1937 CLEVELAND, OHIO, MURDER OF JOSEPH ALBERT HARTMAN
Following are from newspaper articles:
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Published on front page of "FINAL EDITION" "CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER" on January 19, 1937:
Wife in Jail; Witness to Killing
(Photo w/caption "MRS. FLOSSIE HARTMAN AND SON, WAYNE)
(Photo w/caption: "MISS MARY KING")
________________________
WIFE FIRES
5 TIMES IN
PARKED CAR
________________________
East Sider Falls Dead Over
Wheel as Estranged Mate
in Rear Seat Shoots
Him in Head
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FRIEND AND VICTIM'S
CHILD ESCAPE INJURY
________________________
Woman Came to City to
Seek Reconcilliation,
Police Are Told.
________________________
As he sat in the front seat of an
automobile with a woman friend of
his family, holding in his arms his
eleven-month old son, Joseph A.
Hartman, 32, of 3734 E. 65th Street,
was murdered last night by his
estranged wife, according to police.
The wife, Flossie, 32, had come to
Cleveland from Dunkard, PA., only
a few hours before the slaying,
which occured across the street
from Hartman's residence, to effect
a reconcilliation, she told police.
Sitting in the back seat of the car,
Mrs. Hartman fired five shots into
her husband's head with a .38-cali-
ber revolver, police said she ad-
mitted. He was dead on arrival at
St. Alexis' Hospital. The baby and
the woman were not hurt.
Mrs. Hartman got the gun from a
small trunk in the back of another
automobile after her husband had
sent her to the trunk to get some
papers belonging to him, police said.
The gun was Hartman's.
Brought Child With Her.
Mrs. Hartman told police that she
arrived in Cleveland by bus about 7
last night. She had the infant,
Wayne, and a small hand trunk with
her. Two other children, Roy, 9, and
Joseph, 3, are in an orphanage at
Waynesburg, Pa., she said.
At the bus terminal she telephoned
a brother-in-law, Harry Hartman,
13304 Edgewood Avenue S. E., to ask
if her husband, whom she had
been seperated about six months,
was there.
Harry Hartman said Joseph was
not there, but gave Mrs. Hartman
his E. 65th Street address.
Mrs. Hartman said she then got
into a taxicab, taking Wayne and
the trumk with her, and went to
her husband's residence. He lived
there with a nephew, Joseph Bell.
Hartman was not home, she was
told, so she took the cab to another
brother-in-law's, Marcus Hartman,
3809 E. 72d Street, to see if he was
there.
Still unable to find him, she con-
tinued in the taxicab to the residence
of Harry Hartman, where she dis-
missed the cab.
Saw Husband in Auto.
After a short time Harry Hartman
said he and his wife, Lorean, would
drive Mrs. Hartman to the E. 65th
Street address. She took her baby
and the trunk and went with her
brother-in-law and his wife.
When Harry Hartman stopped his
car in front of the street, Mrs.
Hartman said she noticed her
husband sitting in an old sedan di-
rectly across the street.
Police then picked up the story
from Miss Mary King, 34, of 3805
E 72d Street, who was sitting in the
car with Hartman. She said that
she was an old friend of the Hart-
mans and that she had once "gone
steady" with the brother of Joseph
in Pennsylvania.
Miss King said that she, Hart-
man and Neil McKay, 4295 E. 73d
Street, were sitting in the auto when
Mrs. Hartman came accross the street
with Wayne in her arms.
She said she had gone out with the
two men to complete details on a
bill-of-sale for a car she recently
bought. The car was the one she
was sitting in.
Charges Neglect
Miss King told police that when
Mrs. Hartman came to her car Mc-
Kay went into the house with Mr.
and Mrs. Harry Hartman.
She said, Mrs. Hartman, as she
stood in the street holding her son,
told Hartman he had done nothing
(Continued on Page 3, Column 2)
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WIFE SLAYS MATE
AS HE HOLDS BABY
_____________________________
Shoots East Sider 5 Times
From Rear Seat of Car;
Child, Friend, Unhurt.
_____________________________
(Continued From First Page)
to contribute to the support of her
and the children.
