Valley Girl Views: Mystery Of The Mine - Murder in Mausdale, 1900

This article, identical in content but with variations in the headline, ran in papers across the nation in the first half of October 1900. Locally, it was included in the Sunbury Gazette.

J.W Keller confessed to seven murders, before he was executed in Oklahoma. Listed in his confession was a man from Mausdale, killed 27 years earlier.

In December of 1872, John Beachem, a miner was inspecting the mouth of an old mine near Mausdale, when he observed a wall of stones built up inside the mouth of the mine.

When he pulled away the stones, the face of a dead man stared up at him, the body having been covered by small branches.

Imprints of fingers around the mans neck made it clear that he had been choked in a struggle. Described as Tall and slim, of middle age, with a black mustache, the man was dressed in four shirts - three muslin, and an undershirt. He also wore two pairs of pants, and a summer overcoat.

The condition of the victims legs made it clear that he had been dragged a good ways.

The Sunbury Gazette, in December of 1872 (definitely 1872, not 73), reported that the body was believed to be that of a German Catholic priest, who had formerly visited the area.

"Altogether, there is a terrible mystery surrounding this no doubt brutal murder."

According to D.H. Bower, the victim was Bernard, "Barney" Westdossal. Westdossal had been a lieutenant in the Prussian Army, before beginning studies to enter the priesthood. He "fell on hard times" and came to America, where he was selling photos, before he was murdered.

For years, not a clue was to be found. When Bower published his Biographical & Historical Sketches of Danville in 1881, he included the "Mystery Of The Mine", and mentioned that a convicted murderer in a "Western State" had confessed to murdering Westdossal for his gold watch. This confession was long before the 1900 confession by Keller. Although Bower doesn't mention it, the first confession was not widely believed, as it "lacked detail, and coincidence", according to the local papers. It is Bower's version of the outcome that is repeated in local papers for the "historical notes" in the 1930's and 1940's.

Twenty eight years later, "J.W. Keller" (Or I.W. Keller) was executed in "Oklahoma". Before he faced the gallows, he confessed to seven murders, including the killing in Mausdale Pa. He provided details regarding Westdossal's gold watch and the location, and it was known that Keller had lived in the Mausdale area at the time.

Newspapers throughout the United States ran similar articles, announcing that the murder in Mausdale, the "Mystery Of The Mine", had been solved. Unfortunately, none gave further details. Who were the other 6 victims? Who was J.W. (Or I.W. ) Keller? Was the murderer executed in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, or Oklahoma, USA?

Danville, Montour County By D.H. Bower, 1881

Today with a goal to get through a specific stack of items, and I gave myself a limited time to research this. I found no Kellers on the list of those executed in Pennsylvania. I found a Keller accused of murder in Oklahoma state, having shot a man over a dispute over farmland. I found a Keller guilty of murder near Scranton Pa, but it was ruled manslaughter, and he was sentenced to just 5 years in the penitentiary, not death. I found a lot of Keller murder trials across the nation, actually. But none that seemed to fit.

I did not find an I.W. Keller, nor a J.W. Keller in the 1870 census who died in 1900, although there were several Keller families in Montour County in the 1870s.

Helen Keller, most definitely not the murderer, was entering university in 1900. Her story was on the front page of most papers, showing up in almost every search including the Keller name.

Hangings were big news. It was common for them to take up pages of local newspapers. It's very interesting to me that even in a quick search, I turned up nothing about a Keller execution in 1900

I found no mention of Bernard Westdossal in any record in Pennsylvania. That doesn't mean the records do not exist, just that none appeared in a quick search.

In other words, I have more questions than answers. But for today, I'm out of time. Please drop me a line if you happen to find more than I did today.

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