|
HENRY SCHWERS SPITS OUT
BULLET [from “The Towpath” – April 2003] (New
Bremen Sun – 3/16+23/1917) “Some 30 years ago (in the early-mid 1880s?), when Henry Schwers
conducted a saloon down on North Main Street in an old building on the site
of the ‘present club room between August Aue’s shop and Herman Tangeman’s
residence’, a fellow came in one day and got into an altercation with
Schwers, finally pulled a gun and shot at the saloon-keeper, the bullet
entering his mouth below the jaw, where it was intercepted by the teeth and
promptly spit upon the floor by Mr. Schwers.
The 3/13/1917 issue of the Piqua Leader-Dispatch contained the following interesting item: ‘The arrival of the body of Dr. Aaron R. Greer at Versailles where
it was interred Sunday recalled to the older citizens of this vicinity a
murder which was committed in the vicinity of Osgood in August 1885. The victim was Fannie Graham, colored, who
lived with her husband and family.
Having an aversion to the residing there of colored people, a number
of citizens took it upon themselves to harass the Graham family until it
would leave the community. One of the parties engaged in this effort was Dr. Greer. In the hope that the Graham family might
be frightened away, a shot was fired into the house. By chance the bullet struck Mrs. Graham
and killed her instantly. Greer was
arrested and placed in jail awaiting trial.
Within a few days, Greer’s wife came to see him and the sheriff gave
the couple the liberty of a room in the ‘residence’. Greer escaped and his wife kept up a loud
conversation to deceive the sheriff.
Greer went south and changed his name and was never again heard from
until he died a few days ago at the age of 70 years.’ While
this news item was being discussed, several men whose memory ‘seems to be
true and correct’ attested that the old doctor who was buried at Versailles was the identical man who shot Henry Schwers. There
is a local end to this story. After
reading the preceding account in the 3/17/1917 issue of the Wapakoneta Daily News, Joseph Drexler,
caretaker at the Court House in Wapakoneta, exhibited the bullet that figured
in the shooting affair at New Bremen.
Mrs. Drexler is a daughter of Henry Schwers, and was quite young when
the incident occurred, but remembers it.
Those who remember the incident state that it was Dr. Aaron R. Greer
of Osgood who did the shooting. Dr.
Greer’s remains were interred at Versailles on 3/11/1917, having been brought
back to Darke County from the south, where he fled after shooting a Negro
woman in the vicinity of his home in 1885. The bullet that wounded
Mr. Schwers was kept by Mrs. Schwers, and later given to Mrs. Drexler. It is of a caliber known as 22-short, and
was fired from a small pistol. Mr.
Schwers’ assailant shot him after he had been refused a drink at the Schwers
saloon on North Main Street in New Bremen.
He was pursued by a number of people and apprehended a short distance
away from town. He was in danger of
being lynched, but cool heads prevailed upon the posse to permit the law to
take its course, and the accused was placed on trial and sentenced to 3 years
in the penitentiary. The small
bullet, almost perfect in form despite its contact with Mr. Schwers’ jaw and
teeth, is preserved in a celluloid capsule at the home of Mr. and Mrs.
