Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1884-05-29

DTouSHt lHtO requlSltlou, UHe luueHtlIy
of the dead man as one of those who
had called at the house of Mr.. Crawford
was established beyond doubt. Cow
ell was the other and no doubt had
slain his companion. Detectives were
put on his track and in less than o
month he was captured in his fathers
house in Sandusky. He was brought
to Napoleon, indicted, tried, found
guilty, and sentenced to be hanged
August 11th, 1864. The day came, the
scaffold was erected in a small inclosure
on the south side of the jail. At 1920
the doomed man, accompanied by his
spiritual advisor, was led to the scaffold.
The death warrant was read. Sheriff
Barnes asked Cowell whether he had
anything to say, to which Cowell re-
piled:
"No, sir, I am guilty."
The Sheriff then asked him whether
he wished to be understood as guilty of
the crime of which he stood convicted.
He replied:
ayes, sir, my punishment is just"
The trap was sprung at 16 minutes
before l o'clock, in IL minutes Cowell
was prpnounced dead. Thus a little
less than 20 years ago occurred the first
hanging in Henry county. To-day oc-
ours
THE SECOND.
To-day hath the sun ofjustice, accord
ing to the laws of man, run his course
with Wesley Johnson. To-day in ac-
cordance with the Divine malediction,
"Whosoever sheddeth mans blood, by
man shall his blood be shed," Wesley
Johnson has paid the penalty of his
crime and gone to meet his reward for
the deeds done in the body.
The court records of Ohio scarcely
furnish an instance of a crime so horri-
BILE in its details as that one, the news
of which broke upon the ears ofthe peo-
pie of Henry and adjoining counties on
the morning of Oct. 25th, 1888.
On the evening of Oct. 23rd, George
Williams, a young man full of hope,
and happy in his humble home with
his wife and one child, had finished the
labors of the day and, before retiring
for the night, had gone to the barn,
perhaps to feed his horses. Little did
he think as he left that loving wife,
preparing for bed, that within few
moments eternity would dawn upon
both of them. Little did that fond
father and loving mother apprehend
that within a few moments that inno-
cent babe, the tie thatsealed the plight
ed love of two young hearts, would be
an orphan. Little did George or Issa-
bell Williams anticipate that at that
moment acriminal, for the punishment
of whose crime, the laws of man are
totally inadequate, was lurking in the
darkness thirsting for their life's blood.
Little did they think that at that mo-
ment a fiend more foul, more devilish,
than the vilest of the DEVILS satellites,
awaited with upraised weapon ready to
send it crashing through the brains of
his victims. But the fatal moment was
at hand. At one fell blow George Will
Jams was laid low with his brains ooz-
ing out at the ugly wound in his head.
But here the work of this more than
devil in human shape was only begun.
carrying in his hand the weapon, reek-
ing with the blood of the husband, he
proceeded to the house and with almost
unequaled fiendishness drove the ak to
it's eye into the head of that young wife
and mother as she was about to retire
for the right.
For two days after the committal of
this brutal murder the CHASTITY corpses
lay putrefying in pools of their own
blood, unknown of man save by him
whose foul hand had struck them down,
unsuspicioned dy the peacible and
peace-loving citizens of that neighbor-
hood and unmatched save by the eye of
him who reigneth over all.
On the 25th of Oct, a neighbor, Mr..
Addison Crew, had occasion to so to
the house of Mr.. Williams, and he it
was who first discovered the lifeless
body of George Williams lying in his
own blood in the barn. He it was who
first raised the cry of MURDER that soon
echoed and re-echoed with it's blood
curdling effect throught the counties of
Henry and Fulton. The neighborhood
being aroused, a crowd soon gathered
at the late residence of Williams, where
a sickeniDg spectacle met their eyes.
There upon the floor of his own barn
lay the body of Williams with his head
split open and throat cut from ear to
ear, and on the floor of her bedroom