The Hangman's Ropemaker: Alexander Killen and the Three Hungarians Who All Cheated the Hangman

"Alderman Jacob Bupp yesterday received an order from Sheriff McCleary for the rope to kill Kilrain on July 23. The rope is to be finished on Friday. Mr. Bupp made the ropes with which the Nicely boys were hung. These two made the even 100 which he has manufactured. He is also to make the ropes for the three Hungarians and business is becoming so brisk he said he would make ten ropes at once and keep them in stock."

~"Business for the Hangman," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 7 July 1891, page 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*

After the success of the Nicely Brothers' hanging, Jacob Bupp was vindicated a bit (after all, William West's hanging did put a damper on his business).  In July of 1891, while in the final days of his alderman career, he was busy making the ropes for four hangings in Allegheny County.  Yet, very much like the three men the previous year who were not hanged, these ropes were never used either.

The four men were Alexander Killian, Andrew Toth, Michael Sabol, and George Rusnok/Rusnock.  All four were implicated in murders they never committed.

Alexander Killain
Paul and Mary Ann Rudert were the owners of a jewelry store along the riverfront in Tarentum, a borough about 22 miles up the Allegheny River from Pittsburgh.  On the evening of 23 December 1889, they were closing up shop after some last minute Christmas shopping when they heard the sound of breaking glass from the front of the store.  Mary went to see what was going on while her husband went in search for a weapon.  Three men had broken the front window and were scooping out as much as they could reach from outside of the building, and Mary interrupted them.  She was shot in the head, killing her instantly.

Police detectives on loan from Pittsburgh believed they uncovered the identities of the three men; Peter Griffin, Thomas Conroy and a third man known only as "New York Shine."  However, these men were never caught in connection to the murder.


Evidence pointed them also in the direction of a man by the name of Alexander Killian (also Killen), who had a shady history of robbery and burglary.  He owned the boat by which the murderers were able to get to the store and then later escape, and he was compensated with two pieces of jewelry, jewels which were later found to have been from the robbery. Killian admitted to loaning the boat to the men under threats from Griffin, but claimed he had no idea that they were going to use it to commit a crime, let alone murder.  He was charged as an accessory to the crime.

His trial happened in October 1890 and he was convicted of first degree murder.  The key piece of evidence in his conviction was the eyewitness account of Paul Rudert, who insisted he saw Killian at the store that night.  He was sentenced to death by hanging.  

In May of 1891, Killian's death warrant was signed and his hanging was fixed for 23 July 1891.  Allegheny County Sheriff McCleary ordered a rope for the hanging from Jacob Bupp in July.   The scaffold was also erected, but was taken down when Killian was granted a reprieve.  The rope was never used for the hanging.

The board of pardons recommended clemency to Alexander Killian on 2 October 1890, as evidence that was used to convict him was discovered by the detectives who collected it to be erroneous in theory, as guilt lay with the three men who did commit the murder and robbery and not with Killian.  It was also determined that Paul Rudert, possibly under duress from having witnessed his wife's murder, identified more that one man as the killer of Mary Ann, and while his identification of Alexander was taken as correct at the time of the trial, evidence later came to light that it was a false identification.  Killian's death sentence was commuted to life in prison on 29 October 1891 and he was sent to Western Penitentiary to serve out his sentence. 

Side note here: It was around this time that his name went from being spelled as Killian to Killen.  I am not sure which spelling is absolutely correct,. so both are used in the article

There were many prominent people who thought he was innocent, and began to campaign for his release, especially when word got out that Paul Rudert did indeed make a false accusation and testified to such.  In 1908, his case was brought up in front of the Pardon Board and on 24 April 1909 he was released from prison.  He wrote about his entire experience and it was published in The Pittsburgh Press.

Clipping of Alexander Killen's Story from The Pittsburgh Press on 16 May 1909 (page 46).  Found on Google News Archive Search.

Alexander Killian died from heart disease and asthma on 25 January 1925 in Pittsburgh City Hospital in Mayview, Pennsylvania.  The hospital was part of a series of homes and hospitals for indigent people.

The Three Hungarians
Edgar Thomson Works, a steel plant in Braddock, Pennsylvania was one of Andrew Carnegie's finest plants, but it had the same ethnic and class tensions as his Carnegie Steel Plant in Homestead, where the Homestead Strike of 1892 happened.

The Hungarian men who typically worked at the Thomson Works were angry.  They had been forced to work on Christmas Day 1890, which was typically a time for rest and family.  They also were being told they were to work on New Year's Day 1891 and they refused, calling for a strike.

So Irishmen were brought in to stoke the fires at the steel furnaces that day. When the men heard this, they rioted against the strikebreakers.

For almost a full hour, there was a huge fight at the Thomson Works, where over 200 strikers armed with clubs, picks, shovels and other weapons fought against the strikebreakers.  When the police hired to work the mill couldn't quell the uprising, the Allegheny County Sheriff and his entire posse of over 200 men were called in to quell the fighting.  More than fifty men were arrested for the riot.

However, an Irish furnace supervisor by the name of Michael Quinn was badly wounded in the riot (as were three others, and more than a dozen were injured), and when he died on 5 Jan 1891, the press and the public demanded justice.  Like the Haymarket Riots, there were mass arrests following the riots and the death, as newspapers cheered on any attempt to quell the uprisings by the workers.

Three men were ultimately charged with Quinn's murder; Andrew Toth, Michael Sabol, and George Rusnock.  All three were Hungarian immigrants and steelworkers.  All were present at the riot and had been arrested for fighting.  All three were identified by an Irishman by Peter Mullin as having beaten Michael Quinn.  Mullin stated he watched a man by the name of Toth strike Quinn over the head with a shovel, causing the fatal blow.

Andrew Toth, Michael Sabol, and George Rusnock were indicted 15 January 1891 and their trial happened in February 1891.  There was conflicting testimony about what had happened, as several eyewitnesses testified they saw the men there, but that not all of them were present at the beating.  The key eyewitness against Toth was  Mullin, who testified he saw Toth deliver the final blow.  However, he also stated that a man by the name of Steve Toth (no relation to Andy Toth) was the one present, not Andrew Toth, and he was at an entirely different furnace than the one Quinn had been working, making it difficult to have viewed the beating.  Despite this conflict in testimony, the three men were convicted on 7 February 1891, just one month after Quinn's death, and they were sentenced to die by hanging on 8 April 1891.

