The Ashland Tragedy Proves Evil is Nothing New
Nearly 140 years ago, tragedy befell Ashland Kentucky that has left its lingering mark of evil that still haunts the town to this day.
Ashland Kentucky sits on the Ohio River in the eastern part of the state.
December 23, 1881
The Gibbons siblings Fannie 14 and Robert 17 were at home with a friend, Emma Carrico 15 (better known with her stepfather’s last name of Thomas).
Emma’s family lived just across the street from the Gibbons. Mrs. Gibbons had asked for the girl to come to stay while she was going to be out, to give her kids some company.
Martha Gibbons, their mother, took the youngest son Sterling 11 with her across the river into Ohio to visit with family for the night. John Gibbons, the father, was out of town for work.
Early Hours of December 24, 1881
Mrs. Thomas, Emma’s mother, got up early around 4 am to start doing household chores. She glanced out the window and saw the Gibbon’s home looked dark and assumed they were all still asleep.
Around 6 am she looked back over and noticed a strange flickering of light in the window. It took her a moment to process what she was seeing. Then she ran from her home, screaming, “Fire! Help! Fire!”
As the fire alarm sounded, neighbors were woken and came out to help. Knowing there were children inside, they ran into the flames and pulled the three out. It was clear the bodies were Fannie, Robert, and Emma.
But what shocked those who had gathered was that the three’s heads had been smashed in. Three physicians from town arrived on the scene, and they all concluded that the teenagers had died from having their skulls crushed, not the fire.
As the physicians did further evaluation of the bodies, they found out that the girls had been brutally raped also.
The fire most likely had been set to cover up the crime; it was determined.
Ashland was a small, close-knit town, where everyone knew each other. And this tragedy left everyone feeling uneasy. Who could have done this vicious act, and what could the townspeople do to catch them.
Evidence Collected
After dawn lit up the wreckage that was left of the house, the police were able to search for evidence. They gathered the bloody sheets and pillows. As they made their way through the home, they also found an ax and crowbar. Both covered in blood and hair.
The police also kept the clothing the children had been wearing as evidence.
December 26, 1881
Two days after the murders, a service was held for the three teenagers at the Methodist Episcopal Church. There were so many in attendance a large part of the crowd was left to gather outside.
They were buried in a common grave in the Ashland Cemetery.
Later that afternoon, the Mayor of Ashland, John Means, called for a town meeting. He asked for donations so they could offer money for a reward, and to hire a detective to hunt down the murders.
Within a few days, they had gathered over $1,000 (over $25,000 in 2019).
Private Detectives from surrounding states, including Deputy US Marshal Heflin, who quickly became the man the townspeople wanted to handle the case.
When They Get it All Wrong
Another Detective, J.B. Norris from Ohio, arrived with a theory. He believed that the killer had to be John Gibbons, the father of the house. From the outside, this doesn’t seem to make sense, he was out the state at the time, and the girls were savagely raped; this didn’t seem to fit.
But, Newspapers started running the story, and the streets were lined with wanted posters for the arrest of John Gibbons.
Marshal Heflin didn’t believe it was the father and pointed out that one man couldn’t have carried out the crime alone.
Unfortunately, people had already declared John Gibbons guilty before he had even been arrested. Heflin realized that they would have to bring the father in and clear his name before they would be able to focus on the real killers.
December 31, 1881
Helfin was able to track John Gibbons down to a remote area in West Virginia where he had been working. First, he had to tell John what had happened to his children. The news hadn’t reached him. Then he had to bring him back to Ashland, to clear his name.
Helfin was able to prove that John had been in West Virginia the whole time working, and was not the killer. This blow landed Detective Morris running for the train with his head down.
Did They Know The Killer?
After clearing John of being involved in the murders, the townspeople were back to wondering who could have done it.
Ashland’s general store Geiger, Powell & Ferguson would play a part in bringing the killers to justice. That day Mr. Powell waited on a regular named George Ellis, who wanted to purchase a cigar.
Powell making conversation said, “Well, now that old man Gibbons is in the clear, I wonder who it is going to fall on now?”
As soon as the remark was made, George Ellis looked startled. Suddenly he wouldn’t look up at Mr. Powell.
Then Ellis blurted out that he might know who did it, and then he said something about “states evidence” before turning and walking out of the general store quickly.
Ellis started walking down the street, but he felt like everyone was watching him. He began to think they all knew what he had done.
