Chapter 9

CANADA JACK ’S TWELFTH STREET GANG

Bay City had been plagued during the latter part of 1884 with a series of burglaries and robberies, and the perpetrators had managed to elude police, bringing about some criticism of the police force.

While Bay City police chief Nathaniel Murphy, the city’s first full-time chief, had his suspicions, the bandits were too slippery to be identified. He had instructed his men to generate informants and to question inmates of the jail who might want to spill the beans for some leniency to get some solid leads. Tips started coming in and Murphy soon had his first real suspects.

One place in particular caught Murphy’s eye, the saloon owned by John Mathieson, alias “Canada Jack,” whose bar was on Twelfth Street across from Green Ridge Cemetery. Murphy believed the saloon was the “harbor” headquarters for a “desperate gang of crooks.”

Murphy assigned two officers to watch the saloon from a secret vantage point in the cemetery for five nights despite the freezing-cold weather.

At 1:20 a.m. on New Year’s Day 1885, the officers saw three men leave the place and proceed out the Tuscola Plank Road. A few hours later, the trio returned and entered the saloon. One of the men was holding his hands to his head. It didn’t look as if they had much in the way of plunder in their possession, but the whole thing looked suspicious enough that the officers went back to the station to report it.

At 9:00 a.m. on New Year’s Day, James S. Hogle, a Bay City grocer whose family owned the plank road and its four toll gates, entered the police station to report that burglars had invaded his mother’s home at the second plank road toll gate, taking about sixteen dollars in cash and jewelry “after subjecting the [people inside] with all manner of indignities.”

Police chief Nathaniel Murphy (front row, right), who also served as police commissioner for a time, offered innovative new views on policing in one of the roughest of lumber boom towns. Bay County Historical Museum.

Murphy ordered officers to watch Canada Jack’s place from Green Ridge Cemetery across the road. The building in the background is believed to be the same one that housed the saloon. Tim Younkman.

Murphy said he believed he knew who committed the crimes and ordered six officers along to prepare for a raid to be led by the captain and himself. They piled into two wagons and headed for Canada Jack Mathieson’s saloon. The officers approached from two directions and took up prearranged positions surrounding the building.

Murphy, along with Captain William Simmons and a patrolman, entered the building and were greeted with “Happy New Year” by Mathieson, which they ignored. Murphy ordered the patrolman to arrest a man passed out on a sofa. Then, Murphy and Simmons started up the stairs to the second floor. They heard a window open and then suddenly slam shut and then heard another open and close. When they reached the top of the stairs, a man stepped out into the hall, attempting to pull a revolver from his pocket, but Murphy already had his gun cocked and was ready to shoot. For a second the two faced each other, but then the man held up his hands and surrendered.

Murphy surmised that the man had opened the windows in an attempt to escape but saw officers below with their guns aimed at him. The police chief opened another door down the hall and found the third bandit sleeping. He was arrested without incident or pants.

All three were transported to the police station. They were identified as William “Shang” Clark, Thomas Larney and William Brennan.

Murphy said Clark was known locally as a desperate and cunning thief, and he was wanted in Syracuse, New York, where a reward was offered for his arrest. Police had heard he was in Bay City but had not been able to track him down. He was described as a large man, and when he was arrested, he was bleeding profusely from a long and deep wound on the side of his head.

Larney had been in the city for several years and was suspected of a number of crimes, but he had eluded police. Brennan was unknown to police, but it was learned quickly that he had been a member of a gang in Detroit.

News accounts reported the three men were charged with one of the “most brutal crimes ever perpetrated in the state.” While that might have been an exaggeration, it was shown to be violent when the facts were revealed.

It was noted the tollgate was about three miles south of the Bay City limits (currently Cass Avenue) and was surrounded with houses.

On New Year’s Eve, several of the ladies living at the tollhouse came into town to attend a Salvation Army service leaving at home Mrs. Hogle, sixtyfive; Robert Farleigh, an employee at the house; and two children, a boy and a girl, possibly grandchildren of one of the ladies. Farleigh and the boy occupied one room while Mrs. Hogle and the girl were in another room. The little girl decided to sit in a chair near the hot stove to await the return of the women. The others went to bed.

The girl fell asleep. When she woke up at about 2:00 a.m., she went in the bedroom to tell Mrs. Hogle that the others had not yet returned. While they talked, they heard a noise. They thought the ladies had arrived, so the girl ran into the front room.

She heard a noise at the window, and when she looked out, she saw three men trying to raise it. She immediately ran to notify Farleigh, who came into the room and drew the curtain, seeing the men at work. He retrieved a revolver from his room just as the men burst through the front door.

Farleigh raised the gun at the first man’s head and pulled the trigger, but the gun misfired. He retreated to another room and heard a gun cock behind him. It was fired, but the bullet missed him. He continued to retreat, heading to the backdoor and out, probably with the idea of drawing the bandits out and away from the elderly woman and children.

