The Cast

 

CASTNER FAMILY

 

John Castner (37)

• Was 37 at the time of the murders

• Married to John B. Parke’s sister, Maria

• Three children:  Victor, John, and Maria Matilda

• Lived in John B. Parke’s farm house with John and Sarah (they lived in the “framed” portion of   the house) (Farrow)

• Worked Parke’s Changewater farm

• Paranoid about the money that Parke kept secreted away in the house -- “never left the house after dark unless his work boy (Jesse Force) accompanied him, and he never went out unarmed” (Farrow)

• Found dead in a sinkhole, first body discovered on May 2, 1943  What lured him out of his house at night?  Was he armed that night?  I suppose the only people who would know for sure was his family who were all killed and whomever murdered them.

 

Abraham Castner

• John Castner’s brother

• Took custody over Victor and John after the murders, but did not raise them (Farrow)

• Died of malignant fever which spread throughout the Changewater area shortly after the hangings (Farrow)

 

Moore Castner

• John Castner’s brother

 

Victor (b. 1833; d. 1895) and John P. Castner (b. ; d. 1920)

• The only members of the Castner house that survived after the murders -- they were sleeping in a room off their parents’ room and somehow went unnoticed by the murderers.

• Victor was 9  and John was 6 at the time of the murders (Dale)  

• Raised by their aunt, Mrs. Rachel Hulsizer (Farrow)

• Victor later lived with his aunt Sarah (Sally Ann Parke, according to Farrow) and died 10 years after she did without having any children

• John P. moved back to the house where the murders had occurred.  He married Lydia Syner in 1860 and had four children:  Laura, Milton, Eugene and Sadie.  He died in the murder house in 1920 from pneumonia.  His son Eugene and daughter Sadie lived in the house until they died in the 1950s.  (Meeker 126)

 

PARKE FAMILY 

 

Joseph and Margaret Parke

• Grandparents of the elder Parke’s involved in the murders

• Had 10 children, including William Parke, father of the elder Parke’s involved in the murders

 

William and Mary Bowlby Parke

• Parents of the elder Parke’s involved in the murders

• Had six children:  Abner, David, John, Sarah, Rachel and Maria

• William was a cordwainer (shoemaker) and died in 1803 (Meeker)

• Mary died in 1834 (buried in the cemetery near the old Mansfield Church) (Meeker)

 

John B. Parke (b. 1782; d. 1843)

• Was 61 at the time of the murders

• “Old Johnny Parks”  (Farrow)

• “richest man in the community”  (Farrow)

• found dead with a pillow over his head with “several head wounds” (Farrow)

• At the time of his death, owned two farms: Changewater and one near the old Mansfield Church, but “owned or had an interest in many other properties in both Hunterdon and Warren Counties” (Meeker 9)

 

David Parke (b. 1784; d. 1863 )

• Was 59 at the time of the murders (born January 1, 1784 in New Hampton, NJ) (Farrow)

• Was postmaster at New Hampton (Farrow)

• Served in the War of 1812

• Was a Mason

• Had 9 children:  3 boys, including Peter, and 6 girls (Meeker)

  • William H. (was living in Newark at the time of the murders) (Case Closed)

  • Sarah Ann (married to Mills McKinney and lived in Ithaca, NY at the time of the murders)(Case Closed)

  • Peter W.

  • Rebecca

  • Joseph (was living with David at the time of the murders) (Case Closed)

  • Catherine W. (married to John S. Smith)(Case Closed)

  • Margaret H.

  • Lucretia V.

  • Mary Elizabeth

• Buried in Center Grove Cemetery, Lincolnville, Indiana (Find a grave)

• According to Dale, both Abner and David Parke “were suffering financially and could have used the money” (10).  However, in the Meekers’ second book, they write that “...David was never considered a suspect.  He was in good financial shape and would have had no motive for murder” (14)

• At the time of the murders there were several adults living in David’s house, “including several unrelated apprentices and the local physician, Dr. Robert McClenahan” (Case Closed, 14), all of whom would have noticed if David left the house at night.

