Minnesota, H-Y, 1897-1992, Undated

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286 HISTORY OF FREEBORN COGNTY.

County Board, asking for another vote. A. S.
Everest appeared for the petitioners, and Aug.
Armstrong opposed their prayer. The decision
was postponed until the 22d of October. at which
meeting the petition was granted, and a vote of

the people followed. Itasca alone entered the

arena with Aibert Lea, resulting again in favor of

the latter, by 193 majority, on a toial vote of

770.

Passing from this, we will next notice our

. JUDICIAL RECORD.

Under the Territorial Government, Freeborn
county, with fifteen others, constituted the Third

Sndicial District. and Judge Flandrean, after ap-

pointing Aug. Armstrong clerk, which he did in
the sammer of 1857, advertised to held court at

_ Albert Lea in October following; but as there was

no business at that time, the: announcement was
only formal, and ne court was in fact called.
By the constitation of 1857, the district was

changed in form and size, so that Freeborn, with

eight other counties, became the Fifth Judicial

District, and Hon. N. M. Donaldson, of Owatonna,
was elected in the fall of that year, presiding

Judge. In the fall of 1871, the. Hon. Samuel

‘Lord, of Mantorville, was elected Judge in place
-of Donaldson, but his association with our people

was of short duration, for in 1872 the Legislature
created a new district called the Tenth, composed

of Freeborn and all the counties in the southern’

_ tier, east of it. Over this District, Hon. Sherman

Page, of Austin, was called to preside, and. then

_J.Q. Farmer, who still holds that position.

Under those organizations, courts have been

held. twice a year aeeeerly,:’ with one or two ex-

ceptions.

. Among the tbeorlant cases disposed of, was that
of Henry Kregler, who was charged with the
murder of Nelson Boughton, near the State line,
in September, 1859, and’ tried in Steele county,
under change of venue, in January, 1861. He
was convicted, brought back to this county

-and executed at Albert Lea, in March following,

being about one and a half years after the offense-
was committed.

”. + LOYALTY AND PATRIOTISM.

No county in the State, if indeed in the coun-
try, has displayed a greater loyalty, or a truer
patriotism. In the first year of its organization,
when settlement was in disorder, weakness, and

poverty. the people, though few in number, did
not forget the noble example of their ancestry,
and on the tirst return of this Anniversary of their
National holiday, the 4th of July, 1857, they as-
sembled enmuszse. at Shell Rock, to celebrate this
time-honored event. At that celebration, Samuel
Batchelder delivered the address, being the first
oration ever made in the county. From that year
to the present, nearly every return of the day has
been marked by some appropriate honor.

At the first call for troops when war broke out,
men left-their farms, their shops,.their stores, and
their offices, to eugage in the defense of their
common country, leaving scarcely any but old
men and boys to care for and defend their homes
against the Indian outbreak, which threatened
the entire State. :

Two companies, made up almost entirely from
this county, constituted some of the best fighting

stock of the 4th and 5th Regiments of Infantry, - ©

while the third, in their zeal to get into service,
accepted the first opening and joined.a Wiscon-
sin brigade.

Other detachments of men connected them-
selves with commands in this, or in other States,

.as duty dictated or fancy led them. Although

this scattering of individuals or squads renders it
difficult to determine the number exactly, a rea-
sonably correct approximation will fix it about
400 cada which, as an act of patriotism, to

Po Sném Ft Fe Nanneanee 3
; 2 1S necessary tO Heat in mind

our sparse s settlement and limited population. a

To place the matter in a still clearer light, it is
only necessary to state that the quota assigned to
the county at the last call for troops by the Ad-
jutant General in 1864, was 273, and that we had
already furnished and received credit for 292, be-
ing an excess over all demands upon us, of 19 men,
hesides an estimate of 100 who are known to have
gone into commands of other States, for which
the enlistment officers gave us no credit. I sub-
mit that a fairer or more creditable record cannot
be produced by any county, sharing the fortunes

‘of the late war. Nor were the ladies less true to

the interests of their country. On every occasion
which presented itself, they encouraged  enlist-
ments, and cheered their brothers on to the con-
flict. The silken banner carried by company F,
of the 4th Regiment throughout their long and
faithful services, upon which is inscribed the
memorable name of many a bloody battle field,

.

we _,

> Oy


The trial at Owatonna had lasted
20 days and expenses piled up to
nearly bankrupt Freeborn County..
Its orders could be bought for 20
cents on the dollar. Other expenses,
as for instance the boarding of
the prisoner’s family made the to-~
tal cost of over $4,000.

Henry Kreigler, after his convic-
tion and. sentence: to hang, was
brought back to Albert Lea for exe-
cution. 4 ee ee

A gibbet was erected in the form .
of a post with a projecting arm

f about 5 feet long from which a
pendant rope was connected by
| pulleys to a huge log.. This was
the engine of death, and was placed
at the present location on the east

Side of Broadway near where the
| Chicago + Milwaukee’ Rail Road

crosses,. More than 1,300 persons |.
| saw the execution from the hill. ||
» looking down to the gallows, i
4 het Bie rcnah de nie Oa sone
Re ‘Prisoner Tidied Up

THE PRISONER had been wash-
ed up and his hair cut and led
from his cell at the Webber House
to the gallows. Both Rev. Matson
and Rey. Nathanitl Stacy offered
spiritual aid to the murderer, The
legal part of the strangulation was
-under the direction of Sheriff James
Robson, assisted by an experienced
hangman from St. Paul. | -. ae

The cord was applied to his neck
‘and a black cap was drawn over
his head. Exactly at 11 o'clock the
Stick of timber was jerked from
the murderers footing and the body
was allowed to hang for 30 minutes.
before being taken down.

He was buried in the cemetery
which was located near the pres-
ent corner of Fenton Ave. and the
Old Austin Road. It was said that
this was the first legal execution’
of a mdn after Minnesota became
a State. (There was a woman exe-
cuted at St. Paul a short time
before.) .

Under the caption “‘Resurged”?
the Freeborn County Standard in
its issue of May 8, 1879 printed a
short resume of the execution and
burial of Henry Kreigler then fol-
lowed: “The citizens of . Albert
Lea had believed that Dr. Ave,
- Wedge or Dr. Alfred Burnham had
cabbaged the murderer’s body
after the execution.”

(Dr. Wedge had a skeleton hang-
ing in one corner of his office at.
the time. He used it to teach young
men who were seeking to become
doctors.) f -

“All this is preliminary to the
-developments of yesterday when
W., P. Sargent and R. C. Van(Vie-
tor) purchased the old cemetery
grounds from which most of the
bodies had been removed to Grace-
land.

While breaking the ground on. the
place, the body of Kreigler was
found. The iron hand cuffs were
Still on his wrists. The bones have |
been taken charge by the doctors |
who will bleach them .and ‘wire.|
them together and keep as a|
curiosity.” - . ws

Edward Murtaugh has at present
@ the hand cuffs. —The End. i


172 HISTORY OF FREEBORN COUNTY

and C. H. Bostwick, secretary. Col. G. W. Skinner, who had
been appointed to secure codperation in procuring the postpone-
ment of the land sale, reported what had been accomplished.

Stacy, Hoops. Rickard, Ash, Webber, with others, addressed the

meeting, and Mr. Skinner was sent to Washington to use his

influence in the matter, and a committee was appointed to secure

funds to pay the expenses. A meeting had been previously held

in Porter, at the house of F. W. Calkins, and J. M. Drake pre-

pared the resolutions. The county seat election was fixed for the

day of the general election, on November 6. Colonel Skinner

returned, and on October 25 another meeting took place at the

Webber house; S. G.-Lowry in the chair, and E. C. Stacy as.
secretary. The colonel reported that although there was to be

no postponement of the sale, he had obtained concessions which

practically gave the settlers what they wanted, as it was provided

that no speculators should bid or locate land warrants on lands
actually oceupied, and the following gentlemen were designated
to see the idea carried out: A. B. Webber, of Albert Lea; J.

Melder, Carlston; C. Fitzsimmons, Nunda; Eli Ash, Bancroft;

J. C. Seeley, Hartland; J. W. Burdick, Geneva; E. Croy, Rice-
land; A. M. Young, Shell Rock; George Callahan, Londen; C.
Bullock, Oakland; and D. Gates, Moscow. In December cf this:
rear, the trial of Kreigler for murder, in Steele county, almost
depopulated this region, so many were summoned jas witnesses ;
even the mail carriers’ duties were interrupted.

1861. Wheat was reported as selling in Milwaukee for
seventy-nine cents a bushel. Henry Kreigler was executed on the
first of March, at Albert Lea. Ruble’s mill was wrecked and
the dam washed away by a freshet in April. This was the only
water privilege in Albert Lea. In May, the “‘Standard’’ came
out with a new dress. In April a military company was formed
at the county seat. On August 1, A. B. Webber, having bought
the ‘‘Standard’’ issued his first number.

1862. An anti cattle and horse thief society was organized
early in 1862, with the following officers: President, Joshua

“Dunbar; vice-president, J. M. Drake; secretary. William Alorin;
treasurer, A. Armstrong; finance. committee, George S. Ruble,
F. P. Skinner and James F. Jones; vigilance committee, E. C.
Stacy, A. B. Webber, John Brownsill and L. T. Scott.

1863. Little of vital interest. outside of ihe incidents con-
nected with the Civil War, took place in the county this year.

1864. In February a dam was started at Shell Rock by Ruble
and Tanner. The directors of the Southern Minnesota Railroad
for this year were: E. B. Stoddard, C. D. Sherwood, Luke Miller,
H. W. Holley. D. B. Sprague and William Morin. In April the
contract for making the brick for the court house was let to

H. M. M
briek maz
1865.
a period -
1866.
town of |
snow stor
an enclosi
was foun
This year
Winnebag

“serviee cor
average o
with emig
organizing
Milwaukee
in Albert
‘August, w
head of ei
were drow
_dale. | On
Albert Lea
Brown anc
1867. °
At the cen
H. D. Bro
Morin, S. §
town to su
number of
local point
Association
B. Fobes; .
wards; trea
On June 18

Fourth of J

basket pieni
Rev. SUG. J
of independ
day was He
hall at the 7%
Mr. Stage, «
Lea by fire,

F. Stearns,

Lea to trans
parties wer.
smiecide, THe


Gelaorncee, ferme 4/157/8 8 9- Sohn Xie Lae CLL”
1019 O Vaca (Mer rrg th Dunder
Cue.” a8 7

Bornung Newry Binminahanr A/s/687, P/


352 06 MINNESOTA REPORTS

Misconduct of Jury.
Rule applied, and held, that the fact that some of the jurors during the

trial read certain newspaper articles in reference to the defendant and °

his trial was not prejudicial error.

Appeal by defendant from an order of the district court for Ramsey
county, Olin B. Lewis, J., denying a motion:for a new trial, after a

trial and conviction of the crime of murder in the first degree. Af-
firmed.

James Cormican and Francis H. Clarke, for appellant.

If by proper affidavits it appeared that the newspaper articles were
published and the jury were not under restraint, the court should
presume that they read such articles. Meyer v. Cadwalader, 49 Fed.
32; Clyde Mattox v. United States, 146 U..S. 140, 149. The theory
of jury trials is that all information about the case must have been fur-
nished in open court, where the judge can separate the legal from the
illegal evidence and where the parties can explain or rebut. Aldrich
v. Wetmore, 52 Minn. 164; Mattox v. United States, supra; Rush v.
St. Paul City Ry. Co., 70 Minn. 5.

The court erred in admitting the evidence of Mrs. Kline as to the
statement made to her by Mrs. Keller. The only ground upon which
it was offered was that it was a part of the res geste. There was no
foundation laid for admitting it. It was hearsay and was not made by
the deceased before he died. What Mrs. Keller based her statement
upon does not appear. She does not say she saw defendant shoot the
boy nearly dead. She does not say she saw defendant shoot her.
Perhaps it was only a conclusion of her mind. Perhaps her judgment
was misinformed. So long a time had elapsed that she may have
sought to avoid the consequence of her own act by trying to place it
upon defendant. The courts of last resort have seldom approved the
admission of evidence.of this character from a bystander or even a
participant under such circumstances. State v. Gallehugh, 89 Minn.
212; Binns v. State. 5% Ind. 46; Jones v. State, 71 Ind. 66; State v.
Petty, 21 Kan. 54; State v. Pomeroy, 25 Kan. 349; State v. Maitremme,
14 La. An. 830; Tays v. State, 40 Md. 633;'State v. Brown, 64 Mo.
367; People v. Davis, 56 N. Y. 95; State v. Davidson, 30 Vt. 377.

STATE. V.: WILLIAMS . 353
Thomas R. Kane, County Attorney, and O. H. O’Neill, Assistant
County Attorney, for the State.

The appellant has no legal ground upon which to rest his contention
that the court abused its discretion in allowing the jury to separate and

. disperse at the end of the morning and afternoon sessions during the

trial. Bilansky v. State, 3 Minn. 313 (427) ; State v. Ryan, 13 Minn.
343, 370; Stephens v. People, 19 N. Y. 549; King v. Woolf, 1 Chitty,
401; Bebee v. People, 5 Hill, 32; Davis v. State, 15 Ohio, 72; State v.
Way, 38 S. C. 333; Stewart v. State, 31 Tex. Crim. 153; Ogle v. State,
16 Tex. App. 316. .
The reading of the newspapers by the jury, as alleged by appellant, is
not sufficient ground for setting aside the verdict of the jury, and
granting a new trial. United States v. Reid, 12 Flow. 361; Common-
wealth v. Chauncey, 2 Ashm. (Pa.) 90; Bulliner v. People, 95 iit. 354 :
State v. Jackson, 9 Mont. 508; People v. Leary, 105 Cal. 486; Williams
v. State, 33 Tex. Crim. 128; Moore v. State, 36 Tex. Crim. 88. .
The court did not err in receiving the testimony of Mrs. Kline
relative to the statement made to her by Mrs. Kelly concerning the
manner in which the homicide occurred. State v. Horan, 32 Minn.
394; Commonwealth v. McPike, 3 Cush. 181; Commonwealth v. Hack-
ett, 2 Allen, 136 ; Rex v. Foster, 6 Car. & P. 325; Landers v. People, 10+
Ill. 248; Insurance Co. v. Mosley, 8 Wall. 397; People v. Vernon, 35
Cal. 49; Kirby v. Commonwealth, 77 Va. 681; People v. Simpson, 48
Mich. 474; State v. Sexton, 147 Mo. 89; State v. Walker, 78 Mo.
380; Wharton, Crim. Ev. §§ 262, 263; Abbott, Trial Brief, Crim.

Causes, § 628, and authorities cited. .

START, C. J.

The defendant, William Williams, on May 19, 1905, was convicted in
the district court of the county of Ramsey of the crime of murder
in the first degree upon an indictment charging him with having, on
April 12, 1905, killed John Keller by shooting him with the premedi-

. tated design to effect his death. On June 30, 1905, the court made its

order denying the defendant’s motion for a new trial, and he appealed
from the order.
While the defendant’s assignments of error do not challenge the
sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the verdict of the jury, yet a brief
96 M.—23

\
:

Baath
350 96 MINNESOTA REPORTS SrATE V. WILLIAMS 350T

go to Winnipeg with me on the 1st of June or not? I had one
chance, but you know why I did not take it. You also know
that T am trying to pass the time until May or June, as you
know after that date we won’t be parted again. We will be to-
gether then, one way or the other. This is not a blow, John;
and I don’t see that you can say that I am anything like that
a anyhow. You know that when I say I will do anything I do
bi it, no matter what it is. Say, John—say, Johnny, answer this
right away, and I am waiting here for an answer, and intend
to leave as soon as I get it. If your ‘etter is satisfactory, shall be

in St. Paul some time in May. If not, I shall see you in a few
days.

I was in St. Louis and got your letter, I should either be in St.
Paul or on the way now. You knew it, too, when you wrote
that last letter. I do not wish to leave here until the time J
stated, so do not make me unless you wish to sce me very much.

And ten days next before the homicide he wrote:

I wrote you two letters last week—one Sunday and one Tues-
day evening. I have been expecting a letter from you, but have
not got it. Am writing you these lines to say, ifsyou have not
already written, I wish you to write as soon as get this. What
do you wish me to do? Do you wish me to quit here, same as
you have got me to quit every job I got lately? Well, I don't

March 13 he wrote: want to say anything out of the way in this letter.

Well, I got yours O. K., and it was something like I expected.
=! So you won’t come tg St. Louis. _Well I won’t stay here, either.
When you get this, I will be on the road again. You say I
cannot blame you if Iam not working. Well, I think different.
I blame you for anything and everything that happens and has
happened. You did not say all you might have in your letter,
but your letter makes me think you intend to try and give me
the worst of it once more.. Do you mean to say that you refuse
to go to Winnipeg, when I ask you.to? Do you, John? I do
r not mean to go to St. Paul right away, but if I thought you in-
Per tend to go back on your word I should be in St. Paul when you

On the morning of April 12, the day the boy was killed, the defend-
ant arrived in St. Paul, and went to the boy’s home at No. 1 Reid
Court, consisting of two flats. The one downstairs was occupied by Mr.
Kline, his wife, and children. The one upstairs was the Keller home.
The boy’s father was then away from home and the mother asked the
defendant, when he made his appearance at her home, what he came
back for, when he knew that he was not wanted. The defendant re-
mained at the house for a time, and then went away. Ile, however, re-

" turned to the Keller home about eight o’clock in the evening. Mrs. Kel-
ler and the boy were the only persons there, and they and the defendant
were the only persons there until after the boy and his mother were shot,

vie get this. I believe you have some s :
pats: any onstan oe vou iis aie ae I know that about midnight. The boy, while in his bed, lying on his right side, was
; se an i ; . —_ .

gos ae | ; P ything or do anything they shot twice—once in the back of the head, and again in the back of his
bai} wish, cannot believe you have gone back on me, and have ° : : ;

bide d god . . ; , neck. According to the medical testimony the wounds were such as to
baa good reason to think that others are doing this, not you. If I : a. 3 ; ii

the reilly Whoueht it wassyouteclé 1 would : : render any physical movement after he was hit impossible, and 1m-
May re , W s i . .
pa train would get me there, and you ‘ ee so quick as the mediately unconsciousness followed. The wounds were powder-marked
bien <1) 2. oe A .

itis , y w what would happen. and the hair singed. ‘The mother was shot at the same time in the front

part of her body. Each died from the wounds so received. It is
admitted that the defendant was present at the time of the shooting and
that his revolver was found at the place where it occurred. Thus far
there is no substantial controversy as to the cts.

The state called Mrs. Kline, the lady who occupied the downstairs
flat, as a witness, and she testified to the effect that between twelve and

March 28th he wrote:

I also wish to say that you had better keep my letters to your-
self, as the main reason you are going with me is that other
people know too much about us already. Now, John, cut out
all nonsense from your letter, and write as soon as possible. If

aod


J3=4
358 96 MINNESOTA REPORTS

one o'clock of the night in question she heard a shot, followed b

fall, in the flat above her, and within two or. three coisites ssieeiart ;
the defendant knocked at her door and told her to go upstairs and st y
with Mrs. Keller; that she went to Mrs. Keller at once, and found her
in her kitchen with her nightgown on, sitting in a rocking chair and

bleeding profusely from a wound; that Mrs. Keller, as soon as she saw

the witness, said:

Bill shot my boy nearly dead, and then shot me. You take
a lamp and go and see if my boy is dead.

And, further, that the witness then went into the front room and found
him in bed, lying on his right side, his face to the wall, with two bul-
let holes back of his left ear. The witness’ testimony ae not entirel
consistent as to time and some other details. ‘The state called the ye
ficer in charge of the police station, who testified to the effect that the
defendant appeared at the station on the night of the shooting and said
that he had shot some one up at No. 1 Reid Court, and ached that a
doctor be sent up there at once, and, ftirther, that the defendant, u on
being asked where his revolver was, replied that it was in the ‘room
and that the witness afterwards found it in the Keller flat. Dr Moore,
a witness on behalf of the state, testified that he asked the defendant
why he shot the boy, and his reply was that he did not know, only he
wanted the boy to go away with him, and he would not go. This ie
versation was at the police staticn at about one a. m.

The defendant’s testimony as to the occurrence is briefly stated, to
the effect that he had not slept for three nights, and had been daeicin
during the day, and went to the Keller home in the evening of A i
12; that Mrs. Keller acted queerly, scolded, paced to and fro in dl
middle of the room, told him that she would not let the boy go with
him, that she would see both of them dead first but finally shamaiie up
a bed and told the defendant and the boy to go to bed; that before he
did so his revolver was placed in his trunk, which was locked and the
key given to Mrs. Keller; that after they had gone to bed she contint d
to talk, and, being nervous, he could not sleep by reason of the n ‘a
she made; so he got up, dressed, started to go out by a door nea ie
cea of the boy’s bed, when she rushed in and seized him saying “You
can't go out of here now;” then he lost all corigciousness of list was

STATE V. WILLIAMS 359

going on, and the next thing he knew he was in her room with the re-
volver in his hand looking into the barrel and the room was full of
smoke; that he saw her, and she did not appear to be hurt, but she
told him she was, and to go and call Mrs. Kline; that he rushed down
to get Mrs. Kline, knocked at her door, she responded, and then he
made haste to obtain a doctor, and, not knowing where to go for one,
he ran to the police station and told the officer in charge that some one
was hurt and asked him to send up a doctor; that he was then locked
up; felt dizzy and sick the rest of the night; that he had been subject
to headaches and dizzy spells all his life; and, further, that he had a
great love for the boy, and did not know that he was shot until the
officers told him of it.

The trial judge, at the close of the opening statement of defendant’s
counsel outlining his defense, inquired of counsel whether his defense

was insanity or intoxication. Counsel replied that:

Our'defense is, if the cotirt please, that in the frenzy of the
moment, the condition in which he was at that time having
‘been brought about by the use of liquor and anger superven-
ing, he had absolutely no remembrance of what took place; that
he is not able to say, and that he never has said, what took
place at that time; and, if the court please, we claim that that is
a frenzy resulting from the mental condition, the condition of his
mind at the time—a diseased condition of mind, resulting from
liquor and supervening anger ; that he had no intention, if the
court please; we claim that he did not do it.

The Court: You rely upon intoxication, then, I take it, as
the basis of your defense?

Counsel: Not that, if the court please. We don’t say that
the intoxication caused the lapse of consciousness of what was
going on; but we do say that the supervening anger caused a
complete lapse of memory and consciousness, and that he was
not conscious of what was going on—was not conscious at that
time, has no recollection whatever of what took place. That is

the defense we make.
Mr. Cormican: And has no recollection of ever having a

revolver in his hand until h& discovered himself in the middle

of the room.

|”

354 96 MINNESOTA REPORTS

statement of the admitted facts of the case and of the evidence are es-
sential to a proper consideration of the assignments of error relied upon
by the defendant for a reversal of the order.

