Imagine wanting something so bad, that when you decide to try and take it, you destroy it. That’s what happened in the case of William Neil and Fannie Gibbons.
In 1881, Ashland Kentucky was a small and quiet city. It sat along the banks of the Ohio river, and most would consider it average. It was also home to the well known Gibbons family.
Mr. and Mrs. Gibbons had three children, Robert (17) was the oldest, and also disabled. Then there was Fannie (14) and little Sterling (11). On the evening of December 23, 1881, Mr. and Mrs. Gibbons, and Sterling were away, leaving Robert and Fanny home alone. Fanny had her friend and neighbor, Emma Carrico (Better known as Emma Thomas, 15) come over to stay the night.
Sometime late that evening, William Neil, a local brick-worker and two of his co-workers, Ellis Craft, and George Ellis broke into the Gibbons home, using a crowbar to force a window open. William quickly caught the eye of Robert, and struck instantly, killing the boy on the spot. Then William and Ellis split up, with William taking and assaulting Fannie, while Ellis assaulted Emma.
Fannie cried and insisted she was going to tell her mother. William couldn’t stand it, he struck her in the head with his crowbar, crushing her head.
Next it was Ellis’ turn, and he grabbed an ax from the hard and used it to kill Emma, again, crushing her head.
By now, it was Christmas eve, and the men had to cover their tracks. Ellis took a coal oil can and covered the bodies of the girls as well as their bed clothing, and set them afire before fleeing the scene.
Fortunately, Emma’s mother saw the flames and was able to sound an alarm. The bodies of the children were recovered before all evidence had been destroyed.
Investigators had very few leads, but George Ellis was becoming increasingly uneasy, and after about 10 days, sought out US Deputy Marshal George Heplin, confessing his guilt. He claimed that William was infatuated with Fannie, and had said he would “have her” before the year was out. He explained that William and Ellis had come to his home on the evening of December 23 and threatened him with murder if he did not go with them to the Gibbons home.
All three men were arrested, and before news could break to the public, the judge ordered them men be sent to jail in Lexington for safe keeping. However, a mob got hold of the news, and although the three men had a head start on a steam boat down the Ohio river, the mob had their own boat and pursued. However, the officers in the steam boat were able to elude the mob, and they arrived safely at the Lexington Jail.
There, George Ellis made another confession, claiming that his previous confession was a lie, that he had been forced to make it by George Heplin at gunpoint. But shortly afterward, he retracted this statement and again reaffirmed guilt.
In exchange for his cooperation, George Ellis was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Unfortunately for him, the people did not feel this was fair – they broke into the jail and took George away to Ashland where they hung him. Just before he was dropped from the noose, he again, admitted guilt.
William Neil and Ellis Craft were tried at Catlettsburg, several times, and each time were sentenced to death. They, however, managed to get a new trial. The mob was infuriated and determined, so much so that Governor Blackburn felt it necessary to send a large contingent of State troops with them to protect them from the mob.
When, in the Fall of 1882, the trial was postponed, the mob demanded Major John R. Allen, commander of the State forces, deliver William and Ellis to them. He refused just before boarding a steamboat with his troops and the prisoners, to escort them back to Lexington.
The mob boarded a train of flat cars on a train that ran along the riverbank from Catlettsburg to Ashland, and kept a chaotic barrage of fire on the steamboat, all the way to Ashland. The troops did not fire back.
Once in Ashland, the mob seized a ferryboat and swung out into the river to intercept the steamboat, and when they were nearly upon it, they opened fire upon the troops, who were ranged in a line along the decks. This time the troops returned fire, and numerous people on the ferryboat were killed or injured, and the bullets that continued past the ferryboat struck bystanders along the bank, killing or wounding about 20. The steamboat continued on, and arrived safely in Lexington.
The next trial took place in Grayson, where Ellis Craft was found guilty and sentenced to death. He was hanged in Grayson in August, 1883. William Neal had a new trial , and was again, found guilty and hanged.
William Neil and Ellis Craft maintained their innocence, all the way to the end, blaming George Heplin for working with a crazy man in order to receive the reward that had been offered for the apprehension of the guilty parties.
Next Up: The Woodchipper Murder of Newtown Connecticut.
