This is the tragic murder story of the Shearer and Fisher families of Kensington, 1904.

Part 1- The Shearer Family

Archibald and Ellen Blythe Shearer lived in Kirk Wynd, Selkirk, Scotland with their 6 children: Archie (b 1865), Findlay (b1867), Marian (b 1870), Hannah (b 1871), John (b 1875) and William (b 1880). Archibald worked as a stone cutter. In 1883, Archibald and his oldest child Archie immigrated to Philadelphia. They lived at 32 Silver Street (off of N Front between Lehigh and Somerset). Just like in Scotland, Archibald worked as a stone cutter and young Archie worked as a weaver. They saved enough money for the rest of the family to join them in Philadelphia in 1884. In February of 1887, Archibald and Ellen had a 7th child, Nellie. By 1890 they lived at 1919 E Huntingdon Street (Jasper and Huntingdon). In 1892, Archibald opened a grocery store at 241 E Cambria (ne corner of Cambria and Kip...still a grocery store today). Archibald died on October 3, 1893 at age 51 from dilation of his heart. His widow Ellen took over the grocery and in 1895 she moved the location to 3141 G Street (corner of G and Potter......pictured in 1952 when it was the real estate office of Thomas Mann). Ellen advertised for several housekeepers during the mid and late 1890's. She always advertised for "a middle aged woman who is not afraid to work". Judging by the number of ads that she placed, it looks like she had trouble keeping help. Between July of 1898 and December of 1899, she went through 5 housekeepers. The 1900 census shows that all of Ellen's children lived with her at 3141 G Street except for daughter Marion (who married James Neilson in 1890 and lived at 413 E Clearfield Street.....By 1902 they moved to California) and son William (who was in the army and stationed in the Philippines from 1899 to 1902). In 1902, Ellen's son John took a job working as a fruit huckster for Frederick Fisher.

Part 2- The Fisher Family

Frederick Fisher immigrated from Germany to Philadelphia at age 21 in 1855. Within a year he married a young Irish immigrant named Mary. Frederick and Mary had 9 children: George (b 1856), Mary Jane (died at age 8 months on October 2, 1858 of convulsions), Frederick (b 1861), Elizabeth (b 1862), Daniel (b 1864), John (died at age 12 days old on Sep 29, 1866 of convulsions), James (b 1867), Thomas (b 1869) and Harry (b 1874). Frederick worked as a fruit huckster. In 1882, Mary came into some money and bought the house at 3540 Emerald Street (Emerald at Harrowgate Lane.....Harrowgate Lane was a toll road that was later renamed Atlantic street). Mary put the house in her name only, Frederick was not on the deed. Mary took ill in the 1890's and was tenderly nursed by her daughter, Elizabeth (Lizzie). In appreciation, when Mary died in 1899 she left the house to Lizzie. As lady of the house, Lizzie took care of her father Frederick and her youngest brother, Harry. Frederick hired John Shearer to drive one of his huckster wagons in 1902. Shearer and Lizzie fell in love and planned to marry. Frederick and Harry both opposed the marriage. The Fishers had lived there for 20 years and despite Mary leaving the house to Lizzie, they felt it was their house and Shearer would be taking what was theirs. Harry especially grew to hate Shearer. Harry was a bit of a ne'er do well and Lizzie was very generous about giving him money when he had none. He feared this would end once Lizzie was married. John Shearer and Lizzie Fisher married in May of 1904 at Ascension Church at F and Westmoreland (the church at that time was located in what would become the school auditorium). For their honeymoon, they went to the St Louis Worlds fair. After returning home, it didn't take long for Harry to get into an argument with John. Harry was asked to leave and supposedly he headed out west to Colorado.