The defendant at the time of the homicide was twenty-eight years
old. He was born at St. Ives, Cornwall, England, and came to this
country some eight years ago, and up to the time of his arrest he had
worked at various places as a laborer, miner, and steamfitter. In June
1903, in the city hospital of St. Paul he made the acquaintance of a Bos
John Keller, then fourteen years of age. The evidence is practieally
conclusive that the result of this acquaintanceship was a strong and
strange attachment on the part of the defendant for the boy. the evi-
dence also clearly establishes the following facts, namely: ‘The boy
left his home and roomed with the defendant at different places in the
city of St. Paul, and in the summer of 1904 the defendant took the boy
with him to a number of different places where he worked, among oth-
ers, to Assinniboine where he remained ten days, then returning to St.
Paul, thence to Winnipeg, and on December 15 the boy returned to
his home in St. Paul. The defendant followed in some ten days there-
after and joined the boy at St. James, this state, where he had gone in
the meantime and was with his father. Here the father and the defend-
ant had a serious altercation about the defendant’s conduct with ref-
erence to the boy; the father telling the defendant that the boy should
not return with him to Winnipeg and that he would put the boy in the
Reform School sooner than let him go with the defendant. ‘ But despite
the father’s protest the defendant succeeded in taking the boy with
him back to Winnipeg. Some three weeks later the boy received a let-
ter from his mother, with a ticket to St. Paul, urging him to come
home. He complied with her request, and the defendant followed him
February 13 and there met him, and told the father that he was going
South, but was coming back in the spring to take the boy to Winni-
peg. The father again told him that the boy should not go with him.
The defendant then went South, and from St. Louis, Missouri, he

wrote and sent to the boy several letters, of which the following are
fair extracts:

March 8, 1905, he wrote:

say, why don’t you write me? I wrote you two letters, and
received no answer. What is the matter? If I do not hear

STATE VY. WILLIAMS ~ 355

from you soon, will be in St. Paul to see you. Am not work-
ing yet, and am not looking for any, as I guess I will have to
go back to St. Paul and see you. Had to borrow money to send
this letter, as I am flat broke. Have not felt well lately ; besides
not hearing from you bothers me. Now, Johnny, why have you
not answered my letters? [ither you think that now I am gone
you can make a fool of me, as you have before, or else you
wish me back. You cannot fool me again as you have, because
I won’t stand for it; so you had better cut it out. You have
been playing with me long enough now, Johnny; so it is time
you tried something else for a change. Keep your promise to
me this time, old boy, as it is your last chance. You under-
stand what I mean, and should have sense enough to keep your

promise.

Four days afterwards he wrote:

Well, Johnny, old boy, I think you mean all right, and you
must not think I am sore when I tell you anything, because
I am not; and I want you to believe that I love you now as
much as I ever did, and I intend to do what is right and that
everything will be all right soon. Time goes slow, but it won't
be long before we will be together, either in Winnipeg or St.
Louis, or somewhere else, and then there won’t be any reason for
tis to write again, because we won't part for anything or any one.
You know what we agreed upon, and we will stick to it, you bet.

The next day he wrote:

Your letter just received. I note all you say. Also note
that you did not give me straight answers to my letter. Now,
Johnny, I think it time we cut out all nonsense. It is no use
us quarreling by letter. You know how we stand, and also
that I won’t allow any one to get the best of me this time. I
have your promise, and insist on your keeping, your word. I
shall stay here for a few days waiting for an answer to this
letter. Now, as your letter will make quite a difference to me,
as it will decide which way I go when I leave here, I wish you
to give me a straight answer a my question. Do you intend to

"JUST ONE HANGING—
_ First Few Years.

(it is-now nearly 100 years. .
since the area now known as .
_ Freeborn county ‘was surveyed ..
“and opened to settlers. Since. |.
that time there has been just”

one citizen hanged for any =
crime. In a series of historical

For Pioneers

Difficult Ones

of F reeborn County oS :
esaees Ca S iac) Ae

es

sketches on this page for the. - %
next few Sundays, The Tribune ~~

cill review this incident. 4
—Editor.) ie ee

By L. W. SPICER”
_ (First of a Series)

‘THE TOWNSHIPS of Freeborn

county were surveyed by United 2

“They had marked the township,
“range and staked the section —
lines. : ; i iy

“States Government crews in 1854, —

yshen Freeborn county was organs
ized in 1857, At the second. day

Minnesota was still a ‘Territory.

of the first session of its com- ‘
missioners, April 7, 1857, they” ‘ae

named the Township 101; Range ©
92; Nunda at the suggestion of one

of its first settlers, Patrick Fitzsim--"

ons, which had been his old home.
¥ Illinois, : “iI - sf aie ‘
twas considered a prairie coun-

, although in the’ eastern part
it had many oak openings and
around its three lakes were fine--

“groves of several kinds: of hard ©

yrood trees, Around State Line lake © =

* was also found a /fine stand of
“Red Cedar. he aneas anes
Settlers arrived in the vicinity of ©
Bear and Twin Lakes in 1856, Iowa
“had been settled a year earlier
and in 1856 settlers crossed. t he
. State line and settled in Minnesota «
; valong the border... = (240: Ps a
-& Among these settlers were Henry-.
* = Emmons on section 32 and Eri

; Erickson on section 33. Both: of
; ‘these men “proved up” their land’~.
@ son July 14, 1857. To the east of:
"them on section 34 and -35, Levi
- Robinson and James Carrol proved .
*-up on Sept. 23 the same year.
“These men had acquired a title -
to their land by paying at the Land = -
- Office $1.25 per acre or with a=
Soldiers Script Land Warrant, ©
“which at times could be purchased .~
for less. Certain improvements ~.
mere also required to obtain their
e. Swat a tes

a Sas

EEE TOR

eit

e ~ Few Had Paid eg

_ THESE WERE the only men:
then living on this south tier of
sections who had paid for their
land. There were at the time ‘sev-
eral other families living on sec-
tion 34 and 35, On the adjoining
sections to the north Pat Duffy,
Martin Forbes and John Roach
living on sections 26 and 25 had
also proved up. } a

- These last named men were not
living on their lands in 1857 as they
“were not listed in the census of
1857. Pat Duffy, age 21,"is listed
as living in the household of James. -
and Mary Duffy, who lived some-
what north, in the township, All
ithese men in later years were
‘prominent in the affairs. of the
“township, Jos igh ae
- Carrol had land in both sections ©
34 and 35, Besides Carrol, there

Sarah and two small children, Da-
vid Clark, his wife Melvina and
elzht children and at the same ~

ake -£. Henry Kriegler, wt
-$oq to his own execution.

1GRISLY RELIC — Ed Murtau
4 It was the
“The body was buried with the i
“moved and the iro

whose fatal stabbing of. Col.

ns taken from the grave.

ss

gh owns the handcuffs used on
Boughton’s father led-
hanging in Minnesota.
years the body was =
(Tribune Photo).

first legal
rons. In later

‘and a small daughter and s

22 —.(Nunda). <9.

I

age 47, BR at Torys

It was in this neighborhood that
{n the spring of 1857 Nelson Bough-
ton came: from Iowa. with his wife
ettled
the west half of the east half of
the section 35 Township 101 Range

‘The land was rich. prairie Jand
with-oak openings, There must
have been a considerable amount
of oaks on the land, for the Soren-

~gon family who later owned and

lived on the place, each year had
many trees grubbed out. There is
today in the field north of the
house:an oak which the arms of

three men can hardly reach around —

oe

it——

few years ago for family rec-
ord by Col H. A. White, son of
the widow of..Mr, Boughton and
Silas White relating. to their set-
tlement: MS. oe

WF I So
ea

= Born in ‘New, Yor
- *fAjonson Boughton, 2 much lov-
ed Baptist minister of Central New
York had eight children.-The old-
est was Nelson born at Nunda,
N. Y, Oct. 1, 1830. He was tall and
slender, black hair and piercing

eyes. Like the Americans: of his.;
time he had a restless ambition of .

the pioneer, At the age of 20 he
crossed the Isthmus of Panama on
gold fields of Cali-

California ‘ not satis-

Momet was "George. E. Mestrom, .

The following. is the story written

~

ibe ak ipa ges aii, # “ akg
1854, one day after his 24th birth-

“day he married Mary Fisher, the ©
youngest daughter of Philip Fisher

-of Sempronis, N. ¥Y. -=_ >

<< Moved on West e
_-“ARPTER TWO YEARS (1856) in
New York; with one child Angelina, :
they moved to the -west, spending
the first winter in Mitchel county,
Iowa.. ~ SARS ER
- “In the spring of 1857 they moved —
some 60 miles north west and set-
tled on the Minnesota side of the
Iowa - Minnesota line about 25
~mileg south of Albert Lea and
two miles east of the present town
of Emmons, “28 220s Se
“Their life there was that of the
American pioneer when he came to
rest at the Middle Border and
started the great central. West of
the American Republic, In a log
eabin with a well and a team of
“horses these sturdy people of near-
‘Jy 100 years ago carved their place
in our history. i ae eee
“On Aug, 27, 1858, a second child -
was born to them, a boy whom
they named Daniel Hall Boughton.
The days of toil passed pleasantly
_ for the young couple, Luxury was
.far away. The nearest railroad
_.stopped at McGregor, Iowa, °125
miles distant, yet want was neve
present, ec iecd ota eens
“Corn supplanted many other
“Speeds and the year in which Dan-" }
jel: Hall Boughton was born was
-‘kmown for many years in Southern =|
_ Minnesota as the year of eighteen
hundred and. jonny cake.”” pes
© Next week: Tragedy s

trikes,


“*

— ‘HE SUNDAY TRIBUNE, ALBERT LEA, MINN. ~

ONCE HAPPY FAMILY —
- Boughton Berrie

(Last week on this page, The
Tribune published the. first of a>
series of articles on the first
legal hanging <in Minnesota. The

. first story told of the settling of
the Boughton family east.of Em- -
mons. Today, take.up the story
of the tragedy. —Editor)

‘By L. W, SPICER
~~ (Second of a Series)
“TRAGEDY WAS hovering ‘over
this happy couple who never harm-

ed any one, who were loved in the -
community and.were looked up to

with respect. Nelson Boughton was .-

a strong character and while not .
so religious as his father, yet had
a stern sense of justice, and was
active on living his ideals. -

**Not far from the Boughton’s

home lived a German, rather il- —

literate, ugly .of disposition that
was more than ill temper. - do
“This German, Henry Kreigler,
had married a widow with one son.
He shamefully abused his wife and

her child. At times she would flee.

with her child to the Boughton
home for shelter where she found.

safety as long as she stayed...”

“This infuriated Kreigler and he
threatened Boughton’s life. These

threats were heard by the. neigh- 3

bors and were told to Boughton
who laughed at them.. ia

One day in the fall haying season
Sept. 6, 1859- Boughton. drove into
his yard with a load of hay.

“The German was there, and as
Boughton got down from the load _
he went to Kreigler and said laugh-
. ingly: Z |

“Well, Krigler, I hear you have
threatened to kill me. Now is a
pretty good time.”’ :

3 , : —OoO-— -

: Wife Saw Stabbing

MRS. BOUGHTON happened to
be: standing in.the doorway and -
heard the conversation. Kreigler re--
plied that he wanted Boughton to~
quit harboring his wife. To this
Boughton replied .‘I wil when
you can treat her decently’ and
turned from the German in cons
tempt, the later drew a butcher
‘Iknife from. his sleeve and struck :
Boughton in the back. SSeS

‘’rhe knife had reached the heart. .

and Mr. Boughton fell dead. Mrs..
Boughton screamed and. ran to the .
body. She drew out the knife and.
threw it over the fence into the
corn field. Then she gathered her

4233 — a

derer was caught, tried,
.the only legal execution in

_ LATER YEARS -- This is a Portrait of f
! Who was a babe in arms when his father was murdered. The mur- j
convicted, sentenced. and hanged. It was
Freeborn county in more than 100 years.

dpa. BE ITY
ended Abused Woman; es
‘Husband Then Stabbed the Benefactor Be a|

Col, Daniel Hall. Boughton, -

-eommon necessities of life, but far

from the luxuries which were of
course unknown in Minnesota in
those years.

“On March 19, 1863, she_married
‘a neighbor, Silas J. White who had
“been present in the posse that ai'-
rested Kreigler, and took him to
the authorities, in Albert Lea. They
remained in Minnesota until 1869,
when they moved to Worth County,
Iowa, a place some 30 miles from
‘the old Minnesota homestead. Here
‘they resided until her death -on
Oct. 12, 1890 from apoplexy. -~-
< . Had Three Children
. “PYREE CHILDREN blessed the

“second marriage, two boys and a

girl. x
“These were happy years. No
- difference was ever known in_ the

1

at West Point in the following
month. He graduated the ninth in
his class of-1881 and his service in
the Army was in. the. Cavalry
branch with details as instructor
at West Point, and at the staff
. college at Fort.-Leavenworth on the
general staff. Bi rola
A rather extended sketch of hi
life is found in the Annual Re
port of West Point Regulation that}
_ served for years as the detail in-
structions of our armed forces.
_in the field. | arene

3 :.He died a colonel of the 10th
: Cavalry at Ft. Hauchuca, Ariz.

-Aug. 24, 1914 at the age of: 56
He was recognized as one of th
Army’s ablest officers. ©. >
The two White boys went to Wes
Point ring eee


¥U DuUurei, cms auUy

her arms and the three-year child
by the hand and ran to the nearest
neighbor three-quarters of a mile

away.

“The ‘German went down: th @ \

road muttering to himself. A posse

of neighbors soon found and seized ©

Kreigler, but in place of lynching
him took him to Albert Lea and
turned him over to the sheriff. He
was placed in a rather make shift
jail. It was known he had threaten-
ed not only -Boughton but Mrs.
Boughton and the children. ‘

“Kreigler was first tried in Al-
bert Lea. The jury was illegally

drawn and a new trial was ordered. ~
Change of venue was taken to

Steel County. Kreigler - was - first: -
tried as to his-sanity and-on -be-- -
ing pronounced sane by the jury -

was tried in May 1860; but the
jury failed to agree. He was

brought to trial again in Decem-
ber, 1860 and gain. pronounced
sane and found guilty r and sentence
ed to be hanged March 1, 1861277"

First ‘Hanging.

Pens eEreOuriCe was the first |

time a white man was hanged in
Minnesota. = -

Col. White then Tracts the sto-.

A ries of the murder, trial and execu-

2 tion as found in the MeNeil - Bry-.

ant and the Wedge History of Free-
born County which furnished. by
friends of Northwood, fowa.
He comments on the date furnished
in the two histories and -states
that the facts as the Boughton mur-
der were told to him when a boy
by his mother. ~ *' - a:

He was at loss’-as to ‘the: exact |”

date of the murder, whether it was
May 6, 1859 or~Sept. 6, 1859. He
knew Boughton drove into the yard
with a load of hay. As haying
time does not begin until after May
first he was of the opinion the
‘date of September was correct,
though he realized he may have
been bringing in a load of the
year before crop from a stack in
the field.

(The date in both: the histories
is an error and it should be stated
that September was correct as Col,
White had been told—Editor.)

Continuing the Colonel’s story:

‘‘Mirs, Boughton remained on the
farm. Her brother, Eaton Fisher
and his wife Pheobe, came out
from New York and remained with
her for some years.

“The brother died later from dis-

eases he contracted in the Civil.
a War. It is not possible to picture |’

the state of mind of this woman
who was continually thinking of
Kreigler’s threats about her and
the children and wondering if the

authorities had the ugly German .

safely confined.
“This remarkable woman ives a
true picture of the character of

the American pioneer, who in spite.

of the log cabin farm, bringing her
children‘ up well reared as to the

farnily between the children. Lina
Boughton married early and spent
most of her life in Dakota and
Washington state, leaving four ‘chil-
dren.”*. -*-

» Daniel Hall Boughton, who was
just a little- over a year old when

his father was murdered, secured .

an appointment to West Point

through a gruelling competitive ex-_

amination conducted at Mason City,

with her father until his death ij) Baagm
Washington state in 1928. She late &

aaa gg aaa

_ through competitive examinations
‘They graduated 12th and 8th it

their class of 1891 and 1895. ang

- both retired as Colonels. The elde

died at San Francisco in 1936. Th
youngest lives in San Antonio, Tex
Edna White, the daughter, live

married a Methodist pastor an
lives in Mason, Texas.
(Next week — Widow Stays On.)

Da cs Ae
i

Iowa, in July, 1877 and reported ~—


following the history of the-
Boughton family, victim of the
first murder in the county. The
killer was hanged later in Al- —
_ bert Lea, as the first legal hang-
- ing recorded in the Minnesota .
* territory. Today’s story involves.
the history of the family after —
the fagedy. —Editor) Wer cd
By L. W. SPICER
ane (Third of a Series)

_| IT IS NOT known now what fami.
- lies were the Nelson Boughton’s_
~ neighbors in 1857 that were living
near by at the time of the murder.
Silas White appears to be the’only.
‘lone of the 10 adults and 10 chil-_
dren when the Boughtons arrived |
lat their new home in Minnesota.
» Living not far away. was Daniel .
/Kautson, wife and two children
land at the same habitation were —
| Hulgar and Barbara Larson. They ©
'had come some time after 1858. —
_ The-cold summers, poor crops, *
black birds eating a large share ae
of-the grain, the severe winters,
had discouraged many Freeborn
county settlers who had moved —
back east in those years. ~ ag |
_ In 1860 the Emmons and Erick- oy
“son families: were still living on ~
their improved farms several miles-
to the west on sections 32 and 33. —
There appears from the enumera-

"|

BiiANcine SITE — J.-E. Murtaugh inspects a marker indicating’
the site of the hanging of Henry Kreigler for the slaying of Nelson.
~ Boughton, Murtaugh’s beard and the sign were both. part of a_
“pioneer celebration in Albert Lea Ge {Tribune Photo).

- tion of Judge E. C. Stacy that no.
one was living then on section 34-

ton and brother, and family.
She had braved the hardships
-and mental strain and remained ~
on the land that she and her hus-
band had planned to make their.
-home. In the census-of that year
‘she is listed as being 22 years of
age, her daughter Angeline as 4,
and son Daniel as one’ year old.

She was the owner of personal -
property valued at $224. Cash value
of the farm was listed at $500.
Ther were 19 acres improved and -
-15) unimproved. She had three
milk cows and three other cattle
vand implements to the value of
_$30. She was the owner of one
Morse (they had two in 1857) - of
which there were only six horses

ing was her brother William Fish-
vT, age 25, and yife Phoebe, age

the value of $335.

age 237 ‘Acres fanroved™?

937 acres under cultivation. Had

‘had raised 493 bushels.of wheat
‘and 1,759 bushels of corn. The
taxes on-a record. quarter section
-. not far from the ‘Boughton home
were a total of $10.50, which the
= township share was $1.20, County
~ tax $4, school tax. $1.70, rail SLMS
$2 and state tax $1.60; “S25 es
In 1860 most of the settlers in

~ families and were holding the land
_ by__xirtue of. their pre-emption f

na aa aril yh

and 35 except Mrs. Mary Bough- —

~ listed in the entire township. She.
“had raised the previous year. 66. ~
bushels of corn. At the same dwell- -

319. They had personal property | to .

CNUNDA AT THIS time had only!

~ only’ six horses, 24 oxen, 33 milk|’
cows and 39 swine. The township):

“year. after hie warenace’ of nha arm of

to Miss Mary Olson, of Iowa. He

then had a larger home © built.
s adjacent to the Boughton house,
“iA few years ago the Emmons

‘Leader stated this home was one
“of the few remaining log houses
‘that had rot been sided over. That
it was built by Isaac and Grabriel,
, the last name thought to be Oman.

at

Th ‘this Spry 2 Of the’ senior .
Sorenson’s children and 10 other
Sorenson ‘children’ were born. _
_There had been nine weddings and.
“six deaths in this historical home.

This was replaced by a new mod-
ern home a few years ago- by
aenry Larson,


%

derstood that Willlame was a a |
convert to the church. i People of a morbid turn, attracted by |
: . hangings, began to gather around the
eeeee ia de le ; jail about 11 o’clock, and 32 o'clock
> _ {the three sides of the building were lined
“I went to Judge Lochren, of the fed- oy them. <n were ener to een. Ss
eral court, in Minneapolis,” continued | glimpse ‘of the condemn man as he
Cormican. “TI pleaded with him and so| Walked from his cell to the waiting ele-
did Mrs. Lochren. The judge said that|V@tor that was to lower him to the base-

come within his jurisdiction.”

|

}
t

| Was Not

Judge’s Wife Added Her Plea

' To That of the Attorney’s.
At outside his jurisdiction,” said
Cormican. ‘He can’t interfere, for you
are no longer a Britsh subject.” |

t CONVERT TO THE CHURCH.

Father Cushen, speaking to the
Dispatch, sald that Williams had
borne himself with great forti-
tude. He was desirous that the
fotlowing signed statement of
Willtams be published:

‘1, Willlam ‘Williams, born

of Thomas Will-

ee se ee ce **

Nov. 24, 1878,
lams, a member of the Church of
England, and Ann Williams, a
member of the Methodist church,
at St.. Ilveg/ Cornwall, ‘England,
do hereby swear that ! have nev-
er before a member of any
church, and that today, the 2nd .
day of February, 1906, have
been baptised and recelved ag a
member of the Catholié church.”
Father Cushen wanted tt un-

#2 C8 Of 98 Of OR 20_00 aR S@ 0p 0 op 20 62 os Ce Oo oe 08 cf ce 8. OP 6.

he could not interfere. The case did not/

“Well then I supose there is no help
for it. You have done your best. There
ls one thing I don’t want to have done
to my body. I read in the papers that
the doctors would receive it to cut up.
Of course it won't make any difference
to me after I am dead, but I don’t want
my body cut up and scattered all about.
I wish -that you would take it and have
it buried. .

find that I am not insane as per-

They wiil :
> sons say.” ;

@ecveeeeeseseOaeaeeeaene e S@eeoesseeeeese e PPeesesersese

Cormican began to console him.

‘Bear up like a man Willfams,” he
said. :

Afraid of Death

or of the Pain of Death.

“Of course 1 will,’”’ said Wiliams. “I
am not afraid of death. I am not afraid

lasted _untfl about 9:%, when the sheirf
of the pain of death. Why I had eighteen | saig ood-byc to his company and re-
teeth pulled at/one time and I gueses the/ pa! to the jail.
pain of that was worse than anything
I can get now.” | id

2B

mencea Williams

of the etrain he must

about six feet. Williams
in height and the rope held him with his
feet about two feet fro :

and his head about six inehes below the
floor of the gallows. ot

. after it was over.

