Charles
A.
Wolverton

In 1906 Charles A. Wolverton began serving as assistant prosecutor of Camden County, a post he held until 1913. During his time as prosecutor he appointed Lawrence Doran as an investigator. Doran would become Chief of Detectives, and serve in that capacity for many years. 

Charles A. Wolverton married around 1910. His wife Sara was a doctor of medicine. The Wolvertons were blessed with a son, Donnell K. Wolverton, in 1912.

Charles A. Wolverton entered state government as special assistant attorney general of New Jersey in 1913 and 1914. He was elected to the state legislature, serving as an Assemblyman from 1915 until 1918. He became speaker of the Assembly in 1918. During World War I years he also held the post of Associate Federal Food Administrator for Camden.

At the time of the 1920 Census Charles and Sara Wolverton were renting a home at 330 State Street in North Camden.

After leaving the state assembly, Charles A. Wolverton worked as prosecutor of pleas of Camden County until 1923. He also was an alternate delegate to Republican National Convention from New Jersey in 1920.

In 1926, Charles A. Wolverton was elected to Congress as a Republican. He was sworn in on March 27, 1927, would serve continuously until January 3, 1959, a total of 16 terms. During his time in Congress he was chairman, of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, in the Eightieth and Eighty-third Congresses.

Donnell K. Wolverton graduated from Princeton with honors in 1933.

At the time of the 1930 Census, Charles Wolverton and family resided at 505 State Street in North Camden. His neighbor, at 513 State Street, was prominent Camden attorney Samuel J.T. French Sr. and his family. The 1932 Congressional race featured the two as opposing candidates, which must have been interesting, as they lived only six doors apart. The sons of both men followed their fathers into law, although not into politics. Sadly, Sarah Wolverton would pass away in 1938.

Charles Wolverton had moved to Merchantville by 1947, where he was living at 2 Oak Terrace. By 1956 Charles A. Wolverton had moved to an apartment at Greenleigh Court in Merchantville NJ. He was not a candidate for re-nomination in 1958. He resumed the practice of law in Camden NJ, where he died on May 16, 1969. Survived by his son Donnell K., Charles A. Wolverton was buried at Harleigh Cemetery in Camden, next to his wife Sara.

In addition to his political activity, Charles A. Wolverton was a member of the Freemasons, Knights Templar, Shriners, Elks, and the Rotary Club.

May 23, 1916

CAMDEN POST TELEGRAM * July 19, 1916

With Wilson T. Ashbridge under guard in a cell in what was formerly known as Murderer’s Row, the police and county detectives today redoubled their energies towards the capture of George E. Thompson, the forger who escaped with Ashbridge from the County Jail on Monday night after murdering one keeper and wounding another. Stirring the police of all cities in the East to renewed activity, another circular was sent out today by the authorities giving notice of the reward of $500 offered for Thompson’s capture. Attention was strongly directed in the circular due to the fact that one of the fingers of Thompson’s left hand is missing.

The gun with which Ashbridge murdered jailor Isaac Hibbs and wounded Jailor Ellis was smuggled into the jail by Mrs. Ashbridge on Saturday morning. With it went a box of cartridges. The weapon and bullets were passed to Ashbridge in a basket of fruit, being at the bottom of the basket. The jailors were busy at the time she called and as she frequently had brought her husband fruit they did not take precaution to search the basket. Mrs. Ashbridge bought the gun and cartridges on the written request of her husband.

Her confession as to the very grave part she played in the escape and murder was made to the Prosecutor late yesterday afternoon after she had first insisted she had no knowledge if how the gun got into the jail and after her husband had repeatedly declared that the revolver was supplied by Thompson. The revolver, fully loaded, was still carried by Ashbridge when he was captured in the Keystone Hotel......

..... by Recorder Stackhouse without bail for conspiracy in aiding and abetting the escape of her husband and George E. Thompson from the County Jail on Monday night.

The court room was packed to suffocation by a morbidly curious crowd, composed primarily of women. A strange silence spread through the court room when the little woman was led into the court room by Captain Schregler. The regular formality of placing prisoners in the dock was dispensed with the woman's case.

Prosecutor De Unger pointed to the high witness chair and Mrs. Ashbridge sat in it. She evaded the gaze of the crowd, looking intently at the floor and through a window on the Washington Street side. She wore a blue skirt and a white waist. She was without her hat. her hair was carefully arranged and she wore nose glasses.

Resting her chin on her right hand her arm and hand were seen to tremble slightly. So quiet was the room that a pin dropping could have been heard.

"Mrs. Marian Ashbridge," called the Recorder.

"Yes, Sir" was the faint reply of the woman, who did not even look up at the call of her name.

"This complaint charges you with delivering to Wilson Ashbridge and George E. Thompson a pistol and aiding and abetting them in escaping from the County Jail, where they had been lawfully committed. Do you plead guilty or not guilty," said the Recorder as he read the complaint.

"The woman said nothing. Detective Schregler was then called as the complainant. He told of the confession made by the woman and produced the revolver which the woman purchased and which Ashbridge used in his daring escape. The gun, Captain Schregler said, was purchased in a pawnshop at Eleventh and Arch Streets, Philadelphia, on Friday of last week and was delivered to Ashbridge on Saturday morning along with a box of cartridges. "Marian, I will hold you without bail,": said the Recorder.

As the woman was being led from the court room by Captain Schregler and Sergeant Reed the crowd made a rush for the door leading from the court room, whereupon orders were given by the police to the crowd and many were prevented from rushing out. Everybody seemed anxious to secure a closer look at the unfortunate woman.

Visitors were denied Mrs. Ashbridge. Not even her children were permitted to be brought before her, although the broken-hearted mother asked for them.

"Oh, God, I don't know why I did this; why I left the little ones to go with Wilson," tearfully expostulated Mrs. Ashbridge to the kind-hearted matron, who spent the best part of last night with the distraught woman.

"If I could only see little Marian," sobbed the woman in the arms of Mrs. Kirkpatrick, who informed her that perhaps she could see them today.

Last eveneing the only support Mrs. Ashbridge had was a cup of tea. The morning she sipped a portion of a cup of coffee. She told Matron Kirkpatrick that she was not hungry.

