The Police Shootout

 

    In preparing to write this blog, I downloaded hundreds of old newspaper articles. It was through this process that I discovered that a very familiar Fairfax site for me was the location of a police shootout in 1929. For the first three-plus years of their marriage, my parents rented the top floor apartment of a two-family house on Lonsdale. This was my and my sister’s first home. My mom remembers being told that someone had been shot in the house, but never heard the whole story. For reference, I’m writing about this area of Lonsdale:

 

    The accounts from the three newspapers I referenced vary somewhat, but I will attempt to piece together the story. The Sunday October 20, 1929 incident started at around 8:00 a.m. when Mariemont police received a report of a drunken disturbance in the vicinity of Lonsdale and Hawthorne in Fairfax. As you know from the previous posts, this was over 25 years before Fairfax became a village and had its own police department. My mom heard (she doesn’t remember from whom) that the disturbance began on the corner where the small salon (and former barber shop) stands. Mariemont patrolman John Bierman responded and found Wesley Williams, John Lawson, and a third man named McDonald making a disturbance. Neighbors warned Bierman that the men were armed, so he returned to Mariemont for assistance.

    Bierman returned to the scene with Lieutenant William Strieder and as the police car pulled up, the three men threw away two bottles of moonshine (this was the Prohibition era). The men resisted arrest. Williams, who was a constable in the Fairfax subdivision for several years, pulled his revolver, but the officers disarmed him. Williams then drew a knife and was again disarmed. Lawson and McDonald stormed the officers and Williams barricaded himself in his home on Lonsdale.

    The officers again returned to Mariemont to get shotguns and ammunition. Mariemont Chief Louis Strieder (Lieutenant Strieder’s father) returned to Fairfax with them. For the next hour and a half, gunfire was exchanged between the police and Williams, who reportedly ran from room to room, window to window, taunting and taking shots at the police. Patrolman Bierman was the first person shot, wounded in the face and arms.

    Chief Strieder, who was credited with removing Bierman from the line of fire, was also shot near his right eye and arm. According to his son’s account, the chief continued to engage with Williams, even though his vision was obstructed by blood from the wound near his eye.

    In the meantime, Cincinnati Police were called to the scene. Motorcycle Patrolman Albert Shane went to the rear of the house and exchanged fire with Williams. Williams called from the back door, “Come in and get me.” Williams went to fire on Shane when Shane shot Williams, causing him to stagger back into his house, closing the door as he went.

    A few minutes later, Mrs. Eva Williams, Wesley’s wife, called for the police to enter because her husband had been shot. Mrs. Williams and her younger brother hid in the home throughout the gun battle. The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department had also arrived at the scene. Police ultimately recovered two shotguns, a revolver, ammunition, and 30 bottles of homebrew.

    During the siege, neighbors hid in their homes to avoid being hit by stray bullets. Even so, a newspaper report stated that a couple of hundred people showed up to watch the shootout from a safe distance. (In my experience, Fairfax always has a strong turnout for tragedies and catastrophes.)

    Among those hunkering down were Wesley Williams’ upstairs neighbors, the Hollidays. According to the Cincinnati Post, “. . . Emmett D. Kirgan, detective chief [of the Cincinnati Police], considered having an airplane bomb the home until he learned another family was inside the house.” Seriously? Where do you get a bomb on short notice? Do you just toss the bomb out of an airplane window or did the Cincinnati police have a bomber on standby? Would it have been accurate enough to only take out that one house and not the neighboring homes and the spectators watching “from a safe distance?” But I digress.

    Wesley Williams was transported to General Hospital, where he died two days later. Patrolman Bierman was hospitalized at Jewish Hospital and recovered. Chief Strieder recuperated at home.

    John Lawson was later taken into custody without incident at his home on Carlton. On January 2, 1930, Lawson pleaded guilty to resisting arrest. As far as I can tell from newspaper accounts, the third man “McDonald” was never apprehended or further identified.

 

Sources

October 21, 1929, page 1, Cincinnati Commercial Tribune Retrieved from https://newspaperarchive.com/cincinnati-commercial-tribune-oct-21-1929-p-1/

January 3, 1930, page 3, Cincinnati Commercial Tribune Retrieved from Cincinnati Commercial Tribune, Retrieved from https://newspaperarchive.com/cincinnati-commercial-tribune-jan-03-1930-p-3/

October 21, 1929 (page 1 of 28). (1929, Oct 21). Cincinnati Enquirer (1923-2009) Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.research.cincinnatilibrary.org/historical-newspapers/october-21-1929-page-1-28/docview/1883065795/se-2?accountid=39387

January 3, 1930 (page 12 of 22). (1930, Jan 03). Cincinnati Enquirer (1923-2009) Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.research.cincinnatilibrary.org/historical-newspapers/january-3-1930-page-12-22/docview/1881580285/se-2?accountid=39387

October 21, 1929, page 1, Cincinnati Post Retrieved from NewsBank: America's Historical Newspapers: https://infoweb-newsbank-com.research.cincinnatilibrary.org/apps/news/document-view?p=EANX-NB&docref=image/v2%3A13E376E28E0F8354%40EANX-NB-1677071361E61D6C%402425906-167529256F037E2D%400-167529256F037E2D%40.

October 22, 1929, page 13, Cincinnati Post Retrieved from NewsBank: America's Historical Newspapers: https://infoweb-newsbank-com.research.cincinnatilibrary.org/apps/news/document-view?p=EANX-NB&docref=image/v2%3A13E376E28E0F8354%40EANX-NB-16770713DEF2E18E%402425907-1675292EF9E0843F%4012-1675292EF9E0843F%40.