'|A Large Orowd Assembled Around

noon at the races at Como, ent ned
a& party of friends st dinner at a cafe
on His return to the city. e@ party

JOowsB com-
grew a shade whiter, |
ust an appreciable shade and that. with
is close set jaw, was the only evidence
have undergone.

The drop which killed Wiliams was
was five feet six

When the march fo the

the ground,

Sheriff Violated Law in Spite of

the Governor’e Letter Thereon.

The spectators who saw the execution
were in haste to make thetr departure

**Yes. I saw it."' said one. “But, ugh, I
never want to see another one.”

It is safe to:say that the feature of a
crowded execution was: eliminated by
Sheriff .Miesen: but, if the number of
persons who left the jail at its close are
any index of the number ‘who saw it, it
is certain that the six pe 8 designat
in the law as the number 6 sheriff ma
personally invite,- was) unmercifully |)
stretched. Le |

the Jail at Midnight, |

in the half
only bright spots of light in the sur-
rounding
that mark the trance.
seers stood shivering’ in :
seemed impressed with
solitudes and awful sternness and its
background of
dry saloons. Mos
sia pliaity of the bare,

soon be no longer of this wo
A squad of police,
Lieut. Henry M

Sheriff Has a Dinner Party at a

Cafe Prior to the Execution.
Sheriff Miezen, who spent the after-


‘low tone as he walked by his side.

'ward the’ prie*,* while his eyes darted

It was also the intention of the sheriff
to have Deputy Picha precede and Deputy
Sheriff Hanson follow Willlams to pre-
vent him from throwing himself headlong
‘from the stairway, 1f tie mood should
seize him.

| But Father Cushen disarranged the

\pilan at the outset. for.when the atairwav
was reached: he stepped forward and
threw his arm over Willams’ shoulder,
speaking words of encouragement in a

The deputies thereupon fell back and
followed Williams, with Chief Deputy
Sheriff Robert behind them. |

Willlamg walked down the stairs with
a firm step, bending his head slightly to-

about the enclosing walls with a restless
movement.
When the bottom of the second statr-
way was reached Father Cushen guided
Williams gently around the turns.

1

Do People |

ON ACCOUNT OF FOUL BREATH FROM
, CATARRH?

Shun You

THEN READ BELOW. |

}
i
|

Doctors made an autopsy on 3?
the body. 3
The brain was an Interestin 1
object to the medical men, and, $%
as one doctor sald: It was de- 3
veloped more on the 4 type :
h 8

PY

H

|

|

than the human. i brain
proper was comparatively small,
especially the frontal portion.
he autopsy showed that the

neck was neither broken nor dis-
located. .

Death was by strangulation,
and painiess.

ee
s
e
e
e
e
e
e
.
e
e
.
e
.
.
e
e
.
*
e
e
e
°
°
e
°
e
e
e
e
°
e
e
e
°
°
e
e
e
of
e
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Here his voice, hesitated. and Father
Cushen interrupted with some words
which seemed to throw Williams off his
guard.

He wavered a moment, muttered some-
thing to himself, and Deputy Sheriff
Robert pulled the black cap down over
his face and drew the gtrin tight. °

He drew back a step an motioned to
the sheriff with his hand. —

Body Shot Through Trap—
" Rope Was Long Six Inches.
Sheriff Miesen drew back the lever with
a jerk, the boits slid easily in their sock-

et, the trap fell and Williams shot down
to the end of the rope.

' The bod was brought up with
ajerk and the feet touched the
floor. The rope was six inches

long.
“Fre’s on the floor!’ the spec-
tators shouted. —
Instantly three deputies seized
the rope from above and held the
body from. the floor. It was the
work of a moment. :

©°e ce Os oe 00 08 08 OO Se OF 0% og
.

of Le ee ef ©8 @@ ee

Sees eeeeeteoeeee COKeeSSeESSSSEHESOSHS FFEHHOREEESE

‘(here was no convulsive movement of
the body, no twitching of the hands. |
Only the slowly dying heart-beats an-|
nounced to the sensitive fingers of Police |
Surgeon Moore that life was not ex-|
tinct. |
For a moment there was a tense silence,
unbroken by any movement, among the
gepectators. .

Then the surgeon stepped forward and
placed his hand upon Williams’ wrist.
The spectators waited breathlessly.

Slowly the Minutes Passed and

. Spectators Breathlessly Watched.

Father Cushen. who stood by Williams
until the drop fell, turned quickly and

| walked down the scaffold steps. up the

x basetmnent and out of the door. -
was the only movement that dis-

‘ftarbed the stillness.

34

“My, My! What a Breath! . ny ‘Dont

there is a constant dripping’ from
nose into the mouth, if you- ti fowl,
disgusting breath, yoy hav¢ Catarrh |

I ean eure it.

out coupon below. WR:
everythi to gain, nothing to lose.’

doing as I tell you. I want no. m
just your name and address.

———- 4 glowly the minutes cragge" °
. | Tre surgeon, watch in nd, held hits
| fingers on on Williams’ Dees as he scanne,}
\'the dial of his wat

' Five minutes passed.

There was a slight rustie, low mur-
sr ra waleead the spectators and then

Another her five minutes drag by.
Would the man never dle
igh i and fainter SF boged the nulea-.
vee the doomed heart as it labored |
maintain its function.
40 Shank. _—- suspended body moved |
with a gentle swaying.
| ‘The uties w their perspiring
brows with their erchiefs.
Members of the crowd shifted from one
foot to another.
There were few murmurs, which died

[ad

You Have Gauss Cure That ~°.
Catarrh 7” | BT
i 9

If you continually k’hawk ahd, spit spit sea"

All you need to do is simply this: in

Don't doubt, don’t ‘argue! | You hav

ee oa Eleven, twelve, thirteen minutes.
ee er ae
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Rare A te free in gers could detect the flow of b now.
si ’ y fill in your am Fourteen and one-half minutes.

otted por poles and mal et “He is acore said Surgeon Moore. |

"e. E. GAS Marsha, mich : treet 5 34

a
Lie is H body.

ions dee bake
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8 & the Ge. Pater street enteangg

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LA

CHRONOLOGY OF THE WILLIAMS CAGE.

April 18—John Keller, 16 years old, And Mrs. F. &. Keller shot by Wile. $5,
lam Williams shortly after 12 o’clock Ip the morning. a PS
John Keller died at the city hospital “t 3:45 a. m the same day. 3.7

nft at central station immeec.

°

Lagi pae error ee himeelif toca "

a OOting. ° : re . ; 7

diate e cauee it the crime was the refusa of Mre. Keller to allow John |

ow ame.

” mR rit 14—Willlams formally arraigned on charge of murdering John Kel-
Pieaded not gulity. .

April 20—Coroner’s jury hetd Williams for killing of John Keller.

Mrs. Keller died at: city hoapital. .

eat 24—Willlams given hearing In municipal court and held to the
ran ury. ‘ . ” . :

e ey t_wWittlams indi¢ted for double murder and arraigned, in district
u ® i . eo

” May 20—Willlams found gullty of murder in first degree and sentenced

to be hanged. .
May 2b—Gov. Johnaon fixed date of hanging for Aug. 9.
July 10—Appeal is taken to the state supreme court by Williams’ coun-
sel.: Stay Of execution secured. |
Dec. 8&—Appeal denied by the supreme court. -
Jan. 9, 1 Petition for commutation of death sentence made to pardon .
bpoard by Williams’ attorney, withaut Williams’ consent. Denied.
Jan. 18—Gov. Johneon fixed Feb. 18 as date of execution.

pee c eee ee eee eee aeeeseeasenenesesedeseressesesreverrosessrossesesssesossasorece

|" a

ler.

OO OS OF <5 oe OF BO CO co 00 OS SP OF C8 OF OF OF SS CT OF BE GE GH SF OF Oo OF OE @

Attorney Calls and Tells Doomed | [Rint Wy o'dock, He ate yheartliy” a
Man That Last Appeal Failed, meat, bread, fruit and sere

At 9 o'clock James Carmican, igen wane ways impaired by approaching

t appeared at the sheriff's ole ’ ; .

and naked Chief Deputy Sheriff Robe wl coretnia tan tne nicanoss. him-

to break the news to Williams that his| He donned a neat black suit purchased

last appeal to human courts had heen by the sheriff, a white shirt and tie and

in vain. ' |@ low rolling collar. Altogether he lookéd
“rT ean’t bear to do it.” sald Robert.|better than at any time, since he was
"Cc ‘er with me and do it yourself,” arrested. :
ome Over | yourself, | “The black garment added to the pallor |

Cormican and Robert went to the jail) of his*face. which was due to the long
and were at once ggmitted to’ Williams confinement. -

cell. | pias weenie Baliw a cigs oeenwso 45sacniuede
ecco ee pee et eet Oeeeeese 88808 Wd 6 pedesocvecoosse} - - | |
= . 2! t WILLIAN6’ LAST SPEECH. :
: . “Hello, Cormican,” said Will- ; 8° i's ; g
: jams cheerfully. - “How are 3; $ “*Gentiemen, you -are-about to :-
: things going outside.’ | : execute an innocent man. | am 3
3 3 2 not guilty of kiting Jahnny Kel- 3
 eeiecenseesensss oie eet {eves wevees| : jer. I had no quarrel w pie 3.
“Billy,” said Cormican, his voice chok- 3 Pig yp Mi eye Ly _ meee :
ing with tears, “I can’t do anything for’ | $ him In the world to . for. 3
eal | ingt'| 1 Shing’ todo with this business,
“Won't th overnor do agythi : ow ¢ bu 2
sich Witte eg and ns | : and | wis - thank see nr 2
“No, the governor won't — interfere," } te . ieee ave ;
replied Cormican. . : a
“won't the British consul do somé-|  3........cccccceerees so sssctiisdsees ene peterisene

thing?’ persisted Williams.

16


sk Oe

ogee

Murdever, ohn. Hee, Fall ee the Trap at,

Sta ement. of the Prisoners.

To-day John Lee ond ‘Martin Moe’

pay the penalty prescribed by Jaw for
‘the murder of Chalin. Their full
statement is published and by it the
“public can judge as to whether there
“re OF were not circumstances which
tend to excuse, in a SEeeaN at

one or poth of the boys. es
~ Itseems, by what may be ealied the
“deathbed confession of John Lee, that
he had a quarrel with Chalin about, a
“certain young lady whom Lee in-

“tended to marry, she being | respected _
by the community at large. * Lee says |
that Chalin had made remarks derog-.
atory t te her character. “The defense _
+ + of a womair <man would ” inake his
wife, against the calymnv ‘of any per-
son, is the true_ spirit of chivalry.
Any man of manhood would protéct
“such a woman above all others; only.
‘occasionally dues perverted pride and |
“Yove of notoriety step in and cause |
him to take sides against her. Not
one map ina hundred but would seek
yevenge upom the caluniniator on sight
with whatever weapon he might have
“athand. If a man had a four-finger
\ {oad of mixed beer, whisky and alco-
‘hol, how much sooner it would occur, ‘|
gad to what “greater | ‘extent. “might he"
earry his revenge, let this’ case. testify! ..
A hanging is oppressive, pressive,
impressive and depressing—may this”
“one be sufficiently $0 as to render an-
other unnecessary! oF
Hanging is the ‘punishment which,
‘in the theory of ‘punishinenit, is re-
seryed for that class ‘of criminals too
~ vicious or. too incorrigible to he re-
for med.- Crimes are committed of
“Uifferent degrees of intensity as re-
gards the fellow man. or W oman, and
the penalty is supposed to be imposed
for 2 two-fold purpose: that of reform.
-of the criminal and that of punish -
‘ment. If capital punishment is ad-.
visable, itis only in ‘those extremely
“ vicious-thoronghly-bad-bey ir) nd-re-
_demption cases, when: a@ man “night:
: Jt he whole | cory of

FEO:

A Short History ofthe Crime, It’s Cause. and the last!

penalties is “justice tempered wi
The poy

criminals, at all. They have not thes
debased look of the city tough nor.
the vicious appearance of the violent
“tempered. John Lee seems to be a!
victim of heredity and training. Since *
his birth his father has © drank alco-
holic liquors to excess. ‘The restrain
‘ing } influence common to” most young
“men has been wholly" neglected in’ his
“training.- “Tirough. the influence oO
‘alcohol from a time before his birt

; John inherited a -quarrelsome dispo
tion, which has shown itself in yarfo
attempts to do ‘violence. during n
life. If those with ‘the. sanie natur

“ tendencies take this, home to- ‘then

sell too aan ‘of “fiery” beverage”
violate the Jaw. Through - these. vit

taaeatly edt to “Brandon,” aie
- father lives; went: cown ‘Saturday be
“the shooting,” intending to” go ‘pack,

- next day. Lee’s brother told us he

“keg of beer which he would like us to b
him drink Sunday; remained over Sund
‘Monday and Tuesday, drinking b
whisky and alcohol; had. never made
our minds to kill anybody, nor ever talkét
it over together; don’t recollect bavisi
threatened to’ “make a pig dance.”*

day morning wé started to Moe's cousin’
about a mile from” téwn bat came ba
about 10 a. m. and ‘remained around th
saloons all day. During the afternod
Moe went {fo Olsen's hardwire store
buy a shotgan, as he had - promised
“take one back to* “the farm. i

Lee came in “and. said a shotgun was?
Sood, as. we o bad i no ‘time. ‘to_hunt, OWo8


tha predict
wastes

itt be a aiile event in the popula ¥
sare pees other highty: emark~

sare few | Boys 86, Cait Lace, ba itt Aaiktops Cae ae ee eet Tboked up: and dans the aisles: He was % ran dee had

hapten erage ‘ c f ad'vide aod had ecen almost all there ae aluea see.
he Jooked: pon rap ideaghs prehensive, so

cholee lin autesinies and manner making, sgemarkabl

“a Sek or recy are, truly: won
ines Seige Sa taead ‘ev i505 aN reine
atic. was aterhine” and athe eters |: b» inet Soh Fe woe 89. “ en's 3 percoats’ ‘at ‘$5. to
: strained . ote eae bet b.. dente 7 nt Bhd Boys" and

fying man, fans) The ) : Torslife: The } rsa it - peratet hi DSpring. Overtaats, #2. se ( Men's excellent
E floor sand replaced, wath nd vesere Laide tor by Tis | : | | thraieri for | Pants, 1,00 and upwaids AE FE ee .

| t “ atid frqught back to fin, the {ate prison. vt Miasourl to whictr |
rar ita boat: had eae fal here he twas taken’ to th ie’ was Montene. tor’ ohe years but. was in Hats the Wag Blocks Are All In: 8s, 98
% dying [ibdrated after, thres-months having been ig r]
{Boroner bingy ‘Veputy Coroner’ Neisou hotepit: nl ,
elf, Kilvington, “Tenneson, ‘ ee eae eas « Loi ag de Jnnbcent of the crime Highest anelipes at #1-60 to” $3.00. of Ret oe
ae and. Law gathered ‘avout. It was “wae after a visit io Mon : :
ieee they woud say that: tfe hex mp and a-co}k
t : tatines. th 1 & cheap hotel Boon ation nie reipd se Fiyer fi
; , ae on Sheriff Phillips was sobbing hysterically, ot ajfrom the Misnourl prison. he was sent ta yer for ‘Saturday: Only
Boys’ Tan Shoes ice over In'@ corner, quite overcome with the i watch, 7 PStiMwater for’ four.” years. and elxtit
ts + me, | sae rovcptber ast Np los batten eased mare theft eed nggl oot regres meget S(t 8 s Wool Cheviot suits
: : are nked wl nt iy me ev , eithe in ence Ww ee erime
ein sb perm con SL. 3) ~ “er ‘meetin 2 =. “Ves if Let ceirniey wie ahd coowadmean seh it rotested iin innecence which he, was hung to-day. ;

ment 400 overedon sit Lemke died ane & niorning after the Throughout his history. of ‘crlme;, there In bla¢ ‘onl all. sizes.
"3 = iiriee ne Secy Nad “weer put-dewa and tmurder, a meee padveney or res Maca pers: ete vst
gure Noo AA Sen cenouen turned over) tg Undertakers O' Rely and}7- + al impalses litte of tota pra}
} Youths’ Fen ‘Shoew: tty ert new N ahapelecd mamdangied | Long, several vendalistie wreeaeet punea Liat? 2 aeeT Ite MAN Sy Sager ity. Yet.thete is gvidene. that in many
»4 out their pocket kalves and supplied them+ cases, such’ as the-one tn which te was

eg inten hecolete wed We ey 3 the ine nselves with. pleces Of the rope it was fix Weeus ‘From « the eo Murder, Mount: ment to th Mite ;
es ace’ red ik had | going fast.ue the busy knives were pited, |: Wap’ Bentenveds: © Vmark" "Of by unecrapuloos detentives

Sis ai 75) shocked and: grieved, in- e
°

reas kedaleisdrian’ ak? haskice kor dlow tt uane oesiad hy etauk al

ens | terferec nistretion of justice | His. criminal. career it ite itacels in

The t Pesto crows te; os ae nm the relic hun: : hik’s case’ Wan aliport the pwiftest ip. thétévery lineament. uf (fis face, ia every

Mushit whe Yoncexned, death was inatan: | memes legal history. of ‘the county, The arrest) movement tnd action and tn every word,

tanvous, ‘The physical movement of the oa HAS SISTERS THER Was made Oct. 2, [ese than five months} In his. walk gould be seen, the shuffle of

vhocolate, face, heart4 ver, continued for some time, tecemaccitet: sow; fago.. The indickmel was returned Nov. | the lock-step of the ‘state ‘priten, | Hin

Lire‘ atcan 6 th aud itwas oot unt the stiening corpse | Mere, Kares Rade His, Farewell at the Sand Nov; 2% the cused. wad called before Hianguage: was shocking even. to the pro~| o>) y ad
had Pung fourteen minutes that the mur- ¥ Deer Judge Eliiott, Ty % varrlty appearing for |fane and vulgar.” shough the last two

deret, Waa prondunged dead. : F the defense and Griuty Attoruey: Peter- | weeka uf his Tile showed « marked charige ‘ ;

Athi} a movement at the déor Informed Mostik'® ‘taat hour was spent. with bortausisted by ALJ. Smith, for the state_jin this respect. +

+h {| Mather Jujowky In prayer, Seated in bis} after three and dne-nulf daye the follow: } +) —— oe: 2 = ort PERAHLE
vein” Female ag ae plane 1 elt, his sistere Wnd the priest just out- ling juty was compl tod. Juttus 1H, Shaw, [+ OST. PETER , q ~\ Observe the Numbers. We Mave No Branch.
ror - ; Fieat. Sheff Priullps, accompanied y. nite, tetas seed t Lm oat wan ao et w. a Kennet ech Fergupon, Chris + at Saree Pepi oenen WE SS BE. ee a ~~
* 2 Demcies Clement and. Dadar esed | PrBVed w mtened to words of consola-j Gabrieleon, Charles. diey, Archis. Curtis,; athe Rook of directors. of Ne rie ’
*Home Trade aasonal the doorway. Next papel Shroot tidn from. the churchman, now and -then| Gdward “Millward —¢ A. | Adolphus rat met here this Scapa fo
demaeP man, ‘aupported by Jellor Dumeld apiaking a. word of comfort to hig slaters. | Moses J) Seymour, 4 elected the following Officers foe the Tae ah : :
Shoe Store, eee eanee Jeske: A cuter of winte| Mrs: Wenzel oully had to be tken. 10) Po, Harding, Le Jo Balleys ic: ae i Hum tren c 1. Grass, first fant ates intl-pamat’ ts the present. mayor: ~
¥ who Were almost-overcome with emation.) Upon the eepmmetii. A hula; weerotury, nant. Se eaine 1: hand pects mxenelectiogs ae
ing @tprifls und depulies ‘brought ngs the the . pacond Het ;
219-823 Nicallet Ave: Sh i OS es ~ [the matron’s partments, where whe FAL. 3y } 2a e tooo rate anoual | pai of the ing ite Sat Wogtos w is :
Sink Dk rieeded very little Guulstancé, He {fainted and wae with difficulty revived. : t ate saint and, ey on} Werween Scammed 3
pe “und was ~ eemingly” un- Mra. Karem, the other. sister, returned to a (marked, daresit me
was as her-brother and. remained with tum until that cham cterlsed «his > bearing at? se ot ora ar igotreminteiven *
sal ree sath os Sie Ae lee ie ree taal ea Se a itd ag Re ae
the f er, 1 unly & Y mati ¢ heey thi ‘ae tw . t tr
orn Sas, Saat see Seam Bi eet v fase th he, tant pratt weeding Sra, arte pata is | i byes ee hl ae le ALI WE TRY PT NY:

beet By ve ng

a

sp habbe : ¢ ‘ pO > Roaediard ar $4 ea Fyeag rk Mattow}
ees 2 # fax ts i es 2 Ri Whine, | macused . wirce Wiehe dovwn sinc his Saahe OTK. “2 Pain hi WN, Re Bergatcos a” m wl overt Hwy fiarson tor
; «at. tans % haw: Hetowd. Jowa, prison. for tur-Tehalr, peer: his Lototney. with his bands N \3t. Kyeligres, 8candia,.<\) ide algeeman ae?
| ge eens ROE acme mth wat pe | dati esi ne and pa nh a ign one] tan a Dotan, Madigan, re fu Panta wee m ape CENTER
= A vi > | cheat. he seem vious to the. pro- a .
ohices +» fe S., ot the eit rnare ane orkid thy Naoaiatity ~ prac [atetten to Juhn’ McAvoy, - alleged» horse | ceedings “und t/~ Becltal of, ihe hoceibie {in =tne| Gay.” y rte ier, re oA} [cette ee at ¥ ate intaree
ae af Hye rt ager etm thandy Guard Hrantan threw the |'Mef who tecupled a cel! near bim_ and} tale, except for piercing glanee-of ble A ee of oug! oS Previous re We Stretsor {¢:
Se ae ibis wea toothy sipaP, round the manacled derma and drew | Who had testined for the defense in Mos-| gimlat-like eyes which looked out fromd— tev, and Mra Marvey’ Wiikinson or amie brenae tthe Science va she, Deawflis ofthe
5 as ae tie théiee htly, against the body, Jatlor Dut. | Dk’ trial, “At the request of Sherif Phil-| nis ‘nearly lores Hide with an expression Mgt? Take, are atte Me, gee 1 Mh he Andrew “Ne Phee® Rasen pee qeokeding Mra’ & fe
rend ai Helddipped the noose over hté Bead and | Mpa he made a statement as to the recent | vindiothve and ni Atcious... Only when sonieé Ourdy. pany Wl play im the Layee theater | ft + of the death of ie pod ont
Oe oD encenton ne 6 poate. Cureormm: placed — aputiver -etray plan to escape In which he attempted to! grimiy humordus fancy” seised hig ming e central office of the. telephone’ < com- Busty DghL Next weeks ae mee, uainte ‘y
anamingo Mind mg whom! Fete. e ; | wiccnya ae Oy ee Ee eet | Meal the expth-ai at hie, Yellow andy ee emia lm Ane Toot Of thet ite Liows out by the ete es ent
half ti “Ye Phaven't’ got the Fope tight encigh is uring the ar Just bay ry ao inecrutable face “nange, but then only’ to} Mre. 1. neon and - Mise. Olga; terday and the day eters Begiitr a Phen the -Ruiscopat: peonte ot
“falter hs on about My unek,” cautioned Monit, in ix | MO wan vietted by his attorney. Te A One beeak iritd « lecfing, BFK Guch' as. a “Ar. leave next V Mons tor"«) , : Sok poh | wilh told: atvernoua atevices ever, Friday”
m1 CbnOMe cAl@. imonotgnous Volor, IN whigh there | FT RM. os Hae has - ont Hyde might weit, UThis xrin became & months’ trip. to’ Hpokane eh , teh yohees be
wos PL_even & shade of fesiing. Bix drfease. The death warrant wae) feyture of the ictal and tinally. became] gious ch, Sebason’s Mayo Retain Bet S 3 —e pete rit x. Teawean Weft for Lame
ES et the tes 8 Pm to move] -praigose wus tightened about bie thee, | FEUS Bt 10 A seats by Moshis ba er | wor gftennive tu bis attorney that the latter . ie yer chester ani te . rie this a ttermsers He detijvera bis

wd t - 5
Ba Vere: i ne a SS ace fenabe, hin atighuy apd the enor placed film Goma wae. dented har ibeens catted to Se. tit fecture My Trip Thratanh: Othe am tha
ve at iay me the left ear,

