From Geneva Courier 12 July 1876

MURDER AND SUICIDE - The rumor of murder and suicide near Seneca Castle, published in the Courier of last week, had this foundation, that a man named Saxton shot his wife once in the breast, and three times in the head, and afterward placed the revolver at his own heart and killed himself.  Both expired at nearly the same time.

Saxton had been intoxicated for 3 or 4 days; he had been at Geneva, Orleans, Clifton and Newark.  At the last named place he took surreptitiously a revolver from a man who had invited him to dinner--the same weapon with which he killed his wife and himself.  On Wednesday afternoon at his house a mile south west of Seneca Castle, he compelled his wife to enter a sleeping room with him and immediately fired upon her, as already described.  Mrs. Hurgott, a sister of Mrs. Saxton, keeping house in the same place, soon after went into the bed-room and dragged the unconscious victim from the bed where she lay, to the sitting-room.  Saxton did not molest her, but followed and standing by the prostrate form of his wife took his own life.  The only pretense of cause he made for his acts was his belief that his wife's mother who was coming to visit them would attempt their separation.  He was her second husband, and they had one child.  Her age was 23; and he was about ten years older.  He was buried on Thursday evening and she on Friday morning.  Coroner Weyburn held the inquest.

ANOTHER ACCOUNT - (Our Seneca Castle correspondent reports the facts as follows:)  The facts as reported by good authority concerning the "fearful rumor" of last week, are substantially these:  July 1st, two men named David Saxton and James Manuel, living a mile west of Castleton, obtained liquor at the tavern in Orleans, and went off on a "spree," and by some means David Saxton got possessed of a pistol.  July 5th, he was at home and worked as usual and appeared very nearly sober.  About four o'clock in the afternoon, he went to the house, and just as his wife's mother and brother from Pennsylvania were approaching the house, he dragged his wife into a bedroom and immediately shot her--two balls entering the brain, another the cheek, and the fourth the heart.  He then shot himself through the heart and died instantly.  Mrs. Saxton breathed a short time.  Her sister, Mrs. Hurgott, was the only witness.  They leave two small children.  At the coroner's inquest, the verdict was, "Cause of death--partial insanity superinduced by excessive use of liquor."  While it is evident that liquor was largely the occasion of this terrible scene, it is thought by many that poverty and family troubles had driven Mr. Saxton to desperation, and to do what he would not have done had he received help in the right direction.  The question in many mouths now is will E. Goodale be allowed to continue selling and giving men liquor and without license, too.  Is there sufficient temperance pluck in this vicinity to see that he receives his just deserts?


From Geneva Courier 9 July 1879

Murder and Suicide at Canandaigua - Friday morning's Rochester Democrat has some particulars of a most terrible double tragedy enacted at Canandaigua during the early part of Wednesday night: -- Jacob Neu, a middle aged citizen of the place, became infuriated and incensed at his wife for some cause.  His rage knew no bounds, and he rushed upon her with the demonic fury of a madman.  With an ordinary axe, which he had grasped in his frenzy, he attacked her.  Though she screamed frightfully and strove to defend herself from the onslaught, Neu dealt her a deadly blow on the head and felled her so she died almost instantly. After satisfying himself of the fatal effect of the blow, Neu took his razor and deliberately cut his own throat, severing the jugular artery and veins completely and opening the windpipe, so that he lived but a very short time.

When the blood-curdling scene of the double murder was discovered by the neighbors it presented a ghastly and sickening sight.  Pools of blood all over, clotted stains on the upturned faces, and two great horrible wounds laid open to the discoverer. Physicians were summoned, but to no avail and the coroner was finally notified.


From Geneva Gazette 11 January 1884

A Murder!  -  AN AGED FARMER OF ONTARIO COUNTY KILLED IN COLD BLOOD - OBJECT OF THE CRIME, ROBBERY.

Canandaigua, Jan 7 --  A well to do farmer, aged 70 years, named Benson Hawkins, living alone in the town of South Bristol, Ontario county, was on Saturday afternoon found murdered in his bed -- the deed having been committed on Friday night or early on Saturday morning.  His married daughter, residing near by, visited her father's house on Saturday afternoon, and not finding him about the house, went to his bed-room, where a horrible sight presented itself.  The old man's body was lying on the bed with his skull completely broken in and his face mutilated beyond recognition.  On the floor near the bed, lay a stick of ordinary stove wood, covered with blood, showing how the deed was done.  Mr. Benson (sic) had evidently retired Friday night as usual, as he was undressed.  The bedding and furniture were smeared with the murdered man's blood.  On the stove was a basin containing a quantity of bloody water, showing that the murderer had washed his hands, and the prints of the bloody hands were also visible where he had wiped them on the bed clothing.  The scene was horrible beyond description.  The daughter at once gave the alarm, and the neighbors gathered.  Numerous tracks and traces of blood were found in the snow about the house.  The victim is known to have had a large sum of money in the house, and it was at once conjectured that the object of the murder was robbery.