Defense appealed a new trial on a couple of grounds, one being that a few of the jurors in the murder trial had just the week prior served as jurors in the trials of the rioters, and that the charge of murder in the first was unwarranted because the murder was not premeditated but arose out of a riot and should have been a manslaughter charge. The Supreme Court denied the appeal and affirmed the first-degree murder convictions on 5 June 1891.

In July of 1891, Jacob Bupp was asked to make the ropes for the hangings.  It is not known whether or not he actually got the chance to finish the ropes, given the circumstances of the motions for appeals and pardons.

On the same day that Alexander Killian's case was recommended to be commuted to life in prison, the cases of the three men were held under advisement.  The three men were still in the Allegheny County Jail in February 1892, when the scaffold was erected the first time for the hanging of Patrick Fitzbpatrick.  They were alarmed when they heard of the scaffold, for they thought it was meant for them.

But there was hope yet. The outcome of the trial and the expediency with which the men were tried caused some alarm amongst the citizens of the great Pittsburgh area, including a minister by the name of T.N. Boyle, who started a petition to save the men from hanging.  Under pressure by several prominent people in Allegheny County, including Andrew Carnegie (who owned the mill) and his right hand man Charles Schwab (who ran the mill), Governor Pattison commuted their sentences to life imprisonment by 25 Feb 1892.  The three men were taken to the Western Penitentiary to serve out their sentences.

In March of 1895, word was received that Michael Sabol was dying from tuberculosis, having contracted it in prison shortly after being confined there.  Several prominent ministers and lawyers traveled to Harrisburg to ask the Board of Pardons for a full pardon for Sabol, and armed themselves with a petition of over 1000 names pf prominent citizens.  The petition worked, and Michael Sabol was released from prison on 30 March 1895.  He died 8 April 1895, leaving a wife in Hungary..

Rusnock was pardoned in October 1897 and release from prison 13 October 1897.  It was reported that he too had consumption and was not expected to live much longer.  Later news accounts stated he died shortly thereafter, but no exact date has been located.

In 1910, Stephen Toth, who had fled to Hungary after killing Michael Quinn, made a confession to local authorities while dying from typhoid fever.  The story made its way to Allegheny County (with a little help from Andrew Toth's sons, who wanted to see their father freed), where prominent people again made a push to pardon Toth.  On 15 March 1911, the Board of Pardons made a recommendation for pardon. Their best argument for pardoning him (besides the fact that his compatriots had already been pardoned) was that:

 "The trial occurred within about six weeks after the riot, and at a time the public mind was under the influence of the excitement naturally arising from the tumultuous events of the day, which in fact furnishes an explanation of the failure to advance this theory in defense of the applicant on his trial in court." (Letter of the Board of Pardons to Gov. John K. Tener, 15 March 1911, page 184 of Journal of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania For the Session Begun at Harrisburg on the Seventh Day of January 1913 found on Google Books)

Headline from the 18 March 1911 edition of The Pittsburgh Press found on Google News Archive

Andrew Toth left prison on 18 March 1911, having spent more than 20 years wrongfully convicted of murder.  He harbored no ill will against anyone associated with the trial, including Mullen,  and was happy to be free.  Toth was granted a $40 a month pension by Andrew Carnegie when the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania refused to compensate him for having sent him to prison for most of his life.  He returned to Hungary and reunited with his wife and four sons after having been separated for over 26 years.  According to some of the sources, he lived a good long life afterwards on the pension he received.

His case prompted some to push for compensation for the wrongfully accused who had been imprisoned.  California started the process in 1914, and other states followed suit.

Sources Used and Referenced
"Building the Scaffold," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 17 May 1892, page 4; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 30 July 2019).

"Business for the Hangman," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 7 July 1891, Page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 13 September 2017).

"Commonwealth v. Andrew Toth et. al." Pennsylvania State Report Containing Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Volume 145 (New York: Banks and Brothers, 1892), 308-317; online images, Google Books (https://books.google.com/books : accessed 31 July 2019). 

"Died Last Night," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 6 January 1891, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 31 July 2019).

"Fitzpatrick's Fate," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 18 February 1892, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 31 July 2019).

"Four Very Happy Murderers," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 26 February 1892, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : 28 october 2017 ).

"Freedom Near for Little Praying Andy," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 16 March 1911, page 4; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 31 July 2019).

Gordon, Gertrude. "Andy Toth is Released," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 18 March 1911, pages 1-2; online images, Google News (https://news.google.com/newspapers : accessed 31 July 2019). 

"Hungarians in a Riot," The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 2 January 1891, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 31 July 2019).

"The Hungarians Saved," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 26 February 1892, page 5; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 31 July 2019).

"In Behalf of Sabol," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 26 March 1895, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 31 July 2019).

"In the First Degree," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 7 February 1891, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 31 July 2019).

Journal of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the Session Begun at Harrisburg on the 3d Day of January 1893, Issue 1 (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Edwin K. Meyers, 1893), 166-171; online images, Google Books (https://books.google.com/books?id=38lKAQAAMAAJ : accessed 30 July 2019).

Journal of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania For the Session Begun at Harrisburg on the Seventh Day of January 1913, Part I (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Telegraph Printing Company, 1914), 183-185; online images, Google Books (https://books.google.com/books?id=gHtDAQAAMAAJ : accessed 31 July 2019).

"Killain's Hanging Day," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 24 July 1891, page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 28 October 2017).

Killen, Alexander. "Nineteen Years In Prison," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 16 May 1909, page 46; online images, Google News (https://news.google.com/newspapers : accessed 30 July 2019).

"Killen Will Not Hang," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 3 October 1891, page 6; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 30 July 2019).

"Killian's Death Warrant Here," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 21 May 1891, page 4; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 30 July 2019).

Krajicek, David J. "Andrew Carnegie's iron grip of greed - the saga of 'Praying Andy' Toth," Daily News (New York, New York), 5 September 2010; online archive (www.nydailynews.com : accessed 31 July 2019).

"Little Local Items," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 27 May 1891, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 3 October 2017).

Loftquist, Bill. "Alexander Killen," State Killings in the Steel City: The History of the Death Penalty in Pittsburgh, 9 February 2018 (https://state-killings-in-the-steel-city.org/ : accessed 30 July 2019).

