From the 1880 biographies. This the saga of the murderer Return J. M. Ward and his two wives Sarah Terman and Susan Reese (neither of whom were mentioned by name in the biography). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One of the most terrible of the early murderers lived in Planktown, a small village at present within the limits of Cass Township. The name of one of its citizens about and before the year 1850, was Return J. M. Ward. It is a well-remembered name by the older citizens. This Ward was a tailor by trade but seems to have engaged in keeping a hotel called the Eagle House, in Planktown. Just when he came or where he came from has not been ascertained and matters little. He was a living personification of the ogres of the fairy tales-being a large, broad-shouldered man, bald with a little ring of Black wiry hair around his head; thick neck, broad, high forehead; clean shaven, except a large goatee; and a sinister forbidding countenance. Noah Hall was a resident of the town at the same time. He came in 1849, was a bachelor, boarded with Ward, and kept a store; carried a general stock, such as country- stores were compelled to carry in those days. Hall went East occasionally to buy goods and was about making such a trip in March, 1851, when the little village was startled one morning by finding him dead in his storeroom, where he was in the habit of sleeping. He had been collecting money for some weeks, which he carried on his person: but just what amount was not known. Two men. Myers and McGravy, brothers-in-law, Irishmen by birth, were suspected of being the murderers; the grand jury found an indictment against them and they were put on trial for the crime. The evidence was not sufficient and they were acquitted. The real murderer might have been suspected but was never publicly charged with tile crime and continued to ply his avocation and live among the neighbors of the murdered man as if nothing had happ! ened. Some time after this a peddler who had stopped at the Eagle House overnight, then kept by R. J. M. Ward and Thomas Griffith, disappeared suddenly and was never afterward heard from: but as he had no friends, and as Ward had said that lie went away early in the morning. nothing was thought of the matter; it was not investigated. and if anybody suspected the peddler had been murdered. they kept their own counsel. Among those who suspected Ward of murdering the peddler, was his (Ward's) wife, who worried over the crime so much that she became insane. and was sent to the asylum. Ward became so odious in Planktown. that he finally rented the hotel and went away. In February, 1857 R. J. M. Ward was arrested and tried for the murder of his wife (lie seems to have married again) at Sylvania, a little town west of Toledo. He was convicted of the murder and sentenced to be hanged. His Planktown murders were yet unknown to the public, but when he knew he must be hanged that there was n! o longer any hope of reprieve, lie made a confession, of which the following is the substance "Of the crime of murdering Noah Hall, I alone am guilty. On the night of the day of March, 1851, I entered his store secretly, by the door, while he was asleep, unseen by any human eye, and committed the deed. Knowing he was about starting for New York, to purchase goods, and that he had collected a considerable sum of money, I laid my plans and resolved to take his life, as the only means of possessing myself of the coveted treasure. Before dark, on the previous day, I went to his store, and, in his absence, unfastened the back door, and left it in a condition to be opened easily. At midnight, I left my house, entered by this door and found Hall sleeping soundly. I was armed with a heavy iron poker, square and large at one end, and tapering to a rounded point at the other. Having carefully ascertained his position. I struck the point through his skull, on the left side, above the ear, and then gave him a violent blow with the heavy end of the poker, on top of the head. He ! then began to struggle, and I seized his pillow and held it tight over his mouth, to prevent any sound from escaping, and, with the other hand, grasped his windpipe strongly, and held him thus till he ceased to struggle and life was evidently extinct. It was a fearful struggle, and felt a sad relief when it was over. There was no great flow of blood from the wound, and no stain on my clothes. " When I was satisfied that he was dead, I dragged the body to the back part of the store and commenced my search for the expected treasure. On going to the money drawer, I found only a little change, and began to think my crime was to be without reward; but, on searching the hammock where he slept, under the bolster, I discovered his pocketbook, which I found contained over $800 in bank bills. I immediately left the store and buried the pocket-book and contents in the back end of my lot, and they remained there, untouched, during the next six months. "When the excitement about the murder died away, I dug up the pocket-book, and used the money in small quantities, as I needed it. "Before leaving the store the night of the murder, I locked the back door and left by the front door, which I locked after me, and buried the key, so as to create the impression that the business was done by regular burglars. I was among the foremost to charge the crime on Myers and McGravy. "I used an old tin lantern, which I covered up with a towel, to prevent the light being seen. With the aid of this light, which I placed at the head of the sleeping man, I accomplished my purpose." At the same time, this monster made another confession, as follows: "While Thomas Griffith and I were keeping tavern at Richland, an event took place