Chief Chesley G. Mearns

On Monday night, August 1st, 1921, Mister A.C. Westfall of Buckhannon, had his car stolen from his yard on East Main Street. Descriptions of the car were sent to various departments across the state, yet no leads were found until a store in Wetzel County was burglarized on Sunday night, August 7th, 1921. During this incident, a witness secured the license plate number of the automobile used by the suspects which verified this was Mr. Westfall’s car. The owner of the vehicle was informed of the activity, and Mr. Westfall then contacted the police departments of neighboring towns. Eventually, the two suspects were found and arrested in Clarksburg on Tuesday morning, August 9th, 1921.

After the arrest of the two suspects, 19-year-old Ralph Young and 24-year-old Harvey Jones, Chief Chesley G. Mearns of the Buckhannon Police Department was tasked with returning the prisoners back to Buckhannon. On the evening of August 9th, 1921, Chief Mearns was joined on the transport by other officials including Constable Thomas Newcome, Mayor M.E. Hymes, and A.H. Tenney. At around 10:00 p.m., August 9th, the vehicle transporting the prisoners reached the top of Teets Hill where tragedy struck. The prisoners sitting in the back seat of the vehicle along with Chief Mearns, were able to quietly take two firearms from Constable Newcome’s pockets and then turned them on the other men in the car. One of the prisoners shot Chief Mearns twice in the side. As the struggle continued, Constable Newcome was shot above the right eye and Mr. Tenney obtained a grazing wound on his side as he was attempting to confiscate the weapon from the other prisoner. During this event, Mayor Hymes was able to exit the vehicle unharmed and flee in search of help as the prisoners made their escape.

Upshur County Sheriff A.J. Zickefoose was notified of the previous events just after 11:00 pm, leading to a manhunt as the Sheriff formed search parties to look for the escaped prisoners. Vehicles carrying these search parties were sent in every direction out of town with instructions to leave armed men at every crossroad and railroad crossing. The escaped Young and Jones were on foot, so Sheriff Zickefoose contacted departments in Fairmont, who then brought their tracking blood hounds to Buckhannon to aid in the search. The search continued through the night and at approximately 2:00 AM the next morning, the prisoners were captured on the railroad tracks just outside of Lorentz as they were making their way toward Weston. As the officers approached Young and Jones, they made no attempts of resistance and were willingly taken into custody. After their capture, the prisoners were transported back to the county jail in Buckhannon, but were later transported to the Barbour County jail for their safety.

Further investigation identified Harvey Jones as Harley Ratcliff, who was an ex-convict who had previous charges for robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. Additionally, Ralph Young was identified as B. F. Smith who had no prior criminal record. The trial for the two men was held on September 8th, 1921 where both plead guilty to their charges. The prisoners were both sentenced to life in prison by Judge H. Roy Waugh, avoiding a possible death sentence of hanging in exchange for their confession to the crimes in which they were accused of committing.
After the initial incident, the officers who were injured were transported to Forman Hospital in Buckhannon. Mr. Tenney was not seriously injured and was released soon after his arrival. Constable Newcome was gravely injured from the bullet wound above his eye and would spend many weeks in the hospital fighting for his life, ultimately making a recovery. Chief Mearns, however, was critically injured as one bullet hit his ribs and another penetrated his liver. Chief Chesley Mearns succumbed to his injuries on Saturday August 13th, 1921.

Mearns’s service with the Buckhannon Police department lasted a total of 5 months with only 6 weeks of this being as Chief of Police. Before the beginning of his service, Mearns was well known in the community as he attended West Virginia Wesleyan College and was a prominent football player during his time there. Mearns was survived by his wife, Willa Wanna Wilson, and their three children, Nina Elizabeth Mearns, Paul Wilson Mearns, and Jean Elnora Mearns. He was interred in the Heavner Cemetery.

We thank and honor Chief Mearns for his dedication and sacrifice for the city of Buckhannon and will continue to honor his memory.

Article of incident - The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland) · Thu, Aug 11, 1921 · Page 2