Volumes have been written about The Kintzler Murders at the foot of Jacks Mountain, near Walker Lake. The trials lasted for years, with 4 men convicted, and two hung in Snyder County for the crime. But even with all of the confessions, and witness reports, and trial transcripts - its still not clear exactly what happened that December week-end in 1877, nor is it known just how many people may have been involved in the crime.
On the morning of December 8th 1877, neighbors noticed a large fire at the home of John & Gretchen Kintzler. And yet, none of the neighbors rushed to the scene. Fires were not uncommon, and John Kintzler was an intimidating man who did not welcome others onto his property. "Kintzler was over 7 feet tall, muscular, morose, and hated by his neighbors for his prowess and ill tempered disposition." According to later testimony, it was hours before neighbors finally went to investigate, as the fire continued to burn.
When neighbors finally dared to investigate, the scene they found was horrific. Dead bodies, both human and animal, were spotted in the log shack. A dog was tied to a nearby fence, and coins spilled out on the ground, many having been lodged in the walls of the house.
At first, neighbors assumed John had accidentally started the fire himself. It was known that he would not bother to cut the logs for his fire into small sections, but would rather place a long rail into the stove, propping the other end on a chair. As the fire burnt the end of the log, he would push it further in.
But shortly after a constable arrived on the scene, he convened a jury on the spot, and it was determined that the fire was arson, and that John & Gretchen Kintzler had been murdered.
Over the next five years, one man would confess to a woman (not his wife) in an attempt to get her to run away with him. The mistress of one of the other men would tell a bizarre tale of the events, and her story included many details that were later corroborated. Two brothers would insist on their deathbed that the murders occurred the day before the robbery and fire. One of the accused admitted to planning to kill the Kinzlers, along with yet another man, but insisted he was not involved on the night of the actual murders.
There were MANY witness statements and multiple confessions, and yet, those who confessed had completely different versions of the events.
Sent to the gallows, Jonathan & Uriah Moyer, brothers, were the only judicial hangings to occur in Snyder County. The gallows were sold at auction in the 1990s, and today can be found inside the Snyder County Historical Society.
Both brothers confessed to their role in the crime right before they were hung. But their confessions told a very different story than those told by Hartley and Ettinger, and papers hinted, for years, that there were others involved in the crime who had not been arrested.
With several conflicting confessions and stories, and much testimony from others in the town, it's still not clear exactly what happened that week-end in 1877, when three couples set out to pick up shoes from a shoemaker at 9pm on a December evening. What is clear is that Snyder Counties aged fortune tellers were murdered and robbed in a vicious, pre-meditated, attack..
A Google Map View of "The Foot Of Jacks Mountain" Today.
Route 235 is the "highway over the mountain to Laurelton"
And the creek on the far right, leading from the mountain to Walkers Lake is "Moyer's Mill Run"
The Kintzlers
John & Margaret "Gerty" Kinzler immigrated to America from Germany. John, a clock maker, settled in Lycoming Co. Pennsylvania where he purchased properties in Williamsport and Hepburn Twp. After the death of Gerty's parents the couple sold their properties and Gerty's interest in her father's farm, moving to Snyder County in 1859. The couple had no children, and were in their 70s in December of 1877. The Selinsgrove Times reported that the Kintzlers made their living by telling fortunes, and "many persons, particularly young folks" visited their home, which is at odds with the many statements stating that John did not like visitors or "trespassers" on his property. However, it was well known that they made a "good bit of change" by telling fortunes, and they bore the reputation of having a good bit of money about them..
Some accounts stated that at the time of their murders, they had as much as $10,000 (Roughly 340,000 in todays money) hidden in their home. It was well known that the couple had received $1,600 from "relatives in Lycoming County", possibly from the sale of their properties there, or from an inheritance from Gerty's parents.
Kintzler was known for never making change of money in anyone's presence, not even to pay the tax collector. He would say instead that he would pay the next day, and when the next day came, he would have the exact amount of money needed.
The Kintzler house was plainly built, with hewn pitch pine logs surrounding a simple floor made of boards. It sat on 10 acres, surrounded by split rail fencing with a barn behind the house, on the hill. On the south side of the house, the Kintzlers kept a small garden, and a crumbling wagon-maker’s shop stood just to the east.
The house sat on the slopes of Jack’s Mountain, a ridge that runs some seventy miles from Huntingdon County to Snyder County. [see map above] The landscape was a combination of dense woods and fenced-in farmland and the Kintzler cabin was less than 400 yards from the main path, today route 235, that led over the mountain from Troxelville to Laurelton. The entire mountain slope was dotted with huckleberries; residents who lived down in town walked up to pick them in the summer.
At Jonathan Moyer’s December 1880 trial Jacob Schrader told the jury, “It was an old house and an old door.” The Schraders were the Kintzlers nearest neighbors, to the southeast, and the Erbs, to the northwest. In Erb's trial, testimony stated that the Kintzlers would never sleep at the same time. One would sleep, while the other kept watch.
The Lewisburg Chronicle was not flattering in their description of the Kintzler home. "The house they occupied was a small log concern, having only one room and an entry, and they lived more like swine than human beings. He had two or three guns, always loaded, and about the same number of pistols and an equal number of dogs. In the line of defense, he seemed well prepared to meet a formidable attack."
John had a fierce reputation. At 77 years old, he was strong, muscular, and intimidating. His wife Gerty was much smaller, and known to be more welcoming and friendly than her husband.
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, when summarizing the case on appeal, wrote this about the couple:
John Kintzler and Gretchen, his wife, were German people, who owned and lived in a one-and-a-half-story log house and a few acres of mountain land in a wild and secluded location in Adams townships, Snyder County, Pennsylvania. They lived almost entirely to themselves, made no friends, and repelled social intercourse. They guarded their premises, which they scarcely ever left, by watch-dogs and firearms. They gained the reputation of possessing and hoarding money, which they kept in a box buried in the ground under where the bed stood, covered by a trap-door in the floor.
From the Beers 1867 Map of Snyder County
Note Moyer's Mill to the right, and to the left near the top, the property of "I. Erb".
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The Fire
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The Fire
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On Sunday morning, December 8th 1877, at around 1:30 in the morning, the neighbors heard gunfire in the direction of the Kintzlers log house, and shortly afterwards they saw a fire.