"You didn;t even send them a stick
of candy for Christmas.", Miss King
said Mrs. Hartman told him.
Miss King said that Mrs. Hartman
"wanted Joe to come back." but that
he told her she had left him on sev-
eral occasions and he would not
agree to reconcilliation.
According to Miss King Hartman
then asked his wife to get him some
insurance papers and some other papers
out of the trunk. Mrs. Hartman
handed the infant, Wayne, to her
husband, and went to the car of
Harry Hartman.
There she obtained the gun but
concealed it, police were told. She
returned to the car in which her
husband was sitting and got into the
back seat.
A few moments later five shots
were fired. Harman fell dead at the
wheel.
"I don't know how she missed the
baby," Mrs. King told reporters.
Someone called police upon hearing
the shooting.
Detective Frank Kosicki said that
when he reached the scene he found
Mrs. Hartman sitting in the auto-
mobile of Harry Hartman.
"I shot him," Kosicki said she
told him.
"All right," he replied, "Give me
the gun."
Kosicki said Mrs. Hartman then
told him:
"Here it is. Please get me out of
here. Will they kill me for this?'
Mrs. Hartman and the baby were
taen to Central Police Station,
where police said she admitted the
murder. Charges are to be brought
against her this morning, they said.
Police were told that Hartman
came from Pennsylvania in July,
went to work for a farmer in Twins-
burg and set up a house for his
wife and three children.
Relatives told then that "every
few weeks" Mrs. Hartman would get
homesick and return to Pennsyl-
vania. Six months ago the Hart-
mans definitely separated.
For the last two months, police
were told, Hartman had been em-
ployed by the Cleveland Worsted
Mills Co.
Mrs. Hartman was held at Cen-
tral Police Stattion last night. She
was placed in the hospital ward so
she could take care of her baby.
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Published "Cleveland Plain Dealer", 20 March 1937:
HUSBAND SLAYER
IS FREED BY JURY
_____________________
Silbert Disagrees; "Wat
Else Could We Do?"
Talesman Asks
_____________________
(Photo on Picture Page)
BY JOSEPH M. GAMBATESE
Mrs. Flossie Hartman, 32, frail
mother of three children, was ac-
quitted of the murder of her
estranged husband, Joseph, last
night by a jury of seven men and
five women.
The verdict was returned to Com-
mon Pleaa Judge Samuel H. Sil-
bert, who said he disagreed with the
jury's finding, after only two hours
of diliberation.
The former Dunkard (Pa.) house-
keeper asked to spend the night in
County Jail, where she had been
since he shooting two months ago,
and was greeted by rousing cheers
when she reached the women's
quarters.
Holding her year-old son, Wayne,
in her arms, Mrs. Hartman fired
four shots into the back of her hus-
band's head on Jan. 18 as he sat
in the front seat of an autoobile
with a 34-year-old widow and former
divorcee, Mrs. Mary King.
Insanity Defence Ruled Out
After Judge Silbert had ruled out
a defence of temporary insanity,
council for the woman, Donald W.
Hornbeck and Ellis R. Diehm, con-
tended she shot in self-defence after
Hartman had threatened to kill her
if she did ot leave the automobile.
She was sitting in the back seat
with the baby.
Perhaps the sentiment of the jury
was best expressed by remarks of
two of the jurors. One, as she was
leaving the jury box, said: "What
else, could we do?"
The other, an elderly man, accost-
ted Hornbeck in the corridor, grabbed
him by the sgoulders and said, with
feeling:
"Please see that she gets back
home."
The jury forman, George W. Ownes,
1382 W. 58t Street, said that the ballot-
(continued on Page 7, Column 4)
__________________
HUSBAND SLAYER
IS FREED BY JURY
__________________
Silbert Disgrees; "What
Else Could We Do?"
Talesman Asks
__________________
(Continued From First Page)
ig was only on manslaughter, al-
though, Mrs. Hartman was charged
with first-degree mrder. Man-
slaughter and secod degree murder
are lesser crimes included in a first-
degree murder charge.
Two Children in County Home
Mrs. Hartman's other two children
are in the Greene County Home at
Waynesburg, Pa. The baby is with
Mrs. Hartman's parents at Dunkard,
in the same county.
