Crime and Punishment - 1886
Notes from an illustrated talk I gave, Sept. 20, 2018, at the Upper Ottawa Genealogical Group Library
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It was the autumn of 1886 and throughout the reaches of the Ottawa Valley it had been a wonderful fall.
Most of the crops were in and soon the first contingents of men would be leaving for the lumber camps.
In Pembroke Mr. Zack Halpenny was back at his livery business on the main street after one his horses took first prize at the Renfrew Fair.
Not far from his business - a bit east and across the street - Mr. Benjamin Edwards had opened a butcher shop in the new Russell Block, about where Suzanne's Ladies Wear is today.
And Henry Hawkins was advertising his new grocery store next to Dunlop and Chapman's hardware business.
At the other end of the street Mr. Arbuckle had just put in a new roller in McAllister's flour mill
and would stay on to run a bakery in connection with the mill after the previous baker ran off with the funds.
Out side of town, in Oceolla, there was a new Blacksmith.
In Cobden the Cobden Hotel had just been sold and was being renovated and August Linburg had just reopened his new tailoring shop.
In Eganville, Mr. P. Brennan was about to open a new general store. Eganville also reported that "The hum of the threshing machine may be heard in every direction and grain is turning out very well."
In this bucolic scene, on October the 11th,1886, outside of Palmer Rapids, on a warm and sunny morning, surrounded by the fields he had carved out of the woods and mere steps away from his home, Mr. David Koglin pick up a length of ironwood some 4 feet long and about an inch in diameter and used it to beat his neighbour, Mrs. Minnie Werckenthal, to death.
At the time of the incident David Koglin was described in the paper as being 44 years old, 5 feet 7 or 8 inches in height, dark complexioned, 180 pounds and of muscular build. He was, as many were in those days, unable to read or write. He was born in 1843 in Germany. He was a farmer there, owning 16 acres, was married, his first wife died and he remarried fathering three children.
Something happened, or something may have happened - it's unclear - he may or may not have set fire to a neighbour's home and he may, or may not have fled Germany to avoid jail time. At any rate he left, taking a boat to Canada arriving here in 1877.
He intended on going to Golden Lake but through some mishap ended up in Buffalo, New York.
His money all but gone he walked to Hamilton and then on to Toronto, a distance of about 100 miles, where some people there bought him a railway ticket to Sand Point.
From there he walked to Renfrew, Douglas, Eganville, Brudenell, Rockport, eventually ending up in Palmer Rapids where he found employment with a Mr. McPhee, probably Donald McPhee who was a mill owner (census 1891)
When he finally got a few dollars ahead he walked 12 miles further into the bush, built himself a small shanty and began to clear the land.
For two years he worked, clearing trees, farming the cleared acreage and making baskets in the evening for sale so he could buy flour and butter.
At the end of the two years of hard work he build a larger shanty and sent for his family.
In June of 1880 they arrived in Cobden- his wife, their son of about 11 years, a younger daughter of about 5 or 6 and another daughter, perhaps about 14 - and began the 65 mile walk to Raglin Township
carrying with them 3 large feather beds, nine pillows and all their spare clothing. Three days later they arrived, footsore but happy at having a home of their own.
For the next number of years things went well for David. He owned 100 acres of land with about 40 of those acres planted with crops. He had about a dozen cows, some pigs, sheep, chickens and a span of horses. He had a home and two barns, was prospering through hard work and was looking forward to becoming a rich man.
By all accounts he was not an easy man to live with. He worked hard, almost beyond normal, human endurance, and seemed to expect all around him to give no less an effort.
He quarrelled with and beat his son until that child left home at about age 16 or so.
His wife seemed to have lived somewhat in fear of him of him saying "my husband has frequently beaten on me….he has beaten me with a stick and with his hands, he has struck me with the spinning wheel…he was passionate and would get into a passion for the slightest cause…."
And perhaps as a fine example of damning someone with faint praise she said "he has never beaten me to cause severe injury or disable me at any time…"
Into this scene of pioneering toil and success came John Werckenthal, his wife Mina or Minnie and their two children. One of about five years of age and the other probably younger.
They had arrived in Canada about 1884 ending up in Palmer Rapids in February of 1886 and were told they could probably get accommodation with the Koglins until they were able to build a shanty on a piece of land they had acquired about three concessions from Koglin's.
Into their small home the Koglins took in these four extra mouths to feed and house. Within a month or so David and John had EITHER fixed up the original shanty or built a new shanty that was to be Davids to use when the Werkenthals left - which in a statement by John Werkenthal was to when there was snow enough to move his household goods. Either way in March the Werckenthals had moved into it.
In the spring he gave them a plot of land and ploughed a garden for them so the'd be able to feed themselves - all with the understanding it was temporary and John Werckenthal would soon build his own place and be gone.
But that didn't happen. Or at least it wasn't happening as fast as David Koglin thought it should.
