Here is the account of the Johnson Murder Trial from the History of the Village of Waterloo book ... more names are included in the account.... ON THE NIGHT OF DEC. 29, 1886, PROPERTY CONSISTING OF TWO HORSES, EQUIPMENT, ETC., WAS STOLEN FROM SEVERAL PLACES IN THE TOWNS OF SENECA FALLS AND FAYETTE. EDWARD CALDWELL AND CHARLES JOHNSON WERE ARRESTED AND LODGED IN THE WATERLOO JAIL, AND CHARGED WITH BURGLARY AND GRAND LARCENY. THE SHERIFF HAD THEM LEG-IRONED WITH AN IRON ON EACH LEG WITH 8 LINKS OF CHAIN. AT MEAL TIMES THEY WERE LET OUT BUT AT OTHER TIMES WERE LOCKED UP IN THEIR CELLS. THE ENTRANCE INTO THE JAIL WAS THROUGH A WOODEN DOOR IN THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE, THEN A SPACE OF SOME THREE FEET, AND AN IRON GARATED DOOR. THERE WERE 4 OR 5 STONE STEPS DOWN TO THE FLOOR OF THE JAIL. AT 7:30 O'CLOCK ON THE EVENING OF JANUARY 9, 1887, THE ACTING TURNKEY OF THE JAIL, JOHN WALTERS, A MAN OF ABOUT 70 YEARS, JOHN CRONIN, A CONSTABLE OF THE TOWN OF WATERLOO WHO HAD COME IN TO HELP DURING THE ABSENCE OF THE REGULAR TURNKEY, AND THE SENECA COUNTY SHERIFF, WARREN E. LERCH, DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO LOCK UP THE 14 OR 15 PRISONERS FOR THE NIGHT. CRONIN UNLOCKED THE DOOR AND WALTERS PROCEEDED DOWN THE STONE STEPS. AT THE FOOT HE WAS MET BY CALDWELL AND JOHNSON WHO WERE ATTEMPTING TO ESCAPE. JOHNSON STRUCK WALTERS ON THE BACK OF THE HEAD WITH AN IRON BAR, AND THEN HE AND CALDWELL RAN UP THE STEPS TO ATTACK CRONIN. CRONIN WAS STRUCK REPEATEDLY AND FELL BACKWARD AGAINST THE WALL, BLOODY AND HURT, WHEN SHERIFF LERCH RUSHED IN. HE WAS A SHORT MAN, NOT OVERLY STRONG LOOKING, BUT HE MADE A REPUTATION FOR HIMSELF THAT NIGHT. HE FOUGHT THE TWO PRISONERS BACK WITH HIS CLUB IN A FIERCE STRUGGLE. FINALLY CRONIN, COMING TO, CALLED, "SHOOT THEM, SHERIFF," WHERE UPON SHERIFF LERCH DREW HIS REVOLVER AND DROVE THE PRISONERS BACK INTO THE JAIL. JOHN WALTERS DIED THE NEXT DAY AS A RESULT OF THE ATTACK BY JOHNSON AND CALDWELL. DR. GEORGE A BELLOWS WAS CORONER. SOON AFTER WALTERS' DEATH ON MONDAY AFTERNOON, A CORONER'S JURY AS ASSEMBLED, CONSISTING OF MOSES BARLOW, PHILIP JOHNSON, JACOB SANDS, JAMES S. BOUGHTEON, CHARLES ILLICK AND J. B. MALONEY. THE JURY RENDERED A VERDICT THAT JOHN WALTERS CAME TO HIS DEATH BY MURDER BY CHARLES JOHNSON AND EDWARD CALDWELL WITH BLOWS INFLICTED BY A BAR OF IRON IN THE HANDS OF CHARLES JOHNSON AND A STICK OF WOOD IN THE HANDS OF EDWARD CALDWELL, AND THAT IT WAS MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE. THE TRIAL OF CHARLES JOHNSON BEGAN APRIL 4, 1887, BEFORE JUDGE MACOMBER. DISTRICT ATTORNEY FRANCIS ALLEN, OF OVID, WITH COL. F.L. MANNING, OF WATERLOO, ASSISTING, WERE THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS; CORYDON ROOD, WITH HON. WILLIAM H. LURTON ASSISTING, THE DEFENDANT'S ATTORNEYS. THE MEN WERE TRIED SEPARATELY. THE JURY IN THE JOHNSON TRIAL WERE: HENRY JINKS, A WATERLOO FARMER; SPENCER HOFFMAN, A JUNIUS FARMER; NELSON SEEKEL, A TYRE FARMER; SPENCER WHITE, A TYRE FARMER; CHARLES WHITLOCK, A SENECA FALLS FARMER; COLUMBUS CHRISTOPHER, TRAVELING MAN; GEORGE TROUTMAN, A FAYETTE FARMER, HENRY S. BONNELL, A WATERLOO FARMER, PATRICK J. MALONEY, A WATERLOO FARMER; EDWARD BEAR, A JUNIUS FARMER, AND GEORGE W. BARLOW, A TYRE FARMER. THE JURY BROUGHT IN A VERDICT OF "GUILTY OF MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE" THE TRIAL OF CALDWELL WAS BEGUN APRIL 11TH, 1887. THE SAME ATTORNEYS APPEARED AS AT JOHNSON TRIAL. THE VERDICT OF "MURDER IN THE SECOND DEGREE," WAS ANNOUNCED BY THE JURY. IT DEVELOPED DURING THE TRIAL THAT ONE MARCUS FISK, A PRISONER IN THE JAIL AT THE TIME, HAD SAWED OFF THE SHACKLES OF JOHNSON AND CALDWELL WITH A SAW MADE FROM A TABLE KNIFE, AND HAD ATTEMPTED TO DIG A HOLE THROUGH THE JAIL BRICK WALLS TO ESCAPE. NOT BEING ABLE TO MAKE A HOLE LARGE ENOUGH, THEY HAD DETERMINED TO GO THROUGH THE DOOR WHEN THE TURNKEY CAME IN TO CLOSE UP FOR THE NIGHT. JOHNSON WAS SENTENCED TO HANG ON MAY 25TH, BUT HIS CASE WAS APPEALED. HE WAS RE-SENTENCED TO HANG ON NOV. 15, 1888. CLADWELL WAS GIVEN LIFE IMPRISONMENT AND FISK WAS CONVICTED OF MANSLAUGHTER AND SENT TO ELMIRA REFORMATORY. JOHNSON WAS HANGED ON A SCAFFOLD ERECTED IN THE JAIL. SHERIFF LERCH READ THE DEATH WARRANT TO HIM AT 8:40 O'CLOCK A.M. AT 10:15 A.M. THE SHERIFF LED THE WAY TO THE SCAFFOLD, FOLLOWED BY JOHNSON AND THE REV. SWIFT AND THE REV. W.S. CARTER, AND AT 10:22 THE EXECUTION TOOK PLACE.