Loftquist, Bill. "Andrew Toth, Michael Sabol, and George Rusnock," State Killings in the Steel City: The History of the Death Penalty in Pittsburgh, 9 February 2018 (https://state-killings-in-the-steel-city.org/ : accessed 30 July 2019).

"Michael Sabol Dead," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 9 April 1895, page 9; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 31 July 2019).

"Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1963," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 July 2019), Entry for Alexander Killen, died 25 Jan 1925, certificate number 8904; citing Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1963. Series 11.90 (1,905 cartons). Records of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Record Group 11. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

"Rusnock Free," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 14 October 1897, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 31 July 2019).

"Three Huns to Be Hanged," The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 3 April 1891, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 28 October 2017).

"Under the Gallows," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 20 October 1890, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 15 July 2019).

Warden, Rob. "Andrew Toth," article, The National Registry of Exonerations (https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetailpre1989.aspx?caseid=334 : accessed 31 July 2019).

The Hangman's Ropemaker: The Nicely Brothers

"Sheriff Isaiah Good, of Somerset county, yesterday gave Alderman Bupp, of Wood's Run, an order for two ropes, to be used at the execution of the Nicely brothers on April 2. The ropes will be shipped next Monday. Alderman Bupp will also be present at the execution."

~"Ropes Ordered for the Nicely Boys," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 7 March 1891, page 9

*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*

27 February 1889 was a deary, rainy day in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.  Snow had fallen previously in the week, but was only evidenced by a few remaining drifts. Two miles north of the borough of Jennertown sat the farm of Herman Umberger.  The elderly farmer lived on his farm on the Somerset Pike with his wife, great-granddaughter Nannie Horner and a domestic by the name of Ella Stern.

Herman Umberger's likeness, from page 11 of The Umberger Tragedy: With a Criminal History of Somerset County, Pa. by Edward H. Werner, published in 1890.  Found on The Internet Archive.

On that cold, rainy night, two men knocked on the door while the family sat around the stove of the sitting room, trying to keep warm in the late winter evening.  The two men, who had covered their faces to shield their identities, asked to come in and get warm.  They then claimed they were constables from Bedford who had a search warrant and said they were looking for jewels that had been stolen from a peddler.  Herman Umberger gave them permission to search the house, and in the process of that search, his pocketbooks were discovered.  Since Umberger didn't trust banks, he had kept his life savings on his person in his pocketbooks, and there was an estimated fifteen to twenty thousand dollars within them.  Umberger put them into the pocket of his vest.  The "constables" demanded the pocketbooks be handed over, and when Umberger refused, he was shot several times and left to die.

Almost as soon as the men left, Mrs Umberger sounded the alarm by ringing her dinner bell as loudly as she could and several men gathered at the Umberger home to try to catch the criminals.  A man named Collins Hamilton fell under suspicion after money and the wig one of the men wore were found in his home, but it was later determined both were planted to throw off suspicion.  Evidence soon came to light that caused Joseph and David Nicely to become the suspects and the two were arrested 6 March 1889.

The Nicely Brothers, from pages 18 and 26 of The Umberger Tragedy: With a Criminal History of Somerset County, Pa. by Edward H. Werner, published in 1890.  Found on The Internet Archive.

Joseph and David Nicely were two of the four sons of Anthony Nicely, a respected farmer that lived outside the town of Ligonier, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Joseph was the eldest son, and was married to a woman named Harriet.  The couple had seven children.  David was the youngest son, and was married to a woman named Elizabeth.  He had three children.  According to some news accounts the tow men were known criminals, but other newspapers painted them as industrious and well known and respected men.

The two were put on trial in June of 1889.  At the trial, testimony from Ella Stern and Nannie Horner was the only concrete evidence, although circumstantial evidence from other witnesses was also presented.  It came to light that Umberger had to have been shot with a center-fire revolver, and Joseph Nicely had purchased such a revolver the previous fall.  The overcoats that Ella and Nannie remembered the men wearing when Umberger was shot matched the two overcoats the men owned, and Umberger's distinct pocketbook was found empty at the home of Anthony Nicely.

The Nicelys' defense, led by two former Congressmen, called witnesses that testified to seeing the men elsewhere during the shooting, and tried every trick they could to dissuade the jury from finding the men guilty.  However, after a tumultuous trial, the jury came back with a verdict of guilty of first degree murder.

Due to some irregularities in the verdict however, the defense immediately motioned for a new trial, which was argued on the 13th and 14th of August 1890.  The motion however was overruled and a new trial was refused.  The men were sentenced to death by hanging.

The zealous defense appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, who agreed to hear the appeal in their October term.

However, during this appeal process, the Nicelys tried to take securing their liberty upon themselves.  The Nicelys quickly became the "lords of the jail" so to speak and became friendly with the other prisoners who were housed at the Somerset jail.  In August it was revealed that they tried to make an escape via bed sheets when another prisoner took to having a supposed fit of epilepsy.  Yet Joe Nicely refused to escape via the window, as he wanted to leave the jail by walking through the door.

On 16 September 1889, the two brothers made their second attempt to escape and dashed through the door of the jail.  They scuffled with the prison guards and in the scuffle Joe got his hands on a guard's pistol, firing it several times.  One guard was shot twice and nearly died  The two prisoners were quickly caught and a lynch mob almost did them in.  However, the mob was persuaded to return the men to jail to see through their sentence.

The Supreme Court did hear the arguments in their October term, and on 10 November 1889 the court handed down their decision that the verdict was upheld, as there were no errors in it.

On 29 November 1889, another escape was attempted, and this one was more successful for the brothers.  They escaped the jail with three other men, sliding down a rope with a drop of about fifty feet.  One of the prisoners died in the fall.  Dave Nicely was injured, breaking both a leg and an arm.  He was found a couple of days later, almost dead from exposure.  Joe Nicely was found hidden in a barn, complaining of a broken ankle.

Both men insisted they tried to escape the three times because they were innocent of the crime they were convicted.  The Nicelys' defense tried to argue the case in front of the Board of Pardons four different times, and each time the Board of Pardons denied to pardon the men.

Harry Marsh followed the Nicelys' fate very closely from his own jail cell in Cambria County.  In early January, after his death warrant was signed, he asked his jailers if theirs had been signed as well.  According to the article "Death Warrant Read to Harry Marsh the Murderer," in the 15 January 1891 edition of Pittsburgh Daily Post: "When told that the time for their execution had not yet been fixed he bitterly remarked that he was not like them, and had no money to appeal to the board of pardons" (page 3).