Hornbeck told reporters three prom-
inent Cleveland woman had given
more than $100 worth of clothing to
Mrs. Hartman and that he planned
to return her to Dunkard and place
her in a home as a housekeeper.
Mrs. Hartman thanked the jurors
and told the court she wanted it to
know how kindly she had been
treated by the jail matrons and dep-
uty sheriffs.
It was reported she sang hymns
with the matron while waiting for
the verdict.
When the "not guilty: verdict was
read by Bailiff John Sweeney, Mrs.
Grtman hugged and kissed Horn-
beck.
Mrs. Hartman cried twice yester-
day while giving her testimony and
had to be assisted from he wintess
chair. She testified she could not re-
call the actual shooting in front of
3734 E. 65th Street, where Hartman
lived.
Memory Went Blank
"I don't remember what happened
from the time they threatened to
kill me until I found myself in
County Jail,: she said.
Mrs. Hartman said that she arrived
penniless in Cleveland the day of the
shooting seeking a reconcilliation
with the husband she had not seen
or heard from since September.
Se said Hartman told her he was
going to get a divorce and take the
children from her when she asked
him to take her back. She said she
then took the gun, which belonged
to Hartman, from a trunk she had
with her, intending to give it to him.
Hartman, frequently beat and
abused her and ran arround with
other woman,Mrs. Hartman testi-
fied.
Assistant County Prosecuter John
J. Mahon, in his closig argument
to the jury, did not ask for the death
penalty.
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Published "Cleveland Pain Dealer", 20 Jun 1938:
FLOSSIE HARTMAN
COMPANION SLAIN
_____________________
Miner Shot in Home of Ac-
quited Husband Killer
_____________________
Shot while in the oneroome home
of Mrs. Flossie Hartman, 34, of
Taylor Town, Pa., who was aq-
uited in March, 1937, of murder-
ing her husband in Cleveland, John
Anerenok, 21, a miner, died in a
Waynesburg (Pa.) hospital last
night, the Associated Press re-
ported.
Coroner Raymond Adamson said
Mrs. Hartman told him she and
Anerenok wre asleep on the floor
at the foot of the bed in which her
three children were sleepng, when
she was awakened by a rifle shot
and found Anernok wouded
above the right eye. He died five
hours later.
Mrs. Hartman was held in the
county jail in Waynesburg for
questioning but Sheriff Henry
Flowers said there was no charge
against her. Anerenok died without
making a statement.
Adamson said the rifle was lying
beside Anerenok and several .22-
caliber cartridges were found in
his pockets. Mrs. Hartman said she
had not seen the rifle. Adamson
said, before she was awakened by
the shot.
Mrs. Hartman told Adamson, she
and Anerenok had been "dating"
since her return from Cleveland
after her aquittal in the fatal
shooting of her husband on Jan. 18,
1937, the Associated Press reported.
At her trial in Cleveland wit-
nesses said Mrs. Hartman surprised
her husband, Joseph 32, holding
their Eleven-month-old son, and a
woman in a parked automobile.
She admitted firing five shots at
her husband, killing him almost
instantly, but at the trial claimed
self-defense and asserted her hus-
band had deserted her, leaving her
to care for their children. She was
aquitted after pleading at the trial
she did not remember the actual
details of the shooting.
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(information from Ohio death certficate)
Registered No. 669
Joseph Albert Hartman
b: 1-27-1905 Washington County, Penn.
d: 1-18-1937 Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
cause: Three gunshot wounds of the head with laceratiion and hemhage? (sp?) of brain - in automibile - shot by estranged wife - shot through head.
res: 3734 E. 65th St.
bu: 1-21-1937 Mayplewood Cemetery
married - surviving spouse: Flossie
father: Joseph Hartman born Washington County, Penn.
mother: Etta Chambers born Coffeeville, Kansas
informant: Harry D. Hartman, 13306 Edgewood
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For genealogy information regarding this HARTMAN family, see URL:
http://community-2.webtv.net/oslushmom/MyHARTMANconnection/
email: ojfwb@webtv.net or oslushmom@webtv.net
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