Murder of Maggie Pitt

 In 1894 Horace Cooper and Maggie Pitt were living together. He would ask her to marry him. She did not want to and would reject him. By November of 1894, Maggie would move out and would be living with a Perry Gibson in Cokesbury, Maryland. Horace would get angry at her thinking if she didn't choose him no one would have her.  He would threaten to kill her several times.

On the night of November 17, 1894 Horrace would sneak into Perry's home in  He would climb through a second-story window and would sneak into Maggie's room. She would wake up to Horrace and Perry would catch Horace with a gun pointed at Maggie. Perry would force Horace out of the home.

The next morning Horace would return wanting to finish what he wasn't able to do the night before. He would shoot Maggie three times. She was shot in the chest, abdomen, and thigh. Maggie would only live a few days.

After the shooting Horace would parade up and downtown threatening to kill anyone who dared arrest him. He would flee town and he would be caught in Columbia Pennsylvania by Harvey H. Mackey of Elkton. Horace would be tried for Maggie's murder. He would be found guilty and would be set to hang. On June 21, 1895, Horace would hang at the Elkton jail yard. 

SOURCES: 

Penalty USA

The Baltimore Sun November 20, 1894

The Baltimore Sun November 21, 1894

The Cecil Whig November 24, 1894

The Baltimore Sun December 10, 1894

The Midland Journal December 14, 1894

The Cecil Whig December 15, 1894

The Cecil Whig May 4, 1895

The Baltimore Sun June 22, 1895

Murder of Mrs. Owens

 In 1894 William Owens and his wife Mrs. Owens would fight. William would leave the neighborhood and come back on May 30th. He would then search for his wife and found her around 3p.m. working in a field with around 30 other African Americans in Nobel Lake, Arkansas. 

 William asked his wife to move back in with him again. She would refuse him and this angered him. He would point the gun at her and shot her once in the chest and once in the back. She would fall and he would pick up the hoe she was using and hit her twice in the head before breaking it. She was still alive and in agony and he would pick up a second hoe and would beat her head in with it. He would then escape.

He would then try to kill Grandville Simms, someone he had a grudge against. Grandville would take off his shoes and outrun William. William would then exhausted fall on a log. This allowed him to be caught. 

William would be convicted and found guilty. He would be executed in 1895. He was likely executed on May 30th as an article from May 29th stated his execution the next day.

Note:

I could not find Mrs. Owens' first name none of the articles I could find stated her first name. 

SOURCES:

Death Penalty USA Pine Bluff Daily Graphic May 29, 1894

Pine Bluff Daily Graphic May 31, 1894

The Osceola Times June 4, 1894

The Southern Standard June 8, 1894

Pine Bluff Daily Graphic May 29, 1894

Murder of John Bare and Ed Long

In February of 1894, there was to be a wedding in Alleghany County, North Carolina. At the end of the ceremony, a Virginian named Daniel Slaughter would talk to an old man. The old man would slap him in good fun and ask Daniel "if he was much a man". This would anger Daniel and he would curse at the old man. 

He would be told to leave and he did, but he returned a few minutes later. His return was not a peaceful welcoming. The old man and several of his friends were angry with Daniel and argued. There was an attempt to calm the crown, but it would not happen.

He would lunge at John Bare stabbing him in the heart killing him. When John initially fell to the ground Daniel went to stab him again, but the bride would prevent him by grabbing his hand. Her arms and hand were cut from the knife. Daniel would flee and Ed Long would try to stop him but would be stabbed also (possibly disemboweled). He would be caught 2 miles away. He claimed that people in the crowd were hitting his face.

He would be sent to a Sparta jail. There were talks of him being lynched. On the night of Feb. 23rd Daniel was taken from the jail and lynched on Laural Branch Spring Rd near Sparta. In the process of the lynch mob taking Daniel from the jail two were shot one of which was Alexander Rose. There were around 20 lynchers 15 of which were from Ashe County.

The day of the murder is unknown many of the articles stated that it was on the 18-20, but the earliest article I found was on the 17th. It's never mentioned whose wedding it was even though the bride was also injured at the wedding. It doesn't state Daniel's or his victim's relations to the wedding. I didn't exactly understand why Daniel got mad or why he was asked: "if he was much a man." It's likely that further information on the crime wasn't done in newspapers was due to Daniel being lynched soon after the murder. 

