Kleiber Brothers

    The Kleiber brothers were well known in Tonawanda—but not for anything honorable.

George and Henry Kleiber spent much of their lives tangled in violence, drunkenness, arrests, and the dangerous world of illegal river fishing along the Niagara. Newspaper reporters followed them for years, documenting court appearances, drunken assaults, fishing raids, and moments where lives nearly ended in bloodshed.

The river gave them work. It also helped destroy them.

Both brothers made their living as fishermen, but authorities repeatedly accused them of “pirating” the river with illegal seines and destructive fishing methods. During one raid near the mouth of Rattlesnake Creek, game protectors seized over 500 pounds of illegally caught carp connected to Henry Kleiber. Officers confiscated the skiff and marched the fishermen to the station while crowds watched the haul disappear into police custody.

But it was violence—not fishing—that made the Kleiber name feared.

George Kleiber was known throughout Tonawanda as volatile and dangerous. One summer night inside the bottling department of the Tonawanda Brewing Company, a bitter argument exploded between George and fellow fisherman George Walrath. The dispute centered on illegal fishing and accusations of dynamiting fish in the Niagara River.

Witnesses said George became enraged, shouting that he would kill Walrath “if it took all night.”

Moments later, he pulled a .38 caliber revolver from his hip pocket and fired.

Only the quick movement of a bystander saved Walrath’s life. The bullet struck the building instead of the man. George fled the scene but was captured near his Adam Street home. Police seized the revolver, and newspapers noted he had only recently been released from the Erie County Penitentiary on earlier fishing charges.

The violence followed him home.

In one of the most disturbing episodes connected to the family, George’s own wife accused him of trying to poison her with carbolic acid. She later told police the poison had been poured into her tea, spread on her bread, and even soaked into her clothing. She survived only because she noticed the smell before swallowing more than a trace amount. Neighbors revived her after she collapsed.

When arrested, George called himself “a devil.” He claimed he bought the poison to kill himself and refused to explain what had happened at the supper table. Doctors questioned his sanity. Neighbors whispered about earlier threats and growing instability.

Henry Kleiber’s path was no calmer.

In 1906, he earned an infamous distinction in Tonawanda police court: he became both the first and last man sentenced that year. The charge on both occasions was intoxication. Each time, Henry reportedly requested a sentence to the Erie County Penitentiary, and each time the judge obliged him with thirty days.

Alcohol and violence repeatedly followed him.

During one arrest, Sergeant Charles Diedrich attempted to take Henry into custody. Without warning, Henry pulled a pair of scissors from his coat and slashed wildly at the officer. One thrust pierced Diedrich’s sleeve before the sergeant finally subdued him with a baton. The struggle was so severe doctors reportedly spent over an hour dressing the officer’s wounds.

At another point, Henry’s own sister searched the Buffalo morgue believing him dead. Instead, he eventually returned home alive—injured, intoxicated, and fresh from another short sentence.