On 20 January 1891, just one day before his term expired, Governor James A. Beaver signed the death warrants for the Nicely brothers, setting their execution date at 2 April 1891.

About a month before the executions, Joe Nicely began to complain of headaches that were severe.  By the end of that week, he was acting like a crazy man, and was able to convince a doctor that he was insane. (Coincidentally, he "snapped out of it" the morning of the hanging, leading everyone to believe it had been faked, and wrote a letter to his wife Harriet dividing his belongings amongst all of his seven children)

Jacob Bupp made both of the ropes, having received the order for them in March of 1891 while still alderman of the Eleventh Ward of Allegheny City.  He charged the county of Somerset his usual fee of $25 per rope, and mailed the ropes to Sheriff Isaiah Good, expecting his payment in cash on delivery.  However, Good refused to pay and sent the package to the County Commissioners' office.  The County Commissioners were reported as also dragging their feet in paying for the ropes, because it was not set in stone as of 19 March 1891 that the Nicelys would not be pardoned. 

According to an article in The Pittsburgh Press on 19 March 1891 (page 7), Jacob became angry when he heard of the commissioners trying to refuse to pay for the rope Good ordered.  He had this to say in an interview with a Press reporter:

"Every hangman's rope that I have ever made I received $25 for it, and any good rope maker in the country would charge the same price.  I have the order from Sheriff Good telling me to ship two ropes 15 feet in length for the Nicely brothers.  I sent two ropes which were 25 feet in length.  I will hold the sheriff responsible for the money, as he understood my charges before ordering the ropes."

Jacob  was finally paid for the ropes on 23 March 1891.  He expressed that perhaps the article that reported the Commissioners were refusing to pay for the ropes was a fake.  He was invited to attend the execution, and it was mentioned that he had already witnessed 65 executions (making this execution his 66th).

On 2 April 1891,  Joseph and David Nicely were hanged in the Somerset County Jail.  The gallows had been erected inside the Somerset Jail with the traps built into the floor.  While only thirty to forty people were actually admitted to witness the execution, the jail was surrounded by curious crowds of people waiting to hear of the execution.  The trap was sprung, it was reported, at 1:37 pm, and by 2 in the afternoon the men were pronounced dead.  Their bodies were taken by their families to be buried in Ligonier.

Sources Used and Referenced
"Again the Nicelys," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 19 March 1891, page 5; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 17 July 2019).

"Are These the Murderers," Altoona Tribune (Altoona, Pennsylvania), 14 March 1889, page 5; online archives with images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 26 July 2019).

"Business for the Hangman," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 7 July 1891, Page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 13 September 2017).

"Death Warrant Read to Harry Marsh the Murderer," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 15 January 1891, page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 19 July 2019).

"Death Watch Set," The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts), 13 March 1891, page 5; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 17 July 2019).

"Famous Rope Maker Dead," Altoona Mirror (Altoona, Pennsylvania), 24 February 1899, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 21 September 2017).

"He Made Hangman's Ropes," The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California), 13 March 1899, page 6; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 25 June 2019).

"Into Eternity," The Indiana Gazette (Indiana, Pennsylvania), 8 April 1891, page 9; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 28 October 2017).

"The Narrative of a Crime," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 25 March 1891, page 9; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 29 July 2019).

"Nicelys Hear Their Doom," Altoona Tribune (Altoona, Pennsylvania), 23 January 1891, page 4; online archives with images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 7 October 2017).

"Notes about the State," Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 19 March 1891, page 5; online images, GenealogyBank (www.genealogybank.com : accessed 13 May 2019), 

"Only a Few Hours Away," The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts), 2 April 1891, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 3 July 2019).

"Paid for the Ropes," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 23 March 1891, page 6; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 8 October 2017).

Pennsylvania State Report, Volume 130 (Harrisburg, PA: Banks and Brothers, 1890), 261-272; online images, Google Books (https://books.google.com/books : accessed 26 July 2019).

"Ropes Ordered for the Nicely Boys," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 7 March 1891, page 9; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 3 October 2017).

"Small Scraps of Local News," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 22 January 1891, page 6; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 17 July 2019).

"Untitled," The Black Hills Union (Rapid City, South Dakota), 27 July 1900, page 7; online images, Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ : accessed 21 September 2017), Historic American Newspapers; citing South Dakota State Historical Society-State Archives.

Werner, Edward H. The Umberger Tragedy: With a Criminal History of Somerset County, Pa. (Somerset, Pennsylvania: The Office of the Highland Farmer, 1890), ; online images, The Internet Archive  (https://archive.org/details/umbergertragedy00werngoog : accessed 25 July 2019).

Wilhelm, Robert. "The Nicely Brothers," Murder By Gaslight, 21 March 2015 (http://www.murderbygaslight.com : accessed 25 July 2019).

"Will Get His Money: Alderman Bupp disgusted with Somerset County Commissioners," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 19 March 1891, page 7; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 16 August 2016).

The Hangman's Ropemaker: Harry Marsh and William West

"The ropes used yesterday in the execution of West at Washington and Marsh at Ebensburg were manufactured by Jacob Bopp, of Allegheny." 

~ "Lashed to a Plank," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 27 February 1891, page 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*

In the first half of the year 1891, Jacob Bupp was still the alderman for the Eleventh Ward of Allegheny City.  In February, he again made newspaper reports for a pair of hangings he did, both of which fell on 26 February 1891.  The two men he helped to hang were Harry Marsh and William West.

Harry Marsh: The Gallitzin Lover's Murderer
Clara Jones was born Clara Shakshaft, but her father, who had left his apprenticeship in England to get married, made the family live under the assumed name of Jones for fear of reprisals.  She was about 18 years of age.  She worked as a serving girl at Gunning's hotel in Gallitzin, Pennsylvania, a mountain borough in Cambria County.

She was last seen in the company of an Englishman by the name of Harry Marsh on the morning of 6 July 1890.  Marsh was a native of West Bromwick, Staffordshire, England and worked in the coal mines in Gallitzin.  He was 26 years old, and was an inoffensive gentleman according to acquaintances until just a few months before the murder, when he began to drink very heavily and became abusive as a result.