The murder was committed three miles this side of Naples.  Deputy Sheriff Beeman is now on his way here with the prisoner, Francis, while Coroner Maynard, of Geneva, and Detectives Carson and Hallenbeck of this village, are bring Hawkins's remains here for an inquest.  Francis was arrested by Beeman three miles from Prattsburg.  The murderer was seen to go to Hawkins's house late on Friday evening, and the evidence against him is very strong.  Ontario Messenger

 The editor of the Gazette being in Canandaigua last Monday p.m., called at the jail, and by courtesy of Sheriff Peck was permitted to hold a brief interview with the prisoner Francis, who had been received only an hour previously.  The following record was made in the jail register:  "William H. Francis; age 27 years; born in Rushville; residence Bath; arrested for murder; both parents living."

On entering the inner apartment Francis was pointed out to us among a group of prisoners clustered around the stove.  He is about 5 feet 4 inches in height, slender built, weighing about 120 pounds; brown or rather sandy hair and whiskers; shabbily dressed and slovenly in general appearance.  The editor introduced himself as a newspaper man, saying that any statement he should make would be published.  He replied that he had nothing to say except that he was innocent of the crime charged against him.  On being asked if he had had an examination he said he had not; if he had engaged counsel, no; but he expected his father soon to attend to it.  On being told that he could demand an examination, he replied that he would have to await the result of the Coroner's inquest.  He was asked if he knew the murdered man, Hawkins, and he answered that he was not acquainted with him but had seen him three or four times -- had never been to his house

Prior to our interview with Francis, the Sheriff asked us to decipher a letter which the accused had handed to him open, addressed to his (Francis') wife.  The chirography was very poor and the spelling even of many common words defective.  He simply sent a request for writing paper, postage stamps, pencil, tobacco, or money to buy such articles, closing with words of endearment to wife and children.  Not a word was embodied in it referring to the terrible crime of which he is accused, which seems very singular in one who stoutly asserts his innocence.  His overcoat was retained by Deputy Beeman, and another supplied to him to wear during the cold ride to Canandaigua.  His own coat is said to show blood spots; also that bloodstains were found on the bed sheets where he lodged the night previous to his arrest.  Deputy Beeman sent a verbal message to his chief saying in effect that he had discovered evidence of a most convincing nature to affix guilt on this prisoner.  And yet we must say he does not look like a murderer; don't seem to know enough to plan such a crime nor to possess courage sufficient to execute it.  But appearances are often deceptive.

Dr. E. M. Maynard of this place, who as coroner was called upon to take charge of this case, kindly furnished us with the following facts as ascertained in open session of his jury at Bristol:  The fact will be established that Francis (the man who has been arrested, charged with the commission of the crime) was seen going toward the house of Benson Hawkins and had nearly reached the front steps at 3 o'clock Friday afternoon; this was very soon after Hawkins was last seen alive by his son.  About 5 o'clock Francis was seen to leave the house and go in the direction of the village.  At 5 o'clock he was at a house in the village where he remained until between six and seven, when he left bidding the parties good night, although invited to remain all night.  Yet Francis did return to this same place about ten o'clock and remained all night. Numerous tracks around the house corresponding exactly with a pair of rubber boots that Francis wore that evening were found, and especially were these tracks prominent near a window through which an entrance to the house had in all probability been made.  A number of matches more or less burnt and different both in form and size from any used by Mr. Hawkins were found in different parts of the house, near where an entrance was probably effected, and several in the kitchen adjoining the old man's bed-room.  Matches corresponding to those found burnt in the house were discovered in the vest pocket of Francis, and this is considered a very strong point of circumstantial evidence against him.  Fresh blood stains were found on Francis when arrested, the presence of which was not satisfactorily accounted for.  Although this man Francis was not sworn, his statements to the coroner, sheriff and the newspaper reporters were entirely contradictory, and he utterly failed to account for his whereabouts between 7 and 10 o'clock Friday evening.

The report comes very straight that insurance policies on Hawkins' life amounting to $4,000 are held by his relatives, and this fact when fully developed may have a very important bearing on the case.

It was a most atrocious and cold-blooded murder, and it is hoped that the desperate villain will receive his just deserts.  The full facts of the case will probably be gleaned before many days.


