indianapolis News and stated that the talk that he was in
any way connected with Miss Schaefer was absolutely
false. "You may say," said Heitger, "that I met
Miss Schaefer only once. I never was at her
house to call on her. I talked to her only in the
presence of Miss Knox. I never wrote a word to
her in my life, nor received a word from her and have hardly
spoken to her since thanksgiving night, when I met her at
the basket ball game."
Chief-of-Police Chief M. C. Russell and Sheriff
Smith of Bedford, Ind., in company with former Chief
Jacob Hanger of the Louisville police force had a
conference at Louisville, Ky., yesterday with a woman who
two days ago notified the Bedford police that she probably
could throw some light on the Sara Schaefer murder.
The interview took place at the Louisville police station
Chief Russell said the woman with whom he was in
conference three hours had given him much information about
Miss Schaefer and her friends and acquaintances.
Mrs. Frank Gross of Chicago, a sister of Miss
Schaefer, is now in Elkhart to attend Miss Schaefer's
funeral. Mrs. Gross said a letter written by
Miss Schafer complaining of annoyance by a man while
calling on her, gave the name of Heitger, saying that
after he had spent a pleasant evening, he "got smart, and
she showed him the door, after getting his hat and coat."
Neither the letter written by Sarah nor Mrs.
Gross's reply, which was signed Edna, dwell
on the incident. Members of the Schafer family
say they do not think Heitger had any connection with
the crime, and that his indiscretion was simply the boyish
act of one who did not realize Miss Schafer's
aversion to unseemly conduct. |
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
(Philadelphia, PA) Vol: 150 Issue: 137 Pages: 4
Dated: May 16, 1904
M'DONALD MURDER TRIAL ON
Bedford, Indiana, Anticipates Exciting Week
Special to The Inquirer.
BEDFORD, Ind., May 15, - The trial of James McDonald,
on the charge of murdering Miss Sarah Schafer,
teacher in the Bedford High School, will commence tomorrow.
Miss Schafer was found murdered in a cab shed on
the morning of January 22, in the most prominent residential
section of the city.
McDonald since his incarceration has had nothing
to say. He apparently has lost interest in the
religious matters which he developed soon after his arrest
when he joined the church and was baptized.
The jury which will try the case will be drawn from a
special panel of 100 names, which includes the most
prominent citizens of the county. The trial will
probably occupy a week or more. |
Source: Elkhart Truth
(Elkhart, IN) Page: 4
Dated: July 5, 1904
POLITICAL CHAT
The Republican campaign was opened at Bedford Saturday
night by J. Frank Hanly, candidate for governor and
John C. Chany of Sullivan, candidate for congress
from the 2d district, who spoke in the court house park to
over 1,000 people. They were also the principal
speakers at the reunion of company D, 127th Indiana
regiment, in the afternoon at Shawswick park near Bedford. |
Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram
(Fort Worth, TX) Vol: XXI Issue: 199 Page: 2
Dated: Jan. 19, 1905
ARREST IN INDIANA MURDER MYSTERY
Two Bedford Men Held In Connection With Killing of Sarah
Schaefer, Jan. 1, 1904.
BEDFORD, Ind., Jan. 19. - City
Marshal James Myers arrested Frank Evans and
Elmer Browning on a warrant charging Evans with
the murder and Browning with the complicity in the
murder of Sarah Schaefer, the Bedford high school
Latin teacher, who was murdered on the night of Jan. 21,
last. Evans is a stone grinder and is employed
at the Bedford Salem stone mill. |
Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram
(Fort Worth, TX) Vol: XXI Issue: 217 Page: 1
Dated: Feb. 6, 1905
PRISONER HELD IN INDIANA MURDER CASE
Investigation of Sara Schaefer's Murder at Bedford, Ind.,
Will Be Resumed by Grand Jury Feb. 20
BEDFORD, Ind., Feb. 6. -
Justice McLaughlin today made a decision in the
preliminary hearing of Frank Evans and Elmer
Browning, charged with the murder of Miss Sarah
Schaefer. Evans was released and Browning
held to the grand jury, which will meet Feb. 20. |
Source: Olympia Daily
Recorder (Olympia, WA) - Vol: X Issue: 29 Page: Twp
Dated: Jun. 14, 1911
The contractor for the
Bellingham federal building, replying to criticism against
the discrimination practiced against native stone in favor
of the Bedford, Indiana, stone, declares the entire
responsibility rests with the government architects of the
treasury department at Washington, D. C. and that their
specifications written in the contract called for buff
Bedford, Indiana, limestone, although the contractor had
submitted bids based on either the sandstone, such as the
Tenino or Chuckanut stone, or limestone. If Olympia is
to secure the use of native stone with opportunity for
choice of the Tenino stone, as is the general desire here,
this matter must be put straight up to the government
architects, good and strong, while there is yet time before
the specifications are completed or the contract awarded.
The specifications should be made to call for native
Washington stone, and the Tenino quarries, with the
advantage of a short haul, would likely secure the contract
for furnishing the stone, and in any event building stone
from this state would be sued, and state industry and labor
benefited. Let a halt be called in these discrimatory
tactics in the contract for the Olympia federal building. |
Source: Fort Wayne News Sentinel
(Fort Wayne, IN) Page one
Dated Apr. 4, 1919
HELD AS ONE OF INDIANA GANG OF BANK BURGLARS
Aged Man Arrested at Bedford Had a Room Full of Bank Loot
(By United Press)
BEDFORD, Ind., April 4. - Two weeks ago Harry E.
Miller, alias W. F. Moore, 60 yeras of age,
bought a little restaurant here and in connection with this
business acted as hotel porter. Today he was under
arrested, charged with bank robbery, evidence having been
obtained connecting Miller with five different
robberies in Indiana, the loot of which totalled over
$100,000 in liberty bonds and other valuable property.
The gang of which Miller is charged with being a
member, are acetylene workers and have operated in
Bainbridge, Stinesville, Sharpsville and Mooresville,
Indiana. Some members of the gang are now in jail at
Rockville, Ind., and Louisville, Ky.
A search of Miller's bedroom uncovered large quantities
of jewelry, watches, diamond rings and a complete kit of
burglar's tools. Thrift stamps by the hundreds,
several leather pocketbooks used by banks, $300 worth of
clothing and a sack containing $20 worth of pennies, bearing
the Mooresville bank mark of identification, were also
found.
Miller was arrested on equest of H. C.
Webster, superintendent of the protective department of
the Indiana Bankers' association. His arrest resulted
from receipt of an anonymous letter from Cleveland, which is
supposed to have been his home. |
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