The Hangman's Ropemaker: The Paul-Munday Murders

" Mr. Bopp is the same gentleman who manufactured the ropes with which Buser and Howser were hanged in 1866."

~ "Shorts," The Indiana Democrat (Indiana, Pennsylvania), 28 November 1872, page 7

*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*

Polly Paul was a spinster of 70 years old who owned her own farm in which she tilled the land and sold firewood and cattle from her farmstead in Croyle Township, Cambria County, Pennsylvania. She was known as a hard-working woman, having toiled from sunup to sundown.  She also was well known for the craft of weaving. She was economical, according to some newspaper accounts, and had amassed a great deal of money, though the sum was unknown.  It was speculated by friends and family that she had hoped to leave her small fortune as an endowment to a college or seminary school when she passed away.

Catherine "Cassie" Munday was 17 years old and was the eldest daughter of Martin and Catherine Potter Munday. She had been apprenticed to Paul as a weaver's assistant for a year and had one more week left in her apprenticeship before she was anticipated to return to her father’s home in Cambria Township and take up weaving as her own profession.  Her father was the original settler of an area outside Ebensburg that was named Munday's Corner.  It was reported in newspaper accounts that Martin Munday had purchased a brand new loom for his daughter in anticipation of her return to start a business of her own.

On the morning of 8 June 1865, the two women were found clubbed to death on the Paul farm after neighbor girl named Mary Stilbolski raised the alarm while hunting cattle lost from her parents' farm.

Polly Paul was found in a pool of her own blood in her cowshed, her head bashed in, while Cassie Munday was found in the orchard, dead and badly bruised. It was apparent she had tried to flee when Polly Paul had been murdered, but the assailants had caught her. The house had been ransacked and furnishing destroyed.  It was soon determined that the motive for the murders was robbery of the supposed fortune of Miss Paul.

Police soon apprehended two men, John Ream and his relative Daniel Riddle for the murder. John Ream was a local shady character who had previously made remarks about the supposed fortunes of Polly Paul and how he'd kill to get his hands on it.  Daniel Riddle was remembered as having vowed to go in on the crime as well for half the fortune.  These two were put on trial for murder in September 1865, but it was concluded there was not enough evidence to convict them, plus both men had solid alibis for the night of the murder, so they were found not guilty.

Meanwhile, Polly Paul was buried in Ford Cemetery and Cassie Munday was buried in  St. Paul's Cemetery, both in Cambria County, Pennsylvania

A reward of $500 dollars was offered leading to information and an arrest.

A few weeks later, two men were arrested in an Allegheny City boarding house by Detective David McKelvey an Detective Hague. The men were Daniel Booser (also spelled Buser) and John B. Houser.

The men had been incarcerated at Western Penitentiary for robbing a clothing store in Allegheny County.  They were cellmates with an inmate by the name of Philip Folger (or Fulgert), who had once lived in the neighborhood of Polly Paul and whose wife had lived with Polly Paul before her marriage. Folger had told Buser and Houser that the old woman had a great deal of money.   It was here in prison, it was later determined, that Booser and Houser made plans to murder and rob her once they were released from prison.  In return for his telling them about how easy a mark Polly Paul would be, the men promised Folger that they would procur a pardon for him with some of the fortune.

After a six day trial in the Cambria County courthouse in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, the two men were found guilty of the murders. Several witness were called.  A number of prisoners from the Western Penitentiary testified as to overhearing the plot for murder and robbery.  A few women from the neighborhood testified that Houser had been asking around for a Widow Paul (Polly Paul was a spinster, not a widow).  A few boarders and neighbors from the Allegheny City boarding house even made the trek to Ebensburg to testify that the two men were suddenly flush with cash after being gone from the house for a few days.  Neither man had an alibi for the night of the murders either, which helped to clinch the sentences.

 The men were sentenced to death by hanging the same day that they were found guilty of murder. The lawyers for the men appealed the decision by a writ of error made to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on several grounds, the largest of which was that two of the jurors actually testified as witnesses in the trial, but that appeal was rejected when the Supreme Court refused to accept the writ.

After the writ was rejected, it was reported that Buser started a letter writing campaign, sending out letters to anyone and everyone whom he thought could help him, as he declared his innocence over and over again.  He even had a letter published in the newspapers contesting his innocence and refuting the evidence and testimony against him.  Having exhausted all options, Daniel Buser then attempted suicide on 10 April 1866 in his jail cell by slicing open an artery in his arm with a sharpened piece of tin.  He fainted from the loss of blood and a guard noticed the noise and staunched the flow of blood.  When Buser regained consciousness, it was reported that he finally confessed to both of the murders, though witnesses didn't know if this was truth or delirium, as he had professed his innocence for so long some were wondering if he actually believed it.   

On 20 April 1866, the two men were hanged in the city jail yard at Ebensburg, Pennsylvania as the first men ever executed in Cambria County. Both men went to the gallows proclaiming their innocence in murder, stating that the only crimes they had ever committed were robbery and burglary.

The only mention made of the ropes stated that they were made in Reserve Township, Allegheny County, and were made for $25, although later a newspaper account for another hanging did say that Bupp was the one who made them.

Sources Used and Referenced

Burkhart, Betty, "Annals of Jackson Township," website, Jackson Township Historical Committee, Jackson Township: Cambria County, Pennsylvania (http://www.jacksontwppa.com: accessed 9 February 2018), "Communities And Their First Settlers", August 27, 1942

"The First Execution," Democrat and Sentinel (Ebensburg, Pennsylvania), 26 April 1866, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 9 October 2017).

"The Gallows: Execution of Daniel Buser and John B. Houser," The Ebensburg Alleghenian (Ebensburg, Pennsylvania), 26 April 1866, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 9 October 2017).

"John B. Hauser and Daniel Buser v The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania," The American Law Register, 5 (November 1865-November 1866), online images, 668-675, Google Books (https://books.google.com/ : accessed 9 February 2018).

“The Paul-Munday Murder," The Ebensburg Alleghenian (Ebensburg, Pennsylvania), 15 February 1866, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 9 February 2018).

"The Paul-Munday Murders," The Ebensburg Alleghenian (Ebensburg, Pennsylvania), 21 September 1865, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 9 February 2018).

"Shorts," The Indiana Democrat (Indiana, Pennsylvania), 28 November 1872, page 7; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 25 September 2017).

"Untitled," Brookville Republican (Brookville, Pennsylvania), 20 December 1865, page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 7 February 2018).