The year was 1914. While the pretty lakeside village of Canandaigua in upstate New York was strung with garlands and lights twinkled in shop windows enticing Christmas shoppers, Edward McCabe and his roommate Thomas Burns were busily downing drinks in a village saloon. Later the two men caught a train to Holcomb, the small hamlet where they resided. Edward, the son of my second great-grandfather James O’Hora’s sister, was born in Auburn, New York to Irish immigrants Patrick and Mary O’Hora McCabe. Now at age 55, Edward was a large man, over 200 pounds, and in top shape from the physical labor he performed on area farms. A news article described his physique as magnificent, using his nickname, "Big Ed". Edward possessed a long arrest record, begun in his teenage years for petty robberies and assaults. His friend Thomas Burns was an Irish immigrant and at age 33, a younger and much smaller man than Edward. Both were farm laborers and bachelors who enjoyed their liquor, and they brought with them on the train that day a jug of whiskey.
Witnesses would later testify that after disembarking at the station in Holcomb, the men were overheard arguing loudly over who contributed more to their living expenses. The two eventually returned to their shanty a short distance away where they resumed drinking. The argument continued off and on throughout the evening as the liquor flowed. No doubt weary after the day’s exertions, Edward McCabe stretched out on his bed. Burns, still angry, took that opportunity to attack, unexpectedly striking Edward with a shovel using such force that the blow cut Edward’s nose and lips in two vertically, and left a jagged wound down his forehead. He fell from his bed, or was pulled from it depending on which news account one reads, and lay helpless on the floor as Burns continued his assault, stomping and kicking Edward, breaking his ribs and inflicting internal injuries.
Early the next morning, December 10th, Edward was found by two hunters, who upon hearing moans emanating from the shanty entered and found his bloodied form still lying on the floor next to the shovel. He was rushed to Memorial Hospital in Canandaigua where he gave a deathbed statement detailing the attack and naming Thomas Burns as his assailant. Edward died of his injuries in the early morning hours of December 11th. His death certificate gave his cause of death as, "Hemorrhage and shock due to lacerations of head, fracture of ribs and other injuries, probably homicidal”...
I wrote the above in 2013 and that was where the story ended for many years. Edward's family buried him in Auburn and Burns disappeared into the New York correctional system. I tried to find what had become of Thomas Burns but had no success. Until that is, Ancestry added prison records to their collection. I knew Burns had been allowed to plead guilty to first degree manslaughter and had been sentenced to 6 to 19 years at hard labor in Auburn Prison, coincidentally in Edward's hometown, but nothing more. Now, in a database called New York, Auburn Prison Records 1816-1942, I found him being admitted there on March 11, 1915. In another section, I found his discharge on March 27, 1918. He only served three years for manslaughter? That was disturbing. But after staring at the page for a few moments I noticed something else. Written in red in the left margin was, "To Gr. Meadows". What was Gr. Meadows? Green Meadows? Maybe another prison? Perhaps he wasn't released after all, just transferred.
I still don't think five years was enough time for such a vicious attack. I'd love to know what became of Burns after his release and one would think there would be mug shots. Various records and news articles reveal he was born about 1882, served in the British Army, immigrated around 1904 from Ireland, lived in Syracuse for a time after his arrival and seems to have known Edward in Auburn before they lived together in Holcomb. That may not be enough information to follow up on him, but it's worth a try.
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