• Wife’s name was Elizabeth Weller.  She died in 1827 and is buried in the old Mansfield Cemetery (Meeker)

• After the execution, David and most of his family moved to the midwest, with David ending up in Indiana (Meeker 121)

 

Abner Parke (b. 1786; d. December 27, 1872 )  

• 57 at the time of the murders

• Married Lydia Bowlby, who died in 1829 (Meeker)

• Had at least 6 daughters and at least one son, Bill

  • Mary F. Runkle

  • Olivia Parke Carter (married to Joe Carter) (Meeker)

  • Eliza (possibly Lydia Eliza from the Meekers)

  • Harriet Matilda

  • Jannette W.

  • Caroline (who was married to Henry Hummer)

• Lived with his daughter, Mary Runkle (Married to William Runkle), and three of his unmarried daughters

• Was a Mason

• Defended Joe Carter vehemently throughout the trials

• Was tried and acquitted twice for the murders.  In 1846 he was finally cleared of all murder charges.  At this time he moved his family to Ohio where his eldest son, Bill, had been living for some time. (Farrow)

• According to Dale, both Abner and David Parke “were suffering financially and could have used the money” (10).  However, in the Meekers’ second book, they state that “Abner had no motive to murder his brother.  Abner owned several pieces of land outright and there was no evidence he had any financial difficulty” (14)

• Was crippled with rheumatism (Dale)

• Had a contentious relationship with Joseph Bowlby (Meeker)

• When Abner Parke was re-arrested on January 17, 1845 it was because “despite testifying to the contrary on two previous occasions, Joseph Bowlby now stated that he had seen Abner walking down the road from the direction of Changewater at about midnight on the night of the murders” (Meeker 91).  This, to me, is an indication that people in the town were being coerced into changing their statements and falsifying their testimony.  Probably it was put to them that these were really the people who had done the crime and if they’d just change their statements they could then help to bring justice to the murder victims.  

• Abner, his five daughters and their families, moved to Salem Township, Ohio, where he lived with his daughter, Mary, her husband, and their eight children -- all the unmarried daughters married in Ohio (Meeker 119)

 

Sarah Parke (b. ; d.1885  )

• Was 55 at the time of the murders

• John B. Parke’s housekeeper

• When the murders were discovered, it was noted that while she wasn’t in the house, her bed was unmade -- she was at William Hulsizer’s house with her sister, Rachel, because one of Rachel’s children was “dangerously ill” (Farrow)

• Fought with other relatives over a small, locked trunk when the relatives were searching the house for assets.  She also claimed that some of the money found was hers and did not allow it to be counted as part of John B. Parke’s assets  (Farrow)

• Later on in life she lived with her nephew, Victor Castner (Farrow)

• According to the Meekers, she was “known in the family as Sally” (13)

• It was very convenient that Sarah was away from her home on the night of the murders, especially since she had not been away from her own home overnight in several years (Case Closed 21)

 

Rachel Parke Hulsizer (b.1793; d. 1865  )

• Was 50 at the time of the murders

• Married to William Hulsizer and had only one child live until adulthood, William Harris Hulsizer (b. 1825) (Meeker).  William, the son, was 18 at the time of the murders but is consistently referred to as “the child”.  

• The Meekers call Rachel “Rebecca”

• She and her husband lived just south of Port Colden, “on the north side of the road from Port Colden to the Mansfield Church and about half a mile from the north end of Henry and Thisbea Carter’s farm” (Meeker 13)

• Died in 1865 and was buried in the Mansfield Cemetery (Meeker)

• Son William Harris Hulsizer married Ann Woolverton in 1855 and had two children  He died in 1871 (Meekers 125)

• Rachel was found guilty of beating a nine-year-old girl who had worked for her in 1859 (Case Closed 26)

 

Maria Parke Castner  (b.  1801; d. 1843)

• Was 44 at the time of the murders

• Married John Castner

• Murder victim – pillow over her head, single blow to the head, but looked like she’d been choked; with her was Maria Matilda, also single blow to the head (Farrow)

 

Peter Weller Parke (b.  1813; d. 1845)

• Son of David and Elizabeth Weller Parke

• Shoemaker in Washington

• Married Rachel Hunter in 1835 and had three children:  Elizabeth, Mary and John (Meeker)

• “Peter and his family lived next to the shoe shop in a rented house that had been partitioned for two families.  Henry C. Hummer and his family lived in the other half of the house.” (Meeker 10)

• Wife was sick at the time of the murders (Farrow)

