RULE OF LAW- Part Two

“I knew all this constant harping on art was gonna cause trouble.”- Tony Soprano, The Sopranos, season 4 episode 2 

    When I started writing (F)ancestor I realized this was an opportunity to not only find out about my ancestors, but put myself in historical context; a kind of “generational memoir.” I’d always known of various Osterhout branches (my own included) being involved in the criminal justice system. Uncle Wray was a thief and junky, in and out of jail in the 40’s and 50’s. I’m sure there’s plenty I don’t know. I’ve had more than a few “days” in court myself. Luckily I’m still on the outside. I can’t say the same for some other family members. With the help of Google I now can keep track of all incarcerated Osterhouts. 

     

   There’s Alan Osterhout, Jr. (a black man) serving out his sentence in Florida for murdering his wife. Before you make assumptions based on race, Alan was a sixty something, middle class businessman who shot his college professor wife. Racial tropes are of no use with the Osterhouts. His 911 call placed just after the murder is on Youtube. It’s simultaneously heartbreaking and despicable. I reached out, but have yet to hear back.

     

    Then there’s Stephen Allen Osterhout, who at 16 killed a seminarian in Michigan in the 1980’s. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole as a juvenile. He’d been in so long he was known as the “Professor” in Baraga Correctional. Thirty years later, a month after his suicide in his prison cell, the Supreme Court struck down those draconian sentencing guidelines for juveniles. He just missed it. He couldn’t wait any longer. His pen pal Linda, an academic in Michigan, stopped returning my emails.

    

    The worst of the bunch are a father son duo, Franklin Ward and Franklin Scott Osterhoudt, presently serving time in a prison in Idaho for rape, incest, meth and assorted other crimes. From their location and some newspaper articles I determined that their direct ancestor was Solomon Osterhout. Solomon left a diary documenting his ordeal crossing the United States from Illinois to California by ox train in 1850. I have a copy. I would love to see if the original diary still exists. Franklin and Franklin Osterhout would maybe know. I’m not reaching out to these two for anything.

     

    On the other side of the rule of law are various sheriffs, deputies, constables and police officers in the family. Three of the most famous Osterhout officers of the court were from Pennsylvania. 

     Constable Gideon Osterhout of Wyoming, Pa. arrested Aaron Kilborn, 15 years old, one of the kidnappers of George Washington’s future Secretary of State, Timothy Pickering, in 1788 during the Pennamite War; another armed struggle over property. The bold young kidnapper argued that he was on his way to turning himself in anyway and was due the $100 reward himself. Constable Osterhout was merely his ride to jail. After his release, Pickering sent a letter to the Gov. of Pennsylvania, Thomas Mifflin on Nov. 15, 1788. Initially siding with Kilborn, questioning Constable Osterhout’s claim for the reward, Pickering eventually relented, thanking Gideon for his patriotism and recommending he get the C note. 

     

     A descendant of Gideon, Sheriff Thomas Osterhout, was the first Sheriff of Wyoming when it officially became a county in Pennsylvania in the 1840’s. He also had an uneven term of office, repeatedly losing prisoners. Escapes from his jail were a constant embarrassment to the Sheriff until his retirement. He walked with a limp. His ebony cane is still on display in the Wyoming County Historical Society in Tunkhannock.

    

     The last lawman of any note that I could find was Judge John Peterson Osterhout, also from Tunkhannock, Pa. He moved to Texas, fought for the Confederacy, started a local newspaper, The Bellville Countryman, was appointed to the bench and owned slaves until the end of the Civil War; when the rule of law changed once more. His letters home and Countryman editorials proclaiming the benefits of slavery are unnerving to say the least.

    Nobody in my immediate family is a cop or in jail at this writing. We are, for the most part, law abiding citizens who shun law enforcement. Every time I hear somebody declare “We are a country of laws.” I cringe. So much damage has been done under the guise of “legality” it loses meaning. The removal of the Indians, the reservation system and ultimate genocide was legal. Slavery was legal. The Holocaust was legal. The environment is legally raped and in many places (like the U.S.) global warming continues unchecked (or even unacknowledged) protected by the rule of law. Immigrant children are removed from their parents legally. The Amazon is burning—legally. Just look at the transcript of Trump’s phone call to Zelinsky. It’s “perfectly” legal. How can you possibly think any laws were broken? Oh I don’t know…..maybe by reading it? Legality has become a political power game. Today, criminality has become as subjective as art.