Richland County, Ohio
Old Crime Articles
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The Mansfield News (Mansfield, Ohio) August 24,
1911
HABITUAL CRIMINAL'S LIFE ENDS Degenerate Fiend Holds Up Two Young People In a Secluded Spot In Sherman-Heineman Park. FLOURISHES .38 CALIBRE REVOLVER With Threats of Death He Marches Victims Out of North Park, Across the Railroad Tracks to a Corn Field Where He Attempts a Dastardly Crime but Is Choked to Death By the Lady's Escort--Dead Man Later Identified as Stephen Wolford of Mt. Vernon Who Has Spent Eighteen Years Out of Thirty In Penal Institutions--Fit Subject For an Habitual Criminal Statute. The Lake park of the Sherman-Heineman park and the ground adjacent to the park to the north was the scene of a holdup and dastardly attempted criminal assault early Wednesday evening which resulted finally in the choking to death of the assailant by the young lady's escort in spite of the fact that the criminal was armed with a large revolver. The affair was one of the most exciting tragedies which has occurred in Mansfield for many years and contains some criminal features of the most high-handed and dastardly kind ever known in a peaceable community. Two young people, Walter Clever, who resides about two miles north of Bellville, and Miss Hortense Shafer, daughter of Albert Shafer, of Bellville, were notable figures of the affair, and the stranger, who held them up with a loaded revolver, and whose worthless life was ended by young Clever in a terrible struggle in the dark corner of a corn field adjacent to the park, was afterward identified as Stephen Wolford, a young crook from Mt. Vernon. To the ordinary citizen the story of this outrage seems to be almost unbelievable. It sounds more like something from one of the yellow backed novels the circulation and sale of which is prohibited. It should serve as a warning to young people to remain within reach of help when going to park grounds. All of the details of such a story of course can not be given in a news article, but the main facts in brief are these: Walter Clever and Hortense Shafer, aged respectively about 21 and 20 years, have been keeping company. Mr. Clever drove to the city Wednesday in his buggy and Miss Shafer came up on the train. Mr. Clever and Miss Shafer had been school teachers and they arranged to attend the teachers' institute in the day time and at night to attend the performance at the Casino, after which they intended to drive home. After supper the young couple went to the park, but as it was too early for the Casino they took a walk in east lake park and finally sat down in the arbor near the sun dial on the north side of the lake. As they talked together it grew dark and as near as can be ascertained it was about 7 o'clock or a little later when a stranger to both young people appeared at the entrance to the arbor and remarked: "It's a fine evening, isn't it"? Neither made any answer to this and the fellow suddenly drew a gun and leveling it in their faces continued: "Now you two do just as I tell you or I'll let daylight through you with a 38-calibre bullet." With that he ordered Mr. Clever and Miss Shafer to march ahead of him while he held the revolver pointed at them. The fellow marched the two victims along the path leading over the Baltimore and Ohio track and then to the west. Both young people were thoroughly frightened and thought they were to be robbed. The highwayman marched his victims across both the Baltimore and Ohio and Erie railroad tracks and then ordered them to sit down under a large elm tree near the wagon road leading from the park north to McPherson street. The holdup man then decided that this was too public a place so he ordered them to get up again and marched them some little distance farther on into a corn field. This was a more secluded place and was out of the way of anybody passing along the road leading across the railroad tracks into the park. CONCEALED HIS WATCH. Mr. Clever had a gold watch attached to a fob and also a small amount of money on him and as he thought he and his friend were to be robbed he quietly reached down, loosened his watch from the fob and dropped it on the ground when they were ordered to move on from the place under the big elm. His idea was that he could go back and get the watch after the holdup was over. After reaching the corner of the corn field the crook again ordered his victims to sit down on the ground with the big revolver pointed at their heads. Instead of proceeding to take their valuables the fellow directed Mr. Clever to make an unmentionable assault on his lady friend. Clever refused to comply with the order and then the highwayman ordered him to lie down on the ground and he himself attempted to assault the girl as he had ordered. The fellow kept the revolver in his hand but his attention had no sooner been diverted to the girl than young Clever picked up a heavy clod of dirt and hit the fellow in the face. It afterward developed that this clod cut a gash over the fellow's eye and the dirt must have partially blinded him. Clever followed this up by seizing the highwayman by the throat and he must have been possessed of superhuman strength, for he choked him until he became partially unconscious. Miss Shafer came to the assistance of her escort and seized the thug's pistol arm and the two managed to down him and take the pistol away from him. The weapon was laid upon the ground and then Mr. Clever tried to revive him. As soon as he recovered a little, the highwayman got his pistol again but Clever never gave him a chance to use it. This time he choked him until he was entirely limp. While the terrific struggle was on in the corn field the villain got Mr. Clever's left wrist in his mouth and bit his arm very severely. After the girls' escort had choked the fellow limp a second time, he again became frightened and tried to revive him by pumping his arms as a person would a man who had been drowned. The young people cried for help and their cries were heard by two young men named Albert