Part 3- The Murder

This was a happy time for the Shearer family. Despite the objections of the Fishers, John and Lizzie were very happily married. John's mother, Ellen Shearer, was very successful with her grocery at 3141 G Street and planned a summer trip to visit her sisters back in Scotland. Ellen left for Scotland in mid July 1904 with no idea as to the horror that she would return to a month later. It rained early in the afternoon of Friday, August 5, 1904. By 4pm the rain had cleared and the temperature was cool so John and Lizzie decided to take a carriage ride. They stopped by the house of a friend, Mrs. Ellen Blum who lived at L and Venango, and invited her along. She wasn't able to go so they sat talking with her for about an hour before continuing on with their ride. John and Lizzie returned home about 10pm and had a small snack in the dining room before retiring to bed. What they didn't know was that the person sleeping in her father's room was not her father. Frederick was away for a couple of days visiting friends in the country and had not yet returned. The person sleeping in Frederick's bed was Harry. He was not in Colorado as the family had thought. Harry had been hiding in the barn out behind the house when he saw John and Lizzie leave for their carriage ride. He climbed in through the kitchen window and fell asleep in his fathers bed. When Harry awoke at 2:30am, he decided that he would kill John Shearer, who he felt had robbed him of his family and his home. He walked into the front bedroom where John and Lizzie were sleeping. John was on his stomach. Harry fired a shot which grazed John in the neck. As Harry aimed for a second shot at John, Lizzie sprang up and jumped in front of Harry just as he pulled the trigger shooting her in the chest. As Lizzie sank to the floor, Harry got off another shot, this one into John's chest. A neighbor lady, Mrs. Thomas, heard the shots. She slipped on a dress and ran to Frankford and Ontario to get her husband who was a policeman. Harry fled back to the barn and hid behind the chicken coop. When the police arrived, they first found Lizzie, who had managed to crawl into the hallway before dying. They next found John lying besides the bed in a pool of blood but still alive. The police put him in a patrol wagon but he died before they could get to Episcopal Hospital. The whole neighborhood was out looking for the shooter but no one found him hiding in the barn. Harry was grief stricken that he had murdered his sister, who had been so kind to him and even nursed him through typhoid fever just a year past. Not being able to bear his guilt, he shot himself in the stomach. He staggered into the house and asked for a glass of water as he collapsed into a chair. It was John's brother, William Shearer, who gave Harry a glass of water. At first it was thought that Harry was shot by the intruder as well but after he finished his water he shouted at the police "Don't you get it? I did it! I murdered them!". He gave a complete confession. He was truly sorry for what he had done to his sister but showed no remorse for killing Shearer. A wagon was sent for to take Harry to Episcopal Hospital but he died before it arrived. Lizzie and Harry's bodies were placed on the living room floor with a white sheet over them. Not long after, Frederick returned home. At the site of his daughters lifeless body he collapsed, inconsolable. John Shearer's funeral was on August 9 at his mothers' house at 3141 G Street and he was buried at North Cedar Hill Cemetery. Lizzie Fisher Shearer had a viewing at her house, 3540 Emerald St, a mass at Ascension (just 11 weeks after she was married there) and was buried on August 9 at St Joachim's Cemetery. What a pity the family didn't bury them together. Harry had a service on August 10 at George L Anderson's Funeral Parlor, 3027 Frankford Ave and was buried at Bellevue Cemetery.

Part 4- Breaking the news to Mrs. Shearer

During all of this, John's mom, Ellen, had been away visiting her sisters in Scotland. It had been 20 years since she last saw them. One can only imagine how happy she must have been at this time. She left Scotland for Philadelphia on August 3, two days before the murder. The Shearer family wanted to break the news to her gently. Her ship was due to arrive on August 14th. William Shearer first went to all of the neighbors to tell them that Ellen was returning home that day and to not say anything to her about the murder. He then arrived early at the dock to explain the situation to the immigration officers. They made sure that she was the first one processed off of the ship. All of her children then circled her and whisked her into a trolley car before any reporters could tell her what happened. Once home, her spirits were high as she told everyone about her trip. Whenever she asked "How's John and Lizzie?", someone would change the subject and ask more about her trip. She went to bed that night still not knowing what had happened. William broke the news to her over breakfast the next morning. He couldn't wait any longer to tell her because the insurance men were coming with a check later that day. Poor Mrs. Shearer! I cant even imagine the pain that she must have felt that day, to go from extreme happiness to ultimate grief within the time frame of a single sentence.

Part 5- the Conclusion

In November of 1904, Ellen Shearer sued Frederick Fisher for John and Lizzie's estate which was worth $600. The court had to decide who died first. If Lizzie died first then her estate would pass to John and then to Mrs. Shearer. If John died first, then Lizzie's estate would pass to her father, Mr. Fisher. The police account makes it clear that John outlived his wife by about an hour so it should have gone to Mrs. Shearer. It appears though that Mr. Fisher won because he continued to live at 3540 Emerald St until his death at age 82 on December 30, 1916. Mrs. Shearer sold her grocery store at 3141 G Street in September of 1906 ( it was a cigar store until 1922 when it became the longtime home of Thomas A Mann Real Estate). Mrs. Shearer opened a new grocery at 4915 A Street (near A and Roosevelt Blvd) with her son, William. In 1909 they moved the grocery to 523 E Westmoreland St (Rorer and Westmoreland). In 1912 they moved the grocery to 2740 Helen Street (near Emerald and Somerset). In 1917 they moved the grocery to 1866 E Clementine Street (Clementine and Jasper). In 1922 they moved the grocery to 3079 Kensington Ave (Kensington and Clearfield). Ellen Shearer died at age 82 in 1924. 
After I originally posted this story, I heard from the Shearer Family in Scotland. They thanked me for the info because it was a family legend that they were murdered at the St Louis Worlds Fair.

Researched and written by Bob McNulty June 14, 2013