A Tragedy in Idaho

by Roberta McGee

        William Murdoch, the son of James Crawford Murdoch and Mary Murray of Gasswater, Auchinleck, married Janet Lennox of Muir, Cumnock in 1846 in Cumnock. They had six children. Janet died in 1877.

          Obituary Janet Lennox - Salt Lake Herald      

At Kilmarnock Scotland 20 December 1877 Jane Lennox Murdoch, wife of William Murdoch, Muirkirk. She was born at Moor, Old Cumnock 22 September 1821, obeyed the Gospel in 1854 and lived and died a faithful Latter Day Saint.

        Five months later William and their five surviving children emigrated to Utah. They were unaware of the tragedy that lay ahead some years later.  This is the story of their daughter Margaret Murdoch who married John Adamson from Muirkirk on 16 January 1879 at Salt Lake City, Utah. 

        John and Margaret had six children, John, William, Isabelle, James, David and Edith. They were very much involved with the Mormon Church and, after living in Utah initially, finally settled in Carey, Blaine, Idaho. John was a director of the Carey State Bank, a farmer and a chief church official of the Boise Stake, one of the organisational and administrative units of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Image - Arrington88 Ancestry

        Their daughter Isabelle married William Henry Cameron in 1905 in Blaine, Idaho. He was born in Melrose, Montana to Scottish parents. Isabelle would only agree to marry him if he joined the Mormon Church and he did so, somewhat reluctantly. After their marriage he refused to attend to his church duties and be involved in the church as he had agreed to and, over the years, this caused much friction in the family. He turned to drink and in 1915 he was arrested and jailed for beating his wife. When he was released on bond pending his trial he found that his wife and children had moved in with her parents and they avoided all contact with him.

        WH Cameron was the proprietor of the Carey Idaho Hotel. He also kept a livery stable, was a mail carrier and ran a jitney, which was a small bus. Isabelle Cameron's life revolved around her husband, her children, her parents and her church and on running the hotel. However, the problem with her husband's inability to embrace her church seemed to fester over the years and the marriage broke down when he began to drink heavily. He repeatedly tried to persuade his wife to return to him and told his father-in-law that, unless she did return 'there would be the damdest funeral ever seen in Carey'. Isabelle filed for divorce.

Isabelle Adamson Cameron - image Renee Surgeon, Ancestry

        Cameron devised a plan. He purchased a Colt 45 automatic revolver then went away on business for about eight days. When he returned he headed for the Adamson's house, armed with the gun, in search of his wife.

        The first person he encountered was his father-in-law John Adamson, who was putting the Cameron baby, Estasta aged eighteen months, to bed. Cameron shot him and the baby dead before turning the gun on his mother-in-law Margaret Murdoch Adamson and his brother-in-law James, who was playing the piano when he heard the shots. In the scuffle James's shirt was torn to shreds in his fight to disarm him. Margaret and James were both shot dead. 

        Isabelle, on hearing the shots fled the house, only to be followed by Cameron who eventually caught up with her in a field and shot her through the head before shooting himself. Her sister Edith Adamson and the remaining three Cameron children were in another room when the shooting started and managed to escape. 

        Wood River Times TE Picotte, Publisher November 1 1915 

                  Burial of Victims of the Tragedy 

                  Wood River Times TE Picotte, Publisher November 1 1915 

                      Burial of Victims of the Tragedy 

                  The five victims of the tragedy of last Friday night at Carey were buried there yesterday afternoon from the beautiful new church just completed at a cost $11,500.00. Ex-Bishop Rawson, First Counselor of the Boise Stake, conducted the services. The funeral called to Carey the biggest crown ever seen there on occasion, mourners having come from Cassia County, Boise, and Southeastern Idaho. There was not even standing room in the new edifice though the benches were not yet in, these being the first services ever held in the church. There were four caskets. One was for Mrs WH Cameron and her babe that was held in her arms, one contained the body of Mrs John Adamson, one that of John Adamson and one for James Adamson. The internment was in the Carey cemetery.

