Considering that many of the early miners of the Fever River country were adventurers or fortune hunters, rather than settlers—that is, people who came to found homes—the criminal calendar of the circuit court has always been remarkably free from records of a very atrocious character. This fact is due, perhaps, more to the linn, unyielding, uncompromising and determined character—the honesty and sterling moral worth of the early permanent settlers, like the Harrises, Meekers, Newhalls, Proctors, Greens, Bates, Langworthys, the Gears and the Hempsteads, and others of their associates—who came to make homes in the mineral wilds of Fever River, than to any other cause. However determined and guarded as these pioneer fathers were, desperate characters—gambling adventurers—would often find their way to the mines, and, after a time, throw oft' all disguise and seek to over-awe and over-ride every one who, in any way, interfered with their plans and purposes. This has been the history of all mining regions—of all new countries. But as true as it may be, the history of Galena and of Jo Daviess County is freer from capital offenses—atrocious murders—perhaps, than almost any other county in the state, and it is a credit to the names of the people who pioneered the way to the wealth, population and intelligence of 1878, that, through, all the changes—from chaos and absence of all written or statute law when the Johnsons came in 1821—to the present, so far as any positive knowledge exists, not a single case of lynch-law stains the name of Jo Daviess County. No other mining district, so far as the knowledge of the writer extends, can show the same record. Murders, it is true, have been committed, but these have been atoned through means provided by the law. There have been other criminal offenses, out in no case have the people taken the law into their own hands. In only one instance has the capital sentence been executed, and that was in the case of Taylor, who was hanged on the 19th of February, 1855, on the charge of murdering his wife. The circumstances in brief were as follows:

In the Galena Gazette of December 7, 1877, we find a summary of the several murders and murder trials in the county, prepared by George W. Perrigro, Esq., associate editor of that paper, from which we make the following extracts. In his introductory to this resume, Mr. Perrigro says:

The citizens of Jo Daviess County have been frequently shocked by foul and bloody tragedies which have occurred in their midst; yet this section has not been distinguished in this regard above others, for crime is the natural offspring of all localities, and will be so long as justice is a mockery and the statute books a dead letter."

Taylor Wife Murder.—The first notable crime which was committed within the borders of the county was the murder of Mrs. Taylor, by her husband, John I. Taylor, who suffered the death penalty as an atonement for the deed. Since that time murderers have got off with various terms of imprisonment, from three years to life sentences. The facts connected with the Taylor murder were briefly as follows: Taylor resided in the upper story of a dilapidated frame house in Old Town, near the bank of the creek. A man by the name of Rosenburg occupied the first floor, and is said to have been on intimate terms with Taylor's wife. One night in the month of October, 1856, Taylor reeled home drunk, and began to abuse his wife. Rosenburg heard the disturbance overhead, and went up for the purpose of quelling it. Tavlor, enraged at the sight of the man whom he imagined was criminally intimate with his wife, seized a gun and struck at Rosenburg, who had turned for the purpose of fleeing down stairs. At that instant Mrs. Taylor stepped between the two men, and received the blow on the side of her own head, crushing in the skull.

As already stated, Taylor was arrested, tried, found guilty, and sentenced to be hanged. The jury was made up of W. L. Waterman, Jonathan Hendershot, John Morgan, William Green, Thomas Thompson. Thomas Hamilton. Nicholas Shott, Joseph Hempstead, William Ball, Bazil Meek. Addison Philleo and John B. Horncll. The death sentence was rendered by Judge Ben R. Sheldon, before whom the case was tried, on Thursday, November 30, 1854, and Taylor was ordered to be hanged on " Friday, the nineteenth day of January next (1855), between the hours of ten o'clock in the forenoon and four o'clock in the afternoon of that day." The verdict of the law was carried out on the day above named by W. R. Rowley, sheriff. The scaffold was erected on the poor house farm, and the execution was open, and witnessed by as many as five thousand people. That was the first and last execution in Jo Daviess County. It lias been said that one of the principal witnesses, and the only important one against Taylor, confessed on his death-bed that he was the one who killed Mrs. Taylor, and that Taylor was innocent. As to the truth or untruth of this rumor the people differ. But, true or false, the confession, if one was made, came too late to save Taylor's life.

The Shay Case — In 1855, one Michael Shay, of Pleasant Valley, murdered a citizen of that place, whom he followed home from a saloon in which they had been drinking, and felled him to the ground with a club. Shay escaped from justice, and was never afterwards apprehended."

