The Indiana Spirit Quest series of geocaches
will take you to a number of historic cemeteries built by
Hoosier Pioneers. In just a year and a half, the quest has grown to
over two hundred ten caches hidden in twenty-two Indiana counties,
and two Ohio counties, and the hiders have grown to seven cacher
teams, six of which are comprised of A Man and His
Dog... and one who is a Dog and her Woman.Over 360 cacher teams
have logged over 4,200 finds.
While we were exploring this unique
cemetery we happend upon the grave of notorious thief and accused
murderer Marvin Kuhns.
Marvin Kuhns, aka: J.W. Wilson (1865-1907)
The life history of Marvin Kuhns, murderer, burglar,
housebreaker, firebug, escaped convict and outlaw, will never be
written in all of it's details. He crowded into his thirty-three
years more adventure than any man who made Indiana his home. Like
most desperadoes, Marvin Kuhns has been accused of a great deral
crime of which he was innocent. He was shot several times: his head
was a mass of scars from policemen's clubs, and on his body were
marks of knife thrusts. He served time in Indiana State prison, and
was sentenced for life to the Ohio penitentiary. Whole platoons
fired volleys at him, but he escaped. He seemed to bear a charmed
life.
Marvin Kuhns was born in Noble County, not far from Albion. He
was a precocious youth; the first crime charged against him was the
burning of a schoolhouse because the teacher whipped him. After
that he engaged in much petty stealing; he became a terror in his
neighborhood because of his quarrelsome disposition and his
thieving propensities. One night he robbed a country store. He
selected a good suit of clothes, donned it, and exchanged his old
shoes for a new from the stock, leaving his old ones behind.
The village shoemaker had patched the shoes, and he identified
them as belonging to Marvin Kuhns. He was arrested abnd lodged in
the county jail, but not until he gave the county police a lively
fight. Kunhs had a fondness for firearms, and practiced shooting
with both hands until he became a crack shot, but he was caught
unaware this time and no lives were lost in capturing him. About
the jail he was a model prisoner and bacame a "trusty." he gained
the confidence of the sheriff and his family. Confined in the jail
with him was John Howe, a noted horse thief; Howe and Kuhns bacame
great friends. One day Kuhns almost killed his jailer, and with
Howe made his escape. They stole the sheriff's horse and went to
"Green Center, where the horse was tied to a fence corner. They
stole two horses and started for Kentucky, stealing and trading
horses as they traveled. In Kentucky officers gave chase. Kuhns put
on women's clothes, but the pair were finally captured and brought
to Michigan City prison. When he had served his sentence Kuhns was
not much more than twenty years old. After that he specialized in
stealing horses. He boasted to a fellow convict that he had stolen
more than 100 horses. The headquarters of Kuhns and his gang was at
a livery stable on Summit Street, Toledo, and there they took their
animals to be sold. Kuhns, by his recklessness drew about him a
gang of men and women as reckless as himself. Among the number was
Della Bird, an attractive young womam of Defience, Ohio. She bacame
charmed by the dashing, good-looking young crook, and they traveled
together, working the "badger game," and seperating people from
their money in various ways.
In the gang with Kuhns was John Campau, who claimed to be a
horse trader, but who really assisted Kuhns in taking horses to
Toledo. Campau was drunk a good portion of his time, and had
serveral quarrels with Kuhns and Della Bird. One night, at
Fostoria, Ohio, the three were in a disorderly house, and the two
men quarreled. The next morning the body of a man was found in an
alley back of a shed in Fostoria. The body had been dragged some
distance and thrown where it was found. The murdered man had been
shot through the head. The discovery of the body caused a great
deal of excitement, and the coroner offered a reward of $50 for the
identification of the body. Marvin Kuhns appeared on the scene and
identified the body as John Campau and claimed the reward. The
coroner was suspicious of Kuhns and ordered him held, but Kuhns
escaped. The detectives worked up the evidence, and it was decided
that Kuhns commited the murder. The people of Fostoria offered a
reward of $300 for Kuhns, and Seneca County added $250 more.