:Everybody hounded me, I had no friends, and that's why I went with my husband, becasue he was the only friend I had left," said Mrs. Ashbridge. "He was a good boy, but was easily led." The wife said even before her marriage that Ashbridge would run around with other girls, but he always returned to her and she forgave him. She said he seemed to have a spell over her and she couldn't leave him.

"I love my husband, still and will stand by him to the end," sobbed the little woman to Mrs. Kirkpatrick. She told how her relatives disowned her and how after her father's death she went to live with strangers. When her husband fostered the plan to escape she willingly consented to aid him. She drew $100 out of the bank and purchased clothes and the gun and bullets. She never faltered in her plan.

"My heart aches for that woman," said Matron Kirkpatrick this morning to a Post-Telegram reporter. "She's a good girl, but was easily led into her present predicament. It only goes to show what a woman will do for the man she loves, no matter how base a wretch he may be. Mrs. Ashbridge is more to be pitied than scorned.

Recorder Stackhouse this morning produced a copy of the marriage of the couple, performed by him on July 28, 1914. The marriage was performed at the instance of Assistant Prosecutor Butler after Ashbridge wronged the girl. Constable William E. Headley and William C. Ashbridge, the latter father of the murderer, were witnesses.

As told in yesterday's Post-Telegram, Ashbridge and his wife and their captors arrived at the City Hall from Chester shortly after 2:00 o'clock. After a brief stay they were taken to the Court House and turned over to Prosecutor Kraft, Ashbridge being taken into the Prosecutor's private office and Mrs. Ashbridge being placed under guard in the ante room.

Taking full blame for the murder of Hibbs and the wounding of Ellis, Ashbridge declared that none of the shots were fired by Thompson.

"I shot both men," he declared, "but Thompson gave me the gun. He had it since Saturday." He repeated this assertion several times in the course of his examination, adding each time that his wife had no part in supplying the firearm. His voluntary insistence in.....

.... exercise corridor of their cells in response to his request that he wanted to show him a note that had been left for him, he asked the aged keeper to step inside the corridor. Evidently suspecting something was wrong Hibbs refuse to enter the corridor. When Ashbridge repeated his request that Hibbs step inside, Thompson, why was immediately behind Ashbridge, said something to the murderer. Ashbridge could not exactly recall what the expression was. At any rate it was then that he fired and Hibbs fell to the floor with his death wound. To take Hibbs keys and open the door leading from the exercise room to the corridor was the work of but an instant. It was then that Ellis confronted Ashbridge at the other end of the corridor. He refused to throw up his hands when the murderer so ordered. Instead, the plucky jailor grappled with the slayer, who again brought the gun into play, twice wounding the remaining jailor.

Ashbridge did not say why he wanted Hibbs to step inside the corridor. One surmise is that the pair had planned to get the old man into the corridor, overpower him, take his keys and after gagging him place him in a cell, depending ion the gun to awe any prisoners who might make an outcry. But whatever their plan was in this respect it miscarried. Hibbs would not enter the corridor and was shot down where he stood.

Thompson carried both his own and Ashbridge's coats when they fled,. As Ashbridge had decided to do the talking with Hibbs when the jailor came to lock them in their cells it was agreed that it would not be wise for the murderer to be wearing a coat. This might look suspicious to Hibbs and in all likelihood he would refuse to open the door. Hence it was decided that Thompson should take both coats. He also carried Ashbridge's cap and his own Panama.

The coats and harts were adjusted as they ran down the spiral stairway leading to the street. They walked slowly into Sixth Street; increasing their pace up Sixth Street after crossing Market and after turning into Cooper walked very rapidly. They turned north on Third Street to Main and thence to the Vine Street ferry, where they caught the boat leaving at 7:15 for Philadelphia. Landing on the other side the fugitives exchanged hats. They walked rapidly to Broad Street Station, where Mrs. Ashbridge was in waiting, this arrangement having been made when she smuggled the gun in to her husband on Saturday morning.

Accompanied by Thompson the Ashbridges walked out Market Street to Thirty-second Street. Here Thompson left them and after walking the street for a brief while longer the slayer and his wife boarded a trolley car for Chester, where a few hours later the murderer's short-lived liberty was so dramatically terminated.

Although jailor Ellis still insists that three shots were fired before he was attacked and in spite of the positive declaration of Alfred Williams, the trusty, that three shots were fired at Hibbs, Ashbridge claims that Hibbs was shot only once and that two bullets  were used on Ellis. He said that the three empty shells which the detectives found in his pocket contained the only bullets fired in the jail. The post mortem examination made yesterday by County Physician Stem bears out his contention as to the number of shots fired. Only one bullet was found and that had penetrated the jailor's heart.

"That's the truth about the shooting," declared Ashbridge. "I fired the shots- three of them in all- and the gun was given me by Thompson. My wife had nothing to do with it. Don't blame her."

Enroute back to the prison from which he had made his tragic getaway on Monday night, Ashbridge passed through the ante room where his wife was under guard. He stopped, kissed her, gently caressed her cheek, told her not to worry and passed on to the jail, from whence his next exit will be to the electric chair.

Haggard and very weak Mrs. Ashbridge was at once taken before the Prosecutor. With due regard for her condition Mrs. Ashbridge was handled very gently. At first she insisted that she had no part in getting the gun, but under skillful handling she finally broke down and confessed that she had supplied the revolver.

She stated that on Friday night she received a letter from her husband telling her that he planned to escape from the jail on Monday night and that he needed a revolver to make certain that his scheme would not fail.  He requested that she procure the pistol and cartridges and personally deliver them on Saturday. being anxious to aid her husband in every way possible she readily decided to do as he requested.

Accordingly she purchased the needed articles in a Philadelphia pawnshop on Friday afternoon, paying $3.00 for the pistol and 67 cents for the cartridges. She kept them over night and on Saturday safely delivered the weapon and bullets to her husband in the bottom of a basket of fruit. At the same time Ashbridge asked her to go with him and when she agreed to share his fate he told her to meet him in Broad Street Station, Philadelphia, shortly after seven o'clock on Monday night. He further told her that he had carefully studied the situation and did not see how it was possible for his plan to miscarry. On Monday morning she sent her children to the home of Mrs. Anna Dick and later in the day sent the letter to Mrs. Dick telling of her "rash deed" and enclosing $10 for the children.