The Howe-McCarty Muvler.—" A year later, a man named McCarty was stabbed to death by a blacksmith named Bat Howe, on his wedding day, and was taken home to his bride a corpse. McCarty was a currier, in the employ of Grant (Gov. Grant's father) & Perkins. He was married at the Four Mile House, now kept by Joseph Greibe. He returned to town with the priest who performed the ceremony, and on the way back was met by Howe, at the beginning of the plank road at Franklin Street, who charged him with having asserted that he (meaning McCarty) was a better man than Howe was. A fight ensued, during which McCarty fired a revolver at Howe twice. The first shot passed over his head, while the second entered his shoulder. Howe then whipped out a clasp knife and plunged it deep into the thigh of his antagonist, who died within two minutes after receiving the wound. Strange to say, the deed was witnessed by Circuit Clerk "W. R. Rowley, Deputy Sheriff Wm. Pittam, and other officers, who were at that time searching in that neighborhood for an escaped prisoner, and the desperado Howe was arrested by the fearless Pittam and escorted to jail before the blood of his victim had fairly cooled. He was tried for manslaughter, convicted, sentenced to state prison for seven years, and died during his incarceration."

McCarty Wife Murder.—"The murder of Mrs. McCarty, in East Galena, by her husband, and the subsequent suicide of the latter, is well remembered by the older citizens. The tragedy occurred in 1859. McCarty lived with his wife, in a small frame house just back of the Normal School building. One night, maddened by drink, he went to his isolated home, dragged his wife out of doors by the hair, beat her to death with a club, carried the body into the house, and applied the torch to the building, to destroy the evidence of his guilt. The charred remains of the murdered woman were found, and McCarty was arrested and confined in jail. Shortly after the coroner's inquest had been concluded, McCarty obtained possession, in some unknown manner, of a razor, and drew the blade of the instrument across his neck, severing the windpipe. He lived eleven days without taking nourishment of any kind, and died a most horrible death, filling the grave of a murderer and suicide."

Zowar-Keller Murder — the next notable murder occurred in 1866, when Peter Zowar, frenzied by jealousy and a desire for revenge, repaired to the house of a Mr. Keller, residing in the Town of Guilford, armed with a revolver. Mrs. K. heard the desperado about the premises, and raised the window for the purpose of reconnoitering. She had no sooner put her head out of the window than Zowar fired at her, shooting her fatally through the body. Keller then rushed to the window, only to be a target for the murderer below, whose shot fortunately missed him. The former then ran down stairs, and, arming himself with a shot-gun, opened the front door and fired at Zowar, who was taken unawares. The latter received the contents in his breast, but, as the shots were small, they did not produce more than a slight wound. He fled the neighborhood that night, and was subsequently arrested in Northern Kansas by Sheriff Luke and S. K. Miner. Esq., and brought back to this city for trial. lie was granted a change of venue to Stephenson County, was tried, convicted, and sentenced by Judge Sheldon to state prison for life. The incentive to the crime was hatred tor the parents, who refused to permit him to visit their daughter."

The Ably Case.—The last murder trial that stains the criminal records of Jo Daviess County was concluded on Saturday, December 1, 1887". " Other crimes have been committed in Jo Daviess County, but for cold-bloodedness, premeditated design and systematic planning, the Ably murder of the 16th of last September ranks pre-eminent, as stated in the outset, above every other kindred crime that has transpired within the county. A son having assassinated his own father in a most cruel way, made it all the more shocking, and the deed will forever hereafter be pointed at as the blackest stain upon the annals of the county. Yet there are extenuating circumstances connected with the murder, which, in our history of the affair, ought not to be omitted, injustice to the wretched young man now confined in prison for the offense. These facts were brought to light by the officers during their untiring efforts to bring the guilty party to justice, and furnish a history of crime and mystery which will be perused with the greatest interest by our readers.