From Geneva Gazette 3 April 1885

KILLED WITH A CLUB -- Michael Kildea Clubbed to Death at Canandaigua The particulars of a homicide were revealed at Canandaigua Tuesday.  John Finn, aged about fifty, resides on East street with his daughter, Edna, a half-witted girl, and her child, a boy of doubtful parentage, aged about four years.  Finn's wife died about ten years ago and since then he has borne a bad reputation, having been arrested about a year ago on the charge of incest.  It appears that the girl was also receiving the attentions of one Michael Kildea, residing in the neighborhood.  Kildea was a laborer, twenty-six years old, six feet in height, but of rather repulsive appearance, having been kicked in the face when a boy, and lost an eye in consequence.  He was also red-headed.  The girl was very plain-looking, too.  About four years ago, it is said, she was taken from her father's house by half-a-dozen young ruffians, headed by Kildea, and outraged.  Kildea was by some thought to be the father of her child.

The disgraceful occurrence did not prevent Kildea from renewing his intimacy, and on Sunday night at about 12 o'clock, he drove up to Finn's house in a partially intoxicated condition, and effected an entrance, after tying his horse to a tree.  There is but one sleeping apartment in the house and in it are two beds, one usually occupied by Finn, the other by Edna and her child.  The old man, according to one story told by the girl, was out at the time when Kildea entered, and when he returned he found the latter sitting on the bed with his overcoat and boots off.  Kildea was ordered to get out of the house but refused, saying he had not been there long enough, whereupon Finn got a club and struck the young man a blow on the head felling him to the floor.  The skull was not fractured but contusion of the brain was produced.  To Coroner J. H. Jewett, Edna stated that she had told her father to kill Kildea.  Another version of the assault given by her is, that Kildea came to the house intoxicated in the afternoon, and held her in his lap, finally lying down on the bed; that Finn told the young man to get out and Kildea thereupon said, "Old man you interfere with me and I will kill you."  Finn then went out, and returning with a club, struck his victim, afterwards going through the orchard to hide the piece of wood which he had thus employed.

On Monday morning at about 4 o'clock Finn brought Kildea's horse home, saying the young man was drunk at his (Finn's) house, but would be home soon.  Thomas Kildea, a brother, went to Finn's house in the afternoon to look after Michael, and found the latter lying upon the bed with a deep gash on the right side of his head.  Dr. Warner was called, and on Monday evening Michael died.  The same night Finn was arrested and Tuesday his daughter was also placed in jail.  The two were given separate cells.  Finn at first claimed that Kildea fell from his buggy and struck his head on a stone.  Tuesday afternoon, however, he confessed that he struck Kildea after the latter had threatened to kill the old man and started towards him.

From Geneva Gazette 29 May 1885 Michael Finn, of Canandaigua, who was on trial all last week for the murder of one Kildea, was acquitted by the jury last Saturday morning.  It was a most remarkable case.


From Geneva Gazette 1 May 1885

ANOTHER ONTARIO COUNTY MURDER !
Freak of Jealousy at Three Score and Ten Years
Wm. Scott of Manchester Kills His Wife

Canandaigua, April 28 -- Wm. Scott, 71 years old, shot and killed his wife, aged 67 years, near Port Gibson in the town of Manchester, at six o'clock last evening, and is now lodged in Canandaigua jail.

In extenuation of his crime he alleges that she was criminally intimate with other men, and relates a long list of family troubles and difficulties extending over a period of eight or ten years.  When he first discovered that she was untrue it was about 1875.  These at last drove him to desperation and resulted in his becoming a murderer.

Scott, with his family consisting of wife and a number of children, formerly lived on the Dimmock farm a mile north of Phelps, which he owned.  He says his wife and children conspired to cheat him out of his property, and he was finally compelled to sell his farm and they then moved to near Palmyra.  He gave his wife $1,000 three years ago, and has now only $650 left, the remainder having been taken from him by his wife and children on one pretext or another, and also used in getting his boys "out of scrapes."  He talks very bitterly against each member of the family and says that through the influence of his daughter, a Mrs. Throop, who lives near Palmyra, his wife left him two years ago and broke up his home.  Mrs. Scott then went to live with a widower named Jordan Snook, a farmer, as housekeeper.  Snook lives between Port Gibson and Plainesville, where the crime was committed.  Scott has recently been living with a son at Geneva, and left there yesterday morning for the purpose of seeing his wife and trying to persuade her to live with him again.  He wished for a home of his own in his old age.  He obtained an interview and he offered to buy a place with his $650 and deed it to her if she would consent to his proposition.  He says he got down on his knees and begged her to listen to him, but she still refused to comply.  Words followed, and he drew the revolver with which he had armed himself and shot her twice.  She lived about one hour.