As Mrs. Ashbridge told her story she spoke in a very low tone. Most of the time her eyes were cast down and as she concluded her brief narrative she sobbed convulsively and was in a state of utter collapse. Reviving somewhat when given cold water Mrs. Ashbridge was turned over to the police and taken back to City Hall to await her hearing this morning.

The prison key stolen by Ashbridge from Hibbs' murdered body was recovered this morning by Detective Doran in the yard of Dr. Frank, 2025 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. The recovery of the key was sue to information given by Ashbridge, after he had been locked up in jail yesterday afternoon. Ashbridge, when questioned as to the whereabouts of the key, said that Thompson had it and that he had seen him toss it over a wall of a residence near Twenty-third and Chestnut Streets on Monday night while he and his wife and Thompson were walking to Thirty-second Street.

Detective Doran and Constable Voight went to Philadelphia late yesterday afternoon and searched in vain for the key in the vicinity of Twenty-third and Chestnut Streets until darkness came on. Detective Doran renewed the search early this morning. There is a high wall fronting the yard at the home of Dr. Frank, and a search of the grounds resulted in the finding of the key, which was returned to Sheriff Haines.

Ashbridge is confined in a large cell in what is known as Section E. As cellmates he has two persons who are being held as witnesses to the crime. Sheriff Haines has assigned three constables, Gardner, Ford, and Addison. They will work on eight-hour shifts and will see that Ashbridge does not attempt any further escape or try to end his life.

Sergeant Detective Kane of the Chicago Police Department today took to Chicago Alfred Williams, who was an eyewitness to the murder of Hibbs. Williams, an Italian, served six months here on a charge of false pretence in obtaining money from a number of Italian grocers under the pretence that he represented the Roma Grocery Company. After his arrest and sentence here the police of Chicago lodged a detainer against Williams who is wanted in the West for a like crime.

The body of Jailor Hibbs will be exposed to view tonight at his home, 913 South 8th Street. Services will be conducted by Reverend Harry Bradway, pastor of Eighth Street Methodist Episcopal Church. Members of the Seventh Ward Republican Club, Mutual Aid and the Liberty Beneficial Society will attend in a body.

Tomorrow morning the body will be taken to Langhorne, where services will be held in the Friends Meeting House, after which interment will be made in the burial ground by the Schroeder-Kephart Company. Friends may call this evening to pay their respects.

Ashbridge will not be tried until December. On the day he was listed for trial of murdering Mrs. Dunbar his lawyer, Assemblyman Wolverton, was ill. In the interim the entire panel of jurors for the April term of court was discharged following a case of alleged tampering. This makes it necessary that he be held until September for trial unless the Court should otherwise decree, which is hardly likely.

Ashbridge is 22 years old and not 27, as previously stated. His real age was disclosed by the certificate of his marriage. He was 20 when he wedded two years ago,

The Howard Marshall who mailed a letter to a woman in Baltimore is not Freeholder Howard Marshall of the Eighth Ward, as was reported to the Prosecutor yesterday. Mr. Kraft's investigation disclosed that Freeholder Marshall does not know either Ashbridge or Thompson and that as a matter of fact the Marshall in question is an East Sider and to relative to the freeholder, who was naturally much upset at being mistakenly dragged into the case.

E.S. Fry, proprietor of the Keystone Hotel, Chester, where the couple were caught, told the story of the capture both to the city police and Prosecutor Kraft.

"Late on Monday night I received a call from another hotel, requesting that I take care of a man and his wife for the evening," said Mr. Fry. "I waited until a little before midnight when the couple arrived. He seemed nervous and registered in a shaky hand, and I was suspicious that there was something wrong."

"I did not pay much attention to the way he registered until the next morning when I examined the register and saw that he had neglected to register his wife. He signed 'Mr. Smythe, Washington, D.C.' I communicated my suspicions to my wife and told her to go observe the couple, too. Then I went out on the porch and picked up a morning newspaper. On the front page were the pictures of the two men  who escaped."

"I instantly recognized Ashbridge, but was not just sure of my identity of the man, so I decided to get a better look at him. At the breakfast table I observed him more closely and feeling sure of my ground I called Captain Schregler, afterward securing the service of two negro policemen, whom I placed on guard outside the hotel, giving them orders not to allow the couple to leave. The officers, William Padgett and William Robinson, took their positions outside the hotel, ready for the signal to enter when I gave it."

"Ashbridge arose."

"What's the matter," he exclaimed. "You know what's the matter," replied Mr. Fry, who brought in Captain Schregler and Detective Hunt. Schregler and Hunt instantly recognized the fugitive.

Before Ashbridge had a chance to move his arms were pinioned by his sides and Policeman Hunt had extracted the murder gun from his right hip pocket. It was fully loaded. In the same pocket were seventeen additional cartridges and in a suitcase in his room, Number 9, was a fresh box of cartridges.

"The little wife was crying bitterly," said Mr. Fry. "She leaned her head upon his shoulder and the husband tried to console her."

Captain Schregler sent a telegram to Chiefs Gravenor and Hyde with the startling news that Ashbridge had been caught.

On the way back to Camden Mrs. Ashbridge began to cry. She was sitting beside Captain Schregler, and he tried to console her. Her sobs increased, and Ashbridge called to her to "take it easy".

This seemed to quiet her a bit, and Schregler spoke to her kindly, saying that she would not be blamed very much for her part in the escape. "That's nopt worrying me" she answered. "I am worried about 'Wil'."

"well you women beat me" was Schregler's comment. "What did you want to help him escape for, anyhow? He had beaten you, deserted you for another woman and when she turned him down, he killed her. Yet you make up with him, leave your kids and risk everything to help him escape. Seems to me the worse men treat you women, the more you will do for them."

"Lots of truth in what you say'" remarked Mrs. Ashbridge, with a sigh.

Mr. Fry was the center of attention. Everybody seemed anxious to hear his story.

"I'm not going back until I collect that $500 either," he was heard to say. The capturer was formerly coroner of Delaware County.

