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Let me tell you about the Clendenen murder.
As I write this, I am thinking about Matt Connor. Matt, a friend of mine and history columnist for the Express, did a fantastic job writing about this 1903 murder several years ago. Right now, I admit, I'm rehashing some of what Matt wrote before his too-soon death in 2012.
I don't hope to express the murder as well as Matt did. But I may be able to add to the story.
It was November 19, 1903. Harry Clay, a train dispatcher in Jersey Shore, received a telegraph message from Brown's Tower in Wayne Township, near Youngdale. It said, "I am shot and dying. Please send help."
The message came from William Howell Clendenen, the operator out at that tower. Clay sent an engine to Youngdale to investigate the message, but when the rescuers arrived, they found Clendenen dead in the tower.
He had been shot and bludgeoned with a spike maul, a nasty-looking piece of railroad equipment. The theory was that even shot, he'd managed to defend himself, so the killer had gone looking for something to finish the job. The immediate assumption was robbery, which seemed a likely possibility. Other theories included a jealous fight over a woman, and a "secret society" whose goal was to murder railroad personnel.
The men instantly contacted Coroner William J. Shoemaker, who held an inquest that included local citizens R.C. Quiggle, Carson Quiggle, L.W. Conser, Michael Emmert, and Harry I. Simcox. And they came to the conclusion, "William Clendenen came to his death at the hands of some person or persons unknown."
Clendenen was buried in Linnwood Cemetery in McElhattan. Seven detectives circulated surreptitiously through the crowd, quietly questioning and observing.
One of these detectives was Constable Ellis Myers. Myers found local man William Mitcheltree at the funeral. Mitcheltree had already been questioned by the police, but released. Myers arrested him again, taking him to jail in Lock Haven.
This is where defense attorney W.C. Kress entered the picture. Kress was a Civil War veteran who had gone into law, and made his living with several high-profile criminal cases. I've mentioned Kress before -- he was the man who successfully defended the probable killer of James Sesto, who is said to have appeared as a ghost at his own funeral.
Kress had Mitcheltree released before the end of the day, and that was about it for the case. The newspapers ran angry editorials for a while. The police worked on the investigation for quite some time, and made very little progress. A large reward from the railroad company only confused matters, and they settled for making a new rule that two employees must be in the telegraph towers at all times, for protection.
The Clendenen murder is still considered unsolved, over a century later. The tower no longer stands; it was torn down eventually. The final word seemed to come on December 4, 1903, when the Clinton County Times ran a column commenting, "The Clendenen murder mystery is still as profound as the day upon which it was committed. That a murder was committed at Brown's tower at all seems like a dream, yet somewhere in the land walks the modern Cain with a guilty conscience, to whom the name Clendenen must sound a death knell every time it rings upon his ear."
Clendenen still remains under a small stone in McElhattan, with the inscription, "He died at his post."
The verdict of the inquest stood. "William Clendenen came to his death at the hands of some person or persons unknown."
But was it really unknown? It's just possible that there was a solution to the Clendenen murder, one that was discovered but never publicized. I promised that I might add to the story… And in my next column, I will.
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Lou Bernard is a Lock Haven resident with a keen interest in the history of this area. He is adult services coordinator at Ross Library and may be reached at ross13@rosslibrary.org or 570-748-3321.