The Sam Mohawk massacre of the Wigton family
Of all the stories in Butler County to be passed down from generation to generation, the case of the Wigton family massacre by Sam Mohawk is surely one of the most well known.
By the 1840s, Butler had become an integral part of the road system between Erie and Pittsburgh, with much of its commerce developing from its location in the center of this trade route. It is here that the story of Sam Mohawk has been repeatedly told over the years.
Mohawk was a Seneca Native American who resided on the Cattaraugus Reservation in New York. Like other Native Americans at the time, he made a wage working as a raftsman down the Allegheny River to Pittsburgh.
For many years, it was thought that while on a return trip from Pittsburgh the murders took place. However, further research has shown quite the contrary. In fact, Mohawk was actually traveling south, perhaps seeking work in a region he knew well, when the infamous occurrence took place.
Sam Mohawk was an individual suffering from delirium tremens, a severe form of alcohol withdrawal that can cause an altered mental state. In an overwhelming amount of first-hand accounts it is more than evident that Mohawk was often confrontational and filled with a sense of heightened anxiety. Evidence also points to a specific disdain for women, which may have something to do with a relationship with two previous women that did not end well.
Mohawk’s account begins in late June 1843 with his journey toward Butler, followed by a chance encounter with the Wigton family.
During Mohawk’s trip south, he traveled through several Pennsylvania towns including Meadville, Franklin, Harrisville and Unionville before reaching downtown Butler. At various points during these stops, several witnesses from the eventual trial testified that they observed Mohawk exhibit signs of disorientation and hallucinations, make demands for alcohol, and threatened acts of violence.
One such instance involved Catherine Herrit-Protzman, a young girl from Herman who was accosted by Mohawk on Kittanning Street, but she managed to escape. While in the city, Mohawk had become all but deranged until a few locals tried to calm him down and help.
Jacob Mechling, owner of the Mechling Hotel located in the vicinity of the Diamond on Main Street, saw Mohawk and stated he “had a wild look, was constantly moving — pointing and saying Indian, Indian!”
Dr. Samuel Agnew, who had an office in downtown Butler, observed Mohawk and claimed he “was laboring under a slight pneumonic affection, arising from intemperance and exposure.”
Jacob Brinker, a prominent business owner, took him into his hotel located near the current Post Office. Brinker offered to let Mohawk stay for the night where he was bled, a practice at the time where blood was taken from the person in an attempt to remove impurities.
The next morning Mohawk was given passage on a stagecoach paid for by locals to aid him in getting back home to New York. However, this trip did not last long.
When the stagecoach reached the current location of the Old Stone House on Route 8, he exited the vehicle and did not get back on. It was here that several incidents took place between Mohawk and locals, one involving the innkeeper of the Old Stone House, John Sill, who had to use force to get Mohawk to leave the residence.
Mohawk, in an interview later stated he “saw an Indian on horseback after him,” thus indicating a delirious state of some sort. That night Mohawk bedded down somewhere in the wilderness surrounding the Old Stone House.
Sometime early in the morning on July 1, 1843, Mohawk approached the James Wigton residence near the current day Kiester House Road in Slippery Rock. Early that morning, James had left to get a horse from his father when Mohawk approached the Wigton residence.
Mohawk most likely chanced upon James’ wife, Margaret, while she was heading out to the springhouse and a deadly encounter ensued. Since the only evidence comes from Mohawk himself and those that came upon the scene later, much has been left to speculation.
That said, it seems as if Mohawk engaged Margaret in a fight that left her mortally wounded. Afterward, he went into the house and murdered the five children including the youngest, John Wallace, who was not yet a year old. The murder scene was found later by Lemuel Davis and his family who had planned to help the Wigtons in the fields that day.
Soon after James came home and was stopped from seeing his deceased family by Lemuel’s wife. James never looked upon the bodies of his wife or children exclaiming, “The shock was so great and sudden that for four days after I did not remember anything. I did not see any of my murdered family.”
Some evidence does point to one of the girls possibly surviving for a few hours. In Mohawk’s own account, in which he moves between various first and third person perspectives, he said the following of the encounter with Margaret:
“She had the knife in her hand and he held her wrists. In the struggle, the knife cut his head towards the back part. He pushed the woman off, rose and struck her on the side of the head with his fist. She said ‘You musn’t kill; I’ll give money.’ Made no reply. Took up a stick of some size and struck her on the head — she fell; then he took up a stone and struck her on the head, and thought she was dead.”
When Mohawk was asked later why he killed the youngest, he said the boy would grow up to hate him and come after him later. In his state of mind, he claimed Indians were watching him while this was all taking place. A manhunt began once word spread throughout Northern Butler County, with schools being let out early and places of work closing so employees could join the hunt to find the assailant.
Shortly after the Wigton murders, Mohawk attacked a young boy at a neighboring farm, hitting him with a rock. He then took refuge in the second story of the Phillip Kiester house a short distance away where he was finally discovered. A large crowd surrounded the house, trapping Mohawk inside.
Kiester, a War of 1812 veteran, had a set of loaded pistols in the room where Mohawk was hiding. Fortunately, Mohawk didn’t know of the firearms. Eventually, attempts were made to go after Mohawk.
Initial efforts failed due to Mohawk throwing rocks down the steps as members of the crowd tried to reach him. Ultimately, it was decided to take the front door off its hinges and use it as a shield as the crowd stormed up the steps and finally apprehended him.
If not for the arrival of the sheriff and other dignitaries, Mohawk may have been hanged on the spot. Instead, he was brought to the Butler County jail where he was held on murder charges for several months.
Much of the evidence in the case comes from Mohawk’s own confession and an interview with James Wigton. Mohawk’s attorney pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity on behalf of his client before Butler County Judge John Bredin.
The jury listened to four days of testimony and then agreed upon a guilty verdict of first degree murder with the judge receiving approval from the governor for a March 22, 1844, date of execution.
Of note, at least one attempt was made by locals to storm the jail and demand Mohawk be hanged immediately. But James Wigton himself aided in calming the crowds down, advocating for justice to be allowed to run its course. Another incident involved rumors that a Native American attack was amassing south of Butler, in an area called the “Pines,” to free Mohawk. However, no evidence has ever been found to prove the uprising took place.
Local lore has always placed Mohawk as being hanged somewhere on the east side of Butler. Yet, James Wigton himself stated in an interview that Mohawk was hanged in the courtyard of the Butler County Jail; “ … and the walls of the jail were crowded with people trying to see him hang. I was on the wall of the jail, but did not see him drop, but saw his body swinging on the gallows.”
Evidence also shows a scaffold being built for the hanging.
Mohawk’s burial spot had always been a lingering question in Butler County history. Although the county history’s often talk of key people and places associated with this, none give sources. The most likely conclusion was that he was buried on the property of Captain McCall, an elusive Butler resident who was hard to track down. McCall is believed to have lived on Oak Street in the Institute Hill area of Butler. Local lore has held that none of the local cemeteries would take Mohawk’s remains. One source states his body was later removed and placed somewhere else.
The best known picture of Mohawk today comes from a sketch a prison guard made of Mohawk on a shingle that has been copied several times with the original lost. The infamous irons that held Mohawk’s legs were made by a local resident, Jacob Walters, and are a part of the Butler County Historical Society’s collection.
The Wigton family mass grave site can be found in the Muddy Creek Cemetery off Route 8, where a very distinct gravestone with a relief of the Old Stone House is visible on one side of it. In the same cemetery, various other characters involved in the incident can be found as well.
Brad Pflugh is department chairman of history at Knoch High School.
