Watchmen Hallam and Long regularly patrolled the beat bounded by Race, Elm, and 3rd Streets and the Ohio River.  Watchman Long was a tall young man with compact strength.  Watchman Hallam was an older man with broad shoulders.  Mayor R. M. Bishop personally selected these men for the ‘hard’ beat in the “Bloody 4th Ward”. 

During the day of January 9th, 1861, Watchman Long had received a letter stating that a young girl had been absconded from a distant city and was in the company of a man known by police too often visit several of the dens of infamy in the vicinity.  The two officers asked and were permitted by Lieutenant Kirby to don civilian attire and search for the girl.  They were inside the house of Emma Clemmens on the east side of Main Street between 6th and 7th Streets when a father and son, Roman and Casper Lohrer, insisted on entering to see a woman of Roman Lohrer’s acquaintance.  Madam Clemmens refused their admittance because the father held a pistol.  The two officers directed Clemmens to open the door and as Watchman Long stepped out to make the arrest, Casper stabbed him in the right side.  He then stabbed Watchman Hallam, who was immediately behind him, also in the right side.  He then tried to stab Clemmens, but one of the girls, Jennie Davis, struck his arm and saved her.  The two Lohrers ran off.  Clemmens delayed in reporting the incident until 11 p.m. when she hailed Officer Casey.  He responded to find the two officers unconscious and slouched on two couches in the parlor.  The attackers were long gone.  By the time Dr. Mussey responded, the prognosis was fatal. 

Both officers had a wife and large families.  The wives were sent for and quickly responded.  Mrs. Long had the sad duty of closing her husband’s eyes before dawn on January 10, 1861.  Officer Hallam lingered to the next day and died on January 11, 1861. 

The whole police department was placed on the lookout for the murderers.  Four watchmen staked out the Lohrer home at 12th and Clay Streets and when they returned home, the watchmen pounced on them.  Roman, the father, did not resist, but Casper did until a revolver was placed to his head and he was advised that his least resistance would result in his death.  They were then taken to the stationhouse.

As evening fell, a meeting was held at the Vine Street Engine House presided over by James Pollock, a well known foundry man.  The crowd was very orderly until a man yelled, “To the Jail!” The crowd became a mob and headed for the jail.  They found waiting there Mayor Bishop, Police Chief Lewis Wilson, and fifty officers – which soon grew to one hundred and fifty.  The mob soon backed off and left.

Officers Hallam and Long’s bodies were taken to their residences and it was decided to have a single funeral for both.  On the next day, an immense funeral was held.  Many people walked with the procession to the Brighton House and from there the officers went onto Cumminsville for burial in Wesleyan Cemetery.  A very large benefit was held benefiting the widows with $1000 to each. The City of Cincinnati City Council passed an ordinance granting each widow $200.

Roman Lohrer was dismissed outright as having no evidence against him.  Casper was charged, tried, convicted, and sentenced to life.  Later a new trial was ordered and he was released, but re-arrested for counterfeiting.  His final fate in the murders is unknown.

If you have further information, artifacts, or pictures of these officers, please contact the Museum Director at Director@GCPHS.com.