_____________________
|
_WILLIAM AUSBOURNE __|
| (1776 - 1859) |
| |_____________________
|
|
|--John J. AUSBOURNE
| (1819 - 1896)
| _BENJAMIN PRESTON ___
| | (1762 - 1827) m 1784
|_SYRINE PRESTON _____|
(1787 - 1870) |
|_DORCAS BROWN _______
(.... - 1793) m 1784
[971]
THE HORRIFIC McGINTY MURDER
One of the most famous and most troubling of local histories is the
story of Bob McGinty's murder of his estranged wife in 1854. As time has
passed, the facts of this bizarre episode have grown hazy and indistinct
behind the curtain of rumor. The Pioneer here reprints an accounting of
the murder first written in 1899, 45 years after the actual event, but
accurate to the best of our knowledge. - The Ghost of a Pioneer Devil
Briefly set forth the McGinty tragedy was as follows: Bob McGinty and
his wife quarreled and separated. She went to her father's home in
Washington township, Jones county, on the farm now owned by Mrs. William
Gavin Jr. Her father's name was Clark. One day in the fall of 1854,
"Bob" McGinty went to Dubuque and after selling his oats, got into a
fight and bit off a man's nose. He returned to his home (the present
Davis homestead, one and a half miles east of Cascade on the Garryowen
road. Some demon of deviltry possessed him, probably the result of
drink, and determined him to destroy his wife. He drove his team
attached to a wagon to the home of his wife's parents, where he demanded
his wife. Clark, Mrs. McGinty's father, drew a revolver and shot
McGinty. A struggle for the weapon ensued, and McGinty got it and shot
Clark twice. Once in the right groin and the second shot took off his
nose. Mrs. Clark finally landed on McGinty with a flat iron. This
brought a truce in the battle. In the meantime, Mrs. McGinty made
herself scarce, McGinty either saw her escape or imagined she did. At
any rate he left the Clark place and started in search of her. She had
fled to the home of Mrs. Marsh along the road, but that woman would not
let her in, fearing the vengeance of McGinty. The unhappy woman then ran
on. A few moments later McGinty appeared and commanded to know of Mrs.
Marsh the whereabouts of his wife. At first, she refused to tell him,
but when McGinty threatened her life she informed him that she had run
on. McGinty pursued the woman and finally overtook her and with a knife
literally hacked her in pieces.
After committing this atrocious deed, McGinty unhitched one of his
horses from the wagon and rode away through the wood's to his home. In
his path homeward was the river and its skirting of high bluffs. Over
one of these McGinty rode his horse, probably with the intent to end
his life. In this he did not succeed, as neither he nor the horse was
seriously hurt. It has been popularly related that the horse was killed,
but that is untrue. McGinty reached his house and told his younger
brother what he had done. He gave the boy some papers and $100 in money
and told him to ride to the home of his married sister, who then lived
on the farm where Mrs. James Dolphin, Sr. resides, and to tell her what
had occurred and to keep the money. The boy rode away on this errand.
No sooner had he gone than McGinty barricaded himself in the house
and lying down on the bed, emptied the contents of a shotgun into his
neck. A posse from Cascade, organized when old man Clark rode into town
and told the story of the tragedy, went to the McGinty farm and found
"Bob" pretty far gone. They loaded him into a wagon, but he died on the
road, near, the Parker residence on the Eastside. His remains were
buried on the top of the First Bluff, where they still repose.
It has been nearly forty-five years since the terrible crime
occurred, and a great deal of traditional glamour surrounds the story.
It is a good story for sensational embellishments, and all kinds of
fanciful additions have been related concerning the tale, but the
foregoing is a clear and concise account of it.
[2135] Robert McGinty m. Mary Clark 06 Apr 1854 Jones County County Iowa marriage book 246 37
________________________
|
_Douglas CROW _______|
| (1947 - 1976) |
| |________________________
|
|
|--Joshua CROW
|
| _Walter (Jack) DEVANEY _+
| | (1919 - 1991) m 1946
|_Rebecca DEVANEY ____|
|
|_Rose NELSON ___________
(1920 - 1981) m 1946
_Eugene Alanson LUNT _+
| (1857 - 1931) m 1880
_Hugh LUNT ______________________|
| (1894 - 1966) m 1915 |
| |_Evaline WILKINS _____+
| (1861 - 1934) m 1880
|
|--Glenora Verdell LUNT
| (1916 - 1996)
| _Andrew PEDERSON _____
| |
|_Dagmar Marie Karoline PEDERSON _|
(1896 - 1980) m 1915 |
|_Anna ________________
_____________________
|
_Craig Stuart MCALLESTER _|
| |
| |_____________________
|
|
|--David Scott MCALLESTER
|
| _Leroy John BJERKE __
| |
|_Patricia Jane BJERKE ____|
|
|_Nona Jane SØRKILMO _+
__
|
_Unknown ROEPKE _____|
| |
| |__
|
|
|--Arthur ROEPKE
|
| __
| |
|_Ida GAUL - ROEPKE __|
(1894 - 1980) |
|__
_______________________
|
_Robert Eugene WARE _|
| (1925 - 1987) |
| |_______________________
|
|
|--Shelly Jo WARE
|
| _Lawrence Harold POPE _
| | (1900 - 1962)
|_Shirley Ilene POPE _|
|
|_Elsie Erie BATES _____+