WHahtvat her gome io Calling
Mrs. -Wiikat wea fomeriv a rerte

was obliged to If eiat upow its suppression, Mie#t Anna Fay has gone! to Rochester 4 be per a
‘a —_ make ait exten a te etd At 2:8 the cell door ‘was. thrown open) The arsistunt \ danty atturney claimed | O_vadergo an oo} woe ¢ a aet fete zien x yoy ak Reorer

% MAD attiom ‘ak Megs, my pd: he spoke up agains and the procession moved to the gallows frovbery to bet). “mative for thy. rime. eee ae , ape viiege of Uusota. eres oy dy Sy ae it inte ‘oF i} Tie eo ag Pie
bat ¥¥ iow, The strap abuut the fimue | Bherit Pulttips lead” the “march. Lebind | after thé trial Mahle etuutly defied that separated from exch other alt cH iS iS

Sk ose reentry
urpokea Cin ft Tues: teat : ,.
zo pusenn Aes A COLD 15 ONE baw waa ‘Rilehad #0 wes and piso ihe ane, Bas tame the duomed inati, bis steter, Mra leueh was The (4-6 gpd claimed that he ment wes SR ‘Se beard-ae eae! re aa rat @ — wmtette: ota fee a aga se ae uapermbet tn
4.

arod “the phistomed ara: he | Matet, on one side and Jalipr Dufictd on mitted the i} ft the townshyh toenot -
es pert Aa ses, SoM Speraby et stognered ime pd soe tne thor, did behind thee Yoo priest andi Somme iao Conia Pike wie Lone: aclt the Fog vilinge potd re we are int ayn
cranes the deputies, In= this faabton they "peo~l cording to his #1 .iatpent, with th re ‘forthe Rum vf $0). and ore Saree) Eg
= ceeded to the door of the death chatnbet | ceived: plan of roubing @ atore dod | a dacs Sh SMe ON genet | My arte aod ess ome! “3
where hy sald farewell to hiv sister nd} SEL: pa Monee a oF es nt fy te ee: oe feist Pei eat et ‘Sain a

Pde

jo “f109ti 3 ori atL “peas j
“$US [CA ULO B Warf "sasvo uoljdurep
-81-p a0 seq- peq-Ap8u0.10YZ-SNOPIA
sfauedjxa asoyy ur A[Mo SL yl a[qusia
-pu sf quautysiund peyides Jy “yuat
-ystuiid jo Jey puv [Vuraa ay. Jo
LOI Jo Jey} sosodind plvs-O.y v IOS
posodur aq 0} pasoddus st AXyeuad oq}
PUR ‘ULTUON IO UBT MO[[AJ BZ spies |
-ALeY Musaiut_1O _Saatsap_ 1WeIeNID_

Re *yaay oo “ecaty ‘ou pyq as aU ‘pood, .
sum und }or 3 8 pres pay ul auivo oay
4p OTT AY. *UIUZ etj}0} HORG Ou ov} |
pasitroid puy of su funsjoys B faq |
@10JS SIL MPILY F,MAS[Q) OF JAI COW
onze}jy eq} Batmnq ‘“Aup J(u smoolvs
} pmnoie pomremor pe ‘ut “BY OT yNoqe
uq Smvo 4nq uK9y Wor} e]IM ¥ yNOQU
UIsNOd s,90sY OF pejivys os Turasowm Lup

sp gM TIER

q TQ Ut, wa ere mew game

ppt Story. that Chalin turned us “out “ot the
by house is a lie. Lee courted’ a Brandon
but girl ‘and quarrglled with Chalin about
hér; but Moe knew nothing of_it until Lee
0) told him in the “jail “after’ the trial.: Jack
Ma Knapton, the ‘village marshal, took away
NMoe’s revolver in the. “afternoon; alro

, Rearched Lee, bat found no gun. * nder-

" stood, ” Moe “said” to the editors. “of the

_ Post: ‘Lee to say to Knapton: ‘You can’t

mn ‘find my revolver; I’ve thrown it “away,’-
m1 believed Lee ‘had. doné 60,° “and, when
ee ‘went out that night£ did“ not know he
had his pistol- T° do not think Lee ever
any trouble with Chalin. Ido

A not ‘remember “anything that happened
y aft r about 4 o'clock in® the afternocn.
The ‘witnesses said that Lee shot Chelin,

5¢ Bt. 11_o’ clock “p.m. I did not know that
Lee. jntended to shoot, nor that he had

_ auything to shoot with. i i
Tee heard ‘the statement made "by Moe,
Cand when ‘the latter had concluded: Lee

c and me about her. I iegan:
J her fir , and Chalin’ said he was ‘going to
\ ‘eat me out, ‘and that I should 3 never. anarry

pay ‘that:
\are. fight

him about his sister, “for “I did not. care
enough” about . ber... I ‘met him on the
street Taerday afternoon. ek had om

wel
it.
. The. high fence is 30 by” 32. feet
feet bigh, and encloses the north win-
do} of the jail proper. The gallows
stands on the west side. The platform
is eight feet high and the’ crossbar
from which the ropes are suspended is
18 feet from the ground.-"4

Both boys were looking well. - The
death warrent was read_ to them’ on
Tnesday and received without a "word
of dissatisfaction or regret. It was
not ‘unexpected. Sheriff De  Frate
had great difficulty to find a rope guit-
able he did finally get two, one fro
St. Louis, kuown through the west as
the hangman's rope, It was, nearly
three-fourths of an inch. The other }
was like that used to. hang the anar- |
Pea i ago: ‘and, was, made with

‘jn Mr. “De > Frates. possession:. “It is of
‘braided hemp, butr not long | nough: to |

discovered ~ evidence “srould - “acquit
Moe. ~A petition was ‘got out for a
stay of execution and Torkelson
asked. what he. new but he told §
nothing.

Rev. Wilcox said i Pionoor Press,
“There have been_ five” ‘or_six murders i in
Douglas county the past few years where

no adeqaate punishment has been meted
out. Some got off with a few years {m- :
| prisonment,. some went scot free. For
the welfare ‘of the community the Jaw
must do something. A murder was’ “com
mitted, & Case’ was “made ont, the men
were. tried, and ° “sentenced,” and the law |

b “we should’ tara or
abolish it. =T think, under the Jaw,” é
Lee should. hang. I am “not “p pared
‘ta pay that, under the law, | it‘ will be
‘unjust to, hang Noe."’ This. “well eclioes
the- rentiment of the
this community.

‘society “went ‘down

: sung for. the two prone

haven’t you gone | Keke yet
go. home pretty. soon.!
ould no makg, 1 me gol

a
With me; aud I’ did not ‘tell |

ohne
| him of this quarrel. Saturday night Moe,
Chalin and L were in Swenson’s saloon.
Pi) Chalin” ‘and - I went” out” and found two

way. “with them
, bat Bothing was

The “Minh pal

ted that the &
ata in had the. ¢ ustret
hin StaNesORe describing”

ery

her,


ent >

cand a aa A Ro

Ee ed Sa eee ee iter eeemeneees
home I was drunk and fell by the stable.
Chalin came up and gaveme a” couple of
kicks and told me to get np: My brother

\| Came out and sent him away and took’me
|} into the houte, Chalin had said hard
| things about the girl, and said he coxld do
| anything he wanted to with her when he
| had her out: I intended to marry her,
and have to: much respect for her, to di-
vulge her name. After the quarrel on the
jj 8treetin the afternoon I had no further
| talk with Chalin, People tell me that I
wentup to him on the étreet and said:
‘Do you intend to drive mé out of town?
You can’t doit,’ aud that I shot. ~I hare
no recolJection of anything of this kind.
|I do ‘nut remember leaving the saloon
with Moe.’ ey eS ‘A
.. [The testimony in the case shows beyond
‘a doubt that Moe,had made threats in the
forenoon and said: “one man must die
tonight.” Itis a reasonable - presump-
tion that he knew of the quarrel of Lee as
evidenced by his” pointing out
saying, ‘there i your man.”’] 0;
andl er eo Sad : 5

erfiaee Want $5
«Shea Ch

Moe evidently has a grudge against

| Some one in Brandon _and_ may’ have

~ {referred to that one in his. threats,

‘There must in all Teason be some
' cause for the’ prejudice ‘that exists
/ Against Moe in Brandon. The con-
| fession brings out no new points: for
| investigation and leads to nothing
that can be corroborated by other
witnesses.- Jt has been reported on
the streets that al] the evidence against
4 tbem brought before the grand jury
Was nol brought } 1¢

I~

tall, stim girl, with light hair, and
stating herto be of excellent charac
ter. It said that she’ etill wore the
ring Lee gave her‘when she left Bran-

don last summer, = ae
, The town Was thrown into a fever |
of excitement on Thursday evening
by a telegram from Gov. Merriam an-
nouncing that Moe’s sentence was-
commuted to imprisonment for life,
and that Lee should hang as Stated.
N6é mention of this was made unti)
9:30 a.m. to-day. Lee did pot'seem at
all rattled.” Mog quietly replaced the
testament he had intended to send to |
his cousin into his ‘pocket, saying he
would find use for that now, Promptly
at ten o’clock Lee, ic company With
the sheriff and ministers, came out
on the platform.’ The drop fell, and
Lee died without a tremor or any
sign of weakness on his part. Lis
folks asked for the body at noon to-
day. <A vast crowd gathered around
the jai) yard: but only those with tick-
ets were admitted. There were thirty-
one sheriffs'here and many other visit-
ors. “Lee died ina very short time,
tut the pulsations of the heart did
not cease until fourteen minutes after
the drop fell. -- o~. PA Te ee eS
Before the hanging Lee e xpressed a ff
wish to the sheriff that no one should
see his remains after death >; and ac-
cordingly the sheriff came out and
made known “Lee's wish to the large
and anxious crowd outside, stating
that he would sacredly adhere to it
and they might as Well disperse.
The -crowd then began to move, but
a goodly number of those owning

i

4 jack-knives -commenced cutting out

the knots in the boards, thus etting
achance to satisfy their overt owing
curiosity through the knot holes

.. Mortgage Forectosure Sale.-—

Default having been made in the pny-
ment of the sumn of forty-eight and 83-100
dollars, ($48.83) which’ is claimed to be {
due ‘at the date of this notice upon a cer-
tain mortgage, duly executed and deliver-
ed by Christian Kolstad to G. ‘A. Kortsch
bearing date the second day of June, A. Dd. |
1887, and with a power of sale therein con.
tained, duly recorded in the office of the |B
Register of Deeds in and for the county’ of |F
Douglas, and state of Minvesota,
15th day of June, A. D. 1887, at 8:45}
o’clock a.m.,in book “J” of Mortgages, on '
page 623, and no action or proceeding hav: -
ing been instituted at Jaw or otherwise, to
recover the dent secured by said mortgage
oriny part thereof;_.-. ~~. _ as es :

Now, therefore, notice is hereby given,
that by virtne of a power of sale contain-
ed in suid mortyage, and pursuang to the:
statute in such ense made and provided,
the snid mortgage will be forctused by a
sale of the premises described in and con-
weyed by said mortgage, viz: ~ foe Pet iL,

All those lots situate in the village ‘of
Alexandia, in the county of Donylas, and -
state of Minnesota, known as lots’ pum- .
bered two (2) and three (3) in block nom-.!

* :] bered eighty-four (84) according to Mulli- i

ken’s plat of the to "nsite of Alexandria-‘on
file in the office of the Register of Deeds
in ind forsaid Douglas county, with the ]|
hereditaments and kppurtenances; which ||
sale will be made by the theriff of said }
Douglas county, at the front door of the |
court house in the Village of Alexandria,
in sxid county and state, on the 2ud any’
of March, A. D. 1899, at 10 o’clock a. pi.
of that day, at poblic vendue, to the high. }
est bidder for cash, to pay said debt and
interest, nud the taxer, if any, on anid
premises, and twenty-five dollars attor-
ney’s foes 8 stipulated in and by said
Mortgege, in case of foreclosnre, and the
isbursements allowed Uy law; subject to
tedymption at Ps time within one year
from the day of ga &, aR provided by law.

Dated Jaunary 16, A. D, ee aE

: “ G. A. Kourserr,

" Att

fore the petit jung} sen Feed yayoo’

He shook hands fervidly with Cor-
och as the latter said that he ™ st

same.

At 4 o’clock when inquiry was made at
the jail as to how Williams was con-
ducting himself one of the deputies said
in an excited voice:

ee eSeereseseseeeesHeSSeFSeHtFHFSHeSteseueesenesee

‘My God. he ,is sitting up

there in his cell ‘playing cards,

op ing cards! and he is going to
ung at midnight.”

-@ 00 ee eee

e
«
e*
°
°
e
°
e
®
®
*
*
e
e
e
®
e
e
e
°
e
°
e
e
e
e
e
e
.
es
°
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e

Sent Out Three Invitations to |

‘Friends to Witness Execution.

‘When Williams was informed that he
might have three f gra witness his
death he scratched his head.

“yet me think. If Cormican won’t came
lthere are some others who will,” he said.

“There’s John Hilger,” Williansa’
‘former death watch, romised Joh
if I ever was hanged he should see then
ido it. en there’s Rueben Reynolds, h
was afriend of pole when Johnn:
worked at the Windsor, I suppose he
iwant to come, and there’ s M. C. Coles. Jin
'That’s three, ain’t 1t?’

These three as requested were present,

Civilians, Friends of the Sheriff

Are Invited to. the Executi

Beside these there were many ‘othe
spectatorn 2 of Willi ’ death. !

Doctors eaton, Coroner -
Miller, ae ‘Coroner Whiteo;
uu] Moore represents

esen
Public’ of we
Dakota, was Sinan der ipna! request
the gover hae te ae friends
of the sheriff, beside his deputi ies,

Last Supper Berved at 10 O'Clock {i

and Eaten with Apparent Relish, | {hin

Williams’ last supper ‘was served to
ae meen

78

{Sina a noaia

. aor ah em discuszion for the reason

“ate

FACTORY EDUCATION.

Schools for Training of Mechanical

wall during the day Williams was ane or ine Not a Mere Theory.

ne of the main faults with the factory
ystem, which is responsible for so many
of our econgmic ills, is its breakdown
when it comes to training young men ta
take positions requiring more or Icss ex-

ecutive ability. On thé other Rand the
breakdown of our school system which is
training an ‘intellectual Ai gt Se I has
heen pointed cut by President Hadley, of
Yale. The evening school and the cor-
respondence school afford some oppor-
tunity for the ambitious young man te
learn a trade and develop to a , degree
executive capacity.
From these ambitious and "energetic
young men and those whoicontinue their
regular schooling in preference 10 en-
terin ng an industry prematurely “the ma-
terial for expert superir:tendence of the
remaining submerged mass. of workers
must be drawn,’”’ says O. M. Becker in an
article in Machinery on ‘‘Factory Educa-
tion.” . “But the available supply . ae
longer equals the demand. Most manage
have experienced the difficulty of gett ting
the Fight man for the place espec
the s Pl ace were one requiring considerable
re yg eg bet * ag gs Md as a whals:
: 8 respects
if it cannot to a aeaantivabie ont extent: train
up the men’ who are later to be the dt-
recting forces !n it. Most businesses are
not now doing it. Nor, on the basis of
present s;stems is it possible to be done.
Laer? inven euation of this preblerss
at on 6 s. preblem;:
tne facilities for ial and
tesnniens of! nt gga al hat.is. for the ade-|
g of workérs for their work;
modification of the plecework sys
The latter may be neg-

tas yet. there appears to be at hand
nd. pra icable substitute that iq eco-
cally as matiofactory. Fare There remains
then the other giteoet ve, that of edu-
or

cation. Fact tion, | perhaps
better stated “ge phucess tien of Mactory

ratives, is not.an untried theory of

Re idealist. ab gy a men have g
geen the economic peceeatry for

thing of the sort, and as long ngo as the

time of Robert Owen factory schools
mere or less effective
the » development of certain tndustries.

le comm ca me

-_ ah


1ea@ anotner}
ge the Cuban
ational road

AB ARS H Et EE

LE

watered
k range,
100 head
ticulars

BURY

7

a dW

7 ee

Reach of Safety.

London, Feb; 12.—The steam trawler
Veronica belonging to Stavanger, Nor-
way. has been lost off Lossiemouth,
Engleshire, Scotland, with a crew of
ten. She was disabled and in tow of
the steam trawler Zodiak when =the
rope broke. The crew of the Veronica
launched a beat’ and when within
eighteen feet of the Zodiak a heavy
sea. capsized it and they were all
drowned. The Veronica went down
soon afterward. oe

A MINNESOTA HAN

St. Paul, Minn., Feb. 12.—Wm. Wil-
liams was hanged at 12:30 this morn-
ing for the murder on the morning of
April 13th, 1905, of John Keller, aged
sixteen and his mother, Mrs. Frederick

S. Keller.

Williams met his fate heroically,

maa Rg Ue

People buy Denofric’s Crystalli
Cactus Candy in February f tet spo
minds them of Wachington: “First in
the hearts of the countrymen.”

we

\.

ay} ate MT oe
ic |

TUESDAY MO

Bs * haat =
J ae a 3
m2 isan lly ce = mene re es =
te
ee é 2 _

fat. thee Auaitomul

COLE ig tht. AAT ssw
gained hig advantage in the first eight
rounds at the end of which time Land-
ers’ came up strong. 2

FOUR WERE KILLED
IN PORTLAND FIRE

There Was Beside a Financial Loss
of $50.000

Portland, Ore., Feb. 12.—Four krown
dead, eleven persons seriously, some
possibly fatally, and a financial loss of
$50,000 briefly summarizes the result
of an early morning conflagration,
which wiped out the little business dis-
trict close to the east end of Morrison
street steel bridge today.

The known dead are: Edwin Dailey,
aged nine: years, son of Mr. and Mrs.
L. T, Dailey; Nathan P. Young, aged
thirty-five years, watchman for the
East Side Transfer company. Two un-

ee eee
ci SaaS

é

‘

identified, whose bodies are so badly.

13,-1906

3rape-Nuts &-
lief was-anyth
ary. tilb § four
the rate Of,
that’ my dige.
kidney trouble
nerves had J
steady. I have
ever since anc
as long as IT FP

“At present
flabby, dropsl:
flesh. I eat 3)!
dulge in fruit,
pang from) in
who used to Si
ing (sour | 8!
neartburn) has
Arabian berry |
fee and Grape
a hale, hearly;

“We think W
lem of simpli
after 3 years _
are not tired «
and supplies. s
meat that out
almost unkn¢
given by Pos
Mich. .
There’s 4 re


Wo dodo sh YL 9

Star Tribune (MN) March “0; L992

Commentary

Newspaper details
of 1906 hanging
made it state’s last

,_ By Grant Moos

It’s possible that Minnesota would
‘still have the death penalty today had
three St. Paul newspapers obeyed an
early law that until 1906 had not
been enforced.

The Pioncer Press, Dispatch and
Daily News all printed details of
what later proved to be the last hang-
ing in Minnesota. It took William
Williams, accused of killing a 16-
year-old boy and his mother, 14%
minutes to die by strangulation be-
cause the hangman failed to consider
that rope stretches.

Williams hit the floor and sheriff's
deputies scrambled to hoist him up
‘again. The grucsome, slow death be-
gan a six-year movement in the Min-
nesota Legislature to abolish the
‘death penalty, which finally succeed-
ed in 1911. Since then there have
been several attempts to revive the
death penalty, the most recent of
which occurred last month when the
Senate Judiciary Committee over-
whelming rejected the idea.

But without the newspapers’ defiance

of a law passed more than 20 years
‘before the last execution in Minneso-
“ta, the botched hanging — which
incited anti-death penalty sentiment
— might have never received the
widespread attention it did.

The 1889 Legislature, apparently
‘concerned executions had become
‘such a spectacle, approved a law reg-

ulating hangings. The law was spon-

sored by a “reforming Icgislator,”

John Day Smith of Minneapolis, who

ance tried to gct an inmate on death

row to pray with him.

y

‘The law limited the number of spec-
tators who could witness a hanging,
“required that they take place before
“sunrise and included -this curious
‘provision: “No accuunt of the details
of such execution, beyond the state-
ment of the fact that such convict
was on the day in question duly exe-
cuted according to law, shall be pub-
lished in any newspaper.”

Hangings, of course, were to newspa-
pers what Super Lowls are to foot-
ball.

‘The Pioneer Press coverage of the
hanging was relatively staid, but the
‘Dispatch and Daily News reported
the execution in true turn-of-the-cen-
tury fashion:

“Then he looked up and saw, in the
pitiless glare of the electric lights, the
death machine, gaunt, shadowed,
Primitive and awful, with the long
hempen rope and the noose,” stated
the Feb. 13, 1906, Dispatch.

Walter Trenery, in “Murder in Min-
nesota,” said that provision had nev-
er been enforced, but Ramsey Coun-
ty officials “seem to have been thin-
skinned.” They successfully obtained
an indictment against all three news-
papers for violating the law.

The papers claimed the law was un-
constitutional because it violated
freedom of press guarantecs in both
the U.S. and Minnesota constitu-
tions, but the Minnesota Supreme
Court disagreed.