Did they know? He kept wondering.
After hours spent walking, he made his decision. He walked to the hotel, then straight to the door of Marshal Heflin.
Once inside, Ellis started to talk, telling Heflin that he lived near the Gibbons house and that he might know something about the murders.
Ellis took a seat then asked Heflin to explain to him the meaning of “States Evidence.” (What Ellis had mumbled back at the general store.)
Heflin told him that if someone was guilty of a crime informed on the others that were involved, that the informer would most likely get a lesser sentence.
After hearing that Ellis told Heflin, he wanted to relieve his conscience and explain what happened.
Marshal Heflin had interrogated quite a few criminals in his career and knew precisely what was needed to bring charges to get a jury to convict. One thing he knew he needed was a witness to the confession.
Confession Given by George Ellis to Marshal Heflin:
“A few evenings prior to the 24th, I met Craft, who stated that he was going to see Fanny Gibbons and take her some black candy and that he was going to have intercourse with her, and he wanted me to come along.
About midnight, the fatal night, we all started Craft, Neal, and myself, and when we got to the house, Craft raised the window with an old axe and stepped in first. Neal followed, and I stayed behind on the porch, and afterwards, I went in.
Robbie was the first aroused and started to get up when Craft said: “you had better lie still.” Craft then went to the bed where the two girls were sleeping and began to take improper liberties with them. Robbie said, “you had better stay away from there,” when Craft hit him with the axe. He fell back on the lounge, then plunged forward and fell fully six feet from the bed under the stairs where he was found.
The girls screamed when Craft jumped on the bed, and they both said: “George Craft, what are you here for?” Emma also started to jump from the bed when Neal choked her and pulled her onto the floor. She fought him, and I held her while he outraged her. Neal then struck her on the head with the big end of the crowbar, and she instantly died after throwing up her hands.
Craft also had some trouble with Fanny Gibbons and called on me to come and help him. He then outraged her and killed her. Neal proposed killing the girls, and after they were dead, I took some coal oil, poured it over the bodies, and set fire to them with a match. We then left the house.”
Ellis told Heflin that for months before the murders, his two friends had been watching the girls.
One day while they were working in the back yard, Emma passed by, and William Neal declared he was going to have “carnal communication” with her before Christmas. Ellis said that George Craft had made similar remarks about Fannie.
Arrests Made
With Ellis’s confession, both Neal and Craft were arrested. The three men were transported to the County Jail in Catlettsburg about five miles away from Ashland.
For whatever reason, all three prisoners were put in the same cell. The first thing the next morning, Ellis tried to recant his confession, saying it wasn’t true but was told it was too late.
As word spread through Ashland that the killers were in jail, the talk of getting justice was overwhelming. So much so that officials believed the only way to get these men to trial would be to protect them until then.
So the court ordered the prisoners to be moved to the more secure jail in Lexington. Being escorted by armed guards, the prisoners were put on the Catlettsburg Ferry and headed down the river to Lexington. But the townspeople heard and boarded a steamboat to try and catch up with the ferry. Fortunately, the ferry eluded the steamboat, and no one else died that night.
The ferry made a stop in Vanceburg, Kentucky, where reporters were allowed to board and interview the prisoners. Craft and Neal were joking and singing, but denied they had anything to do with the crime.
Ellis was being held a distance away from the other two and refused to speak to the reporters.
Once in the Lexington Jail, George Ellis claimed his confession was coerced. He said that Heflin held him at gunpoint and forced him to say those things.
January 16, 1882
The trial for William Neal started first with presiding Judge George N. Brown. Ellis had been charged with the murder of Emma Carrico.
Most of the evidence presented was by witnesses. One woman said that in the early hours of Christmas Eve, she saw Ellis, Croft, and Neal walking about a half a mile from the murder scene.
Others would testify that after the murders, Neal was uneasy whenever they were brought it up, telling them that he worried someone would suspect him.
One of the men who helped pull the bodies from the burning house claims he saw Neal standing about 50 feet from the fire, just watching.
Then George Ellis took the stand and told what happened that night. He was calm and appeared unwavering to the story he was telling.
