FEUD BETWEEN THE JOHNSTON AND CUPPY FAMILIES
AND THE KILLING OF ADAM CUPPY
The families of Dr. Witherington Jerome (W. J.) Johnston and Adam Cuppy were two of the earliest to settle in Shelby County, Iowa. Both families had original ancestry in the State of Ohio, and both appeared to have spent time in Illinois and/or Indiana before moving west about 1852-53. In the June 1860 census for Shelby County, these families appear living next to one another at Cuppy's Grove:
Census family 33: Adam Cuppy, age 47, and wife Christena, age 45, along with their children Matilda, 20; Emily, 15; Charley, 11; Gramette, 7; Eliza J. Geoman, 7, and Francis M. Cuppy, age 18.
Census family 34: Washington Johnston (his name was actually Witherington), age 61, doctor, and wife Mary A. Johnston, age 41, along with their children John, age 22, Brafford, age 20, Sarah Jane, age 17, Mary Ann, age 14, Witherington, age 11, James E., age 7, and Lucinda, age 4.
Living down the road was another son of Adam Cuppy, shown as Census family 32: William B. Cuppy, age 22, and wife Susan A. Cuppy, age 16.
Isaac Cuppy, a brother of Adam Cuppy, was recorded in this census as well at Family 30: Isaac Cuppy, age 39, wife Mary Cuppy, age 33, along with their children William, age 17, Harriet, age 10, Celestia, age 7, Mansel, age 7, James B. age 4, Marcus M., age 1, and Elizabeth Cuppy, age 15.
The relationship of these families was to come to a tragic end by July of 1860, apparently precipitated by a long-standing feud between the sons of Adam Cuppy and Dr. Johnston. Their story is related in the history of Shelby County as follows (from page 572):
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The two earliest pioneer families of Cuppy's Grove, that of Dr. W. J. Johnston and that of Adam Cuppy, who lived only a few hundred yards apart, seemed to have had trouble almost from the start of their settlement there. This disagreement between the members of these respective families seems to have reached a culmination when John Johnston was shot and killed in July 1860.
On July 21, 1860, an information was filed with county judge William Wyland, charging William B. Cuppy with the alleged murder of John Johnston and charging Adam Cuppy with being accessory to the said crime. The two defendants were placed under arrest by Milton Stanton, Sheriff, and brought before Judge Wyland, who fixed July 26, 1860, for examination. In the meantime, on July 24, 1860, W. J. Johnston, Mary Ann Johnston, and Brafford Johnston were arrested and brought before Judge Wyland charged with having committed an assault with intent to kill William B. Cuppy. Judge Wyland fixed the 27th day of July, 1860, for their preliminary hearing.
On July 26, accordingly, the case of William B. Cuppy and Adam Cuppy came on for hearing with the result that Judge Wyland required them to give bonds in the sum of three thousand dollars for their appearance at the next term of the district court of Shelby County to answer to any charges that the grand jury might prefer against them, which bonds were duly given. On the 27th of July, 1860, Judge Wyland dismissed the defendants W. J. Johnston, Mary Ann Johnston, and Brafford Johnston. W. B. Cuppy and Adam Cuppy were eventually released, or acquitted, as no further record of the case was found.
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These events were tragic for both families, and further incidents would only add to the ultimate outcome. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Isaac Cuppy's son, William, enlisted at Shelby County on July 10, 1861, into Company B, 4th Iowa Infantry Regiment. He died of disease on December 27, 1861, at Rolla, Missouri. He was 19 years old. Brafford Johnson enlisted at Council Bluffs, Iowa (Pottawattamie County), on February 26, 1863, into Company C, 5th Iowa Cavalry Regiment. He was 23 years old. He continued his service to his country until he was mustered out at Nashville, Tennessee, on August 11, 1865, undoubtedly tired and battle worn after two and a half years of fighting. Brafford returned to Shelby County where he lived for several years.
Trouble seemed to haunt the Cuppy family, and in October of 1865, Adam Cuppy was apparently murdered by a mob from Shelby County who were upset about a horse-stealing incident that happened there. This story is recorded in the Shelby County history, pages 572-74:
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[D. S. Irwin of Irwin, Iowa, in 1870, in the course of a series of articles recounting the history of Shelby county, wrote the following review of the death of Adam Cuppy, of Cuppy's Grove, and the circumstances leading up to it. This event was probably the most exciting episode that had occurred in Shelby county up to that date. Many of the most prominent citizens of Shelby county were interested or in some manner implicated. The editor of this history does not undertake to do more in connection with this matter than to quote the following narrative written by Mr. Irwin but five years after the occurrence which ought to make it fairly reliable.]
"On the 23d day of October, 1865, occurred the murder of Adam Cuppy. But little of the evidence given during the trial of those who were indicted for the murder has been preserved, so that the particulars of the case can only be ascertained from those who lived in the county at the time, and the accounts given by them are so conflicting that we will publish but few of them. But from the best authority that we can find, the causes which led to the murder are as follows:
"A horse was stolen from Mrs. McConnell, of Bowman's Grove, and taken to Council Bluffs. The person who stole the horse is said to have been Charles Cuppy, son of Adam Cuppy. When he took the horse to Council Bluffs, he left him at a livery stable and was there told that he could not take him from the stable until he proved his property. He then left the stable and started toward the hotel, but instead of going into the house he left the city, and on Monday he stole another horse of one McKinzie, of Big Grove, and sold him to a man living in Lewis, Cass county. He then came home to Cuppy's Grove, when he was arrested and bound over for trial in Shelby county, although the horse was stolen in Pottawattamie county. On the day he was to be tried he did not appear for trial and after the case was dismissed Adam Cuppy mounted a horse to go home, but was ordered to dismount, was tied, and taken into the court house. * * *
"Adam Cuppy was bail for his son's appearance, and we are informed that the citizens told him that if he would give up his son for trial, they would see that he received justice; but he refused to give him up. I do not give these statements as facts, but they have been given to me by several of our most respectable citizens. Adam Cuppy was kept tied in and about the courthouse during the day; and some time after dark, a crowd came and took him out and started northward. A short distance north of the courthouse, he was shot. Five wounds were found on his person, only one of which was thought to be mortal.
