Winners were announced at a reception in December for the annual history essay contest at the Lawrence County Museum.

The writing competition is open to all fourth graders in the county and the schools send their top five essays to the museum to be judged.

Here are the winning third place essays from the contest:

The Case of 

Massie Murders

By Marley Perry

Third place (tie)

Symmes Valley Elementary

May 13, 1914 was a day that forever changed Lawrence County.

Imagine how John Clary felt when he came across Robert Massie’s dead body on that Friday in May. John Beard was an 18-year-old farmhand for the Massie’s farm and was the man responsible for the brutal triple murder.

The triple murder took place in Lecta, on the Massie’s farm. Along with Robert, Mary and Nancy Massie were also victims to this horrific crime.

The Massie’s were the wealthiest farmers in Lawrence County.

Motivated by money, John murdered the Massies. Nancy and Mary got their throats cut by a razor, Robert Massie got his skull crushed.

They were discovered the next day by their neighbor John Clary, who walked to their farm to borrow some equipment.

After John murdered the Massies, he left for Chicago and Sheriff Sloan was after him.

Communication by telegram between law and enforcement in Chicago and Ironton served the purpose of showing Beard’s whereabouts.

Reporters say there were 1,000-8,000 people at the Massies’ funeral. Within days, John Beard was charged with first-degree murder and brought back to Ironton.

After confessing the murders to Sheriff Sloan and testimonies from 13 witnesses, the trial date was set.

On May 15, 1914, John pleaded guilty of his action to Judge Edward E. Corn. On Sept. 28, 1914, John was ordered a mental evaluation before getting a capitol punishment.

On Dec. 4, 1914, justice was served and John Beard faced death by electrocution. The murders that occurred on Greasy Ridge that past April greatly affected the citizens and justice system of Lawrence County and served as a significant historical event in our county.

Early means of communication transportation, such as trains and automobiles and receiving accounts from witnesses all played a role in shaping the story of this crime.

The Ironton Tribune served as a time capsule in retelling the events that happened in 1914 one hundred and five years ago.

Ironton professional football

By Peyton Ford

Third place (tie)

St. Lawrence Elementary

Lawrence County loves football! At one time, lronton had its own professional football team, named “The lronton Tanks.”

While the professional game was started a century ago, here, locally, we still have some things left from the days of old, including the stadium that was built for them.

The love of the game has led me to write about the lronton Tanks, one of the first semi-professional football teams.

The lronton Tanks started playing at Beachwood Park in 1919 with former high school players. While some years they were paid, some other years they were not.

In order to make a living, some were given teaching jobs and coaching jobs locally while playing. As they continued on, crowds continued to increase in size at Beachwood Park, sometimes reaching as many as 1,500 people.

To fit everybody in, a covered stadium was completed in 1926, currently named Tanks Memorial Stadium. This is where the lronton Fighting Tigers high school football team currently plays. This stadium still stands today.

The lronton Tanks were very good some years they played. They played teams such as the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants in their history. They played 118 games and won 85 of them, along with 19 losses and 14 ties.

While the lronton Tanks kept playing through the 1920s, by 1930, they stopped playing, due to the lack of funds during the Great Depression. Many players started playing with the Portsmouth Spartans until the team stopped playing in 1933.

This franchise then moved on to become the Detroit Lions, a team that still plays today.

The Thanksgiving Day game tradition of football being played on that day can be traced back to the lronton Tanks.

ln summary, I love football. I did not know that we had our own professional football team in Lawrence County long ago. I did not know that some of that team and the Portsmouth team went on to become the Detroit Lions.

Tanks Memorial Stadium, while being remodeled and changed over the past years, is still standing, and this makes me proud to live in lronton and cheer on the Fighting Tigers today.

Editor’s note: First and second place essays were published last week. The third place essays were misattributed in original publication. We regret the error and are happy to correct it.