The Hangman's Ropemaker: Martin Weinberger, the Hungarian Peddler

"An interested spectator was the veteran rope-maker John Bopp, who has furnished the noose for every execution in Allegheny County for upward of thirty years. The rope used to-day was the fifty-fourth which he has constructed for the same deadly purpose."

~"The Gallows: Martin Weinberger Hanged for Murder," The Cincinnati Enquirer (Cincinnati, Ohio), 3 September 1884, page 5, note that Jacob was mis-reported as being named John

*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*

Martin Weinberger was 26 years of age and a Hungarian Jew from Austria-Hungary who had a wife and daughter in the home country.  He worked as a peddler with his good friend, Louis Gutfreund.  The pair often traveled peddling their wares in Gutfreund's blue wagon, though the two of them seemed to be based in Allegheny City.

Martin Weinberger
Source: "Died Without a Word," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 2 September 1884, page 1, found via Newspapers.com

In June 1882, the two men passed through the village of Sewickley.  On 18 June 1882, Gutfreund's nude and partially decomposed body was found in McCain's Woods near Sewickly with two gunshot wounds, one that went through the skull.  While the locals knew him as a peddler of goods, it took almost two weeks for his name to be known.  As one account stated:

"It is a strange anomaly that an unknown man should be identified beyond all doubt and yet still remain an unknown man." ("Identified and Yet Unknown," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 24 June 1882, page 4)

Weinberger was arrested three weeks later, after witnesses described him as the man who had sold them Gutfreund's wares, horse and wagon. According to Weinberger, Gutfreund shot himself, but the position of the wounds as well as evidence of a struggle demonstrated the shots were not self-inflicted.  There was also the fact that the body was found nude, which would not have happened had the gunshot been self inflicted.  It was later determined that Weinberger removed Gutfreund's clothing to help hide his identity.

Weinberger's trial took place in Pittsburgh the first week of January in 1883.  While all of the evidence against him was circumstantial in nature, it was enough to convict him, and he was found guilty of first degree murder on Saturday, 6 Jan 1883.

A new trial was asked for on the grounds that depositions from Austrian witnesses were not admitted, but that motion was denied. After being sentenced, Austrian authorities both in the United States (two named as Minister Schaeffer and Consul Schamburg in particular) and in the Austro-Hungarian Empire repeatedly tried to have his execution stayed, as he was still a subject of that jurisdiction.  As a result, his hanging was delayed many times.

Weinberger was formally sentenced to death on 3 March 1883, along with George Jones and Jesse Carter.

The rope for the hanging was made by Jacob Bupp.  The confusion lies in whether it was a new rope, as intimated by The Cincinnati Enquirer clip that leads off this blog post, or if it was reused, as The Pittsburgh Press reported:

"The (same) gallows upon which Jesse Carter stood, and the same rope that pressed about his neck, will be used for Weinberger, and the other arrangements are very much the same." ("Weinberger's Death," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 27 August 1884, page 1)

Weinberger spent his last night in concern for his wife and child back home in Hungary.  He had already written his will, leaving everything he owned to them, and expressed to those who visited him quite insistently how much he wanted to make sure that his little daughter was provided for.

Weinberger was hanged on 2 September 1884 in the city jail yard in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  He wore his old clothes instead of the new suit that was given to him for the occasion, because he didn't want any fuss made.  Three minutes after having climbed the gallows, the trap was sprung and he died a quick death according to the Pittsburgh Press. His body was interred in the Austro-Hungarian cemetery in McKee's Rocks shortly thereafter, according to Jewish customs.

Martin Weinberger was believed to be the first Jewish man to ever be convicted and hanged in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

Sources Used and Referenced
"Condensed," The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 5 March 1883, page 8; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 21 June 2019).

"Crimes and Casualties: Convicted of Murder," Harrisburgh Telegraph (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania), 8 January 1883, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 21 June 2019).

"Died Without a Word," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 2 September 1884, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 18 June 2019).

"The Gallows: Martin Weinberger Hanged for Murder," The Cincinnati Enquirer (Cincinnati, Ohio), 3 September 1884, page 5; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 18 June 2019).

"Identified and Yet Unknown," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 24 June 1882, page 4; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 18 June 2019).

Loftquist, Bill. "Martin Weinberger," 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 18 June 2019).

"Weinberger's Crime," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 2 September 1884, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 18 June 2019).

"Weinberger's Death," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 27 August 1884, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 18 June 2019).

"Weinberger on Trial," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 6 January 1883, page 5; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 21 June 2019).