THE HANGING OF HEZEKIAH SHAFFER , 1879 Hezekiah Shaffer was a quiet man, they said. He had fought bravely and suffered wounds in the Civil War. After the war, he returned home to Franklin County and married Eliza Snyder. They lived near St. Thomas. But he was never quite the same after the war. In April of 1878, he was convicted of murdering his wife gruesomely with an axe. Shaffer maintained that he was innocent throughout his trial, and even on his way to the gallows. Several appeals were made, which delayed his final sentence. Shaffer was held in a cell on the second floor of the 1818 jail during this time. Shortly before his execution was to take place in April of 1879, Shaffer tried to commit suicide with a knife. The Sheriff's little daughter had found him covered in blood when she kindly went to give him some Easter eggs. A doctor was summoned quickly and Shaffer surviv...