“I have resided in Ashland since May. Have been engaged as a laborer at Powell & House’s brickyard most of the time; I am acquainted with the prisoner Neal, also with Craft; we three worked together at the brickyard; I did not see either of them during the day of December 23, I saw them later that night, they came to my house and called me; I was in bed and asked what they wanted, Craft told me to get up, they wanted to see me, I did so, put on my clothes and boots and went out to the gate, Craft said you must go with us, I asked him where he said to the Gibbons’ and we will have some fun. I told him no, it was too late. I won’t go. They said I have to go, and Craft drew his revolver. Neal said, bring him along, and we started.
When we got inside the gate at the Gibbons, Craft picked up an axe and Neal got a crowbar from under the porch floor. Craft pried open the window, and Neal was the first to go in, Craft next. I did not want to go in, but Craft drew his revolver and said, come on, and I did so.
They took the axe and crowbar in the house with them; we passed through the front room to the second room middle room where the girls and Robbie were asleep. Craft and Neal went to the bed where the girls were Craft took hold of Fannie Gibbons and Neal of Emma.
They stifled the girls by putting their hands over their mouths and choking them. The noise awakened Robbie, who was sleeping on a lounge in the same room. Craft who had Choked Fannie near to death left her and struck Robbie in the head with the axe and killed him, and then returned to the bed.
Neal dragged Emma off the bed onto the floor, and Craft ordered me to hold her until Neal accomplished his purpose, which I did. After Neal let her up, she began to raise up, crying and said she was going home to tell her mother. Neal said, “I guess not,” and struck her on the head with the crowbar, and she fell back on the floor dead.
Craft ordered me to come and help him, I went to the bed and put my hand on Miss Gibbons’ shoulder, and Craft outraged her after which he got the axe and killed her. Craft then said to me, you have done none of the killing, but you must have a hand in it and ordered me to get the coal oil and pour it over the dead body of the girls. I did, and Craft set them on fire, and we left the house.
When we got out we separated, I going home I don’t know where they went. I got home about half-past three o’clock and my wife to make breakfast. I laid down but did not go to sleep. I heard the cry of fire about half-past five when I was at breakfast. I went to the burning house but did not stay long.
On the following Sunday morning, when Craft and I met at the place where the house was burned, and Craft asked me to take a walk. We went out towards the cemetery. He begin to talk about the affair and said it must be keep quiet. We met Neal, and we all talked about it. They wanted me to sign a pledge never to tell about it. I told them I would think about it. They told me I better do better than that, and if I did not do so by the next Saturday night, they would put an end to me. We separated, I went home, and Craft and Neal went away together.”
The Defense
In a strange situation, the defense team was headed by Thomas R Brown (the son of presiding Judge Brown).
The defense’s key witness was George Ellis’s wife. She testified that on the night of the murders, she woke up at midnight, and 4:30 am, and her husband had been there both times. She did not believe her husband left the house that night.
While her husband was being held in jail, his wife visited. Others had heard her pleading with George to tell the “real” truth.
Witness Oliver Hampton testified that George Ellis said in front of him and another man A.C. Campbell that Neal and Craft were innocent.
The defense also called several character witnesses that testified that Neal was a good man.
February 6, 1882
The jury only deliberated for 17 minutes before finding William Neal guilty. They sentenced him to hang on February 14, 1882.
Only a few days later, George Craft was convicted and sentenced to hang on the same day.
February 1882
While in prison, George Ellis supposedly gave an interview with a Cincinnati Newspaper, where he now told a completely different story. He said that he hired two black men to help him hold down the girls while he raped them, then the two hired men killed the three teenagers. As he left the murder scene, he saw his two friends walking, and decided to blame them if he got caught.
But a few days later, after the story hit the papers, he claimed he had never given an interview to the Newspaper.
June 2, 1882
George Ellis was found guilty for his part in the murders and sentenced to life in prison since he had cooperated and testified against his co-conspirators.
As the last man’s trial was over, those involved hoped that this would bring some closure and let everyone start to heal from the tragedy.
But that night around midnight, a group of about 20 men all wearing black hoods overtook the engine house of the Chattaroi Railroad in Ashland. They ordered the watchmen to hook up a couple of flat-cars to the engine house.
They boarded the train and forced the drivers to take them to Catlettsburg, arriving around 3 am across from the jail. They demanded to be let in but were denied.
They ended up storming the building and dragged George Ellis out with them. They took him back to Ashland on the train to make him pay for his crimes.
Witnesses who had gathered to watch the hanging said that Ellis appeared calm and confessed again that it was him, Craft, and Neal who had murdered the three teenagers. His only request was that his body wasn’t mutilated.