Scenes of excitement were prevalent when the automobile of Chief Gravenor with Detective-chauffer David Hunt at the wheel, Captain Schregler and the prisoners in the rear and Chief Dodd, of the Pennsylvania Railroad police force in the front seat came from the Federal Street Ferry. E.S Fry, the hotel proprietor who caught the Ashbridges, was also in the car.

Ashbridge and his wife were instantly recognized. The news spread like wildfire and was passed along the route of the machine to police headquarters.

Thinking that the prisoners would be brought to the Prosecutors office, a battery of newspapermen and photographers were camped on the Court House plaza. When someone cried in bellowed tones "There they go", the scribes and photographers started in hot pursuit behind the automobile.

The officers upon reaching the City Hall had to fight their way through the dense crowd which had gathered outside Police Headquarters. Many stood tiptoed to get a good glance at the prisoners who were abashed at their predicament.

Pulling her black straw hat over her face, Mrs. Ashbridge leaned on her husband's arm. To hide his face the murderer pulled the Panama hat, which he had secured from Thompson, over his countenance.

Preliminary questioning was done by Captain A.L. James, after which the officers and prisoners were escorted upstairs to the office of Chief Gravenor.

Still clenching the stump of a cheap cigarette in the corner of his mouth, Ashbridge had a pitiful look on his face. He was much thinner than he was when he was arrested for the murder of the Dunbar girl. On his upper lip was a small mustache, which he raised during the last week.

His beautiful and baby-like eyes still retained their piercing stare. The murderer looked wild-eyed at persons in the room. He seemed to take delight in singling out persons in the room and "staring them out". None seemed courageous enough to return Ashbridge's strange stare. He looked distressed but the only betraying sign of nervousness was his incessant twitching of his fingers. Sweated on the couch in the chief's room, Ashbridge talked freely.

His wife dried away the tears as they trickled down her reddened face but after regaining her composure she seemed quite calm. She intently watched Captain Schregler and Detective Hunt as they searched through her husband's clothes.

When the trip for the Court House was being arranged the two prisoners, still handcuffed together, walked in the outer room of the chief's office. It was then that the wife broke down slightly. She choked back a sob and leaned her head on her husband's shoulder. Ashbridge did likewise and patted her on the back, at the same time, saying something in a suppressed tone of voice. The only persons in the room at the time were Assistant Chief Hyde and a Post-Telegram reporter. Neither was able to catch the words uttered. Captain Schregler, Chief Gravenor, and Detective Hunt later entered the room and the start for the Court House was made.

The crowd below which was camped about the entrance to the building awaited with patient expectancy, when the news was spread that the prisoners were leaving the building.

Camera men took their positions, ready to snap the couple, but the Ashbridges fooled them. Before the door leading to the street was opened Ashbridge drew his wife to him and with their free hands pulled their hats over their faces, thus eluding the photographers, who resorted top every means to secure a photograph.

Once inside the automobile the prisoners seemed content until the Court House was reached when another large crowd was on hand to great them. Both repeated the trick of hiding their faces.

After Ashbridge was taken to his cell his wife was ordered taken to the detention department in the City Hall. Captain Schregler and Detective Hunt half-carrying the sobbing and broken-hearted woman, who has aroused some sympathy for her courageousness in taking such a desperate chance for the man she loved, the father of her children and a cruel murderer.

"What other woman would do as much as she has for her husband," was the query advanced by one of the spectators in the Court House corridor as Mrs. Ashbridge passed through on her way to the waiting automobile.

Camden Post-Telegram * July 20, 1916

FORGER THOMPSON STILL AT LIBERTY
No Trace Yet Found of the Ashbridge’s Pas in Sensational and Tragic Escape From the County Prison on Monday Night
FOOD SHUNNED BY YOUNG MURDERER

Evidently in hiding, George E. Thompson, who escaped from prison with Wilson Ashbridge on Monday night after Murdering one jailor and wounding another, is still at liberty. No trace of him has been found after he left Ashbridge and Mrs. Ashbridge at Thirty-second and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia, on Monday night, and the police and county officials have assumed a policy of watching, waiting, in the hope that the hundreds of circulars sent to the police all over the country will be productive of the capture of the fugitive or at least some real clue as to his whereabouts.

Ashbridge has not eaten anything since his return to the jail. This, however, is not regarded by the prison officials as a hunger strike. A man who had gone through what Ashbridge experienced in the last three days is naturally not hungry and the fact that he had not touched the food served to him is not causing any worry. Just as soon as his nerves settle a bit and he becomes resigned to his fate Ashbridge will likely eat as heartily as before. 

The murderer is much more composed today than he was yesterday. Practically all of yesterday he spent pacing the narrow confines of his cell in Murderers’ Row and for the greater part of the time he was crying. Toward evening he became less restless. A little after 9:00 o’clock he threw himself on his bunk and was soon in a sound sleep, which lasted until 6:00 o’clock this morning. 

The food handed into the double murderer through the opening in the door of his cell has been taken out untouched, and not a mouthful of the nourishment has been taken by the prisoner. He drank freely of water and craves for tobacco, which thus far has been denied him. The food served him is the same given the other prisoners. In the morning it is half a loaf of bead and a cup of coffee. For dinner they get pea or bean soup with bread, and for supper some sort of stew or soup with bread and sometimes boiled potatoes with the skins on. Fish is served on Friday. None of this has looked good to Ashbridge, who probably would not touch a more tempting menu.  At any rate he has not asked for anything for the very simple reason that he is not hungry. 

Seemingly more composed and realizing the gravity of her position, Mrs. Ashbridges still languishes in the detention Department of Police Headquarters, where she is under the care of the kindly matron, Mrs. Kirkpatrick. 

The woman frequently expresses her regret for her rashness. She confides in Mrs. Kirkpatrick, who has given her every care. 

“I don’t know why I did it,” said Mrs. Ashbridge to the matron several times.

"Oh, I wish someone had shot me, becasue I deserved it," she tearfully cried when the matron tried to console her. To Jailor Fred Lechleidner, who knew her when she was a little girl, Mrs. Ashbridge also expressed regret for her act.