The young couple, as depicted in several articles from various newspapers reporting on the crime.  Found on Newspapers.com

He and Clara met just before Decoration Day (which is now Memorial Day), when he flirted with her younger sister. He began to court Clara shortly after, and the couple seemed to be on good terms.  However, that all changed the morning of 6 July 1890, when Clara was found barely alive, her head bashed in with a coupling pin and her throat having been slit.  She lingered for a week before dying in the home of her married elder sister.

Marsh confessed right away.  His motive was jealousy, according to reports given by people he talked to after the murder, although he also stated Clara wanted him to kill her because she had been disgraced and ruined by another man (although in the same testimony he stated Clara wanted him to marry her as well).

His trial was held in September of 1890 in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania.  On 18 September 1890, he was convicted of murder in the first degree after testimony from several witnesses.  Marsh's defense did not deny that he killed Clara Jones/Shakshaft, but that the crime did not warrant a charge of murder in the first degree due to the fact that he was blindly drunk and the girl begged him to kill her.  Shortly after the conviction, the defense motioned for a new trial, but that was denied. On 6 October 1890, he was sentenced to death by hanging.

In January of 1891, his death warrant was signed by the governor and read to him.  According to newspaper reports, he was visibly affected and upset for the loss of his own life, but said nothing about taking the life of Clara.  He also expressed interest in the happenings of the Nicely brothers, who also were sentenced to hang in Somerset County, and expressed that unlike them, he had no money to appeal his sentence to the Board of Pardons.

Jacob Bupp was contracted to make the rope used to hang Marsh, who was scheduled to be hanged the same day as William West.  The rope was reported to be the usual 25 feet in length and half an inch thick.  It cost the county of Cambria $25, which was Jacob's standard charge for a hangman's rope.

Harry Marsh was hanged 26 February 1891 on the same scaffold that Charles Carter met his doom the previous year.  After his death, his brother took charge of the body and he was privately buried.

William West: The Crouch Family Butcher
John Crouch was a blind elderly man in his seventies, and his elderly wife Emily and their forty-five year old son Andrew were both deaf (some newspaper accounts seem to suggest that Andrew also had some sort of handicap mentally).  The family lived on a farm outside Bentleysville, Washington County, Pennsylvania.  Mr. Crouch, who didn't trust banks and was very reclusive, had a large amount of money hidden in his house.  The family had a miserly reputation, even though they were amongst the wealthiest in the area.

On the morning of 14 May 1890, their neighbor William Crawford had sent his son up to the Crouch farm on an errand, but when the boy returned saying the house was locked up and no one was home, Crawford went to investigate, as he knew they would be home.  He found the three members of the household clubbed to death, with both John and Andrew's faces beaten beyond recognition.  there was evidence that the men fought for their lives.  The house had been ransacked, and the motive for the murders was thought to be robbery.  Those investigating the deed also knew it had to be someone who was known to the Crouches.

Suspicion quickly fell on a black man who used to live in the area and was back visiting family.  William West was in his mid-twenties.  He was living with a white woman named Annie Brundage, and the couple had a child of about 7 years old.  He had worked for the Couches before and was well known.  He was arrested trying to take the train to Pittsburgh with Annie and the child, and was held without bail until his trial. Annie was also arrested as an accomplice to the murder after the fact.

William West's likeness as depicted in several newspapers that reported on his crime and ultimate hanging from 1890-1891.  Found on Newspapers.com

His trial was held in Washington, Pennsylvania in October 1890.  Many witnesses were called who testified how well West knew the Crouch family.  On 11 October 1890, William West was found guilty of murder in the first degree.  A motion was made for a new trial, but was denied.

Annie Brundage was tried on 21 November 1890 as an accomplice.  She was found guilty after a brief one-day trial, and was sentenced to fifteen months in the penitentiary. 

While in jail waiting for his hanging, William West was able to write several letters that were then smuggled out and mailed form other places insisting he wasn't the killer and that others had actually done the killings.  

West had to be carried to the scaffold manacled while on a stretcher because he had attempted suicide during the change in his death watch by slashing his throat with a concealed piece of iron, but was unsuccessful. He had blood oozing from the wounds as he was carried up to be hanged.  That same day, his brother, Basil West, was held up during a search of his person while trying to enter the jail as a revolver was found on his person.  He insisted until the very last that William West was insane and should not have been hanged.

His rope was the only rope to break in Jacob Bupp's career, and it caused an apparently grisly scene at the hanging on 26 February 1891, for the hangman's noose had to be redone after it had broken and West fell to the ground.  The second attempt to hang him was successful.  

Jacob Bupp was swift to place the blame for the broken rope upon the sheriff of Washington, Pennsylvania, George E. Lockhart.  Bupp stated that the man tested the rope too many times and stretched it as a result before the hanging. According to news reports, Jacob Bupp insisted he practically begged Lockhart for permission to adjust the rope.  Lockhart came back at Bupp, stating the rope was poorly made and that Bupp should have been honorable enough to conceded that it was not his best work.

Some of Jacob Bupp's descendants (including my grandmother) remember hearing stories about a hanging that had gone wrong.  Some even stated the stories they heard stated that this hanging was the one that turned Jacob off of the rope-making business.  While there is evidence that Jacob made ropes for at least four more hangings after this one, this particular hanging was almost certainly the hanging that is mentioned in family stories.

When Jacob Bupp died, a number of his obituaries mentioned this broken rope.

Sources Used and Referenced
"A Candidate for the Rope," The Cambria Freeman (Ebensburg, Pennsylvania), 19 September 1890, page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 19 July 2019).

"At Their Hearth," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 15 May 1890, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 22 July 2019).

"Bentleysville's Bloody Butchery," Monogahela Valley Republican (Monongahela, Pennsylvania), 22 May 1890, page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 22 July 2019).

"Bupp's Statements Denied," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 9 March 1891, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 25 September 2017).

"The County Capital," The Daily Republican (Monongahela, Pennsylvania), 3 February 1891, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : acessed 20 September 2017).

"The Crouch Tragedy," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 6 November 1890, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 22 July 2019).

"Death Warrant Read to Harry Marsh the Murderer," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 15 January 1891, page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 19 July 2019).

"Famous Rope Maker Dead," Altoona Mirror (Altoona, Pennsylvania), 24 February 1899, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 21 September 2017).

"The Gallitzin Murder," Altoona Times (Altoona, Pennsylvania), 14 July 1890, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 19 July 2019).

"Hangman's Ropemaker Dead: Jacob Bupp Made Ropes That Hung 109 Murderers and Only One Broke," The Times (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 24 February 1899, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 16 September 2017).

