The following are all excerpts from the Bloomington, IN Telephone regarding the murder trial of Tobias Gaddis. This information has been transcribed and permission granted for posting by Randi Richardson of the INMONROE-L mail list. Thank you, Randi.
Bloomington (IN) Telephone, October 8, 1907, p. 1.
FEAR DRIVES GADDIS INSANE
Imagines White Caps Have Planned To Revenge Dead Man
The mind of Tobias Gaddis, the white-cap slayer, has fled and today in a cell in the local jail he is a hopeless maniac, made so by the terrorizing fear that the whitecappers, whom he repulsed at the door of his Shagtown shanty 10 days ago, have marked him for assassination.
For two days he has refused all food and yesterday afternoon Sheriff Ratcliff called Dr. Batman to the jail to examine the man. The physician was unable to get Gaddis to take any medicine, but he left it at the jail and this morning it was given to him in a cup of water which he drank.
Gaddis presents a terrifying appearance as he sits or lies in his cell. He convulses or cramps continually much in the manner of a poisoned dog, and some of his prison companions advance a theory that he may have broken up a small looking glass and swallowed the pieces. They think this because there are some bits of looking glass scattered around the cage in which he is confined.
This morning a reporter called at the jail and was allowed to go in and see the man. The reporter was shown to the cot where the whitecap exterminator was laying by Otis Allen, who some three weeks ago killed Raymond Sparks at Sanders. It was necessary to call Gaddis several times before he answered and then the only thing he would say was: "I did it, I did it."
Finally he got up and sat on the edge of the cot and every few seconds he would comvulse most horribly, all the time pulling at his neck as if to tear away an imaginary rope. His attorney, Jesse Field, called but Gaddis did not appear to recognize him.
The prisoners in the jail who have had the chance to watch the man closely says that he fears continually that the whitecappers will break in the jail and get him and now imagines that they are sliding down the big iron bars of the cage in which his cell is situated. He will look out the ironed door of his cell blank-eyed, then over his face will come a change--in his crazed brain he has seen a whitecapper slide down an iron bar of the cage--his face and eyes take on the look of a men frightened almost unto death, he throws his hand over his face to shut out the vision and shrinks back on to his cot convulsing.
With the exception of Otis Allen, the condition of Gaddis has worked on the nerves of the other prisoners of the jail. Last night one of the prisoners sawed on an iron bar with a tin can and Sam Williams, the negro in jail for stealing two bicycles, packed up his clothes to leave, thinking that the whitecappers had come to claim their victim.
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In this connection, the following from Bedford last night is not without its pathetic side:
"Thomas Robinson, 28 years old and a brother of Jesse Robinson, the alleged whitecapper killed in Monroe County by Tobias Gaddis, has been declared insane. He imagines that his brother committed suicide to get away from his troubles, and that he would have to do the same thing. Friends fearing that he might do himself harm have taken him in charge."
Bloomington (IN) Telephone, October 8, 1907, p. 1.
IS TOBE AN ACTOR?
Inside a few days an insane commission will examine Tobias Gaddis, the slayer of Jesse Robinson, as to his mental condition. In the meantime, there is considerable difference of opinion as to whether he is really crazy or is shamming. Both Sheriff Ratcliff and Chief Johns believe he is shamming but to usual outsiders he appears to be quite insane with his convulsions and frightened gestures. The officers say he is not dangerous but he has a playful habit of reaching out and taking hold of any bystander which is rather trying on the nerves.
Bloomington (IN) Telephone, October 15, 1907, p. 1.
Chief of Police Johns: "It has always been my opinion that Gaddis is only playing insane. Just watch and see how long he says in the asylum."
Bloomington (IN) Telephone, October 15, 1907, p. 4.
WEEP FOR GADDIS
WIFE AT MUNCIE
Tells Pitiful Story and Regrets Insanity That Follows
The Gaddis family that disappeared from here one afternoon has been located at Muncie, their former home. With tears streaming down her face and her voice so choked with sobs that she almost lacked the power of speech, Ruth Emenheiser, a girl of 16 who was at the home of Tobias Gaddis the night he killed Jesse Robninson, the alleged whitecapper, told a newspaper man at Muncie last night the story of the whitecap raid and of its consequences.
Her tears were not caused by the death of Jesse Robinson, the alleged whitecap who died by Gaddis' hand, who, overwhelmed by the fact that he had killed a man, went insane. Ruth Emenheiser is now at the home of her mother, who is responsible for a number of charges that are against Gaddis in city court. He is there charged with assaulting Mrs. Emenheiser, stealing her property and abducting the girl. The latter says, however, that she was not abducted, but went with him of her own free will. At the Emenheiser home the girl gave substantially this recital: "Whatever Tobe may have been, he provided me with a home, clothes and food when others were unwilling or unable to do it. I want to deny that he killed Robinson in a fight. There is absolutely no truth in that story. Several men came to our home in Shagtown where we were living peacefully and harming nobody, and broke down the front door with a fence rail. Just then Tobe grabbed a revolver, and not a shotgun as the dispatches said, and fired as the men started to run. Until the next morning we did not know even that anybody had been hurt. Tobe did not try to get away when he found out what had happened, and I accompanied him to jail next day, although I was pretty sick."
