Nellie married William Dery of Amsterdam in 1902.  The couple had a daughter name Mildred.  The Derys were unhappy and separated.  In 1917, Nellie and William Marshall Junior began living together in Fort Johnson.

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Likable Fort Johnson man fatally shot

By Bob Cudmore

   Likable, boisterous William H. Marshall, Jr. was shot twice through the head at suppertime on Wednesday, March 12 1919 at his home in Fort Johnson.

   Marshall was separated from his wife and children; they were living in Oneida County.  The fatal bullets came from a revolver held by a woman the newspapers described as Marshall’s paramour, Nellie Bostwick Dery.

   Marshall died soon after arrival at St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam.  He never regained consciousness and could not tell police how he had been shot.  Bostwick Dery swooned after the gun was fired, was tranquilized and hospitalized at Amsterdam City Hospital that night.

   District Attorney Newton Herrick contended Marshall’s death was a homicide, with the motive being that Nellie had become jealous of attentions Marshall supposedly was giving to another woman.

   The dead man was born in Fort Johnson and lived there his whole life.  He had been employed in Amsterdam knitting mills but toward the end of his life worked with his father in a gardening business and a Fort Johnson coal yard. 

   Nellie was born in Perth, the daughter of Robert and Ada Bostwick.

   Nellie married William Dery of Amsterdam in 1902.  The couple had a daughter name Mildred.  The Derys were unhappy and separated.  In 1917, Nellie and William Marshall Junior began living together in Fort Johnson.

   Nellie was in her middle 30s at the time of the shooting.  William, the victim, was almost 28.

   Nellie phoned the victim’s father, William Marshall Sr., almost immediately after the shooting, saying, "Come over right away. Something awful has happened."

   The victim’s father and other acquaintances said Nellie and William Jr, were happy together.  At her trial Nellie testified that if her companion was seeing another woman, she did not know about it.

   Defense attorney A. Howard Burtch said of William Junior, “A big good natured fellow, rough in his manners, rough in his play.  They (William and Nellie) were frequent attendees at the vaudeville and burlesque shows in Amsterdam.  They were always together and always happy up to the time of the accident.”

   Nellie’s version of the shooting was that she and William Jr. had been annoyed by rats on an ash pile in the backyard where garbage was dumped during the winter.  She took the revolver to Marshall so he would either shoot the rats or show her how to use the weapon. 

   She said she carried the gun in her right hand and had a comb in the other hand as she wanted to comb Marshall’s hair.  In her effort to give him the gun as he sat in a chair, she said she accidentally discharged the weapon not once but twice. 

   The first trial at County Court in Fonda resulted in a deadlocked jury in July 1919.  The Gloversville Morning Herald reported five jurors were for conviction on second degree murder, one was for manslaughter and six were for acquittal.

   In a second trial in April 1920, there was difficulty getting enough jurors as many members of the male jury pool did not want to decide the fate of a female murder defendant.  Women were not common on juries until the second half of the twentieth century.  After deliberations, jury foreman Edward J. Gilbert of Fonda said their verdict was not guilty.

   Nellie made a scene after the verdict in her expressing thanks to the jurors who hurriedly left the building.

   Nellie later worked as a dressmaker and married a Mohawk Carpet Mill employee, Wallace Smalley.  The Smalleys lived a quiet life on Devendorf Street in Amsterdam.  Nellie died in 1958 and was buried at Hagaman Cemetery.

Bob Cudmore "History stories from The Mohawk Valley"

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Charles Gehring’s life work has been to translate Old Dutch language documents from the 17th century New Netherland colony in New York, New Jersey and Delaware. Gehring is Director of the New Netherland Research Center at the New York State Education Department in Albany. His work has been used by many historians, including Russell Shorto whose book “The Island at the Center of the World” is a history of New York City dating back to colonial Dutch times.

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