History of Western Maryland. J. Thomas Scharf
making it one of the finest and most commodious in the State. A new jail was also erected back of the old court-house, and the old prison, adjoining the academy, was subsequently torn down.
On Sept. 8, 1828, George Swearingen, then sheriff" of Washington County, murdered his wife just above Cresaptown. Three days after her burial the body was taken up, and the verdict of the inquest was, " After a careful and full examination of numerous witnesses, we are of opinion that Mary C. Swearingen came to her death by the hands of her husband, George Swearingen." Before the disinterment of the body, Swearingen ran off with one Rachel Cunningham, with whom he had maintained a close intimacy. Mrs. Swearingen was an estimable woman, and the daughter of James Scott, of Cumberland.
The Governor offered three hundred dollars reward for Swearingen's apprehension, and he was captured Feb. 17, 1829, in New Orleans, where he had arrived on a flat-boat, under the assumed name of Thomas Martin. He was brought to Baltimore on the brig " Arctic" on April 3rd, and having been indicted for murder in the first degree, was tried at a special term of court in August, 1829. The court consisted of Chief Judge John Buchanan, and Associate Judges Abraham Shriver and Thomas Buchanan. The prosecuting attorney was James Dixon, and the prisoner's attorneys were William Van Buskirk, William Price, and William McMahon. The jury retired August 22nd, and in a few minutes returned a verdict of guilty. He was publicly hanged October 2nd, following, on the west side of Will's Creek. Over four thousand people witnessed his execution, and two military companies from Bedford and Somerset, Pa., and the Washington Guards of Cumberland were present to preserve order.
On the 22nd of July, 1843, William S. Chrise killed Abraham Frey, who resided near Selbysport. The former had been unduly familiar with the latter's wife, which caused Frey to send him word not to again visit his house. Chrise then threatened to kill Frey, and tried to carry off his wife. On July 22nd, Chrise met him in the woods, and killed Frey by a blow with a hoe, crushing his skull. A few days afterwards the body was found secreted behind a tree. Chrise was apprehended, indicted, and his trial commenced October 16th following. H. B. Pigman and Wm. Van Buskirk were the lawyers for the State, and George A. Pearre and William Price for the prisoner. The case lasted four days, when the jury found him guilty. He was hanged by Sheriff Normand Bruce, in November, 1843, near Fayette Street, where the railroad now crosses. The Cumberland Guards, under Capt. Alexander King, preserved the peace. His body was dissected by the physicians, and " Old Joe Shumate," a curious old character, got a part of the skin and tanned it, and it is said the leather was exceedingly pliable. Thomas McLaughlin, in the employ of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, killed his wife in September, 1850, near Oldtown. He buried the body, which was discovered under the ground at a place being filled up to grade. At his trial Judge Weisel presided, at which John M. Bruver conducted the prosecution, assisted by Henry W. Hoffman. He was found guilty by the jury, and was publicly hanged March 7, 1851, in a hollow on the old turnpike, a little beyond the terminus of Green Street. An immense crowd of men, women, and children assembled to witness the execution, which took place amid the falling of a slight snow. Many of those in attendance came from Virginia and Pennsylvania.
In the summer of 1855 a foreigner named Frederick Miller came to Cumberland from parts unknown. He became acquainted with Dr. J. F. C. Hadel, and on October 14th took a walk with the doctor through Sandy Gap. When near the Eckhart Railroad he shot the doctor, who died in a few moments. The villain then cut off the head from the murdered man's body and concealed both in the rocks and woods. He then returned to the doctor's office to rob it. Here he discovered Henry Groff, a friend of the doctor, and he persuaded him to go with him, taking the exact route the doctor had in the morning. When they got to the culvert on the old pike, Miller shot Groff and killed him. He placed the body in the culvert and covered it with stones. The absence of the two murdered men caused on the third day a general alarm, and the whole town turned out to look for them. The remains of the two murdered men were discovered, and Miller was arrested, indicted, tried, and found guilty. He was publicly executed Jan. 4, 1856, near the almshouse, by the sheriff. Dr. John Everett. Miller proclaimed his innocence to the last, but the testimony against him was overwhelming.