The Long Road to Incorporation (Part Two)

     In Part One we left off in the summer of 1949, when Fairfax residents voted down incorporation. Let us proceed with our story.

     In 1951, the City of Cincinnati made another attempt at annexing part of Fairfax and the stakes were high. What had changed in the eight years since their last attempt? A new Ford automatic transmission plant on Red Bank Road on a site included in Fairfax’s failed 1949 incorporation attempt. The Ford plant was in the area where Walmart now stands.

Submitted by Mike Acree to http://www.familyoldphotos.com/photo/ohio/716/fairfax-ford-plant-fairfax-oh

     So, Cincinnati wanted to annex the Red Bank industrial area of Fairfax to nab those big tax dollars. They weren’t interested in all of Fairfax this time. Their argument was that Cincinnati provided water, fire protection, labor, and even on-street employee parking for Ford and, therefore, it made perfect sense for Ford to be within the city. In addition, the opinion of Cincinnati officials and local newspaper editors was that Ford, as a good corporate citizen, should want to reward the city by supporting annexation. As far as Fairfax was concerned, the Cincinnati Post opined that another local government shouldn’t be formed every time a new factory opened on the outskirts of Cincinnati.

     The Fairfax Welfare Association launched a new campaign for incorporation, which would include the Red Bank area. Fairfax saw the opportunity to take advantage of those Ford tax dollars to establish municipal services like police and fire departments. Citizens started to feel more comfortable with the prospects of incorporation. There was even talk of changing the community’s name to Fordville.

     In June 1951, the city filed a petition signed by all resident freeholders in the Red Bank industrial area asking for annexation. So, like me, you may not have ever heard of a “freeholder.” As I understand it, a resident freeholder is someone who owns their property and lives on it. Of note, there was only one resident freeholder in the area to be annexed. In July 1951, Fairfax petitioned the Columbia Township trustees to permit a vote on incorporation. The City of Cincinnati filed a lawsuit to keep the election from proceeding. Two subsequent annexation petitions were filed by the city, one signed by the resident freeholder, her daughter and two people who weren’t property owners, and a final petition signed by the freeholder and her daughter.

     In May 1952, H. W. Wagner of the Fairfax Welfare Association, admitted that an incorporated Fairfax would get “easy money” from the Ford plant, but so would Cincinnati. He pointed out that the city was only seeking to annex the Red Bank industrial area, which in 1949 (and prior to the existence of the Ford plant) was part of the failed Fairfax incorporation vote. Wagner also disputed two frequent claims by incorporation opponents that annexation would be less expensive for residents and that local bookies were supporting incorporation so they wouldn’t have to deal with Cincinnati police. 

     In June 1952, the Ohio Supreme Court refused to review Cincinnati’s action to prohibit the incorporation of Fairfax and the Red Bank industrial area into one municipality.

     In September 1953, Hamilton County Commissioners signed a resolution to annex the Red Bank industrial area to Cincinnati, granting the June 1951 petition. In October, Ford filed lawsuits opposing annexation of the area to Cincinnati and supporting Fairfax’s incorporation efforts. Cincinnati city councilman Douglass Adams was an especially vocal opponent of Ford’s desire for the “wholly synthetic incorporation” of Fairfax and believed that Ford owed allegiance to the City of Cincinnati due to the services it was providing. In November, Adams went so far as to send a letter to Henry Ford II, president and CEO of Ford Motor Company and Adams’ former classmate at Yale, advising him that it would be in Ford’s best interest to be within Cincinnati and that Ford's water rates might quadruple if the company was outside of the city. The Cincinnati Post sent an open telegram to Henry Ford II to try to convince him to support annexation of the Red Bank industrial area to Cincinnati. Mr. Ford responded that he agreed with the actions taken by local Ford management, was opposed to annexation to Cincinnati, and supported the incorporation of Fairfax.

     In May 1954, a Common Pleas court judge heard Ford’s injunction against the Hamilton County Commission’s decision allowing the Red Bank industrial area to be annexed to Cincinnati. Ultimately, it came down to a procedural issue and “first come, first served.” Of the three annexation petitions filed by the city, the first petition was the only one granted by the Hamilton County Commission. The city’s final petition was filed after the petition for incorporation of Fairfax. So, the city’s petition for annexation was denied because it was filed after Fairfax’s petition for incorporation.

     Is your head spinning yet? Well, I’ll wrap this up quickly. The city appealed, but the Court of Appeals upheld the decision. The city appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court, which, in March 1955, refused to review the decision. Who says you can’t fight city hall? Of course, it helps to have one of the largest corporations in the country (and their deep pockets) on your side.

     Fairfax moved quickly and a vote for incorporation was set for April 28, 1955. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of incorporation.

     In a 1931 meeting of the Fairfax Welfare Association, Mayor Harry Baker of Norwood told those assembled, “The closer you bring government to your people, the better government you will have.” No town is perfect and Fairfax is no exception. However, we have a watchful and responsive police department, fine maintenance department that keeps our streets and parks clean and safe, and fire and EMT services located centrally in the village. It was a long road to incorporation, but the outcome was certainly worthwhile.

Sources

Cincinnati Commercial Tribune, August 28, 1922 – February 14, 1923 (online Newspaper Archive)

Cincinnati Enquirer, December 9, 1931 – April 29, 1955 (online ProQuest)

Cincinnati Post, August 28, 1922 – April 14, 1955 (online NewsBank)

 (Specific article citations available upon request.)