                  Wood River Times Daily TE Picotte, Publisher November 2 1915

                  Echoes of the Tragedy                    

             

      William H Cameron left all his papers, those in the Casey State Bank and elsewhere to his sister, Mrs Joe Danills, of Soldier, to whom is entrusted the letter to the descendant's eldest daughter as the following open letter, which was found in the Cameron Hotel after the tragedy. It will be seen that it must have  been written as the unhappy demented was about to set out for the scene of the tragedy. The letter is as follows:

                            Carey Idaho October 29 1915 - Friends and Relatives;

                            There is nothing in this world for me to live for. They have taken my wife and babies from me. My heart has turned stone cold for revenge on the one who has broken up my home. I thank you all for what you have done for me in my troubles. Don't say after I am gone 'he was crazy' for I am not. You will never know unless the same thing happens to you just how I feel, but I hope it never happens to any of you. Goodbye.

                            I am leaving a letter for Lexie when she gets older. See that they are cared for. WH Cameron. Lexie was the eldest of the four Cameron children.

        William Henry Cameron's funeral service was held in the Presbyterian Church in Bellevue,

Idaho. 

 

     

The Lakas Family - Lithuania to Cumnock to Chicago, USA

 by Roberta McGee

The Lakas Family - Lithuania to Cumnock to Chicago, USA

Antanas Lakas, a coalminer, was born in Kovno, Lithuania in 1882. He married Marijona (Mary) Baksauskas an Kairin, Lithuania and they had three children there before moving to 37 Townhead Street, Cumnock. Anton found work with the Garrallan Coal Company as a miner/hewer and the couple went on to have four more children in Cumnock. Tragedy struck in 1918 when two of their children died. Alexandria was only one year old when she died of measles. Three days later her brother Wencantas, aged two years old died of pneumonia. The 1921 census shows that they were still living at 37 Townhead Street. However, Antanas was 'out of work'. There was another Lithuanian, with the very British name of Charles Brown, boarding with the family. He was 43 years old, a Russian resident, who had also been working for the Garrallan Coal Company, but he was 'out of work' too. 

A few months later in June 1921, Antanas sailed out of Glasgow on the Cameronia heading for New York. He was alone, with $25 in his pocket, his final destination being to his brother-in-law John Baltrunas in Chicago, Illinois. Mary and the children joined him a year later. The sailed to New York on the Columbia. Mary and their five children were travelling under the surname of Liakaviciene. Antenas seems to have changed his surname too. He was now Anton Lekas Liakaviciene and their new address was 731 Jackson Street, Chicago, Illinois. On the Passenger List the name of the person in the old country was Kazemeras Baksauskas, a friend, 37 Townhead Street, Cumnock, where Mary and Anton lived while they were in Cumnock. 

                                                                            Passport photo

The family made their permanent home in the USA and became American citizens. The children Americanised their names. Jonas became John, Broni became Bernice, Learnovera became Laverne and Broneslofski became Bruno. On the US Naturalization Index it was recorded that son Anthony changed his name by Court Decree from Antanar Liakaviciene to Anthony Michael Lakas. 

Daughter Laverne, who was born in 1920 at 37 Townhead Street, Cumnock, disappeared in 1941. The family weren't overly worried because she had the habit of disappearing for long periods. In 1947 Frank Hertle, an itinerant handyman, finally confessed to police, because his conscience troubled him, that he had strangled her in 1941. He also confessed to strangling another woman in Chicago that same year.

Laverne's body had been found by police six years previously but she had never been identified. 

Lancashire Daily Post 24/3/1947

                                                            

Anton Lakas died in 1954 and his wife Mary died in 1956, both in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois and are buried in Saint Casmir Catholic Cemetery there. 

Image - TripSavvy

     

Convicts, crimes, and murder

By Scott Daily

Though rare, crime and even murder (or at least the accusation of them), has led to some from the Cumnock area being forced to move elsewhere. Some after serving their time of imprisonment or forced labour would settle and raise families in the area they were sent to such as Australia. A few would return to Ayrshire, but others would pass away still imprisoned. In the case of murder of course it would also influence the population of the area adversely. 