• According to the Meekers, Rachel was “very sick” and Peter had arranged for Dr. McClenahan to see her the day the murders were discovered (37).  Also Rachel was too sick to attend the funerals two days later. (43)  However, when discussing his trial, the Meekers write that Peter’s youngest child was very sick and that on the night of the murders  “Pete took care of the child from 9:00 o’clock until midnight, then Prudence sat up with the sick baby from midnight until dawn in the same room where Pete was sleeping.” (89)

• Stopped at Joe Carter’s farmhouse on his way to John Parke’s house and spoke to his cousin (Joe Carter’s wife, Abner Parke’s daughter) the day the murders were discovered; Joe Carter was in the field ploughing with Henry Hummer.  Joe and Peter went on to John Parke’s house to see what had happened (Farrow)

• Alone with Joe Carter got the abandoned church in Mansfield cemetery ready for the funeral (Farrow)

• Was hanged on August 22, 1845, having been charged with two counts of murder

• The Parke family had printed a pamphlet that was dictated from Peter to John P. Hunter Jr two days before his execution called “The Protest of Peter W. Parke” (Farrow)

 

Eliza Parke

• One of Abner’s daughters

• Testified that she saw Joe Carter with  “a roll of bills larger than three fingers” after his trip to NY (Farrow)

 

Olivia Parke Carter (b. 1815; d. )

• Daughter of Abner and Lydia

• Married Joe Carter in 1835 (Meeker)

• In 1846 Oliva moved with her father and family to Ohio.  Olivia lived with her sister Lydia Eliza, and the children stayed with other family members.  Then about 1870, Olivia moved Bond County, Illinois until the time that both her children were married, at which point she moved back to Ohio and again lived with Lydia.  She died in 1882.  (Meeker 119)

 

Other Characters in the Drama

 

Jonathan Auble

• Arrested by the Holy Alliance as a murder suspect because of having a dubious reputation, money troubles and previous encounters with the law (Meeker)

 

Samuel T. Beatty

• Worked as a journeyman for Peter Parke and was allowed to sleep in the shoe shop at night (Meeker)

 

Joseph Bowlby

• Member of the Musconetcong Valley Presbyterian Church along with Abner Parke (Meeker)

• Had a contentious relationship with Abner (Meeker)

• Was the church sexton (Meeker)

• Testified twice that he had not seen Abner the night of the murders, then suddenly changed his story, saying that in fact he had seen Abner walking down Changewater Road the night of the murders, even testifying to this at Abner’s trial (Meeker)

 

Stacy Bowlby

• Discovered J. Castner’s body in the sinkhole (Farrow)

 

Charles Coleman

• Arrested by the Holy Alliance as a murder suspect because of having a dubious reputation, money troubles and previous encounters with the law (Meeker)

 

Reverend Jacob Castner

• Preached for two hours at the funerals and told the listeners to seek out the murders (Farrow)

• Wrote the inscriptions for the tombstones of the murder victims (Farrow)

 

Henry Carter

• Father of Joe Carter

• Had a brother named Joseph Carter Sr (Meeker)

• Married to Thisbea and had 8 children .  After Henry died, Thisbea went to live with daughter Sarah in Hunterdon County -- she died in 1869 and was buried in the Mansfield Church cemetery (Meeker)

• Sons, William, Joseph Jr (7th child) and daughters, Sarah (married to Henry Lawshe), Catherine (married to Stephen Yard) (Meeker)

• Asked to buried with his son and Peter Parke, and apparently was buried with them at the time of his death (Farrow)  But according to Dale, there is no evidence that Henry was actually buried there (14).  According to the Meekers he died on May 8, 1849 and was buried in the Mansfield Church cemetery (117).

 

Joseph “Joe” Carter, Jr.