However, he was confronted by another man with a gun aimed at him, so he turned back into the house. He got into his bedroom and put on some socks, exited through a window and ran into a large woodshed in which there was an ice house. He climbed onto the roof of the ice house and worked to unload and reload his gun.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Hogle scurried upstairs with the little girl. One of the thieves took a lamp and followed her, calling on one of the other bandits to come and help him. They trapped her in a room and grabbed her. She believed they already had found all the money in the house, about sixteen dollars in a drawer downstairs.

She protested there was no more money, but one of the men threw her to the floor and bound her hands and feet. One of the men then took the chimney off the lamp and held the flame to her flesh, demanding to be told where more money was located. She howled in pain but repeated there was no more money. They struck her and then put a gag in her mouth, leaving her there in the upstairs room while they searched the house.

They found some jewelry and then grabbed the little boy. They forced him to go upstairs and ask the woman where the money was hidden. He returned and said there was no money.

The three men decided to go after Farleigh. Clark entered the woodshed first with a lamp in one hand and a revolver in the other. After considerable searching, he spotted Farleigh on the roof of the ice house. He raised his revolver at Farleigh and told him to come down. Farleigh said he would come down and then picked up a nail keg sitting near the roof and hurled it at Clark, who yelled for his companions.

Farleigh realized that earlier in his haste he had not cocked the revolver properly and that was why it wouldn’t fire. He pulled it from his belt, aimed at the large man, cocked it and fired. The bullet hit the man in the head, and he dropped the lamp, extinguishing it, and clutched his wounded dome. The bullet had gouged a path along his ear and scalp, but the impact didn’t cause him to fall down. He raised his gun in the darkness and fired three shots in Farleigh’s direction, all missing him.

Then they all heard Mrs. Hogle screaming. She had succeeded in freeing herself and had run outside hoping the neighbors would hear. The screaming alarmed the burglars enough to force them to retreat, running back down the plank road toward town as Farleigh ran to a neighbor’s house to get help.

The three men arrived back at Mathieson’s saloon, and one of them carried something into the adjacent barn. All of this was observed by the police watching from the cemetery.

The next day, after Murphy and his men had made their arrests, the chief directed his officers to search Mathieson’s barn on the property, and when they did, they found a hiding place under the floor. There, they discovered stolen items from Mrs. Hogle and a complete set of burglary tools and other evidence of a long chapter of crime.

In Larney’s trunk were a dozen empty pocketbooks and a quantity of revolver cartridges. The pocketbooks were taken from ladies in Bay City, and officials asked that anyone missing a pocketbook should call at the police station to identify it. The tools found had been stolen from H.G. Steggall’s blacksmith shop and were believed to be the ones used to break open the safe at the Bay City Beef Co. in a burglary a short time earlier on the same night the tools were stolen.

Murphy said there was sufficient evidence to charge all three men, solving one of the most important cases in the city’s history at the time.

Mathieson also was arrested and was compelled to answer a charge of harboring burglars and receiving stolen property. The other three were taken before Justice Petherick to answer the charges. All three were jailed in lieu of $1,000 bond each.

Mrs. Hogle, though suffering from nervous shock, attended the hearing, accompanied by the two children and Farleigh.

On January 6, several witnesses testified against Mathieson in a hearing before Justice Petherick. Henry Birney, owner of a hack company and owner of the building Mathieson was renting for his saloon, testified to receiving rent money from Mathieson on the morning after the robbery, and the money he received was identified by authorities as that stolen from Mrs. Hogle.

Patrolman Samuel M. Catlin testified that he was one of the officers watching Mathieson’s place from the cemetery and that, on the morning of the burglary, a man went into the barn. Mathieson acted as a lookout standing in front of his place. He testified that because of a full moon, he was able to see the men when they left the house to go up the plank road and could identify them as the men now under arrest. When the three returned, he noticed that Clark had a white cloth wrapped around his head. Mathieson’s bail was increased to $1,500.

On January 14, Chief Murphy and Dr. Newkirk called at the county jail after receiving complaints of pain from inmate Thomas Larney. He was stripped down, and the doctor found a scar in the small of his back, one made by a spent bullet. Murphy surmised, based on the evidence, that Larney was struck by the bullet that grazed Shang Clark’s head in the woodshed on the gatehouse property.

Murphy also had Larney’s trunk brought to the police station and searched. There were items of men and women’s clothing inside, all believed stolen.

The three criminals—Larney, Clark and Brennan—were brought from the jail at 9:00 a.m. on January 20 to stand trial in Bay County Circuit Court for a variety of felonies. After the charges were read, to the surprise of many, all three entered guilty pleas. It may have been that even though they were career criminals, they might have hoped the court would show mercy and give them less than the maximum prison sentence. It also could be they would testify against Canada Jack Mathieson as the ringleader and mastermind behind the gang. They were returned to jail to await sentencing.

The next day, the court was convened and circuit judge Sanford M. Green called for the three convicted felons to be brought before him to receive their sentences. Clark, Brennan and Larney were brought in, handcuffed to sheriff’s deputies and seated at a table in front of the bench.