"In Other Counties," Altoona Tribune (Altoona, Pennsylvania), 13 February 1891, page 4; online archives with images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 25 September 2017).

"In the First Degree," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 11 October 1890, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 22 July 2019).

"Lashed to a Plank," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 27 February 1891, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 25 September 2017).

"Marsh Executed!," The Cambria Freeman (Ebensburg, Pennsylvania), 27 February 1891, page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 19 July 2019).

"Met Death Like a Man," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 27 February 1891, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 25 September 2017).

"Miss Annie Brundage," Monogahela Valley Republican (Monongahela, Pennsylvania), 27 November 1890, page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 22 July 2019).

"Notes about the State," Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 19 March 1891, page 5; online images, GenealogyBank (www.genealogybank.com : accessed 13 May 2019).

"Neighborhood Fakirs," Washington Observer (Washington, Pennsylvania), 12 February 1891, page 7; online images, Genealogy Bank (www.genealogybank.com : accessed 21 September 2017). 

"The Rope Broke," Altoona Tribune (Altoona, Pennsylvania), 27 February 1891, page 1; online archives with images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 29 October 2017).

"Sentenced to Death," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 7 October 1890, page 6; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 19 July 2019).

"Twice Hanged," The New York Herald (New York, New York), 27 February 1891, page 7; online images, Library of Congress (https://lccn.loc.gov/sn83030313 : accessed 22 July 2019).

"Two Hangings To-Day," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 26 February 1891, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 19 July 2019).

"Two Murderers Hanged," The Indiana Progress (Indiana, Pennsylvania), 11 March 1891, page 10; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 29 October 2017).

"West's Broken Rope," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 6 March 1891, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 25 September 2017).

The Hangman's Ropemaker: Jacob Bupp, the Alderman (Part Three: 1891)

"The 'Squire, by the way, makes hangman's ropes, and occasionally quotes Scripture, in addition to his Aldermanic duties."

~ "Quite a Different Case," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 26 April 1891, 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*

Jacob Bupp had been elected as Alderman in 1889, and spent a good part of 1890 in the news for either his alderman duties or his ropemaking.  1891 was also a busy year for Jacob Bupp, and it was his last year in office as alderman of the Eleventh Ward of Allegheny City at 18 McClure Avenue. He also continued his rope-making business.

On 26 February 1891, both Harry Marsh and William West were hanged using ropes he created.  William West's hanging caused a stir because the rope broke.  But more on that in another blog post.

One of his constables, Bartley Maree, had a bit of excitement on 20 March 1891.  Maree had a warrant for a man by the name of James Crowley, who was up on charges of disorderly conduct.  Crowley was found in a saloon on Preble Avenue in the Ninth Ward of Allegheny City.  When Maree tried to make the arrest outside of the saloon, another man by the name of Sullivan, asked Maree to read the warrant.  When Maree reached for the paper in his pocket, Crowley knocked him down and then Crowley and Sullivan used the constable's mace to beat him insensible before disappearing.  Maree was left with some very ugly injuries.  A manhunt was done of the area afterwards for Crowley, but it is unknown whether or not he was caught.  Maree did recover from his injuries, as Pittsburgh area newspapers in September listed him as making arrests again.

*Note here - Woods Run was apparently a dangerous area in that time, and The Pittsburgh Press had run a quote after the Maree incident that stated "The police in the Woods Run district are getting frightened.  It is a common occurrence with them to get hurt while making arrests." ("Dangerously Beaten," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 22 March 1891, page 2)*

On 2 April 1891, a pair of brothers, David and Joe Nicely, were hanged in Somerset County using his ropes.  Their hanging also created a stir for Jacob, as he almost didn't get paid for the ropes.

On 14 April 1891, a fight occurred outside Jacob's office between Alex Dugan and Peter Weis, who had just had a hearing rendered by Jacob and didn't like the outcome of said hearing.  Constable Merriman, one of Jacob's constables, charged both men with disorderly conduct the very next day.

On 25 April 1891, William Jackson appeared before Jacob Bupp on charges of chicken theft.  Jackson was described as a "venerable colored man, with hair frosted by the night winds."  he had stolen chickens because he had no money to buy food, and after arguing Scripture with Jacob, he was discharged with no fines, because the old alderman could see wisdom in the old man's statement.

On 10 June 1891, Mrs. Cook of Woods Run was brought up by Mrs. Barbara Stipple on a serious charge and was arrested by Constable Merriman of Bupp's office.

On 20 June 1891, Jacob Bupp appeared before Alderman McKelvy to give more information on his service in the military during the Civil War for his pension claim.  An physician's examination was done on him on 2 July 1891 because he claimed he had an injury to his right leg and had rheumatism as a result of his service. No injuries were found and his claim was denied, a mentioned in the post on his Civil War service.

In July 1891, three Hungarian men and Alexander Killian/Killen were all supposed to be hanged, all using ropes made by Jacob.  However, all four men cheated the hangman, just as Jacobs, Rudy and Smith did the previous year.

By 4 July 1891, Jacob Bupp had apparently and abruptly resigned from his post, even though he later vehemently denied handing in his resignation.  W. F. Richardson was appointed by the governor of Pennsylvania in Bupp's stead, and for a bit it seems the Eleventh Ward of Allegheny had two aldermen.  But it appeared Jacob's run as alderman didn't last much longer, even if he didn't abruptly resign.

You see, there was a bit of a scandal.....

Jacob Bupp was arrested 9 August 1891 on a charge of misdemeanor in office.  Henry Shaney was the prosecutor that made the charges and alleged that he asked Jacob to collect money for him while Jacob held his commission as alderman, but that after Jacob collected the money, he pocketed it instead of turning it over.  Alderman McMasters was the one assigned to hear the case on 14 August 1891 and listened to testimony from Isaac Glantz, who was the plaintiff in the case in which Jacob pocketed the money.  The amount Jacob pocketed was $11.50 (roughly worth $325 today).  McMasters found against Jacob, and the hearing was referred to the trial court system.

On 8 October 1891, it was reported that Jacob was in jail, having defaulted on his bail from the hearing on 9 August 1891.  Apparently he could not find a bondsman to pay for his bail while he awaited trial, so he ended up having to sit in jail at the Allegheny County Courthouse.  Further research will need to be done to determine the outcome of the case - and this log post will be update to reflect that if and when it should ever be found.