• Rented John B. Parke’s Mansfield farm (Farrow)

• “Carter had been color bearer of an Artillery Company which had functioned patriotically during the War of 1812” (Farrow, reprinting part of “The Protest of Peter W. Parke”)

• Married John B. Parke’s niece, Olivia Parke,  Abner Parke’s daughter

• Children:  Luther Calvin (b. 1838) and Lydia (b. 1842)

• Owed John B. Parke money (Farrow)

• At one point, Joe lived with Jacob Skinner as a farm hand

• Would not look at John B. Parke’s body claiming that John was his best friend (Farrow)

• With Peter Parke, got abandoned church in the Mansfield cemetery ready for the funeral service (Farrow)

• Two charges were brought against him by Warren County prosecutor William C. Morris:

  • He paid his debts immediately after the murders with money he shouldn’t have had

  • A letter he sent to a Phillipsburg magistrate was said to have been sent before he supposedly learned of the murders

• He was represented by Phineas B. Kennedy and was unanimously discharged by the county magistrates on June 2, 1843 (Farrow)

• Was hanged on August 22, 1845, having been charged with two counts of murder

 

William Carter

• Brother of Joe Carter, according to Farrow & Meeker; Uncle of Joe Carter, according to Dale

• Moved back to Warren County after the Civil War and died in Washington in 1886 (Meeker)

 

Eliza Case

• Lived with her sister, Anne and her sister’s husband, George Franks (who owned a major portion of the Franks & Strader mill) just down the hill from the Parke farm -- just after 9pm on May 1, 1843, she went to feed the hogs -- about 20 minutes later, while still outside when “she thought she heard a man holler.  It sounded like it came from the direction of the Parke farm.  She listened for another minute or two, but heard nothing else.” (Meeker 24)  Based on how the time is described in the book, I would guess that she probably heard this closer to 10pm than 9pm.

 

Clarissa Chamberlain

• Lived with Henry Hummer and his family in the other half of Peter Parke’s house

• Witness for the defense during Peter Parke’s trial who testified that Parke was at home the night of the murders because she had heard him “conversing in an adjoining apartment while she was sitting up with a sick person in a nearby room” (Farrow 94)  

 

William Dilts

• Blacksmith

• Put new shoes on Joe Carter’s mare, Maria, on May 1, 1845

• During an examination, according to Peter Parke, Dilts said that he was supsicious of a man named Atikinson who left town for NY the Monday of the murders, never to be seen again in Warren County, but subsequently killed  at Lockport in NY. (12) -- this looks very suspicious, but never seemed to be brought up in court!

 

Jesse Fell

• Borrowed money from J. Parke (Farrow)

• Had spent time in NY with Joe Carter on the trip he says he saved money on for his family (Farrow)

• Testified at the first state trial that when Daniel Castner found out that Jesse was going to testify at the trial to seeing Joe with money in NY and not spending it, he was very angry and they had words (Farrow)

 

Jesse Force (17)

• Worked for J. Castner, lived in the farmhouse in the bedroom over the kitchen (Farrow)

• Victim of the attack, found with wound to the temple, but still alive (Farrow)

 

George Franks

• Master of “the mill” who sent for the local constables (Farrow)

 

Ann Franks

• Wife of George Franks

• Was the person who told everyone where the Castner boys slept in the house the day the murders were discovered (Meeker)  This makes me wonder;  If this were “common” knowledge, then the murder(s) probably weren’t close enough to the families to know this because if they could kill little Maria Matilda, then they would most likely have had no problem killing the two boys as well, unless they simply did not know the boys were in the house.  Someone who lived in the area, but was not particularly close to the family, might not have realized where the boys slept and didn’t find them.  This also plays into the idea of someone, possibly a woman, also being at the crime scene and pleading for the boys’ lives.  

 

Moore Furman

• Member of the Holy Alliance

• “Swore out the warrant which led to Joe Carter’s arrest on suspicion of murder” (Furrow p 140)

• Tried to collect the reward offered by the Castner & Park families ($1,000) -- the attempt went to the state Supreme Court and was denied because “The plaintiff had failed to show that he had performed the services for which the reward had been offered” (p 141); He did collect $500 from the Warren County Freeholders (Furrow)

 

James Groff

• “Surprise” witness for the prosecution in the trial of Peter Parke (Farrow)

• had been overseer of roads, a responsibility which included seeing to sinkholes, prior to Joe Carter, and while in this position had hired John Castner to fill up the sinkholes near his house (Farrow)  Wouldn’t this have shown that Castner took the money to fill up the sinkholes but didn’t do it, more than it would reflect on Carter’s supposed decision to not have Castner fill up the holes?  

