| Laughter and clinking of glasses fills the air on the evening of March
20, 1869 in the small community of Keene. As part of a contract that the friends had made, they would help
you saw your wood pile in return for a few rounds of drinks. This night, it was Thomas Boyd who asked for
their help. The men worked hard all day, chopping and stacking. They discussed their families, the business
in town, and their own jobs. It was getting quite dark by the time they finished their work. They were then
seined with the promised liquor. They talked and sang until 2 a.m. until they all went their separate ways.
Michael [sic] Ahern was one of these hard-working men, but he had one, rather large difference: he never
returned home.
The next morning, a watchman from the railroad found a sawhorse, saw and hat under the railroad bridge
near the Colony Mill, both items belonging to Ahern. The question was, and still remains, if Michael merely
fell through, or if someone attacked him and hid his body. If it was the latter, then who would do such a
thing? How could such a nice man have such a great enemy? Michael Ahern would have been described
as a hardworking immigrant. He came from Ireland and built a house on Island street in 1861. He held a
steady job with the Cheshire Railroad and had a loving family. The surprise that followed his disappearance
was caused by his upstanding citizenship and his comedic demeanor.
If you had picked up a copy of the Sentinel, you'd have to really be looking hard to find the notice that
read: “Martin Ahern, an Irishman, about 40 years old, well-built, straight, full, red face, and
weighing about 175 lbs.” as the day dawned on March 25. Who would suspect a murder in Keene?
When the rest of the country is occupied by news updates surrounding rights of blacks, Michael Ahern went
unnoticed. The end of the Civil War had everybody wondering what was going to happen to their towns and
families. The small amount of information in the announcement in the news and the lack of a follow-up
article suggests that either it wasn't a major priority in the town or there just wasn't any information.
The article in the paper suggested that he fell through the bridge, because of the position of the saw
and sawhorse, but many questioned that he could have been in a struggle with his attacker as well.
Although there wasn't much of any attention in the paper, the police questioned as many people as
they could think of, and still no leads came up. They even placed spikes in the canal so that if the body
was in there, it wouldn't float away with their evidence.
Finally, six weeks after Michael Ahern disappeared, he appeared again on April 28. Much to his family's
dismay, he was pulled out of the canal, his body lodged against the spikes that the police had previously
set there for that purpose. The coroner Samuel Woodward found that a blunt object fractured Michael's
skull and came to the conclusion that Michael had died a violent death brought on by a stranger. Perhaps
the evidence showed an element of surprise, the injury being near the back of his skull, concluding that he
was attacked from behind.
Perhaps this announcement lead to more fear and excitement in the town than it did ease their worries.
They wondered if they could be next, and what, if anything, could they do to avoid it. There is nothing
mentioned, though, that could infer that the crime was done by someone Michael knew. Disruption from
that kind of announcement might have sent the townspeople onto an even bigger frenzy if the knew the
murder was done by someone among them; a murderer in their midst.
Many leads can be made from the assumption that it was someone he knew. Someone he worked with? A
family member? A jealous wife? Those questions only lead to more: Was his life only a surface for something
else? Was he involved in crime? And an endless list could be created by changing the report of the coroner
to another plausible reason. Some people even discussed the possibility that the body had not, in fact,
floated to the spikes located in the canal, but instead placed there by the murderer shortly before it was
found. Rumors like these float through small towns everywhere, are often unfounded, but create a common
unity through the discussion and fear they create. Perhaps that's why the coroner said he was killed by a
stranger. Then the fear would be lesser because the town could view it as a passer-by and not a long-lasting
threat. But if it was someone Michael was in cahoots with, then it might be someone they knew as well. The
stranger theory ties up the loose ends, but a known killer only creates more problems for the police force.
There are so many motivations behind this story that you cannot discover from a simple announcement
that a man is missing.
Imagine, if only a few people were diligent enough to read through old stories, and unsolved mysteries, how
many could be solved, or at least brought into a new light. Nobody may ever know what happened to Michael
Ahern, as it is too late to bring in any forensic evidence, which they most likely don't have. His soul will have
to remain forever lost, with only him and his murderer knowing what happened, and his last memory being of
his friends and the joy they shared in his last moments of life.
Leigh Emerson is a junior in the honors-level American Studies class at Keene High School, for which he
wrote this report.
[There is an error as to the name of the man in question. The author of the above refers to him
as Michael, except in one instance as Martin. He is listed as Martin in the
Keene, NH Street Directories.
See The
Mysterious Death of Martin Ahern for more.]
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