| Notes |
Publication:Brooklyn Eagle; Date:Mar 9, 1896; Section:None; Page Nu
mber:14
beheaded by an outlaw
shot by outlaw while attempting to arrest him -
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The Pennsylvania Rambler
From the time I was able to travel, I have always loved roaming the ba
ckroads of our great state of Pennsylvania in search of the odd and un
usual. Here are the stories and the histories of the places I've been
. Though from time to time I may wander out of the state, there is eno
ugh history here for me to remain within PA.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
The Great Woodward Shoot-Out
Grave of John Barner, Woodward Cemetery,
Woodward
The first time I set foot on the sacred grounds of Woodward Cemetery
, it was the late 1990s and it was in search of a phantom black cat th
at had been seen darting among the stones. John, a co-worker at the ti
me, and I had been told about a "mysterious" black cat was seen roamin
g the grounds. Being outside, of course, meant that it was probabl
y a real cat that had been spotted, even though neither of us saw a ca
t that day - real or otherwise.
After spending too much time looking for the cat, we gave up and start
ed searching the stones for anything of interest. A few minutes into o
ur search, John excitedly called me over to look at his find. The ston
e was for John M. Barner, but it was the inscription at the bottom tha
t had caught John's attention and my interest. "Was shot while in th
e performance of his official duty."
I circled the stone, hoping for more information, but it yielded no cl
ues as to what had happened to Mr. Barner. I took a few pictures of hi
s stone and also of another nearby stone that had caught my interest b
efore we headed out to explore other parts of Penns Valley.
During that phase of my life and explorations, I was more interested i
collecting the lore and legends of the region, so John Barner's stor
y got put in the filing cabinet to collect dust.
A couple years later I was doing some research at the Centre County Hi
storical Library when I came across some clippings about the shoot-ou
t that claimed the life of Constable Barner. As I read the article
, I realized that, among the random pictures I snapped while at Woodwa
d Cemetery, I had taken photos of the graves of the murderer and th
e victim of the Great Woodward Shoot-out.
Close-up of John Barner's death on his tombstone
(Red spot is a reflection of flowers on neighboring grave)
William Ettlinger was known throughout the town for his quick temper a
d in the summer of 1895, it exploded. During a festival at Woodward h
e supposedly beat his father-in-law, Benjamin Benner, with a whip hand
le. The argument started when Benner began to question Ettlinger abou
t his wife's (Benner's daughter) supposed adulterous activities.
Benner swore out a complaint and Ettlinger was arrested for assault an
d battery and was promptly released until his case came before the jud
ge. However, when his case came up, Ettlinger fled into the mountain
s above Woodward. For the next six months William Ettlinger lived of
f the land and terrorized the locals. Known to be well armed (he was k
own to carry with him two pistols, a shotgun, some knives and a coupl
e sticks of dynamite), he threatened to kill anybody who tried to arre
st him.
Enter John Barner into the picture.
William Ettlinger's Grave
In February of 1896, John Barner was elected constable of Haines Towns
hip under the promise of bringing William Ettlinger to justice.
On March 5, 1896, just a few days after taking office, Constable Barne
received word that Ettlinger was at his home in Woodward. Barner an
d his deputies arrived at the house to serve the warrant. When Barne
approached the door he was greeted with two blasts from a shotgun t
o the head. Then, to make sure the deed was done, William cut Barner'
s throat before taking refuge in the house, shooting at anybody who da
ed approach the house.
Within hours, a mob of over fifteen hundred people descended on Woodwa
d. Ettlinger continued to shoot at people and would occasionally tos
s a stick of dynamite towards the growing crowd.
When Sheriff Condo and his posse arrived in Woodward, it was discovere
d that Ettlinger was barricaded within the house and was holding his w
ife and two children hostage. Shots were exchanged over and though som
e of those gathered outside were injured, none of those in the house w
ere harmed throughout the stand-off.
The next afternoon, Sheriff Condo decided that he had had enough and t
he house was set on fire. Mary Jane Ettlinger was forced out of the ho
use by William and his children soon followed. When William emerged, s
omeone in the mob shot at him, but missed. "I'll do this myself!" he y
elled out and shot himself in the head, dying instantly.
The townspeople quickly approached the house and dragged the bodies o
f Barner and Ettlinger away from the house minutes before the house ex
ploded.
Barner would get a hero's burial - Ettlinger was dumped in a shallow g
ave in Lewis Orndorf's peach orchard.
Years later, Jay would recover his father's remains and they would b
e buried in Woodward Cemetery, less than fifty yards away from John Ba
er's resting place.
Ettlinger Grave Marker
Note: William's name is misspelled
Years after the first visit, I returned to Woodward Cemetery to take s
ome pictures. While walking around the cemetery, I ran into two gentle
men who were placing flags for Memorial Day. After talking for a coupl
e minutes, they started talking about those buried in the cemetery an
d after a couple of minutes they started sharing the story of the Wood
ward shoot-out, pointing out the graves of John Barner and William Ett
linger.
After they finished telling the story, one of them added, "They say th
at on the anniversary of the shoot-out you can hear strange noises i
the area where it all happened."
"But that's not the best part of it," the other spoke. "There's a stra
ge glow that appears where the house once stood."
"Do you remember...," the first spoke in a very serious tone. They tol
d me how one night, when they were kids, they were walking home at nig
ht when a strange glow appeared near the place where the Ettlinger hou
se once stood. The air was suddenly filled with the sounds of gunfire.
"You never saw two boys running so fast for their homes as we did tha
t night." They both laughed as they finished their story.
We talked for a little while longer before they said they had to finis
h up - they had another cemetery that needed flags placed. As we got r
eady to go our separate ways, one of them called out, "You ever hear a
bout the phantom cat that roams the cemetery?"
I never have found the phantom cat, nor have I witnessed the phantom s
hoot-out that reoccurs from time to time. As far as I can tell, John a
d William rest peacefully on the hillside of Woodward Cemetery, victi
ms of the Great Woodward Shoot-out.
Posted by Norman Houser, Pennsylvania Rambler at 1:14 PM 0 comments
Location: Penns Valley Rd, Woodward, PA 16882, USA
|
1858 - 1896 (37 years)
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set