When the Werckenthal's had moved into their fixed up shanty, David had temporarily lent them a bedstead to use until perhaps John could make one for himself and his wife but by May that hadn't happened and he asked for it back. Mrs. Werckenthal collected the bed and flung it at him through the open door telling him to stick it down his throat and then slammed the door in his face.
Months passed and the Werckenthal family made no indications they were about to leave any time soon. The two men had words on several occasions with John Werckenthal saying he had no intention of leaving until he was good and ready.
Now the two families, living in isolation in the the woods, not more than 30 feet from each other, had more or less, stopped talking.
Stopped talking except for what seemed to be constant bickering between Minnie Werkenthal and David Koglin. Once it was over some stones David had thrown into her garden and when she confronted him he told her he would "SPLIT HER HEAD WITH AN AXE" which he was holding at the time. Once it was about the chickens and another time a horse got out of it's enclosure and did some damage to the Werckenthal garden which they claimed was done on purpose.
During this time David Koglin had twice gone to town to seek legal advice on how he could get rid of his unwanted neighbours, but what advise he was given was never revealed.
On that day, Monday, October 11th, at seven in the morning David Koglin again confronted the Werkenthals and told them he wanted them out that very day. John Werkenthal said he'd leave when he was ready but not before the snows came so he could transport his goods by sleigh to his new home. With that he picked up his gun and walked off into the bush to go hunting (David) or to find men to help put up his shanty (John)
David went to the barn to cut hay, undoubtedly still angry about this turn of events. While he was in the barn, and according to his statement, Mrs. Werkenthal continued taunting him until, in his own words "I could stand it no longer."
At approximately 9 a.m. he walked over to the Werkenthal home and told Minnie he wanted her and her children out - right now.
She of course refused, using, in his words "very indecent and insulting language" and entered the house with her two children slamming the door behind her.
David then went to the barn for a hammer and nailed shut the door to the shanty.
There are a couple of versions of what happened next.
The first - and the least probable-
With Minnie and the children locked in the cabin he then went to his home, set alight some kindling and shavings from the woodbox, walked back to the Werckenthals shanty and set fire to it. Minnie then chopped her way out, confronted him and he killed her
The other - is that almost immediately Minnie chopped her way out of the shanty. Koglin now, in his statement, thought the only way to get them out was to burn the shanty to the ground.
He went to his home, lit some shavings on fire, returned to the Werkenthal shanty and set fire to the straw under the scoops at the North East corner of the house which would be the side closest to his home.
Minnie walked around the west side of the home, confronted David at the rear of the house, picked up a length of fire wood, yelled in German "YOU BAD PIG" and "You Devil…IS THIS THE WAY YOU INTEND TO KILL ME? whereupon David picked up the length of ironwood, chased her around to the front of the shanty where they confronted one another - and struck her on the forehead fracturing her FRONTAL BONE.
She yelled out "OH MY GOD OH MY GOD" Then either tuned and fell, or perhaps just fell. She then attempted to rise. Either way Koglin then hit her on the back of her head fracturing her OCCIPITAL BONE.
She then fell forward, her face turned to the right.
Saying "the devil was in him" Koglin continued beating her inflicting sever damage to the PARIETAL bone and to the TEMPORAL bone breaking the skin where pieces of bone and brain were visible. He had hit her hard enough that when her body was removed her face had been partially driven into the ground.
At the time of her death Minnie Werkenthal was described as being 35 years of age, 5 feet 4 inches tall, about 140 pounds, of fair complexion with a strong, well developed body. It was also discovered at autopsy that she had been six months pregnant.
Then, realizing the enormity of what he had done he turned, walked to his home, got his coat, told his wife she would never see him again and that she should take care of the Werckenthal children.
With that he walked out the door and across his field, pausing once at the edge of the forest to look back at his home and entered the bush.
Meanwhile the fire raged and although an attempt was made by one of Koglin's daughters to move the body of Minnie Werckenthal the heat was too much and there she lay, the side of her body closest to the fire being extensively burned.
An attempt had also been made to put out the fire but it was futile and one of the Googlien women took the two Werckenthal children to a near by neighbour.
His plan was to starve himself to death but after five days or so he came to a river and decided to drown himself but seeing two grey birds settle nearby he took this as a sign he was to turn himself in.
On October 19th he was taken first to Eganville and confined to a locked room in Foy's Hotel overnight until he could be transported the next day to the Pembroke Jail.
In Pembroke, his jailer, Mr. Wm. Cook reported that in the first weeks he was extremely agitated, rolling around on the floor of his cell, calling out in german, eating little, just enough to keep himself alive, pacing in his cell and presumably in the hallway outside the row of cells, sleeping very little. During this time although he never professed his innocence he blamed Minnie Werckenthal for all his troubles saying that in the afterlife he would confront her, telling her this was all her fault.