“The evident purpose of the act was
to surround the execution of crimi-
nals with as much secrecy as possi-
ble, in order to avoid exciting an
unwholesome effect on the public
mind,” wrote the court. “If, in the
opinion of the Legislature, it is detri-
mental to public morals to publish
anything more than the mere fact
that the execution has taken place,
then ... the appellant was not de-
prived of any constitutional right in
being so limited.”

The papers, which had all agreed to
be bound by the decision, were even-
tually fined $25. It was one of several
laws approved by the Minnesota Leg-
islature over the years that have re-
stricted freedom of the press — laws
that generally have had widespread
support.

This one proved a bit different, how-
ever, Although the law was rendered
meaningless following the abolition
of the death penalty in 1911, it was
repealed six years later out of con-
cern that Williams hanging could
have been concealed from public
view.

“Although the St. Paul newspapers
were found guilty ... they had
brought the bungled execution to
public attention, hiriting at a parallel
to Inquisition tortures of the Middle
Ages, and Minnesota was shocked,”
wrote Trenery in “Murder in Minne-
sota,”

Critics of capital punishment could
argue that a grucsome depiction of
death is a much more telling barome-
ter of the issue than an antiseptic
public opinion poll. It's one thing to
say you favor the death penalty and
quite another to watch someone dice.

Or, as an anonymous spectator to the
Williams hanging told the Dispatch
back in 1906, “Yes, I saw it. But, ugh,
I never want to see another one.”

Grant Moos is assistant editor of Ses-
sion Weekly, a publication of the
Minnesota House of Representatives,
where a shorter version of this article
first appeared.

350 06 MINNESOTA REPORTS

for disqualifying a judge in a civil action, and the second to the pro-
cedure in a criminal action. The last proviso, however, declares that
the act shall not apply to any judicial district having less than three
judges. The relators attempted to disqualify the respondent in the
action referred to by filing an affidavit of prejudice by virtue of the
first paragraph of the statute. .

It is claimed on the part of the respondent that the relators, in the steps
taken by them, wholly failed to comply with the requirements of the
statute, and, further, that the provisions of the statute have no applica-
tion to a judicial district having less than three judges. We find it
necessary to consider only the last contention. Whether the first para-
graph of the statute applies to all of the district courts of the state
depends upon the effect to be given to the last proviso of the act. It
is a general rule that a proviso to a statute relates only to the para-
graph which immediately precedes it, but the rule has no application to
cases where it clearly appears that the proviso was intended to apply
to the whole statute. 26 Am. & Eng. Enc. 679; 2 Sutherland, St. Const.
§ 351. Now, if there were any good reasons why the proviso should
apply to criminal actions as provided in the paragraph next preceding
it, and not to civil actions as provided in the first paragraph, then it
might be conceded that the proviso would fall within the general rule,
and would only apply to criminal actions.

It is, however, reasonably clear from the whole statute that the
delays and abuses which would result from extending its provisions
to judicial districts having less than three judges would be as great in
civil actions as in criminal actions, perhaps greater by reason of the
greater number of civil actions. ‘There is no apparent reason, then,
for not extending the proviso to the whole act. On the contrary there
are good reasons why it should be. Again, the clear and broad terms
of the proviso, considered in connection with its history, as stated in
State v. Gardner, 88 Minn. 130, 92 N. W. 529, indicate an undoubted
intention on the part of the legislature that the provisions of the statute
should not be inflicted upon judicial districts having less than three
judges. ‘The case of State v. Gardner, supra, which is relied upon by
the relators is not here in point, for the question in that case was
whether or not a defendant in a criminal action pending in a judicial
district having six judges could disqualify more than one of them by an

STATE VY. WILLIAMS 351

affidavit of prejudice. The very purpose of referring in that case to the
history of the last proviso was to indicate the proper construction of
the part of the statute relating to criminal actions as it stood before the
proviso was added, the office of which was to remove judicial districts
having less than three judges from the operation of the statute, leaving
all other judicial districts subject to the provisions of the statute as it
read before the proviso was added.

We hold that the last proviso applies to the whole statute, and ex-
cludes from its operation all judicial districts having less than three
judges. It follows that the ruling of the learned trial judge was
correct, and that the order to show cause must be discharged.

So ordered.

STATD v. WILLIAM WILLIAMS,12
December 8, 1905.
Nos, 14,459—(21),

Criminal Law—Seclusion of Jury.

This is an appeal from an order denying the defendant’s motion for a
new trial after his conviction of the crime of murder. Held, whether the
jury in a capital case should be permitted to separate during the trial and
before the final submission of the case is a matter within the sound
discretion of the trial court. The discretion was not abused In this case.

Evidence.

A statement to the effect that the defendant shot the decensed and her-
self made by a party other than the deceased, but who was mortally
wounded at the time of the homicide, and made in close connection with
the event and under circumstances precluding any suspicion of fabrica-
tion, was properly received In evidence,

New Trial.

If substantial error Is committed on the trial of a defendant In a crim-
inal case, it will be ground for a new trial, unless it appears that the
defendant could not have been prejudiced thereby; but, if it affirmatively
appears from the whole record that the defendant could not have been
prejudiced by the error, it is not a ground for a new trial.

1 Reported in 105 N. W. 265,

¢ CWHTTTIM

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—

Keassiqn heation trom
Mississippi 4) Minnesota.

Birmingham Age-Herald 3/24/97 page /

it to the exposition of
he proposed to offer to the
a American tohaceo could be ad-
doin «he ordinary channel of trade
© countries of Taurope which now
Pit from entrance except under con-
wS that practically | prevent its sale.
10:20 che committee rose and the
> adjourned until tomorrow.

EVARO'S PROCLAMATION

ve Insurgents and Greck Troops Will
ot Be Ob:yed—Three Hundred
French Troops Arrive in Cana.

an
#3

nea, March 23.—Three hundred
ch troops, the first of the reinforcs-
s ordered to Crete for service, land-
t Suda today. Later they marched
his city. Three hundred other
ch troops will go to Sitia, at thse
‘rn end of the island.

miral Canevaro, the Italian officer,
is by reason of seniority in command
e combined fleets of the pow=rs, has’
“a a proclamation enjoining the in-
ents and Greek troops not to attack

‘Turkish forts at: Kissamee, Suda,
.xa, Retimo, Candia and Hierapetra,
2 forts being n-cessary for the main-
mte of order at the ports where the
ign troops will be disembarked.

.@ proclamation closes with a warn-
that measures will be taken to in-
respect for it. =
fs doubted that the insurgents will

any heed to the proclamation.
proeis ree
“WHOLESALE MASSACRE
Armenians in a Church and Their
Quarters Pillaged Afterwards.
netantinople, March 23.—In. conse-

sg district of Anatolia, Sir Phillip

, the British ainbassador, has s:nt
he porte the strongest ‘remonstrance
has yet been addressed to the BOV-
ent in an official] communication.
e official report of the affair ¢
-fifte:n Armenians and three MuSsul-
4yed reliable information that fully
Armenians were massacred. The
sfe.w-re killed while inchurch. Dur-.
and affter the massacre the Armenian
rter of the city was given over to

ae. Ae ce eee
eo Turkigh newspapers, in: their com-

k. upon the pacific attitude of the
rers towards ;
‘say, is conformable with the r
‘political interests of the’ porte,

; that has been gained by the sulta’
iiso tesifies to the friendship of th

the peace of the world. .

GREECE REMAINS SILENT.

Far as Great Britain Is Concerned—
France Has a Reply.
jondon, March 23.—In' the house of
amons today Mr. G. N, Curzon, under
eign secretary, in reply toa question
gir Charles Dilke, said that the gov-
tment had not received any proposals
pn Greece looking to a compromise of

» powers beyond what was contained.

Greece’s supplementary note, which
4 already been made known to the
use. It seemed, however, that the
aek minister at Paris had made verbal
mmenications

QAMNCRA@ P SlMshisy, ALitay ws

bil by -

eof the troubles at Tokal, in the.

1 o’'glock this morning George Kelly was
1s were killed, but the embassies have

hood, were. shot. by ene of two men who

uts “upon. the blockade of Crete re-.
‘Turkey. Their attitude,

nishes fresh_proof of the-striking s\c-.

vers for the porte and their solicitude,

‘three favorites and three second choices,

to M. Hanotaux, the |
ench minister of foreign affairs, but
| oe had heen made to the roverne |

“) ge’ SA De oe™ 7 On See
ecourty in behalf of

Springfield, ‘O., March 23.—Twenty-two
cars of the Big Four freight No, 71 are
piled ir? a mass on the Ohio Southern
tracks, which pass the Big Four n¢ar
Buffalo crossing: “The wreck was caused
by the breaking of the coupling between
two of the cars at 1 o'clock this morn-
ing. The train camé together again
and the wreck followed. . Four tramps
have been found badly injured and four
others ar= supposed to be buried in the
wreck. Those injured are: .

William Siney, Jersey City,
head and back injured. —

Frank Foy, St,ouis, cut and back of
head, leg and shoulders badly hurt.

William Kinsley, St. Louis, both legs
crushed. rae
sd Kinsley, St. Louis, legs injured.
All were taken to the hospital here.

_ PAID THE PENALTY.
‘Center City, Minn., March 23.—At 1

shoulder,

hanged in the county jail for complicity
in. the murder of Edward Paul and Jacob
Hlayes.. Kelly's neck was broken and
he was dead in ten minutes.
~ Nine’ months. ago Edward Paul and.
Jacob Hayes, youths. just entering man-
attempted to hold up. Dr. Burnside Fos-
ter, of St. Paul, who arrived aft:r, mid-
night. The two men were George Kelty
and .Robert. Wilson.» Wilson was ‘killed |

by a pursuing party of citizens the fol-

lowing day. Kelly was tried in October,.

‘found guilty and sentenced to b> hanged. |

vow) THE TURF.

| NBW ORLEANS RESULTS:

New Orleans, ‘March 23.—Clear, cool
bright weather drew out -8,000 people to
the race course today. The track was
lumpy and slow, ‘but the talent landed

beating the books well. About the only.
bookmaker ‘here who has much money
this winter is Sam May, of St. Louis, who

is well. ever 000: ahead on the meet-

ing. H. D. Brown, of California, the well-:}
who is wintcring here,

known starter,
was wired notice today ‘of his appoint-
ment as official starter at the Newport:
meeting.

First Race—Six furlongs. Overella, 108,
(Knapp), 6 to 2,.won; Oily Gamin second,
Loyal Prince third... Time, 1:19%2. -

Second Race—Seven furlongs. Senators
Penrose, 98 (A. Barrett), 9 to 5, won| Char-.

fined by Secretary Gage before clearance
was ordered. The steamer will clear for

“Ish, with a cargo of munitions of war.

line steamship Niagara, Capt.

GUaAvUance, NOC Peer iG the eo Ske eee a ON

some port tn the West Indies, not Span-

SOME OFFICIAL CHANGES.

Washington, March 23.—Theodore F.
Swayze, of New Jersey, has been ap-
pointed chief clerk of the treasury de-
partment, vice Logan Carlisle, resigned.
Mr. Swayze was formerly chief clerk of
the treasury department.

Maj. Fred S. Brackett, appointment
clerk, vice Scott Nesbitt, transferred to
eoast and geodetic survey as disbursing
elerk; ‘Capt. Rogers, of Ohio, chief of
division in “he office of the auditor of the
‘war department, vice Eugene Speer, re-
gigned.

THRILLING EXPERIENCE. —

sterious Accident to a Steamship’s
- Rudder—All On Board the .
Vessel Safe. ;

’

Charleston, S. C., March 23.—The Ward

‘was towed ‘o Charleston bar

fifty-two passengera, most of whom were

_ pound frétji Nassau to “New

@ ship left the former place at noon,
to her passemgers,

tobacco and
was uneventful
Capt. Crocker
that she failed :
and an investigation discovered the rud-
der to be bent and broken. ‘Not the least
¢lue could be discovered as to when or
how the accident h ppened. A jury rud-
@aer’ was rigged up and the Niagara at-
temptedo continue her voyage, bul with-
out. much success. Thursday night the
-yvessel laid to trying to keep her head
toa heavy sea that was running. Frid¢y
morning the British. steamer Cairnisla,
bound from Sapelo to Rotterdam, was
‘Sighted and asked ‘for. aid.
was played out to the Niagara, and @
towing trip of 200 miles was begun. The
sea, too, 1

(first hawser. soon parted, lea
Niagara in a perilous and helpless condi-

No Christy eorond. Prince Proverb third.

Crocker, | fo
this morn- |p»
ing. She had lost her rudder and her} ©)
passengers had spent an anxious. week f ex
aboard of her at sea. Aboard of her were { #

A haweer})

was getting heavier, and the }
leaving the | #

ian pachonsicr en batt Representative, Barnes and faces was tested to the ut- a drink
“iH ro Carer, Geatee riage “<q, | most, bu: he proved that his. reputatior “Ty 91
Fuller TOW. Powell and others of the in that regard had not been exaggera ed. pei
BISST's é ae ) ( i f it TEV, ey neta + eae retintiee , . j i 4
old set of polticlans caivassed the coun- eee oa ccs ups wh: Scame team me ate
ry = attacked. as tas erie San Erancisc) to present their grievances crowd.
enatic, un-Amer can, unpatriots anc to Yang Yu Chinese maiailater That fhrew “Hom
ena ty pa pl penple,,. wiea uney were thoroughly ‘conversant wich d» mo- ‘dl fet
iesue aeuinst eT avermee'? a ae the | cratic ideas was shown by their manner yy Rae
Senaor Will G. Brown,’ the author Obed of See ae the, president. says it
the bill, made but two appointment? ifPy me Ha ee lay fa Dee TS oe em: “T) inj
the county, but met the other speakers at Fay Bee en ane he? lay for two hours y* 8") 5 me”
two or three of their appointmenss, dur. [oerneey '9 the house of Yang Yu. you on
ing the last week of the canVass. He is 7 “Min:
today receiving the congratulations of CLEARANCE PAPERS said Be
hundreds of friends upen the indorsement T and lai
the people have given him in the face of , Granted the Bermuda —Wwik Take a Care’: “I te
the bicter and relentless personal fight of Munition to the Wes: Indies. were s!
his enemies have made upon him, not} ‘Washington, March 23.-The ‘reas‘ry who to
aise Recta Aol the canvass, but for several! gopartment today directed that clearance | 00 Ma
past sal papers be granted the alleged fillbuster- fairly ;
ei ing steamer Bermuda, now at Fernan-{ | Wel
FOUR TRAMPS INJURED © ; dina, Pia. The Bermuda's captain took | Canny
; 2 the omnibus oath required by the depart- man I
————— ment before the permission was given. | 7 I wi
And Twenty-two Cars of the Big Four He was obliged to make affidavit that the bett.””
: . vessel would not transfer any part of "You
Derailed, the Result of a her cargo to any other vessel before swered
- Wreck. reaching her destination, nor take on Julia
board more men than was required to run that B
her. Copies of the affidavit were exam- I

tion for several hours. Her jury rudder

Ce aan gepyvies. and more than §

&

— le eee ia
VB

ee
¢
&

° a |
pata |
“yt oom a _ > EE, come i es NUN At USTET Beh Qetettnar ey ee) wae a |

pe 7 eee Arr aes Bd DESe Leer eh oakit de 4 ge

nar @ or rn ema? . € ae Aa r

yard he disrobed her and horribty
mutilated her with the knije. Ee
then threw the body inte the PYayes
pen, and when found the next
morning the body hag heen Pas~
tally eaten by the hogs Holoneg
immediately left the farm. ca
foot. .The younger brother came
home later in the afternoon and
the mother and olde: brether
came later in the evening Tie
mother fourd no une af home, 9n
her return,—cxcept the ycunger
boy and the chores were undone,
There were no telephones amor
the farmers on those days, so shiz
thought that Lillie hud gene ww
some neighbor to spen? the nigni.
The older boy did the evenlig
chores, including the feeding of
the hogs. It was after durk and
he was unable to see much .n the
hog pen, so did not notice his sis-
ter’s body in the pen The nest
morning, on feeding the hogs, ne
discovered it, mutilated by lhe
hogs, almost Deyond recognition.

An alarm was spread, and Holong

was pickea up at Wendel ine
next evening, heading for Nortn
Dakota, on foot. Sheriff Brand-
cnberg weit down and got hin
and secretly lodged him in jail
here. There was considerab'e
fceling arcused here in Fergus
Falls over the vrutality of the
crime and special guards were
placed in the juil to prevent a
lynching. In fact. it s said that
« party of men met at the Adams
schoo] house grounds one night,
te storm tt.c jail, but wiser heads
telked to then’ and they dispeis-
ea. Holony was tried a the No-
vember term of district court and
found guilty. Judge tsaxte: pro-
nounced the sentence of death
upon him.

High Scinool Destroyed by Fire

On Devcember-<0, 1887 at about
1 o'clock a.m. fire was disecvered
in the new high schoo} building.
It had evineatly started in the
basement from the neating piest
and had gained such headway oc-
fore being diseévered, that it was
impossible oe ve the building.
The firemen Were also fhandica, -

““The Ottertail

ped by the intense cold it being
26 degrees below zero. They de-
voted their energies to saving the
buildings to the north, (the Lake
and Allen residences and the Con-
Zregational church.) The water
froze as soon as it touched the
walls and after a five hour figat
With the flames, the walis 1ooked
like an ice palace, and the fire
still burning fiercely in the base-
ment, under a heavyblanket of
icc. Rooms were~frented in the
Allen & Cutler block on Lin-
coln avenue, also in the olu Hay
Market building, and the Higin

schoo] was\moved to the Zouncil
Reoms in the City Hall In Apc
the Board of Education ordereg

plans drawn ror a new building,
and after much discussion, the
contract was let wo Ranc & Drew
of Minneapolis, ‘for £12750.03.
Their bid was many thousan.is
below any of the local contraci-
ors, and after“making a start on
the building, they thew up the
contract, and the  buitding was
finished by their bondsmen.

Other Fires

The city was visited by several
bad fires during the year, Tke
Hall and Mills ‘residences were
destroyed in April.\These were on
north Broadway and beyond the
fire hydrant district, On August
%, the old ist National Bank buii-
ding, corner of Linzoln svenue
and Cascade street wus ssutted by
fire. On September 18 the repr
part of the Bell Hote! on Court
street was hurned. On Octovocr
19, the Mesonic Block on Cou't
street (across the street from the
creamery) was. totally cestroyed,
The south half of this building
was occupied by a newspup-r
County Farme:”’
and the north part) was the Pout
Office. Aside from some of ine
mail matter which“was saved, ev-
crything was a” total toss. Tue
Masonic fiatérnity lost all of
their Lodge paraphernalia as wai
as the building) with no insurance
it having ae short time ve-
fore. On Septetober 28th, the

large J. E. Williams residence,
—

—_

north of Lake Alice was also do-
Stroyed, being out of reach of fire
hydrants.

Big Storm

From January 16th to 19tn,
1888, a cold. wave struck this pa-t
of Minnesota, accompanied by a
northwest blizzard. Traffic was
tied up all over, the northwest.
There was no trains or mail tei
three days. The railroads were
finally opened up by rotary snow
plows. Schools were closed ana
business duspended.

Work Begins on the State Hespita:
On January 26tn. 1888, # con-
tract was let to O. R. Mather of
Mankato for the construction of
the first wing of the Stute Hospt-
ta., at $41,500.00 and work vegan
in the spring. Mather opened up
a brick yaFdat Elizabeth. where
the bricks\\were manuf ictured ior
the building-\On accour.t of mary
delays, the building was noi com-
pleted until the-next spring.

, The Hanging of Holong

Holong had been convicted of
first degree murder, at the No-
vember term of district court for
the murder of Lilhe Pield. and
Was sentenced to death by Judge
Baxter. The Governor was al-
lowed ninety days, from the date
of conviction, to nam» the dace
of execution, and this time limi.
expired on February 23rd. A
large petition was sent to the
Governor, asking for a commuta-
tion of sentence, claiming insan-
ity. Governor McGil: sent uv
Supt. Bartlett of the St. Peter
Insane Hospital and Sunt. Bowers;
ef the Rochester institution to in-

terview Holong and pass. their
opinion as to his sanity This
they did, ne not knowing who

they were. They pronsmnced hin
sane, although not b-ing very
high, mentally. As a result, the
Governor signed his death wac-
rent, naming Friday, Apri! 13th,
1888, as the day of execution. A
death watch, both day and nigny,
was immediately placed in front
or his cell door, and v'sitors were
limited. The jail was not ar-


REV Fan. ee

ve Ee es

ranged so that the execution
could take place inside so an en-
Closure was built on the east side
in Which the scaffold wus erecte
ed. He was hanged by Shernt
Biandenberg at 2 p. m. on the
13th. The execution was witnes-
sed by members of the jury which
had convicted him, newspaper
men, doctors, sheriffs trom other
countics and a few ormers. There
Was a_crowd of about 506 sur-
rounding the jail, but they were
kept back by the special depu-
ties. The execution cos! the coun-
ty about $2500 of which the state
paid $400.

City Election, ‘888
On Aprii 3rd, the following ci-
ty officers were electea:
Mayor, H. E. Rawson,

Treasurer, John. H. Allen.

Alderman, Ist. Ward, Pos J.
Hughes.

Alderman, 2nd Wara, W.
Duncan.

Alderman, 3rd Ward C. A. Da-
ley. :

Aldermen, Anderson Wick and
Wright retiring.

License carried.

On April 10th, the
were appointed:

City Cleik, E. J“Evens.

Acting Mayor, A. H. Kirk.

City Attorney, E. M Wright.

City /Physician, A. B. Coie.

City \Engineer, Geo. A. Burbank

Street Commissioner, James
McCrossin.

Assessor, J. P. Kenedy.

Chief of Police, Johu Hay

In May, City Clerk Evans r2-
signed and M. R_ Lowry was ap-
pointed in his place.

Electric Light Plant

following

The old electric Jight plant,
established in 1882;“went out of

commission when the gas was in-
troduced in (1884. On May 36,
1887, the city had granted a fran-
chise. to Chas. “k, Lewis, F. G.
Barrows and James Compton to
erect buildings and. establish
machinery to produce electricity
for heating, lighting and power

purposes, the a to run

seven years, This plant was built
on the Northern’ Pacific Yight of
way near the Campbell Coal
yards, and power was taken from
the dam, located at the rear of
the Angus residence, by means
of an overhead cable crossing
over the Northern Pacifie tracks,
being driven by the wheels at the

powcr dam and turning the
wheels at the powerplant. In
August, 1887, Messrs. Compton,

Lewis and Barrows sold their in-
terest to the “Fergus Falls Elec-
tric Light and Power company”
which was composed of the same

men. Two years later it changed
hands again, selling out to the

Fergus Gas & Mill company. This
company had been furnishing gas
for street and private lighting,
but they had so few patrons that
the venture was not successful.
This company continued the pro-
duction of electricity until 1895,
when the industry was taken over
by the city.

