Albert "Al" Franzmathes

1861 - 1927  (66 years)

• Name	Albert "Al" Franzmathes
  Born	6 Jan 1861	, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Crime	murdered
  Misfortune	murdered
  Name	Albert Mathes
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-223744
  Died	9 Apr 1927	, Wichita, Kansas, United States   [1]
  Buried	Crystal Plains Cemtery, Smith Center, Smith, Kansas, United States   [1]
  Person ID	I223744	Generations
  Last Modified	6 Apr 2024

  
  

  Father	William Christopher Franzmathes,   b. 14 May 1840, Freudenberg, , Baden-Württemberg, Germany ,   d. 26 Jul 1927, , Smith, Kansas, United States  (Age 87 years)
  Mother	Magdalene Pistor,   b. 28 Sep 1843, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 25 Jan 1918, , Smith, Kansas, United States  (Age 74 years)
  Married	28 Apr 1861	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [2, 3, 4]
  Family ID	F30616	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Albert was the son of William Christopher Franzmathes and Magdalene Pistor. Born in Waterloo County, Ontario Canada, he traveled by covered wagon to Smith County, Kansas where he and his brother, William, owned a cattle ranch and community meeting area called Hummer. His tragic death at the Mathes Ranch in Wichita County is reported below. ____________________________________ TWO BOYS CONFESS TO MATHES MURDER Poison Neighbor and Friend to Cover Theft of $81.00 Confession of two youths in the Logan county jail have entirely cleared up the mystery surrounding the poisoning of Albert Mathes. Martin Cunningham, 19, denied his guilt at first, but his resistance collapsed when he was confronted with the confession of his 16 year old accomplice, Walter White, who had admitted they poisoned Mr. Mathes to prevent him from discovering they had raised checks given them by Mr. Mathes. Sentence will probably be pronounced by Judge Ruppenthal on Saturday. White is a son of John E. White, a neighbor and lifelong friend of the deceased. Cunningham is the son of Rev. J.S. Cunningham, former pastor of the Leoti Presbyterian church, now pastor at Anthony, Kansas. The boys had been suspected by authorities ever since Albert Mathes died as a result of arsenic poisoning, April 9th. They were arrested last Saturday and given a severe grilling by County Attorney Brooks of Logan, county Sheriff W. J. Melton of Logan county, Sheriff Frank Mathes of this county, a brother of the deceased and others interested in the case. Following is an excerpt from the confession of Walter White: "I am 16 years old. I worked for Albert Mathes on the Mathes ranch in Logan county in March and the early part of April. I was well treated there and like the place very much. Martin Cunningham and I were running around together and spending too much money. He induced me to raise the figures in some checks Mr. Mathes gave me for my work, and also to steal some of the checks to Mr. Mathes. On April 5th, Mr. Mathes said he would not need me any more and had hired another boy to take my place. I was afraid he had found out about the checks so Martin and I got together and discussed what we would do about it. We decided we would have to kill Mr. and Mrs. Mathes and the Basham boy who had taken my place on the ranch. Wednesday morning we went to the Mathes place when we knew that Mr. and Mrs. Mathes were going to Scott City and I sneaked into the house and emptied a bottle of prairie dog poison in the teakettle and in a package of soda. Thursday morning we went back expecting to find them all dead, but found that they had not used the soda but had got a little poison from the kettle. They were all sick, but did not suspect they had been poisoned. Saturday morning I went back to the ranch and found them all nearly dead from eating pancakes made from the soda. They asked me to phone for the doctor, which I did and then I went to the home of their son-in-law Auber Brown and sent him there. In order to make persons think Al Mathes had committed suicide I prepared a note which read as follows: This has been a mean old world. This is what killed us. Am broke. Al" I could imitate his handwriting pretty well through increasing those checks. I went back to work on the Mathes place after Al died. I had hid the note in the bottle in which I brought the poison and put it in the shed. April 28, when I saw I was suspected, I pretended to find this bottle in the cow-shed and showed it to Auber Brown. Martin Cunningham helped me to plan this crime and is just as guilty as I." It was the suicide note that enabled authorities to fasten the crime on the two boys. The note together with specimens of the boys handwriting were sent to a handwriting expert who identified the note as the handwriting of Walter White. He confessed on Saturday, but Cunningham denied all knowledge of the events until the next night when he finally admitted his own guilt and confirmed the story. The confessions of the two boys have been the chief thought in everyone's mind the past week and it is a feeling of deep shock that the news struck everyone. The families of the boys have the deepest sympathy from all. Mrs. Cunningham and daughter, Miss Edith, were here this week, coming from Anthony, to see Martin. The impression seems to be that the boys will be brought before the court and receive sentence, without trial. Word from Russell Springs is that the boys are very penitent. The entire amount of money realized by the check raising was only $81. ____________ The murder was also reported in The Kansas City Star, Monday, May 16, 1927, as well as in the Topeka Daily Capital Cemetery, Crystal, North America, Smith County, Smith Center, and Crystal Cemetery. 1861. " Albert Franzmathes (1861-1927) - Find A Grave...". Findagrave.Com. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20467821/albert-franzmathes.

  
  

• Sources

  [S3231] Find A Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20467821/albert-franzmathes. [S6] Church Records - ON, Waterloo - Bindeman, F. W. - Card Index Kitchener Public Library. William Franz Mather, 21, res. Waterloo Twp., b. Pennsylvania US, s/o Anselm Mather & Joseph Reichert married 28 Apr 1861 to Magdalena Piston, 18, res. Waterloo Twp. b. Waterloo Twp. d/o Peter Piston & Magadalena Müller [S20] News - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - Berlin Telegraph (title varies: Berlin Telegraph, Berlin Daily Telegraph) (1853-1922), 17 May 1861. By the Rev. Mr. Bindeman at Berlin: - Mathes - Pistor: On the 28th ult., Mr. William Mathes, to Miss Magdalena Pistor, of Waterloo Township. [S5] Vit - - ON, Waterloo - 1858-1869 Marriage Register. William Fra. Mather, 21, res. Waterloo, b. Pennsylvania, s/o Anselm & Josephine (Reinhart), married 28 Apr 1861 Magdalena Pistor, 18, res. Waterloo, b. Waterloo, d/o Peter & Magdalena

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 6 Jan 1861 - , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 9 Apr 1927 - , Wichita, Kansas, United States Buried - - Crystal Plains Cemtery, Smith Center, Smith, Kansas, United States  = Link to Google Earth