The Squibb Family Murders

Gravesite of "The Murdered Family" (photo by Harry Senft)

 

Some of the bloodiest fighting during the Civil War took place on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, on a boulder-strewn hill known as Little Round Top. On that fateful day, July 2, 1863, nearly eight thousand men clashed on the rocky slopes and, when the dust settled, 413 soldiers lay dead, while nearly 1,100 more were wounded or reported missing.

Three years later, another bloody battle would take place in the shadows of a hill called Round Top. But this Round Top lies 32 miles to the north, in York County's Warrington Township, where an old Quaker graveyard contains a weathered tombstone bearing the inscription, "The Murdered Family". 

On Sunday night, June 17, 1866, a family of three retired to their beds in a little one-story log cabin in a wild and secluded spot in Warrington Township, along the road now known as Stone Jug Road. This family consisted of George Squibb and his wife, Mary, each around seventy years of age, and their twelve-year-old granddaughter, Sarah Emma Seifert.

On Monday morning, a grandson of George Squibb by the name of George Snelberger went to the cabin to borrow an augur, and was startled to find his grandfather lying on the front porch in a pool of blood. He was still alive, but barely. Snelberger raced into the cabin to check on the rest of the family. Inside, he discovered the blood-soaked bodies of his grandmother, Mary Bell Squibb, and his little cousin, Sarah. Both were sprawled across the floor.

Snelberger ran home and informed his parents. Before long, they and a number of neighbors arrived at the scene of the horrible crime. They found the young girl quite dead, with the back of her skull crushed in. George and Mary Squibb were both unconscious; George lingered until early Tuesday morning; his wife, who regained consciousness but was unable to speak, died seven days later.

The Inquest

Word of the brutal crime reach the city of York late on Monday afternoon and Coroner Obadiah C. Brickley, accompanied by District Attorney J.W. Bittinger and William Chapman, arrived at the scene late Tuesday morning. Searching the cabin for clues, they found that the dresser had been smashed, and Mary's pocketbook, in which she kept the family's money, had been stolen. Robbery was the apparent motive.

The coroner's inquest, held at the crime scene, determined that George Squibb had been struck in the head fourteen times with a sharp instrument. Two wounds on the right temple were deep enough to penetrate the brain; the location of the wounds suggested a left-handed killer. Mary's fatal injuries, which were also on the right side of her head, appeared to have been caused the same weapon. However, Emma Jane's injuries were caused by a blunt object, raising the possibility that the crime had been committed by two or more individuals.

Further complicating matters was the fact that the wooded hills of Warrington Township, at the time, were a haven for vagrants and beggars, many of whom were former soldiers, laborers and business owners whose lives, and livelihoods, had been devastated by the war. One York County newspaper wrote: 

Warrington Township... is still infested by strolling vagrants and vagabonds, who have no visible means of living, and whose presence there is the cause of much dread and apprehension on the part of quiet and peaceful citizens. They are said to have taken up their abode in the thick woods and hills, where they remain during the day and at night they prowl around the neighborhood, plundering and extorting food by threats and violence.

One of the witnesses to testify during the inquest was a neighbor named William Donovan, known to his friends as "Irish Bill". Donovan lived about two miles away from the cabin and was known to have quarreled with the Squibbs and had been taken into custody as a leading suspect. At the inquest, Donovan was asked to explain a suspicious cut on his thumb and a red mark on his arm. Donovan claimed to have scratched his finger on a thorn. As for the red mark, he said that he had burned himself on his stove. During his testimony, he denied accusations that he had threatened George Squibb. "I had some trouble years ago with Mr. Squibb about the killing of a cow," he admitted. "Afterwards, we always spoke to one another when we met. I have never made any threats of revenge to anyone about the family."

Five years earlier, Donovan had beaten one of Squibb's cows so severely that it died, and Squibbs sued Donovan for damages. Magistrate Pollinger had ruled in favor of Squibbs, causing "Irish Bill" to declare that he'd get revenge on George Squibbs, even if it took twenty years. Donovan was known to be a heavy drinker and, at the time of the murders, had amassed several large debts that he couldn't pay off. Even more damning was the fact that Donovan was left-handed.

But the most startling moment during the inquest came when the mortally wounded wife, Mary Bell Squibb, was questioned at her bedside. One of the jury members took her hand into his, then asked Mary to press on it if he said the name of the person who had attacked her. The names of dozens of neighbors were announced, and when the name "William Donovan" was mentioned, she pressed the juror's hand. At the conclusion of the inquest, Donovan was taken to the York County Jail.

