THE EARLY NIAGARA COUNTY SHERIFFS 1808-1821 - page 29 - 31

The Bergholz Murders - page 70 to 73

  One of the most mysterious and heinous murders in Niagara County history occurred in the small Prussian settlement of Bergholz. This crime had no equal in the sinister way it was carried out. Nonetheless, the massacre drew very little attention in local newspapers. Coverage consisted of three small articles, less than one column in length in the Niagara Falls Gazette (October 3, 15, 29, 1856). The Buffalo Courier (January 12, 1877), had a follow up article some twenty years later. Most of the information used in this account was obtained from Eugene Camann of Bergholz, a local history expert on Bergholz and author of the book, Uprooted From Prussia, Transplanted in America (1991).
  A doctor, Emiel Stang, emigrated to Western New York from Bavaria, an area in Germany different from where most of the Bergholz inhabitants came. Despite this fact, Dr. Stang was well received in this small community where many residents described him as a generous and warm hearted man.
  When he departed Germany, Stang left behind his wife. It was no secret that the two were having serious marital problems. Mrs. Stang soon joined her husband in America, but before long, problems started again.
  Mrs. Stang, portrayed as a “handsome black-eyed lady,” possessed some very diabolical ideas. Shortly after settling here, she met a doctor who lived in nearby Martinsville. The two formed a “bond of mutual interest.”
  One day, in 1856, Dr. Stang caught his wife preparing a deadly meal for him. He discovered that Mrs. Stang had laced his soup with bichloride of mercury. After a violent argument, Mrs. Stang left and took up residence with the Martinsville doctor.
  Shortly after his wife’s departure, Dr. Stang hired Sophia Ottman as a housekeeper. Mrs. Ottman and her daughter Dorothea had just arrived in Bergholz from Prussia. Without a place to live, the mother and daughter stayed with the doctor until she could raise enough money for Mr. Ottman to join them from Germany. Mrs. Ottman had sent her husband the money in September and expected him to arrive at anytime.
  October 5, 1856, was like any other Sunday morning in the tiny hamlet. Members of the local congregation prepared themselves for Sabbath services. On this crisp autumn morning, many walked the short distance to the hamlet’s small church. The churchgoers came upon a gruesome sight that they would not soon forget.
  Traveling by the doctor’s house, members of the congregation discovered Dr. Stang’s body along side the road, his faithful little dog remained nearby. Blows from an axe had horribly mangled the doctor’s head. The tall grass near the body had been trampled, indicating this is where the struggle had taken place.
  One of the bystanders went to the house for help and found the front door wide open. Inside he was met with a more repulsive situation. The body of the housekeeper lay in the front sitting room. Dressed in her nightclothes, a candle was near her hand. It appeared the murderer had awakened her. Mrs. Ottman’s head had been split open by the same type of murder weapon.
  In an adjoining bedroom they found ten-year-old Dorothea. As the young girl lay sleeping, the fiend crept into her room and struck her twice in the head with the axe. Apparently, she had not been disturbed by the murderous acts that had taken the life of her mother and the doctor. As senseless as the first two murders were, this last one was beyond comprehension. Speculation spread as to the identity of the murder or murderers...

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