When asked if he wanted to pray beforehand, he declined, saying he was ready to die.
They hung him from a sycamore tree about 100 yards from the burned Gibbons home. His body hung there until the next afternoon when the coroner cut it down. His death was ruled murder by person or persons unknown.
The Justice System and Appeals
Both Craft and Neal appealed their convictions and won new trials.
While the prisoners waited for new trials, they gave interviews with national newspapers claiming George Ellis was crazy and that they were innocent.
June of 1882
Since the reward had not been paid out after Neal and Craft had been given new trials. People were still trying to cash in on it.
A black detective from out of town showed up with two black men he claimed were the killers. At their first hearing, the charges were dismissed.
When they left the courthouse, friends of the two men were waiting for the detective. They beat him, then shot him in the leg before local police could break the crowd up.
Fall of 1882
Tensions were higher than before when the prisoners were again moved from Lexington to Catlettsburg to start the trial. Governor G.W. Blackburn threatened to kill the whole county of Boyd if he had to, to have the law upheld. He refused to tolerate mob violence, he said.
Craft and Neal’s attorneys demanded a change of venue. Judge George N. Brown granted it. The trials were now set to start in February 1883.
Transporting the Prisoners for Their Second Trial
During this time, people were used to swift justice, so when a trial was being dragged out for years, it left people to believe they had every right to take justice into their own hands.
Major Allen was commander of a militia group that was to guard the prisoners as they made their way from Lexington to Grayson in Carter County. They were initially going to transport the men by train, but Major Allen was worried about traveling through Ashland after hearing about the mob gathering.
So Major Allen requisitioned a passing steamer, The Granite State, to head to Maysville in Carter County.
While the steamer was being loaded with guards, a train from Ashland arrived with over 200 armed men and boys, demanding Neal and Craft to be turned over.
Major Allen refused, and The Granite State steamer left. The mob got back on the train and followed along the river and steamboat. Shortly after taking off, the mob started firing on the steamer, but the militia did not return fire.
When the steamer reached Ashland, they were met with a crowd on the shoreline.
The militia did not return fire but instead created a barricade of sorts with items from the ship.
A group of 20 or so in Ashland stole a ferryboat and attempted to intercept the steamer. As the ferryboat got close, they started to shoot, and now the militia returned fire. Most of the men on the ferry jumped into the water to avoid being shot. But the battle sent people everywhere shooting.
In the end, four people were dead. Also, a relative of the murdered Gibbons children had been shot three times. Another woman who was just waiting for a train was shot in the thigh.
An inquest into the shooting in Ashland would later be ruled justifiable.
Early February 1883
Craft went on trial first before Carter County Circuit Judge Rice.
While the trial went on, the militia had to camp out in town. The weather was unseasonably cold with ice, sleet, mud, and snow covering everything. One guard died from exposure, and numerous were hospitalized.
February 23, 1883
The jury deliberated for ten minutes before they returned, saying a juror was too ill to carry on. The deliberations were postponed until the next morning. This time after 21 minutes, they returned a guilty verdict.
After Craft was asked if he had anything to say:
“I can say one thing- I am not guilty of that charge. I did not have time to put all of my witnesses here that I ought to have had, and I consider that I have not had a fair trial, for I know I am not guilty of that.
I never as much as laid my hand on them. I never did. You might as well take a little innocent child and hang them as to hang me. The closest I was to Mrs. Gibbon’s house that night was when I lay in bed at home asleep. I did not see the house or George Ellis or Bill Neal or any of the children that night. The last time I saw any of Mrs. Gibbon’s children was on the Wednesday before that. I saw little Fannie and spoke to her. That was the last time.
I was aroused by the alarm of fire. I could, knowing the children were burned up, stand on the scaffold and hold my hand up and swear in the sight of heaven that I did not see those children, Neal or Ellis, that night. I am as innocent as the angels of that thing.”
“I never thought of such a thing. I was better raised and had more respect for the people about me. I respected Mrs. Gibbons and her children. I am glad I can stand here and say that I am innocent. It is the truth. It is a put-up job. Gentlemen, the day is coming when I will be found innocent.”
Mrs. Gibbons started crying at his speech and interrupted, “Oh, my dear children. If they were only here now.” She was led out of the courtroom weeping.
Craft appeared frustrated that he was interrupted and abruptly took his seat without saying another word.
The Judge set his date with the gallows for May 4, 1883.