Scott is a respectable appearing old man, neatly dressed in black broadcloth, with smooth shaven face, and wearing a beard under his chin.  His hair and beard are white, and he looks fully his three score and ten.  He takes the matter quietly, only once or twice showing any nervousness during the interview and expresses no regret at the deed.

A few weeks ago William Scott came into the Gazette office and desired an advertisement inserted to the effect that, as his wife had left his bed and board, etc., he would pay no more bills of her contracting, etc.  After the advertisement was written the old man became very communicative, and although there were a half a dozen men, strangers to him, in the office, he proceeded to proclaim his wife's unfaithfulness and acts of infidelity in a manner that impressed his hearers that he was not in his right mind.  It did not seem possible that any man in the possession of all his faculties could or would parade before the public all his family secrets and reprehensible doings of his wife for a period of twelve years.  Among other things Mr. Scott said that through the actions of his wife and one son, he had lost about six thousand dollars, being nearly all of the savings of a life's work.  He further said that he had forgiven repeated acts of infidelity on the part of his wife, and that although she had recently left him to become the housekeeper of another man, he had prepared a home for her and notified her that if she would come home he would provide for her in a manner suitable to their station; but that she utterly refused.  Mr. Scott was very anxious to know whether under those facts his wife would ever return and demand support.  At least it is a very sad affair, and one that will bear the closest scrutiny as regards the responsibility of Scott for the capital crime which he has committed.

The following additional particulars of the shocking affair were taken from the Union and Advertiser of April 29th:  About four o'clock Monday afternoon as Mrs. Scott was "doing the washing" in the summer kitchen, her husband, William Scott, called on her.  She was dressed in a loose dress and waist and wore a sunbonnet.  The meeting of man and wife was quiet, and Mrs. Aldridge, who was moving about the house and Mr. Snook who was working in the garden, saw the couple and noticed nothing out of the ordinary.  The visit has lasted about half an hour when Mr. Snook heard cries of "murder!" "help!" "help!" accompanied by the report of a pistol.  Glancing from where he stood in the garden he could see through the open doors of the kitchen Mr. and Mrs. Scott struggling in the yard on the opposite side of the house only a few feet from and directly in front of the kitchen door.  In an instant he was running toward the couple, and he had almost reached them when a second report of the pistol rang out and Mrs. Scott fell to the floor.  Scott held a five-chamber revolver of the bulldog pattern in his right hand.  He had approached his wife from behind, and imprisoning her neck with his left arm had used the other to discharge the pistol.  The first bullet passed through the collar of Mrs. Scott's dress and the edge of her sunbonnet; the second entered her right breast.  She lay gasping where she fell, and Snook, greatly excited, called out to her husband, "What have you done!" "what have you done!"  The man made no reply, but walked away into the dining room, where he seated himself as one in deep thought.  Neighbors were immediately summoned, and while some carried the unconscious form into the sitting room and place it on a couch, one galloped on horseback to the village for officers to arrest Scott.  Mrs. Scott's daughter, Eliza, at work on the farm of Judson Throop, the adjoining farm but one, soon reached the house and endeavored to have her mother recognize her, but was unsuccessful.  No doctor was summoned, as all knew that the woman was dying and nothing could help her.  In a short time J. W. Parker, Justice of the Peace, and constable Robinson arrived.  The constable arrested Scott and placed him in irons.  He was still sitting in the chair he had taken after committing the deed, and when handcuffed said:  "She vexed me to it.  I've done it and am not sorry for it."  Justice Parker walked into the room where the dying woman lay and returning to the dining room said to Scott, "I guess you've done it, I guess you've killed your wife."  Scott replied:  "I'm sorry for it.  I'm willing to suffer for it.  She vexed me to it."  Then he broke down and sobbed, swaying his body to and fro.  About half past five o'clock Mrs. Scott died.

An inquest was held the jury rendering the following verdict:  That the said Christiana Scott came to her death by a wound from a pistol ball, the pistol being in the hands of her husband, William Scott, on the afternoon of April 28, 1885.