Since her hearing yesterday the woman has talked very little of her husband. When mention is made of his name she seems indifferent, and the police suspect that her affections for her murderer-husband are cooling.

When told that Mrs. Gick had agrees to take her two children to Wildwood for a vacation, Mrs. Ashbridge smiled and clapped her hands in joy.

"Thank God for that; I know they'll be alright now" she said to the matron.

For supper last night Mrs. Ashbridge ate a chop, a large quantity of tomatoes and potatoes, a cup of tea and some sliced peaches. She said she felt much better after eating. For her breakfast she ate two slices of toast and drank a cup of coffee. Mrs. Kilpatrick said she slept soundly all thorough the night and arose about six o'clock this morning.

The circular being sent out to the police all over the country contain front and side likenesses of Thompson and read as follows:

$500 REWARD
WANTED FOR MURDER

On July 17th, 1916 at 7 o'clock p.m., George E. Thompson, alias Francis Murphy, shot and killed a jailor at Camden County Jail, Camden, New Jersey, shot and wounded another jailor, and escaped.

George E. Thompson, alias Francis Murphy, is white, 41 years of age, 5 feet 7 inches in height, weighs 175 pounds, has dark brown hair mixed with gray, very bushy, light complexion, gray eyes, smooth face, first and middle finger of his left hand are missing, wears nose glasses. He was confined in the County Jail on charges of forgery and obtaining money under false pretences. He is well-educated and represents himself as an attorney-at-law.

Bertillon measurements: 70; 70; 91-0; 19-1; 15-4; 0-2; 12-4; 24-4; First and L.M. Fing missing; 8-4; 43-8.

Five hundred dollars reward will be paid for the arrest or information leading to the arrest of this man.

The circular, which is signed by Prosecutor Kraft and Chief of Police Gravenor, discloses the fact that the first and middle fingers of the fugitives hand are missing. In the prior descriptions mention was made of but one finger gone. The fact that two of his fingers are gone should serve to make his capture all the more certain should he venture out in Public.

City and county detectives spent several hours in Philadelphia last night scouring the Tenderloin and other places where crooks are likely to gather, but no trace of the fugitive could be found.

Asked today if he would represent Ashbridge for the murder of Hibbs, Charles A. Wolverton, who is counsel for Ashbridge on the charge of shooting the Dunbar woman, said: "As an officer of the court I am subject to whatever order Judge Garrison may make. In representing Ashbridge in the former matter I am operating under an order of the Court which was made by Judge Garrison on the application of Ashbridge for counsel to represent him, as he was without means to employ counsel. For a great many years it has been the custom of the Court of this country to grant such requests and this was accordingly done when Ashbridge made application; in fact, it is a right that the accused person has under the laws of the State. Whether I will be appointed to act for him in this last case I do not know. The matter is entirely in the hands of Judge Garrison, who has the right to appoint any member of the Bar he desires."

Provisions for the temporary care of the Ashbridge babies- Marian and Thomas- was made last night. Mr. and Mrs. Gick, of 2744 Pierce Avenue, East Camden, notifying Secretary Walsh, of the S.P.C.C. that they would take the kiddies with them to Wildwood this afternoon.

Jailor Ellis is rapidly recovering at Cooper Hospital, Police Surgeon Schellenger stating today that is condition is fine.

(Mt. Holly) New Jersey Mirror - October 20, 1920

Hacked Remains of David Paul, Missing Bank Messenger, Discovered by Gunners. 

The Authorities of Burlington county have another baffling murder mystery to solve.

On Saturday four duck hunters, William and James Cutts, and C.B. Inston, of Tabernacle, and George W. Duncan, of Audubon were passing through the pine forest at Irick's Crossing, near Tabernacle, when their attention was attracted by an automobile track following an old and rarely used trail leading to a stream toward which the gunners were making. 

As the car was miles off the nearest traveled road the tracks aroused the curiosity of the men and they followed them. In a short time they came upon a freshly made mound over which dead leaves had been thrown. Leading to the mound from the shallow stream nearby were tracks of men and also marks as though some heavy object has been dragged by the men making the tracks. Thinking perhaps that a deer had been shot and secreted there, one or two of the men scratched around the end of the mound with sticks and within six inches of the surface a human foot was unearthed. 

This put an unexpected phase upon the situation and the gunners decided to let Sheriff Haines continue the investigation.

Word was hastily phoned to the jail at Mount Holly and the Sheriff and Detective Parker lost no time in reaching the scene of the tragic discovery. The new-made and crude grave was then opened under the Sheriff's direction. The body proved to be that of a man, fully dressed except for his coat which was lying buried deeper and under the body. The feet were tied with a heavy rope such as is used in towing automobiles and they were resting upward and back over the dead man's head. As soon as the features were uncovered Sheriff Haines recognized the dead man as David S. Paul, of Camden, a bank runner, who had been reported missing by the Broadway Trust Company of Camden ten days before, with $65,000 in cash and liberty bonds and $12,500 in checks besides a number of cancelled checks. The body was badly mutilated and it was evident that a brutal murder had been committed. 

Apparently Paul had been dead but a few hours and the remains were in a good state of preservation when discovered by the merest chance by the gunning party. There was a deep gash on the head as though made by a axe or hatchet, and the forehead was crushed in. Another ghastly wound just above one ear, alone was sufficient to have caused almost instant death. 

Every indication pointed to the man having been killed and buried within twenty-four hours of the discovery of the crime. The rigor of death had not yet set in and the victim's face appeared to have been freshly shaven. The marks on the ground accompanying the feet tracks leading from the stream about a hundred feet away, were quickly explained when the body was unearthed. Evidently those who brought the body to the unfrequented spot had attempted to secret it in the stream, but finding the water too shallow to conceal the corpse, they had dragged it out again by the rope which bound the feet and pulled it to the spot where the grave was quickly made and the body of the unfortunate man shoved into it. 

The clothes which Paul wore bore every evidence of being new. The shoes also had evidently just been purchased and the soles bore no evidence of wear. A search of the body failed to reveal any of the cash which the bank messenger is alleged to have taken when he so suddenly dropped out of sight while on his way across the ferry to go to a bank in Philadelphia to take the money, securities and checks for his employers. Only one cent was found in the pockets of the dead man. In the coat was a bundle of checks, said to have been cancelled.

