A Duel in Hicksville, Ohio - 1897

From The Fort Wayne News, Fort Wayne, Indiana - Monday, August 16, 1897

"GOT MIXED.  And the Twin Brothers Then Fought a Duel.

Hicksville, O., Aug. 16.
Dep and Gill Ackley, twin brothers, both barbers, cannot be told from each other, both being married and each having a family.  Some time ago a barber at Maysville wrote Dep to come and work.  Gill obtained Dep's letter by mistake through the post office, and took his brother's position.  Gill, having worked in Defiance county, was notified by mail to come and get his salary.

Dep received Gill's letter, went to Defiance and drew Gill's money.  Both brothers meeting this afternoon, after indulging in intoxicating drinks, fought a duel on High street near Kleckner's barber shop.  Gill fired a shot a Dep, but missed him, tearing the sleeve out of F. O. Farnsworth's coat.

Dep started to run, going up High street, followed by Gill, both being too drunk to gain much headway, and Gill, having lost his revolver in the crowd, pulled a knife on his brother, cutting his right arm severely.

Another chase followed through the drug store to an alley, when Dep turned on Gill, hitting him with stones and handy articles, until citizens took him off Gill, who now lies at the home of his mother in a critical condition.  Dep made good his escape to the woods, followed by a posse of men and boys."

  
"LIKE A FIEND.  Poss(e) Captures Dep Ackley After a Desperate Struggle.

Hicksville, O., Aug. 17.
Dep Ackley, who almost murdered his twin brother in a duel yesterday and afterward made his escape to the woods, was captured between 5 and 6 o'clock yesterday, and after a chase which lasted all night and yesterday.

He was captured in a cornfield south of a small town named Knoxville by a posse.  He fought desperately with a knife and club and before finally overcome, he succeeded in cutting a man named Backus over the heart.  Backus cannot recover.  He was not captured until his clothes were torn into shreds and he had been clubbed into insensibility.

Gill Ackley, the brother and victim of the man captured, is still unconscious.  After an examination it was found that the carotid artery in the neck had been cut, making a fatal wound.  The citizens are greatly aroused over the affair and if Gill dies, Dep will be roughly dealt with."

This story was printed in newspapers from Los Angeles, California and Salt Lake, Utah to Pennsylvania and beyond. In the 1900 census, Dep Ackley (Dell) was a prisoner in the Allen County jail on Calhoun Street in Fort Wayne, whether for this crime or another.  He was 30 years old and his occupation was still listed as a barber. 
 The Williams County, Ohio genealogy blog has an even more detailed account of the lives of these twins.  Please check it out!