Lawmakers Do Not Create Rules, People Do

            Have you ever wondered why certain laws exist? There are laws for things you cannot even imagine people doing, yet there is a law against it, so someone must have done it. I came across one such case, and law, while working through the probate records at the Greene County Archives. A 22-year-old man named Francis Dudley appeared in front of Greene County Judge S. C. Wright in 1930 after he had been arrested for “Killing Fish by Use of Dynamite” (Fig. 1). It appears that on July 18, 1929, Dudley and four of his friends were charged with stealing dynamite from the Miami Fertilizer Company, and using it to kill fish in the Little Miami River east of a railroad bridge near Trebein Road and at an iron bridge on Fairground Road.

Fig. 1: Probate envelope and arrest warrant for Francis Dudley, courtesy of the Greene County Archives.

            Sure enough, section 1415 § 26 (Poisons and Explosives Prohibited) of the Ohio General Code, now Chapter 1501:31-13 (Sport Fishing) of the Ohio Revised Code, stated that no person should kill fish in any of Ohio’s rivers by quicklime, electricity, or explosions (Fig. 2). So, Ernest L. Harner, game warden for Greene County at the time, filed an affidavit with the court, and Dudley was taken into custody. Dudley pleaded guilty and Judge Wright fined him $100 and court costs on May 29, 1930.

Fig. 2: Section 1415 § 26 of the Ohio General Code from 1920.

Despite the affidavit from Greene County’s game warden, Dudley pleading guilty, and the violation of Ohio’s general code, Judge Wright received a curious letter concerning Dudley. A letter dated August 8, 1930 asked that Dudley be discharged from jail and the remainder of his fine suspended. The letter was from Perry L. Green, the Director of Agriculture (Fig. 3). While I could not find any more information about this letter, it would appear the Ohio Department of Agriculture thought Dudley had learned his lesson enough to be freed from jail without paying the remainder of his fine.

Fig. 3: Letter from Director of Agriculture, Perry L. Greene, courtesy of the Greene County Archives.

Thanks to Dudley blowing up fish, we can see how, and why, some of the laws that exist, especially those we may not understand, came to be created.

Sources:

“Five Accused of Dynamiting River and Destroying Fish.” Xenia Evening Gazette.Published July 27, 1929. Accessed March 23, 2019.

“Francis Dudley, Killing Fish by Use of Dynamite.” Probate Court Criminal, Box 680, Case 2030. Greene County Records Center and Archives. 

Page, William Herbert. “Section 1415 § 26: Poisons and Explosives Prohibited.” The General Code of Ohio. Cincinnati: W.H. Anderson, 1920.

“Pleads Guilty to Game Offense Law.” Xenia Evening Gazette.Published May 29, 1930. Accessed March 23, 2019.