But none of them rushed to the scene. "Kintzler was such a formidable and terrible fellow that they were afraid to approach his house, he never allowing any person to enter his house unless first well satisfied what the object and purpose was."
Eventually, curiosity got the best of the neighbors, and they ventured over before the house was completely burned down.
The papers were graphic in their description of the scene, and I'll leave the articles below for those who wish to read them. It was a horrifying scene, with both humans and animals victims of the fire.
"Inside the walls of the house no less than 2,500 cents (an amount of roughly $500 today) were found, that had fallen out of the cracks between the logs where they had been concealed, and a good many more, it was supposed, were carried away by people who had come to view the spectacle."
Blood was found on the ground and near the house, but as the couple had been butchering the week before, it was unclear at the time if the stains were related to a crime.
The Kintzlers had a wood stove with which they heated their home, but rather than cutting the wood short, Mr Kintzler would put pieces as long as a rail into the fire, letting one end rest on a chair. As the wood was consumed in the fire, he would shove it in further. "Under the circumstances, it is hard to conclude whether the fire was murder, or an accident" reported the Lewisburg Chronicle.
A jury was summoned an inquest was held, the opinion being that a murder had been committed. The jury was correct, as four men and one mistress would later confess.
The Snyder County Gallows, built for the hanging of the Moyer Brothers, were disassembled after the hanging of Uriah Moyer. In 1995, they were sold at public auction, for nearly $9,000. The high bidder donated the gallows to the Snyder County Historical Society, where they can be seen today.
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The Principal Characters
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"Then he [Lyons] asked who was accused for this crime and the latter [Israel Erb] replied that he, Uriah Moyer, Jonathan Moyer, Emmanuel Ettinger, Mary Hartley and Ellen Moyer"
Emmanuel Ettinger
Emmanuel Ettinger born in Snyder County in 1857, a son of George B. & Sophia (Booney) Ettinger. By the time he was 20 years old Emanuel Ettinger was living in the home of Jonathan Moyer and his family. He was visited often by his mistress Mary Hartley and she would sometimes stay overnight.
Emmanuel Ettinger born in Snyder County in 1857, a son of George B. & Sophia (Booney) Ettinger. By the time he was 20 years old Emanuel Ettinger was living in the home of Jonathan Moyer and his family. He was visited often by his mistress Mary Hartley and she would sometimes stay overnight.
"Ettinger was a thouroughly bad man, a type of western road agent, who would hold up and kill his victim for a farthing." - The Post, 1917
"Ettinger was a short, well built man, a veritable criminal with the retreating forehead Shakespeare delineates as a sign of criminal propensity. It was on a hazy Saturday afternoon, October 2nd I think, 1880 that Mr. Dill delivered his famous speech to the jury in defense of Ettinger, the prisoner himself by instinct a reckless imp, sitting idly by and chewing tobacco in great quantities, seemingly enjoying the play." - William K.Miller, Esq
"Thoroughly illiterate, he was yet, the most cunning prisoner who ever faced a jury."
After being apprehended in Michigan, on the train ride back to Pennsylvania, Ettinger stole a hairpin from Mary Hartley while her and the detective slept. He used it to pick the locks on his "bracelets" [handcuffs], walked out the door of the train and leapt off. Once finally locked in the penitentiary, he threatened to kill his cell mate in a quarrel, drawing a knife and saying he'd "as soon kill a man when angry as not.".
Mary Hartley ("The Mistress")
By the time of the murders, the eighteen-year-old Mary was living under several roofs, splitting her time with her father, with her brother Sam, who lived in Troxelville, and with her lover, Emanuel Ettinger.
During Jonathan Moyer’s 1880 trial, his attorney lingered on Mary’s living arrangements, likely trying to undercut her testimony by implying that she was morally corrupt. Over the objections of Mary’s lawyer, Jonathan’s counsel asked her with whom she went to bed on the night before the murders. Mary answered, “I think you all know it.”
A "dissolute woman" who "degraded her sex by going the way of derelicts."
When Dill, a lawyer in the trial against Ettinger closed his speech he shook his fist in the direction where she sat and said : "And her feet stand in hell."
"Mary Hartley was probably 22 or 23 years old when in Court. Her powers of discernment and narrative were marvelous. Frail, slender and unschooled, she tracked out the course for the Commonwealth."
Perry Bickhart
There's a Perry Bickhart in the 1870 census in Snyder County, born about 1859. He's residing in the home of Mary and Hugh Dobbs in 1870, along with two other children: Charles Brunner and Frances Keister. In 1877, Perry would have been about 18 years old.
"On this occasion Perry was to do the killing He got down close to the house behind a haystack and had the gun pointed around the end of the stack toward the door. We then a noise above the house in the woods thinking that Kintzler would come out to see what was wrong then Bickhart was to shoot him ." - From Uriah Moyers Confession
The men were scared away that time by a noise, and Bickhart was not along on the Week-End of the fire at the Kintzler home. On the way home from this failed attempt, Bickhard and Ettinger, with Uriah Moyer as lookout, entered a church and stole a bottle of wine, a communion cup, and plate.
By the time of the actual murder, Bickhart had reportedly "gone south".
Uriah Moyer, and his wife Lucie
Uriah Moyer was born ca. 1837, a son of Michael Moyer and his wife Caroline Haines. The family owned a mill property six miles west of the village of Penns Creek on the road to Troxelville. Uriah and his wife and children lived on the opposite side of the road from the mill. He was a veteran of the Civil War.
"Uriah spoke little English, which was not a liability for residents of the central part of the state. He spoke “Pennsylvania Dutch,” as did many people in the area. Others spoke more mainstream German, which allowed for daily exchanges. Moyer, who was in his late thirties at the time of the murders, was in debt. He owed money on a note in the Mifflinburg bank, and Jacob Moyer would later testify in court that Uriah asked him to help him kill the Kintzlers and take their money."
Uriah Jacob Moyer married Lucy Ann Musser on December 22 1859.
