On This Day: Lancaster Daily Intelligencer tracks murderer

The Lancaster Daily Intelligencer tracked a murderer On This Day in 1881 through various accounts, including a burglary in Leaman Place.

The home of Charles Lafferty, the station agent at Leaman Place, was broken into on 22 February 1881. A pair of pants, $40, and a valuable watch were taken. At that time, there was no reason to suspect anyone other than a recent loafer.

Samuel Clugson was murdered at his Valley Forge home when he surprised a burgler. The burglar/murder left behind his clothes, which contained a pawn ticket for an Elgin watch. The watch was pawned at Consolidated Loan office in Baltimore, Maryland.

The watch had been made, it was determined after an examination, for H. F. Andrews. Andrews is a jeweler in Strasburg, Lancaster County. The watch is described in detail. Andrews, confirmed, through his records, that the watch had in fact been sold to Lafferty on 21 December 1872.

Police continued on the trail of the murderer after another burglary. This burglary, which happened on 18 March 1881, was in Malvern, just six miles from Valley Forge (Chester County). It occurred – here is where my interest got piqued! – at the home of J. Jones Still. The burglar took only food and a change of clothes. This time thought the burglar/suspected murderer left behind a footprint. The police tied the incidents all together nicely and believed they had a good description of the culprit.

J. Jones Still

This is one relatively (no pun intended) geographically close Still but I have not been able to connect him with certainty to my Still line. That said, I believe he may be distantly related. It is so hard sometimes tracing my Still line since Margaret got “put out” by her father, Charles Still. Nonetheless, a copy of this article from the Daily Intelligencer will get clipped and put into my general Still folder where I have much other information about J. Jones Still.

Source:

Lancaster daily intelligencer. (Lancaster, Pa.), 21 March 1881. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.

On This Day is a prompt I started this month to further explore historical events.

Comments

Coatesville's First Serial Killer

Young Alexander Meyer was a disturbed and angry young man with some major issues. He had failed sixth and seventh grade, and instead of having to repeat eighth grade again, he finally gave up on school. At age 16 he quit Downingtown Junior High. Meyer is not a relative, nor are his victims (that I am aware). I stumbled upon young Alex while reading Tortured Minds: Pennsylvania's Most Bizarre - But Forgotten - Murders by Tammy Mal. On 11 February 1937 Alexander Thweatt Meyer killed young Helen Moyer as she walked home from school in Coatesville along Modena Road. She was not his first. The jury was out only three minutes after hearing Dr. Michael Margolis' testimony on the death of Helen Moyer. The jury determined Meyer had murdered Moyer and should be held for first degree murder. The jury also condemned the parole system which had released Meyer back into the public, after having served just 14 months in Huntingdon Reformatory, for the murder of two other girls - Anna Blasc

Thaddeus Stevens at the Lancaster Convention Center

Within the Lancaster Convention Center (Lancaster, PA) is a small section dedicated to Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith. The section is known as the Stevens & Smith Historic Site. It is scheduled for development this year. At the moment one can only get a glimpse of it through the Convention Center or by peeking in from the outside. Here at Queen and Vine Streets in Lancaster City, Pennsylvania, Thaddeus Stevens had his law office. Stevens was an abolitionist. An abolitionist is a person who favors the abolition of a practice or institution, especially capital punishment or (formerly) slavery. Stevens was born 4 April 1792 to Joshua Stevens and Sarah (Sally) Morrill in Danville Vermont. One of four children, he attended Vermont University from 1810 to 1812 when the War prompted its closure. He then went to Dartmouth, where he graduated in 1814. He then studied law and found himself set up in Gettysburg, PA in 1816. He practiced law there until 1828 when he found hi

Living History Offers Opportunity to Step Back in Time

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to work the fields on a plantation during the Revolutionary War? Or stroll through an 18th century village? Or fight in battle during the Civil War? Living history offers an interactive perspective which incorporates historical activities and dress providing a sense of stepping back in time. So, how can YOU step back in time? Rock Ford volunteer Nancy Bradley in the Study of the mansion Rock Ford Plantation, in Lancaster County, PA, will be hosting a Volunteer Tour Guide Recruitment Event on Sunday, 22 March. They need tour guides for its upcoming tour season. Built circa 1794, Rock Ford was the home of Edward Hand and his family. Hand, an Irish immigrant and physician, served as Adjutant General to George Washington during the Revolutionary War. Volunteer tour guides at Rock Ford bring the past to life for museum visitors. A tour guide can be any person aged 18 years and up. No experience is necessary, and trainin

Genealogical Gems

Search This Blog