The detectives from all over the county were at work on the
case, and Kuhns several times narrowly escaped arrest. However, he
showed his reckless daring at Fostoria when the coroner ordered him
held. He was placed in charge of a large and heavy policeman; while
the policeman was talking to him, Kuhns vaulted to freedom,
followed by a shower of bullets. Kuhns made his way to Columbus,
Ohio. There he was arrested by detective Mahoney, who found him
some distance outside the city. Kuhns was handcuffed and put in a
buggy by Mahoney. They drove along serenelv until near the citv .
Then in an unguarded moment Mahoney bent forward; in an instant
Kuhns began pounding Mahoney over the head with his iron cuffs. The
detective was knocked from his buggy and Kuhns drove away, leaving
the officer by the road side. Della Bird met him and secured the
services of a locksmith, who filed off the handcuffs. Kuhns
disappeared again; though the officers searched everywhere, he
seemed to have stepped off the face of the earth.
Two weeks later two men, Marvin Kulns and his brother, John,
appeared in a restaurant at Huntington. A man who knew them
informed Marshal Rosebaugh of the identity of the men. Rosebaugh
walked into the restaurant and tapping Marvin Kulns on the
shoulder, told him that he wanted to see him. "What for asked
Kuhns, with indifference. " You come with me to the sheriff's
office, and I will tell you," answered the marshal. "A11 right;
just as soon as I get supper." The marshal stood around while the
brothers ate their meals, accepted a cigar from them, and then the
two started for the sheriff's office. At the jail entrance was a
large iron gate and as the marshal attempted to open it he found
himself looking into the muzzle of two ugly revolvers.
"Put up your hands, and keep them up," said Marvin Kuhns, as he
backed away and the marshal hastened to accept the invitation.
Kuhns continued to back away and finally let drive at the marshal,
but missed him, the bullet passing through a window of the court
house. Then the marshal opened fire on Kuhns, and wounded him in
the hip, but the wound was not serious. Della Bird, Marvin s
faithful sweetheart, nursed him again.
In Fort Wayne a man named Barkley, hungered for the rewards
aggregating more than $1, 000, which were hanging over Kuhns head.
He went to Tom Wilkinson who, at that time was a deputy sheriff,
but who later served as a detective for the Nickelplate railroad,
and told him that Kuhns would be in Fort Wayne at a certain time.
Wilkinson made arrangements with Barkley to notify him of Kuhns'
arrival. Kuhns however was suspicious, and after a short stay in
Fort Wayne, he went to Churubusco . Wilkinson secured the services
of John Kennelly, a night policeman on the Fort Wayne force, and
the two drove to Churubusco, arriving there about 6 o'clock in the
evening. They were in a restaurant when a woman entered and said
that Kuhns and one James Meese were at her house, shooting their
revolvers and breaking up the furniture.
Wilkinson and Kennelly started down the street, accompanied by
the woman and met the two men. Kennelly jumped in between them, and
threw his arm about Kuhns' neck, at the same time, pinfolding Kuhns
right arm to his side. But the desperado drew his revolver with his
left hand and began firing. Kennelly was shot three times, once in
the side, once in the head, and once in the leg. Wilkinson caught
Kuhns by the collar with the left hand, and began pumping lead into
his back, shooting him four times. In the meantime Kennelly had
fallen, and Wilkinson gave attention to his wounded partner. Kuhns
escaped. Meese was slightly wounded in the hip .
