Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1882-09-24

deed and he reflected upon him as the
cause OF his death.
In North Wheeling and within
easy sight Ofthe place of murder, the
eallOws had been erected on spot ABOUT
one hundred and fifty yards from the
river and there in the presence OF more
than 10000 people which the historian
has characterized rs an dis
his fate. Mai. Samuel Irwin
was the sheriff rs the county as tho
time and executed the murderer. TIE
crowd behaved very badly and crowded
toward the scaffold. The murdererdead,
the crowd followed the coIiin home,
where they found the grief-stricken
father, half crazed by shame and the
deprivation of his prop, seated upon u
shed in front of his house awaiting the
arrival of the remains. Aroused from
his lethargy by the tumult Of the rlbble
the old man Strengthened himself and
demanded that he be left alone with
his dead. The spectacle Of the father,
the incarnation OF grief and shame, was
too much for even the gross feelings OF
the mob and those who had come a.
Scofiers and rioters retired subdued aud
respectful from the presence Of the aged
fathers grief The remains were taken
to Martins Ferry and inferred by the
side OF the mother, who happily died
before her son had committed the crime
that sent him TO the gallows.
THE LAST EXECUTION.
Robert G. Poole was the last man who
was hung in the city of Wheeling, and
the circumstances Of the crime for
which he suffered are briefly these:
Poole had always been rather u bolster
Gus young man but never had been sus-
pected of any criminal intentions. he
had passed his youth and early man
hood in Wheeling and was generally
liked When the war broke out he
went into the army, and, as the story
goes, was home on Through when he
went into the saloon of Adam Buch, on
old Clay, now Eighteenth street, East
Wheeling. While there he became
noisy and finally he AMI Buch became
involved in struggle in the bar-roOm
during which Poole'S revolver Was dis
charged. The contents of one cham
Der was emptied into Bueh's body, who
died on the 18th of August following.
Pool was arrested and brought to trial
at the next term of the Circuit Court
held September 10th, 1862. He was
prosecuted by Major Good, Common
wealth attorney, and defended by Hons.
ID. NJ. EdgingtOn and g.. L.. Cranmer.
The trial lasted some three days and
the jury, after an absence of only two
hours, found verdict OF murder in the
first degree.
The murderer was sentenced to be
hanged March 18th, 1863, anu on that
day he was hung at Jonathan's ravine,
North Wheeling, in the presence of
fully 10000 people. The sentence OF
Poole was always thought by many to
have been extreme, but the murder
happened in the midst OF the troub-
lOus war times, when the whole country
was DISTRACTED and everything Was go
ing wrong. Buch is said to. have been
an iraSclble, Overbearing man, AMI
tackled Poole who was i'll liquor for an
old debt contracted long before. Poole
was in liquor NJ the time aud retorted
rather holly, when the men clenched
and Buch was killed.
At the time of the execution there
were q great many soldiers in the city
who had enlisted here and who knew
Poole well and thought very highly of
him, and few of them came together
TO devise some plan of rescue with ref
ence TO sending him out Of the country.
\ considerable sum of money was raised
in furtherance of the purpose and it was
fixed to send him To New York and
place him aboard man of war, which
was to leave in day or two. The plans,
however, were not well arranged and
were not carried out.
Since the hanging Of Poole there.
have been no executions here, although
there have been many horrible murders
committed.