SOURCES:

Richmond Dispatch Feb 17, 1894

The Spokesman-Review Feb 22, 1894

People's Voice Feb 23 1894

The Staunton Spector Feb 28, 1894

The Union Republic March 1, 1894

The Western Senteniel Marhc 1, 1894

The Yadkin Valley News March 8, 1894

Murder of Willie, Ella, Dora, and Lizzie Alberti

In April of 1874, 17-year-old Lizzie Roemer and 22-year-old Louis Alberti would marry. They would have 8 children together unfortunately in 1884 they would lose their son Louis and in early 1894 they would lose their infant daughter Caroline. In 1885 Lizzie would lose her 15-year-old sister Dorthea. These deaths would affect  Lizzie in 1894.

In May of 1894, Lizzie would shortly move out of their home on 44th and Winnie St. in Galveston, Texas. It was decided she would stay with her parents because she had become occasionally violent and unbalanced. She would soon move back into the home though she was still not acting like herself. 

On December 4, at 6:30 pm 1894 Lizzie would call 5 of the children to take a sip of wine, Wilehemia (14) stayed studying in another room. Emma (16), Ella (10), Lizzie (8), Dora (6), and Willie (4) would drink the wine. 

She offered him some wine and he obliged. He noted that she used a different bottle than that of what the children had. He didn't think anything of it. One of the children would then tell their father that she had poisoned them. He reassured the child that she didn't. He would go back to work in his shop adjoining the home.

The children would soon complain of stomach cramps. From his shop, he could hear that the children were in great agony and rushed over to the home. When he came in Willie had collapsed to the floor and Lizzie was trying to bring him to the bed. He would confront the wife who was sitting quietly in a chair as her children were dying.

She told him that there was morphine in the wine and she was going to poison herself. Mr. Alberti would call for a doctor. He and Wilhemla would be crying and watching in terror as the children died one by one. Willie would die shortly after the doctor came at 7:30. Dora would die next and then Lizzie would die last. Emma was the only one to survive the poisoned wine. It was found out that she had told the children the previous Sunday that she was going to the city to buy poison to kill herself and them.

This whole time Mrs. Alberti was seen as indifferent. After her arrest, she stated that she had been ill for the last 8 months that brought her to do this. Even on the day of her children's funeral, she sat in her cell calmly and seemingly unremorseful. She did want to see her husband though. She expressed while imprisoned that her only regret was that all the children had not died and that she did not take the poison as intended and died also. She rejected the idea that she was insane and was willing to take the consequences for the murders. She would not give an answer to the reason why she wanted to kill the children and herself.

 She threatened to starve herself to death and was threatened that they would inject the food if she would not eat. She would reluctantly eat the food provided. I couldn't find out what her punishment for the murders was, but she would die almost 3 years later on September 30, 1898.

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

Austin-American Statesman December 5, 1894

The Galveston Daily News December 6, 1894

Weekly Clarion-Ledger December 13, 1894

Austin Weekly Statesman December 13, 1894 pg 2

Austin Weekly Statesman December 13, 1894  pg 4

Murder of Lottie Rowe

On April 28, 1894, 15-year-old Lottie Rowe 300 yards outside of her home which was 2 miles east of Staunton, Virginia. She was with Charles Bradford. That was when 46-year-old Lawrence Spiller saw the two. He would beat Charles insensible with a biley and would draw Lottie away.

He would bring Lottie over to a nearby field and would rape her. He said that she figured out who he was and this caused him to kill her. He would beat her head in severely with a rock. He would then carry her body to the nearby railroad track hoping that a train would destroy the body. Her body would be found before that would happen. 

Lawrence would not admit at trial that he had murdered the girl, but before his execution he did. On June 8, 1894, he would be hanged, and his death would be instant as the rope had broken his neck. 

SOURCES:

Legal Executions in Deleware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia pg 92

The Macon Telegraph May 3, 1894

Chattanooga Daily Times May 3, 1894

Harrisburg Daily Independent June 8, 1894

Alexandria Gazette June 8, 1894