Oct 31, 2002 By Jennifer Harr 4 min read

In 1937, some 51 years after Mike Metz was executed for murder, a local newspaper ran a retrospective on the day he was hanged. An advertisement for Johnston Mortuary, established in 1885, ran on the same page.

Whether the ad was intentionally placed or a bit of accidental irony may never be known, but a preserved copy of that story, along with a ticket to get into Metz’s execution are on display in the Fayette County Law Library.

Librarian Elida Micklow put that framed article and ticket, along with an iron lock and key used to keep prisoners in their cells more than a century ago into the library’s latest display. The article indicates the Metz was executed for murdering his cousin, Rossi Connatti, over money.

Micklow prepared the display after Jane (Wadsworth) Hyjurick, the great-great-granddaughter of former Fayette County Sheriff Issac Messmore donated those items. Hyjurick also donated a blackjack from the late 1800s that is included in the presentation.

The blackjack, now a weapon the general public is prohibited to carry, is about 8 inches long and has a lead tip that is several inches in length. The lead tip is connected to a flexible handhold. Only members of law enforcement can have blackjacks.

Hyjurick said the items were passed down through her family from the time that Messmore left office in January 1875. He took office in October 1871 as the county’s 11th elected sheriff.

Sheriffs before Messmore, said Micklow, were appointed by the governor. Messmore’s invitation to the Aug. 12, 1886, execution is in the display.

“I thought it was important Fayette County history,” said Hyjurick, who formerly stored the items in a desk drawer.

She said she asked family members if they minded her donating the items, and when they gave her the go-ahead, she contacted Micklow.

Hyjurick said she could not provide any detailed history of the items because they were from so long ago.

Although the display touts Metz’s execution as the last in Fayette County, local historian Walter “Buzz” Storey said that his records show a county execution in 1914.

Frank Wells was hanged in the courtyard in June 1914, a little more than a year after he killed a man.

Metz, meanwhile, may not have been Metz at all.

Although the news article identified him as Mike Metz, a mid-1980s study funded by the National Science Foundation lists Michael Mezzo as the man executed on Aug. 12, 1886.

Called “Executions in the United States, 1608-1987: The ESPY File,” the study lists Mezzo as the 420th man executed in Pennsylvania.

According to the study, Pennsylvania’s first recorded execution was in 1693. Derek Jonson, a ferryman, was hanged for murder.

Although murder is the primary reason for executions, the report lists other offenses as a reason for death, such as counterfeiting, desertion, housebreaking/burglary, robbery, arson and spying.

The report doesn’t list which county executed the men or where they were executed, but Micklow said she believes that in Fayette County, people were hanged somewhere around the current courthouse grounds.

Micklow said she initially thought that people might have been hanged in the courthouse tower since there is a noose hanging there, but said the courthouse was not built until 1893, making that an impossibility – at least for the likes of Metz.

Still, Micklow said courthouse lore of executions done inside the 109-year-old building have prompted stories of hauntings.

“When we have student visitors, they’re fascinated that people might have been executed here,” said Micklow, a retired Connellsville Area School District librarian who has worked at her current post for 10 years.

This is the second display Micklow has organized in the law library.

Formerly, long forgotten legal books, some more than 100 years old, were displayed. Micklow also included in that exhibit a rare German Bible.

She said she plans to continue changing the display in the library, and hopes that people will feel confident in donating any artifacts to the county.

The law library is located on the second floor of the courthouse and open to the general public.