Death Comes to Dimock: The Strange Murder of Margaret Harvey

Six miles south of Montrose, in Susquehanna County, is the rural community of Dimock. Settled in the early 19th century, this agricultural oasis amid the fabled Endless Mountains has existed for over two hundred years without much attention from the outside world. The village did find itself in the national spotlight about twenty years ago after residents drew attention to the environmental ravages of fracking and natural gas exploration. But almost sixty years before the first gas well was drilled in the area, Dimock made headlines for another reason-- it was the scene of a sensational and brutal crime.

In a modest white farmhouse west of the village lived a middle-aged blacksmith named Charles Henry Gesford. Charles had never been a man of many words, but was even less so after two tragedies upended his world in a span of just eight months. In June of 1944, his wife, Blanche, died of heart failure at the age of 42. In January of the following year, his second born son, Edward, was one of the 255 soldiers and sailors who perished when a Navy cargo ship, the USS Serpens, exploded off the northern coast of Guadalcanal. Charles had also lost a sister, Gladys, in 1941, to complications from peritonitis.  

Now we jump ahead to the summer of 1948. Though five of Charles' surviving sons were grown and out on their own, the Gesford farmhouse was brimming with life; in addition to his elderly mother (also named Blanche) and his three youngest sons, Max, Walter and Ralph, the 52-year-old blacksmith shared the home with his 24-year-old niece, Margaret Elaine Harvey, who was the daughter of Charles' deceased sister. Margaret was recently divorced from her husband, Eben Harvey, and had taken up residence at the Gesford home, bringing along her two young children; five-year-old Eben, Jr. and seven-month-old Ronald.

It was no secret that Charles didn't care for Eben Harvey, and so, when Margaret began hinting that there may be a reconciliation in their future, the widowed blacksmith made his feelings known to his niece. It wasn't that Eben was a particularly bad fellow; he was just the polar opposite of Gesford. Eben was the archetypal man-child and he had a fondness for pranks and goofing around. He drove motorcycles recklessly, he didn't take his responsibilities seriously, he bounced around from job to job. In the course of his life, Eben would work as a carnival worker, bus driver, short order cook, garbage man and security guard. But perhaps the thing that infuriated Charles the most was that Eben, unlike his boy Edward, had returned from the war safe and sound.

Eben Harvey

Bathed in Blood

Shortly after seven o'clock on the morning of August 18, 1948, Mrs. Gesford was preparing breakfast for the family. Upstairs, Margaret Harvey was still asleep in bed, with little Ronald snuggled in her arms. Eben, Jr. was already awake in an adjoining bedroom. Suddenly, a shotgun blast reverberated through the second floor followed by another. Eben ran from his room to the top of the stairs and cried out to his 78-year-old great-grandmother, "Charley just shot mommy!" 

Mrs. Gesford hurried up the stairs and entered a bedroom, where she encountered a ghastly sight-- the blood-soaked bodies for her son and granddaughter. Margaret was still in her bed, her unharmed baby still in her lifeless arms, while it appeared that Charles then turned the 12-gauge shotgun on himself, walking to the center of bedroom, putting the muzzle to his chest and pulling the trigger. The sound of the shotgun blasts attracted a neighbor from across the road, Roy Lee, who raced into the home to render what aid he could. According to Lee, Gesford was still breathing when he reached him, but died moments later.

One can only imagine the effect this tragedy must've had on Mrs. Gesford; in a span of just seven years, she had lost a husband, a son, a daughter, a sister and a granddaughter.

Searching for a Motive

Before long, the Gesford home was packed with law enforcement officials. Sheriff William Hower was met at the scene by Corporal John Adams and Trooper Harry Shibley from the state police substation at New Milford. Susquehanna County District Attorney Robert G. Dean and Coroner Kenneth Bush also arrived.

While examining the crime scene, authorities made a curious find. On the foor, next to Charles Gesford's body, was a hammer, which Mrs. Gesford could not account for. In all probability, Charles had planned to bludgeon his niece before shooting her, but had decided against it, as she was still sleeping when he entered the room. However, the bigger mystery was the motive.

After questioning neighbors and relatives, authorities believed that Gesford murdered Margaret Harvey because she intended to reconcile with her divorced husband. It was known that Mrs. Gesford had made out a will, leaving the farmhouse to Charles and Margaret, and it was possible that Charles was afraid that his rights to the property would be jeopardized by such a reconciliation. If such was the case, it was something that could never be proven, as Charles had left behind no suicide note and had made no statement prior to the tragedy. As there was no need for prosecution, District Attorney Dean turned the matter over to the state police. The state police, not seeing any need for further investigation, closed the case.

Victims Laid to Rest

On Saturday afternoon, August 21, 1948, a double funeral was held for Margaret Harvey and Charles Gesford at the Bush Funeral Home in South Montrose, with Reverend John G. Powell of the Dimock Baptist Church officiating. After the service, their bodies were laid to rest at Lynn Cemetery, south of Springville.

Just eighteen months after the tragedy, Blanche Gesford passed away at her home at the age of 80 after a brief illness. She, too, was buried at Lynn Cemetery. 

 

A Tangled Web

So whatever became of the seven-month-old child who laid in her slain mother's arms? It's unclear what happened to Ronald Harvey after the double tragedy at Dimock. Presumably, both Ronald and Eben, Jr. were raised by relatives. Eben, Jr. passed away in February of 2017 at the age of 73, while the man he was named after died thirty-three days earlier, in January of 2017, at the ripe old age of 95. I hesitate to use the word "father" to describe Eben Howard Harvey, because this is one story with a murky, muddled ending.

When Eben Harvey, Sr., passed away in Tunkhannock, Wyoming County, some folks in neighboring Susquehanna County may have thought it odd that his obituary made no mention of Margaret, Ronald or Eben, Jr. Indeed, his obituary mentioned that he had been happily married for 71 years to the "love his love", the former Ada Blanche Crone (oddly, this is the third different person with Blanche in their name connected with this story), and that he had just one child, Betty. This would mean that Eben and Ada were married in 1946, which seems to disprove the claim made in 1948 that Margaret and Eben were planning to reconcile. This would also cast doubt on the theory that Charles Gesford murdered his niece in order to prevent such a reunion from taking place. 

When Eben Harvey, Jr. died in February of 2017, his obituary in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader stated that he was the son of Eben and Margaret Randall Harvey. But, interestingly, the findagrave.com memorial page for Eben, Jr. has been edited since his death, and the edit states that DNA testing has since concluded that Eben's real father was not Eben Howard Harvey, but another man by the name of Tommy Philmore Jackson. Since the younger Eben was born in 1943-- one year after his mother married the man believed to be his father-- this could only mean one thing: While Eben was away serving his country during the war, Margaret was keeping the homefires burning with another lover.

While it's not anyone's job to judge another person's moral failings, this new information may finally solve the mystery as to why Charles Gesford and his niece had such a tumultuous relationship. Had Charles been able to piece together the true paternity of little Eben, Jr.? If so, did he confront Margaret about it out of fear that it would bring shame to the household? While it's certainly an interesting thing to ponder, ultimately it makes little difference, as Charles Gesford went to his grave without revealing the circumstances which led to the bloodiest morning in the history of the little hamlet of Dimock.

Sources:

The Scranton Times, Aug. 18, 1948.
Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, Aug. 18, 1948.
Scranton Tribune, Aug. 19, 1948.
The Scranton Times, Aug. 19, 1948.
The Scranton Times, Aug. 20, 1948.
Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, Feb. 10, 2017.