Apparently the outcome of the case was resolved enough that Jacob could be home in December, as he was again interviewed by a local newspaper  The interview did state that Jacob "was formerly the Alderman in the ward in which he lives, and dealt out justice with as much delight as he made ropes" ("Hanging's the Way," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 26 December 1891, page 3).

The State of New York had just begun to implement electrocution as an execution method, and Jacob chimed in against the novel idea.  He felt electrocution was too horrible and cruel a method to be used as a capital punishment.

It stated in the interview that he was the maker of over 101 hangman's ropes at this point, and had witnessed 72 of those hangings himself.  This article also stated he worked as a rope maker in Illinois for a period of years in the 1840s and became acquainted with some of the early Mormon leaders when he was there.  (Further research will need to be done to verify this statement, and will appear in a future post should I ever find such information.)

Even though he wasn't an alderman in 1892, he was listed in the directory as such.  It was likely that the directory information was given and printed before he resigned (or was forced to give up) his office.  He was also referred to as "Alderman Jacob Bopp" in a newspaper article dated 26 Feb 1892, when he was mentioned as the ropemaker for the hanging of Patrick Fitzpatrick.

Sources Used and Referenced
"A Pugnacious Prisoner," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 21 March 1891, page 7; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 7 October 2017).

"A Rope for West," The Daily Republican (Monongahela, Pennsylvania), 16 January 1891, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 7 October 2017).

"A Ward With Two Aldermen," Pittsburg Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 4 July 1891, page 12; online images, Chronicling America (chroniclingamerica.loc.gov : accessed 19 August 2016), Historic American Newspapers.

Additional Evidence in the Claim of Jacob Bupp, Private, Company G, 6th Regiment Pennsylvania, Affidavit of Jacob Bupp filed by H.K. Tyler (lawyer) of Allegheny City, Pennsylvania filed June 22, 1891; Photocopy provided by NARA in the pension file for Jacob Bupp; citing Pension application files based upon service in the Civil War and Spanish-American War ("Civil War and Later"); Records Relating to Pension and Bounty-Land Claims 1773-1942, Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, RG 15; 2,807 rolls, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

"Alderman Bupp in Jail," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 8 October 1891, page 7; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 16 August 2016).

"Bupp's Statements Denied," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 9 March 1891, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 25 September 2017).

"Business for the Hangman," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 7 July 1891, Page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 17 September 2017).

"Collided with the Law," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 11 June 1891, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 3 October 2017).

"Court Proceedings Condensed," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 26 February 1892, page 8; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 9 October 2017).

"Dangerously Beaten," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 22 March 1891, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 17 July 2019).

"Didn't Like the Decision," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 18 July 2019, page 6; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 18 July 2019).

"Echoes of the Night," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 10 August 1891, page 5; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 22 March 2016).

"Ex-Alderman Bopp Roped In," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 10 August 1891, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 25 September 2017).

"Flashbacks," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 8 April 1931, page 8; online images, Google News (https://news.google.com/newspapers : accessed 19 August 2016).

"Hanging's the Way," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 26 December 1891, page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 12 May 2019).

J.F. Diffenbacher's directory of Pittsburgh and Allegheny cities, 1890/1891 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Diffenbacher & Thurston, 1890), 874, "Bupp Jacob, 18 McClure av, A(llegheny)"; digital image, University of Pittsburgh, Digital Research Library, Historic Pittsburgh (www.historicpittsburgh.org : accessed 17 August 2016).

J.F. Diffenbacher's directory of Pittsburgh and Allegheny cities, 1891/1892 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Diffenbacher & Thurston, 1891), 978, Listed under aldermen "Bupp Jacob, 18 McClure, A(llegheny)"; digital image, University of Pittsburgh, Digital Research Library, Historic Pittsburgh (http://historicpittsburgh.org : accessed 17 August 2016).

J.F. Diffenbacher's directory of Pittsburgh and Allegheny cities, 1892/1893 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Diffenbacher & Thurston, 1892), 186, "Bupp Jacob, alderman, 18 McClure av, h Shady av, 11th wd, A(llegheny)"; digital image, University of Pittsburgh, Digital Research Library, Historic Pittsburgh (http://historicpittsburgh.org : accessed 17 August 2016).

"Little Local Items," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 27 May 1891, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 3 October 2017).

"Nicelys Hear Their Doom," Altoona Tribune (Altoona, Pennsylvania), 23 January 1891, page 4; online archives with images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 7 October 2017).

"Notes about the State," Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 19 March 1891, page 5; online images, GenealogyBank (www.genealogybank.com : accessed 13 May 2019), Newspaper Archives.

"Pound the Officer," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 21 March 1891, page 6; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 3 October 2017).

"Quite a Different Case," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 26 April 1891, page 7; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 16 August 2016).

Surgeon's Certificate in case of Jacob Bupp, Co. G, 6th Reg't, Pa. H. A. claim number 931690, examined July 2nd, 1891 in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania; Photocopy provided by NARA in the pension file for Jacob Bupp; citing Pension application files based upon service in the Civil War and Spanish-American War ("Civil War and Later"); Records Relating to Pension and Bounty-Land Claims 1773-1942, Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, RG 15; 2,807 rolls, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

The Hangman's Ropemaker: They Cheated the Hangman

"Of the seven murderers whose execution was fixed for the 9th of April next, James H. Jacobs, of Lancaster, who murdered a relatives, has had his death penalty commuted to imprisonment for life, and William H. Smith, colored of Allegheny, who while drunk, killed his wife, and John W. Rudy, of Lancaster, who murdered his father, were yesterday respited until the 26th of June, to enable their cases to receive further consideration at the hands of the board of pardons."

~ "Two Who May Not Hang," The Jeffersonian-Democrat (Brookville, Pennsylvania), 2 April 1890, page 1

*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*

In March, as it was stated previously in Jacob Bupp's alderman post from 1890, Jacob was interviewed as having made the ropes for nine hangings that were to take place on 9 April 1890.  Now, research has been done, and while there were a number of hangings that day, it was only seven.  Perhaps a reporter misheard, as seven hangings were supposed to be done on the NINTH.... or Jacob (or someone else) inflated the number to make himself look important.

Whatever the reason behind seven becoming nine, only four people ultimately were hanged in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on 9 April 1890, which was researched in my previous blog.  Three others who were supposed to hang that day ultimately cheated the hangman.