These are just a few of the accounts of those mentioned on the Cumnock Connections site as being affected by crime or murder.

First, by way of example of someone who was sent to Australia and was later able to make a life there, we have David Vallance whose family has a long history of living in the Cumnock/Auchinleck area. David married Euphemia Walker and they had  a child, Alexander. 

For a time David worked as a butcher in Cumnock. In 1843 he was accused of stealing, either 8 sheep and was sentenced to be transported to Tasmania, Australia on board the Henrietta to serve for 7 years. Upon being granted his freedom in 1850 he seems to have settled in an area, as he is recorded as passing away in Tasmania in 1886 at the age of 66. His wife Euphemia lived out her days in Thornhill and earend a good living as a dressmaker. The son Alexander died of TB in 1860 aged 19.

Maybe it is a stretch to write about murders in a blog about immigration, but two high profile murders took place in the area in the early 1900's. The death of Grace Dickie McKerrow in Cumnock and the death of Agnes Bone of Glenbuck were both treated as murders, and both lead to convictions of individuals from the area. 

Grace Dickie McKerrow was born in Sorn, and moved to Cumnock to serve as the housekeeper for a Mr Lennox who lived at home called "Woodside" at 159 Glaisnock street. On Monday the 19^th of November 1906 a package was delivered to the home with a card that read “With happy greetings from an old friend”. When the package was opened it was found to contain iced shortbread. Four day later, on the 23^rd the shortbread was brought out to try when a neighbour, a Mrs Bain, stopped by. Grace was seen to eat two pieces, though complaining about how bitter it tasted. Suddenly all who were eating began to experience great pain, the servant girl, a Miss Thorburn, having only ate a small amount felt best and was sent to bring a doctor. Whie the others would recover, Grace passed away. Suspecting poison, a postmortem was conducted, and it was found that Grace had ingested strychnine. When the shortbread was tested it was found that the icing contained poison, one report saying the icing contained sugar and 41% strychnine). 

Some articles about the murder

The man who was eventually arrested and tried for the murder was Thomas Mathieson Brown from New Cumnock. Until his retirement he had served as manager of the Lanemark Colliery in New Cumnock. His wife was the niece of William Lennox, and it was believed that Brown was seeking to murder Lennox so that his wife might inherit money or land. Rather unusually the prosecution wanted Brown declared insane, as he was known to suffer from epilepsy, while the defence wanted him tried as normal with a plea of not guilty. The evidence brought against Brown was that the handwriting on the card delivered with the package seemed to match his and he was found to have purchased strychnine, which he claimed was for killing rats. A mortar and pestle thought to be used to grind up the poison was also found, along with ingredients to make the icing. The Crown set about proving that Brown was insane, bringing in various medical experts. The jury reached the verdict that Brown was indeed insane, and so he was sent first to the Criminal Lunatic Department in Perth, then later transferred to Crichton Royal Institute, Dumfries, and finally moved to Ayr County Asylum where in 1915 he passed away. 

Article about murder of Agnes Bone

Briefly, another murder that shocked the local community, took place in the village of Glenbuck.  Thomas Bone was found guilty of murdering his wife, Agnes Campbell Bone. It is possible that the two were related, the Cumnock Conections site listing her as his cousin, though the family tree conected with the link does not back this up. Other sources state she was his second cousin and actually born Agnes Campbell, such as the this Cumnock Chronicle article. Thomas grew increasingly violent and possessive of his wife, so much so that many feared for her safety, and Thomas was according to the Chronicle, sentenced to 40 days hard labour as he “behaved in an outrageous fashion” toward her. In 1908 he was “sent down”  for two months, when he got out he again went to find his wife. His mother-in-law saw him and tried to warn her daughter, who was away from the village working at nearby farm, to not come back to Glenbuck, but her letter arrived too late. On Thursday April 2, 1908 around 2pm, the couple were seen walking on a path near the railway station. It began to rain and they went into a shed, where they were observed arguing by a local shepherd. They left, and that was the last anyone saw of Agnes alive. Around 3:05pm Thomas was seen back in the village washing his hands in the burn. He then went to his aunt’s house in the village and confessed to the murder, going from there to other houses and doing the same, though few believed him as it was such a shocking thought. As Thomas kept insisting, even telling them where to find the body, eventually a local miner went to check, and discovered Agnes lying dead on the footpath. (See  article 1 and article 2 for details)