The grave of Sarah Emma Seifert

 

The Hunt for Accomplices

On Thursday, June 21, a man named William Berkmyer, believed to have been Donovan's accomplice, was arrested in Baltimore. He was transported to York and given a hearing before Magistrate White, and was committed to jail to answer to the charge of murder at the August term of court. That same day, a vagabond by the name of Charles Wilkes was arrested in Manheim, Lancaster County, by Constable Josiah Gipple and charged in connection to the murders. Wilkes was identified as one of several suspicious-looking vagrants seen in the vicinity of the Squibb property on the night of the murders.
On June 25, the day Mary Squibb finally passed away, three more arrests were made by Sheriff Bressler. These included William Donovan's wife (who was released a few days later), and two neighbors of the Donovans-- a one-eyed farmer named John Boyle and his teenage son, Edward. The Boyles had recently moved to Warrington Township from Harrisburg, and John Boyle had been seen in the company of William Donovan the night of the murders. It was on the Boyle property where authorities found a bloody overcoat and the hatchet which was believed to be the murder weapon concealed in the hollow of a tree. John attempted to explain the bloody overcoat by claiming that his son suffered from frequent nosebleeds. The authorities weren't convinced. 

In the following weeks, several additional arrests followed, even though the evidence against the accused was flimsy at best. These included a man and two women from Harford County, Maryland, and a vagrant from Virginia named Jackson Clarke, who was found to have $250 on his person when he was detained in York County. All of these suspects were later released.

By August, six suspects remained in York County Jail, charged with the murder of the Squibb family. These included "Irish Bill" Donovan, William Berkmyer, Charles Wilkes, John and Edward Boyle and a Harrisburg resident named Richard McGranigan, who was heard to have casually remarked that he had murdered three people. By month's end, Wilkes and Berkmyer were released for insufficient evidence. However, the grand jury indicted Donovan, McGrannigan and the Boyles.

The Trial of Irish Bill

 The trial for the four suspects charged with the murder of the Squibb family was set for November, with Judge Robert J. Fisher presiding. District Attorney Bittinger, who had initially planned to try all four defendants at the same time, asked the judge to postpone the McGranigan and Boyle cases until December so that he could focus on the commonwealth's case against William Donovan. The request was granted, and the trial of "Irish Bill" got underway on November 8. Representing the defendant were attorneys P.L. Wickes, Silas H. Forry and James Buchanan Ziegler.

During the trial, District Attorney Bittinger drew attention to the fact that William Donovan was one of the few neighbors who didn't show up at the Squibb home on Monday when the bodies were discovered. When Donovan was fetched at his home for the inquest, it was noted that he had blood on his pants, as well as injuries on his arm and finger. Donovan, however, couldn't provide a convincing explanation as to why his clothing had been covered in blood. After the inquest, Donovan's pants and the Boyle's hatchet had been sent to Baltimore for analysis, which determined the blood to be human. District Attorney Bittinger then brought forth witnesses who testified to hearing Donovan threaten George Squibb.

On Friday afternoon, November 16, the closing arguments were made and the jury retired. At eleven o'clock they returned with their verdict, finding William Donovan "guilty of knowledge of the murder." It is unclear if the jury foreman had simply misspoken, or if the jury couldn't decide what part, if any, Donovan had played in triple tragedy, but the defense seized the opportunity to file a motion for a new trial.

A Witness From the Grave

In January of 1867, John Boyle (whose 15-year-old son, Edward, was also accused of participating in the killings), was tried before Judge Fisher, as was Richard McGranigan. All three were found not guilty of the murder of George Squibb, but were remanded to prison because of the outstanding indictments against them, linking them to the murders of Mary Squibb and her granddaughter. 

On March 18, the motion for a new trial in the case of the Commonwealth versus William Donovan was argued before Judge Fisher, who refused to rule on the matter until the Boyles and McGranigan stood trial for the murders of Mary Squibb and Sarah Emma Seifert. John Boyle returned to court in May to stand trial for Mary's murder, and the trial was very much a rehashing of the witness testimony which had been heard in January. But, this time, the Commonwealth produced a silent witness-- the skull of Mary Squibb.

Mary's body has been exhumed shortly before the trial and the skull removed. Mary's skull was presented by the District Attorney as evidence and compared with the hatchet which had been found in John Boyle's possession. The result of the experiment was not as satisfactory as the prosecution had expected, and the Commonwealth pinned its hopes on the sheer unlikeability of the defendant. One newspaper remarked:

He has decidedly one of the worst faces we ever saw on a human being... His eye is what would be termed a grey cat-color, sunk deep in his head, and when he rolls it 'round it carries with it a sort of malignant scowl similar to the expression a hyena would make while feasting upon the contents of a newly made grave.

