McDONOUGH – The year is 1903, and as the wedding bells ring for Tracy Barrows’ daughter and her groom, so does gunfire on his farmstead in the “Village of McDonough.”
Tracy lay dead on his front lawn. His wife Hattie and her “lover” Frank Gale head to the doctor. Frank is wounded by a shot fired by Tracy.
In a time where horse back was the primary means of travel and medical care was minimal, Barrows lay dying of internal bleeding following an argument where Gale literally beat him to death.
After being charged with murder in the first degree, Gale was convicted of manslaughter in the second degree, tried in the Chenango County Courthouse, and sentenced to five years on a work crew in the State Prison at Auburn.
The story, although apparently cut and dry, takes twists and turns. Some believe the whole thing was a conspiracy.
What ever happened to Hattie and her two children? Why did neither parent attend their daughter’s wedding the same afternoon of the murder? Was the murder really in self defense or was it a plan masterminded by Gale and Hattie? And, how and why did Gale’s (the murderer) defense attorney’s gain the Barrows property just shortly after their client was sentenced to prison? Will what really happened that September day ever be known for certain?
These are only a few of the very questions two women, twin sisters named Bonnie Sherman and Betty Murray, are asking. After beginning to trace their family’s genealogy, Sherman and Murray realized their grandfather, Frank Gale, had committed murder.
“We have a lot of very nice people in our family, too,” said Sherman, jokingly. “We want to research this more and eventually write a book. We think it was a conspiracy between Hattie and our grandfather,” added Murray.
After beginning to review newspaper clippings from the murder, the two sisters came to conclusions all their own. “Barrows was said to have been a heavy drinker and his wife, we suppose, was not very faithful,” said Sherman.
In an article from 1903 that re-appeared in the Walton-Reporter in 2003, it was reported that Tracy Barrows had tried committing suicide by poisoning himself on two separate occasions. “We believe Hattie was responsible for that too,” said Murray.
“There are so many twists and turns, it is really quite interesting,” Sherman said.
After reviewing property deeds and personal wills dating back to the late 1800s and early 1900s, it is believed that the Barrows property where the murder took place was owned by Hattie until she disappeared with her younger two children within a year following the crime. Hattie herself was charged with murder as well as Gale. In 1904 the property was deeded over to H.C. and V.D. Stratton, two attorneys from Oxford who had also been Frank Gale’s public defenders.
The twins, who report they were not aware of the murder, said they were shocked to learn of what had transpired over 100 years ago. “There are many factors that make the story intriguing,” they agreed.
The sisters, now living in the Cortland area, say they are hoping through the years the story of the Barrows murder, of Hattie or Frank Galem may have been told. “If anyone has any information, it would be greatly appreciated,” said Murray.
The sisters, who are now on their way to becoming authors, said they are reaching out to the Barrows family as well as the Nightengales, Gales or any other person who may be able to aid the investigation into what really transpired in the fall of 1903.
Anyone with information should contact the sisters at 299-4437 or by e-mail at bobbettymurray@yahoo.com. “Anyone willing to share, will be acknowledged in our book,” Murray stated.