The Hangman's Ropemaker: The McCausland Murder and George W. Clark

"The doomed man weighed 220 pounds. A rope of extraordinary strength was made for the occasion by Jacob Bupp, of Allegheny. It was half-inch hemp rope, saturated with beeswax; was 25 feet long, and cost the county $1 per foot. The noose was tied by the manufacturer, and drew so tightly on an experimental sand bag when being tested as to cause some trouble in getting it unfastened, It was tested on a sand bag of 254 pounds weight. This makes the 91st hangman's rope made by this man."

~ "Claimed Innocence," Butler citizen (Butler, Pennsylvania), 28 February 1890, 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*

While Jacob Bupp was an alderman for the Eleventh Ward of Allegheny City in 1890, he still did not give up his primary occupation of ropemaking.  In fact, he made several documented ropes for hangings in 1890, the first of which was for George W. Clark, who was among the heaviest men ever hanged by a rope manufactured by this particular hangman's ropemaker.

On the morning of 10 September 1887, a drover by the name of William McCausland boarded the steamship James G. Blaine intending to travel to McCann's landing to buy sheep.  He had a considerable amount of money in his pockets.  A few hours later, his body was found in a ravine by the landing, riddled with bullets.

Detectives from the Perkins Detective Agency in Pittsburgh (note here, it says detectives in a few articles, but likely it was only a solitary one by the name of  G.B. Perkins) were soon hired to work the case, as everyone in the area where the murder occurred and where the accessories lived were either paid to keep their mouths shut or were too afraid to talk, as a notorious gang of outlaws worked the area.

Arrests were made 28 December 1887 in Little Chicago, Greene County, a small backwoods town.  The Greene County Sheriff, with help from the Perkins Detective Agency, rounded up three members of the Clark Family; George, Frank and Maggie. George Clark was arrested because he was seen fleeing the area in which the shots occurred.  Maggie Clark, his thirteen year old step-daughter, was seen running down the road a few minutes later.  Frank Clark was arrested once again in light of this new evidence.

Eventually, several men were charged in connection of McCausland's death, most of them related.  They were George W. Clark, Frank Clark, James Neff, John T. Clark, Frank Clark, Sr. and Zacharias Taylor.  Ben Clark was charged as an accessory after the fact as well.

George Clark was about 45 years of age and was not well-educated.  He was supposedly the ringleader of the band of the outlaws, and was the first of the men to be tried for McCausland's murder

Photograph of George W. Clark [1854-1890] hanged for murder on 26 February 1890 at the Greene County Courthouse, item no. WAYN_AN003_0011, Waynesburg University Paul R. Stewart Museum Collection, Greene Connections Archives Project (www.GreeneConnections.com).  Used with permission.

Clark's lawyers were an ex-Congressman from Uniontown by the name of C.E. Boyle and James E. Sayres of Waynesburg. The defense made an effort to in April of 1888 quash the indictment of the men charged because the sheriff who assisted with the grand jury was also the prosecutor and therefore did not have an impartial panel of jurors in the grand jury.  However, this motion was denied, but severance of the parties for trial was granted, thus Clark was tried first.

During the trial, it was stated that Perkins detectives were able to get a confession out of Zacharias Taylor, who was waiting in jail for his own trial (but it was likely this confession was coerced).  The other defendants had been released from jail on bail pending George Clark's conviction.

The trial created a spectacle, and it was reported that a number of people from Pittsburgh were visiting Waynesburg for its duration. It was stated that there was a strong web of circumstantial evidence given at the trial, most of it collected by G. B. Perkins of the Perkins Detective Agency in Pittsburgh.  Witnesses, including John Parker, who was known as Old Man Parker, testified to seeing George Clark and Zach Taylor as fleeing the scene of the murder.  The other men were believed to have entered into a conspiracy to rob and murder McCausland, though they were not in the vicinity of the murder.

On 14 April 1888, after the ten day trial, George W. Clark was found guilty of murder in the first degree for the death of William McCausland.  As The Rockland County Journal (Rockland County, New York) reported when he was hanged; "Clark was convicted on circumstantial evidence, and the people were about evenly divided as to his guilt."

Zacharias Taylor was also tried for the murder after a series of legal setbacks and motions, and a verdict of guilty was found on 26 Jan 1889. The other men also were found guilty, but were acquitted by reversal of lower court decisions by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, as stated in the biography of the defense lawyer who won them their acquittals.  Zach Taylor and George W. Clark were the only two men who ultimately suffered for the murder.

The night before the hanging of George W. Clark was reported to be very stormy, with rain and "fitful flashes of lightning" that caused other prisoners in the jail to think it wasn't a good omen.  Clark gave his well-marked Bible to his spiritual adviser, with instructions to get the Bible to his wife, Elizabeth Tucker Clark.

As per the leading quote on this post, Jacob Bupp made the rope for the hanging and charged his usual $25 fee.  The unusual method of testing the rope was also reported about in the Pittsburgh Dispatch.

On 26 February 1890, just after 11 in the morning, George W. Clark met his demise on the scaffold in the jail yard at Waynesburg, Greene County, Pennsylvania.  He was the first man ever to be convicted in Greene County of murder and the first one ever to be hanged (out of only three). His last words on the scaffold were "I hope God will forgive my sins and all those who lied against me."  His weight allowed for his neck to break, making a quick death.

Zach Taylor was extremely upset when he heard of his brother-in-law's death and refused to eat according to newspaper accounts.  He was hanged on 9 April 1890, the same day as three other men in Pennsylvania.

Many thanks to Candice Buchanan, the archivist at the Greene County Pennsylvania Archives for her assistance with this blog.

Sources Used and Referenced
Buchanan, Candice. "Zach Taylor, Hanged for Murder, 9 April 1890," Greene County Archives, Greene County Connections, 9 March 2019 (https://greeneconnections.com/blog/ : accessed 9 July 2019).

Cabinet card photograph: George W. Clark, by Rogers Studio; Waynesburg University Paul R. Stewart Museum Collection; Waynesburg University, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. digital image (https://greeneconnections.pastperfectonline.com : accessed 9 July 2019); WAYN_AN003_0011.

"Claimed Innocence," Butler citizen (Butler, Pennsylvania), 28 February 1890, page 2; online images, Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ : accessed 7 September 2017)

"The Conviction of Clark," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 16 April 1888, page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 9 July 2019).

"For McCausland's Murder," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 29 December 1887, page 2; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 9 July 2019).

"George Clark Hanged," Rockland County Journal (Rockland County, New York), 1 March 1890, page 6; online images, Hudson River Valley Heritage (https://news.hrvh.org/ : accessed 10 July 2019). 

"Greene's First Execution," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 26 February 1890, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 12 October 2017).

"Has Taylor Confessed?," The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 4 April 1888, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 9 July 2019).

"The McCausland Mystery," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 10 January 1888, page 3; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 10 July 2019).

"Met Death Bravely," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 27 February 1890, page 5; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 16 August 2016). 

Spofford, Ainsworth R. advisory editor, The National Cyclopedia of American Biography, volume VIII (New York: James T. White and Company, 1898), page 8, "Iams, Franklin Pierce"; online images, Google Books (https://books.google.com/books?id=8U_0OfdfcZAC : accessed 10 July 2019).

"Well Executed," Pittsburgh Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 27 February 1890, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 12 October 2017).

"Zach Taylor is Guilty," Pittsburgh Dispatch (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), 27 January 1889, page 1; online images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 10 July 2019).