Evidently, it was tough going trying to get along with Alfred James Hitch. However, I doubt that this justified the fate that he eventually faced. He was the unnerving recipient of a well-placed blow from the razor sharp blade of a woodcutter’s axe owned by Mr. William Taylor of Somerset County, Maryland. The story was told in the typical sensationalized Victorian-era fashion in an article in the January 3, 1874 edition of the Salisbury Advertiser (Salisbury, Wicomico Co., MD, see clipping): The article is transcribed as follows (punctuation and grammar as in the original text):
Terrible Murder
A Man Split Open With An Axe!
HE DIES IN THREE MINUTES
Last Wednesday, (December 31st,) at about five o'clock P.M., a terrible tragedy was enacted at Eden Station, Somerset county, Maryland. The details of the murder, as related by an eye witness a
re as follows:
About half past four o'clock, William Taylor, who had been in the woods hewing timber, came in to Mr. Parker's store at the Station, with his axe on his shoulder, in company with Thomas Flemming. Taylor put his axe out side of the store door, out of the way, and sat down near the stove. Alfred Hitch, a man who bore an unenviable reputation in the neighborhood, by reason of his quarrelsome and over bearing disposition, picked up the axe, and by carelessness cut himself slightly. He immediately began cursing the owner of the axe and Flemming. Flemming resented Al's conduct, and the two had pretty sharp words in the Store. Taylor persuaded Flemming to leave the store in order to avoid any disturbance, and both walked up the Railroad track, which passed directly in front of the door, towards home. They had barely started when Hitch left the store, picked up a club and followed them, saying that he could "whip them both, and intended to do it," and daring them to the test. Taylor said to Hitch “Go away and let us alone or it will be worse for you." Hitch persisted in carrying his threats into execution, and advanced rapidly upon Flemming and Taylor. Flemming picked up a round stick of wood and was going to strike Hitch with it, when on looking around he saw Taylor advancing on Hitch with his axe drawn; he stepped off the track. Taylor passed him, and the next moment the dull "chuck" of the axe was heard, as it entered Hitch's body, literally splitting him open. The murdered man, trembled a moment and then pitched forward on his face, in a perfect gore of blood, and in less than three minutes was dead. The axe entered Hitch's left shoulder and cut diagonally across the lower part of the breast bone, making a terrible wound.
After the occurrence Taylor shouldered his weapon of death, and with his companion marched cooly away. He now went to Captain T. W. H. White's to whom he related the particulars of the affray, at the same time asking him what he should do, Captain White advised him to go to Princess Anne, and deliver himself up to the State authorities. We learn that a warrant has been issued for the murderer's arrest, but as we go to press he is still at large.
Alfred James Hitch was born c1840, the son of William and Nancy (Pollitt) Hitch of Somerset County. William was born sometime between 1799 and 1804 and died on July 10, 1877. He was the son of John and Amelia (Disharoon) Hitch. William Hitch married Nancy (Ann) Pollitt Morris on October 23, 1827. She was the widow of John Morris who she had married in 1825. John Hitch, in turn, was the son of Benjamin and Mary (Pitts) Hitch, who was the son of Samuel and Rachel (Hardy) Hitch, who was the son of Adam and Ann (Elgate) Hitch to complete the line.
To give the reader some perspective of where the murder of Alfred Hitch occurred, I turn to a map of the area from 1877 (see illustration). The map covers the northern portion of the Princess Anne District of Somerset Co., Maryland. To the north (including the town of Upper Trappe - which is modern-day Allen) is Wicomico County and to the east is Worcester Co. The illustrated map is marked with numbers as follows:
1. The residence of William and Ann (Pollitt-Morris) Hitch where Alfred was living at the time of his death.
2. S.Q. Parker’s store next to the railroad tracks (on the west side of the tracks) in Eden Station where William Taylor, Thomas Fleming and Alfred Hitch had their first altercation.
3. The railroad tracks where Taylor and Fleming started walking after the altercation in the store. Alfred Hitch followed - ultimately to his death.
4. The residence of Captain Thomas W.H. White (1831-1923) where William Taylor sought refuge and advice following the murder. He was a very prominent citizen in the area at the time. His house is not shown on this map, but is included on the map for the Trappe District of Wicomico County and situated on the Wicomico River. See the portrait of Thomas W.H. White and his third wife Henrietta Malone probably taken around the time of the murder as they had married on Feb 11 1873 (from ancestry - Shari Handley photo).
5. Railroad tracks leading to Princess Anne approximately five miles to the south. It is the Somerset County seat and location where the murder trial was held in April 1874.