Fergus Falls Made an Independent
School District
School District No. 21, which
comprised the territory covered
by the city of Fergus Falls, was
made an independent district in
the spring of 1889. Ps

G. A. R. Encampment

On June 5,6; 7 and 8, 1888, the
Grand Army an the Republic of
this district held their annual en-
campment here at Fergus Falls.
There were about 1,000 visitors,
of which about. 200 were Grand
Army men. A tented camp was
set up on the baseball grounds
(Log Cabin Filling Station block)
and bands and drum corps from
the surrounding towns were here
to stir up the martial spirit. Gov-
ernor McGill and _ staff, together
with other state officers, were also
here, being met at the- train by
Company “F” and*several bands.
The encampment wound up with
a big sham battle on the hills
south of Vernon avenue. A “sup-
posed” Rebel fort was built and
defended by a company of G. A.
R. men, armed with cannon,

ae B,!

shipped up from St. Paul. The
assault was also made by the
G. A. R. veterans, led by Com-
pany “F.” Hundreds of rounds
of blank cartridges were fired, as
well as an immense amount of
fireworks. This was witnessed by
about 5,000 spectators, who lined
the hills on both sides of the
“battle.” The fort. was captured
and the Rebel flag hauled down,
and everybody went home happy.

New Postmaster
On July 12, 1888, Horace Pickit
Was appointed-postmaster for this
city, succeeding Geo. L. Nichols,
who had’ held this oftice since
1871. { |

Attempt to Obtain Factories

At a special election, $30,000
in bonds were voted to obtain fac-
tories and other industries. A
number of promoters were on
hand asking for a bonus for the
removal of several factories to
this city. At a meeting of the City
Council on October 18, 1888, the
mayor and city clerk were author-
ized to enter into a contract with
the following; $13,000 to the Wm.
Reilly Boot & Shoe company;
$12,000 to the Columbus Knitting
company; $4,000 to the Arkansas
Woolen Mills, and $1,000 to the
Dassell Woolen Mills.—also to
give George Rud, the promoter,
for his services, $6,000 from the
Permanent Improvement Fund.
This bond issue was sold for $31.-
325 and placed in the Permanent
Improvement. fund. These fac-
tories did not materialize and the
council deciaed*that this money
could be used for the erection of
a new city hall, also new trunk
sewers. On October 25, 1893, the
City Council decided. not to pay
any more interest on this idle
money and $20,000 of the bonds
were taken up and the balance
($10,000) was taken up on No-
vember 19, _ 1895

Fourth Wara Added to the City

Heretofore, the city consisted of
only three wards, all south of the
river being the First Ward. -In

\

MURDER IN MINNESOTA

in phrases of a lovesick schoolboy, the man said: “I told you all
about my past, and gave you a true account of it, too. I did not
think you would care for me after, but you told me then that you
cared more for me then than you did before.” ®

At last Williams came to believe that Johnny had made a final
decision never to return to him. On April 12, 1905, after riding a
freight train from St. Louis, Williams reached the Kellers’ St. Paul
apartment in a nervous and emotional state. Only the day before
John Keller had told his wife that he was going to shoot Williams
if he did not leave the boy alone. Thus when Williams appeared
at the apartment, Mrs. Keller questioned him coldly, asking what
he was doing where he was not wanted. It is probable that she
also told him of her husband’s threat, for Williams apparently
knew about it and armed himself. He did not, however, know that
Johnny’s father had again left St. Paul. After talking to Mrs. Keller,
Williams departed and did not return to the apartment until
eight o’clock that night. He found Mrs. Keller and Johnny alone.
What then happened cannot definitely be known, but two deaths
were the result.

Williams was charged with first degree murder almost at once.
Moving with commendable speed, County Attorney Thomas R.
Kane was able to bring Williams’ case on for trial by May 11.
District Judge Olin B. Lewis presided. Francis H. Clarke and
James Cormican represented Williams. In an exchange that had
prophetic overtones, “County Attorney Kane succeeded in having
excluded one or two [jurors] that might otherwise have proved
acceptable, on the score of having scruples against the infliction
of the death penalty,” reported the St. Paul Dispatch of May 12,
1905.

The prosecution opened its case on May 16. Mrs. Kline told the
court about Mrs. Keller’s dying accusation that Williams had shot
her and her son. Officer Hanft testified that Williams had admitted
shooting someone at 1 Reid Court, that he said he had an argu-
ment with Mrs. Keller, and that Johnny Keller had refused to come
away with him. Other policemen testified that upon searching the
apartment after arresting Williams they found a revolver belong-
ing to him from which the fatal shots had been fired.?

Medical experts testified that Johnny Keller had a bullet wound

160

ee
a

a

aa

Sal eg

THE END OF THE ROPE

in the back of his head and another in his neck. Both were black-
ened and singed, indicating that the weapon had been fired at
close range. The boy’s body had lain in bed, they said, in a natural
pose. He was not dressed. With such wounds, the experts stated,
he could not have moved after being shot. The medical men also
told the court that Mrs. Keller had been shot from the front. The
wound in her back, which Mrs. Kline had observed, was in fact
one of exit.

Much to the jury’s enlightenment the county attorney intro-
duced in evidence — and had read in full —all Williams’ letters
to Johnny, written from St. Louis during March and April, 1905.
And to complete its case, the prosecution called the slain lad’s
father, who testified fully about the strange passion which for a
time bound his son to William Williams in defiance of a father’s
opposition, revealing the whole odd tale of Johnny’s wanderings
with Williams, the arguments the association provoked, the boy’s
wavering, and Williams’ impassioned pursuit of Johnny when his
parents did succeed in separating them.

After this distasteful chronicle had been spread before the jury,
Williams took the stand in his own defense. Trying to follow the
classic course used by women defendants of his day, he claimed
to have no recollection of what happened during the critical time
and felt that he must have been temporarily insane. As soon as he
arrived in St. Paul, the defendant testified, he sped to the Keller
apartment. Finding Mrs. Keller in a cross mood, he stomped out
and went to several saloons where he drank heavily until he re-
turned to the apartment about eight in the evening. He then had
to submit to another scolding from Mary Keller. Williams admitted
that he had been armed but described a curious ritual which he
claimed to have followed in handling his weapon. He took the
revolver, he said, emptied the shells, and gave it to Johnny; Johnny
put the firearm in Williams’ trunk, which was at the Kellers’
locked the trunk, and gave his mother the key.

Continuing his story, Williams said that he and Johnny then
went to bed together while Mrs. Keller sat in the next room and
kept up such a steady stream of angry and provoking conver-
sation that he found it impossible to sleep. Mary Keller’s tongue-
lashing, Williams said, finally provoked him to violent anger. This,
on top of what he had drunk made his mind go completely blank.

161


MURDER IN MINNESOTA

He remembered getting up and he vaguely recalled some sort of
struggle, but his next clear recollection was of standing in the
room holding a smoking revolver. At the police station, Williams
claimed, he told Lieutenant Hanft that someone had been shot,
not that he, Williams, had shot someone.

In substance the defendant admitted visiting the Keller apart-
ment armed, admitted being present when the shots were fired,
admitted holding the recently fired weapon immediately after
Johnny and Mrs. Keller were shot; and admitted that his revolver
did the shooting. John Keller’s testimony and Williams’ letters
gave ample evidence of motive. The only question appeared to be
whether or not Williams’ defense of temporary insanity would be
successful. Unfortunately for the defendant the medical examiners
found him quite sane.

Nothing more could be said for the prisoner and on May 19,
1905, the case went to the jury. Not long after retiring to deliberate
the jury returned to ask the trial judge, “If John Keller was shot
by defendant in the heat of sudden passion, on the spur of the
moment, immediately following a scuffle with Mrs. Keller, with
intent to kill, but without previous intention, would that be
murder in the first degree?” Not answering directly, Judge Lewis
reread his charge on first and second degree murder and man-
slaughter. After five hours of deliberation, the jury again returned,
this time with its verdict: guilty of murder in the first degree.
Williams’ defense by reason of insanity had failed.8

After the verdict was announced, the county attorney moved
for immediate sentence, which the court granted. When asked if
he had anything to say, Williams replied quietly, “No, judge. If I
must die, it might as well be now as later.” He was then sentenced
to be hanged by the neck until dead. The Dispatch of May 20,
1905, reported that the man “heard his awful fate with com-
posure.”

By 1905 it was almost routine for criminal cases involving a man’s
life to be appealed to the state supreme court. Williams’ counsel
followed this course, but on December 8, 1905, the Minnesota
Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s decision. Justice C. L.
Lewis dissented. He argued a hopeless cause by trying to persuade
his colleagues that Williams’ letters to Johnny Keller did not hint
at a homosexual relationship or contain threats against Johnny’s

162

i
j
}
|
|
i

THE END OF THE ROPE

life. Shortly after the decision was handed down, Governor John
A. Johnson issued his warrant for Williams’ execution, setting the
date of his hanging as February 13, 1906.°

While awaiting his death, Williams found new dimensions in
his life; from a vicious man seeking only self-gratification he be-
came contemplative and kindly. On February 2 he joined the
Roman Catholic church. Fortified by a new calmness, he was able
to face death without fear, to joke about his predicament, and to
enjoy life. He even plunged avidly into a series of checker tourna-
ments which continued until the night of his execution.

On February 13, 1906, after a simple meal of steak and fried
potatoes which he ate with relish, Williams walked to the scaffold
dressed in a new suit, shirt, collar, and necktie. He put on the
black cap and cloak without hesitation. As he stood on the trap he
made a dignified final statement, asserting that he was innocent of
killing Johnny Keller, the best friend he ever had, and that he was
dying a victim of judicial murder. Then he turned to the priest
attending him and said simply, “Good-by.” 1°

The sheriff released the drop at 12:31 a.m. Williams fell through
quickly, but there was an immediate shout from the spectators:
“He’s on the floor!” The rope was six inches too long. Three deputy
sheriffs immediately ran to the platform, hauled on the rope, and
held the unfortunate man’s feet off the floor for the fourteen and a
half minutes it took him to choke to death. As soon as Williams
was pronounced dead, spectators seized the rope and cut it into
small pieces for souvenirs.

As it was explained later, this cruel fiasco resulted from Over-
looking the grim but elementary law of physics that if weight is
applied to a rope and to a human neck, both will stretch. The rope
had stretched eight inches; Williams’ neck, four and a half inches.
The sheriff, who on the previous day had tested the rope with
weights in order to avoid its breaking, neglected to allow for ex-
pansion factors. The public took these things and pondered them

‘ in its heart. Williams was dead but his influence went marching

on, to such unforeseeable destinations as free speech and criminal
law reform.

As had been true from earliest days, a first-rate hanging was a
first-rate newspaper story. The St. Paul papers — the Pioneer Press,

163


MURDER IN MINNESOTA

for being too ready with a knife. Later Williams had worked as a
miner and as a common laborer. He finally seems to have settled
on the steam-fitter’s trade but never stayed long in one place, re-
maining a rover and an intermittent workman. .

Williams met Johnny Keller two years before the shooting when
both were suffering from diphtheria and were thrown together as
patients in the St. Paul City and County Hospital. A handsome lad
of good reputation, Johnny was then fourteen and working as a
bellboy at St. Paul’s Windsor Hotel. His father, John Keller, was
a not-too-successful cook, whose efforts to earn a livelihood took
him away from St. Paul and obliged him to leave his only son in
his wife’s care most of the time. Mary Keller, Johnny’s mother, also
worked to supplement the family income— which was obviously
meager — and it had been necessary for Johnny to find a job at an
early age.?

When the two were released from the hospital, Johnny Keller,
who had been a model son, defied his parents and went to live
with William Williams, first at a rooming house and then at a
hotel. The older man developed a tremendous passion for Johnny,
which the boy apparently reciprocated. They were inseparable
companions. Young Keller, who previously had to work for a liv-
ing, now found himself supported by an adoring protector. How
the youth could have been attracted to Williams puzzled their
contemporaries, for the man was apparently an ugly “tough-look-
ing customer.” He is described as a “square-shouldered, sallow

young man” with a “capacious forehead,” bluish-tinged
cheeks, and “frowning brows, small, black eyes, short upper lip,
wide mouth, and the protruding down-curved lips that are his
most notable feature.” Although he seemed an unlikely man to
attract a good-looking youth, there was no doubt about what at-
tracted Williams to Johnny Keller, It was, as writers of that and
other days expressed it, “an unnatural attachment.” ¢

In 1904 Williams was working as a steam fitter near Winnipeg,
and he took Johnny to Manitoba with him. The two, however,
soon returned to St. Paul. Williams explained their leaving Winni-
peg by saying that the sleeping accommodations were not good
enough for Johnny — which may have been a way of saying that
the two of them either met criticism or could not find privacy.
| During this time the boy’s father violently opposed his son’s

158

THE END OF THE ROPE

association with Williams but, working outside St. Paul and un-
able to exert any direct influence, he was forced to let the relation-
ship go on until he could act. By December, 1904, the boy ap-
peared to be tiring of his companion and seemed ready to obey
his parents; at least, for the first time, he left Williams in Manitoba
to join his father at St. James, Minnesota. He did not stay long.

About a week later, on December 26, Williams — unable to bear
the separation — abandoned his job and followed Johnny to St.
James. There he had a violent argument with the boy’s father,
who said that he would put Johnny in reform school before he
would let him go back to Winnipeg with Williams. But the man’s
strange hold on the boy was not yet broken, and Johnny again
trotted after Williams. The two were soon in Winnipeg once more.
It must also be reported that in spite of his storm and bluster, John
Keller — in the manner of fathers-in-law who have married their
offspring to persons in better circumstances than themselves —
wrote Williams to ask for a Joan.5

In spite of Johnny’s disobedience in December, the bonds of
the William Williams and Johnny Keller relationship were loosen-
ing. When Mary Keller sent her son a railroad ticket in February,
1905, the youth obediently left Winnipeg and went back to his
parents’ apartment in St. Paul. Within three days Williams again
threw over his job and returned to the capital in pursuit, but he
did not stay. On February 13 he departed for St. Louis, where he
found employment and tried to save money so that he and Johnny
could go back together,

During his absence in Missouri, Williams wrote Johnny a re-
markable series of letters, usually signing them “Your loving friend,
Bill.” The burden of this correspondence was that Williams be-
lieved Johnny had thrown him over, and that if so, Johnny had
better reconsider before something drastic happened to him. On
March 3, 1905, Williams wrote: “You have been playing with me
long enough now, Johnny; so it is time you tried something else
for a change. Keep your promise to me this time, old boy, as it is
your last chance.” Ten days later he wrote more ominously; “I
cannot believe you have gone back on me, and have good reason
to think that others are doing this, not you. If I really thought it
was yourself, I would see you so quick as the train would get me
there, and you know what would happen.” On March 18, almost

159


AT THE END of the nineteenth century Americans looked upon
their handiwork and called it good simply because it was one
hundred per cent American. Railroads spanned the continent, gas
and even a few electric lights had replaced candles, the telephone
had been invented, and everywhere the mechanization of life went
on in a highly satisfactory way. In the early 1900s, however, citi-

zens of the United States became self-conscious and self-critical.
The crankiness of nineteenth-century New England reformers
began to permeate the whole nation. Upon analysis some practices
of the last century, such as hanging criminals, seemed archaic
while others — the placid acceptance of municipal corruption for
example — challenged the citizen to act. It was the heyday of the
muckraker; moral earnestness was fashionable, and, to paraphrase
Alexander Pope’s “Essay on Man,” a motto for the times might
have been:
Imperfect Man, proclaim thy new-found Norm,
. Whatever is, is wrong and needs Reform.

During such an era, Minnesota could almost be said to await a
sensational criminal case from which a moral object lesson could
be drawn. William Williams furnished just such a case.

At one o'clock on the morning of April 13, 1905, a haggard and
disheveled man pounded on the door of Mrs. Emma Kline’s apart-
ment at 1 Reid Court in St. Paul. Mrs. Kline was awake. Sounds
of gunfire and a fall in the Keller apartment overhead had just
jolted her abruptly from sleep. Going to the door, she admitted

156

THE END OF THE ROPE

the man whom she saw to be William Williams, an acquaintance
of the Keller family and an occasional visitor at the apartment.
Williams was greatly agitated. After blurting out that the Keller
boy had been shot, he asked Mrs. Kline to go upstairs to look after
Mrs. Keller and her son. Then he disappeared as suddenly as he
had come.
Mrs. Kline ran up the steps. She found Mrs. Mary Keller seated
in a.chair, bleeding profusely from a wound apparently in her
back. Mrs. Keller muttered faintly, “Bill shot my boy and nearly
killed me, too. You take the lamp and see if my boy is dead.” With
some reluctance Mrs. Kline tiptoed into the next room where she
found Johnny Keller lying on his side in bed, facing the wall.
Although the sixteen-year-old boy was still alive, he had two
bullet holes behind his right ear. Feeling “scared,” as she later put
it, Mrs. Kline stayed only a short time and then scurried away.’
Meanwhile the same haggard and disheveled man had ap-
peared suddenly at the St. Paul Central Police Station. Speaking
to Lieutenant William Hanft, Williams said excitedly that he had
shot someone and asked the police to send a doctor to Reid Court
at once. Hanft questioned the man who said he did not know
why he had done it. Williams then rambled through an incoherent
story about a quarrel with the boy’s mother —the reason and
details of which he could not tell—and an explanation that he
wanted the youth to go away with him but he would not go.
Questioned about a weapon, Williams said that he had a revolver
which was in the Keller apartment. He was placed under arrest
while a police detail sped to Reid Court and found the two in-
jured people. Williams’ revolver was lying on the floor. That after-
noon Johnny Keller died of his wounds; his mother died eight days
later.”

What led to this dreadful affair was the mortal passion of love,
which takes so many forms. William Williams, the protagonist in
the drama, was an immigrant from St. Ives, Cornwall, who was
twenty-seven years old in 1905. He was uneducated but not un-
intelligent. He had been in the United States for about seven
years. During that time he had served in the army, spending a
portion of his enlistment in the guardhouse for attempted mutiny.
He had also served a two-year term in the St. Cloud Reformatory

157

“e
:
|
.
j
i


e
s

37%
| _ 96 MINNESOTA REPORTS

ie read a newspaper article about the trial of the case. T f
judges cissented upon the ground that they did not sofisider the owe
paper artic e inflammatory in character or calculated to prejudice
Oe ee ad the preg ys aig the article only wave a eat
_ - well posted as the eaters aa. =
7 a nee te a Tex, 366, it was held error to allow jurors
count of the tate SP pers containing an imperfect or incorrect ac-
, together with the comments upon the perso

character of those connected with the trial. For cases ae tl ae
Aaa articles were prejudicial, but had been waived by fictendéat and
padi ae see Bulliner v. State, 95 Ill, 394; State v. Walton, 92 Towa
na ae W. 179. A timely article on this subject appeared in the

pa 5, paber of the Green Bag, by Clarence Bishop Smith,
ae iY a that trial courts are endeavoring to forestall the
oe a vresitlee jude ae in ee _ co-operation of the
| . Ig mous Suit Case? trial in E
raed " representatives of the press and requested them _ ae

Publishing any thing concerning the case in advance of tl i

and ri only the actual proceedings; and in this instance t! “ oe
ae Rs vehi! have refrained from publishing the ricie
Saag ad it occurred to their representatives that such action

a © an ean upon the duties of the court. —
bone . hi ‘ the case before us the matter referred to was not
pies iees attention of the court pending the trial. But only thirt

ys had elapsed since the homicide. The press had written up the

. . .

wa i ic ¢€ :
i ality te Under such circumstances, it was a mis-
should be tal yy Fe separate, and in all such cases unusual care
stipes een to gain the assistance of the press in securing .the
sf dhe tan iis of justice. The trial court having been informed
aha ituation upon the motion for a new trial, it wa

iscretion, in my judgment, not to grant the motion * an abuse

2Commonwealth y. Macleod (not to be reported).

- START, O. J.

'
<«

TEAL Y. 8T. PAUL OITY RAtLWAY OO.

°

MARY J. THAL y. ST. PAUL CITY RAILWAY COMPANY.!

879

December 8, 1905.

Nos. 14,477—(115).

Negligence.

Action to recover for personal Injuries sustained by a collision between
the defendant’s street car and the sleigh of the plaintiff’s husband, in
which she was riding and which was drawn by a horse owned and driven
by him. Held:

1. The evidence justified the trial court in submitting to the jury the

' question of the wilful negligence of the defendant, and the court’s charge
to the jury as to such question, considered as a whole, was free from

error.

2. The

defendant to sound its gong.
8. The evidence does not show that the plaintiff was guilty of contribu-

-tory negligence as a matter of law. .

‘court did not err in its charge as to the alleged failure of the

Action in the district court for Ramsey county to recover $5,000 for
personal injuries. The case was tried before Bunn, J., and a jury,
which rendered a verdict in favor of plaintiff for $575. From an order
denying a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or for a

new trial, defendant appealed. Affirmed.

Munn & Thygeson, for appellant.
H. A, Loughran and John D. O’Brien, for respondent.

On the’afternoon of January 16, 1905, at about two o'clock, the plain-
tiff was riding with her husband upon his invitation in a sleigh drawn
by a horse owned by him, which he was driving in an easterly direction —
along Minnehaha street in the city of St. Paul. While he was attempt-
ing to cross East Seventh street near the intersection of Minnehaha and
Mendota streets the sleigh was struck by a car of the defendant going
easterly on Seventh street, whereby the plaintiff was thrown from the
sleigh and injured. This action was brought to recover damages for
such injury on the ground that the defendant negligently ran the car
over the crossing at a dangerous rate of speed without sounding the

1 Reported in 104 N. W. 945.


3876 96 MINNESOTA REPORTS

the defendant. Those questions implied that Murphy was in posses-
sion of knowledge which caused him to prevent the continuation of the
companionship, The very fact that the question was put to defendant
carrying with it a false insinuation, was the sting which threw defend-
ant into the raging passion described in the article, conceding it to be
true. The state, with all the machinery at its command for collectin
evidence, was willing to let the imputation rest upon the denial of de.
fendant, without calling Murphy or Marvin to prove the truth of the
charge. The defense was powerless. It could not call Murphy and
Marvin to support defendant’s denial. The insidious insinuation had
been lodged in the minds of the jury. It would take some effort for
them, unlearned in the law, to perceive that the state had made a sham
play. But the “baiting” and “prodding” had caused “the hell of that
fury to burst forth’; and this was what the state wanted.

Can it be doubted that this newspaper comment, brought to the jur
without the knowledge of the court, had weight with them when _
sidering a critical point in the case? .Was this no more than a fair
report of the court proceedings? ‘Tio what purpose has the sanctit
of the jurors’ prerogative been guarded by statutes if they ma math
lessly be encroached upon in this manner? What a pity the ict ex-
hibited in that write-up could not be engaged in a better service than
thus exploiting the frailties of the unfortunate!