The next morning Kuhns was arrested by the sheriff's posse and
taken to Fort Wayne. He employed attorney G. W. Loutitt to defend
him. The Ohio officers, however, kidnapped the prisoner, and he was
placed on trial at Tiffin, Ohio. The Ohio authorities claimed that
the murder of Campau was committed in Seneca County, though the
body was found at Fostoria, just across the line in an adjoining
county. The trial attracted wide interest and lasted seventeen
days. Mr. Loutitt took part in the trial also, Kuhns' defense was
that he did not commit the murder; that he and Campau and Della
Bird were all drunk, and that when he left Campau was asleep. Della
Bird tried to save her lover, but her testimony was impeached, and
Kuhns was given a life sentence in the Ohio penitentiary. He
started to serve his time; he soon became a model prisoner.
Meanwhile, Della, to secure money with which to help Kuhns,
attempted to rob an old man at Defiance, Ohio; she was sent to the
Ohio prison for four years.
Kuhns was a model prisoner at the Ohio prison, soon became a
trusty. He had the run of the prison, and was granted extraordinary
privileges . When he failed to get a parole or a pardon, he
determined to get away, and selected Thanksgiving day when there
was a crowd of visitors at the prison. Kuhns had a pet dog that was
very fond of him ; he was afraid that the dog would follow him . He
managed to get in communication with his brother John, who was also
a convict, and through some pretext John took charge of the dog.
Kuhns managed to go out of the prison gate several times during the
day, but always returned.
As if fate was on his side, the warden sent him to look after
the heating plant, outside the walls, and as Kuhns passed through
what was called the "bull pen," he asked a guard sitting there to
go with him to look at the plant. The guard stood at the door,
while Kuhns tested the heaters . Then he passed into an adjoining
room, crawled out of a coal hole, and leisurely walked down the
street. As he walked along he saw the deputy warden across the
street, but the officer did not notice him, and in a minute more he
was in a lumber yard, close to the prison. Here was secreted a suit
of clothes, $40 in cash and a revolver, and in a short time Kuhns
had shed his prison suit and was away to liberty.
Of his action after he escaped from the Ohio penitentiary, Kuhns
talked with great freedom. He admitted that he took a horse to
reach Indiana, but he declared that he turned the animal loose in
the road and then made his way to the neighborhood in which I found
him, walking thirty miles in one night. He declared that he had
been close around his brother's house, sleeping in the woods and
eating, with a pistol at his side, but he had done nothing that
should cause him to be hunted by the police after that time.
"I know there is no use in my denying anything," said he, "but
it's the truth I am telling. I have had enough, and l hope to have
a parole in time. So far as tie Logansport affair is concerned, I
know nothing about it, except what I have read in the papers . If I
had to do so, I could prove where I was that night. I am not the
man the farmers down around Rochester were chasing. I have not been
chased by any one since I have been in this neighborhood. I wish
they would give me a chance, and if I don't show that I want to be
a law abiding citizen, they can send me to the chair at
Columbus."
There was a good deal of talk that Kuhns intended to kill Tom
Wilkinson. the detective, who shot him at Churubusco, if he ever
met him . But it is only a question of time until the officers
catch up with him, and Marvin Kuhns will die with his boots on. But
the man who tries to arrest him will have an excellent chance to
change worlds.
The cache container is a
NANO. BYOP. The cache is not located near a grave...Do not
disturb monuments. You must sign the cache log to claim a find. If
you do not sign the log, or reveal additional hints, or indicate
that you cached at night, your log will be deleted without notice.
As always, please be respectful, and cache in, trash
out.
"Indiana Spirit Quest"
is brought to you by the following fellows of GEOISQ*:
The SixDogTeam, Kodiak Kid, THE
SHADOW, Team Shydog, Rupert2, Torry,~Mystery Dog~,Team Tigger
International, Cache Commando, bbsurveyors, DoverDuo, -{LoS}-Xile,
Prairiepartners, WilliamsFamGC, Team Itchy & Scratchy, Bean
Blossom Gang, Wishbone86, krisNjoe and bikinibottomfeeders. If you
are interested in spreading the Quest to your neck of the woods AND
WOULD LIKE TO JOIN US, email SixDogTeam.
*Grand Exalted Order of
the Indiana Spirit Quest