" Unveiling the past — A portion of the land owned by Jacob Ably was originally entered by one Hiram N. Byers, who emigrated to this section before civilization had scarcely planted its banner in this part of the Great West. Byers' family consisted of his wife, one boy and a girl. The wife of Jacob Ably, the murdered man, then a young unmarried woman, was employed in the house of Byers as a servant, having emigrated to Council Hill from Chicago, One morning, Byers wife died suddenly, and her rapid burial excited considerable comment on the part of the settlers. Soon after the death of the lady, the servant girl was advanced to the position of housekeeper and was subsequently married to Byers. Six months after this event, the girl by the first wife died suddenly, and, like its mother, was hurriedly buried. About that time Jacob Ably, who had just arrived in America from Switzerland, was employed on the farm of Byers, and became intimate with the latter's wife, who it is asserted, had a child by him, a girl, shortly after her marriage with Byers. One other girl was born, and soon after its entry into this world, the father of the child died in a mysterious manner. He retired to bed well and hearty at night, and before the dawn of the morrow, he was stiff in death. No investigation was ever had, and the story that Byers had died of cholera was generally credited, though some there were who shook their heads in doubt, believing that a foul murder had been committed. A few weeks after the death of Byers, his son, to whom he had secretly willed his property, left the house, transferring his interest in the estate to his step-sisters. No one knows where he went, nor has any one ever heard from him since his departure. In the course of time, Jacob Ably married the widow Byers, and shortly after their union the two girls, to whom had been transferred the estate, with the exception of a third interest, died within two weeks of each other, from causes which many regarded as unnatural. The property was inherited by the mother of the children, at that time the wife of Ably, and having been held in her name up to the time of her death, was the source of much trouble between them, and led to her melancholy suicide, and still later to the assassination of Ably. The latter vainly besought his wife in her life-time to dispose of her farm and go to Nebraska. Refusing to accede to his wishes, Ably treated her in a brutal manner, and, as is claimed by the boys, beat her frequently. In February last, her body was found hanging to the limb of a tree in the back yard, and was dragged into the house by the husband, who had slept in a" separate room that night. She was frozen stiff, and had died from strangulation. A jury was summoned, an inquest was held, and a verdict rendered to the effect that the unfortunate woman had committed suicide by hanging herself as indicated above. As soon as the grave closed over her remains, it began to be whispered about that the might have been murdered.

"There was but little evidence tending to criminate the husband, and it finally resolved itself into a dark suspicion which none dared to give utterance to except the boys of Jacob Ably, who openly charged their father with first having made way with the old lady, and then to cover up the crime, placed her in the position in which she had been found. They claimed that there were marks about her person, that they had trouble the night before, and that their mother had been heard to moan and cry out with pain during the night. These stories may have been manufactured for the purpose of mitigating the awful crime which formed the sequel to the mysterious record detailed above.

The circumstances attends the assassination of Jacob Ably are well remembered by our readers, mana appear in detail in the voluminous report of the testimony adduced on the trial. * * * * Ably was a native of Glaris, Switzerland, was about 52 years of age, and a farmer by occupation. He was well known hereabouts, and regarded as an honest and industrious man. It has been stated, though not offered in evidence during the trial, that he informed parties in this city shortly before the murder, that he was afraid his boys would kill him. That they were dissatisfied, and would not remain at home, and that they wanted to get the farm into their own hands.

The circumstances attending the arrest of the three Ably boys and Peter Miller, Sr., and Peter Miller, Jr., are also still fresh in the minds of all, and will not bear lepetition here. It will be remembered that the elder Peter Miller was discharged, there being no evidence to criminate him. The remaining four boys were retained in custody, and at the recent session of the Grand Jury, Joseph, Henry, and Jacob Ably were severally indicted on the testimony of young Peter Miller, who had turned States evidence in the vain hope of saving his own head.

Miller's story was to the effect that on the afternoon of the 10th of September, 1877, he accompanied Joseph Ably, then employed on the farm of John D. Brown, of the Town of Rusn, across the country on foot, to the premises of the elder Ably, in Council Hill Township, eighteen miles away, for the purpose of stealing grapes from the latter's vineyard. That, during the journey over, Joseph Ably took from a com shock, a musket, a revolver, and a box of cartridges. Arriving at the bottom in front of the house, they stopped to rest, when Miller asked young Ably to go up with him after the grapes. The latter replied: *Wait a minute. I will go and see where the old man is. This was about 8 o'clock in the evening. Young Ably, gun in hand, cautiously opened the barnyard gate, and, followed by Miller, crossed to the gate opening into the premises at the rear of the house. Miller testified that he remained at this second gate while Joseph entered the yard and passed around the back of the house. A moment after he had gone, Miller says he beard the report of his-arms, and, rushing in the direction of the sound, he met Joe Ably fleeing toward the precipitately, and was by him urged to run, lest he be caught.

The trial of this case came on at the September term of the Circuit Court, 187", commencing on Monday, the 20th. Tuesday noon, the 37th, the following named jurors were obtained, after exhausting the regular panel and several special venires: Albert Stevenson. Dunleith. livery stable Keeper; Joseph Gothard, "Woodbine, farmer; John McFaddcn, Apple River, farmer; D. Mahoney, Vinegar Hill, Fanner; G. Engles, Galena, shoemaker; W. WhipjH), Galena, carpenter; T. E. Reynolds, Galena, dry goods clerk; L. Weisegarbcr, Galena, shoemaker; R. S. Bostwick, Galena, chair maker; E. A. Wilson. Galena, dry goods clerk; Conrad Bahwell, Galena, clothing merchant; W. H. Bond. Galena, painter.