Drexler.” <<<<>>>> WHERE WAS HENRY
SCHWERS’ SALOON? In 1877, Henry Schwers, along with Herman E. & Anna Meyer, purchased the west ½ of Inlot #22 (old number) on North Main Street. In the mortgage deeds, the property was described as “known as the Brewery Property of Mc (Michael) Vossler.” On 9/7/1882, a Quit Claim Deed for Lot #52 (new number) was filed by Herman E. & Anna Meyer, relinquishing their interest in the property for $1252.50, paid by Henry Schwers. The next day, a Mortgage Deed was issued in the names of Henry & Sophia Schwers, who had married on 6/9/1881. This deed was canceled on 7/10/1885. Henry Schwers died 3/22/1899. His wife, Sophia Wilhelmina (Aue) Schwers died 12/2/1907. The property was transferred to their unmarried daughter, Amelia Schwers (born 11/14/1882). After Amelia died 9/13/1928, the property was transferred to Anna M.S. (Schwers) Drexler, wife of Joseph Drexler of Wapakoneta. On 9/9/1937, the south ½ of the Schwers property (212 North Main Street) was transferred to Milton J. Gieseke, who had a grocery store there. On 9/9/1942, it was transferred to Virgil & Fern Hirschfeld, who also ran a grocery store called “The Little Store.” On 9/30/1954, this property was transferred to Myron Eversman and on 9/23/1957, it was transferred to Richard & Annabelle Tontrup. From the description given at the beginning of this article, it would seem that this is where Henry Schwers had his saloon. The building was demolished in 1982 and a garage was added to the south side of the brick house on the north. On 9/9/1937, the north ½ of the Schwers property was transferred to
John A. Brown, who was a barber (this was the father of our own Jerry
Brown – see story in the October 2000 issue of “The Towpath”). On 4/7/1955, it was transferred to
Richard & Annabelle Tontrup and on 5/30/1973, the house at 214 North Main
Street was transferred to Thomas & Ruth Keller, who live there at the
present time. <<<<>>>> AND NOW… The Rest of the StoryIn April 2002, I received
a call from a Ted Schweitzer of Phillipsburg, Ohio. He had come to New Bremen and stopped at the Village Office to
ask for help in finding information about his great-grandfather, HENRY
SCHWERS. Tom Braun and I met with him
and his wife at our public library and he showed us the bullet, still being
kept in the celluloid capsule. I was
allowed to remove it from the capsule and actually held it in my hand! <<<<>>>> In 2005, I received the
following letter: “I read with great
interest the article about Henry Schwers that appeared in the April 2003
issue of The Towpath. The
reason for my interest was due to the fact that Dr. Aaron Greer of Osgood,
Ohio was who the story said had shot Mr. Schwers in the mouth for not serving
him a drink in his saloon. For some time, I have been
researching the August 1885 murder of Fannie Graham at Osgood and Dr. Aaron
Greer was one of the four accused.
Just recently I had the privilege of researching original copies of
the Versailles Policy newspaper that my cousin acquired at
auction. The two volumes were from
the years of 1883-1886. During my
search I came across this small article that caught my eye: ‘Daniel Hendershot of
Patterson Township shot a saloon keeper by the name of Henry Schwers
Wednesday night of last week (June 1886) at New Bremen. The ball entered below the chin, passing
through the mouth. The wounded man
will probably recover. Hendershot was
arrested and is now in the Wapakoneta jail.
Lynching was strongly talked of. The two men quarreled because the
saloon keeper refused to sell Hendershot and his friends anything to drink,
they all being drunk.’ [“Versailles Policy” – 6/10/1886] So, according to the above
piece, Dr. Greer was not the guilty party that shot Henry Schwers. I believe Dr. Greer was not in Ohio at the
time of this shooting since in the fall of 1885, he escaped from jail in
Greenville and headed south. His
obituary in the Policy dated 3/17/1917 states that he lived in
Walstonburg (near Greenville), North Carolina so I highly doubt that he was
part of Mr. Hendershot’s friends that day. I hope this information is
helpful and sets the record straight on what actually did happen that day in
New Bremen. Sincerely, Dale Poeppelman – Maria Stein,
Ohio <<<<>>>> EDITOR’S RESPONSE: I was delighted to get the
above letter from Mr. Poeppelman. At
the time the Henry Schwers story was published, I wasn’t entirely comfortable
with it because it seemed to be relying on ‘several men whose memory SEEMS to
be true and correct’. The articles
also said that Mr. Greer ‘went south, changed his name, and was NEVER AGAIN
APPREHENDED’. Since at that time, I had
no definite date as to when the Henry Schwers incident had occurred (‘some
thirty years ago’), I couldn’t prove that it was unlikely that the culprit
was Dr. Aaron Greer, however I did later find this small article in the
6/1/1888 issue of The New Bremen Sun of OHIO PENITENTIARY NOTES from
August Boesel, who was then working at the penitentiary as a guard. “Hindershot, the would-be
assassin of Henry Schwers of New Bremen, is polishing garden hoes and
forks. He stands his work well and seems
to be always happy, carrying a smiling countenance.” [N.B.Sun–6/1/1888] This small item always
made me wonder what the true story was of the Henry Schwers shooting. The point of my story at the time it was
first published was that I had actually been able to hold in my own hands the
bullet that Henry Schwers “had spit out”.
[Lucille Francis, Editor] |