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Valley Spirit: November 3, 1869 Go To Page : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

The Poor House
(Column 01)

Summary: The paper argues that Republicans are attacking alleged Democratic mismanagement of the Poor House out of frustration at not being in a position to draw plunder and patronage from it. The editors present figures showing that Republican attempts at Poor House management ended in financial disaster.

[No Title]
(Column 01)

Summary: The Franklin County Soldiers' Monumental Association will meet in the rooms of Judge Rowe on Thursday.

Found Dead
(Column 01)

Summary: Jacob Brindle was found dead in his yard in St. Thomas where he had been cleaning fish. He died of heart disease. He was 63 years old.
(Names in announcement: Jacob Brindle)

Sacrilegious
(Column 01)

Summary: A gang of "young bloods" disturbed celebration of the Lord's supper at a Baptist meeting in St. Thomas. The men entered the church and "disturbed the congregation with horrid profanity and blackguardism." After the service, they "devoured the remnants of what had been provided for the communicants." The paper asks that an example be made of the offenders.

Railroad Meeting
(Column 01)

Summary: A meeting of the citizens of Peters, Metal, Fannett, and St. Thomas will support construction of a railroad from the Cumberland Valley line to Loudon. "This is an opportunity which the people of that section of the County ought not to let slip. There never will be a more favorable offer made than that which has been made. They are required to raise but an inconsiderable proportion of the amount that will be required to construct the road. The Company will supply the balance. We appeal to the citizens of that neighborhood to be up and doing and secure the railroad."

Patent Right Swindle
(Column 02)

Summary: David Harper of Chambersburg bought a patent for a stove-pipe shelf from a man named Richard F. Wilson. It later turned out he had no right to the patent. He was arrested and brought before Judge King. He will stand trial in January.
(Names in announcement: David Harper, Richard F. Wilson, Judge King)

Border Damage Claimants
(Column 02)

Summary: The war damage claimants met in the Court House and issued resolutions demanding the legislature meet their claims. The paper supports their course of action.
(Names in announcement: Henry Ruby, John M. Cooper, S. W. Hays)

Court Proceedings
(Column 03)

Summary: Gives a very detailed rendition of cases brought before the County Court, mostly about horse stealing and fraud. One concerned an election dispute for the board of the Poor House.
(Names in announcement: David Shatzer, Abraham Sollenberger, John A. Houston, Henry Beard, Stenger, Sharpe, Brewer, Joseph Brown, Jacob Flack, Jacob Stouffer, Stewart, Solomon Piper, Peter Piper, Gideon Varner, Kimmell, Harry Weaver, John Wilson, William G. Reed, Andrew Rowland, Daniel Baker, Isaac Rollins, Alex Fahnestock, Eyster, Heyser, Duncan, McGowan, Robert Lane, Joseph Smith, Elias Butler, DeGolly, Gilds, Henry Startzman, George Brewer, Henry Sites, Jacob Bancord, David C. Brandt, John B. Osbraugh, Francis Bowden, John Kauffman, Charles Gelwicks, Alexander Martin)

Full Text of Article:

In addition to the criminal cases reported last week, the following cases were tried:

Com. vs. David Shatzer. Horse stealing. In the month of August, a mare was stolen from Mr. Abraham Sollenberger in Guilford township. On the day following, the mare was sold to Jno. A. Houston, of Antrim township, and Henry Beard from near Leitersburg, Md. Mr. Beard was present at the trial and identified Shatzer as the man who had sold the mare. Other witnesses were examined who testified to having seen him with the mare on the day she was sold. Shatzer had worked for Mr. Sollenberger and was shown to be well acquainted with the premises and the horses. Verdict, Guilty. Sentenced to three years imprisonment in Eastern Penitentiary.--Stenger for Com.' Sharpe and Brewer for Deft.

Com. vs. Joseph Brown. Horse stealing. On the night of the 31st of August last, a dark bay horse was stolen from the stable of Mr. Jacob Flack who lives on the farm of Mr. Jacob Stouffer in Hamilton township. The horse was the property of Mr. Stouffer. On the 8th of September, the defendant was arrested in this Borough charged with stealing the horse. He gave information to Mr. Flack as to where he had disposed of the horse and on the 13th of September, Mr. Flack got the animal from Mr. Thos. N. Heskitt, at Sandy Hook, Md. It seems that Brown had worked for Mr. Flack and knew the horses well and also the arrangement of the stables. Immediately on taking him, he started for Virginia and on the 2nd of September, traded him at Stevenson's Depot, five miles from Winchester, Va., to an Irishman named Edward Grant, for an old sorrel horse not worth more than $25. Mr. O.O. Baker, Ticket and Express Agent at Stevenson's Depot, was upon the witness stand and identified Brown as the man who sold the horse to Grant.--Grant sold the horse in Winchester at public auction where he was bought by Mr Jeskett. Verdict, Guilty. Sentenced to three years imprisonment in the Eastern Penitentiary. Stenger for Com.; Stewart for Defendant.

