Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/388

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��HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

��related, but was caused by liquor. A party, among whom were Hall and McCulloch, came to Mansfield in the evening to attend a circus, leaving their conveyance at a livery stable.

Before the}^ were ready to go home, Charles Hall was partially intoxicated, having sepa- rated himself from the remainder of the party. When ready to go home, they could not find Hall, and drove away without him. Enraged at being left behind, he hired a livery team and drove after them, passing them on the road. At home, he accused Edward Townsend, one of the party, of leaving him on purpose. Some words passed, when Hall drew a pistol and fired at Townsend, the ball passing through his wrist. Edward McCulloch, a hired man living with the family, now interfered, and, in the melee, was shot hj Hall, the ball entering the left face and penetrating the brain.

Hall gave himself up and was sent to jail. He was tried and acquitted, with a fine of $150 and costs.

August 5, 1870, a sad afl!air occurred near Newville, by which a boy lost his life at the hands of his brother. Two sons of Mr. Will- iam Norris, an old and respected farmer of Worthington Township, became engaged in an altercation while driving some cows home from pasture, and John, the older brother, got the better of William, threw him down and punished him severely. After he let him up, William seized a billet of wood and struck John a tremendous blow on the temple, knocking him insensible. The boy lived but a day or two.

The surviving brother was overwhelmed with grifef and remorse for the unlucky blow, struck while in a passion. He gave himself up and was admitted to bail in the sum of $5,000, his father going on his bond. He was tried at the September term of court, the same year, and the jur}- returned a verdict of not guilty.

The murder of William S. Finney, an old and respected resident of the county, residing

��on his farm, three miles southwest of Mansfield, occurred December 6, 1877, and in brutality was similar to that of Mrs. Lunsford. The sup- posed motive for this murder was for the pos- session of a small sum of money Mr. Finney was supposed to have in his house. The mur- derer entered the house in the night, when the family were sleeping, and commenced his search for the money. It does not seem to have been his intention to commit murder, but when Mr. Finney was aroused b}^ the noise, the stranger, probably fearing opposition and detection, com- mitted the murder. The weapon used was an old musket, known to be the property of Ed- ward Webb, a negro, living on Pine street, in Mansfield. Mr. Finney was killed with this weapon, used as a club, and his aged wife also re- •ceived severe injuries. Other members of the family were aroused by the noise, and the thoroughly aroused negro, who seems to have become a devil incarnate, attacked them also, seemingly bent upon murdering all who opposed him. Several members of the family were in- jured by his desperate and terrible blows, be- fore they could realize the situation, make united resistance, or give the alarm. Before he could accomplish his terrible object, the house was thoroughly aroused ; some of those occupying the upper parts of the house raising the window and crying. Murder ! Finding he had a larger contract on hand than he could cany out, the desperate villain retreated through the window, and, strange as it may appear, ran across the fields directl}' to his own home in Mansfield, leaving a ver^' plain trail behind him, in the light snow. On the follow- ing morning. Marshal Lemon followed this track, without any difficulty, to the house of Edward Webb, arrested that individual, who was quietly eating his breakfast, and who, as clearly proved in the trial, was the murderer. Webb bore himself, all through his trial and the subsequent period in jail, in a manner that showed he did not realize his situation, or the

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