Governor Blackburn didn’t want the execution to happen on his term, so he delayed it until after he was out of office. Governor Knott replaced him and set a date for October 12, 1883.
Craft supporters claimed they had evidence that would exonerate him if only the Governor would postpone his hanging until after Neal’s trial. Their request was denied.
October 11, 1883
Craft was brought to Grayson for his hanging. The population of the small village was around a thousand, but that week it soared to over three thousand who came to witness the killer meet the gallows.
The night before, Craft was kept in a prison cell with a barred window that his brothers and brothers-in-law gathered around telling stories and singing throughout the night.
October 12, 1883 — Craft’s Execution
The next day Craft got up early and went with Reverend Pinkerton and guards to the Little Sandy River, where he was baptized. On returning to jail, people lined the streets to see him, women handing him flowers.
*Even in the 1800s there seems to have been murder groupies.
That afternoon Craft was driven to the site of the gallows. It was the same location the militia camped at when they were guarding him during his trial.
The crowd had swelled trying to get a glimpse of the killer as he walked to the gallows flanked by the sheriff and Reverend Pinkerton.
After the crowd quieted down, Craft gave a speech where he once again proclaimed he was innocent of all crimes. Then he sang a hymn “Did Christ Die for Sinners Weep,” then prayed out loud for God to save his soul. As he stepped onto the trap, he was crying and said, “Lord, receive my soul,” and with that, the door swung open, and his body fell.
April 30, 1884
After another trial, William Neal was again found guilty and sentenced to die. Waiting for his execution, he was housed in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky. He filed numerous appeals, which caused his execution to be delayed.
The evidence that Craft supporters claimed would come out at Neal’s trial, never materialized.
March 3, 1885
Neal was loaded on the train and headed back to Grayson, with no chance of further appeals everyone thought this was finally the end.
Standing on the train platform, Neal gave his supporters who had gathered a short speech.
“Farewell, good people, I hope to meet you in heaven. I am persecuted to my death by Campbell and Redlin, who persecute themselves and bull-dozed that lunatic George Ellis into swearing his lies against me.
It’s a fearful thing to walk upon the gallows and die for a crime I did not commit. Bear in mind that I will be proved innocent of this charge just as I say now I am innocent.
I have to be dragged back and hung like a dog for what I didn’t do. I thank the citizens of Mt. Sterling for their kindness to me. I hope to see you in a better land.”
But, in the end, the execution was postponed, and Neal was returned to Mt. Sterling.
March 28, 1885
Again Neal is taken to Grayson to meet the gallows. This time it was going to happen.
The night before, he ordered breakfast for dinner, consisting of eggs and bacon with coffee. He refused the minister that night; he wanted to see him the next morning.
The next afternoon he was led to the gallows and gave another speech to the nearly three thousand visitors who had come to watch.
“My friends, I say to one and all you all know this is no place to tell a lie. I stand here today to suffer for a heinous crime I did not commit. One day my innocence will be established beyond a doubt. I bid you one and all goodbye. Oh Lord, thou knows I am innocent: into thy hands I commit my soul. I am innocent.”
The last words escaped his mouth just before the trap door flew open.
Neal’s family did not attend the hanging but later claimed his body. They had it buried in the back property of his father-in-law’s land near Catlettsburg.
Here is a link to the lyrics of The Ashland Tragedy Song.
Conclusion
The Ashland Tragedy seemed to leave questions unanswered, even after the convicted men were long dead.
A detective who worked but had never been called to testify had an interesting take on the story. “How would Ellis, Craft, and Neal know the children were alone that night? Only three people knew that the children were alone, Mrs. Gibbons, her son Sterling and Mrs. Thomas.”
That idea is what so many people clung to thinking that Ellis, Neal, and Craft were innocent. But honestly, everyone in town knew that John Gibbons worked out of town a lot. And the killers might have planned to kill his wife and younger son too, and just got lucky when they weren’t home.
Or, maybe they witnessed Mrs. Gibson leaving with Sterling, it was a small town. It could be that they were passing by and heard the children inside, looked in the window, and saw no one else home. There are a lot of different ways those three men could have ended up at the Gibbons home that night.
Last Standing Artifact
The tree that was used to hang George Ellis stood until 1903, at the time it was in the yard of The Standard Furniture Company.
The Gibbons home was torn down after the fire, but it was located at what is now the corner of 28th Street and Carter Avenue.
