The Only Legal Execution in Sandusky

On a day in May 1840, the peaceful life in Sandusky was shattered by an unprovoked, unmotivated murder in the heart of downtown. Four months later, the murderer paid for his crime in a field on the east side of the city. 

John Ritter, a veteran of the War of 1812, operated a grocery store and saloon in an alley that ran east of the Lucas Beecher house, bisecting the block west of Columbus Avenue from Washington Row to Market Street. He had a large family, and was well-liked in the neighborhood. Fewer than two thousand people lived in Sandusky at this time.

Next to Ritter's shop was a tailor shop. The owner of the shop had an assistant with long experience in tailoring, but who had been in Sandusky less than a few weeks. 

Although the alley where Ritter's shop was no longer appears to exist in this 1875 photo, it was on this block that the murder occurred in 1840

John Evans never stayed in one place for very long. Born in Newfoundland in 1811, his childhood was marked by frequent changes of address and the loss of both parents before he reached his teens. He spent the remainder of his youth in bound servitude, first in farming -- where he lost a leg -- then as a tailor. It was as a tailor that he spent the remainder of his working life, when he worked at all. From his youth, he lived an itinerant life, traveling from New England to the South, up and down the Mississippi, and eventually to Ohio. Finally, in late April 1840, he arrived in Sandusky to try his luck here. Being addicted to alcohol, and with a violent temper, he needed some luck, and some self-control, but he lost at both.

On May 5, 1840, John Evans lost control of his life and ended the life of John Ritter. By Evans' own account:

Having been in the place only eight or ten days, I got into a "spree," spending my money freely, offered my bundle of clothing for twenty-five cents, attempted to burn, and finally did burn it, when my employer becoming alarmed with my threats, called in an officer to arrest me.

Ritter went into the alley to see what was the commotion, and was confronted by Evans, who stabbed him in the heart "with a Spanish knife" (possibly a folding-blade "Navaja" style knife). Other reports claim that Evans had demanded liquor from Ritter, who refused to serve him. Evans was quickly apprehended and placed on trial for the murder.

Evans was convicted by a jury on July 5, and on July 12 was sentenced by the court to be executed by hanging on September 30. Before the date of his execution, he composed his "confession," describing the tragic circumstances of his life and his plea for forgiveness from Mrs. Ritter. This confession was published as a pamphlet and is now in the collections of the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. (The first page is above. You can read the full text of the confession in our online archives catalog.)

The execution of John Evans was probably conducted in the unoccupied block to the left of the railroad tracks.

On the day of the execution, sometime between 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM, Evans was brought to an open plot of land south of Jefferson Street and east of the railroad tracks on Warren Street. (Today, this is the block within Jefferson, Perry, Madison, and Warren Streets. Some reports have said that the execution was actually at the nearby Huron Park.) He was then hanged in front of a crowd of onlookers. A Sandusky Register article from 1885 claimed that Evans "was buried near the railroad and probably soon carried off by the body snatchers."