Com. vs. Solomon Piper and Peter Piper. Charge of obtaining $110 from Gideon Varner by false pretences. The Defendants sold a horse to Varner for $110 and, according to Varner's statement, represented him as sound. The horse turned out to be weak in the back and was in the habit of falling down. He fell down one day and died.--Varner prosecuted the Pipers for getting his money, as he alleged, by false representations. Verdict, Not Guilty, but Defendants to pay the costs. Stenger, Kimmell and Brewer for Com.; Sharpe for Defts.

Com. vs. Harry Weaver. False Pretences. In June, 1868, a package containing $48.75 was sent by Mr. John Wilson from Hagerstown, Md., to this Borough by Adams' Express Company, directed to Mrs. Wm. Reary. Mrs. Reary was living near Bendersville in Adams county. The Defendant went to the Express Office in this Borough and presented to Mr. Wm. G. Reed, then the Express Agent here, a letter from Mr. Wilson to Mrs. Reary, informing her that this money had been sent, and on the back of this letter, was written an order, directing the Agent to deliver this package and spent the money. The order was forged, Mrs. Reary never having given Weaver any authority to lift the package. The Express Company made Mr. Reed pay the money to Mrs. Reary out of his own pocket, but upon an investigation of the facts, refunded it to him. Weaver had been lately confined in the Hagerstown jail charged with complicity in the murder of Andrew Rowland, but there not being sufficient evidence to convict, the State Attorney entered a nolle prosequi. Verdict, Guilty. Sentenced to one year's imprisonment in the Eastern Penitentiary. Weaver comes from the neighborhood of Cashtown, in Adams county. Brewer and Stenger for Com.; Duncan & McGowan for Defendant.

Com. vs. Daniel Baker, Receiving stolen horse. On the night of the 16th of April, a black mare was stolen near Strasburg, in Shenandoah county, Virginia. She was the property of Mr. Samuel Stephenson. This mare was found on the 26th of the same month in the stable of Deft., in Antrim township, this county. Mr. Stephenson was not present to prove the ownership of the mare and the fact that she had been stolen, and the case of the Commonwealth therefore broke down. Verdict, Not Guilty. Stenger for Com.; Sharpe and Brewer for Deft.

Com. vs. Daniel Baker. Receiving a stolen horse. A brown horse was stolen also on the night of the 16th of April from the stable of Mr. Lawrence Hamman, near Strasburg, Shenandoah Co., Va. Mr. John Hamman, a son of the owner, came to Pennsylvania and on the 26th of the same month, got the horse from a Mr. Kauffman in Lancaster City. The evidence disclosed the facts that this horse, together with the black mare of Mr. Stevenson, were brought to the stable of Deft. on the night of the 17th of April; that Deft. on the 19th brought the brown horse to this Borough and sold him at the National hotel to Mr. Jessie Mecumseh. Mr. Mechumsey took him to Lancaster and sold him to Mr. Kauffman. This horse and mare, it seems, were stolen by Andrew J. Baker, brother of Deft. (who, it will be remembered, escaped from officer Houser and Mr. Kendall near Glen Rock, Md., by jumping from the train of cars when in rapid motion, while being brought from Washington, D.C., to Fulton county, to be tried for stealing the horses of Judge Dickson and Mr. Kendall.) The Deft. alleged that he was to receive $10 per head for selling the horses and that he was in perfect ignorance as to the manner in which his brother had procured the horses. Verdict, Guilty. A motion for a new trial was filed on Saturday and argued on Monday. The Court dismissed the motion and deferred the sentence until Tuesday morning. Stenger for Com.; Sharpe and Brewer for Deft.

