mitted that he had said when he first heard it, that it might be so, for Old Yargus murdered his wife, and he was not a worse man than John C. Elliott. This enraged Elliott, and a fight ensued, in which the latter met with the same success as his friend Haman. The fight took place in front of the Court House in Hamilton, before a large crowd of spectators, who seemed well pleased that such a notorious bully should at last receive the castigation he so richly deserved.

In 1860 McGehean ran in opposition to Elliot for the office of marshal of Hamilton, and was elected by a large majority. He served one year, giving entire satisfaction, and there is no doubt that he made as good an officer as ever ruled the city of Hamilton. This was of course very humiliating to Elliott, being defeated by the very man whom he had so terribly maligned. Two years after this, Elliott dropped dead from the effects of hard drinking. Qualis vita, finis ita.

Notwithstanding that McGehean had always successfully rebutted whatever charges had been brought against him by Elliott, he by no means escaped the baleful effects which the maliciousness of the latter had evoked. The fact of his having been arrested for counterfeiting; his name appearing so often in the public prints, and his fights with Haman and Elliott, all tended to produce the worst impression upon the public mind concerning him.

No wonder, then with this unenviable reputation, when

charged with the crime of murder, that people should jump at the conclusion that he was guilty, while, had they been less prejudiced against him, and known more of his real character, they would have been less slow to believe this.

When a man, who has hitherto borne a fair character, is accused of a crime, the public receives the accusation with the utmost caution and is slow to be convinced; but on the other hand, when it is brought against one of tarnished reputation, no matter how startling the magnitude of the charge may be, it is believed at once.

CHAPTER IV.

MCGEHEAN IN FAVOR OF THE UNION PARTY-SPECIAL AGENT OF POLICE-BECKETT AND MCGEHEAN ARRANGE TO DEFEAT THE DEMOCRATIC TICKET-THE RESULT-MCGEHEAN CAvaLIERLY TREATED BY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.

PHEN the war broke out in 1861, McGehean used

W

his influence, which was immense, in favor of

the Union party. This brought down upon him the indignation of the leaders of the Democrats, who claimed that he was elected to the office of marshal of Hamilton through the vote of their party.

In 1862 McGehean received the commission of Special Agent of Police from the Government. In holding this office he made many enemies, as part of his duty was to arrest deserters; and, as many in Butler County had been led to believe that the war was an unjust one upon the part of the Government, it was extremely dangerous to comply with the requirements of his commission, yet he performed his duty conscientiously and fearlessly, arresting many persons prominently connected there.

Here we beg leave to draw the attention of our readers to the fact that this stirred up considerable ill-will against him, which clung to him ever afterwards, and which was

plainly evinced, during his incarceration in jail on the alleged charge of the murder of T. S. Myers, by the abuse that was heaped upon him by the editor of the Butler County Democrat-of whom we shall speak at greater length hereafter-arousing a public feeling of animosity against him.

In 1863 McGehean possessed an almost unlimited influence among the voters of Butler County, irrespective of party. As an illustration of his popularity, in the spring of this year he ran for marshal of Hamilton-this time on the Republican ticket. In Hamilton the Democratic majority was nearly one thousand, but McGehean was defeated by only fourteen votes.

In the fall of the same year he used his influence actively in favor of the Union party. At this time Mr. William Beckett, of Hamilton, Butler County, was the ackowledged Republican leader. He and McGehean arranged to defeat the Democratic ticket. This was a gigantic undertaking, as the Democratic majority was two thousand in this county. It was agreed that Beckett should furnish all the necessary funds, and that McGehean should use the same, but should render an account how every dollar was expended; which he did, making rather a curious looking bill of particulars. McGehean, with his own influence and a liberal use of money, succeeded in electing a Republican treasurer, and was defeated in the balance of the ticket by a majority of only four hundred.

McGehean having used much of his own money in addition to what was furnished him by Beckett, requested the latter to refund the same; but was referred to the Republican committee, and as he knew no one in the transaction except Beckett, and the latter having absolutely refused at this time to fulfill his agreement, McGehean was compelled to put up with his loss.*

McGehean considering himself cavalierly treated by the Republican party, became somewhat lukewarm in his attachment to their interests, taking no active part in politics except to secure to his brother, Johnson McGehean, the nomination by the Democratic party to the office of city marshal, which was equivalent to an election, in the city of Hamilton. This office Johnson McGehean held for many years, through his brother's influence, which created to the latter many enemics among the unsuccessful aspirants.

Here we call the attention of the reader to another dangerous class of men, who would rejoice to hear that McGehean had fallen into trouble, and who assisted in exciting the public indignation against him in the matter of the Myers' tragedy.

* In justice to Beckett, we will state that some years afterwards, he gave McGehean a check for a portion of this money, but which fell far short of the amount due him.