At 8:00 A.M. on the morning of
September 20, 1944, 65 year-old Enoch McLaughlin left his farmhouse
on Fallen Timber to spend a day cutting fence posts. He carried with
him a jacket and various items he would need that day – a double
bit ax, a brand new saw, a few wood wedges, a sack containing his
lunch, water … and his pistol.
McLaughlin always carried protection,
usually a shotgun or a pistol. Not only was it said he lived “a
rugged life with few friends,” but also he and his sister Ada were
confirmed recluses with good reason to fear their neighbors. Their
past had been unrestrained to say the least. Some might say
extremely contentious.
In fact, Ada said that only the Tuesday
before someone had shot at Enoch and barely missed him as he walked
from his barn.
Ada confirmed she also felt like a
target. “A few weeks ago while I was picking berries a man came
through the woods carrying a shotgun and a rifle. I dropped my berry
bucket, seized my shotgun, and ordered him off the premises,” she
told authorities.
Bad blood had built up over many years.
It may have all started when the McLaughlins experienced trouble with
dogs killing their sheep. Enoch responded by killing several of the
suspect canines. This likely caused some ill feelings.
Indeed, the McLaughlins suspected
revenge because, after that, several times their timber tracts had
been suspiciously fired. Trouble just kept brewing.
The most serious incident occurred in
1928 when Enoch shot a dog on his farm. Then, an argument with the
dog's owner and a friend resulted. According to Ada, not long after
that argument, Enoch was shot in his face from ambush. After he had
been wounded in the face with shotgun slugs, the farmer was still
able to reach his wagon bed, get his gun, and exchange shots with the
assailant (unnamed in this report), who later died. Ada said she and
Enoch had both religiously packed guns ever since.
Then, around 1934 another violent incident
occurred. Enoch McLaughlin shot a former employee who was cutting
roots on the farm, his sister said. All of this violence was to be a
portent of another tragedy on this September day.
Shortly after dark on September 20, Ada
McLaughlin lighted a lantern and put a shotgun under her arm. She
decided to search for her brother because he was late coming home
from the woods. She found Enoch's “virtually disemboweled” body
three-quarters of a mile from their home. Near his corpse she discovered
his jacket and the other items he had taken with him in a “disordered
fashion” indicating “he had cast them from his shoulder quickly.”
His pistol was not found.
It appeared Enoch had walked a quarter
mile toward his home in an effort to reach there before collapsing
from his wounds. Upon finding her brother, Ada quickly summoned
neighbors who sent for the sheriff, the coroner, and the undertaker.
Sheriff Earl C. Brandel and Coroner
Virgil E. Fowler sifted through evidence and counted more than a
dozen suspects. Sheriff Brandel said “Any one of several persons
could have killed Mr. McLaughlin. It could have been someone with
whom he has had trouble. It could have been a hunter or trespasser.
The slayer could have waited in ambush, or the murder could have
resulted from an argument started shortly before the killing. We
shall investigate every angle fully and carefully.”
Authorities estimated McLaughlin had
been slain about 8:30 A.M. His body was examined at McKinley Funeral
Home, and reportedly officers found it difficult to determine what
instrument was used to commit the heinous crime. Some thought he was
slashed with knife or possibly a saw. Enoch had been cut twice across
the abdomen, and he had five or six lacerations which resembled saw
tooth marks. The body also had marks on left arm which was bruised
badly “as if he had been stuck with an instrument as he threw up
his arm to protect his face.”
Ada said, “I urged him not to go. I
was afraid something would happen. Everyone is against us. They tried
several times to burn us out. But, he insisted on going.” She said
she was the one who actually put Enoch's pistol into his overall
jacket.
“If I had been with Enoch today the
sheriff would not be searching for his murderer. I know how to shoot
and I am not afraid” declared the frail, small woman. Later that
evening she was said to be in her yard standing in vigil alone –
lantern in hand and shotgun nearby.
This incident remains one of Valley
Township's most mysterious murders. As far as I know it is unsolved
and perhaps a cold case in local files. Who killed Enoch McLaughlin?
How did the murderer(s) kill him with a sharp object when he was
carrying a firearm? What led to the murder?
Sister Ada even reasoned politics
caused the trouble. “We do not believe in the New Deal or relief or
federal aid and red tape,” she said. “Some of out neighbors were
getting relief and old age pensions and wanted to know why we didn't
get relief. We did not want relief and told them we would take care
of ourselves as long as we possibly could. We worked long hours
tending out farm and making an honest living.”
Enoch McLaughlin was the son of Daniel
and Mary McLaughlin. He lived all his life on the family farm.
Besides his sister Ada, he was survived by another sister, Mrs. Mary
Cockrell of New Boston.
This account remains an interesting
item of folk history. Reading the article makes one wonder what
happened in the aftermath of the murder. I hope recounting it here
will bring some fruit upon further details. The story of Enoch
McLaughlin begs further research.
