The Van Wormer Brothers

I mentioned this case in my last blog. In fact, I had just learned of this case when I was doing research for the last. I love these sorts of cases but they prove very difficult to research. This case took place in 1901, execution were conducted in 1903 but the story started many, many years before that in the 1800's which makes things harder to confirm and separate fact from fiction. The core story, the execution of three brothers within just a few minutes of each other, is the one thing that cannot be disputed so please bare with me as I attempt to tell you the story that led up to this event. I can tell you that these events all occurred in the state of New York but I cannot necessarily tell you exactly where as nothing seemed to be consistent.

The three brothers were named Willis, Burton and Frederick Van Wormer. The first dispute not just how old they were but in what order they were born. The one thing that does seem to remain consistent is that Burton was the middle son. My initial research stated that Frederick was the oldest and that Willis was the youngest but later research indicated this was the other way around. Findagrave.com is one of the things that says Willis was the oldest but to be fair there are no tombstones available to see nor any other real documents to prove this. I attempted to find an 1880 census record to see if I could maybe fix this confusion but I was unable to do so. That could be for many reasons. One is that there is some confusion on the name of their father. Findagrave states that their father's name was Charles while a website called Executed Today says his name was John. Of course his name could have been John Charles. Other information indicated that their mother's name was Ella Smith. I was able to find a census record from 1880 with a Charles Van Wormer married to an “Ella S.” located in New York but there were no children listed as I could tell. By the dates I have seen by 1880 they should have had at least two sons. However, from here on out I will be referring to their parents as Charles and Ella.

I never found anything to indicate that there may have been more children born to Charles and Ella, but then again, I never found anything that indicated that there were not. At the time of their executions in 1903 it was said the boys' ages ranged from twenty to twenty-six. So this would have had the youngest, whoever he may be, to be born around 1883 (Findagrave shows the youngest being born in 1881). My early research stated that Ella has passed away when the boys were “very young.” I found something else that stated her year of death as being 1885. If Findagrave is correct on the years of birth for the children (even if they may be out of order, or not), it made the oldest of the three children to only be nine or ten. It was said that Charles was a steamship captain and was gone nearly all of the time.

My next set of conflicting information came from where the children went after the death of their mother. It appears that an unnamed aunt raised them but whether it was in the home that the children occupied with their parents or in another home is unclear. Regardless it was said that an uncle, Peter Hallenbeck, had the “mortgage” on the home. Peter was married to Margaret Smith, the sister of Ella. It was said that Charles sent money back home for the raising of his children. It was also indicated that this money was quite a lot for the times and the boys wanted for nothing. Of course some of this could have also been because of the sympathy that was poured upon them. It seems not just family members, but the community itself felt sorry for the children after their mother died, which may have led to the boys being less disciplined or controlled than they should have been.

It was said that the boys, at an early age became undisciplined and their antics began “nocturnal larks” meaning things done at night. There were indications that the boys were cruel to small animals such as cats and were rather bullish when they went to school, which was said to be only when they wanted to. Despite their antics it was also said that the boys were quite charming and respectful to elders, at least apparently to their faces. This all with the outpouring of sympathy towards them did not seem to help matters. The boys were soon in to petty thievery and when they were discovered much of the time they were “chalked up to boys being boys.”

But, as time went on and the boys got older and less disciplined their crimes became more heinous. In September of 1900 Charles died and so the income he had been sending back home now ceased. The boys had never had to work and had relied on their thievery and the money sent by their father. It is unclear what happened to the “aunt” that had cared for them but apparently the boys lived alone, together, at that time. Without Charles' money the boys expanded on their crimes. It was said that they became MAJOR chicken thieves in the area and would raid farms for miles, and miles around. They would apparently steal the chicken and then sell them into other cities or states. There was a report that at some point their barn had been opened and that while there were no chickens inside, there were enough feathers to make everyone in the county a pillow. They also began carrying guns with them and threatened anyone who resisted them.