Lucy was a daughter of George & Sarah Musser. They had children William, James, Ida, Lucy, Charles & George. In October 1879 their house was burned down in a case of arson which was never solved. Shortly thereafter they moved to the vicinity of Schoolcraft, Michigan. In November 1881 Uriah was arrested and returned to Pennsylvania to be tried for the murder of Gretchen Kintzler in December 1877. He was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. After his execution Lucy was married to Gideon Beebe ca. 1886. For a time they lived in Mishawaka, Indiana and then came to Marcellus. After Gideon's death she lived with her son William in Benton Harbor.
"Uriah Moyer had a peculiarly grizzled, wild, and staring look. His crime evidentially haunted him, In looks, demeanor, and presence he was the very opposite of his brother Jonathan." - William K.Miller, Esq
Jonathan Moyer (Brother of Uriah) and wife Elle
Jonathan Moyer was born in 1849, making him 28 years old at the time of the murders. He was a miller, continuing the family business. He lived on the site of his mill, about two miles southeast of the Kintzler cabin. It was known around Troxelville that Moyer was in debt. He owed $420 (more than $10,000 today) to the Home Building Association in Lewisburg. His knowledge of the money supposedly held in the Kintzlers’ cabin made him an suspect.
In 1877 he was married to Ellen (“Ell”) Whittenmeyer and had three children - Ammon, "Carrie", and Oscar. In 1880, Jonathan claimed his wife had "lost affection for him", and he was attempting to get Mrs Sallie Bingaman to run away with him, to move west and live with him as his wife. She encouraged his attention, at the behest of Detective Lyons, to obtain a confession from him.
"[Jonathan] appearing in court for trial arrayed in a neat suit of broadcloth, with a long black coat, a man of fair skin, quiet, self possessed, mild mannered, would have impressed an impartial onlooker something not unlike an itinerant pastor traveling the circuit administering to the wants of his flocks." - William K.Miller, Esq
Elle died of tuberculosis just 117 days after her husband had been executed. Two of the couples sons visited the prison before Jonathan's execution, but Elle was too ill to visit.
Israel Erb
A shoemaker and neighbor of the Kintzlers, he was 59 years old at the time of the crime. He was well known to have a long standing feud with Kintzler, and discussed having John killed on many occasions before the crime.
Annie Erb was the granddaughter of Israel, she lived with her grandfather, being raised by him.
Israel Erb, 59 years old, had his enemies in the Troxelville area. At trial, Mark Hufnagle stated that when Israel and his wife, Sarah, saw the Kintzler house burning before dawn on December 8, he said that he would not go over to investigate. If he was associated with the scene, Israel said, there were “some bad people in the neighborhood” who would blame him. Sarah denied in court that Israel had ever said such a thing.
The Detective - Lyons
Detective Lyons was a well known, and every successful, detective from Berks County. He frequently worked undercover, as he did in this case, to obtain information and confessions.
During the trial, it was revealed that Lyons had been indicted for murder, bounty jumping, forgery and more during the war times, while acting as a Federal Marshall. It made for a sensational day of court proceedings, but in the end, it was determined that Lyons was a man of "good reputation".
December 1881
Joseph Moyer, brother of Uriah & Jonathan, was suspected in unrelated murders that had occurred in the same area. In some articles there is mention of Joseph being involved in the Kintzler murders as well, but it appears that he was completely ruled out as a suspect in that case.
J.G. Moyer, cousin of Uriah and Jonathan,
J.G. Moyer, cousin of Jonathan Moyer, testified in December 1880 that Jonathan had told him that no one in the vicinity would miss the Kintzlers if they died. J.G. also said that Jonathan remarked that his problems would be over if he had the kind of money that he suspected the Kintzlers of hoarding in their cabin.
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The Mistresses Confession
Mary Hartley's Story
Or, Version #1 Of The Events
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When Mary told her tale, it was one of shocking brutality and remorseless scheming.
On the evening of Friday, December 7, Sam sent his sister Mary to enlist Emanuel Ettinger’s assistance in butchering. Ettinger lived under the same roof as Jonathan Moyer, next to a saw mill and grist mill that Moyer’s family owned. After spending the night with Emanuel and following day with Jonathan and Ell, Mary said that she left Moyer’s at 9 PM on the night of Saturday, December 8.
In the opening of her testimony, Hartley explained her rather unconventional living situation.
Accompanying her were Jonathan, Emanuel, and Ellen Moyer.
Along the way, in a cornfield a quarter-mile above Jonathan’s house, they picked up Uriah Moyer, whom they found in the field. Jonathan Moyer asked his brother, Uriah, if he had fetched Lucie (Lucie is the spelling most often used in the local papers) shoes from Erb, and when Uriah said he had not, he said they were going to have Ellen measured for shoes and he should come along to pick up Lucie's shoes.
The party of 5 then continued on through the woods, by "the path to old Boney's". According to Mary, this was a narrow path, and they often walked single file. Along the way Ettinger stopped to carve a club out of a tree branch, something that no one appeared to question.
They then continued o to the path near old Kintzlers house, where they met Israel Erb. In Mary's version of the events, Erb had been out hunting racoons, and had lost his dogs. Jonathan asked if Erb could mend a pair of shoes for his wife Ell, and Erb said yes, to come along to the house.
As the group came to the fence near Kintzlers house, Jonathan and Emanuel said they should be quiet, because Kintzlers dogs might bite them. Ettinger, Erb, and the two Moyer brothers then went over the fence towards the Kintlzer home, saying they would look and see if the old man was in bed.
The men then crossed over to the house, broke a window and threw in a bottle of chloroform, before forcing their way into the house. Mary wondered what was going on, and Ell Moyer, wife of Jonathan, said she didn't know, just to stay there.
About that time Emmanuel brought a dog to the fence and tied him on the inside, towards the woods, and then he went back and made a fire on a big stone in front of the house. Next he pulled an axe from his vest and made a hole in the door, allowing him to reach in and open the door. The men then all rushed inside.
Mary and Ell ran to the house to see what was going on, and they saw John Kintzler laying on the floor. Gretchen Kintzler began to run from the house, when Emmanuel hit her over the head with a large club. She fell to the floor, landing on her back.
The men scraped up about a tea-cup of blood in to a crock, throwing it in the woods. They said that after the fire covered their tracks, it would be assumed from the blood that the couple had been murdered outside of the house. Details about the crock were used to confirm Mary's story, when the crock was discovered in the nearby woods years later.