I believe the views I have attempted to express are in harmon “witl
the general trend of judicial thought and expression on the subject |

In the case of State v. McCormick, 20 Wash. 94, 54 Pac ed ‘the
trial court was*reversed and a new trial granted on the @round that the
court, without permission of defendant, delivered to certain of the
jurors letters and newspapers addressed to them, although the letters
were from a distance and had been in transit for several days, and the
newspapers contained nothing relative to the cause on trial. The court
say: “It is the intention of the law that jurors in all actions shall be
most carefully guarded from outside influences, and while it is probabl
true, in this case, that the documents sent in did not influence them “f
arriving at their verdict, it’ is possible that they did. * * * ‘The
opportunity was given, and the fact that they might have contained
something of the kind is ‘sufficient.” |

STATE V. WILLIAMS

. @
In:Commonwealth v. Johnson, 5 Pa. C. C. 236, a newspaper con-

taining the following expression was read in the presence of the jurors.

-and discussed by them: “We hope that strict justice will be accorded

(to the defendant), and that, if innocent, which few believe, he may he
able to prove it, and thus save his neck from the gallows.” This was
held to be sufficient ground for a new trial, and the trial court was.

” reversed.

In People v. Stokes, 103 Cal. 193, 37 Pac. 207, a newspaper article
was read in the jury room which contained a report of the evidence
in the case, including certain evidence which the court had ruled to be
inadmissible, and also contained intimations that two of the jurors had

. been corrupted.” A new trial was granted, although it did not appear

that the jurors were in any manner prejudiced thereby, and in that
case the rule is stated (taken from Woodward v. Leavitt, 107 Mass.
453, 466): * That where evidence has been introduced tending to show
that without authority of law, but without any fault of either party or
his agent, a paper was communicated to the jury which might have in-
fluenced their minds, the testimony of the jurors is admissible to dis-
prove that the paper was communicated to them, but not to show wheth-

,

er they were influenced by it.
Williams v. State, 33 Tex. Cr. 128, 25 5. W. 629, 28 S. W. 958, is a

very instructive case, intensifying by contrast the rule that when a
newspaper contains a true report of the evidence, and nothing more,
the inference cannot be raised that the jury were prejudiced thereby.
‘The court say: “So far as we are able to gather from transcript, there
‘is nothing in the report, nor in the paper itself, which in the slightest
degree indicated the drift of public opinion as to appellant’s guilt or in-
nocence, nor is any prejudice or bias for or against appellant shown
in any comment therein, and it contained no fact that was not intro-
duced in the evidence on the trial.”

In Cartwright v. State, 71 Miss. 82, 14 South 526, it was held to be
ground for a new trial because members of the jury procured and read
newspapers containing reports of the evidence, accompanied by com-
ments of the reporter unfriendly to defendant and calculated to excite
prejudice against him. .

In Carter v. State, 7” Tenn. 440, a new trial was granted by a ma-
jority of the court-upon the ground that the jurors had been permitted.

Death

penalty
returns
to state

U.S. law leaves
some uneasy

By Denais Cassano
aod Daa Oberdorfer
Statf Writers

The death penalty has quietly re-
turned to Minnesota.

Although capital punishment was
abolished by the Legislature in 1911,
the new federal drug law that was
signed by President Reagan Nov. 18
includes the death penalty for some
drug-related homicides. The law is
expected to be applied to prosecu-
tions in Minnesota. .

U.S. Attorney Jerome Arnold, whose
job it is to enforce the new Jaw in
Minnesota, said he is prepared to
press for death when he gets the first
appropriate case.

And this is putting some officials in
Minnesota in an uncomfortable spot.

Hennepin County Attorney Tom
Johnson, for example, said he has
decided he will not cooperate with
Arnold in a capital case because he
believes “it is morally wrong for_the
State to be in the business of premed-
iated murder.”

And U.S. District Judge Diana Mur-
phy brought up the new law in a
Tecent speech. “I never anticipated
that as a judge I would have to deal
with the death penalty,” she ex-
plained later. “I can’t say I welcome
this ncw law, but Congress has
Passed it.”

The law allows federal prosecutors to
Seek the death penaliy when drug
dealers kill police officers or when
big-time dealers instigate killings
over drugs. Arnold said he cannot
fecall a recent case that would fit the
law, but with the increase in violence
over drug trafficking in the Twin
Cities he and others said that it is
probably just a matter of time until
such a killing occurs.

Federal law had provided for the
death penalty in Minnesota and the
test of the nation for a variety of
crimes until 1972. That year, the U.S.
Supreme Court declared that capital
punishment was not being imposed
in a fair manner, and in effect struck
down most death-sentence laws.
Congress later re-enacted laws allow-
ing the death sentence for espionage

| Penalty continued on page 5B

Penalty Continued from page 1B

of homicide during an airplane hi-
jacking, but those crimes are not as
likely to occur in Minnesota as the
drug homicides.

Wf a killing covered by the new law
occurs, Arnold said, he will check
with his supervisors at the Depari-
meat of Justice in Washington before
proceeding. It will not be personally
difficult for him to seek the death
penalty, he said, “because Congress
has authorized the punishment. The
ultimate decision is not with the U.S.
attorneys office or the Justice Depart-
meat, but with a judge or jury. Some-
one has to be a catalyst to niake it
happen. Congress has determined it
is the prosecutor.”

After Arnold files a notice saying he
intends to seck death in a particular
case, a trial will be held to determine
if the defendant is guilty. If the defen-
dant 1s convicted, thea the same jury,
or a judge if cveryone agrees, will
listen to testimony about whether the
felon should be put to death. The
jury or judge would have to consider
a list of factors — including other
crimes by the defendant, whether the
victim was particularly vulnerable
and whether other people were en-
dangered — before deciding if the
defendant should be executed. Only
adults can be eaccuted.

The jury's decision to pul somcone
fo death would have to be unani-
mous ‘The liw says judges must ac-

cept the jury's determination of
death, but the guilty verdict and the
death sentence can be appealed to
higher courts. ;

The law does not specify exactly how
the defendant should be executed. A
Minnesota defendant could be trans-
ferred to an out-of-state prison with
facilities for an execution, or the gov-
ernment could bring an executioner
here to kill the defendant with a
lethal injection.

When defendants are not sentenced
to death, the statute requires that
they be sent to prison for a minimum
of 20 years and authorizes judges to
impose life sentences without oppor-
tunity for parole.

Because Minnesota does not have
provisions for the death penalty in
state law, the capital punishment
provisions of the new federal law are
expected to have more of an impact
here than in the 37 states that already
allow capital punishment.

In Minnesota, jurics are not asked to
sentence the criminals they convict
in either the federal or state system.

But in capital cases they decide be- .

tween life and death.

While a recent Gatlup poll showed
that 80 percent of all Americans sup-
port the death penalty, Minnesotans
bisteie ically have not. Yn a 1983 Min-
nesota Poll, for example, a majority

es

still favored imprisonment over exc-
cution for coavicied murderers.

U.S. District Judge Edward Devitt, a
federal judge since President Eisen-
hower's administration, said he ques-
tions whether Minnesotans would be
comfortable issuing a death sentence.
Devitt said it probably would be a
hard decision for him to sentence

anyone to death, but he said that asa .

philosophical matter he has always
favored the death penalty for certain
types of cases.

Like Devitt, some others assigned to
uphold the law are not philosophical-
ly troubled by the death sentence.
Robert M.A. Johason, the Anoka
County attorney, said he would de-
cide on a case-by-case basis. His in-
clination would be to keep the case
himself instead of referring it for fed-
eral prosecution, but he said he
would send a case to the U.S. attor-
ney’s office if the state penalty was
not stiff enough for the offense. “I'm
not as philosophically opposed to the
death penalty as are some of my
brethren,” he said.

Tom Johnson, the Hennepin County
attorney, meanwhile, said he would
not refer a case to the U.S. attorneys
office if the result could be death. He
also said he would not lend prosecu-
tors or give other assistance.

But even if'a defendant is prosecuted
under state law, that would not pre-

Minnesota's last execution was a
 yarsaery fiasco in which the de-

ndant remained alive for almost
15 minutes after being hanged.

The year was 1906 and William
Williams had been convicted of
killing a 16-year-old boy, who had
been his lover, and the boy's
mother.

Williams, who was 28, ate a meal
of steak and potatoes and was
ready to die by 12:30 a.m. Feb. 13,
the date set for his hanging in St.
Paul. But, according to Walters
Trenerry’s book, “Murder in Min-
nesota,” the hanging did not go as
planned.

Williams gave a dignified speech
in which he proclaimed his inno-
cence. He said the murdered boy
had been the best friend lic ever
had. Then he turned to the atiend-
ing priest and said good-bye.

The sheriff released the trap door

Botched 1906 hanging was
Minnesota's last execution

in the platform, bui the rope was
too bong. Williams hit the floor.
His neck did aot break.

Three deputy shenlls scrambled
to the platform, lifted the rope
and Williams and held him high
until he choked to death 144% min-
ules later.

Later the sheriff realized his mis-
take. He had failed to account for
the fact that the rope would
stretch and Williams’ neck would
streich before bresking when he
plunged to the floor.

Public outcry over the botched
hanging was severe. No other
criminals were pul to death in
Mianesota and five years later the
Legislature voted to abolish the
death penalty. Premeditated miur-
der now is punished by a manda-
lory life sentence with opponuni-
ty for parole aficr 17% years.

vent a separate death-senicnce Case
from being brought under federal
law. That is because the U.S. Su-
preme Court has ruled that there is
no double jeopardy — prosecution
for the same crime twice — if it is

done by different states or by a state
and the federal government. But 1
would be highly unusual for a federal
Prosecutor in Minnesota to try bo
upstage a county prosecutor.

———————
———

~


MwwEAoeiS STAR TRIBUNE
TUES. Dec. 27, 982

‘ 2 , | s s

Keep Minnesota’s executions in the past

Fey are still alive to recount the February morn- ‘elaborate appeals process that precedes execution
dingin 1906 when William Williams, killer of a 16-. often exceeds the cost of life imprisonment.
.yéat-old boy, was hanged in St. Paul. But old —

‘néwspapers tell the story well enough: When the. The death penalty not only lacks justification; it
murderer fell through the trapdoor, the St. Paul lacks justice. Final and irrevocable, capital punish-
,Djspatch reported the next day, he dropped ment precludes reversal of the sentences of the
straight to the floor at the end of rope six inches wrongly convicted. Since only a fraction of all
-too.long. Three deputy sheriffs pulled up the slack, murderers are ultimately executed, it is inherently
“folding the condemned man off his feet for the arbitrary. And even in homogenous Minnesota,
“quarter-hour it took him to choke to death. Large- execution would likely be most frequent among
‘ly because of its barbarity, Williams’ execution those too poor and witless to hire a prestigious
‘became Minnesota’s last. Legislators would be _ defense attorney. ‘ee

wrong to revive the cruel practice now. Pubes ae

°4) The clamor for capital punishment is born of
-Mitinesota needs capital punishment, some law- frustration with crime, which the death penalty
Makers now say, to check the recent surge in would do little to ease. If the current punishment
“qurders and other violent crimes. Their proposals —_ for murder is: too lenient, why not make the
in,the coming legislative session likely will replace’ maximum penalty life without parole? That would
ther hangman’s noose with more reliable technol- shield the public from killers without making
egy. But making death less dramatic will not make - society itself a killer, In 1911, the Minnesota
‘it’ more defensible. A Minnesota death penalty‘. Legislature rejected as barbarous the spectacle of
could not perform miracles here that remain un- state-sponsored killing. In the 77 years since, Min-
,performed elsewhere. It would not demonstrably ; nesota has flourished without it. Those 77 civi-
‘deter crime. It would offer no greater protection to*:lized years offer the best argument against restor-
‘society than imprisoning a murderer for life. It. ing so harsh, pointless and primitive a punish-
“might not.eyen: save money; the expense of the ment... .. re fe

a aeeeneeenemenl

ee

aig “te nuke the moat of i
= Wing the tune ‘of the hymn)"
* he pusted imself

Dr acrameina Oho coments of hie table f

“ie prejudice ngalndt ‘the |:
north.

differ. ca

F Bulehurt hae ‘bern bractzed |

with ‘applications to} ;

there ‘was to bea hanging here {-

“pm tew days and thet the au-

‘were looking Term mas to to |”

jod.. ?Hie understanding was that |”

3$, would be paid and he was anxious
“the thoney, He was referred

ta’ Bheriff-Rutchart, “put he evidently


co ight and seemed “chesrtul,
sha usual carefid «toilet, and partook,

nt Intech as other dara have been
dent sine hia \ Incarceration. Hia
‘daath watch reported yeaterday morn
“fog that he had Mept well and he arose:
asugl and performed | the. tunctions
req of privonera: in the) ‘eounty

“not Roglecting to . piney in prayer

“and read w Parsame front hin bible.” He

had © pleasant good. morning for the
§esrd who.hadt pacelf up und down the
eorddor during the ‘long hours ‘6t. the |
“He made |

“0t@ hearty: breakfast, chatting pleas-"
meanwhile <0 aS. aren who
aeeried aha Ca 4 :

a He’ vinine: a Mignar. f

yet: ‘7 wes his last “day and he evidently:

Sh aang the 4tine 6f the hymn: Anh
Le * be busied. himself: ‘about. his
3 | as -arranaite the ‘eptitents at his table

aaa ae

i where. the) black

xy Ba day had

; 3 “cere, he was a good getor.-

je

te

¥

= ence as to the Sty}@ of the box In which fo:

«Hum:
ep ot

o Meanttd make the most of It

and doing a little wilting.” .
to a friend) in ainear by cel he
ratled out) and asked him oto Kaze
through the windows ‘at the sunshine,
“You Will probably sce Many “more.
bright - days.” he. aaid ewith a lash,
“hit this ja my list) I'm: giad the sun
fg up. 1t weems etter a0, T love
‘the gun... It Inakes me think of: the:
South, The wart. wunny = south,
nana Honje 38003
d sappyirited af the
been /dark and dreary’
“then che. bapen = bth rae mottly,
“tend indty hight” tt
“ \ Handerson’s Religion. ,
» ¥f Henderson's’ religion was ‘not Sint
“Prisoners
who were In jail with him and> who:
“ heve’since heen released claim) that he
was a hypocrite, that his christianity
“Was alla sham, and that when ‘his’
gpiritual advisor “or those - -éonnected
with the jail lwere rae pens a was
“blasphemous.”
"The coridemned” man's. wapestia fe
- difference tq everything pertaining to
his death was manifeated when James
Bits. Crawford,’ of Durkan .& Crawford,
é undertakers, went to the Jatt to meas,
= tre him for his coffin.” “He: pubmitted
comubetly, and even cau aboot the. Pere
Ver:
. Had | no Preference. as. 6 Me Coffin. :
He was-asked if he had. any preter-

should have been

thes

he wes to be incased und said that he
“Had -not It made. uitle: Aifteren¢é: to
«him, he sald, if it were elaborate’ or.

Y's otherwise; it was: pimply. La coftin and
ai nothing more,

During the last tew dave. of. his me
-‘earceration Henderson. had not ‘ been}
particularly affable to newspaper men,
Fle claimed they had not treated him
oe irly: that he -had been misquoted;
‘ oh they had refured to publish some
?thinga tre had requested,.and: ‘that tend
seed father not talk to. then.

Greets, News Tribune Reporter’ Poke
; Bat yesterday he. argesed @. alah

an officer to a prisoner,

Our Wall Pa apers Sciubined with

night: have sent. pa heretofore, oboe
tt won't: be necesadty now. - 1 will
have passed beyond: pators. th yeesn
thats: destination” ». t
-To.the reporter” he (iter bade” a]
piedeant ‘good serBOe and, Jeaned:

- *Wecting?" -
t awhy,*:

| Why shouldnt

welt, t ‘don't
reporter. “but; Ae seems to, me that if” t
Were In your. position and expected ‘to
be! executed within, ‘a: few “houts

me feel a litule abaky: aaah

iethigan nad the same. ‘trust. hy. the
Almighty’ God that I have,” satd “the
negro earnestly, “you, would feet the
surte aa Ida Yodo not fear death.
It is the will of God. “and 1 simpty sub-
mit to His* wit “Peath tx nothing to
‘be feared when Gne has ede, his pyace
with. God de I have.” -

Ornen : Hetiderson- went on. ta; ten ot |»

gome of hie earlier ‘life. His ancestors
a@ far back-ag the: early “slave® times
were residen ‘of Alabama and -the
blood Way: jixed with’ that™ of the
whites, © éHenderson was not tha rent
faiily. ame, Dut §t.had “peen changed
to:that when hs people moved ‘to the
north. His, ~home : pefore he came

west was-in. ‘Annapolis, Maryland, ‘and:

{twas there #hat jhe'was brought up,
He was -thoroughly American ~ and
‘when-a call was. made for troops to ga
to: Cuba he was one ef the. first to ots
tershis wervices,.: 7
Baw General ay Fa.
“He'gerved in the Santiago campaign
of the Spanish-American war and later
went to the Philippines, where he wag
made commisary-sergeant of ‘his regi-
ment. He claftna to have stood at the

side‘of: General Lawton on the morn:

ee was eneh at eee"
*3

h

ing’ that
Mateo,
Besides, ha
{édacation, Henderson. SOOKE:
Spaniah and French fluently. .
"Il can't say s00 much in praise. of

AT dase

both

the ‘officials ofthe county all," he re-.

marked hen asked how he had been
«Grea since taearceration. “+1
have absolutely no ‘complaint ‘te make.

‘While’ Mr. Sargent was in “office Iwas.
swell treated: “since Mr.: Butchart. has |

been in I have been well treated. Mr,
Mahoney, the. Spiler. yuder Mr. Sargent.
was one of my beet frisnda—that i» as
He extended
to'mé many: courtesies, and those.
eastie. court
the. prehent offictals of the jaik..
Sees Sisters and Friends.” ;
My: esha have been, sallowed © ite

our ability,. we offer, to make your 3
_home beautiful. aa tant

‘have been the rule of

; ee The cr rime for which Henderson, WRe

“4 thy was. dead he expressed no regret.”

4 a terror,
ng & fairly. ER English: ‘

fonto the bed and ¢hoke her.

‘te°his room in-company with her t

pat the hofet.

“aftet noon.

!
‘
i

told her that whe was net
“aw iter

headquarters, He wag a ertr, bionde -
Hhewhiskered Swede who gave his name

ax Olof Anferson, and he had but re- |. :

Pgently: ‘come from the woods. -

sé Ae told. Captain Resche that he nad
heat! there was to he a hanging here
within afew days and that the au-
thoritles: ‘were looking for’a man to do
the job. “His understanding wes that
$25 would be paid and he was anxious
to earn thé monéy. He was referred
40 ‘Sheriff Butchart,. but he evidentiy

Preceigedngas yiatter.as he did not}.

Prlicution to that officer.
Story of the Crime.

executed “wus, one of the most brutal: :

and) fieiidisherer comfuitted In.
state of Minnesota.

‘the

and even. wher dssured that, his vie<«

Stab after stab was inflicted upon the
helpless woman “whont he claimed at

; ‘Planned ‘with a4.
r ‘deliberation and” cunning he carried it
to tte” awful’ end without) Singhing,

that thne to be his wife; she ran’from 1}.

him Screaming, the hiood flowing in
grext sireams from the many wounds,
but: he wae not checked In his work pn-
ti whe dropped to the floor Where her
as ‘quickly ebbed away.) 44
“ Héaderson Comes ‘to Duluth.

“Sion getson and a man by the name |
of Rivers came to Duluth: fast Apr iv
in gearch~ of enplayments and. after
succeeding. in-this they sent for Mrs.
Rivers and Wa Mfec ormack,” who: at
that: time went hy the'‘nime of Tata
Hendersen and passed as his Wife.

‘The McCormack womah omet. Mra.
Rivers at the Aepotsin-Chicago, when
Henderson and Rivers went away, and
later the men came to Dultth to:
gether, - The ‘four took tooms “tn, a
boarding house at 72144 West Superior
street and al} went well for. a time.

Boon, “however, Mra; Rivers noticed
that relations between Henderson: and
hig alleged ‘wife were ©. becoming
trained; ‘they quarrelied often and at
one ‘time he wis seén to throw her
] Then
came the day when thera was a mord
Ditter quarrel than psval and the Me¢
Cormack. woman fed frony she" house

He Becomes He

E entaron seemed crazed with hh-
ger at? the time ahd during the Kf.
ternovun: ‘wecured at #%- and chopped
open the trunk of his so-called wife.
An) ilIneas followed the quarrel and
he Was confined te bis bed for aeme
days, In the mean time he had heard
through friends that one William Daw-
Bon, head waiter at the Spalding hotel,
‘had been paying a great deal of at-

Bereami®
reun ae
Hight fee
made 1 Be
and slag
every © +

4
crimson Bis
i 8.

Ronn
in ‘the cy
“exhaust
fidor aie
out 40 Beg
blvody a8
The 18.
by the: @
man “en
First st
Giitlon, &
he saw
awny the
him ung
ante,

At’ peta
erime 3
mesnor & a
defiances
woman &
end he
hint th oe
wanted Bar
The + 5 ;
SON Rarke
Rae Hols
was Cv Bees
folhiwin &
an indi Be
first de
The«<t

tention to the McCormack woman and ;
the day of the murder -Dawson lige
»
assure him That the repotts werr not
true. ; andl
Henderson and His Rival. ;
After the meeting the MeCornna: kj
qwoman-—left the house and Henderson

A gid Dawson went Gut walking toget
er, agreeing to meet” again thet evdite

ing when Dawson wus to tell Henter~
‘son of w position tn proepect for Rim.
Instead “of keepiig the
appointment he went to the house Th
the -worman. whom he jealled Dig wife:
and killed her. t '
-. Sunday Before the Murder.
The sunday before the murder the}
I Rivers woman learned that “Aire. Sfo-
Cormack was fi¥ing at 136. Weer First)
wtreet and she wai to #4 her that:
Thiy Wet Walking. t-
Kethef several tins
mada an engdgymont.tot the fuial Aai-
irdey evening, Jane 2)
oy hat night Mre. Rivers
Mi Cormack. Memes. hettre
fer unlocked the @her and per:

har to erterctn-thla ec CeRiON 8!
: tiendeventc#

had heey TA

called BEA 4
Ye tai-
stot |

ae
Rhee wath that «he
5

wh hy

ing or
iJohn M

state &
the rie
Wea tak

A Suey

ihe 16) :
wae) 6 Bee
; had Lee

The» Se
thiston Bea
tember
Gel otag
ter, 19

e rehoits

Lab
OS thee

; argue

ef) Sar
thrive s
veo ing

that Weeks op ff the ¥

i (ER


Me that ir t
pected to
‘hours

exevuted was one ofthe most’ brutal

‘State Of Minnesota.” Planned vith’ a
deliberatiagy apd Cunning he cartied-it
fo its awful end without’ Nnrebing,

“jand even when assured that; hie vie~

. yin LENG
ote ot
Ee atiersiore

n changed
4d tothe
be he caine
ylandand

‘ood at the:
the! morn-"

-thatia as
c¢axtended
and thore :

£

4

}
i
i
§
t

¢
,
i

}
t

,

|
|

true,

Pafternoon, .