The people were represented by prosecuting attorney E. L. Bedford, and the prisoners by Messrs. Williams and Iiodson, comparatively new practitioners at the Galena bar. The court room was crowded with spectators during the continuance of the trial, and the evidence of Peter Miller and Max St. Bar, who occupied a jail cell with Ably, was listened to with intense interest on the part of the court, the bar, the jury and the vast crowd of spectators.

Joseph Ably, the principal figure in the trio, is a young man about nineteen years of age, with beardless face, -brown, restless and sharp eyes, broad chin, firm-set mouth, high forehead, dark hair and florid complexion, lie is about five feet eleven inches high, and during the whole of the trial manifested a nervousness and restless manner which was proof conclusive of his guilt His brother Henry, strongly suspected of being accessory to the murder, is about five feet six inches in height, is a cripple, with piercing dark eyes, black hair and black mustache, and a defiant, careless look which militated more than a little against him, and which, in the absence of positive testimony, came very near sending him to a felon's cell. Jacob, the elder of the three, possessed a manly bearing, a frank, though sad, face, and impressed every one who saw him with his innocence. This acquittal was generally expected, and the verdict, so far as he was concerned, was, therefore, a surprise to no one.

On Friday noon, the defense rested their case, and on the following day (Saturday), after lengthy and able arguments on the part of Messrs. Williams & Hodson for the prisoners, and E. L. Bedford, Esq., for the people, his honor charged the jury, and at half-past 2 o'clock, P. M., they retired to their room tor consultation. At 6 o'clock they propounded the following query to his honor, Judge Brown:

To the Court :
Can the jury, if they find Henry Ably guilty, impose a sentence of less than fourteen years in the penitentiary!
Richard S. Boerwicx, Foreman."

In answer to the inquiry of the jury, the court instructs the Jury that the least punishment it can inflict for murder is imprisonment in the penitentiary for fourteen years." Having received the above instructions, the jury, at 7 o'clock, returned into court, with a verdict of not guilty as to Henry and Jacob, and guilty as to Joseph Ably, fixing his sentence at state prison for life. As soon as the verdict was announced, the wretched young man hung his head, while Mr. Williams, one of his attorneys, vainly sought to encourage him with words of cheer. The brothers, Jacob and Henry, were permitted to go free by his honor, the jail doors were locked upon the parricide, and he was left to ponder upon the awful crime he had committed and the dreadful future which awaited him.

On Monday afternoon, October 3, at 3 "'clock, the motion for a new trial filed by his attorneys having been withdrawn, he was removed from his cell to the court house, for the purpose of having sentence pronounced on him by the court, according to the requirements of the law. He had become in a measure reconciled to his doom, and was calm and apparently unmoved when brought into the presence of his honor and the large number of spectators who had assembled to witness the solemn scene. When asked it he had aught to say why sentence should not be pronounced upon him, he replied in a firm voice, 'No.' His honor, thereupon, in an eloquent and fervent manner, his voice tremulous at times with emotion which well nigh overcame him, addressed the prisoner, a death-like stillness pervading the court house the while."

Mr. Perrigo Bays of this address : "There was scarcely a dry eye in the court room during the address of his honor to the prisoner, and not one person within the sound of his voice who was not more or less affected by the solemn drama which had been enacted. Immediately after sentence had been pronounced, the prisoner was escorted to jail, where he was confined until evening, when he was put on board the 10 o'clock train, and, ii company with six companions in crime, was conveyed to Joliet, under charge of Deputy Sheriffs Wm. Barner, of Galena, and M. S. Murphy, Warren."

Ably's Confession. —On Monday forenoon, October 3, Mr. Perrig visited the doomed Ably in his cell at the county jail, and succeeded obtaining the confession from the parricide, of the terrible crime, which was subsequently sworn to before W. W. Wagdin, Master in Chancer} The young man," says Mr. Pcrrigo, told the story with remarkable non -chalance, though he seemed somewhat loth to come down to the real fact connected with the murder. The statement corroborated the testimony St. Bar, and disclosed more fully than was shown during the trial, the circumstances connected with this most diabolical plot of Ably's to assassinate his own father."

Of the attorneys engaged in the trial of this case, the Gazette said We can not close our lengthily report of this, tho most important criminal trial ever held in Jo Daviess County, without saying a word in commendation of Prosecuting Attorney Bedford, who managed the case on the part the people with consummate skill, and in a manner highly creditable to his as a lawyer. The case was beset with almost insurmountable obstacles from the start, and had it not been for his untiring exertions, combined with the; assistance rendered by Sheriff ' Barnor, S. K. Miuer, Esq., Detective Murphy and Deputy Sheriff Win. Earner, a conviction could not have been secure" We also take pleasure in complimenting Messrs. Hodson & William the attorneys for the defendants, for the ability shown by them in the management of their case. They are both graduates of the Ann Arbor Law University.