The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-08-04
A Criminal Family.
philadelphia Press. !

In running out various clues in con.
nection with the Clugston murder,
Detective Charles +. Miller of Miller
& Sharkey's Agency, came across q
curious family, all of whose members
are criminals, which gives some truth
to the theory advanced by eX-Mayor
Richard NauX, the eminent penOlo-
gist of this city, that crime is heredi-
tary. When tracing up Edgar A.
Abbott the supposed murderer of
Samuel Clugston, and John Speilman,
alias Little Johnny" the alleged
accomplce, who was arrested last
Thursday, the detective learned that
the latter paid frequent trips to Balti-
more and had been seen in Ansmer
street, that city in company with
Nicholas Davidson, who knew the
two men from their having stopped at
the lodging-house No. S07 Vine street.
The detective went to the Monumen-
tai City in search of Speilmann. BY
the assistance of the Baltimore police
the officer located family by that
name, and careful inquiry revealed
the fact that one of the members was
named John and that he answered the
description of Little johnny" as
furnished 10y Davidson. In order to
otiNNSNSluiIN WI N u uIl tdNt
the detectives usually make close
investigation as to the antccedents of
a criminal, and this is what Detective
Miller did in the case of the Balti-
more Speilmann.
a FAMILY OF CRIMINALS.
1t was learned that Daniel Spell
man, one of his brothers, his wife
and their six children-two girls and
four boys-were all, more or less,
stepped in crime. The father had re-
peatedly been arrested for theft; the
mother, who now goes under the
name of Bond in Baltimore, has been
in prison for larceny; the son John
has been imprisoned IL couple of times;
Frank served two terms in the East
ern Penitentiary for burglary, and
| last year was hanged in Dayton
Ohio, under the name of Bob Adams,
for numbering q man for Sl.S5:
Charles has been behind the bars OF
the Eastern Penitentiary twice before,
and is now undergoing an imprson-
ment Of six years and nine months in
that institution for horse-stealing and
burglary in Cumberland county
Thomas, now dead, also has his name
on the criminal records, while the two
daughters are also said to have been
well known in police courts. Two
years ago Frank and Charley were ar
rested in Carlisle, this State for robbery
but they escaped punishment by cut
ting their way out of prison. The
next heard of Frank was when he was
arrested in Ohio for murder.
a SINGULAR MISTAKE.
After the detective had collected
these facts he began searching for
John Speilman in hope of finding in
him the accomplice of Abbott. a
copy of the picture of the little girl
left behind by the murderer in his
flight was shown to the husband of one
of the Speimann girls and he identi.
fed it as that of his brothers child
and even the latter expressed the
belief that his daughter was the origi'
nal of the photograph, but Mrs. Spell
mann was just as positive that she was
not. Even the detective saw a strong
resemblance when the girl was brought
into his possession, and the neXi
thing was to find John. Miller paid &
visit to the Eastern Penitentiary and
had chat with Charley, from whom
he obtained description of the miss
ing brother. Daniel, the father, was
found on an island i'm the Susquehanni
river four miles below Harrisburg, liv
ing with woman, by whom he haC
several children. This island i:
withing a short distance of the poin
where York, Dauphin and Adams
Counties come together, and the ole
mans excuse for living there was tina
in case of trouble he could easily rul
from one county to another.
ANOTHER CLUE DESTROYED.
f,f ,tns,
that John had lived with Sheriff
Hoffman of Dauphin county, anC
from this place he was traced TO Il farm
six miles from Smyrna, Delaware
where he was found. As soon a
Davidson saw the man he said that h
was not Little Johnny which wa
very discouraging to the detective, bu
he was afserward successful in captur
ing the right man. In the course q
; his investigation Mr.. Miller accident
ally came across two husbands of Mrs
Yep, the alleged Carlisle poisonel
The first husband, whose name
Winnemyer, is now serving term Z
imprisonment i'm the Eastern Peniter
tiary with two of his brothers fo
highway robbery in the interior of tn
State, while the second husband, Zel
is confined in the same institution fC
the larceny of blankets.
From the Hub.