The Hangman's Ropemaker: Charlotte Jones and Henry Fife, the Inhumane Murderers

"Among the first ones I made were those for Charlotte Jones and Henry Fife, who were executed together for murdering her uncle at McKeesport. They were the first ropes I made for Allegheny county. I think Sheriff John S. Steward hung them."

~ Source: Jacob J. Bupp in an interview given  in the syndicated news story, "Hangmen's Hemp"... the particular wording for this one comes from The Argus (Rock Island, Illinois), 9 August 1886, page 2.

The first documented ropes Jacob Bupp made were for a double hanging that took place on 12 February 1858 in the city jail yard at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

*This blog post is one in a series of blogs on my famous ancestor, Jacob Bupp, the Hangman's Ropemaker- click the page tab above labeled "The Hangman's Ropemaker" for more information and the blog series*

Source: Headline from "Execution of Henry Fife and Charlotte Jones for the Murders of George Wilson and Elizabeth M'Masters," The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer (Wheeling, West Virginia), 13 February 1858, page 3, found on Newspapers.com

The criminals hanged that day were Charlotte Jones and Henry Fife. Jones and Fife were sentenced to death by hanging for the murders of George Wilson and Elizabeth Wilson McMasters, who were the uncle and aunt of Charlotte Jones.

George Wilson was a man with a tight-fisted reputation and a stash of coins and money.  Elizabeth Wilson McMasters was his sister who lived with him in his home in Elizabeth Township, just outside McKeesport.   The home a little cabin in a hollow, near Gamble's Landing on the bank of the Monongahela River.  They had lived in the house for years.  George worked as a laborer, making wooden pins for coal boats.  Elizabeth, having been widowed, kept house for him.  Both were in their seventies.

Charlotte Jones was born 5 June 1831 in Elizabeth Township to William Jones and Sarah Wilson, making George Wilson and Elizabeth Wilson McMasters her maternal uncle and aunt.  She moved around, living with various family members, and was known to have had loose morals, having taken up with several men before meeting Henry Fife.

Henry Fife was born on 4 March 1836 to Thomas Fife and Elizabeth Fullon in Montreal, Canada.  His parents hailed from Longford, Ireland.  He was a drifter and a shoemaker and had met Charlotte Jones the year before the murders.  The two of them had claimed they had been married, though they later admitted they were not.

There had been some suspicion that the couple was involved in the murder of Samuel H. White, who was killed in March 1857 in Hickory, Pennsylvania (a murder that apparently was never solved).  This happened while the couple was living with members of Charlotte's family.  It was around the time of that murder that Charlotte's brother, William told Charlotte that their uncle had upwards of $1000 saved up in his cabin near McKeesport.  Hearing this, a plan was hatched to rob the couple.  Jones and Fife intended to elope with the money, using it to finally make their common-law union a legal marriage.

Charlotte went to visit her aunt and uncle, under the guise of staying with them while Fife looked for work.  She admitted in her confession that she detested her aunt for reasons not given, but had little to say about her uncle. The plan was to poison the couple, but Jones could not find a druggist that would give her the poison.

Sometime overnight 30 April to 1 May 1857 the elderly brother and sister were killed. George had been stabbed multiple times, while Elizabeth had been beaten to death with a poker.  A report regarding the scene stated as follows:

"The body of the old man lay upon the back, near the front door. Three deadly stabs penetrated the breast.  The old woman lay upon her face, near her own bed and close to the back door - there being but one room in the house.  Her head had been broken in, and part of the brains had oozed out from the skull.  There was evidence of a fearful struggle. One hand was terribly hacked, and it still grasped the blade of one of her own case-knives, which had evidently been snapped from the handle in the death-struggle.  An iron poker, containing upon one end gray hairs matted with blood and brains, was found upon the floor."

~ Source: Lives and Confessions of Henry Fife and Charlotte Jones: Under Sentence of Death for the Murder of Geo. Wilson and Elizabeth M'Masters : Together With a History of the Case, and the Statement of Monroe Stewart (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Hunt and Milner, 1857), 8; online images, University of Pittsburgh, Historic Pittsburgh (www.historicpittsburgh.org : accessed 17 March 2019).

 Amongst the carnage was found a chest that had been broken into.  It was this chest that had held the wealth George Wilson had amassed.  After breakfasting the next morning with Jones, Fife buried the gold and money on the banks of the Youghiogheny River, intending to retrieve it at a later date.

Some accounts state that Jones was the first to report the murders.  Other accounts state a neighboring girl, sent on an errand to the Wilson cabin stumbled upon the gruesome scene and alerted authorities.  Whichever account is true,it was soon determined that Charlotte Jones was one of the perpetrators in the crime, having acted in such a way that the authorities deemed suspicious.  Suspicion was then cast upon Fife, as Charlotte claimed he was her husband.

A third man, Monroe Stewart, was also implicated in the crimes, having been seen in Fife's company shortly before the crimes were allegedly taking place.  Stewart was a shoemaker, and had been both a friend and roommate of Fife’s.  He had apparently had urged Fife to cut Jones loose, believing that Jones would bring Fife to ruin.