Mrs. Fannie White and Oscar Knight, who were at the Gaddis home the night of the shooting, have also returned to Muncie, and they substantiate the girl's story. All are deeply grieved by Gaddis attack of insanity.
Bloomington (IN) Telephone, October 17, 1907, p. 1.
After nine days of violent insanity which defied cure and which caused him to be considered eligible for the Central Insane Hospital at Indianapolis, Tobias Gaddis, who shot and killed Jesse Robinson in the late whitecapping affair, suddenly regained his normal self yesterday afternoon about 2 o'clock. Gaddis has been slowly improving for a couple of days and yesterday morning it ws noticed that he did not carry on his ravings and cringing from fear of the whitecaps to so great an extent. A two o'clock he suddenly became (two illegible words) while some of the prisoners in the county jail were talking to him.
Gaddis says the past nine days seem like a dream to him. His mind is perfectly void as to the investigation of the insanity commission and their decision to have him placed in the insane asylum. He says he does not want to go to the asylum as he is not crazy. His physical condition shows the efffect of the strain he has been under during his mental derangement, if such it was. He is very weak and has the appearance of having undergone a spell of sickness.
The prisoner wants to fight the charges which have already been preferred against him. He declares he is not gulty of stealing the canned fruit or any of the other things he is accused of letting his fingers stick to. He denied very vigorously all the reports that he may not be entirely guiltless in the whiecapping episode. One of the first things he did after becoming sound again was to express a desire to see his lawyer, Jesse (illegible).
As to whether Tobias has been shamming there seems to be no way of telling at present, and it will probably have no bearing on the case now that he has become rational again and is ready to turn himself over to the law.
The insanity commission found the symptoms of an unbalanced mind when they examined Gaddiis a week ago and on the strength of this decided to have him committed to the (illegible) at Indianapolis. He should have been taken before many days if the present unexpected turn had not occurred.
Bloomington (IN) Telephone, October 25, 1907, p. 1.
RELEASED ON BOND
Today James Gilham, the alleged whitecapper, is back behind the counter of his little country store at Victor waiting on the trade as usual. After being locked up a few hours yesterday afternoon in the local jail, he was released on a $500 bond signed by his father, Davis Gilham, of Kirksville, and Dr. L. T. Lowder of this city.
Gilham returned home on the evening accommodation to await the investigation of the affair by the grand jury. He takes the matter as a joke and smilingly affirms his innocence. He points out that no case can be made against him because of the reputatiaon of Gaddis and his supposed wife and sister-in-law.
Bloomington (IN) Telehpone, October 25, 1907, p. 4, part 1 of 2
STORE KEEPER BELOW VICTOR WAS WITH JESSE ROBINSON ON THAT FATAL NIGHT Another Man's Name Withheld. Gaddis in Jail, Swears to Charge
An affidavit was filed last Tuesday in the circuit court charging James Gilham, who keeps a store a half mile below Victor, with being one of the men who on the night of September 25th, attempted to break into the home of Tobias Gaddis at "Shagtown," with the intention of "whitecapping" Gaddis.
It was this visit that terminated fatally for Jesse Robinson, who was found next morning dead under an apple tree a short distance from the house, his breast having been literally sieved by birdshot from a gun in the hands of Gaddis, who fired as the whitecappers broke open the door of his home.
James Gilham, the man who stands charged with being one of the companions of Robinson on that long to be remembered visit, is about 28 years old and is a member of a well known Kirksville family. He is a brother of William Gilham, the 18-year-old boy who some months ago was knocked from the Monon midnight rain into the muddy waters of Salt Creek, and whose body was found at the end of a four-day-and-four-night search which excited the whole of both Lawrence and Monroe counties.
Gilham's store is situated just on top of the hill the other side of Victor and from this store before the attempted whitecapping there had been some stealingg, according to the stories told in the neighborhood. One story told is that a few days before the tragedy, Gaddis and his nephew, Oscar Knight, were in the Gilham store loafing and that after they had gone out, a "side" of meat was missed. This the officers who are pushing the case believe sufficient to explain Gilham's alleged presence with the whitecappers.
The affidavit charging Gilham is swore to by Gaddis, who this morning on the advice of his attorney, Jesse Field, broke his silence of three weeks and gave to the officers the name of the man who he claims to have recognized in the bright moonlight. Gaddis says he is positive that he recognized Gilham, and that the two women in the house who were with him also recognized one of the mid(night) raiders as the store keeper and that they will come here from Terre Huate to testiffy to the fact if necessary.
