The Hangman's Ropemaker: Dead Man's Hollow and Ward McConkey

"Jacob Bopp, the well-known maker of hangmen's ropes, delivered to Sheriff McCallin yesterday the rope that will be used to hang Ward McConkey on the 10th of May. The rope is the regulation hemp, and is about fifty feet long. Mr. Bopp was paid twenty-five dollars for it."

~ "The Rope for McConkey," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 25 April 1883, p 2

*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*

 On 31 July 1881, the McClure and Henderson grocery and hardware store in McKeesport (now a suburb of Pittsburgh) was robbed, the gang of thieves taking somewhere around $300 worth of merchandise.  Two days later, the store owners, George McClure and Wilbert Hendrickson, with a small posse of law enforcement had traced their stolen goods to a gang that operated out of Dead Man's Hollow, a seemingly impenetrable wooded area along the Youghiogheny River two miles north of McKeesport.  Upon confronting the gang, a volley of shots rang out and  McClure was killed, while others were wounded.  McClure's pockets had been rifled through in the ensuing chaos, and the gang fled with everything the man once had on him.

Upon hearing the news of the demise of McClure, a mob from McKeesport headed to the scene, where they located his body (as in the chaos the posse had fled for help and left him behind).

The men in the gang were soon identified by law enforcement as John Lightner, John "Buck" Baizy, "Arizona Shorty" O'Connor (or Collins), "Reddy" Baskins, "Nig" Lee and Ward McConkey.

Ward McConkey was nineteen years old, a fatherless teenager who fell in with the wrong crowd.  He was of short stature, with dark hair.  He was described as being "an untidy, boyish-looking fellow"

Ward McConkey fled to New York after the murder, where he was arrested in Cattaraugas County.  He was expedited to Pittsburgh to stand trial for the murder of George A. McClure.  He was the only one of the men ever caught for the crime.

McConkey's trial began on 8 February 1882 and last for five days.  McConkey's lawyer tried to defend his client by proving a case of mistaken identity, but witness for the prosecution, including the men who had been in the posse McClure had gathered, stated McConkey was in fact at the shootout, and on Valentines Day of 1882, a verdict was returned of guilty of murder in the first degree.

The newspaper Butler Citizen reported in March of 1882 that McConkey confessed finally that he was present at the shooting, and that he had helped in the shooting.  According to the newspaper account, he told all of this to a man by the name of Coulson, who was awaiting trial for murder himself.  Now whether or not this was true remained to be seen, for it could have been the made up story of a man trying to escape a murder rap himself.

McConkey's lawyers appealed his sentence and the trial itself, arguing on a number of points, but ultimately the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania denied the motions.  In April of 1883, Governor Pattison signed McConkey's death warrant, fixing the date of his execution.  It was the first death warrant the governor had signed since his inauguration.

The hanging took place on 10 May 1883.  McConkey was the seventh man to hang on the gallows that were erected in the city jail yard in Pittsburgh.  The rope for the hanging was made by Jacob Bupp, as reported by a few local newspapers.  It was hemp, fifty feet in length and Jacob Bupp was paid $25 for it.

A fence was erected in the yard to keep the looky-lous away, as the crowd that had gathered was great.  After a reading of the death warrant and a few words, McConkey was hanged at thirteen minutes past eleven in the morning.  His last words were reportedly "Goodbye, you murderers!"

Jacob Bupp was reported as saying the following about both Ward McConkey and Frank Small :

"I made the ropes that hung Frank Small and Ward McConkey. I hated to see those two boys hung. I don't think they were guilty. I was never positive they deserved it. I remember as McConkey was swung off he cried 'Oh, you murderers, you!' Those words were in my ears for many a day." ("Hemp for the Hangman," The Weekly Courier (Connellsville, Pennsylvania), 30 July 1886, page 3).

The same rope that was used to hang Ward McConkey was used five months later to also hang James McSteen.

It is said that Ward McConkey was truly innocent, and as a result, his ghost continues to haunt Dead Man's Hollow to this day, searching for the real killers, as no one else in his gang were ever caught or convicted.


Sources Used and Referenced
"End Near at Hand," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 10 May 1883, page 4; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 24 September 2017).

"Execution of Ward McConkey," The Butler Citizen (Butler, Pennsylvania), 16 May 1883, p 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 24 September 2017).

"Good-Bye Murderers," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 11 May 1883, page 4; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : acessed 13 June 2019).

"Hemp for the Hangman," The Weekly Courier (Connellsville, Pennsylvania), 30 July 1886, page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 17 September 2017).

"Landed in Jail," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 17 January 1882, page 4; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 13 June 2019).

"Local and General," Butler Citizen (Butler, Pennsylvania), 15 March 1882, page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 13 June 2019).

Loftquist, Bill. "Robert Warden McConkey," State Killings in the Steel City: The History of the Death Penalty in Pittsburgh, 7 February 2018 (https://state-killings-in-the-steel-city.org/ : accessed 11 June 2019).

"Murder at McKeesport," Butler Citizen (Butler, Pennsylvania), 10 August 1881, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 12 June 2019).

"Our Local Gossip," The Indiana Progress (Indiana, Pennsylvania), 3 May 1883, page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 25 September 2017).

"Political Clippings," The Indiana Progress (Indiana, Pennsylvania), 19 April 1883, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 13 June 2019).

Pollard, Tom. "Dead Man's Hollow," Popular Pittsburgh, 11 February 2015 (https://popularpittsburgh.com : accessed 13 June 2019), 

"The Rope for McConkey," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 25 April 1883, p 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 9 October 2017).

"Wants that Honor," The Wichita Daily Eagle (Wichita, Kansas), 1 October 1887, page 5; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 14 September 2017).

"Ward McConkey: His Trial for Murder of McClure in Progess," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 9 February 1882, page 4; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 13 June 2019).