and George Miller, who had come to the park from their homes on the extreme north side. They notified Park Policeman David Cole and told him that somebody was in distress and it ought to be investigated. HEARD CRIES OF DISTRESS. The Miller boys wanted the park policeman to get plenty of help before going over into the corn field, but Davy Cole told them to go along with him and not wait for any more help. He seized a lantern and the three went over to the field where the cries came from. They found Clever still working with the highwayman, trying to revive him, but Davy Cole, after examining the fellow's pulse, told him he was dead and there was no use to work with him any more. The young people told Cole a brief story of their awful experience and one of the young men was sent to the Casino to notify the city police department. Chief Feeney was on the job when the message came that a man had been held up and robbed and the robber choked to death at the park. The chief ordered an automobile and enroute, he gathered up Officers Marks and Harbaugh and a quick run was made to the park. When the officers arrived at the scene of the attempted crime, Mr. Clever had not yet stopped his efforts to revive the dead man. The latter was brought to Beelman's undertaking rooms and the young people were taken to the police station in another vehicle. HAD FLASHLIGHT. When the dead man was searched, in addition to the revolver, it was found that he had a knife with a large, wide blade and an electric pocket flashlight. The 38-calibre Iver-Johnson revolver was loaded with the exception of one chamber, which had been fired. He carried no letters or papers or anything which would show who he was. NO CHARGE MADE . After Mr. Clever and Miss Shafer reached the police station, Mayor Brown and Coroner Maglott, who had been notified, heard their story which was substantially as detailed above. Mayor Brown directed Chief Feeney not to hold either Mr. Clever or Miss Shafer on anything in the shape of a charge and told them they were free to proceed to their homes at any time they saw fit to do so. Coroner Maglott was of the same opinion as Mayor Brown, who made the statement that the young man had done a good job and instead of being held to answer to any procedure of any nature should be given a medal for his bravery in killing such a fiend and saving his lady friend, especially when the thug was armed with a heavy revolver. Coroner Maglott, who would ordinarily, in such cases, hold an inquest as a form of law, stated that he did not deem an inquest necessary in this case and would issue no order--at least at that time--for the appearance of the two young people as witnesses. When the coroner reached this conclusion Mayor Brown told young Clever that he need not be in the least alarmed or to bother any more about the matter as he was free to go, as was also Miss Shafer and if it should be deemed necessary later to have any further statement or information from either, they would be notified. Mr. Clever expressed a desire to drive home with Miss Shafer and declared that he was able to go. Thereupon Night Captain Hagerty, of the police department, at 9:30 o'clock, escorted then to the livery barn, where the rig was put up and started them for home. BELONGED IN MT. VERNON. Up to the time Mr. Clever and Miss Shafer started for their homes, south of the city, the dead man who was lying at Beelman's undertaking rooms on Park avenue, had not been identified. He was neatly dressed and the stuff in his possession and other things indicated to the police that he was probably a holdup man and criminal of considerable experience. The news of the dastardly crime spread over the town in short order and hundreds of men went to view the body. People stood around on the streets in front of the undertaking establishment and elsewhere in groups and discussed the matter. Shortly before 10 o'clock, E. K. Bricker, a Mt. Vernon barber, who was here visiting friends, heard about the matter and went to the undertaking rooms and at once identified the body as that of Stephen Wolford, a young Mt. Vernon crook, who has had a checkered criminal career, although he is not yet very old. Before leaving police headquarters Chief Feeney called the Mt. Vernon police chief and notified him about the matter. Thursday morning a member of the News staff talked with a representative of the Mt. Vernon Republican-News and learned more of the dead man's life and antecedents. It was stated that Wolford, when yet a boy, was sent to the Lancaster reform farm for stealing a horse and later he served two terms in the Ohio reformatory. One of the crimes for which he was sent to the reformatory was the holdup and robbery of an old man in Fredericktown. He also served time in the Ohio penitentiary for holding up a man. At one time, while away from his home, he turned up in trouble at Defiance. It is said he chummed with a man known as Biddie Davis at Mt. Vernon and it is stated that the latter is now doing time in the penitentiary. About a year ago, Wolford came back to Mt. Vernon and by some people it was thought he had turned over a new leaf and had decided to behave himself. While in the penal institutions of the state he had learned the trade of tailoring and he opened a small repair and dye shop in Mt. Vernon. Wolford is the son of poor, but respectable parents, who have done much for him, but all their efforts were of no avail and he came to the untimely end that was frequently predicted for him. The dead man is a son of Lants Wolford, who is the caretaker of the horses of Charles S. Cooper, president and general manager of The Corliss Engine company at Mt. Vernon. The father resides at No. 102 North Center Run street. No information could be secured from Mt. Vernon as to how long young Wolford had been away from home this trip. It was stated that a Mt. Vernon undertaker would come and take the body back to the parents for burial. A well known gentleman from Bellville, who had been a school examiner, was here today and he stated that both Mr. Clever