At the trial, to the surprise of many including the judge, Thomas pled guilty, and admitted his murder. He stated that Agnes’s mother had told her not to have anything more to do with him and he was so upset he killed her. Thomas was sentenced to be hung, apparently, according to Chronicle, “the last prisoner at Ayr jail to sit under sentence of death.” But the night before he was to be hung the Secretary of State declaed that he was to have his sentenced changed to one of “penal servitude”. On the 15th November 1912, while serving time in Perth Prison, Thomas hung himself using a bed sheet. 

Finally, one other possible crime, though this one I don’t have a much information about. Again, citing the Cumnock Connections site, a George Murdoch from Auchinleck was convicted of forgery, and after being released on bail he “absconded to America”. If he is the same George Murdoch listed, then he would seem to have had children who ended up in the state of Ohio in the US. It does seem certain that a George Murdoch did immigrate to the United States around that time, but there appears to be several men with that name. 

Dunsmor and Nicol families, Cumnock pottery and beyond

by Scott Daily

The Nicol ( and Dunsmor) family 1880
 

                                        For names of those in the photo, click here

A family strongly linked to Cumnock Pottery the numerous Nicol and Dunsmor (or Dunsmore) descendents of Annie Clarkson moved in and out of Ayrshire in the 1800's. 

Annie Clarkson was born in Douglas, in South Lanarkshire in 1836, her first marriage was to Robert Dunsmore, in Cumnock by the Rev James Murray on 6 March 1854. Robert was listed as a coal-master in a wedding announcement. 

Robert and Annie had two children, Elizabeth born in 1853, and David Robert around 1856. Interestingly at the point that David was born the family were living in United States, as David is listed as being born on the Cumnock Connections site in Lemonweir, Wisconsin. The 1881 census mentioned below also lists David has being born in the United States.  

Robert Dunsmore appears to have passed away in 1857, at the age of 29. In 1858 Annie married James McGavin Nicol, the manager, and soon to be the proprietor, of Cumnock Pottery. Many have written in detail about Cumnock Pottery and the role James played, see for example: this article from the Scottish Pottery Society or this one from the Cumnock History Group, my focus is more on his family, though the pottery, especially the "motto ware" is a fascinating subject. 

James and Annie appear to have had ten children (see Annie's link above), with seven of them listed along with step-son David as living with them in a 1881 census. When grown the Nicol children began to move about, some settling in other parts of Scotland. One son, John Strathdee Nicol (often called Strath) would move to England to work in a firm manufacturing explosives, where he became the managing director. For his services he was created M.B.E. Another son, Thomas Hamilton Nicol, would immigrate to America and settle around California. Both sons would seem to have had children who settled around these areas of England and America. 

David Dunsmor would remain in the Cumnock area, taking over the running of Cumnock Pottery after his step-father passed away. David was also known for serving as the Lieutenant of the Cumnock Volunteer Rifles, most famously taking part in the "Wet Review" when on August 25 1881, the Edinburgh Royal Review of Volunteers was held, as Queen Victoria reviewed large numbers of Volunteer Forces from all over Scotland at Holyrood Park on a day of prolonged extremely heavy rainfall. 

Notice of David Dunsmor taking over Cumnock Pottery

David Dunsmor married Wilhelmina Hillhouse in 1884, they continued to live in the Cumnock area for the rest of their lives. One of their sons, James Nicol Dunsmor, a unmarried banker, was killed in India, when the sergeant who was to guard him shot him. A news aritcle would state “an immediate official inquiry was made and it was found that the sergeant was suffering from meningitis and must have gone mad.”

headline about James Dunsmor's death