Stars Over Her Door

Marietta Daily Leader, June 2, 1904

To Drive the Witches Away

Amusing Testimony in the McCormick Divorce Case

The suit for divorce and alimony which Mrs. Harry McCormick of this city brought against her husband in the court of common pleas of this county was up for hearing Wednesday and brought forth much testimony not suitable to print. The case will be finished today.

One bit of information brought out in the hearing Wednesday shows that superstition and belief in witchcraft are not yet a thing of the past even in the enlightened city of Marietta.

A succession of questions and answers regarding certain acts of Mrs. McCormick resulted in bringing out the following.

Mrs. McCormick was sick and some of the neighbors told her that an old lady living near her home was a witch and that she was probably bewitching her. Mrs. McCormick took their advice and placed three stars over the door of her house to drive off the witches. She denied, however, that she ever told her husband that she was bewitched.

 

The Horror of Hasty Interment

The Marietta Register, May 24, 1866

The Zanesville Signal of last week states that a few days since, a coffin containing the body of a lady was shipped from Parkersburg on board the D. M. Sechler for transportation to Guernsey County, via Wheeling. Upon reaching its destination and being opened by the friends, their horror and dismay may be imagined upon discovering that the unfortunate lady had evidently come to life during her incarceration within the narrow limits of her coffin. Her hands were up to her head, and the tangled and disordered hair gave evidence of a struggle which must have been as brief as terrible.

 

Local Man Purchases Wakefield

Marietta Daily Times, June 13, 1916

The Wakefield, one of Marietta's leading hotels, was sold Monday afternoon by Charles A. Ward to S. A. Mullikin of this city. The purchaser has leased the hostelry to Thomas W. Porter and Edward Cottle, who will take possession next Monday morning. While the purchase price is not given out, it is understood to have been something over $30,000.

The Wakefield, which is located at Third and Putnam streets, was erected about sixteen years ago, but a part of the structure had been operated by Mrs. K. L. Dye as a boarding house for 30 years. The hotel has always enjoyed a large patronage from the traveling public, as well as from the residents of the city.

The new owners will renovate the structure at once and expect next year to remodel the structure and build an addition of 25 rooms with baths, making a first class $2 and $2.50 house. The lessee will improve the service as soon as they take possession. They have purchased the furniture and fixtures.

Mr. Porter is an experienced hotel and restaurant man. He has operated the St. Elmo hotel for three years and the Superior restaurant on Second Street for the past six years. He will continue to operate the St. Elmo, but will turn the restaurant over to B. W. Stanley, who has been associated with him.

Mr. Cottle is a chef, who has recently been employed at the St. Cloud hotel. Formerly he was employed in a like capacity at Braun's.

 

Boys Risk Lives to Leave Jail

The Register-Leader, October 30, 1916

Youthful Robbers Break County Jail Here, Are Caught.

Make Key of Spoon.  Peg Leg Taken From Boy.

Clarence Lemmon, 17, and William Lemmon, 14, brothers confined in the juvenile apartment of the county jail made their escape sometime during Saturday night, the boys declare between 10 and 11 o'clock. They were caught by Capt. Smith of the Parkersburg police department about 10 o'clock Sunday morning four miles this side of Parkersburg. Sheriff Posey was notified and the young jail birds were returned by him by automobile to the county prison.

Asked how they made their escape, the boys said that they worked one whole day making a key to the lock in the prison window with an old spoon. Successful in this undertaking, they unlocked the barred window, climbed upon the window sill, pulled themselves up on an eavespout about five feet above the prison window to the roof of the court house, thence through a window into the tower and down the tower steps to the interior of the court house. Exit from the court house proper was made through one of the doors on the first floor.

The boys stole their way across the Ohio River bridge and were walking the road to Parkersburg when apprehended. Clarence, the boy who has a peg leg, tried to run into the Ohio River when Capt. Smith went to take him and his brother into custody.

Sheriff Posey is under the impression that the elder Lemmon boy broke the lock in the jail window with his wooden leg instead of picking the lock with a broken spoon. For this reason,the peg leg was last night taken away from the crippled boy and will be taken away from him every night until the courts dispose of the case of the two youths.

It was Clarence, William, and their elder brother Ernest who robbed the Buckeye Clothing store of over $600 in merchandise and carried their loot through the culvert that leads from behind the Buckeye store to the Muskingum River. They carried the clothing in a boat to Little Hocking, where they shipped it to Akron. The boys were caught in Akron and brought to Marietta. 

Arraigned before Judge Follett in common pleas court last week, Ernest Lemmon pleaded not guilty to the charge of robbing the Buckeye Store. Clarence, the peg leg, pleaded guilty in an effort, it is believed, to obtain the mercy of the court, while William, the youngest of the trio, was detained for action of the probate court.

The law provides that juvenile prisoners not be imprisoned with the other inmates of a county prison. The only place in which juvenile prisoners can in anywise be securely confined in the county jail, is by placing them in a small room, just opposite the wash room of the jail. There is but one window in this room, and covering it is a large iron-barred affair provided with a heavy lock. It was through this window that the boys escaped. How the peg-leg youth climbed the eavespout onto the roof of the court house is a mystery. It must have been a difficult feat, even for his brother, who is very small for his age.