David S. Long in pictured above.
By Joseph M. Long, Grandson
July 2001
Writers Note: Until I began working on the Long Family Genealogy I had never heard about any shooting related to our family. I soon discovered that some family members of Homer and Eva (Long) Kleinfelter had some information. Two different versions of the incident evolved which peaked my interest in learning more about the incident Unfortunately, the early 1900 Lebanon County court records were destroyed during the 1972 flood. This led me to searching the Lebanon Daily News for the years of 1900 and 1901 for articles related to the incident. I also found detailed information about the incident in the annals of the Pennsylvania Superior Court. What follows is a summary of my research.
On Sunday night, February 11,1900 life changed drastically for David S. Long. For the next two years Grandpa Long and his family must have experienced many dark and sad days. A lead article in the Lebanon Daily News of February 12,1900 had the headline: "HE FIRED A FATAL SHOT - At a man Who Had Just Left His House
Sunday Night - JOHN BECKER WAS SHOT DEAD - By David S. Long, Tenant on Farm of William Louser, South Lebanon Township. Becker Lives at Midway and Died Instantly-Long Had Intended Only to Maim the Man."
According to newspaper articles and the Superior Court opinion, Grandpa Long had retired to his bedroom on the second floor of the house, with Grandma Long sleeping downstairs since "she was an invalid." Sons, Jacob (6 yrs.), Miles (2 yrs.), and David (3 months) were also asleep. Daughter Eva (17 yrs.) was "entertaining a caller," Homer Kleinfelter downstairs. At about 11 p.m., Grandma Long, who believed some intruder was in the house, called Grandpa Long to come downstairs. Not owning a gun, Grandpa Long, with the help of Homer, took a shotgun belonging to his hired man and loaded it with two shells. They heard someone walking around upstairs and then down the stairs. Against the advice of his wife and daughter, Grandpa Long "...went out of the front door.. .just as the intruder jumped from an open window and ran over the porch." Thinking the fleeing person was a robber, "...when about twenty feet away from him, he shot in the direction of the legs of the fleeing person, who at the moment the gun was fired jumped from the porch and the charge of shot entered his back... and killed him. He was identified as John Becker," a former hired man for Grandpa Long.
The investigation that night by authorities, discovered tobacco juice on the stairway, an open drawer of a wash stand upstairs and bed clothing disturbed, all believed to be the result of the intruder. At a hearing held on Tuesday, Grandpa Long, who admitted to shooting Becker, waived the hearing and was released on $1,000 bail provided by his father Jacob Long DS. Later Grandpa Long entered a plea of not guilty to the charge of manslaughter and the trial was scheduled for March.
The months that followed must have been most difficult for Grandpa Long and the family because of numerous newspaper headlines regarding the incident and court proceedings. Even the front-page article about the funeral of John Becker stated that he "...was shot through the heart.. .by David S. Long "several thousand people viewed the body and "...1 15 teams composed the funeral procession..."
The trial was continued until June, "On the ground of the illness of Mrs. Long, wife of the accused." The trial was finally held in June and lasted for two days. The testimonies given by Grandpa and Grandma Long, Eva and Homer were essentially the same as those given by them immediately after the incident. The newspaper account states that Grandpa Long "broke down" on numerous occasions during the trial. Twenty-one witnesses testified "... to Long's good reputation for peace and quiet..."
The defense contended that the shooting was not to kill the intruder, but to prevent him from fleeing from the house where he had entered for the purposes of robbery. The prosecution contended that Becker and some other young men had come to the Long residence as "scouters" which one newspaper account defined as country boys who make a practice of making brief calls at unexpected times on country girls who are known to accept beaux."
The issue before the court and the community was whether Becker was shot in the act of burglarizing the home or because "he and his friends were harassing a farmer's daughter (Eva) and her suitor (Homer)." In his closing one-hour argument to the jury, Grandpa Long's attorney made "an eloquent plea for acquittal." The jury deliberated continuously for fourteen hours before reaching a decision. At 12:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, the jury announced its verdict of guilty of involuntary manslaughter and made a recommendation for mercy.
Grandpa Long's attorney immediately made a motion for a new trial. As a result Grandpa Long continued to be the subject of newspaper publicity for another six months.
After at two continuances, Judge Ehrgood refused the motion for a new trial on December 10, 1900. The sentencing decision that followed was stated succinctly in the December 31st newspaper headline, "SIX MONTHS FOR LONG." Grandpa Long "...continued to enjoy his liberty, under $1,000 bail..." until an appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court was concluded.
The Superior Court argued the case on May 13, 1901 and issued its opinion on July 25,1901. The issue before the court had to do with "the right of the defendant to maim the deceased by shooting him in the leg, without notice, so as to effect his arrest or to mark him in such a way that he could be subsequently arrested and identified." Another serious defect in the trial was that the judge did not adequately instruct the jury about certain aspects of the case. Their opinion concluded, ".. the judgment is reversed and a venire facias de nova awarded." In layman's terms, the guilty decision was reversed and a new trial was awarded. The resulting Superior Court's opinion has been used as a precedent in numerous other court cases in the ensuing years.
In the next edition of the Lebanon Daily News, the full six-page opinion was included without explaining to the reader the meaning of the concluding Latin phrases. I suspect that few of the readers of the many newspaper articles about the incident ever got to the decision at the end of the article, of if they did, could not understand the meaning of the Latin phrases.
Due to the absence of the Lebanon County court records, it was impossible to learn of the outcome of the case.
A reading of the newspapers for the remainder of 1901 had no articles regarding a new trial. In discussing the case with an attorney friend, it is his belief that Lebanon County probably elected not to hold a retrial since the original sentence was for only six months.
Nearly eighty years later, a reporter of the Lebanon Daily News, rekindled the incident again with an article headline, "Old tombstone hints at tale of local murder." The article summarized the versions of incident set forth by the prosecution and the defense but did not give the Superior Court reversal decision. Again the name of David S. Long was brought to the attention of the public, but was not properly informed about the outcome of the case. According to one source, the staff of the newspaper heard from at least one member of the Long family who protested the printing of the article.
The article showed a picture of the tombstone of John Becker located in the Cornwall Cemetery. From the inscription on the tombstone one might surmise that this was the family's way of expressing their anger toward Grandpa Long. The tombstone inscription reads:
"IN MEMORY OF
JOHN, SON OF
JOHN & FANNY
BECKER
MURDERED
FEB.11, 19OOBYA. M.D. D.
AGED 32Y 8M IOD
ALLURED TO WHERE HE
MET HIS FATE SO SAD
WITHOUT WARNING HE
DONE THE FIENDISH ACT."
The newspaper article characterized the meaning of the letters "A. M. D. D." as a 'grave mystery." However, according to one family member and also the caretaker of the cemetery, the inscription "A.M.D.D." means "A Mad Damn Dunkard." In the article about the tombstone, Dr. Robert Kline, coroner of Lebanon County in 1980, gave the two other possible meanings: "Mean Dirty Devil" or "Mean Dirty Dunkard."
David S. Long was not known intimately to most of his descendants living today. But some of us knew his children (our parents) intimately and from those relationships believe he was good man who would not condone violence. As witnesses testified at his trial, he was a man of "peace and quiet." May he rest in peace.
By Joseph M. Long, Grandson
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