According to the same newspaper interviews, Jacob Bupp had either already made their ropes, or was in the process of making them ropes when they cheated the hangman's noose.  Those three men were James H. Jacobs, John Rudy and William H.Smith.

James H. Jacobs

James H. "Reddy" Jacobs was a forty year old widower who lived at 413 Arch Alley in Lancaster, Pennsylvania with his three young children.  Elmer Ellsworth Quigley was twenty six years old and a neighbor. The two men were friends and may have been related (some newspapers give that they were friends... others state they were relatives).  On the night of 11 December 1886, Quigley was walking by Jacobs' home and heard one of his children crying.  Upon investigated, he was met by Jacobs, who became angry that he was discovered abusing his children.  When Quigley tried to calm him down, Jacobs attacked him with a butcher knife, stabbing him in the stomach.  Quigley fled from the house, alerting neighbors he had been stabbed.  He was taken home and a doctor and an alderman were summoned, as his wounds were deemed to be fatal.  He died the next day.

B. Frank Eshelman was the lawyer who defended Jacobs, and argued Jacobs was not in his right mind.  The trial was held at the Lancaster County Courthouse in October 1887, and the jury found Jacobs guilty of first degree murder.  The case made its way to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, who upheld the verdict and the sentencing.

After a few respites, Jacobs was due to be hanged on  April 1890, but in March 1890 the Board of Pardons commuted his sentence to life in prison and he was committed to an insane asylum.  It was after examining him that six doctors, all heads of insane asylums in the state gave testimony that he was not sane, and the Board of Pardons recommended that he was not fit for the death penalty and recommended that he have his sentence commuted to life in prison.

James H. Jacobs died in the Eastern State Penitentiary on 24 February 1911 from pneumonia and influenza.

Tobacco trading card likeness and description for James H. Jacobs from 1887 N283 D. Buchner & Co."Offenders" Collection.  Digital image created by Bill Cornell and used with permission

James H. Jacobs likeness was put on to a trading card series called "Defenders & Offenders".... there is a wonderful description about this series at The Trader Speaks.

John W. Rudy
John W. Rudy was convicted of killing his father, Christian Rudy, on 4 December 1887. He had been discovered with his father's body on a farm in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.    His trial was held in June of 1888.   His lawyers in his case were B. Frank Eshelman (who was Jacobs' lawyer as well) and John A. Coyle.  The evidence in the trial was purely circumstantial, and no motive was ever given as to why Rudy would want his father dead, as the elder Rudy was poor and lived in an almshouse and had no quarrel with his son.

Like Jacobs, he was sentenced to death by hanging, and like with Jacobs, Eshelmen was not going to give up without a fight. A petition of over 8000 people of Lancaster County was presented to the Board of Pardons in May of 1890 by Eshelmen asking to the commutation of Rudy's sentence to life in prison.  Even the jurors who convicted him for the crime asked for this commutation, but it was argued they were only doing this out of sympathy, as Jacobs had just received clemency himself.

On 15 July 1890, the Board of Pardons recommended that Rudy's sentence be commuted to life in prison due to the lack of strong evidence.  Rudy was sent to Eastern State Penitentiary.   In January of 1914, the Board of Pardons took another look at his case and recommended him for a full pardon, and it was granted.  He spent 28 years in jail, and his wife divorced him while he was in prison and had remarried.

John W. Rudy sadly took his own life on Christmas Eve, 1916, as his cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head.

William H. Smith
William H. Smith came home on 4 September 1889 from an out of town trip to discover his wife had committed infidelity with another man, as there were letters revealing the act that had be written from the other man to his wife.  He proceeded to drink himself into a blind stupor and shoot her in their home at 124 Fulton Street in Allegheny City while she was sleeping before turning the gun on himself.  While he succeeded in killing her, he was not as successful in his suicide attempt and spent some time in the hospital.

William H. Smith was tried in November 1889 and was found guilty of murder in the first degree.  he was sentenced to hang on 9 April 1890.

In the 31 March 1890 edition of The Pittsburgh Press came this little tidbit:

"Jacob Bupp to-day held a conference with Sheriff McCandless to determine upon what kind of rope he will make to swing Wife Murderer Smith out of existence, should Gov. Beaver not get back to Harrisburg in time to grant the respite recommended by the pardon board. Bupp has made the ropes for every execution which has taken place in this city for the past 20 years." ("Jacob Bupp Once More," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 31 March 1890, page 4)

However, on that same day, Smith was given a respite from being hanged with the other murderers on 9 April so that his case could be reviewed by the Pardon Board.

In May 1890, The Board of Pardons was asked to intercede and grant Smith another respite so that a commission could examine him as a patient.  According to Smith's lawyers, he was haunted by the spirit of his dead wife at night and held conversations with her and the lawyers offered this as proof of his insanity.  However, at that time, they decided not to intervene and his hanging date was set for 20 June 1890.

He was assigned a death watch in his cell on 16 June 1890, with Deputy Sheriff Charles Rice being a part of it.  Charles Rice had previously been on several death watches of John Henry Carter, Babe Jones, Martin Weinberger, James McSteen, Frank Small, and Ward McConkey.  However, that hanging was also respited pending a sanity hearing.

Eventually he was declared insane and sent to Dixmont Insane Asylum.  He was the first colored man convicted of murder to escape execution in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

William Smith died from heart disease at the Allegheny County Home (later Woodville State Hospital) in Woodville, Pennsylvania on 24 April 1919.

Sources Used and Referenced
"A Cold Blooded Murder," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 8 June 1888, page 4; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 16 July 2019).

"Cannot Hang a Lunatic," Lebanon Daily News (Lebanon, Pennsylvania), 24 November 1890, page 4; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newpapers.com : accessed 28 October 2017).

"Fast Losing Hope," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 28 March 1890, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 25 September 2017).

"I am Stabbed," Lancaster Intelligencer (Lancaster, Pennsylvania), 15 December 1886, page 6; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 16 July 2019).

"Jacob Bupp Once More," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 31 March 1890, Page 4; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 16 August 2016).

"James H. Jacobs Vs. The Commonwealth", I.C. Arnold and George C. Eshelman, The Lancaster Law Review, volume V (The Inquirer Printing and Pulishing Company, 1888), 116-118; online images, Google Books (https://books.google.com/books?id=9kCTAAAAIAAJ : accessed 16 July 2019.

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