From Ontario County Journal 16 November 1888

On Friday last, John Kelly, of Geneva, a man of unsavory reputation, was lodged in jail here to await the action of the grand jury on a charge of murdering Miss Eleanor O'Shay, a domestic employed by a farmer named George Kiphin, for whom Kelly worked. Election night Kelly returned home from Geneva about nine o'clock, and soon after went to the barn with Margaret Kiphin, daughter of his employer. When they returned to the house, Miss O'Shay charged Kelly with undue intimacy with the girl, and upbraided him for it. He became enraged at her accusations and struck her a blow which felled her to the floor. He grasped a mallet and followed up the attack with blows on the head which penetrated the skull. He then kicked her unmercifully and left her in a dying condition on the floor. George Kiphin, his daughter Margaret, and a man named Thomas Mahar were witnesses of this beastly assault, but did not interfere to prevent the brutal crime, nor did they care for the unfortunate woman after she was left by Kelly, lying unconscious on the floor where he had struck her down. Miss O'Shay managed to crawl into a pantry where she lay all night unattended. She was found there next morning unconscious in a pool of blood and Kiphin sent for a physician. All that could be done was done, but she died Thursday morning without regaining consciousness.

Wednesday, Patrick Leary informed the Geneva officers of the affair, and Constable Ringer started after Kelly. When the officer approached the house, Kelly saw him and fled. He was captured after a two mile chase. After the woman's death, Coroner Maynard impaneled a jury, and District Attorney Clement took charge of the investigation. The proceedings before the jury were secret, but enough has leaked out to justify the conclusion that the entire responsibility for Miss O'Shay's death does not rest with Kelly, but that he had accessories. Kiphin and his daughter have been held as important witnesses. Kelly is a rough brutal looking man about 48 years old. He has been under arrest twice for non-support of his family, and about four years ago he was arrested for assault upon the woman he murdered Tuesday and compelled to give bonds to keep the peace. He has been in Kiphin's employ many years, and through the latters eccentricities had been given full control of the farm. Miss O'Shay was a large woman about 43 years old, and had always borne a good reputation. She was Kiphin's housekeeper, and, having learned of a suspicious intimacy between Kelly and Kiphin's daughter, she sought to break it up.

Kiphin is a man of large property although he lives, it is said, almost like a pauper. He has a fine large farm and about $50,000 in government bonds. When people went to the house after the murder they found it in a most filthy condition. There was a large pile of potatoes on the floor of the hall and on the parlor floor there lay a big pile of apples. It is said that Kiphin keeps a barrel of whiskey in the house all the time.


From Ontario County Repository 11 July 1889

John Kelly Hanged For the Murder of Eleanor O'Shea

The headlines read John Kelly Hanged . . . John Kelly pays the Penalty of the Law . . . The second execution in Ontario County carried out without an error . . .

The last act in the tragedy at the Kippen farm in the town of Geneva last November, by which Eleanor O'Shea lost her life at the hands of John Kelly, was performed in the jail yard in this village at noon yesterday, when John Kelly was hanged according to the sentence of the Court. Down to Monday morning Kelly had maintained his stolidly indifferent exterior that had characterized him from the hour of his arrest. He evidently had considerable hope, if not faith, that Gov. Hill would save his life . . . When asked if he had anything to say, Kelly said that he had and proceeded to talk for several minutes. His remarks were quite disconnected and were understood by few persons present.

Concerning the Crime
For which he was about the die, Kelly said that he was not wholly guilty; he struck the blow but did not intend to take the life of his victim. He referred to the methods of managing the jail and prisoners by Sheriff Corwin and Ex-Sheriff Wheeler and drew comparisons between them, expressing his preference for the present Sheriff. He made frequent allusions to religious matters, professing to have made his future secure . . . He expressed regrets at the poor crop prospects and said other things hardly pertinent to the occasion . . . When he had finished, Sheriff Hodgson drew the black cap over his face . . . Undertaker Borgman, of Geneva, clothed the remains in a suit . . . On the evening of November 6th 1888, Kelly returned from Geneva, where he spent the day, it being the day of the Presidential election. According to . . . Thomas Mahar, another farm hand who witnessed the whole affair and who evidently stood in fear of Kelly, when Kelly drove to the barn Maggie Kippen lighted a lantern and went to meet him. Before she went out sharp words were passed between her and Miss O'Shea on the subject of her errand to the barn, both being very angry. Mahar's evidence as reported in the Messenger of December 20th, continued thus:

After a while she came in and Kelly followed. Eleanor O'Shea was in the kitchen when they came. When Kelly came in Maggie and the O'Shea woman were violently quarreling because Maggie went after Kelly. Maggie said she would do as she had a mind to. There was much angry talk over Maggie's relations with Kelly, in which Eleanor called Kelly bad names. Kelly asked her what authority she had for charging him with improper conduct with Maggie and she said Mr. Kippen (Maggie's father) was her authority . . .

 Graphic testimony deleted . . .