Com. vs. Isaac Rollins. False Pretence. The Defendant in June, July and August bought groceries from Mr. Alex Fahnestock in this Borough. On the 17th of August he represented to Mr. F. that he was still in the employment of Messrs. Eyster & Heyser at their paper mill; that he should have been paid at the beginning of the month but that Messrs. Eyster & Heyser were a little "short" and had failed to come to time, but that he would get the money and would then pay his bill. On the strength of this representation he obtained further credit. The truth was that he had been paid at the beginning of the month, and also on the 14th of August when he was discharged. Verdict, Not Guilty, but Deft. to pay the costs. Stenger for Com.; Duncan & McGowan for Deft.

Com. vs Robert Lane. Assault and Battery on Joseph Smith, Prosecutor. Both Prosecutor and Defendant are free American citizens of African descent. Smith was clerking for Elias Butler in a small grocery in Wolffstown. Deft. came in drunk and became very disorderly and indulged in strong "cuss words." Smith tried to eject him from the room and Deft. broke a club over Smith's skull. Verdict Guilty. Sentenced to ten days imprisonment in County jail. Stenger for Com.; DeGolly for Deft.

The civil causes tried last week were as follows: Gilds & Startzman vs. George Brewer. This was an action of deceit. The plaintiffs purchased two steers from Deft. in November, 1867, the meat of one of which, when killed, turned out to be diseased and had to be thrown away. The price paid by plaintiffs was $40. They alleged that Deft. had said the steers were "all right." It was shown that the cattle looked thrifty and healthy, and there was no evidence that Deft. knew that either was diseased. The Plffs. suffered a nonsuit.

Henry Sites vs. Jacob Bancord. Attachment Execution. Verdict for Plff. $234,21.

David C. Brandt, use of John B. Osbraugh, vs. Francis Bowden & Henry Startzman. Appeal from the judgment of John Kauffman, Esq. A juror was withdrawn and the case submitted to the Court.

Commonwealth ex-relatione Charles Gelwicks vs. Alexander Martin. This was an action to decide who is entitled to act as Treasurer of the Poor House. The Board of Directors of the Poor after the election in 1868, re-elected the persons who were then in office to serve another year. When the new Board was organized about the 1st of February 1869, it elected other officers, among them Alexander Martin instead of Chas. Gelwicks as Treasurer. Mr. Martin was recognized as the Treasurer by the Board and transacted the business. Mr. Gelwicks claimed to be the Treasurer still, retained the money in his hands that he had at the time of the last election of officers, and commenced this action to assert his right as Treasurer. The case came up on Monday. The Court rendered a verdict in favor of the Defendant, Mr. Martin, reserving his opinion on the point of law which will be announced hereafter.

Married
(Column 04)

Summary: John B. Gabver and Miss Mary E. Kelchner, both of Scotland, Franklin County, were married on October 26th by the Rev. J. C. Biltheimer.
(Names in announcement: John B. Gabver, Mary E. Kelchner, Rev. J. C. Biltheimer)

Married
(Column 04)

Summary: Silas E. Kitzmiller of Shippensburg and Miss Mary C. Hoover were married at the bride's residence in Lurgan on October 26th by the Rev. George Sigler.
(Names in announcement: Silas E. Kitzmiller, Mary C. Hoover, George Sigler)

Married
(Column 04)

Summary: Harry Kershner and Miss Kate Bowman, both of Claylick, were married on October 21st by the Rev. H. C. Lesher.
(Names in announcement: Harry Kershner, Kate Bowman, Rev. H. C. Lesher)

Married
(Column 04)

Summary: Rev. W. Ausherman of Maryland and Miss Maria Myers of Claylick were married on October 21st by the Rev. H. C. Lesher.
(Names in announcement: Rev. W. Ausherman, Maria Myers, Rev. H. C. Lesher)

Married
(Column 04)

Summary: William Tritle and Miss Millie Smith, daughter of the late John Smith, were married in the First Reformed Church, Chambersburg, on October 28th by the Rev. P. S. Davis.
(Names in announcement: William Tritle, Millie Smith, John Smith, Rev. P. S. Davis)

Died
(Column 04)

Summary: Michael Horst died near Upton on October 20th. He was 70 years old.
(Names in announcement: Michael Horst)

Died
(Column 04)

Summary: Mrs. Barbara Mischell died near Upton on October 23rd. She was 77 years old.
(Names in announcement: Barbara Mischell)

Died
(Column 04)

Summary: Mrs. Elizabeth Loosey died near Greencastle on October 23rd. She was 62 years old.
(Names in announcement: Elizabeth Loosey)

Died
(Column 04)

Summary: James B. Morrow, formerly of Lurgan, died in California on October 12th.
(Names in announcement: James B. Morrow)