FOURTH GENERATION

109. Earl S. "Watiker" WADERKER was born in Jul 1879 in Barnett Ridge, Barlow Township, Washington County, Ohio. He died about 10 Oct 1908 in Barnett Ridge, Dunham Township, Washington County, Ohio. The Marietta Times of October 12, 1908, page 1, column 1 reads as follows:

"SHOT DOWN IN HIS DRIVEWAY. Colored Man Is Victim of Assassin Who Is Now In Custody. Trouble After Dance Results in Brutal Murder Near Fleming. Standing in the doorway of his residence, after he had appeared in response to a hail from the outside, Earl S. Waderker, a young colored man, was shot down by an assassin about 1 o'clock Sunday morning. The murder was committed in the Barnett Ridge neighborhood, in Barlow Township between Barlow and Fleming.

'There were witnesses to the shooting and the slayer of Waderker is said to have been Ed Brock, another Negro, who is now a prisoner in the county jail here.' Brook is a man whom Waderker had befriended and taken into his home when he had no other place to go and the two men had been the best of friends until the night of the shooting.

TROUBLE FOLLOWS DANCE. 'A dance held at the home of James Lewis, near the place where Waderker lived with his family, Saturday night, preceded the trouble that led up to the murder.' There was a large attendance of the colored people of the neighborhood. Among the guests were Waderker and Herman Williams. It is said that Waderker was somewhat under the influence of liquor. About midnight these two had some trouble and wanted to fight. "Friends separated the pair.' When they were outside of the house Williams took to his heels when Waderker reached towards his pocket. Waderker ran him a half mile or more over the hill.

DANCE IS BROKEN UP. 'In the meantime the dance had broken up as the result of the trouble.' When Waderker returned from his fruitless chase he, his brother, another man or two and a couple of girls went to his home, where were his wife and three children, the eldest of whom is about seven years of age. 'The party found Brock in the house.' He had been living there with the Waderker family. Waderker began to boast about how good a man he was and stated that he could whip almost anybody in sight, it is said. 'He and Brock had words and called each other names.' Then Brock got up, took a couple of gun shells from where they rested over the door and left the house.

GOES AFTER HIS GUN. Brock and Joe Ransom, another young colored man, had been hunting Saturday. Brock had left his gun at the Ransom house. He made his way there and with the remark that 'A fellow is giving me the worst of it and I am going to get even with him,' he got a single barreled shotgun and started back to the Waderker house.

RANSOM FOLLOWED HIM. 'When Brock was about fifty feet from the house he called to Waderker.' Ransom anticipated what was about to happen and started toward the house to warn the man on the inside. Brock moved up at the same time. The people on the inside tried to keep Waderker away from the entrance but he was headstrong and opened the door.

NO CHANCE FOR ESCAPE. 'Did you mean to kill me when you called me that?' asked Brock, who was then about twenty feet away, according to the story of the witnesses, and before there was time for a reply he had raised the gun and fired a charge into the body of man before him. 'Waderker fell back into the house.' Dr. W. A. Howard was summoned from Vincent and did what was possible but it was seen that there was little chance for the wounded man. He lived till about 7 o'clock Sunday morning, when he died.

MURDERER LEAVES SCENE. Immediately after the shooting Brock started to run. He did not even wait to see what had been the result of the shot. He had no hat or coat when he was last seen going south, toward the river. Shortly after the shooting, Williams, the man with whom Waderker had trouble at the dance, appeared. 'He had two guns with him and said that he was looking for Waderker and that he was going to shoot him.' When told that Waderker was already shot he disappeared in the direction of his home. It is believed that he had already seen Brock and that he came to the neighborhood of the Waderker home to see if Brock's shot had taken effect.

PROSECUTING ATTORNEY FOLLETT, who had been informed of the shooting, went to the Waderker home early Sunday morning. When he found the part that Williams had had in the trouble he telephoned to Sheriff Owens to have a warrant issued for Willims and Constable Posey went out Sunday evening to try to get the man.

BROCK IS CAPTURED. Brock was brought to this city this morning by Lieutenant Stephan and was placed in the county jail. He was arrested about midnight at Parkersburg. Sergeant Deems, of the Parkersburg force, and W. J. Kelley, B. & O. detective, were walking along the track of the railroad in the outskirts of town looking for some men who had stolen property belonging to the railroad. They saw a fire with three men around it and as they approached a Negro walked out of the darkness and came up to the fire. 'The officers immediately recognized him from a description and he was locked up in the Wood County jail.' When arrested he declared that his name was Ed Carter.

ADMITS HE IS MAN WANTED. Lieutenant Stephan examined him this morning and after much questioning, the fellow admitted that his name is Ed Brock. He says that Waderker got him drunk on alcohol Saturday night and that he does not know what happened from that time on. He does not know, he says, whether or not he killed the man or, if so, what weapon he used. He says that he walked over a big hill and found himself near Parkersburg, but does not know how he made the rest of the trip. Herman Williams was also arrested on a warrant sworn out before Justice Kidd on a charge of assault and battery. The assault and battery charge will hold him while the murder is under investigation. A large crowd collected around the police headquarters at Parkersburg while Chief Stephan had the man there and followed them to the car, but no acts of violence were threatened. Brock was frightened and trembling but he seemed to be suffering no remorse for his deed, if he is the murderer. He talked and joked with Lieutenant Stephan on his way to this city and told of his many travels. His original home is said to be Birmingham, Alabama, but it is stated that he has been living at Clarksburg for some time.

WADERKER HAD RECORD. Earl Waderker, the murdered man, was about thirty years of age. Both he and Brock, who came to the neighborhood about a month ago, were employed in the quarries of the Cleveland Stone Company. "Waderker had served a term in the state penitentiary, having some time ago been guilty of forgery. Brock is a coal-black southern darky. He had stated that his home was in Alabama but that he left there when he was 11 years of age.

Coroner R. W. Athey and Dr. E. P. Cooke made a post mortem examination of the dead man Sunday forenoon. "They found that he had been struck in the left side of the abdomen by the charge of shot and that the wound was a terrible one, making death certain."

He was married to Mary Etta "Marietta" HILL (daughter of David HILL and Mary Ann BARNETT) on 27 Nov 1899 in Washington County, Ohio. Mary Etta "Marietta" HILL was born on 27 Dec 1879 in Washington County, Ohio. She was buried in Zanesville, Muskingum County, Ohio in the Greenwood Cemetery. Earl S. "Watiker" WADERKER and Mary Etta "Marietta" HILL had the following children:

+266 i. Alleda B. WATIKER.
267 ii. Alfred R. WATIKER.
+268 iii. Albert David "Jug" WATIKER Sr..