There had been no attempt to conceal the identity of the dead man. His watch which had stopped at 9:37, was found in his pocket and a stickpin and in his tie and (as written) a pair of sleeve buttons remained in the cuffs. 

How the dead man came to his untimely end and how his body happened to be buried in the far away spot in the pines miles from any human habitation, was a mystery when the body was first discovered and it seems to be as much so today, although the authorities here, as well as those of Camden and Philadelphia, are exerting every effort to run down the criminals. 

It will be recalled that Paul, who was 59 years of age , enjoyed the confidence of the bank officials by whom he had been employed for many years. He was a recent visitor in Mount Holly where he had a son, Harry Paul, and other relatives. 

On the morning of October 5 Paul started across the river to Philadelphia in company with another bank employee with a satchel said immediately afterward to contain $10,000 in cash and $12,500 in checks. This statement has since been revised and the amount of cash and Liberty Bonds that Paul carried is now variously stated to have been from $45,000 to $65,000. Upon reaching the other bank the other employee became separated from Paul whether by accident or through Paul's design is not yet known and after an attempt to find him at the ferry house, he went at once to the bank and reported his companion's disappearance. 

The Central Trust Company was immediately notified and after all efforts to get in touch with the missing messenger had failed the Camden and Philadelphia police were asked to locate Paul. Nothing more was seen or heard of him until his hacked body was discovered in the pines near Tabernacle ten days after his disappearance. What the missing bank runner did during the interim, where he spent his time or with whom he associated while the police of the county were searching for him has not yet been learned but it is expected that the mystery will be solved before long. 

One clue which seemed to put under suspicion the occupants of a yellow car turned out to be valueless when the owner, hearing of the authorities suspicions, came forward, gave his address as Haddonfield and proved that he drove a party in his yellow car inspecting some real estate in the pines shortly before the discovery of the body of the murdered man. 

Detective Parker yesterday said that he had just picked up what he considered the first piece of valuable evidence in the case since he stated to work on it on Saturday. He declined to state what this evidence was for the present. 

There are endless theories being advanced as to how the dead man met his fate and in explanation of his disappearance with the large sum of money entrusted to his custody. Some officials incline to the view that Paul was killed either in Philadelphia or Camden and his body taken to the lonely spot at Irick's Crossing in the confident belief that it never would be discovered or at least not until time had obliterated identifying marks. 

Another theory is that the murdered man was taken alive in the automobile and killed near the spot where his body and rifled clothes were found. There is no means of telling which theory is correct at this time, quite as possibly both theories are at fault. 

The body was taken in charge by Coroner Isaac Clover who ordered it removed to the undertaking establishment of Cline & Sons, at Vincentown. There Dr. Longsdorf, of Mount Holly and Dr. Stein, of Camden, performed an autopsy, the result of which showed that Paul come to his death by wounds to the head, probably inflicted by a dull axe or hatchet. 

There was a conference in Mount Holly on Sunday in which officers of Camden and Burlington counties participated. Those taking part were reticent after coming out of the room in which that meeting was held. In the discussion of the crime and the preparation of plans for running down the murderers, if there were more than one, were Sheriff Haines, Clifford R. Powell and County Detective Parker, of this county, and Prosecutor Wolverton, and Detectives Schregler and Doran, of Camden county.

A reward of $1,000 offered by the Broadway Trust Company for the apprehension of Paul shortly after his disappearance is to be increased now for information leading to the capture of his murderers. It is easily the most mystifying case that had come to the attention of the Burlington county officials for many years but they express confidence that it will be solved and the criminals run down.

(Mt. Holly) New Jersey Mirror - December 22, 1920

It took the jury only twenty minutes to find Frank J. James guilty of the murder of David S. Paul, at he conclusion of the sensational trial in Camden on Monday night. The verdict carried with it the infliction of the death penalty upon the self-confessed slayer of the bank messenger, the jury refusing the appeal of the prisoner's counsel to exercise clemency and recommend life imprisonment instead of capital punishment. The verdict came at the end of the five-day trial, during which the defendant's oral and written confessions were admitted in evidence in the face of counsel's strenuous objection. 

Dapper and apparently self-possessed, James entered upon his ordeal last Wednesday but as the trial wore on and damning evidence piled up against him his confidence petered out and several times he collapsed, once having to be taken from the court room in order to allow him to regain his composure. The Camden court house was besieged by a great crowd which clamored for admission to the court room in which the trial was held but the greater number of curiosity seekers were turned away. 

James offered insanity in his own defense but the evidence sought to be introduced to show that insanity existed in James' family was ruled out and after this failure the insanity defense was virtually abandoned, lawyer Harris admitting to the court during his argument that acquittal would not be asked on the ground of the prisoner's mental irresponsibility. Emphasis was made of the jury's right to find the prisoner guilty of first degree murder with a recommendation to life imprisonment instead of simply finding him guilty of first degree murder, which without the recommendation mentioned carries with it death by the electric chair. 

A stirring appeal was made by lawyer Harris to the sympathy of the jury and the counsel was visibly affected by his own feelings as he spoke. He had known James from boyhood and his appeal for clemency evidently came from the heart. At the conclusion of argument Supreme Court Justice Katzenbach delivered his charge to the jury in part as follows:

"It now becomes your duty to render a verdict on the question of the guilt of Frank J. James. You must be governed by the evidence; in determining questions of fact sole responsibility is upon you. Any comment I may make on the evidence is only to aid you. If there be in your minds a reasonable doubt you must acquit the defendant. 'Reasonable doubt' however, is not a 'possible doubt', because everything in human affairs is open to possible or imaginary doubt. 

"You will therefore, be justified in assuming that a criminal homicide was committed. The law provides that all murders committed in attempting to commit a robbery shall be of the first degree. You have three choices-of declaring James not guilty, of rendering a verdict of murder in the first degree with no recommendations, or of rendering a verdict of murder in the first degree with recommendations that he be sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor, and under the law I must be guided by your recommendation if so made."

The jury was then sent from the court room and a recess was taken.