Now, instead of having sympathy for the boys, the town now feared them. The boys' uncle, Peter Hallenbeck had also defended his nephews up to this point. Hallenbeck was well respected and fairly influential in the area. It was said that over the years he had paid more than $1,000 (a lot of money back then) cleaning up their messes. But, by the summer of 1901 even he had been pushed to the brink it seems. No one in the town stood up to the boys out of fear but Peter Hallenbeck apparently had an ace up his sleeve. As I mentioned before, the home in which the boys lived in was technically owned by Hallenbeck. It is unclear if he had received monies over the years for the home when Charles had been alive but it was also said that by 1901 he still held the mortgage to the home and he decided the only way to get the boys out of the area was to foreclose on the home and kick the boys out and that is exactly what he did. The boys ended up moving to the town of Kinderhook which was said to be close to twenty miles away from where they had grown up. It was also said that the boys were seething now at the actions of their uncle.

On December 24, 1901 Peter Hallenbeck, his wife and mother were at his home. He saw a buggy pull up and four men get out. It was indicated that Peter did not recognize the men but commented that he believed they were likely chicken thieves. Margaret Hallenbeck and her mother in law apparently went up to the attic to hide and Peter went and grabbed his shotgun. It was said that there was then a knock on the door and when Peter opened it there were two men wearing masks and two men with face paint and beards who opened fire on him. He was shot 11 times and died almost immediately.

Of course the brothers, along with a cousin, Harvey Bruce who had often ran with them on their exploits, were the first suspects. That was not the only evidence however. There were footprints in the snow that eventually matched the boys' shoes. There was also a hoof print from a horse with a “deformed” foot and an odd shaped shoe. Those prints led back to a stable in Kinderbrook. The owner of the horse stated that he had rented the horse to none other than Burton Van Wormer.

All three of the brothers and their cousin Harvey Bruce were arrested. To avoid the death penalty Bruce testified against the brothers. It is unclear exactly what kind of sentence he received or what happened to him after the crime. The trial began on March 31, 1902. The defense attempted to say that it was a “prank gone wrong” and claimed that they only fired at Peter when he pointed a shotgun at him first. There were reports that a shotgun was found next to his body. There was also evidence from the person who stated they had sold the men the disguises. The jury did not believe this was a prank and convicted the three brothers giving them each a sentence of death.

I surprised to learn that the electric chair had been invented as early as it was. It was first used in 1890. New York adopted the method in 1899. The brothers were held at Clinton State Prison in Dannemora. It was one of only three prisons at the time that conducted executions with Clinton being the least famous, and the least used. It was said that there were only 26 executions there, three of them being the Van Wormer brothers. They were executed on October 1, 1903, one right after another. It was said that each one went smoothly and it was all over within about fifteen minutes. Their bodies were transported back to Kinderhook where they were buried in a local cemetery. There are no markers, although it is said there is a post with the number “2” near where one of the boys lay.

I found an interesting article attached to Margaret Hallenbeck's memorial on Findagrave.com. It stated that after the trial Margaret, who apparently had no children with her deceased husband, Peter, the victim, in this case, was concerned that the brothers may benefit from her death so she made sure to made out a will. There was a line in the article that stated, “Bequests were also made to her sisters with the exception of Mrs. Van Wormer, mother of the boys. She is allowed the use of a small portion. The Van Wormer boys are cut off absolutely.” Now, I could see if their mother would have been mentioned, even though she had passed, many, many years ago, so that it was clear that her estate was not to be fully passed to her siblings and therefore their children. However, the notion that “she is allowed the use of a small portion” was completely puzzling considering that Ella Smith Van Wormer died in 1885, nearly twenty years prior. Obviously the reporter was either informed or something was going on here but I point this out because this is just one example of how difficult these cases are to put together sometimes. Margaret did in fact die in July of 1903 before the brothers were executed.