After that Kelly and Mahar went outdoors; Kelly looked once in the pantry window . . . Mahar said something ought to be done, and (as Mahar testified) Kelly said it "was good enough for her".

From Ontario County Journal 12 July 1889

Monday afternoon at forty minutes past ten, Sheriff Corwin and Hon. Edwin Hicks, counsel for John Kelly, the murderer of Eleanor O'Shea, received a dispatch from Albany announcing the Governor's refusal to commute his client's death sentence to imprisonment.

 Mr. Hicks went at once . . . and broke the news to Kelly in the presence of . . . Deputies James Cavan and Wm. McClarey, Under Sheriff McPhillips and a reporter.

A Journal representative called on Kelly in the afternoon... He said that when he went to the Kippen house the night of the fatal fray Eleanor O'Shea and Maggie Kippen were quarreling . . . Of Thomas Mahar and George Kippen, both of whom, he said, were in the room at the time... he spoke bitterly . . .

William McClarey, one of his watchers, procured some frog's legs at a restaurant, and those Kelly ate with apparent relish. .... Rev. Father English of Canandaigua, and Father Buckley, of Geneva, gave him religious consolation . . .

(Many stories or comments) were made concerning the circumstances attending Kelly's demeanor in jail and the incidents of his last few days on earth. The most nonsensical of these was the statement that Sheriff Corwin took Kelly out to see the scaffold Tuesday evening, and that the latter turned a neat handspring upon the grass. In the first place no one outside of the jail knows whether Kelly was taken out or not, and in the next place he was too clumsy in his movements and too logy in disposition to turn a handspring, even if he had been strong enough, which he most certainly was not.


From Geneva Gazette 31 January 1890
 
A South Bristol Farmer Kills His Wife and Fires the House to Conceal His Crime
 The Woman's Charred Remains Found in the Ruins
We publish elsewhere brief particulars of a deliberate murder perpetrated in Canandaigua recently, the motive of which was revenge for a fancied insult.  We have to supplement this story with that of a more fiendish and brutal crime committed in South Bristol last Sunday night, the result of a quarrel probably between husband and wife over the paltry sum of $100 which the latter possessed and which the former seemed determined to appropriate at all hazards.  The full particulars are given by the Canandaigua Times of Wednesday last as follows:

The fire occurred sometime between twelve o'clock and daybreak and the first information the people of the neighborhood had of the tragedy was in the morning, when they discovered the smouldering ruins.  Men and women hastened to the scene, and after inquiry had been made as the whereabouts of the occupants of the building, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Johnson, and no trace of them found, it was at once surmised that they had perished in the flames.  Men immediately began the exploration of the ruins in the expectation of finding the bodies, and after they had worked for several hours the remains of a human being were discovered.  At first it could not be definitely determined whether they were those of a man or a woman. The search was continued up to dark on Monday evening, and was resumed again yesterday morning, and after carefully going over the ruins again with rakes, and using their fingers to sift the ashes without finding a trace of another body, the men became suspicious of foul play.  Evidence corroborative of the suspicion was at once developed.

Coroner Wettling, of Naples, who had been summoned to assist in the investigation of the case, became satisfied that the remains taken from the ruins the day before were those of a woman.  The finding of false teeth, which it is known that Mrs. Johnson wore, and of hair pins, near the spot from which the body was taken, seemed to leave no room for doubt on this question.

Then there is testimony to show that Johnson and his wife, who was formerly a Mrs. Haskins, had not been congenial partners and for years had not lived together.  The farm belonged to Mrs. Johnson.  About a year ago the couple apparently made up their differences and the husband returned home, but the truce was only temporary, and in succeeding months the quarrels assumed a serious aspect.

Only a few days before the burning of the house Mrs. Johnson had called on some of her neighbors and informed them that her husband wanted she should give him on hundred dollars which she had in her possession and furthermore declared that he had threatened to kill her if she did not comply with his demands. She expressed herself as being afraid of him, and asked the friends to watch the house closely. Johnson on the other hand, it is alleged, made up a list of the property on the farm belonging to him, and handed it to his brother, George Johnson, of Naples, telling him as he did so to help himself to anything he wanted.

Another thing which tends to cast suspicion on Johnson is the fact that his wife is known to have received an amount of money on Saturday, and it is stated that about seven o'clock Sunday evening parties in passing the house overheard Johnson and his wife quarreling, and assert that his words and tones had a threatening import.