Erb said the money was hidden under the bed, and when Emmanuel and Jonathan moved the bed, there was a lid made of floorboards covering a hole in the floor. Erb held a light while Emmanuel and Jonathan pulled out a box. They poured the money from the box into a crock, throwing the pennies out and leaving the box in the house.
After the money was divided, Erb & Uriah Moyer left together, to get Lucie's shoes.
Jonathan and Emmanuel went to the barn and left the cattle out. They gathered up leaves and sticks, and took them inside the house, where they used them to start the fire.
"It was through the half-opened door, by the flicker of Israel’s pine torch, that Mary saw an incapacitated John Kintzler on the floor and witnessed Emanuel hit Gretchen over the head three times with a club that he had cut from a tree limb just a few minutes earlier. Of the four men, it was Israel who knew where the couple’s money was (under the bed). Mary said that they got the money, scraped up a pool of Gretchen’s blood in a crock that Emanuel had found outside, poured the blood in the grass, then tossed the crock into the woods, and went outside to divide up the money into two lots. Israel and Uriah left first, continuing on the northwest route toward the Erb farm. Jonathan and Emanuel started a fire in the house with leaves and wood. As the four of them fled back the way they had come, they heard John Kintzler’s gun discharge from the heat of the fire. The woods were lit up with the growing blaze. They were back to Jonathan’s house by 3 AM."
Hartley’s story led to the immediate arrest of Erb and the two Moyers. Erb and Uriah Moyer were tried for the murder of John Kintzler and acquitted that winter. Given the result of those cases, the state’s attorneys decided not to prosecute Jonathan Moyer further…until Mrs. Sallie Bingaman offered additional testimony two years later.
The Moyer Homestead, which stood beside the mill. The Mill had been torn down when this photo was taken, but the two round pieces to the right are the millstones.
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The Confessions Of
Jonathan Moyer
When He Says Harley's Statements are True
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Detective Lyons coached Sallie Bingaman on how to obtain a confession from Jonathan, as it was known that she had "run away with his affections". Sarah "Sallie" M. (Schriner) was the wife of Perry Binagman.
Mrs Bingaman swore that in 1878 Jonathan Moyer desired her to accompany him west. She replied she would on condition that he made a clean breast of his connection with the Kintzler murder. At first he denied participation, but in subsequent conversations with her admitted that he was one of the murderers and in the presence of Detective Lyon stated that the story of Mary Hartly was true.
He also told her that it she exposed him she would be served as Kintzler and his wife were. The testimony of Mary Hartly was to the effect that she had accompanied the four men charged with the crime and Mrs. Jonathan Moyer to the Kintzler house and saw the crime committed, the money taken from under the bed and divided and the house set on fire and burned. She also described the part the several persons concerned took in the crime.
In Sallie Bingaman's statement, Jim Ettinger and Joe Moyer were mentioned as not being at the scene, but "not being far off", with the implication being they were possibly involved in all of this as well.
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JONATHAN MOYERS CONFESSION
As Given Before His Hanging, 1882
Version #2 Of The Events
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The following story and part confession is from the lips of the Prisoner Jonathan Moyer himself :
Towards evening, on Saturday, Dec. 8, 1882, I left the house and went down to Uriah's house, here I helped Emanuel Ettinger to put away the butcher things. Emanuel told Luce, Uriah's wife, to get me a glass of wine. She did so and I kind of thought it strange that they should offer to treat me with wine for the little work I had done.
"We soon started for my house. As we were going along Emanuel said to me that he had something to tell me, that is if I would promise not to tell. I made him the promise that he wanted, and then he told me that they had killed the Kintzlers, and that they were going to rob them to-night, and wanted me to go along, that if we did not get the money somebody else would. At last I consented to go along.
We then went to my house and told the women, that is my wife [Elle] and Mary Hartley, that we were going out after rabbits, and if they wanted too they might go along. They got ready and we started. When we came near Uriah's house Emanuel went and told Uriah. He came and then we took the mountain road and made our way to old Kintzlers.
We met old Erb near the house and then we went to the house. The old man had been shot on the wood pile where the blood was found, and the old woman had been killed and dragged into the house and hid there near the partition. We proceeded to hunt for money, and then divided it, I only got about twenty-five dollars, of which I only spent about two dollars of it and then my conscience troubled me and I hid the rest in the mountain. We then set fire to premises and the rest you know."
"What have you to say about- Mary Hartley's story of the murder?" he was asked.
"She don't know a thing about it, only as she afterwards heard it from Ettinger who was her beau, she never was there when the murdering was done."
"How do you account for Mary Lepley's evidence, she testified that she was in the house on Saturday evening of the fire, and that she did not see anything of the old folks anywheres in or about the house," he was next asked. "I can't tell, she could not looked very much or she would certainly have seen something of them," he answered.
Included is a ticket for admission to view the hanging of Uriah Moyer
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The Confession of the murder
of John Kintzler and his wife Gretchen
by Uriah Moyer who was executed March 7th 1883
As given to his spiritual adviser, Rev. A. H. Spangler
Version #2 Of The Events, Reiterated
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" Never thought of murder until Israel Erb spoke to me about the killing of John Kintzler. Sometime before the murder how long I don now recollect but a considerable length of time before he asked me if I could kill any body. I told him no.
He then said that old Kintzler had a great deal of money that a man brought some for the old woman [referring to the $1600 brought from Lycoming County], that old John was dissatisfied and the man came to stay with him all night and told him his business Erb said he had seen a great deal of money before that he stole a kettle from his son Moses that he had the money in that buried under the floor beneath the bed. He said that old John was a mean old devil that he called him a rail thief and b f and that he would like to see him killed. He said further that he was no good to anybody that he had no friends to hunt it up if he was killed and that a person would be perfectly safe in doing it. After I told him I would not help Erb said you keep your mouth shut about this I wonder if Jake Moyer could be got to help I said I did not know but I would not help.
After Erb left I sat down and studied about what Erb said That Kintzler had no friends and thought it was true. Then the devil entered my heart and I was willing to go along but not kill I never agreed to do any killing. Sometime after that Erb on his way to the mill passed by where I was either hewing posts or splitting wood I cannot recollect which I then told him I would go along to do that now. Erb said you mean to kill old John I said yes . He then said we don't need to kill the old woman we can lay in the woods above the house and then when old John comes up to let off the water to run it over his land we can shoot him and then tie our faces up so the old woman would not know us which would scare her and she would tell us where all the money was.