His trial was in early April at the spring Assizes and it seemed to last no more than a day. He had a lawyer but had pled guilty and was sentenced to hang on June 6th. He apparently received his sentence with great composure, telling his council he was prepared to die and "would rather it would be so."
During the next two months there were one or two letters to the paper asking for clemency and an appeal to the minister of justice in Ottawa which was denied. However David Koglin did not want to be spared the hangman's noose and was content with the sentence as it stood saying it would be against God's law if he were to be spared.
In the months since his incarceration he became friends of a sort with William Cook who was, by all accounts a pleasant and genial man who, aside from his duty as turnkey also had a commercial vegetable garden across from the courthouse. The two men would often converse as much as possible as Koglin spoke little english. He was fond of music and often he and Mr. Cook would sing hymns together they had heard wafting over from the nearby Methodist church
His son, who he had been estranged from visited often as did a couple of German speaking ministers from the area and they reported he had become genuinely remorseful of his murder of Minnie Werckenthal and was satisfied with the judgement he received as being God's law and he had no wish other than it be carried out.
Friends visited and talked on religious and secular events and they too reported he was at peace with the verdict. He had made peace with his god and was prepared to atone for his crime.
Sundays were of special joy to him as he could hear the singing of hymns from the Methodist church near by and particularly liked the evenings when he could hear the children's choir.
In the days leading up to his execution he was a bit more agitated than he had been, pacing the hallway and for the final two days had been attended almost constantly by one of the local clergy men. He spent his last day, after a "fine breakfast of bread, butter and coffee" with his son and they talked and joked and he seemed a peace.
On the evening before his execution Mr. Cook sat with him as they heard the children singing from the church and the two men sang along with some of the hymns and for the first time he asked about the scaffold he had heard being built in the yard of the jail .
He was told it was well built and tested and that he would feel no pain. The structure was twelve feet high with a trap door about three feet square. with the release mechanism well oiled and in good working order. And this seemed to bring him some comfort.
On his last night he slept only a few hours, arose abruptly and cried out "Oh mine Gott, mine Gott this is my last day." He washed, combed his hair, dressed himself in a checked, tweed suit with a pair of carpet slippers on his feet. For the next hour or so he prayed and sang hymns until, as the paper put it, "The Sheriff and executioner arrived and demanded his body."
Some time before eight in the morning the sheriff and other officials entered his cell, asked if he was ready to which he replied "Yes," placed is hands behind his back where they were tied, with another rope tied around his arms above the elbows and with the two ministers leading the way the procession made it's way to the scaffold.
At the foot of the stairs they knelt and prayed then stood and sang three verses of the hymn that began " Jerusalem, thou high built city, would to god I were in thee" With that they mounted the stairs in front of an audience of about 30 people. There was a great audience both in front and at the rear of the jail with those behind the building able to see the tops of the heads of the people on the scaffold, and when the time came, to hear the fall of the trap door
Up to this point he had been perfectly calm but on standing on the trap door, as the hangman tied his legs together he faltered a bit and had to be supported by Mr. Cook. He then regained his composure and stood as the hangman placed a white hood over his head and adjusted the noose so as to have the knot in the right position.
The hangman was a local man, unrecognizable with his head and upper body concealed with a thick, black veil and at five minutes past eight he stepped on the release for the trap door and as the crowd held its breath, David Koglin SHOT THROUGH the trap door, fell about nine feet, rebounded a few inches, twitched slightly and then all was quiet except for the pealing of the bell at the near by church.
There he hung for 3/4's of an hour and then was cut down, his body placed in a waiting coffin and was taken by his family to Rockport where he was buried.
It was found on examining his body that the neck had not been broken in the fall but in all probability he had been rendered unconscious and had strangled to death.
In the days following the execution there had been rumours about town that James Morris, the county Sheriff, had received $100 to pay the executioner and had turned that money over to the "officials" who then paid the executioner much less than the full amount.
This, he said in a notice in the paper, had no truth to it. His deputy had paid the man the full amount for his duties.
Perhaps the last victim of this whole affair was the executioner himself. Although his face and torso had been concealed it soon became common knowledge as to his identity. He was a german and members of the local german community were going to make him pay for his deed. On Tuesday evening, June the 7th at 11:00 in the evening they gathered outside of his home and were prepared to run him out of town on a rail but he had gotten wind of the plan and had made good his escape. He subsequently sold all his household goods and left town.
In his will David Googlien left all his goods and property to his wife until her death or remarriage at which time the property was to be divided among his children.
In the 1891 Census it would appear his wife did not remarry but stayed on and farmed the homestead with the help of her children and perhaps grand-children.
In the 1881 Census;
Gogline - David 38
- Amelia 38
-Austine 15
- Charles 12
- Augusta 6 Testimony 1886 - age 11
Gogliun - Emilia (Amelia) 48 Head of family 1891 (died c. 1911)
- Charles - 25
- Augusta 16
- Minnie 10
- David 8 (1885-1902)
- Mary 6
- Henry 4 (1887 - 1979)