 

William Hulsizer

• Married to Rachel Parke

• Had sued John Carter the spring before the murders (Farrow)

• Was arrested by the Holy Alliance as a murder suspect because of his past history with John B. Parke, but was released because of the alibi given by his wife and sister-in-law (Meeker)

• Died of consumption in 1869 and was buried near his wife in the Mansfield Cemetery (Meeker)

• “In June of 1842, William Hulshizer attempted to have ‘criminal intercourse’ with William Munson’s wife Rebecca.  One February 5, 1845 the incident was reported to the Washington Presbyterian Church and Hulshizer was put on trial there.” (Case Closed 20)  The Munson’s are neighbors of the Hulsizer’s.  Rebecca initially did not tell anyone, even her husband because she had a young child at the time and another on the way.  In 1845 at the church trial there were three witnesses called against him:  William Munson, Rebecca Munson and John Strader Jr.  On August 9, 1845 the church trial concluded, saying that Hulsizer “has in this case ‘manifested an unhumble, obstinate and vindictive spirit.’  William Hulshizer is hereby cut off from the church.”  (26)

 

Henry Hummer

• Married to one of Abner Parke’s daughters, Caroline (Farrow)

• Worked for Joe Carter (Farrow)

• Lived in half a house also occupied by Peter W. Parke in Washington (Farrow)

• Indicted on June 24, 1844 for the 4 murders and the attempted murder of Jessie Force (Farrow)

• Worked as a boatman on the Morris Canal (Meekers)

• Caroline died in 1850; Henry married Sarah Winter and had 5 children with her.  He died in 1878

 

Rachel Hunter (Parke)

• Married Peter W. Parke in 1835 and had three children:  Elizabeth, Mary and John (Meeker)

• In 1853, Rachel and her children moved to Wabash County, Indiana, where Peter’s father and family lived (Meeker 122)

• Moved from Indiana to Iowa in 1861 and died there in 1887, age 73 (Meeker)

 

Benjamin Hutchings

• Worked for Peter Parke

 

Philip Johnson

• Worked a farm adjoining J.B. Parke’s Changewater farm (Farrow)

 

Lydon Lyman

• Was the one who told Peter Parke about the murders (Farrow)

 

George Martenis

• Came to see John Castner the day before the murders (May 1, 1845) and asked to borrow $50 but John refused because Martenis did not have good security for the loan (Meekers)  Is this Peg Martenis’ husband?  Could have definitely been a good suspect!  

 

Margaret “Peg”  Martenis

• “Surprise” witness for the prosecution at Peter Parke’s trial (Farrow)

• Swore that she had heard Joe and Pete discussing whether they “looked guilty” the morning after the murders at the scene of the crime.  Martenis was thought to be of questionable character and a known liar throughout the community, however her testimony helped to convict Parke.  (Farrow)  If the community knew that Martenis was “an awful old liar and the truth was not in her” (Farrow 89) then I wonder if Peter Parke had had a Warren County jury if they would have discounted the testimony or if possibly the prosecution would not have used Martenis as a witness.

 

William C. Morris

• Warren County District Attorney

• “personally travelled to Washington to head the investigation into the Changewater murders” (Meeker 55)

 

Charlie Myers

• Lived next door to George Franks, where Eliza and Ann lived

• Was working in the blacksmith shop the night of the murders and it was between 9pm and 10pm when “his dog was acting kind of crazy.  He would bark a lot and run up the road, then return and bark some more.  Charlie went out in front of the shop to watch him for a minute.  He could hear the other dogs in the neighborhood raising hell. “ (Meeker 24)  And yet, Jesse Force testified that the dog at the Parke house did NOT bark that night.

 

William R. Prall, Esq.

• Was summoned by George Franks upon the discovery of John Castner’s body in the sink hole (Meeker)

• One of three men that Abner wanted in charge of looking over J. Parke’s estate and will (Farrow)

 

Charles Rounsavell

• One of three men that Abner wanted in charge of looking over J. Parke’s estate and will (Farrow)

• Great Grandfather of the author Farrow

• Had once co-owned about 200 acres with J. Parke.  They divided the land between them with Rounsavell taking the Hunterdon County part of the land, as well as “several good Warren fields” (p.10) and J. Parke took the rest, all of which lay on the Warren County side.  Rounsavell lived in New Hampton at the time of the murders (Farrow)

 