Or he said that both might be killed as old John threatened to kill some of his neighbors and then burn up his house and himself with it I then told Emanuel Ettinger of the conversation that passed between me and Erb and he agreed to go along and do his part. So Emanuel and I were there and watched in the woods at different times but never got sight of John Kintzler
One day when we were watching Tob Mitchel came walking up to us. In order to deceive him we looked up into a tree and told him that a pheasant had flown into one of the trees and we could not see it. We then left.
Shortly after this in the some we were joined some evening, Perry Bickhart. Ettinger and myself went to Kintzlers. On this occasion Perry was to do the killing He got down close to the house behind a haystack and had the gun pointed around the end of the stack toward the door. We then a noise above the house in the woods thinking that Kintzler would come out to see what was wrong then Bickhart was to shoot him. After we were there sometime I thought I heard somebody walking and told Ettinger . He said that nobody was near and that I was a coward. I then thought that boy was standing behind a tree who would be sure to tell if anything happened so I whistled which was a signal of danger to Perry who came up to where. We then shook hands and made vows never to reveal what had happened.
I then saw Emanuel Ettinger and we made out to go there on a Friday evening the date of the month I do not know. On the Tuesday before I went into the woods where my brother Jonathan was splitting wood and told him what we were going to do. I asked him to go along. He said that he must go to Kreb's to butcher Friday and at any rate he did not want to go along. I then went home.
Just as I turned the can to pour out the water Ettinger fired. Kintzler turned toward the house immediately. Ettinger intercepted him and a severe struggle ensued. I started to run up through the lot got to the fence and looked back just as Ettinger dispatched the old man. He came running up the lot toward where I was I beckoned him with the hand to go back. I meant to kill the old woman for I knew that she would tell on us. He turned ran back and met the old lady right inside the door. He struck her once with the gun when she sank to the floor He then came to where I was. We waited long enough for any one in the neighborhood who might have heard it to appear on the scene. When all danger was past we both went back into the house. After we entered I heard the old lady breathe very heavily when I said to Ettinger My God the old woman is not dead. He then said I must finish it now. He then took a stick of wood and struck her several times. We then hunted for money but not very long We thot we heard some one coming when Ettinger kicked the lid off a chest or box of some kind. We grabbed what was in it and ran. We had nothing but watch crystals and a few trinkets. Not a cent of money.
By a this time it was dark. We then went home I to my house Ettinger to my brother Jonathan's for that was who is he was working at the time. The next day Saturday I butchered. After the hogs were killed and the lard was on the fire for rendering I took a pair of shoes and went over to Israel Erb. I thought if the thing was known I would find it out. Erb and I did not speak of it that afternoon.
When I returned home Jonathan and Ettinger were at my house. They had finished rendering the lard and put away the meat. I had some wine in the cellar at the time. They had drank of it pretty freely. We waited until after dark when we three started for Kintzler's. I don't know what time we got there but would suppose it to have been about 9 o clock We then got light and began to search for the money. We hunted high and low in every place we thought there might be some but found only seventy five dollars. 75.00 either few cents more or a few cents less. Jonathan found an old coffee pot in the west corner up stairs under the bed It contained something like fifty two dollars. Ettinger found a paste board box with something like twenty dollars in it. The largest piece of money found a five dollar bill which was in the coffee pot. The next largest was dollar in coin. The coffee pot had a great many pennies in it. The paste board box had all silver coin in it.
After we had hunted several hours and found no more we made preparations to leave. I split kindling while Jonathan and Ettinger carried the old man into the house. We then kindled a fire under the bed piled wood on it and left. Besides the money we took with us some upper leather, a small compass, and I think that Jonathan had a small pair of pincers. We then went to my house I got a light. We went to the cellar and there counted and divided the money. I would never have consented to the murder had I not been influenced by Erb and sorely pressed for money."
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Israel Erb
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At Erb's trial in December of 1878, Paul Ettinger [brother of Emmanuel] testified that Israel Erb had on at least 3 occasions offered him money to shoot Kintzler.
According to Ettinger, Erb was afraid of Kintzler. "Erb said that Kintzler was so cross at him that he accused him of stealing his rails and he was afraid that every time he brought his horse from his sons he had to lead him. He said the old man had threatened to shoot him."
At Israel's trial, several witnesses testified that Erb was afraid of Kintzler, and he had spoken of ideas on how to kill Kintzler on several occasions.
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The Deathbed Confession of
Emmanuel Ettinger
Emmanuel Ettinger
Given after he administered himself poison, to avoid the gallows
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Ettinger confessed to committing both of the murders, and swore Jonathan assisted only in carrying the corpse of Kintzler into the house and robbing the premises. He claimed Erb was not involved.
"Emmanuel Ettinger is buried in an unmarked grave in the yard of the old Ettinger homestead, not far from Weikel's Mill"
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Addressing The Discrepancies
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Both versions of the story raise questions.
At trial, Dr Barber testified that a bottle of chloroform the size of which Mary Hartley described, would have been insufficient to incapacitate the homes residents. It was also thought unlikely that John Kintzler would have remained silent and not put up a fight, and also unlikely that the dogs would have been silent.
Mary Snook said that she visited the home of the Kintzlers at sundown the evening before the fire, to take them sausage. The couple was not home, and when she looked for them in the barn, one cow was loose in the yard, and one was in the stable. If they had been murdered the day before the fire, why did she not see the bodies?
Mary Snook said that she visited the home of the Kintzlers at sundown the evening before the fire, to take them sausage. The couple was not home, and when she looked for them in the barn, one cow was loose in the yard, and one was in the stable. If they had been murdered the day before the fire, why did she not see the bodies?
The Statement of Mary (Lepley) Snook
Mary Lepley became Mary Snook, by marriage.
Her statement in Court was as follows:
She lived along the mountain road above Kintzlers leading across into Union county.
She left her home late Saturday toward evening December 8th 1877 the fateful day to take a fresh sausage down to Kintzlers. By a short cut across an open patch of ground leading to Kintzlers she reached there shortly before dark. The place was deserted. An unusual circumstance. They had never been known to leave the place both at the same time.