which is vivid in my recollection, but which I wish I could forget. Griffith was away for the night, and was not expected home for several days. Toward evening, a peddler-I think his name was Lovejoy-arrived, on foot, with two large tin trunks full of goods; said he wanted his supper, breakfast and bed for the night, if I would take the amount out in trade. I looked over his goods, and, finding he had such articles as I could use in my family, 1 made a bargain with him, had his boxes taken care of and gave him his supper. After supper, he walked out for awhile, and when he returned, took a seat in the bar-room with me and we talked for a couple of hours. He complained of being very tired and much in need of sleep, as he had been walking all day. When ready to retire, I went with him to his room, which was on the second floor, in the corner of the house. At this time, I had no idea of injuring h! im, and went -to bed wholly innocent of any intention of disturbing him. I awoke about midnight, and the thought struck me that the peddler might have money about him, and there was a good opportunity of getting possession of it. I knew there was no lock on the door, and it appeared to me I must, at any rate go and see if he had thought to stick his knife over the latch so as to keep me out. Accordingly, I sprang from the bed, and, on going to the door, found it was not fastened and I could open it without noise. So I opened it went softly to the side of the bed and, as I expected, found him fast asleep. The room was almost as light as day; the moon was shining and the windows had no curtains. Everything was so favorable that the temptation seemed irresistible, and leaving the door open, I went down into the bar-room and got an old ax that I knew was kept there, and went back to the peddlers room. He was still sound asleep and lying in a favorable position; so I took hold of the ax with both hands, and dealt him a tremendous blow on the top of th! e head. I struck him only once: he scarcely struggled, and in a few minutes he was dead. The blow caused but little flow of blood, which was mostly at the nose and mouth, and with a little care on my part, the bed was scarcely stained. He made no noise whatever, and all I had to do was to dispose of the body. This I had not sufficiently considered beforehand and it presented serious difficulties, but they were soon surmounted. I went down-stairs and got a dry-goods box, and as the body could not bestowed in it whole. I unjointed the legs at the thighs, and knees, and after wrapping the various parts that were bloody in sheets and blankets, so as to prevent the blood from oozing out, I packed it all safely in the box, put on the cover, and took the box to my bedroom, where it remained that night through the following day and the next night. Having disposed of the body, I commenced a search for the money, but found only about fifty dollars. I took such goods out of the trunks ! as would not be likely to expose me, left the rest in and put them also under my bed, covering them up with an old quilt, and left the bedroom, where the peddler had slept, but little deranged in consequence of the dreadful scene that had just taken place. "The next morning I arose as usual and took breakfast with the family. Some inquiries were made after the peddler at the table, and I said he was up and off by daylight, not choosing to wait for his breakfast, because he had a long way to travel. During the day I made up my mind how I would dispose of the body. I gave out that I was in need of some money, and that I would go to my father's, at Milan, and see if I could not get it of him, and that I believed I would take the wagon and start early on the following morning. So, before daybreak, I got up and harnessed the horse. \o one was stirring about the house and I had ample time and opportunity to load the box and other things into the wagon without being observed. I traveled through the whole day, directing my course toward the residence of my father, and in the night, about 10 o'clock, reached the neighborhood of Huron River. When within about half a mile of the river, I turned off and went through a lot to the river, so! that I might not be seen while unloading. I had previously filled the box with various irons in order to secure its sinking, and finally tumbled it into the river, about a mile and a half above Abbott's bridge. It sunk to the bottom, and, getting into the wagon, I returned homeward as rapidly as possible. I never heard that the box was found. I should have mentioned, that, on the night I killed the peddler, there were but few persons about my house, and no one in that part of the house where he slept. The whole proceeding was conducted very quietly, and there was no noise sufficient to awaken those who slept in the house, even if they had been much nearer to his room. The blow sank into his head with no reverberation of sound, and, as I had taken the precaution to shut the door, it could scarcely have been heard in the next room. Indeed, I was surprised that a life could be taken with so little disturbance " Ward was hanged at Toledo June 12, 1857 [Mr. Return J. M. Ward was not only a murderer but a bigamist as well. R. J. Ward married Sarah Terman in 5 Sep 1842. R. M. Ward (Tavern Keeper) and wife Sarah were living in Cass Township. On 5 Nov 1853 he married Susan Reese in Crawford (about 20 years old). Susan must have been the wife Ward killed. Sarah (Terman) Ward was listed as insane in the county infirmary in 1860. She went to live with her brother James Terman by 1870 and was still alive in 1880, listed as divorced. She was born about 1807 (as per 1850 census) There was no mention of her death in the newspapers and no g.s. found.]