6. An aside, the residence of Handy Irving Hitch (marked as “I. Hitch,” brother of this writer’s 3x great grandfather Washington Henry Hitch) which is on a tract of land called “Mount Pleasant” originally purchased by Benjamin Hitch in 1765. This land is just on the east side of the road that divides the counties of Somerset and Worcester (this is modern-day Meadow Bridge Road). The M.E. Church shown just to the south of the I. Hitch residence is gone today, however, the cemetery (called Zion) is still there and contains many Hitch and related graves.
Northern portion of an 1877 map of the Princess Anne District of Somerset County, MD show key areas relative to the 1873 murder.
This writer has traveled these roads quite frequently and has often wondered what it was like back when this map was produced in 1877; back when Benjamin Hitch bought his land in 1765 and; even further back when Adam Hitch moved here in the 1680 timeframe. The story of Alfred Hitch has piqued the imagination even further as we contemplate what it must have been like to be sitting in Mr. Parker’s store along the railroad tracks in Eden on New Year’s Eve 1873 and venturing outside with the three antagonists as that ghastly event took place. As mentioned earlier, Mr. Alfred Hitch, as the 1874 article suggests, might well have been a real bear to get along with, but he definitely did not deserve quite such a ending!
We know of the terrible fate of Mr. Hitch in this saga but, what of William Taylor? Further research lends some interesting insight. It seems that Taylor did not hide from the authorities for long as we see that he is subsequently apprehended and, from the May 2, 1874 edition of the Kent News (Chestertown, Maryland), we learn how he ended up for the brutal murder of Alfred Hitch. An article in that newspaper briefly and succinctly states: “Alfred Hitch, murdered, William Taylor tried in Princess Anne, Somerset County, last week, found guilty of second degree murder and sentenced to 17 years, 3 months in the penitentiary. He is considerably past middle age and not likely to serve out his term.”
Turning to the Federal Census of 1880, we find William Taylor, age 58, prisoner at the Maryland State Penitentiary on East Madison Street in Baltimore serving as a laborer[1]. By that time, he was 6 years into his 17+ year sentence. More insight into his person is gleaned by looking at the 1870 Census, a time prior to the murder - where a Charles W. Taylor is listed in the Trappe District for the newly-formed Wicomico County (founded 1867) with himself as age 50 and his family; wife Eliza Taylor, age 47 and daughter Sarah L. Taylor (16)[2]. Although William Taylor is rather elusive in the earlier records, this writer feels reasonably certain that Charles W. Taylor is Charles William Taylor who is the William Taylor of this article. That family resides in the household directly next to John T. Fleming who is directly next to Thomas W.H. White. John T. Fleming is likely the Thomas Fleming also of this story and Thomas W.H. White is where William Taylor sought advice after the murder. Three years after the 1870 enumeration, Taylor was to murder Alfred Hitch and be sent to prison for 17 years.
In delving deeper, we find a reference to Mr. Taylor at the Hall of Records in Annapolis, Maryland - “Prisoners Record, Maryland Penitentiary,” that offers the following listing for when he was enrolled into the state penitentiary (paraphrased):
Prisoner No. 8309, William Taylor (2nd time), Wicomico County, age 54. White, black hair, hazel eyes, 5'-9¼”, resides in Wicomico County. Convicted of 2nd degree murder in Somerset County, received in 1874 to serve until August 1, 1891. He was confined in the State Shop until pardoned on March 24, 1886.
This is the William Taylor who almost cut Mr. Hitch in half with an axe and the record provides several bits of interesting information. Besides his physical characteristics as shown, we see that he was born in about 1820 and resided in Wicomico Co. when he committed the murder. As prisoner number 8309, he may have been a repeat criminal noting the “2nd time” in parentheses next to his name. Finally, it appears that he got off on good behavior as he was pardoned in early 1886 at age 66, 5½ years before his sentence was to end in August 1891 having served almost 12 years.
William Taylor died at some point after being released from prison in 1886 and before the taking of the 1900 census (the majority of the 1890 census is not extant or this writer would have checked). In 1900, we find William’s wife “Ester”, age 76, living with their son, Samuel G. Taylor’s family, in Salisbury, MD[3]. Hester/Esther Taylor died in 1902 and is buried in the Siloam Church Cemetery in Siloam, Wicomico County. It is assumed that William Taylor is buried there as well but, no marked grave exists.
As we can see, Mr. Taylor certainly left his mark on history and within the branches of the Hitch family and the rich story surrounding his violent interaction with the family led this writer to a wide variety of historical resources and records. Most of these records can be found at the Nabb Center at Salisbury University including its on-line digital newspaper archives where the Jan 3 1874 article telling of the murder can be found.
[1] 1880 Federal Census, Inhabitants in part of the 3rd Precinct & Ward, Baltimore, MD, Supervisor’s District 1, Enumeration District 79, Page 34; Maryland State Penitentiary, June 10, 1880.
[2] 1870 Federal Census, Trappe District No. 7, Wicomico County, MD, Page 12, June 4, 1870.
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