Coroner Wettling empannelled a jury for the investigation of the case as follows:  Daniel P. Allen, George Covert, Charles Allen, William Dewitt, William Hogan, and Clark Niece.  The inquest has been adjourned until tomorrow, Thursday, at 10 o'clock when it is expected that District Attorney Clement will be present, and will assist in a thorough inquiry into the circumstances of the affair
. Johnson is about fifty years old, of sandy complexion, with light mustache, slightly mixed with gray.  He is five feet and eight or nine inches in height, his figure is slightly bent, and he has an untidy appearance.  He has a drawling way of talking, and is addicted to the use of intoxicants. Johnson formerly lived in Canada, and has spent several winters there in the woods within the past few years.  It is believed by the people of South Bristol that he has gone back there.


From Ontario County Journal 31 January 1890

"There, take that," were the words which accompanied a blow that cost John Cullinane, an industrious mechanic of this village, his life last Sunday morning. He was murdered cruelly, cowardly, deliberately and in cold blood by Frank Fish for the most trivial cause imaginable and in consequence the latter is now confined in the murderer's cage in the county jail, awaiting trial for his life, while his brother, John Fish, an eye witness of the midnight tragedy is in confinement in the debtor's room, held in default of $1000 bail to give evidence against his brother. The circumstances of the affair gathered are as follows:

John Cullinane, the murdered man, and John Fish, a younger brother of the murderer, were fellow employees in the plow foundry of J. S. Robinson & Son. They were very friendly and were together a great deal. Saturday night they came up town and spent the evening and Frank Fish fell in with them and drank beer with them. Frank, who was living with his wife on Saltonstall street, had concluded to stay all night with his brother at the hme of their father, Hugh Fish, in the rear of A. Niblock's tin shop, and so he went along. When they reached George Roberts' barber shop, John Fish said he would go in and get his hair cut and asked his companions to go in and wait for him. Cullinane declined, saying that he should go home and shaking hands with the younger Fish bade him good night. When Frank Fish extended his hand also to Cullinane, it was declined and the former felt insulted. "What have you got against me?", he asked. "What have I ever done to you that you should treat me so?" "You haven't done anything to me," replied Cullinane, and then turned to his brother and began to berate him, apparently upon the theory that he blamed him for Cullinane's slight. He finally turned away, saying to his brother, "goodbye. You are a brother of mine. That settles it between you and me," and receiving the reply "you go to h___ then." He proceeded up the street a few yard to the corner of Beeman street near I. B. Smith's store, while his brother and Cullinane resumed conversation. Very soon he came hastening back and as he approached said to his brother, "you remember what you said, don't you?" at the same time approaching Cullinane, who was facing the lake, from the rear. When he came up with him, he took his right hand from his pocket and with some weapon gave him a terrible thrust in the neck and then fled rapidly down the street. Cullinane staggered under the terrific blow and the blood poured in a stream from the wound in his neck. He staggered to the edge of the sidewalk and supported himself by hanging to a hitching post while Charles Maltman, who had been standing at the door of the barber shop, ran to his assistance. The wound was bleeding alarmingly and John Fish was told to go after a physician, while another messenger was sent for Father English. Cullinane was rapidly growing weak from loss of blood and he had only strength enough to exclaim faintly "get me home." Several men who were in the barber shop when the blow was struck had come to the wounded man's aid and they assisted him home. He died, however, in a very few minutes, before the arrival of either a physician or Father English.
 

From Geneva Gazette 14 August 1891

JOHN WELCH FATALLY INJURED WITH A BLUDGEON WIELDED BY DANIEL CAMERON

Death Resulted at 6:30 this Morning

A fatal affray occurred last night near the Pines, about 3 miles north of Geneva and in the town of Phelps.  The parties thereto were John Welch, a well-to-do farmer, and Daniel Cameron, Welch's tenant.  The affair was "short, sharp and decisive." Cameron struck Welch a deadly blow with a bludgeon, felling him unconscious at his feet, in which state he lingered until 6:30 this morning when death ensued.  A warrant against Cameron was procured of Justice Nicholas at 2 a.m. and the arrest promptly made by Policeman Beals and Constable Conover.  Cameron was found and surrendered without resistance.  He was brought to Geneva and consigned to the lock-up. Coroner Wright at once took cognizance of the case, and subpoenaing a jury, proceeded at 10 o'clock this forenoon to hold an inquest, which was not concluded when the Gazette went to press.