Seagraves

• Constable

• Was owed money by Joe Carter and had threatened to “advertise his property” (Farrow)

 

Jacob Skinner

• Had been friends with John Castner for almost 35 years at the time of John’s death (Meeker)

 

John A. Smith

• Wheelwright and wagonmaker

• Found horse and wagon tracks near the Rounsavell’s footlog and “was positive that the tracks belonged to the murderer” and had the reward in mind when reporting these tracks (Meeker 50)

 

Mr. Smith

• Both Peter Parke (in his protest) and Farrow make mention of a Mr. Smith who had a dream about the murders (Farrow 31 & Parke 10)

• According to Parke, Mr. Smith lived above Hackettstown and claimed to not have any knowledge about the Parke or Castner families.  When asked to look around and see if he recognized anyone from this dream, Parke claimes he recognized “E.T.” from the dream as one of the murderers.  (10)  In their companion to the protest, the Meekers were unable to identify who E.T. was. (22)  E.T. was, according to Parke, examined by both the committee in Washington and one in Hackettstown and were both times found to have nothing to do with the crimes. (11)

 

Cornelius Stewart

• One of three men that Abner wanted in charge of looking over J. Parke’s estate and will (Farrow)

• Was “called upon at the trials to testify as to what had been found in John B. Parke’s house” (Meeker 51)

 

John Strader

• Constable

• Did some searching with Peter Parke for evidence in regard to the murders (Farrow)

 

Edward Thompson

• Arrested by Moore Furman of the Holy Alliance for the murders because Mr. Smith saw him commit the murders in a dream (Meeker)

 

Jesse Tiger

• Testified at Peter Parke’s trial for the prosecution, saying that Joe Carter had tried to recruit him to help him carry out the murders -- he did not testify at any of Carter’s hearings (Farrow)  According to the Meekers, Tiger testified that Peter Parke had also approached him about the murders, saying that “Joe Carter would get John Castner up to the sinkhole and kill him and ‘then we would have money enough’.” (90)  

• According to letter written by Joe Carter before he was executed, Tiger had no reason to be afraid of Joe Carter because they had worked together the spring before the murders happened with Joe’s father (Farrow)

• Tiger “..was known in town as a liar, a thief, and a drunkard, and he had stolen chickens.” (Meeker 90)

• Henry Hummer related that  he had only seen “Tiger near Joe’s house before the murders.  Tiger laid in a ditch along the road opposite the Mansfield Church passed-out drunk” and Joe helped Tiger up and got him some food (Meeker 90)

 

Peter Vandoren

• Had borrowed Joe Carter’s wagon and was supposed to return it on May 1, 1843, but when Henry Hummer went to pick it up that morning, he and the wagon were not at the farm (Meeker)

• Was part of the Holy Alliance

• He and Joe Carter had borrowed money from each other frequently (Meeker)

 

Constable Robert Vanatta

• Called to the crime scene at the sinkhole by George Franks (Meekers)

 

Prudence Williamson

• Lived with Peter Parke’s family and took care of his children

 

Mr. Youman

• Because Vandoren had Joe Carter’s wagon and a wagon was needed at the Carter farm, Henry Hummer went and borrowed Youman’s wagon on May 1, 1843 and promised Youman that he would have the wagon back by nightfall (Meeker)

 

The Holy Alliance

• Group of four men who were determined to discover who had committed the murders and collect the ransom gathered (Farrow)

• Group was created by Moore Furman and the group’s sole purpose was to get someone arrested and convicted of the murder in order to collect the substantial reward money being offered (Meeker)

• “During the weeks following the murders, they spent a great deal of time indiscriminately arresting people to be examined by the magistrates” (Meeker 55).

• The group targeted Joe Carter  (Farrow)

• According to Farrow, the alliance was made up of:

  • Moore Furman

  • Constable Peter T.B. Van Doren

  • Jacob La Bar

  • Unknown individual (but not Constables Strader & Seagraves who both swore under oath that they were not members of the group)

• According to the Meekers, the alliance was made up of:

  • Moore Furman

  • Peter T.B. Vandoren

  • Jacob W. Davis

  • Nelson Labar

 

Warren County Citizens Committee

• Group of citizens joined together to find the murderer(s) ostensibly to also collect the reward being offered (Farrow)