When asked by Judge Green if they had anything to say, Clark stepped forward and stated that he was forty-seven years old and in feeble health. He asked that the court impose on him a sentence that he would be able to survive and vowed that, when he left prison, he would lead a better life.

Larney also stood. He claimed that he was a young man and that the crime was his first offense. He asked for a light sentence and said that he, too, would be a better man in the future.

The original Bay County Courthouse was the scene of many important cases, including that of the Twelfth Street Gang, whose members pleaded guilty in the hope of mercy. Bay County Historical Museum.

Circuit judge Sanford M. Green took no pity on the violent Twelfth Street gang of bandits and ordered them to serve twenty years in prison. Bay County Historical Museum.

Brennan stood rigidly in front of the judge but offered nothing and shook his head when the judge asked him again if he wanted to say something. Then Judge Green spoke.

“I had an interview with the members of the Hogle family and feel confident that the charge which should have been preferred against you three was assault with intent to murder.”

Green briefly reviewed the crime and remarked on the fear inflicted upon the members of the household by the men. He pointed out that it was the swift action of the law and the assurance that justice would be done prevented the outraged citizenry of seeking vengeance against the trio.

At that point, he said it was the judgment of the court that each of the three men serve twenty years at hard labor in Jackson Prison. The crowded courtroom erupted with applause and the stamping of feet when the sentence was imposed. The three of them were handcuffed again to the deputies and marched out of the courtroom.

The prisoners were to be taken by train to Jackson within the following twenty-four hours.

On March 20, Mathieson stood trial in Bay County Circuit Court.

Lizzie Stark, a native Canadian, was the first witness against him. She testified that she worked for Mathieson both when he kept the Montreal House (a notorious sporting house), which was on the corner of Sixth and Water Streets, and at the other house on Twelfth Street. She said she saw the three burglars at the Twelfth Street place and that Clark went by the alias of Brown and spent much of his time in the barroom. She said when people entered, he would retreat upstairs to a sitting room.

Henry Birney, owner of the building Mathieson’s saloon occupied, testified Mathieson came to him at about 10:00 a.m. on January 1 to pay his rent.

“He paid me some money and said he would pay me some more on Saturday night,” Birney said.

He noted there were three one-dollar bills, one two-dollar bill and one ten-dollar gold piece from 1881. He was shown the money in evidence, and he identified it as the money he was paid. He identified it because he put a mark on the gold coin and tore the two-dollar bill.

Patrolman Joseph Thompson said he was assigned to watch Mathieson’s place and saw three men come out and go to the barn while Mathieson came out to stand watch in front. The three men then hustled down the plank road. They left at about 1:30 a.m. and returned at about 4:30 a.m. When they came back, they knocked, and someone let them in.

Patrolman Henry Houck testified that he entered the house with the chief and captain and said Larney was in the barroom, a pistol at his feet. He arrested Larney at that time.

Chief Murphy testified that he had known Mathieson about seven years and described the events leading up to the arrests.

He also noted he had been looking for Clark as early as mid-October and had gone to Mathieson’s place on Water Street, where, information had it, Clark was hiding. Mathieson denied that Clark was still in town and that he had gone to Toronto.

Mathieson’s wife testified that they had occupied the Twelfth Street hotelbar about three weeks prior to January 1. She said they did not use the barn and that Clark did not stay at the hotel.

The circuit court jury returned with a verdict at 1:40 p.m. on March 21. They found him guilty of receiving stolen property knowing it had been stolen, and he was taken away to the jail.

On March 23, Mathieson was brought before Judge Green for sentencing and was asked if he had anything to say. He said he had left all to his attorneys to handle his case and that they were so confident in an acquittal that not all of the witnesses were called, including himself. He said Clark, Brennan and Larney should have been called.

He said he had only been arrested twice counting this time and that the first was for assault and battery. He asked for leniency. Green responded: “I have made inquires in the case and learned that you have lived in the city about eight years and during that time have been connected with saloons and other disreputable places harboring the worst class of men and women. I learned that you went to Detroit about a year ago and made arrangements with thieves to come to Bay City and ply their nefarious work. Your entire family has had an unsavory reputation.”

Mathieson protested that wasn’t true, but the judge ignored him, responding, “I have been shown a letter received by Chief Murphy from a detective giving you a bad reputation.”

Green reviewed the details of the tollhouse attack and pointed out that Mathieson knew of the perpetration of the crime shortly after it occurred. He said he was informed by Mathieson’s mother and by Dr. Newkirk that Mathieson was suffering with heart disease and inflammatory rheumatism. He noted that it was his understanding that Mathieson had suffered eleven attacks from his disease.

Green then said that he would make the sentence lighter in light of Mathieson’s health than one he normally would have imposed.

He then pronounced that it was the judgment of the court that Mathieson serve three years in Jackson Prison.

Mathieson thanked Green for his leniency, and the end of the Twelfth Street Gang restored the public confidence in Chief Murphy, who served the department for twenty more years.