"Are you sure you recognized Gilham," asked Deputy Prosecutor Louder.
"I couldn't be mistaken, you'd known I couldn't if you ever saw Gilham" answered Gaddis this morning when the affidavit was made. Then Gaddis went on, "It was bright moonlight that night, do you remember? In front of my house there were no trees and it was just as light as day. When they broke the door open and I fired I recognized them, I am sure it was Gilham. I swear it, for he is tall and so strange looking that no one could mistake him. He was dressed in just the clothes he wore every day with a different hat and had the handkerchief tied round his face.
"I think I recognized the other man to but I can not sweat it. His name is -------- and I don't think there is any doubt but what it was him for Ruth (the 19-year-old girl) and Fanny (the sister-in-law) both thought so too, but none of us are positive."
The authorities have the name of this third companion of Robinson's but as yet no affidavait has been issued, but it is likely some startling revelations will follow each other in a few days. The grand jury will investigate and the case will likely be pushed by Governor Frank Hanley through the attorney general of the state.
Bloomington (IN) Telehpone, October 25, 1907, p. 4, part 2 of 2
STORE KEEPER BELOW VICTOR WAS WITH JESSE ROBINSON ON THAT FATAL NIGHT Another Man's Name Withheld. Gaddis in Jail, Swears to Charge
The filing of the affidavit this afternoon was another act in Monroe County's greatest tradegy. It was on the night of September 24th that Tobias Gaddis was roused from his bed to find, as many other have done in years gone by, a band of "regulators" at his door. As he grabbed his shotgun, three of the men broke open the door with a rail and he fired. All three turned and ran.
Next morning the mortal remains of Jesse Robinson, lying under a tree fifty yards distant, were found.
The coroner's verdict liberated Gaddis next day and he was rather a hero in Bloomington and over the state. Then the hero fell, covered by a multitude of charges and was jailed on a charge of stealing a half dozen cans of fruit.
The nephew, the 19-year-old girl and the sister-in-law left that night; he became suddenly insane after some ten days during which he raved, refused food and saw all sorts of imaginary whitecappers. A lunacy commission was composed of Drs. Batman, Coleman and Smith, and after examining the man they decided he was insane and an appliction to the insane asylum at Indianapolis was made. A few days ago Gaddis suddenly recovered his mind again, and now appears to be as sane as anybody, although he looks as if he had passed through a spell of sickness.
"You see," Gaddis explained his insanity, "I have those attacks every once in a while, but I never had one as bad before. I have had five in the last eight years. The last was at Muncie."
He gave to the officers the name of the doctor who attended him at Muncie during his last spell.
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The Gilham family lives at Kirksville and is well-to-do and gained considerable publicity over the death of the youngest son, Willard. He, together with two other boys, after becoming intoxicated one night at Bedford attempted to "beat" the Monon midnight train to Bloomington.
Willard hung on the outside of one of the vestibules of the train.
As the train went through the bridge at Peerless, 5 miless this side of Bedford, his head struck an iron upright crushing his skull and the body fell into the muddy water of Salt Creek. Next day the alarm was given and for four days and nights the entire country along the Monon tracks between here and Bedford searched for the missing boy. Finally, the body was found by a man who was searching Salt Creek with a grab hook.
One of the hardest searchers of those four days and night was James Gilham, who now stands charged with whiecapping. He seemed to take the death of the younger brother, the pet of the family, harder than anyone.
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Bloomington (IN) Telephone, October 25, 1907, p. 4.
Bedford Mail: "Sheriff Box had quite an exciting experience with Thomas Robinson, Saturday, while taking the man who was recently adjudged insane, to the asylum at Indianapolis. Robinson, though handcuffed, became very violent and succeeded in demolishing two seats in a Monon passenger coach. He pulled the seats from their fastening and broke them into kindling wood. At one time he tried to jump from the train and succeeded in getting one leg out of the window ready to spring. It was with great difficulty that the unfortunate man was controlled. Robinson is a former resient of Avoca and it is said his insanity was caused by the killing of his brother, Jesse Robinson near Bloomington by Tobias Gaddis in a whitecap raid. Robinson is a powerful man and during his paroxyisms, it was necessary for the train crew to assist Sheriff Box and his deputy in controlling the man. During the trip Robinson kept the car in an uproar.
Bloomington Weekly Star, Dec 6, 1907, p. 1.
KILLING NO. 9
Within the past 13 months there have been nine murders and homicides in Monroe County. The list of victims is as follows:
........JOSSE ROBINSON shot and killed by Tobias Gaddis in Perry Township on September 25, 1907. Coroner decided this to be a case of justifiable homicide on the grounds of an attempt to "whitecap" Gaddis..........
Link: Monroe Co., Indiana GenWeb Project
URL: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~inmonroe/monroegw.html
Created on ... 24 Mar 2001
This page was last updated Saturday, 08-Sep-2018 03:39:02 MDT