In February of 1918, William K. Miller, District Attorney and frequent contributor to the post, wrote an article addressing some of the discrepancies in Uriah's confession. As Miller wrote in 1918, "Uriah Moyer's alleged confession is at direct variance with Mary Hartley's evidence as to the details of the killing. Moyer does not deny the murder. His statement differs from the Hartley one. They lead to the same result."
Miller believed that "the statement of a man doomed to death would be taken as verity, "yet murderers face the specter of the gallows and the yawning grave with lies upon their lips."
A couple of the discrepancies from the trials were addressed by Spangler when he first took Uriah's Confession. In that statement, Spangler asked Uriah about Miss Lepley visiting the cabin and not spotting the Kintzlers, who by Uriah's account were already dead, and he also asked about the dog. Uriah gave satisfactory explanations of both:
Mary Hartley's statement was to the effect that on the night of the murder, she accompanied Ettinger, Jonathan and Uriah Moyer, Ell Moyer Jonathan's wife, and Israel Erb to the scene. There Ettinger took from under his vest a doubled bitted axe with a handle six inches long hacked hole in the door broke a pane in the window threw into the room a small vial of chloroform entered the house and slew both inmates.
In Uriah's confession, only him and Ettinger were present for the murder, with a group of them going back the following day to arrange the bodies, look for money, and burn the evidence of their crime.
Hartley testified in great detail about the dog tied to the stake, pennies found in the fire, lumps of molten silver, of the crock Ettinger used to scoop up blood, and she identified the shingle used by Ettinger to hide his plunder on the mountain side. Too many of her details could be verified, for her story to be completely discounted.
When apprehended in Michigan, Ettinger confessed to Detective Lyons, and according to the detective, his confession corroborated Hartley's story.
The inconsistencies have never been adequately explained, but neither is there any explanation given for the two versions of the crime. One possible indication of motive for Uriah's version may possibly, and only possibly, be found in a notice about his execution:
"He [Uriah] said his brother Joseph was not present.
There are several mentions in local papers that Joseph was not involved, so this could mean nothing at all. It's worth noting however, that Israel Erb claimed "many others" were involved in the crime.
On the other hand, one history reports that Ettinger changed his story, on his deathbed:
"The night before his death he told a pastor that he and Uriah Moyer killed the Kintzlers on the night of December 7th and that Jonathan Moyer was only present on the next night when they went back to look for money and burn the house. He also stated that Israel Erb, Mary Hartley and Jonathan Moyer's wife were not present either time."
The Building that served as the Snyder County Jail in 1887
Located at 113 W. Market St, this building of heavy mountain stone in the back and brick in the front was the counties first building, and served as the prison for Snyder County.
The jail was in the rear, with four cells - two downstairs and two upstairs. The sheriff and his family lived in the front, brick, section of the building.
The structure was used as a prison from 1855-1886, when so many prisoners escaped that the people of the county demanded a new building.
Snyder County Prison Records 1880
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The Convictions, And Hangings
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"Just beyond the roadway leading past Moyer's Mill in Adams township, by the side of a fence, once by courtesy enclosing a garden, in a mass of tangles weeds, shrubs and a dense growth of thickets, a smiling book lending something of romance to the scene, is the spot where rest the mortal remains of two brothers who paid the penalty of the scaffold years ago, for a cruel murder." - The Post, 1917
Sunbury, May 31.
The Sunbury Daily learns that Detective William Y. Lyons, with the assistance of Maj. Emanuel Clay Hamilton, has succeeded in arresting Uriah Moyer, Emanuel Ettinger and Mary Hartley at Schoolcraft, Michigan, for the murder of John Kintzler and his wife in Snyder County, in December 1877
. A number of others implicated in the affair are now confined in the jail at Middleburg. John Erb, a son of Israel Erb, has become insane; he is laboring under the delusion that he is to be hung without a trial.
Several of the persons mentioned above were arrested soon after the murders on suspicion, and were put on trial on a single indictment for the murder of the old man; but were acquitted.
Detective Lyons has since been working unremittingly on the case. He had some persons to go on the ground where the murder was committed, ostensibly to build a furnace. Some of the suspected persons were employed to dig where the imaginary foundation was to be laid, and by means of the various subterfuges employed by detectives among ignorant criminals, evidence enough was gathered to warrant their arrest along with those who had fled to the west.
Of course, those who were tried for the murder of the old man can't be tried on that charge again, but can and will be tried on the charge of murdering Mrs. Kintzler. There appears to be no doubt that the right parties have all been arrested.
October 1881
Ettinger, Poisoned Himself To Avoid Hanging
In October of 1880, Ettinger was tried for murder. When the guilty verdict was read, "Ettinger, his swarthy countenance taking on a sallow hue, sickened for an instant but quickly recovered himself and seemed to find solace in emitting huge spurts of heavy brown tobacco juice. "
The following February he was sentenced to death, with the judge naming him as the principle perpetrator. Ettinger had repeatedly boasted the he would never be hung - and apparently, he had a plan to make sure he kept his word.
During the winter he became ill in jail but after some months he began to improve until he was found dead in his cell in October.
The night before his death he told a pastor that he and Uriah Moyer killed the Kintzlers on the night of December 7th and that Jonathan Moyer was only present on the next night when they went back to look for money and burn the house. He also stated that Israel Erb, Mary Hartley and Jonathan Moyer's wife Elle were not present either time.
After his death and burial many rumors were spread about how he had died. His body was exhumed and the cause of death was determined to be poisoning, which was most certainly self administered.
The cause of his death was reported to be Tuberculosis, Strycchnine, "poison hidden on his body while out west", and in one 1937 newspaper it was reported to be from "eating ground glass" while in prison.
Jonathan Moyer - First Hanging In Snyder County
Jonathan Moyer was hung on March 24 1882 - the first judicial hanging in Snyder County.
The Middleburgh post reported "Our small borough literally swarmed with people from all parts of the county and from adjoining counites. As the hour for the execution drew nigh, access to the jail was scarcely possible, and those holding permit who arrived late and even the Jury of Inquest could barely effect and entrance."