This blog entry was researched and
rewritten from one source. Those who want to read the original
article can find it in the Portsmouth Times archives at https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8cTaIddhMp4C&dat=19440921&printsec=frontpage&hl=en.
(Just click on the site.) I encourage everyone to read it in its
entirety.
“Killer Sought After
Recluse Slain By Knife.” The
Portsmouth Times. September 21, 1944.
The Strange Case of Enoch McLaughlin
This is
an additional report on the brutal murder of Enoch McLaughlin on
September 20, 1944. The case went unsolved and remains an intriguing
mystery to this day. For amateur sleuths, these details may shed
considerable light on the tragic event. Considering the stormy past
of the McLaughlins, one may speculate his or her own conclusions.
The McLaughlins
Enoch
Selvester McLaughlin was one of 11 children born to Daniel
(1823-1904) and Mary Browning McLaughlin (1840-1901). His father was
born in Gushire, Scotland, and his mother was born in Jackson County,
Ohio. Daniel immigrated from Scotland 1851 Filed for naturalization
1854 and naturalized in 1860. Mary married Daniel
McLaughlin December 23, 1857 in Jackson. The family cut timber and
raised sheep on their property near Lucasville.
Enoch McLaughlin never married but maintained the home
farm with his sister (and other siblings?) after his parents died.
Further Details About the Murder
Sheriff Earl C. Brandel continued his
investigation into the murder of Enoch McLaughlin. In a report about
the killing, Brandel said the murderer was “fiendish and in a fit
of anger and hate determined to make the farmer suffer much before
death.” Wounds from a saw blade indicated “that the killer
apparently sought revenge,” the sheriff said.
The Portsmouth Times reported
that some of the neighbors who expressed dislike for Mr. McLaughlin
because of arguments in the past forgot their disagreements and dug
his grave in Owl Creek Cemetery. The report also stated that some of
the others remembered their neighborhood duty and helped Miss Ada
MaLaughlin, 62, recluse sister of Enocn with her farm chores.
Funeral services for Enoch
McLaughlin were conducted at the McKinley Funeral Home. Rev John
Kemper was in charge, and burial was in Owl Creek Cemetery.
Past Incidents
(a) 1908
In December 1908, Enoch McLaughlin, indicted for
cutting with intent to kill, was found guilty of assault and battery.
The case against the defendant's brother, Dan McLaughlin, jointly
indicted with him, could not be heard until the next term. The
Portsmouth Times reported: “It is quite likely that it will
never be heard on account of the verdict being returned for the minor
offense against the brother.”
The defendants were charged with
endangering in an affray with their neighbor, Charles Lyons in
Jefferson Township. The fight allegedly occurred because the
McLaughlins' cattle got on Lyons' land. In the fight Enoch McLaughlin
was alleged “to have slightly cut Lyons in the nose.”
Judge Blair sentenced Enoch with “a
fine of $20 and ordered him to pay the costs, amounting to $66 more.”
In passing sentence, Judge Blair said
that “doubtless the jury had found its verdict for the smaller
offense because of the good character McLaughlin has always borne in
his neighborhood.” It was warranted also in holding that he cut
Lyons in the nose. Judge Blair further “held for the evidence, and
believed that it was a case where McLaughlin's temper had gotten the
better of his judgment.”
An effort was made to have the court
nolly the case against the defendant's brother, Dan, but Prosecutor
Miller said that he would not agree to his at the present time.
(b) 1932
In July 1932, Levi and Maggie Justice
of Coon Hollow, a branch of Miller's Run, went to the McLaughlin farm
to gather raspberries and ginseng. While they were on the property
Enoch McLaughlin, 52, was said to have fired a gun at Mr. and Mrs.
Justice and their 12-year-old son as they were walking out of the
woods.
Mrs. Justice told officers she saw
McLaughlin shoot her husband with a shotgun from ambush. She and her
son were walking a short distance behind Mr. Justice. “Shotgun
slugs sprayed all around the trio,” but Justice was the only one
hit.
Constables W.R. Jacobs and Floyd Nance
arrested McLaughlin on a charge of shooting with intent to kill. Mr.
and Mrs. Justice claim they had secured permission to pick berries on
the McLaughlin farm before going there. Levi Justice told officers he
had permission from McLaughlin to hunt herbs on his place, and he
could give an explanation why McLaughlin shot him. McLaughlin refused
to comment on the shooting.
A charge from counts of stealing
raspberries against Mr. and Mrs. Justice was dismissed.
Historical Note
Two
of Enoch McLaughlin's sisters are buried in Lucasville Cemetery:
Martha McLaughlin Robertson and Mary Catherine "Kate"
McLaughlin Cockrell.
Sources:
Portsmouth Times.
December 26, 1908.
Portsmouth Times. July 1,
1932.
Portsmouth Times. July 13,
1932.
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