Henry Fife, Charlotte Jones and Monroe Stewart
Source: engraving on the first page of the Lives and Confessions of Henry Fife and Charlotte Jones: Under Sentence of Death for the Murder of Geo. Wilson and Elizabeth M'Masters : Together With a History of the Case, and the Statement of Monroe Stewart (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Hunt and Milner, 1857), found online at Historic Pittsburgh

The three were taken to Pittsburgh by rail, and all three were interrogated.  Neither man gave any statement, but Jones stated that her brother William and his friend had committed the murders, which lead to their brief incarceration.

The next day, Jones gave a confession which had implicated her lover and Stewart.  Because Stewart had been urging Fife to cast Charlotte aside (and that made her spiteful), Jones incriminated him, saying Stewart had forced her to take part in the crime.  She stated she was fearful for her life and for the lives of her aunt and uncle, whose lives she stated she was trying to save.  She also amended the statement she had given the day before, saying her brother and his friend were innocent, although she did admit her brother had told her how rich their uncle was.

After a sensational eleven day trial, Henry Fife, Charlotte Jones, and Monroe Stewart were found guilty of the murders and sentenced to death by hanging on 11 July 1857.  Death warrants for the three were signed on 14 December 1857 by Gov. James Pollock.

According to Henry Fife's confession given just before his hanging, Monroe Stewart was innocent.  He also testified that while it was originally Jones' plan to do away with her aunt and uncle, she had tried to persuade him not to go through with it the night of the murders.   Charlotte Jones also gave a confession exonerating Stewart in the deaths, claiming she was angry with him for trying to split her and Henry Fife up.  Stewart was later pardoned by the governor of Pennsylvania.

Charlotte Jones and Henry Fife both expired 14 February 1858 in the city jail yard in Pittsburgh. The night before the execution, it was said that Fife was quite calm, expressing a weariness to get on with the end his life.  Jones spent the night weeping and praying. At 2 o'clock, the couple ascended the gallows for their execution.  They were prayed over by Jones' minister, allowed shots of liquor, and kissed each other fervently for the last time before the hoods of calico were donned and the ropes were put about their necks.  According to accounts, it took a bit for them to finally die.  Their bodies were taken charge of by Charlotte's sister, Mrs. Wolf.  Per a request made by Charlotte, the couple was buried together somewhere in Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Monroe Stewart was pardoned by the governor, but contracted smallpox before being released from prison and died in the prison hospital.

While Jacob Bupp was not mentioned as the maker of the hanging ropes in the news accounts of the day, later interviews that he gave with newspaper reporters mentioned the fact that he made the ropes with which the two were hanged.  In fact, the only mention at the time of the hangings about the ropes was the following:

"This instrument of death was completely and artistically (and therefore mercifully) constructed. The ropes were made to run on pullies. The drop was drawn by a falling lever placed about fifteen feet to the rear of the scaffold, and connected with it by ropes."

~ Source: "The Execution of Henry Fife and Charlotte Jones," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 13 February 1858, page 2

The money that had been buried by Fife on the banks of the Youghiogheny River in McKeesport was unearthed by a pair of young boys digging caves in 1880. The story made the paper, not only because of the discovery, but also because the money was then stolen by a tramp with red hair.

Sources Used or Referenced

Ancestry.com, "1850 United States Federal Census," database online, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 March 2019), Entry for George WIlson and household, Year: 1850, Census Place: Reserve Allegheny, Pennsylvania, Roll: M432_744, Page: 277B, and Image: 561.

"The Execution of Henry Fife and Charlotte Jones," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 13 February 1858, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 24 September 2017).

"Execution of Henry Fife and Charlotte Jones for the Murders of George Wilson and Elizabeth M'Masters," The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer (Wheeling, West Virginia), 13 February 1858, page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 24 September 2017).

"Hangmen's Hemp," syndicated news story, The Argus (Rock Island, Illinois), 9 August 1886, page 2; online images, Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ : accessed 21 September 2017), Historic American Newspapers; citing University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, Urbana, IL.

"Horrible Murder in Elizabeth Township," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania),2 May 1857, page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 17 October 2017).

Lofquist, Bill. "Henry Fife, Charlotte Jones, and Monroe Stewart." State Killings in the Steel City: The History of the Death Penalty in Pittsburgh, 2 February 2018. https://state-killings-in-the-steel-city.org/2018/02/02/henry-fife-charlotte-jones-and-monroe-stewart/ : 2019.

“Murderers’ Booty,” The Sun (New York, New York),  19 June 1880, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 13 Dec 2017)

"The Pardon of Monroe Stewart," The Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania), 1 March 1858, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 9 October 2017).

Segrave, Kerry. Women and Capital Punishment in America, 1840–1899: Death Sentences and Executions in the United States and Canada. Jefferson, North Carolina: Mcfarland and Company, 2008. 31-32.

Uher, Richard. Glassdoor Development. Glassport, Pennsylvania: Hollows, Creeks, and Coal Mines. 24 August 2008. http://www.glassportdevelopmentcorp.org/historyweb/glassHollows.htm : 2019.