This is the tombstone in the Chariton Cemetery of Charles Archibold, 85, brutally murdered by his neighbors, Thomas and Margaret Kelly, on April 6, 1886. I've written twice about the case before, initially here during 2012; then again here, during 2017.
Archibold had a considerable amount of cash concealed in his home, and that was the motive. The Kellys seem not to have been among the brightest of bulbs, so there never was doubt about their guilt, only about the degree.
Testifying before a Lucas County grand jury, Margaret said that she had been reading poetry to Archibold while they were seated at a table in the Kelly home on the evening of the murder when her husband unexpectedly struck him on the head. She exited the room and then the house, she testified, and claimed to have played no part in disposing of the body.
Thomas told the jury that Margaret had first encouraged him to kill Archibold and, when he refused to do so, struck the old man over the head herself with a soldering iron, dumped his body through the trap door into the basement and some time later single-handedly dragged the body out of the basement and to his own home.
In the end, Thomas was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to a life term; Margaret got off with a five-year manslaughter sentence.
As the years passed, Thomas was transferred from the penitentiary at Fort Madison to Anamosa and as he grew older and weaker, a move developed in Chariton to lobby for a legislative pardon. Among the advocates for a pardon was Col. Warren S. Dungan, attorney, former senator and former lieutenant governor of Iowa.
As Kelly's death approached, the push for a pardon became more urgent --- and attracted considerable attention in Iowa newspapers. Here's a report on the outcome from The Chariton Democrat of Feb. 23, 1900, which incorporates a report published a few days earlier in The Des Moines Daily News:
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"Number 2086 died at 7 o'clock this morning," was the brief telegram that came to Col. Warren S. Dungan Friday morning from Warden Hunter of the Anamosa penitentiary. Number 2086 was Thomas Kelly of Chariton who was sentenced to the penitentiary for murder and whose pardon would have been granted by the legislature Friday. The death of Kelly ends the history of one of the foulest murders ever committed in Iowa. Although Kelly paid the penalty of the crime, his wife, Margaret Kelly, who escaped severe punishment, was always supposed to have been more guilty than her husband.
Kelly was an Irish laborer who lived next door to an old hermit named Chas. Archibold. Archibold had considerable wealth and hid his money in different parts of his home. Mrs. Kelly took care of Archibold's house and at different times found money hidden in obscure places. One time when she was making Archibold's bed, a large sack of money rolled out on the floor and the old miser grabbed it up in a sacred manner and hastened from the home.
Testimony in the case showed that Mrs. Kelly had contemplated some means of robbing the old man for years before he was murdered and had let her intentions be known. The constant discovery of the old man's money was a great temptation to her and one she admitted she did not care to overcome.
On April 7, 1886, Archibold was found dead in his home. His head had been crushed with an axe and his body was terribly mangled and bruised. there was a trail of blood leading from Archibald's home to the Kelly home in the neighboring yard and there was no difficulty in proving that the old man came to his death in the home of his neighbors and that his body was placed in his own home to make it appear that the crime was committed there. Suspicion at once attached to the Kellys' home and they were arrested.
Mrs. Kelly was tried for manslaughter and her husband was tried for murder in the first degree. The testimony was strong against the couple and Kelly was easily convicted and sent to prison for life. He was never believed to have killed the man, but he helped conceal the crime and suffered the extreme penalty.
Mrs. Kelly was convicted to manslaughter and served a term of five years.
Kelly always had the sympathy of the citizens of Chariton, who believed him the less guilty of the two. He was an Irish well-digger, concerning whom the worst thing that could be said was that he got drunk occasionally. Since his confinement in the penitentiary Kelly has been very cheerful and has lived in the hope that he would be pardoned.
Concerning his death, the Des Moines Daily News says:
"On Thursday afternoon in a cell at Anamosa penitentiary, Number 2086 lay dying. He was an old man, 80 years old, with white hair and a thin, sad face. He had been there almost eight years, and before he went to Anamosa he had spent five years in prison at Fort Madison. Thirteen years, and a life sentence before him.
" 'Your pardon will come this time,' said the chaplain to Number 2086 as he entered his cell on Thursday morning. 'I am assured that the legislature will pass it.'
"A wonderful light spread over the face of Number 2086. 'I am so glad,' he said in a week voice. 'If it comes I can die happy. But,' and his face grew sad again, 'are you sure it will go through the senate this time. You know two years ago the members there did not reach it. There were many things of more importance, I suppose, but I feel sure they would this time, if they knew how very weak I am, and how short a time I can live.'
" 'Mr. Dungan has assured me that it will come this time,' said the chaplain, and Number 2086 smiled feebly and turned his face away, as if there were unpleasant memories crowding his mind.
"On the afternoon of the same day the pardon of Thomas Kelly came before the Iowa Senate. It was explained that Mr. Kelley was dying, that he would probably not last many hours at the longest. The delayed action of the senate two years ago, which if undone might have given the convict two years of life with his daughter, who wished to make his last years happy, were cited, and the pardon was passed without a dissenting voice.
"Hon. W.S. Dungan, who had pushed the matter through the senate, was watching it. The pardon was hurried through the house and then to Governor Shaw's office, where the executive signed it, and as quickly as possible the news was flashed across the wires by Warden Hunter, who was in town.
"That was 6 o'clock Thursday evening. Thomas Kelly died the next morning. In the prison yard at Anamosa, in a warm corner where the sunshine penetrates daily, there is a pen of pet rabbits. They are waiting for convict Number 2086 to feed them."
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The story suggests that Kelly died a pardoned man, but there seems to have been a glitch that he probably was not aware of. Had he lived, the glitch would have been ironed out and the pardon reaffirmed on Friday. But that didn't happen.
Whatever the case, Thomas was buried --- most likely on Saturday --- in Anamosa's Holy Cross Cemetery rather than in the penitentiary cemetery, known as Boot Hill. His grave, however, is unmarked.
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