and Miss Shafer had been teaching school and both are highly respected young people. DEAD MAN IDENTIFIED. E. K. Bricker of Mt. Vernon, the man who first identified the body of young Wolford is the same man who identified the man who cut his throat at the Fairview Flats some months ago. He happened to be in Mansfield at that time and hearing that a stranger had committed suicide, went to see the body and at once identified it, the same as he did that of Wolford Wednesday night, which is a rather peculiar coincidence. As stated above, during the struggle with the assailant in which he was choked to death, the villain got young Clever's arm in his mouth and bit it very severely. A doctor gave the wound attention while he was at the police station and he was advised to look after the wound, until it heals thoroughly. Mr. Clever's clothing showed evidence of the terrific life and death struggle, in which he had engaged with Wolford. His shirt was torn and his suit and shoes were covered with mud as the result of the battle in the muddy corn field. Thursday morning Park Policeman Davy Cole came to the police station bringing with him Miss Shafer's parasol, which was picked up in the corn field just outside of the park, where the battle took place. The sun shade was a dilapidated looking article, having been out in the rain all night. Mr. Clever owns a greenhouse about two miles north of Bellville and brings flowers and plants to Mansfield to sell regularly. HIS RECORD From the Ohio State Reformatory Thursday morning was learned the criminal record of Stephen Wolford. When the crime became known at the institution, Superintendent Leonard caused the matter to be looked up. Stephen Wolford was about 30 years of age and of this period he has spent 18 years in penal institutions of Ohio. He was regarded as weak bodily and mentally, a degenerate type, but it was not thought by any of the reformatory officials that he would attempt anything as vicious as the crime of Wednesday night. Wolford spent six and one-half years in the Lancaster reform farm. He was first sent to the Ohio Reformatory in 1898, which was before Supt. Leonard's time at the institution. The offense was burglary and larceny. After serving two years, he was paroled and then discharged. After this he was in the Ohio penitentiary for six and one-half years for the same crime of burglary and larceny. In April, 1908, Wolford was again committed to the Ohio Reformatory for his usual offense of burglary and larceny, the sentencing judge not being aware that he had previously been in the penitentiary. So much time had elapsed and a change had been made in the office of the superintendent of the reformatory and other officials there, that he was not recognized. His criminal history was discovered shortly before he was paroled, which occurred about 11 months ago. At the time of his death he was still under parole and had not been discharged. The field officer of the institution visited him at Mt. Vernon and found him at work in his tailor shop. The last report came in from Wolford in July last. In speaking of the Wolford case, President Leonard says that it is a pity that the habitual criminal law was ever repealed in Ohio and that Wolford would have been a fit subject to come under the provisions of such a law. MAKING UP PURSE. Geo. H. Lowery and Dr. W. E. Loughbridge, in recognition of the brave deed done by young Clever in protecting Miss Shafer, Wednesday evening, are making up a purse as a testimonial of his worth as a protector of women. They believe he should be given a testimonial from the citizens of Mansfield that the good class of people are heartily in sympathy with him and endorse every man who protects women and girls in time of danger. The citizens are subscribing quite liberally.
The Van Wert Daily Bulletin (Ohio) August 24,
1911
ASSAILANT OF GIRL KILLED BY FLORIST
Ex-Convict Intimidated Couple In Mansfield Park. Mansfield, O., Aug. 24. A man supposed to be Charles Wolford, ex-convict, lies dead in a local undertaker's room as the result of an apparent attempt at assault on the young woman companion of the man who killed him. Walter Clever, a florist, near Bellville, and Miss Hortense Shafer, daughter of Albert Shafer, were seated in the north end of Sherman Heiman park when an unknown man confronted them with a revolver and ordered them to accompany him across the adjacent railroad tracks. Under threat of death they complied, fearing to make an outcry, but when their assailant was momentarily off his guard, after he had compelled his victims to lie down on the ground and lay beside them, young Clever seized a clod of earth and struck the stranger in the face, partially blinding him, and them seized him around the throat with both good hands and choked him to such good effect that when assistance arrived, in response to the screams of the couple for aid, their assailant was dead.
The Mansfield News (Mansfield, Ohio) August 31,
1911
The intended crime on Miss Hortense Shafer has aroused our village to white heat. These young people are of our finest families and Miss Hortense one of the kindest and most lovable little ladies, a good musician, a lover of books and her young life has been one continued struggle to live. First a hard spell of scarlet fever which left her nerves a wreck, then nervous prostration and last but not least typhoid fever with the brave fight for her life comes this awful thing. The tears were in almost every eye here Thursday when this thing was made known and words of the highest praise for our boy and girl's brave fight and every voice uttered thanks to God that Walter Clever had the strength to kill the brute.
The Lima News (Lima, Ohio) October 5, 1944
WOMAN DIES IN HOME MANSFIELD, O., Oct. 5--(AP) Mrs. Hortense Shafer Clever, 53, was found dead beside the kitchen stove in her home in nearby Bellville. Acting Coroner R. E. Wharton said she probably fell on the stove and died of burns and asphyxiation.
(submitted by Ida Maack Recu)
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