"The grand jury of Shelby County found a bill against five citizens of the county for assault with intent to kill Adam Cuppy and William B. Cuppy; but on the 15th day of May the district attorney filed his motion to dismiss the case; and it appeared, to the satisfaction of the court, that said indictment was found and presented by a jury consisting of only fourteen jurors, and that it charged two distinct offenses; the motion was therefore sustained, the defendants discharged and their bail released. The grand jury then found a bill against the same five persons for assault with intent to commit murder, and also another bill for murder. The trial was postponed and the court adjourned till the following September. The cause then came up and was postponed until the first Monday of December, when it again came up and was postponed till in 1868. One of the defendants had a change of venue to Harrison county, where he was tried and acquitted. The other four were tried in Shelby county and were also acquitted. The trial on the indictment for assault with intent to commit murder has been postponed from time to time and has not yet been tried. These suits have made a great deal of cost and confusion and have involved some of the citizens in almost endless difficulty; but as the persons indicted for the murder of Adam Cuppy have established their innocence, it is likely that they will prove themselves innocent of the charge of assault with intent to kill William B. Cuppy. The horse that was stolen was not the property of either of the men who were indicted for the murder of Adam Cuppy, and therefore they were not the injured parties; and as the injured parties were present when he was killed and one of them has not since been heard of, it is hardly reasonable to suppose that he was killed by the citizens of the county.
"Fortunately the citizens have seldom been horrified by murder committed in the county. There was one other murder, the murder of John Johnston, committed at Cuppy's Grove, for which crime William B. Cuppy was tried and acquitted."
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By about 1870, life seemed to settle down somewhat in Shelby county. Brafford Johnston married and was active in the community, being listed as a county fair judge and member of the Board of Supervisors in 1870. In 1875, Brafford Johnston, W. J. Johnson, and B. Johnston are all listed in the names of voters at the county election. The Johnston family is found in the 1870 census for Shelby county, with only Isaac Cuppy and his family remaining in the same area. The Johnston families are recorded in the census as follows:
August 29, 1870:
W. J. Johnston, age 72, physician, born Virginia. (The 1860 census indicates he was born in Pennsylvania.)
Mary Johnston, wife, age 53, born Ohio
Mary, daughter, age 24, teacher, born Ohio (married Henry West on February 28, 1875)
Witherington, son, age 21, born Ohio (married Theresa Tonnesen on March 6, 1871)
Edward, son, age 18, born Iowa (married Mary J. Hankins or Hawkins on March 10, 1876)
Lucinda, daughter, age 14, born Iowa (married Calvin Cleveland on March 6, 1871)
Frank McKeever, age 3, born Iowa (it is not known who this child is; McKeever is his surname in the census)
Recorded near Avoca, Iowa:
Brafford Johnson, age 31, born Ohio (the spelling was changed by the census taker to Johnson instead of Johnston)
Ella Johnson, age 23, born Illinois
Abby, son, age 2, born Iowa
Wetherton, son, age 6 months, born Iowa (this name should probably be Witherington, like his grandfather)
Also recorded in this census and living down the road from the Johnston family is the family of Lewis (Nels?) Rogers and wife Sarah J. Rogers. Sarah is thought to be the daughter of Dr. W. J. Johnston:
Lewis Rogers, age 30, farmer, born Indiana
Sarah J. Rogers, age 25, born Ohio
Brafford, son, age 7, born Iowa (probably named after Sarah's brother, Brafford Johnston)
Amanda J., age 6, born Iowa
Douglas, age 4, born Iowa
Wm. J., age 2, born Iowa
The 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa biographies includes a biography for Arthur N. ROGERS, the son of Nels and Sarah (JOHNSON) ROGERS, born July 17, 1882, in Shelby County, Iowa. I will leave it to other researchers to determine if this is the family of Sarah Johnston, daughter of Dr. W. J. Johnston, but I believe that it is and offer it here for further research.
In 1871, Dr. Johnston's children began to marry, as noted in the census above. Some time after 1875, Brafford Johnston moved his family west into Nebraska and South Dakota. He is found in the Veterans Schedule census for Pennington County, South Dakota, Hammerville Precinct, in the 1890 census, and it is believed that he continued to move throughout the west until he settled in California.
"The Cuppy family continued to live in Shelby County, Iowa, with the following marriages recorded there: Martha E. Cuppy to Washington Bartlett on April
14, 1858; William B. Cuppy married Susan A. Long on March 15, 1860; Eliza Cuppy married George Tague on June 11, 1860; Emily Cuppy married Hiram
Simon on July 4, 1865; Celestia Cuppy married Thomas Wood on September 24, 1870; and Hattie Cuppy married Frank Marco on September 6, 1877."
**Note to researchers: The story regarding the feud and the later killing of Adam Cuppy has been extracted from pages 572-74 of the Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, published 1915. The remaining details have been researched by me using census records, civil war veterans records, and other materials. Every effort was made to spell the names correctly. I am not related to this family and have nothing further to add. I hope that this information aids you in your research of the CUPPY and JOHNSTON families. I encourage you to validate all dates and data given here before you add it to your history.Submitted by: Mona Sarratt Knight, August, 2002.
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