In July, 1864, Francis Gillespie, of Company B, Fifteenth New York Regiment, for shooting Lieut. William Shearer on the cars from Parkersburg to Cumberland, was hanged near Rose Hill Cemetery, after his trial by court-martial. Sept. .30, 1864, Joseph Provost, for murdering Christian Miller in Bath, Morgan Co., W. Va., was hanged by the military after his court-martial trial.
On Friday, Jan. 10, 1873, William Craig, a colored man, was executed by Sheriff Gross, assisted by Deputy Dowder. The crime for which Craig suffered the extreme penalty of the law was that of rape.
On the 26th of August, 1872, Craig, then in the employment of John F. Dayton, who resided in Allegany County, near Twenty-first Bridge on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, was returning from New Creek, whither he had gone on an errand for Mr. Dayton, when he was arrested on the charge of having committed an outrageous assault on Mrs. Lottie Dayton, an aged lady, grandmother of his employer. He was taken to New Creek, and after a hearing committed to jail by a magistrate. On the 27th of September, having received from the Governor a requisition for Craig, Sheriff Gross, of Allegany County, proceeded to New Creek, brought Craig to Cumberland, and placed him in jail. His case came up for trial in the Circuit Court for Allegany County on October 24, 1872, Judges Pearre and Motter on the bench. He was ably defended by J. H. Gordon and W. McMahon McKaig. The prosecution was conducted by William J. Reid, State's attorney for this county, the opening statement for the State being made by W. M. Welch, commonwealth's attorney for Mineral County, W. Va. On the afternoon of October 25th the jury, after a short absence, returned a verdict of " guilty." On October 26th he was sentenced by Judge Pearre. On November 27th the death-warrant was signed by the Governor and transmitted to Sheriff Gross, who read it to the condemned man on the afternoon of the 28th. The following is a sketch of his life as given by himself:
"My Dame is William Craig. I am about twenty-two years of age. I was born and matured in Winnsboro', S. C, working upon the plantation of Mr. James McConnell until Sherman's army camo through the State. At the close of the war I joined an army-train and came to Washington, D. C. I was afterwards attached to another wagon-train, coming west over the National road. Tired of wagoning, I left the train near Flintstone (after being employed by several parties mentioned by him). I began working for Mr. Dayton at New Creek. At my trial Mr. Gordon and Mr. McKaig did all they could for me; Rev. H. Nice and my pastor, and the attendants of the jail have been very kind to me. I feel that I shall go to heaven."
His execution was strictly private.
The General Assembly, by an act of 1832, authorized the erection of an almshouse, which was built just below Old Town, fourteen miles from Cumberland, on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. At the January session of the Legislature of 1850 a new act was passed for the purchase of land and the erection of a new almshouse. The county authorities bought sixty acres in the little valley adjoining Cumberland, upon which was a building, which was temporarily used for the accommodation of the county poor. Since then two additions have been made to the main building. The present structure, adjoining St. Patrick's Cemetery, is of brick, some two hundred by thirty-five feet in dimensions, and two stories high, with a cellar under the whole building. It has eighty-five acres of land attached, which is farmed by the inmates. The average yearly number of inmates is sixty-five. It is managed by a board of trustees appointed by the county commissioners. The trustees for 1881 are John Wilson (president), Peter Smouse, John Wiebel (steward), James Reid, and Dr. Wardlaw Magill, physician. The accommodations are ample and the poor are comfortably cared for, and the institution is as economically managed as the wants of the inmates will allow.
Political Statistics. — On the 10th of January, 1796, at a large meeting of the citizens of Allegany County, held in Cumberland, President Washington's administration was indorsed and the Constitution of the United States approved as the sheet-anchor of the safety of the American people.
At a meeting of the Republicans of Allegany County, held in Cumberland in March, 1801, the following address was adopted and presented to the President:
"Cumberland, March 4, 1801.