On May 6, much the chagrin of many a newspaper reporter, John Boyle was once again acquitted. The charges against Edward Boyle and Richard McGranigan were then dropped, leaving Irish Bill alone to face the music.

The Second Trial

A special session of court was held on October 21 for the re-trial of William Donovan. During the two-week-long proceedings, nearly 80 witnesses were called to testify, making it the longest trial ever held in York County to that point. Once again, the prosecution presented a skull and hatchet as evidence, this time the skull of George Squibb and the hatchet belonging to the defendant. This time, the hatchet blade fit perfectly into the indentation in the bone. The jury returned its verdict on November 4, finding Donovan guilty of murder in the first degree. He was sentenced to death.

With Donovan's fate decided, residents of York County waited with bated breath to see if the condemned killer would make a confession. And a few days later he did, in a way, claiming that it was John Boyle who had done all the killing: He had merely assisted in covering up the crime. The rule of double jeopardy, however, prevented the twice-acquitted Boyle from being tried again.

Donovan's Execution

Governor Geary fixed the date of the execution for March 31, 1868. There was just one problem-- York County hadn't hanged anyone since 1809 and the county didn't even own a scaffold. As a result, Sheriff Jesse Engles had to borrow one from Lancaster County. The rope, however, was made by York resident Peter E. Wilt. As a rope it was unique, in that it was made from flax instead of hemp.

At 11:45 on the morning of March 31, "Irish Bill" Donovan went to his death, insisting that he was innocent until the very end. In his final statement, just before the black cap was lowered over his head, he also claimed that John Boyle was innocent as well. "Here I stand in the presence of the Savior of the world," he proclaimed. "I am as innocent as that blessed Savior. I did not commit the crime, nor do I know who committed it. I was in bed the Sunday night of the murder, and knew nothing about it until it was told to me on Monday evening by the neighbors."

Sheriff Engles sprung the trap and Donovan plunged three feet into the waiting arms of eternity. His body was cut down at noon and placed into a black walnut coffin, which was buried the next day at the English Catholic Cemetery on South Beaver Street, which is now Penn Park (check out my article on the spooky history of Penn Park).

Legacy and Aftermath

Virtually every expert who testified at the inquest and numerous trials agreed that the triple murder could not have been carried out by a single killer. If Donovan was guilty, surely he had at least one accomplice. If he was innocent, then at least two murderers lived out the rest of their lives never paying for the fiendish deeds they committed.

The echoes of the 1866 slaughter of the Squibb family continued to reverberate for decades. Two years after the hanging of William Donovan, one of the jurors who convicted him, Peter Foust, hanged himself in his barn in Manchester Township. According to his wife, Peter had lost his mind shortly after Donovan's execution, as he began to wonder if he had sent an innocent man to his death.

The Donovan name was irreparably damaged, however, which might explain why Irish Bill's oldest son, William Henry, had numerous run-ins with the law as an adult, for offenses ranging from larceny to making murderous threats against neighbors. It seems he also developed a hobby of torturing and maiming animals-- a crime from which he was arrested in 1884. Strangely, it was the same act which caused the first shot to be fired in the Donovan and Squibb feud. William Donovan, Jr. took his own life in 1929 by shooting himself in the face with a double-barreled shotgun. Ironically, he is buried in Warrington Friends Meeting House Cemetery-- the same graveyard as the Squibb family.

 

Sources:

Harrisburg Telegraph, June 21, 1866.
York True Democrat, June 26, 1866.
Perry County Democrat, June 28, 1866.
Reading Times, July 2, 1866.  
Lancaster Intelligencer Journal, July 9, 1866.
Harrisburg Evening Telegraph, July 11, 1866.
Lancaster Intelligencer, Aug. 1, 1866.
York True Democrat, Aug. 7, 1866.
York Gazette, Sept. 4, 1866.
York True Democrat, Nov. 13, 1866.
York True Democrat, Nov. 20, 1866.
York True Democrat, Jan. 15, 1867.
York True Democrat, May 7, 1867.
Harrisburg Patriot-News, Nov. 7, 1867.
Lancaster Intelligencer Journal, March 23, 1868.
Harrisburg Patriot-News, April 1, 1868.
Wrightsville Star, May 6, 1870.