It’s amazing what is waiting to be found on Ancestry.com. Yesterday afternoon while snooping into Gary’s side of the family, I happened upon the murder of Peter Schmitt. A two-dollar murder.

We’ve already talked about Gary’s great-grandpa Henry Schum, who was murdered in 1909. Fourteen years later, there was another murder in the family, this one farther out in the family tree.

Peter Schmitt grew up on a farm outside of Ferdinand. Born in 1879, he was the fourth of nine children.

A bachelor, he was the last to leave home. The 43-year-old had bought some farmland outside of Mt. Vernon, Indiana, a few years earlier and lived a quiet life there.

All that changed early Easter morning, 1923.

That’s right, exactly a century ago.

This story gets pretty gruesome, so now’s the time to turn back if you may be triggered by the description of a ruthless murder.

That March, Peter returned to Ferdinand to auction off the last piece of the family farm (both of his parents had passed away). He returned to Mt. Vernon with $2,900 cash. Some newspaper accounts say he put the money in the bank right away, while others state the bank was closed, so Peter tracked down one of the bankers to secure the cash in the vault. Either way, Peter was wise to protect his money.

Narlie Boyd White, however, was not wise. He’d been in Mt. Vernon for about a week and heard about Peter Schmitt selling his land. Narlie, just 25, decided it was worth killing the farmer to get ahold of the cash, assuming it was stashed in his house. He talked to several locals, looking for an accomplice. Most told him not to do it, but Coy Gilland was game.

Shortly after midnight on April 1, 1923, Narlie met up with Coy and walked to Peter Schmitt’s small house. Peter was fast asleep.

This is from Narlie’s signed confession:

While Gilland watched I went into Schmitt’s house through the rear window and opened the rear door and let Gilland in. I picked up a hammer on the kitchen floor and Gilland and I then went into Schmitt’s bedroom. Schmitt awakened and reached over the foot of his bed and grabbed me by my arm, pulling me over on his bed. I hit him in his face with the hammer. Then Gilland grabbed Schmitt by the hair, pulled his head back and cut Schmitt’s throat. Gilland then ran out of this house and through the side door.

Schmitt held onto me and we scuffled all over the house and out through the door into the yard where Schmitt collapsed. I picked him up and carried him into the house and laid him on the floor in the kitchen.

I then went through Schmitt’s clothes which were on a trunk and also searched the trunk and found two one-dollar bills.

The murderers hopped a series of trains and traveled throughout Illinois and then Kentucky. Eventually, they split up.

Meanwhile, it was Easter Sunday …

… and Peter Schmitt’s younger sister, Rosa, was waiting for him to pick her up for church. When he didn’t arrive, she sent two boys over to check on him. Once they caught sight of blood in the yard and on the porch, they ran to a neighbor’s. Before long, word spread and it may well have been that there was a larger congregation in Schmitt’s yard and house than in church. Of course, this contaminated the crime scene and even the “famous” Kentucky bloodhound named Red Oak was at a loss. A blood-smeared cigar butt was declared a clue.

No doubt the best clue, though, came from a Civil War veteran. Narlie had stopped by to borrow a coat from him the night of the murder. When he returned the coat it was blood-stained. Narlie admitted he’d “cut up a man real bad.” The elderly man shared this with investigating officers, who searched for Narlie for a week before he was picked up in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and extradited back to Indiana.

Before long, the accused murderer admitted guilt and signed a confession.

Narlie was arraigned – and sentenced – on June 6, 1923. He pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of Peter Schmitt.

Here’s what Circuit Court Judge H.F. Clements had to say:

I am sending you to prison for life. And in doing so, I am going to do what I have never done before. I am going to recommend that you never be considered for a pardon. Your crime is unpardonable.

Narlie was no stranger to incarceration. The 1910 census lists him as a 12-year-old inmate at the Louisville Industrial School of Reform. He was moved upstate to spend the rest of his life at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City.

But what about Coy Gilland? It took a bit longer to capture the 20-year-old. Actually, he surrendered in November, amid ongoing concerns that Narlie was after him. He was reportedly more concerned about Narlie than the thought of going to prison.

It comes as no surprise that Coy presented a different story from what Narlie confessed to. Coy said he was invited along to visit Peter Schmitt for some late-night moonshine and that Narlie told him to stay outside, so he didn’t even witness the attack.

The jury didn’t believe him. Narlie was brought in as a witness and repeated the story outlined in his confession. Coy was pronounced guilty of second-degree murder and sent to Michigan City.

By the way, most of this story is pieced together from archived news articles from The Ferdinand News, the Jasper Herald, and the Evansville newspapers.

Here is a list of what happened once Narlie and Coy were incarcerated:

• Peter Schmitt’s sister faced his murderer. That was so brave of Rosa. Her husband had died exactly two months before the murder, so she was somehow working through her grief while running their store by herself. I can’t imagine the rage she felt. Narlie, though, wouldn’t look Rosa in the eye, so she left.
• In 1925, Narlie recanted the part of his confession that put shared blame on Coy. Apparently, Coy’s mother had visited Narlie in prison and he eventually decided to alter his story.
• Coy received a full pardon in 1926 and was released from prison.
• Narlie escaped prison in 1937, but was captured three months later in Knoxville, Tennessee, and returned to Michigan City. He was using the name of B.B. Hatfield while on the lam.
• In 1946, Narlie filed a Writ of Error Coram Nobis, claiming he had not been offered counsel and should be granted a new trial. Judge Clements, still on the bench, denied the petition.
• At least twice – in 1952 and 1965 – Narlie was denied clemency.
• In 1968, just two days after turning 70, Narlie Boyd White died in prison. He is buried in the prison cemetery.

Peter, meanwhile, was brought home to Ferdinand for burial. His resting place is close by his namesake father and Theresia, his mother.

Every mention of Peter Schmitt described him as a quiet, kind, unassuming fellow. No enemies, except for those two greedy bastards who ruined all three of their lives for a pitiful two dollars.

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