The Drop
At ll:25 the Sheriff adjusted the noose, the prisoner saying firmly, "Good-bye," his last words. The white cap was then drawn down over his face, and the trap spring at 11:26 am
Owing to one of the supports not having been removed in time, the doors did not fall at once but partly sunk, and fell only after the remaining support had been removed. Although the delay was only momentary it prevented the breaking of Moyer's neck, and death ensued at 11:35, or 9 1/2 minutes after the trap was sprung. The rope, ? inch manila, had a fall of 32 inches. After Moyer had been pronounced dead, a collection was taken up for Mover's children. At about 11.45 Moyer's coffin was brought in, the body was taken down and laid in it, and thus ended the first judicial hanging in Snyder county, and would to God it were compatible with justice that it may be the last.
Uriah Moyer, Hanged
In November 1881, Detective W.Y. Lyon of Reading captured Uriah Moyer near Schoolcraft, Michigan. Lyon took Moyer by train back to Snyder County to stand trial.
When his death sentence was read aloud in court, Uriah Moyer maintained his innocence. “Mary Hartley lied the whole time,” Moyer declared, “And Lyons lied as to what he said. He said that I had killed old Mrs. Kintzler. It is a lie.”
Uriah Moyer was hung on March 7th 1883. Tickets were sold for the event.
By Jno F Yeisely
Notwithstanding the rapidity of his approaching doom Uriah Moyer has been gaining strength for the last week or ten days. On Tuesday evening Rev Spangler his spiritual adviser entered his cell and was surprised to find him sitting on his bed coolly watching the erection of the gallows.
This was the first time that Spangler's feelings got the better of him and he showed signs of emotion whereupon Moyer exclaimed, Don t get excited now Spangler as I am ready to die. I have gravely sinned and broken the law of my God and my country and I want to suffer as God directs.
He seemed in excellent spirits Before Mr Spangler left Moyer handed him a common little Chromo visiting card with the name of his sister Mrs Eliza Boganrief printed on it and requested to have it pinned on his breast after he was in his coffin. The doomed man retired to his rest about 9 o clock Tuesday evening. When asked whether he desired any one to sleep in his cell with him he declined saying that he thought it would not be necessary. He seemed to sleep soundly and the keeper says he only turned over in his bed once or twice during the night.
About daybreak he awoke and immediately arose. His first thing was to engage in prayer which he done several times afterwards. He said he felt much stronger than before and the Sheriff says the greatest change imaginable had taken place in him bearing up much braver than was ever expected .
Shortly after he arose the shackles were taken off of him and he was allowed the freedom of his cell. He partook of a hardy breakfast consisting of mush pudding bread pie cake coffee etc His unfortunate position did not effect his appetite.
During the early part of the morning he was shaved by his keeper At 8.15 the Lord's Supper was administered to him by his spiritual adviser. He requested the presence of Mrs Reichley [ the sheriffs wife?] in the early part of the morning and although it was disagreeable to the lady nevertheless she very kindly consented.
He paced his cell a good part of the morning stopping now and then to speak a word or two with those who were in the room with him. All morning the jail was besieged by a crowd anxious to get a view of the doomed man and the scaffold upon which he was to be hung.
Erb was visited about eight o clock and said he felt badly about the execution His cell looks out upon the scaffold but he said he could not bring himself to view the final scene in this dreadful occurrence
About 9 o clock the prisoner was visited by Rev's Shindle Edmunds & Herrold who spoke words of comfort to him also engaged in prayer and singing. About 8 o clock the prisoner was dressed in the suit in which he was to be hung. It was a dark suit with striped stockings and slippers lay down collar and necktie. This suit is the one in which he is to be buried. He did not put his coat on during the morning but walked about in his shirt sleeves.
The death warrant had been read to the prisoner about four weeks before just after it was received. The prisoner was thus spared having his spiritual thoughts broken in upon and was saved from all disagreeable reference to his death.
At 9 o clock the scaffold was put into order for the execution and the noose properly and carefully adjusted The jail yard is about twenty feet by thirty five and in the eastern part of that a tier of 12 seats for the accommodation of about 150 people was erected. The scaffold was directly in front of the prisoner and a good view could be commanded from it. The prisoner during the morning walked to the window several times and looked out upon it. He betrayed no emotion whatever when viewing it. The sheriff had seven special police appointed two for the jail yard two for the interior of the jail and three for the outside of the building. The sheriff had issued nearly four hundred passes for the execution and from the early part of the morning those holding passes began to enter and up to the time of the hanging was constant commotion occasioned by the moving around and co.versation. The sheriff was compelled to have ladders put up on the side of the jail wall and to place many holding passes upon the top of the wall. This was necessary on account of the want of room in the jail yard.
About 20 minutes of 10 o clock the aunt of the doomed man, Mrs Moyer [his mother, from other accounts] of Troxelville visited him. A short time afterwards his brother [Joseph] appeared. From six to eight persons were in the cell all the time from half past until the time of the execution. His conversation to these was of a spiritual nature altogether .He frequently expressed his willingness to die and said that he was prepared to meet his God and hoped to be saved. He said that he knew very well that he had broke the laws of man and and was prepared to pay the penalty.
From 10 30 on the crowd began to throng in and fill up the place of the execution. The sheriff unwillingly was compelled to put out one or two persons who behaved in an indecent manner. A disgraceful and confusion was being kept up nearly all the time by the assembled crowd defied the efforts of the sheriff and his police to subdue. Shortly after 10 o clock an immense crowd assembled outside the jail and it was only with the utmost difficulty that those holding passes were enabled to gain admittance. Many holding passes were unable to gain admittance
At 10 05 the condemned prisoner engaged in earnest prayer to his God to receive his soul. He remained engaged about 20 minutes
At exactly 11 02 the procession started for the gallows. The prisoner ascended the gallows with a firm step an opportunity was given him to speak when Moyer said Ettinger and myself were the only ones at the place on Friday evening my brother Jonathan was not along although they swore in court he was, The rest I have confessed. He then a said a prayer in german . He shook hands with the two ministers and kissed them The ministers then descended the gallows when he united and shook hands and also kissed sheriff Reichley he then said I thank the people for all they have done for me.
11 05 his hands and arms pinioned and then his legs. During this time he stood and cooly upon the breathless crowd. When the sheriff had pinioned him he whispered a few words to him The noose was then placed around his neck with the knot under his left arm. The white cap was drawn over his face and the sheriff descended from the scaffold.
