The Possible Murder Of Charles Roland - Lewisburg Shopkeeper

 

Charles Roland 1837-1865

The tombstone for Charles Roland in Lewisburg Cemetery is unfortunately unreadable after all this time.  You can read the beginning line..  "He fell.."  combined with the GAR marker, and the death date of 1865, it's easy to assume that he died in the Civil War.  But that is not the case at all.  An article in the 1865 Lewisburg Chronicle gives the account of the store owner who fell off a bridge under mysterious circumstances.

In August of 1865, J. Calvin Wolf, in an attempt to clear up rumors, provided the Lewisburg Chronicle with a full account of his evening with Roland.

On July 31 1865, "a number of young ladies in connection with Mr. Roland and his wife" called at the hotel where Wolf was boarding.  There they all enjoyed a "social musical rehearsal".

At the request of Mr. Roland and his wife, Wolf than accompanies Roland to the drug store, for the purpose of hanging two large posters behind the counters.  The posters read "No admittance hereafter behind the counters"

A variety of people, of whom "he had not had full confidence" had been frequenting behind the counters, and a few articles had gone missing.

Lewisburg Chronicle, November 1864

Wolf thinks that it was around midnight when he finished writing the posters, as it had been quite late when they left the hotel. While Wolf was writing the posters, Roland had by his account taken at least seven drinks of whiskey, and was in a rather bad condition.  

The two men closed up the store, and began to walk back to the hotel.  At about half  way there, Roland told Wolf he wanted to go for a walk.  Although Wolf made several attempts to force him home, Roland made it clear he would not return while under the influence  of liquor.  Wolf walked with Roland for some distance, stopping 4 or five times, and entering an area in which "no proper person should be alone at night." When he asked Roland where they were going, Roland kept replying "I must go up here".  

After leaving sight of the works, Wolf refused to accompany Roland any further in that area, and he said he would go on home without him.  When that threat did not change Roland's mind, Wolf said that he would wait there if Roland promised to not stay long.  When Roland did not return in 20 or 30 minutes, Wolf followed the path he had seen him take.  He soon came to a bridge, but did not see Roland anywhere.  After searching for some time, Wolf thought that the bridge was the only place where Roland could have met some sort of accident, so he searched nearby, and found Roland in the ravine.

It seemed like a drunken accident, but Roland's account book, in which he carried his money, was missing.  It was thought to have held $800 at the time.   Wolf recalled that Roland had taken the book from his pocket while in the drug store, that was the last time he had seen it.  A week previous, a key to the store had been store.  When the men had left earlier that evening, the door was locked.  The next day the door was unlocked.  

Wolf believed that Roland fell off the bridge and drowned - in an accident, and that the wallet had been left behind in the store, stolen by whomever had stolen the key.

In December of 1865, J. Calvin Wolf was charged with the murder of Charles Roland, but he was quickly acquitted, the judge instructing the jury that no shadow of a case had been made out against him. 

Pvt Charles A. Roland was brought back to Lewisburg, where he was buried in the Lewisburg Cemetery.  The Selinsgrove Times reported that "within the last three months his only son and daughter were buried, thus leaving no survivor of the family but Mrs. Roland."

Charles A Roland was born in 1837, the son of John & Maria (Weidler) Roland.

In 1862, he served in Co B 3rd Regiment.  He was listed as married, age 27, in the draft.

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