This was at 4 o'clock. Upon resuming, an hour and a half later, the jury was summoned, it having been announced to the court that a verdict had been reached. When the foreman spoke for the twelve men composing the jury there was a tense stillness in the crowded court room. James seemed to be the most self-possessed of any of the principals in the trial.

He presented a picture of composure although the grim set of his jaw indicated the great mental stress under which he was laboring. When the verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree was announced many of those in the room were visibly affected by the words which meant death to the accused man but James, who had almost miraculously recovered his nerve after the break-down during the early stages of the trial, was unmoved. As he was led away to his cell he turned and cast a searching glance over the crowded court room, looking for his relatives but they were not there, having anticipated what the verdict would be and wishing to avoid any more distressing scenes. 

As he passed out of the court room, to which he will be returned for sentence to the electric chair, James said to the officer who had him in charge, "It is no more than I expected." 

Counsel for the defense at once filed application for a new trial, and was given ten days in which to file his reasons. It is understood that his appeal will be based on three exceptions to the rulings of Justice Katzenbach. 

The crime for which James is believed to be certain to pay the death penalty, was one of the most brutal in the criminal annals of Camden County. According to James's confession he conspired with Raymond Schuck to decoy the bank messenger with whom they were both on friendly terms, into an automobile, while Paul was on his way from his place of employment to another financial institution with a large sum of money for the latter. Accordingly they timed their movements so that they met Paul soon after he had left the Central Trust Company on Broadway, and offered to take him to the Camden ferry. 

When they had entered the almost deserted driveway which parallels the iron shed on Market street leading to the ferry house, James struck Paul from the rear with a heavy piece of automobile spring, repeated blows rendering him unconscious. Paul was pulled back into the rear part of the car and Schuck it is claimed, at James's direction, started out of the city. 

On the way Paul partly recovered consciousness and pleaded for his life but James again struck him and later fired two shots into his victim's head with the latter's own revolver. The flight of the murderers with their victim's body then led them over into Burlington County. They kept going until they reached a lonely spot at Irick's Crossing near Tabernacle where they pulled the dead man out of the car and tying his feet threw the body into a shallow stream.

(Mt. Holly) New Jersey Mirror - December 29, 1920

The trial of Raymond W. Schuck for the murder of David S. Paul, has been postponed from January 4 to February 7. Application for the postponement was made before Supreme Court Justice Katzenbach at Camden on Monday, by J. Russell Carrow, counsel for Schuck. Prosecutor Wolverton did not interpose any objection. The ground on which the postponement was asked was that time might be given for the drawing of a special jury panel. 

The postponement of Schuck's trial may result in putting off the sentencing of his confederate in crime, Frank James, already convicted of murder in the first degree. The State may want to use James as a witness against Schuck. The latter claims that he entered into no plot with James to murder Paul and that he had nothing to do with the actual killing, James said that Schuck was as deep in the revolting crime as the former and that as a matter of fact Schuck struck some of the blows that caused death. There is no attempt made to conceal the enmity between the two former friends.

(Mt. Holly) New Jersey Mirror - February 6, 1921

Faces Jury With a Smile: Mystery Woman Appears;
Kept From Reporters-State's Surprises.

Twice postponed, the trial of Raymond W. Shuck, of Camden, for the murder of David S. Paul, the bank messenger whose body was found in a shallow grave in the pines of this county last fall, was commenced in the Camden county court on Monday. Supreme Court Justice Katzenbach and County Judge Kates were on the bench. There was the same large crowd present at the sessions on the opening day as attended the trial of Frank J. James, who earlier was convicted of murder in the first degree for his part in the dastardly murder and is now awaiting sentence.

Shuck, dapper and apparently confident of escaping the electric chair, sat beside his counsel, J. Russell Carrow, while the jury was being selected and appeared to take a keen interest in the selection of the talesmen. Frequently he leaned over to confer with his lawyer as though to offer suggestions as to the acceptability of otherwise of members of the special panel who were being questioned by Prosecutor Wolverton or Judge Carrow. Back in the audience sat Shuck's well-dressed and rather good looking young wife who had their small son with her.

She was accompanied by friends and seemed to have the personal sympathy of everybody in the court room. She had remained steadfast in her faith in her accused husband and even in the face of evidence of his infidelity, her apparent affection for Shuck did not waver. Six hours were expended in securing twelve men tried and true, who were acceptable to both the State and defense. Counsel for Shuck challenged the array of talesmen on the grounds that there were no women in the panel. The challenge was not allowed by Supreme Court Justice Katzenbach, presiding judge. Finally the jury was made up and the trial at once began.

Jacob Hill, a farmer., of Merchantville, was the first juror accepted and was consequently selected as foremen. Hill is a personal friend of the Shuck family. The other jurors follow:

John H. Sibley, clerk, 576 Line Street, Camden; Charles Myers, painter, Pennsauken; Benjamin Hoffman, real estate, 1323 Broadway, Camden; William P. Fowler, manager, Westmont; George Riggs, retired, Merchantville; Charles Fells, farmer, Gloucester Township; Harry App, carpenter, Merchantville; Nathan Holland, huckster, Pennsauken; Harry Fifield, mechanic, 712 Haddon Avenue, Camden; William H. Gourley, farmer, Pennsauken; Joseph Keegan, retired, Haddon Heights. Keegan is sightless. Despite his condition he was accepted after withstanding cross-examination. 

When Prosecutor Wolverton, with out attempt at oratory of the theatrical but in an even, conversational tone, opened the case for the State and outlined to the jury what the prosecution would undertake to prove, Shuck at times gulped hard and seemed to be having a difficult time to preserve his outwardly calm demeanor. The Prosecutor made it clear at the outset that the State would contend that Shuck had the part of the principal in the murder of Paul and that he dealt some of the blows which resulted in the bank messenger's death. Not only did the Prosecutor charge that Shuck dealt death-causing blows upon Paul but he also alleged that Shuck on two occasions previous to October 5 conspired with James to hold up and rob Paul of sums of money he was carrying. He named the north walk to Federal street ferry as the advantageous spot where the holdup could be staged. That allegation came as a great surprise and it is believed weakened Shuck's defense. 