The cause leading to this homicide can be briefly stated.  Welch for some time has been anxious to get rid of Cameron as a tenant for non-payment of rent and other obligations -- especially for defaulting in paying for the erection of a barn.  Last night while Cameron was in the village, Welch went to Cameron's house and assailed Mrs. C. with a pitchfork, seized and choked her and ordered her off the premises.  She fled from the house and met her husband, telling him the story of the assault. Angered thereat, Cameron hurried home and found Welch still there.  Not many words passed before Cameron struck Welch down with a club and kicked him after he fell.  Later on he came to Geneva and swore out a warrant for Welch's arrest, which Justice Nicholas issued, and Conover went out to make the arrest thereunder.  But on arriving he found Dr. McCarthy attending the wounded and unconscious man, so the officer returned home.  A few hours later Conover was called to serve a warrant in company with Policeman Beals for Cameron's arrest.  He was found at the house of Ben. Lane and immediately taken into custody.

If the above statement be corroborated by indubitable evidence, the provocation would seem to call for only light punishment of the prisoner.

An external examination of the corpse revealed a cut on the upper lip at the right angle of the mouth, another in the left ear, another on the back of the head two inches long, at which place the skull was fractured, the indenture in the skull being crosswise of the cut.  The left eye was badly blackened and swollen and numerous other bruises were noticed about the head and shoulders.

From Ontario Repository & Messenger 13 April 1897

A homicide occurred at Rushville late Thursday night that caused great excitement in that peaceful burg. George Shoemaker, aged about 52, killed with a shotgun Chas. Cooper, husband of his niece, without known provocation and in a manner not free from mystery. During the evening Shoemaker and Alfred Pfeneger had been drinking together and quarreled. When Shoemaker started for home, Pfeneger followed and the quarrel continued till Shoemaker reached Mrs. Clark's on Gilbert st., where he lived. There blows were exchanged, and Pfeneger was knocked down, with a club, it is reported. During the fracas, Mrs. Clark induced Shoemaker to enter the house where he continued his ravings and to prevent him going out again, Mrs. Clark locked the dining room door. Parties near the home heard him talk about shooting and wanting to get out. Then some one was heard to say "get out of here" and the report of a gun followed. No person was seen about the house and not until morning was Cooper's dead body discovered within six feet of the house. When Shoemaker, who had slept on a couch after the shooting, learned this he surrendered to an officer.

Cooper had not been seen in the vicinity before the shooting and his presence there seems to have been unknown to anybody till his body was found. He and Shoemaker had had no trouble, as far as known, and the only plausible explanation is that he had called just in time to become the victim of Shoemaker's insane rage. The shot and wad entered his head near and back of the left ear.

Cooper had worked Mrs. Clark's farm last year, but recently had moved to the village and was doing odd jobs. He was about 30 years old, of good character and respected. His wife, who is only about 20 years old, is left with three young children, one an infant. Cooper's funeral was held Sunday, the burial was in Bristol Monday. Coroner Halstead began as inquest Friday, continuing through Saturday and then adjourned till Tuesday. Shoemaker is in the Penn Yan jail.


From Geneva Gazette 4 November 1898

Geneva Man Murdered !  - A press dispatch from Newark, O., of Sunday last, announced that James Mullen, formerly of Geneva, was shot and killed in a row among horse jockeys last Saturday night.  The shooting was done by Charles Moon of Newark.  James Ryan was severely wounded in the same fracas.

Mullen formerly resided on Seymour Alley with his parents and their family.  He was then in the employ of Dr. N. B. Covert as hostler.  He is well spoken of by those who knew him.


From Geneva Advertiser Gazette 9 August 1906

Yesterday afternoon at about five o'clock, as Frank S. Robinson, an expert marble and granite cutter, was sitting in a side room of Nicholas Sauerborn's saloon, called "The Palm," on Exchange street, Patrick McCorry, employed by the MacArthurs on the Fall Brook Railroad improvement, walked up to him and deliberately shot him. The bullet from the gun entered Robinson's throat. Only one shot was fired and it proved fatal. Robinson was taken to the hospital where he died a few minutes later. McCorry was arrested and lodged in the lockup where he remained overnight. He was intoxicated. There are a good many stories connected with the crime, all of which cannot be correct, some of them far out of the way. E. H. Burbank says he distinctly heard 3 shots, but one who assisted in carrying the body from the ambulance into Devaney & Fletcher's undertaking rooms says there was only one wound, and that the bullet from a 38 calibre gun went clear through the neck. There were two men who witnessed the shooting. They ran out immediately, but Sauerborn knows who they are and will be made to tell. Robinson was an expert marble cutter, had worked a few days or weeks at a time at the W. G. Potter & Son's factory, and but for his drinking habits would have had constant employment at good wages. But drink was his bane, and at last it brought him to this. It is another murder charged up to whiskey. The coroner now has the case in hand. It is learned this morning that Robinson has a mother and sister living in Jamestown. He was born in Rutland, Vermont.


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