In an instant the trap fell at precisely 11.08. Scarcely a shudder was seen to pass from his frame and death must have been instantaneous. With the exception of a slight twisting of the legs no motion was noticeable. The pulse beat very slowly and minutes after the fall of the drop he was pronounced dead by the physicians.
His hands immediately after the drop fell were slightly warm but strange to say after hanging a few minutes they increased in warmth In a short time the body was taken down and placed in a walnut coffin and then set out on the pavement where it was viewed by an immense crowd. When the drop fell the knot slipped to the back of the neck. The fall of the drop was 3 feet and 2 inches
The rope used in the Moyers hangings is on display at the Snyder County Historical Society.
Israel Erb
Israel was spared temporarily from the hangman's noose because both Ettinger and Jonathan Moyer stated before their deaths that he was not present at the time of the murders. After Uriah Moyer confirmed their statements Erb's sentence was commuted to life in prison. He died at the Eastern Penitentiary.
Name: Israel Erb
Received Age: 65
Birth Date: abt 1818
Birth Place: Snyder County
Residence Place: Snyder, Pennsylvania, USA
Received Date: 18 Jun 1883
Institution: Eastern State Penitentiary
Prisoner Number: A1709
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The Money
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Shrader testified that he picked up a "good may pieces of money", including 25 dollars in pennies and 5 cent pieces. He said coins were scattered around, with some in tin boxes.
Coins collected from the Kinzler Home, on display at the Snyder County Historical Society
In Uriah Moyer’s December 1881 trial, the Mifflin County man Daniel Smith testified that when he had bought a cow from John Kintzler several years before, the old man went under his bed to produce change from a box filled with money.
But according to the convicted men's testimony, none of them got much money. Jonathan Moyer admitted to receiving $25 (At little more than $700 today), of which he claims to have spent just $2, before his conscience bothered him and he buried the rest on the mountain.
Several newspaper accounts state that it was unknown how much money was carried off by onlookers at the fire, before the constable arrived.
In 1906, nearly $5,000 (roughly $150, 000 today) was discovered in a bank in New York City, in an account opened by John. A relative of Gerty was filing claim to the account.
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More Local History & Stories
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Of interest to me from a genealogical standpoint - the Moyer and Bingaman families were connected by marriage, with Henry Bingaman marrying Catherine Moyer. I need to do more research to ascertain exactly how Catherine may have been related to Uriah & Jonathan, but as they all lived right in the same neighborhood, this would have been a case very familiar to, and even connected with, our ancestors, although to my knowledge we were not directly related to the principals in the case.
Christina Moyer, who married Henry Bingaman, was one of four known children (although there were reported to be 16 children in total) of Jacob Moyer. Jacob Moyer came to Snyder County early in the 19th century. He owned land in Jack's Mountain, where he built a gristmill. This mill was an old landmark, standing a short distance north of the public road from Troxeville to Centerville. It was operated afterwards by his son Michael, and then by his grandson Joseph.
Uriah and Jonathan were sons of Michael Moyer, the mill operator. After the brothers were hung, they were buried on the property by the mill.
Not only were my ancestors related to the participants in the crime, but it was my ggg grandfather who wrote about it for the newspaper (he was the editor) and a variety of our ancestors lived in the immediate area of the crime.
Joseph Cummings, Court Stenographer "Wrote every word that fell in court"
The entire trial of Ettinger was published in the Harrisburg Patriot
In March of 1883, The Times reported: "Of the four men convicted of the murder of John Kintzler and his wife Gretchen, three are now dead." Jonathan Moyer was executed on March 24 1882, Emmanuel Ettinger died from "self administered poison" while in jail, and Uriah Moyer was hung on March 8 1883.
Israel Erb was still in jail in March of 1883, awaiting his death sentence.
The Lewisburg Chronicle, Dec 20 1877
From The Trials - Testimony About The Fire:
Jacob Shrader another one of the neighbors, was one of the first to visit the scene along with one of his sons, and his son in law Tobias Mitchell. After discovering the bodies, Shrader went to "old Erb's, who lived 25 rods from there. Israel Erb was at home and up, it was about half-past 6 in the morning.... Erb appeared willing to go to the fire, and he said nothing about seeing or being at the fire. There were fire in Erbs stove, the room was warm. Kintzlers house could be seen from Erb's, it is on the level, I think Erb's house is a little higher. The house was almost burned down, the two walls were consumed within 2 feet."
Mark Huffnagle testified that he lived half a mile from the Kintzlers. When she spotted the fire at 4:45 am, he headed over, stopping at the home of Israel Erb on the way. "I went to Erb" he said "when I passed I saw a fire in the stove and the door was not locked. I called him, I wanted him to go along. he did not like to go, he went half way and then stopped and said that if old Kintzler is mad he might shoot us, then he went back, and I went back home for breakfast. Annie Erb came after me. I went over to Israel Erbs. Jacob Schraeder and Moses Erb were there. I cant' tell how long it was before I went back. Erb came out of his bedroom when I called him, he had no coat or boots on. We then went to the burnt house."
At the trial, Benjamin Heimbach testified that Erb told him he was "on the ground first after the fire, at 4 o'clock in the morning". Erb told him that he was out to fee his horse in the morning when she saw the fire.
Erb gave a different story to Ellis Steininger, telling him that he was not home on the night of the fire, but when he came home, there was a horse standing in his yard. He went inside and found that it was the horse of Uriah Moyer, and that Moyer wanted his shoes mended. After warming himself, he put the horse away and fed him, then mended Uriah's shoes.
The Selinsgrove Times, March 8 1883
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This is an amazing story. I have "Lyons" in the area at that time so I am going to look for William Y. Lyons and see if he and I are related. Thank you for your wonderful research and writing.
ReplyDeleteWell done and thorough research! I have a Samuel Moyer (married Eve Kline) who left that area about 1854 eventually ending up in St Joseph County, MI - right next to where Uriah & co were arrested. No idea who his father/family was. Love to compare Moyer notes
ReplyDeleteThis is so interesting! I recently discovered my 4x great grandfather was Israel Erb. I submitted a genealogy request to Eastern State Penitentiary to see if they are able to obtain anymore information!
ReplyDelete