The Prosecutor averred that he could prove to the jury that Shuck and James had twice before October 5 arranged to holdup, but failed to carry it out because their nerve failed them.

The Prosecutor recited the details of the Paul murder. He explained that Shuck's previous statements that he knew nothing of any plot to rob Paul. He charged that Shuck was aware of the conspiracy and that he was a willing conspirator. Graphically did the Prosecutor relate how Paul was unmercifully beaten in James' automobile in the rear of the Market street walk to the Pennsylvania ferries. He further alleged that Shuck helped toss Paul over the front seat into the back of the car where James fiendishly wielded the automobile spring flange. 

It was also charged that Shuck dealt the finishing blows which silenced the pleading Paul, who begged for his life. The placing of Paul's body in the swamps at Irick's crossing near Tabernacle, Burlington county, and at the burial of the body later were related by the Prosecutor, who also told of how Shuck hid the money first in his own home and later in a grave in the Shuck family lot in Evergreen Cemetery. In closing the Prosecutor asked the jury to return a verdict of murder in the fist degree. 

The appearance of a handsomely dressed and rather striking looking young woman when the trial was begun, lent a new phase to the situation that was watched keenly by those who knew the facts. 

The young woman is known by the officers who have been working on the case as "Mysterious Mary". It is alleged that she kept $1,300 which Shuck left in her custody over night after the murder, he promising to buy her a $480 fur coat the next day, which he did. It is not alleged that this young woman with whom Shuck's relations are hinted to have been more than platonic, had any guilty knowledge of the crime or of her admirer's participation in it. She is believed to have told a straight story to the Prosecutor and it is the understanding that her presence at the trial is intended as a subtle threat by the State that if Shuck undertakes to lie on the stand and further becloud the situation, the woman known to

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 5, WHICH WAS MISSING FROM THIS COPY OF THE PAPER...).

(Mt. Holly) New Jersey Mirror - February 23, 1921

Harry Paul, of Mount Holly, son of David S. Paul, the murdered bank runner, of Camden, had been in attendance at the trial of Raymond Shuck, one of the murderers of the elder Paul, in Camden, when he was interviewed by a newspaper reporter on Monday. Here is what he said after stating that his mother has been in failing physical condition ever since the tragedy, and that he feared she would die as the result of her grief and the shock of the crime.

"No matter what happens to these men- Schuck and James- it will not bring my father back to me. 

"I feel terribly sorry for the families of James and Shuck. No one has any idea of my sympathy for them. 

"But as for the men themselves, their conscience must be racked by the knowledge that their days seem to be numbered, and their end will be the electric chair. I cannot say I want to see them die as murderers. I cannot move myself to voice such an expression. 

"I cling to the belief, however, that if they do escape the death penalty, it would be a horrid example for other men with evil in their minds."

It took the jury at Camden yesterday less than an hour to return a verdict of first degree murder against Raymond W. Shuck for his part in the murder of David S. Paul. The defendant had been subjected to a grueling cross-examination lasting nearly ten hours in all, by Prosecutor Wolverton, said to have been the longest line of interrogation of a murder defendant ever pursued in a trial in New Jersey. Shuck claimed that he was not a party to the actual murder but was compelled to drive the murder car and help dispose of the body of the victim at Irick's Crossing, near Tabernacle, this county, under threats of death by Frank James, already convicted of murder in the first degree and awaiting the sentence that will send him the electric chair. There was marked feeling between the two accused men when James appeared as a witness for the State. He made no effort to escape his own responsibility for the crime but stoutly maintained that Shuck had assisted in planning the crime and was equally guilty with him. Large crowds witnessed every session of the long trial which lasted all of last week and over into this, being concluded yesterday afternoon after the noon recess. It was evident that J. Russell Carrow, counsel for the prisoner, was fighting to save his client from the chair and that life imprisonment would be a welcome alternative. Even some of those who had worked on the case for the State were not sure that Shuck would be called upon to pay the extreme penalty for his complicity in the foul murder. A recommendation for mercy, included in the jury's verdict of first degree murder would under the law have required the court to pass a sentence of life imprisonment instead of capital punishment. Strangely enough, this bill was introduced and sponsored by Prosecutor Wolverton, when he was a member of the House Assembly some years ago.

Shuck's wife stood by her dissolute husband throughout his trying ordeal and aided him in every way in his fight for life. She was evidently on the verge of collapse during the closing hours and when called to the stand fainted before she had been under the Prosecutor's questioning more then two or three minutes. She was not called back, nor was she in the court room when her faithless husband was pronounced equally guilty of the murder of Paul and started on his way to the death chair. He will be sentenced on a date to be fixed later by the court.

IRA HALL IS DISMISSED, EVIDENCE
AGAINST FOUR MEN GIVEN PROSECUTOR
Criminal Prosecution of Murry, Latorre, Draper and Hall Looms as Result of Sensational Hearing by Police Committee- Dope' Sellers Linked With Detective and Policemen in Lurid Testimony at Crowded Session- Predict Speedy Action
POLICEMAN AS OWN ATTORNEY GIVEN GRILLING

Criminal prosecution of Detective George Murry and Policemen Tony Latorre, William Draper and Ira Hall for their alleged "protection" of vice in the downtown underworld loomed today. At a sensational hearing before the police committee of City Council last night it was unanimously decided to turn the mass of evidence against the four men, gathered by City Solicitor Bleakly, over to Prosecutor Wolverton's office.

At the hearing, Policeman Hall was summarily dismissed from the department, classed as a "moral degenerate" and roundly flayed when, after he acted as his own attorney, he was cross-questioned by every member of the police committee.

Hall was the only one of the quartette of accused officers who made any attempt to defend himself. Murry, Latorre and Draper resigned several days ago. At the police committee session last night it was the sense of the members that their resignations was a tacit admission of guilt and that their mere removal from the police department is not sufficient punishment for their underworld activities.

The grand jury convened on Tuesday of this week. The next step will be the presentation of evidence gathered by Mr. Bleakly against the four men to the prosecutor's office who, in turn, will turn it over to the grand jury. Quick action may be expected, it was predicted today in official circles.

Policeman Hall's friendship for Anthony Paradise, charged with peddling "dope", was brought out at last night's hearing.