Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1886-08-05
A Murderer.s Predictions.

Greenburg (Pa.) Argus
A curious story in which Thomas
DonnelIy, the lately diseased president
OF the Fourth National Bank of Pitts.
burg, figures prominently, has been re-
vived. The circumstances are no
doubt fresh in the minds of the Older
residents of this county, but the re-
vival of the incident, now that thelast
actor of tine tragedy has just passed
ate, besides being oil absorbing interest
to the present generation. In the
spring of 1927 large force of men
were at work constructing the Penn
sylyania Canal, near Bairdstowfii
Westmoreland county. on the
Kiskiminetas river. The gang Of
workmen was made up largely
of Irish Joseph Evans was cook.
One evening, while the men were wait.
ing for their supper, Evans began
whistling "Boyne Water" This an
gered some of the Irishmen, and, after
trying unsuccessfully to make Evans
stop. they gathered around him and
threatened him bodily harm. Evans
picked up shovel and kept swinging
it in circle about him, IN order 10
keep away the angry men, at the same
time continuing to whistle the song
that was giving so much offense. One
of the men named George Cissner made
leap at Evans, was struck by the
shovel, and knocked down. HeIell on
the edge of @ large camp kettle and
broke his neck, dying almost in
stantly. There was great excitement
over the affair, and the dead
mans friends charged Evans with
murder, and demanded his arrest.
The warrant was placed in the hands
of George Doty, the constable IN
Bairdstown, and he asked Thomas
Donnelly. who then kept small store
in the village, to go with him and help
arrest Evans. He did so, and Evans
was taken to Greensburg. His trial
came up few months atterward, at
which Donnelly, George Doty, the con.
stable; Thomas Ball, Lindsay Bige.
low, Frank Meyran and others testi
! fed. Evans was convicted.
When called for sentence the Judge,
as is the custom. asked him ii he had
anything to say before the sentence
was delivered. Evans arose and pro
tested his innocence, saying that he
had been simply defending himself,
and that Cissner had leaped at
him from the mids5 OF a.
crowd Unexpectedly, and would not
have been hurt had he not fallen on
| the kettle. Cissner's friends had testifi-
ed that the assault had been unprovok.
ed. He said that Cissner's friends had
sworn falsely, and that the only man
who had told the truth was Thomas
Donnelly. God will punish them,
he said, turning to the witnesses.
George Doty, you will die a timeless
death; Thomas Ball, you will die on
the scaffold, Lindsey Bigelow, you will
become a law-breaker and die alone
and friendless, and Frank Meyran, a
terrible death awaits you. Thomas
Donnelly is the only man who told
the truth, and he will prosper in all
that he undertakes, and will become
rich and respected" The speech was
at first considered only an outburst OF
anger from a man whose fate had been
sealed, and had the effect of lessenine
the sympathy of the people.
A short time afterward Evans was
hanged at Greensburg, before the gaze
/ of the people from the entire vicinity.
| He was the first man ever hanged IN
| Westmoreland county, and everything
pertaining to the trial become the sub
iect of gossip tor many years after
ward. The true accounts oil the quar-
rel which led to the killing OF Cissner
| gradually became known, and Evans
| ,fx,r a %p oil
around every freside in connection
with what he had said would be the
1 fate of those who swore his life
away. In less than one year az
ter the execution, George Doty
was thrown from a runaway horse in
front of Thomas Donnelly's store
in Bairdstown, and was instantly
killed. Frank Meyran was killed while
woI king on the old Portage road near
there. Thomas Ball lett hesitate and
went to Ohio. While in quarrel
there he killed a man and was hanged.
| Lindsey, Bigelow stabbed a fellow
workman during quarrel. He was
FIRST taken to Greensburg and was
kept in the same room in which Evans
/ had been confined, and he was bound
with the same irons. He was after.
ward taken to the eastern peniten-
tiary and died during his term OF i'm.
| prisonment.
Thomas Donnelly a few years after
ward moved to a place near Freeport,
and for many years operated
a salt we'll. He was very sue
cessful, and became the wealthiest
man in that section. He
was respected for his straightforward
methods of conducting his business,
and gained reputation for fairness
and honesty that became a byword.
He studied law in Pittsburgh, but
never practiced For more than thirty
years he was engaged in the banking
business, and was the president and
leading stakeholder of the Fourth Ma
tional Bank up to the time of his
death. His personal estate has been
valued at almost $500, 900, and in
addition he owned large amount OF
valuable real estate that swelled his
fortune to a million.
The untimely fate of Evans and the
singular correctness of his predictions
as to the future lives of five men have
become a part of the traditions o,
Westmoreland county.