Stab after stab was inficted. upen the
helpless -wottian wham hé claimed at
that time t¢ he his. wife:she ran from:

‘Thin: screamtig, the: blood flowing in

grert sireants from the many wounds,
but he wad not.checked in his work un-~
til she dropped ta-the floor whore her
Ie quickly -ebbed awny, 7 25 6S
Shs Meénderaon Gomes-to Duluth. § <”
’ Henderéon and a man bythe tame
of Rivers sania, to Duluth last “April
in gearch of .enipleyment, and” after
succeeding in this they sent. for Mre.
Rivers and Ida MeCormnack. who* nt
that time “went hy the: name of Ida
Henderson and passed as hia wife,
+ The -MoCormack- wom met. Mrs,
Rivets at the depot-in Chicago, when
Henderson end Rivers went away, and
Jater "the men came —ta= Iuluth to-
gether. The four took -r iin a
boarding house at 721% West Buperior
street and all went well fope thne.’

ee

hin | ulleged- wife (were. becoming
one time he way seen to throw her
ente the ped nnd ‘choke hers. \Then
cume the day wheu there was a mord
CDitrer quarrelthan ysual and the Me-
Cormack woman’ fied from. the house

in terror, y >
ip He ‘Becomes tlle > é
Henier=on seemed crazed with an-

open the trunk ‘of his so-called. wite.
Ai fnesa - followed «the. quarrel. and
he wis confined “to his bed for some
days,” In the méan time he had heard
through friends that one Willlam Duw~
son, head walter.at the Spalding hotel,
had been paying ® great deal of ate.
tention to the McCormack woman and
the, day of ‘the murder Dawwon came
‘to his room invcompany with her to
assure himithat the reports Were not
“Henderson and His Rival.

“ Atter the meeting the’ McCormack
womin feft-the house and Henderson
and: Dawson Went out walking togeth-
er, agreeing to meet asain that even-
ing when Dawson was te tell Hender-
on of a position tn prospect for him
at the hotel’ Instead. of- keeping the

tAppointmenthe went to the house of

the woniin whom he’ called hid wife
and killed her. se ah pl
Sunday Before the Murder, °--
The Sunday: before the murder the
Rivera Woman learmed that Mrs. BMe-"
Cormack avue’ Hving at 119 West First

fatreet and she went to see her that

went “Walking . to«
‘and
Bats

They
gether sevéral times that’ week:
mare aj: engugeméut—tor the fatal
irdwy evening, June 24-000 20

'

ori at night Mre. Mtivers called at the} >

McCormack woran’s homeo The lit-
ter ouplocked the door-and permitted

her ta enter, Oit: this Soccasion <she
“anidoher that she waa not Henderson's

Wites- She said that. aha had: been ta
police = heddquarters “that afternoon

Pasking that sié he | protected from

Henderson and she read Mra. Rivers’
& letter ehechag writtea’te Henersott,
telling hita that all was over between
them: © Hhe ssid atky that shes had
writtey to the man Unwao!
Overhears Conversation. . ”
While the tag women were stil
laiking — Henderson suddenly dashed
out from & Ctoset adjotning the room
ip which he had secreted bimeelf, He
had a knife in: bis hand :ang: with -

a

+The crits for which Henderson was ah

And feudi#h ever committed in’ thet

tiny Was dead he expressed no regret. |

|! ee ‘time. rae
oe Boon, however, Mrs,’ Rivers ‘noticed
4 that. relations between Henderson and

strained; they quarrelied-often ‘and at {'

ger ut the time and during. the af- 4.
{érnoon secured an ax ‘and chopped |

be aitecked. the: MoCormack woman,
Screanting ahe fied from bim. Through
rout after ‘room: ghé continued « her
flight for life, but:the. fend
‘made up bis niind ta kil}’her followed
and ‘@ashed her with the “wea oat
every opportunity, the blood leaving, «
critwen trail @n: the floor, ~~:

> Running! into the flat of W, D. Jones,
inthe same building, ehe finally sank,
exhausted from the lose of hlvod to the
‘fioor ‘and Henderson’ made “his” way

‘out fo the street still: sripping | the

‘bidedy knife, (0 8 aie 34

yfhe neighborhood, had. been aroused
ty the screams of the unfortunate wo~
man and as -Hendereon started dowa

First’ atreet. he was met py Sergeant

was considered b

+ Phe casé came

ing’ of September 36,"County Attorney
John M. McClintock appearing for the
state ahd- Attorney Dantel- Waite for
the . murderer. The entire: first: day

#-jery and it wis not unlll three ‘o'clock
the following afternoon that. the’ panel
avae compjoted, after
had been called > FREER ier eRe ran
~ State Closes its Casey
"The state clased jts Case at the con-
élusion of the. session of court Bep-
tember 17 and the’ testimony ‘of the
“defense was all in-at noon on Beptem-
ber 19, "Phe remainder. of ‘that day
was taken up in hearing testimony in
rebuttals 0552 Pages tec
“On the morning of September 20 the
arguments to the JWR Were Dexun and
conaamed. the entinge day, the jury re-
tiring shortly before severr o'clock: that
evening. After about three delibera~
‘Alons,. just a few, minutes “before ten
o'clock, they, came in, rendering the
perahites 2. Arai ae Sete ie airy
2 oNot a Tremor: pitem gies ;
“Wee a tremor ‘passed over ace
af That mnlirderer! He: still’ remained
Hidifferenit and to a News Tribune re-
porter he, sald curtly that he ~ had
nothing to aay td the newspapers.
‘The tact that he bad been convicted
of murder--and faced death did not
‘seem to-affect him. His cheerfuiness
did not Jeave him. He sang and
and then—-he suddenly acquired rell-
gion, © : z
Rey. John
Tiope Mission sought”
ored fo comfort him.
cureé a bible talked te
ctiptura ike: «Te
orl faithful attendant at

Callahan, of the Star of
. him and. endeav-
Hendereoa. pro

it} meetings at the covaty alt
eS gh RSIS GS te Sey Oe

OFS Gis

‘that had |” Ma
«He fixed up bis cell very attractive-

: oP table and= he:
{A Mietin: Sinke Exhausted.

Wis taken up.in an endeavor to secure 7

fifty-seven men |.

“Colé £

was louder in’ prayer and sone could
sing hymns with more apparent fervor:
and sincerity thas he... baa
Hye He. Breaks Into Poetry, ‘
the walls; fruit
timespan his
entertained hia. friends
who came to ca}l on bim. And then he
broke into poetry writing verse after
Verse. and seeking the publication of his
efforts in the newspapers. :
On November 29, at: one o'clock In
the afternoon he was brought ‘before
‘Judge Cant. When asked if he had
anything ta say why the sentence of
the court.should not be pronounced
he. a dramatic and Jengthy ep-
ifor mercy...

Iv}. picturee adorned:
and dalnties were at all.

bled ‘ag he ‘at

derpon wee calm and
atoed with his hands clasped
him and listened to every word,

& There: was the allence of death in
the ‘yoom rand. when the court

indifferent.
before

digap
Rete cccnpled nd extended . his
wrists for the Bandcufts the eputy

ated, Stage hg
5: Metion fer New Triet Denied.”
“A motion for a new: trial fqtlowed
‘arid thie-was denied. Then a petition
utation of sentence ta life
t was presented to the)
s,and an. able ap- }
peal wan made Attor- |
ney | Alexander Marshall,
poid of the prisoner's. case after the
motion for a new tria} had been de-
nied, : The pardon. board, however, de-
cided that the sentence of Judge Cant
was just-andé right and denied the aps
»-. > Ne Appeal Taken...”
© Je was planned to appeal to the state
me court for a stay of wig ani
ut the appeal wae never taken, It be-
Tig usdeyetood that the murderer’#
friends were unable to secure the nec-
essary money >to continue the litiga-

tion: ~ ay, ; :

LITTLE BOY WILL GET NEW LEG.
ia eg Creep tematic

Frank McMahon Popular Lad of Grand

“Rapids Goes te Minne-
bsg op Bpelle

ih, ‘

®

Dr. Ge { Grand Rap
“De. George C. Gilbert, of Gre -
Pk raat passed through. the city
yesterday with Frank, McMahon, 6 13-
year-old boy, en" route to Minneapolis,
where the latter ts to be fitted with &
cork left tes. The boy bad the mis-
fortune to be run over by « train at
Grand Rapids ond he fost “his jefe
jeg Below the knee, He came near los-
ing both legs, but the Goctor was abic
pare the ether member, McMahon

te
lo & clover little feljow ang te eager to

Ee

Bee

Be

lt f
Balt

-

ee ms
+
4.

OF. -

4


Py Bey ke eee |
‘Se Ey PEE RG ee ah

nds carried at the spring elerc-
n, but nothing mueh Was done
th the railro; oc

City Election, 1887
Yn April Sth, 1887. occurred
of the hottest city elections,
only or the ‘kond que.tion but

» for the Citys ITI- es

he principal contest Was for
‘or, between James A Brown
Jaceb Austin. Brown was
‘ar and it Was conceded that
hould: win ut very easily over
‘in. Austin had been through
ral politicay eampaigns and
not to be/caught isleap.  [t
id, that, the day ocfore elec-
he called ane Sani Diamong,
was an Austin supporter and
been on the police foree, also
dmaster, and ‘who Was pen-
’ disliked by everybody and
him to go among the voters
1€ south side of the river, a
ct was Rrown’s stron
a, istrib: {e, Brown for
r tickets, Athe Australian
n of voting was not in use
and tel) ithe voters that if
2 Was elected mayor, that
Jiamond) Was to be appoin-
hief of Potice, Diamond
9) theroughly\ detested, that
de good many votes for
The result of the elec-

S handed in by ‘the Judges
‘'S follows:

‘Ss A. Brown, 444 votes,
) Austin, “43 votes.
Istin, 2 votes.
vote Was yanvassed by the
UNI] at their Iext meet-
Til 7th. and Mayor C. D,
beires abs>nt from the
‘ting | ayor Ereuer Was ‘n
ir, A motion was made
re Brown elecred. second-
\Iderman. Haave and sup-
YY Alderman Schmitz. Be-
8 voted on, \City Attor-
KE. Rawson. w: S called on
ed for an Opinion as ty
lity of the two J. Austin
\fter citing same Supreme
ecisions, — he/ ru:ed that
9 votes should pe eredii-
‘ob in, as ii was Cvi-

RM. come mem ne

yur eetae

4 STORY

FROM

TRE asp eeiaiqg en

i. PY oy

dent that they were intended for
him, and hat Austin should ove
Liven the certificate of eleetion,
Alderman Haave declared that
the Council could not go beyond
the results as given by the elee-
tion judges and that Brown was
the choic& of the people. After
considerable discussion a motion
was made to declare Austin clect-
cd. This :notijor. carried, Aldor-
man Haave voting “No.” The rest
of the officers. elect, were as fol-
lows: hs *

Treasurer, F, G. Barrows.

Alderman, 1st Ward, M. T. Me-

Mahon. y
Alderman, 2nd Ward, A, H.
Kirk.
Alderman, 3rd Ward, James F.
Cowie. /

Aldermen Haave, Breuer and
Schmi 2, 1etiring.
The vote for license carried,

Austin Supporters Celebrate

After: the.” Counce meeting,
Which decided Austin’s election,
nearly all of the Ausiin support-
els, started, on “oot. on horse-
back, in carriages and Wagons tor
the Austin home in Guttenberg,
All hacks end busses were pre3..-
ed into service and Capt. Cole
put the wheels back on the big
band wagon,’ which also made
many trips; drawn hy four horses,

‘The door§ of the Aust'n residence

were thrown Open to the
where; tables, loaded with eat-
ables, drinks and cigars were
found. \ Speeches were made and
a 800d \time held until the wee
hours of ‘the morning.

crowd,

New ‘Appointive Olficers

At the mecting of the City
Council on April 12th, 1887, the
following wer appointed:

Acting Mayor, A. H. Kirk,

City Clerk/E, J. Evans.

M. R. Ty] rand H.R Rawson
received a tie vote for City Attor-
ney and yor Austin gave the
deciding vote for Rawson

Geo. A, urpank. City Engineer

P.O: Noben, J. P. Kennedy and
FM, Wright were Candidates for
Assessor, After a tie vote be-

OF Feee
TO Jan. !, 1293

A. Baker

ah 35 Pub. by OTTER TAIL County

Historical Society

Jkerinedy and Wright the

tween
Mayor
4:so a tie vo, «
on Street Commissioner between
as. McCrossin and Chas. Arder-
son, and the latter was elected on
the 13th ballot. Dan Sulliva,,
Was appointed Chief of Police and
Joseph Harmon, Ole Roise and F

Finkleson were made patrolmen.
Fourteen saloon licenses Were
£ranted, \

Base Ball

In 1887 the “Red River. Bass
ball League” Was orgunized. This
consisted of-téams fry, four ci
ties; Grand’ Fovks, Facgo Wahpe-
ton-Breckenridge and = Bergus
Falls, Waiter H. Clary was made
manager of the local team and
practically all of the player; were
outside men. The only player, ut
that team, now left. in this city is
W. T. Bell, who Diayed left field
Position. F

— Lillie Field Murder
Citizens of Fersus Falls wee
shocked on the morning of May
26, 1887, ky the brutal muider of
Lillie Field, the l5-year old
daughter of Mrs. A. W Field, a
widow, living in the township of
St. Olaf. Mrs. Field and her oi¢-
est son had come to Fergus Falhs
by team, leaving her Caughter,
Lillie, at the farm home toyether
with a vounger brother and the
hired man, Nels Olson Holong, a
man about 30 yeais oid Holongs
was infatuated with the daughter
but she would nave nothing to do
With him. Afte; Mrs Fiely and
the older son had lef. the farm,
Holong sent the younger boy to a
neighbor on some errand, leaving
him alone with the gir. It ap-
pears that he went to the hous. ,
and the girl “efused his atten-
tions. He claimed that she struck
him with a rolling pin, and in
anger, he struck her across the
back of the qeck. He saic thet
she never regained consciousness,
He carried her out to the back
yard, and hid the body, then wert
back to the house and got the
butcher knife. Going hack to the


COPY RIGHT
1962
by the
MINNESOTA

HISTORICAL
SOCIETY

Library of Congress
Catalog Card Number
62-63717

45
B's
i

THIS BOOK surveys the art of murder as practiced in the North
Star State between 1858, when Minnesota was admitted to the
Union, and 1917. The volume arbitrarily ends in 1917, not because
Minnesotans stopped killing each other in that year, but be-
cause murders do not take place in a vacuum and reviving those
which occurred after 1917 might bring needless embarrassment to
numerous living persons who have already suffered the notoriety
that surrounds a murder case.

Minnesota is surprisingly rich in homicidal lore, and I freely
admit that other equally interesting collections could be made
without duplicating the examples I have chosen. These cases —
which include several well-known ones as well as others that are
obscure — appealed to me because each seemed to have some
slight touch, some little flair, that took it out of the humdrum. In
making this selection, I attempted to put together a readable book
that would introduce a number of lively people who have not found
their way into classic history texts. For Minnesota has had its great
criminals as well as its important social builders. Many of the
latter have received Clio’s attention. Most of the former have not.
Thope partially to redress the balance and give the historical under-
dog his day. Some of these murderers had great ability; they out-
shone in ingenuity their contemporaries in public life, albeit they
might have put their abilities to better uses.

In these pages, too, some of Minnesota’s leading men appear
in unusual roles. Isaac Atwater, a member of the state’s first su-

Vv


..-RDER IN MINNESOTA

preme court, hears a habeas corpus petition based on allegations
of fraudulent arrest; his colleague on the supreme bench, Charles
E. Flandrau, defends a drunken rioter and pleads his case before
Horace Austin, a district judge, who is better known as Minne-
sota’s governor from 1870 to 1874. Jay Cooke, nineteenth-century
builder of financial empires, brings political influence to bear in
the case of a plasterer, and Ignatius L. Donnelly, as fiery a politi-
cian and versatile a pioneer as any state produced, signs a petition
requesting the pardon of a woman. William Mitchell, one of Min-
nesota’s great jurists, presides over a case involving a drunken
party that began in a house of joy, while his famous son, William
D. Mitchell, who later became United States attorney general, acts
for a woman indicted for murder. William W. Erwin, who is well
known as a Populist orator but who was also considered one of
the greatest American criminal lawyers of his day, defends three
accused murderers. .

To read through these cases chronologically is to see a large
segment of Minnesota history. To view history in terms of murder
is perhaps extracanonical, but this angle of sight, like many others,
illuminates changes in attitudes, laws, and fashions which are the
substance of man’s record. During the period from 1857 to 1917,
motives for murder did not change, but Minnesota did. In 1857
the area was a largely unsettled wilderness on the verge of be-
coming a state. It had its lynchings and vigilantes, its two-gun men
and speculators. Sixty years later it had substantially developed
into the modern commonwealth we know today — urbanized and
orderly, with the headaches caused by automobile traffic. Indians
were no longer a menace; the wild frontier had been conquered,
and the rich prairies and forests of the red men supported a pros-
perous agricultural and industrial society.

Until 1911 the penalty for murder in the first degree was the
rough, old, English method of publicly hanging the culprit. During
the years from 1858 to 1911 approximately twenty-six persons were
hanged in Minnesota. It is necessary to say approximately because
the executions were carried out in the counties of conviction. No
central registry exists and some records may have been lost. A sum-
mary of the known hangings in Minnesota may be found at the end
of this book.

As Minnesota developed, attitudes toward criminals and punish-

vi

PREFACE

ment shifted dramatically. Psychologists in comparatively recent
times have managed to arouse a not wholly merited sympathy for
the criminal. Today it is often “Society” which is said to be respon-
sible, rather than the individual who pulls the trigger. The develop-
ment of this attitude, which flowered during the reform movements
of the early 1900s, was in part responsible for Minnesota’s abolish-
ing capital punishment in 1911.

It is fairly safe to say that capital punishment was never really
popular in the state. Judges pronounced the death sentence with
distaste and governors commuted more sentences to life imprison-
ment than they issued warrants for hanging. Once abolished, capi-
tal punishment was never restored. Life imprisonment is still the
maximum penalty imposed in the North Star State, and in 1960
Minnesota was one of only nine states in the nation which did not
inflict capital punishment, according to the New York Times of
March 38, 1960.

The year following the abolishment of the death penalty, the
Minnesota Supreme Court articulated the state’s new policy toward
criminals. In the State of Minnesota ex rel. John F. Kelly v. Henry
Wolfer (119 Minnesota 368), the court said that “one of the prin-
cipal aims, if, indeed, not the predominant one, of our penal sys-
temisreform.... Anciently, when, under the barbarous doctrine
of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, ‘punishment’ was
deemed to be, as the word implies, largely compensatory, the
natural and logical conception of a sentence for a crime was that
the ‘punishment’ should be nicely graduated to the nature and
circumstances of the offense. . . . The modern conception of ‘pun-
ishment,’ however . . . takes practically no account of compensa-
tion; the only survival thereof being found in the attempt at
prevention by means of deterring examples and by confinement of
and restrictions upon criminals considered dangerous to be at
large. . . . No longer is proportionate punishment to be meted
out to the criminal, measure for measure; but the unfortunate of-
fender is to be committed to the charge of the officers of the state,
as a sort of penitential ward, to be restrained so far as necessary to
protect the public from recurrent manifestations of his criminal
tendencies . . . but, if possible, to be reformed, cured of his crim-
inality, and finally released, a normal man, and a rehabilitated
citizen.” Both concepts of punishment are reflected in the cases

vii

Ad

WALLERT, Franz Theodore, white, hanged G

"St. Paul, Minne, Auge si. 1700. ~ An A

'Lawt night between 10

from

and 11 o'clock,

seriously wounding his 19-year-old stepson. He then set fire
troying the stable with nine horses, a corn crib

ago Wallart married the widow Starbbors and for some

trouble. The wife had recently sie trying to

to prevent Wallart from coming to the farm, re

the woods with a revolver he Sees to the hous

dows. His wife evidently was alarmed by the nois

leaving the bed, The baby was found dead on the

second boy was
wee fled to

her bedroom, A
is feared he may die.
been apprehended,"

NAL, Atlanta, Geor

aylord, Minnesota, on Mar. 29, 1901.

rlington, Minne,
Theodore Wallert, a fa
town, killed his wife and two of his stepchildr

seriously wounded a

the ian

and a full hay barn,

ise , and entered

specsat to The Dispatch says
armer, living three mile
girl of l6and a baby, and
to his barns, des-
Three years
little Sime iia pea Beer havin
whe. puabiiptng | in
by one of the win-
e and she was killed as she was
Lunes the girl on the floor of

nd has been brought to town, It
after the crime and has not yet

S atenine

gia, August 20, 1900 (10/7.)


IN MINNESOTA

A Collection of True Cases

by WALTER N. TRENERRY

THE MINNESOTA Historica. SOCIETY
St. Paul, 1962

SCTE TIM 8 CWYTTTIM

ban TUM
IT LUM

"3¢ peSusy

906T/ET/2 NW ‘tnesr

368 96 MINNESOTA REPORTS

STATE V. WILLIAMS 369

°

‘Defendant gave no coherent account of the tragedy. Ne protested
that he could not have killed his friends, that there was no reason for
-shooting Johnny and his mother, and claimed that his mind was a blank
as to the details of the occurrence, and immediately thereafter appeared
at police headquarters, excited and faint, and urged the officer to sen
a doctor quick—that he might have hurt some one. His conduct and
‘declarations are consistent with the theory that the deed was commit-
ted in the heat of passion, or at least without deliberation, While it
conclusively appears from the evidence that the boy met his death at
the hands of defendant by. means of a revolver, that the shooting was
inexcusable and unjustifiable, yet the evidence is convincing that the
tragedy was the outgrowth of some sudden quarrel or disturbance,
and was committed in the heat of passion brought about by the peculiar,
excitable temperament of the man, his love for the boy, and the prob-
able interference with their companionship. To what extent defend-
~ ant became unbalanced, and to what degree an intention to effect death
was manifested, were unquestionably the exclusive and absolute duty

for her. She will not interfere between us, I know, as she knows
whether you will be better off with or without me.

This letter bears out the claim, made by the defense at the trial, that
the mother had consented to their traveling together to look for work
and these expressions of respect for the mother are not in haetonn
with any base relations with the boy and are inconsistent with a plan

to effect their murder. Another letter appears in the record on page -
189, not referred to in the opinion, dated at Cairo, Illinois, March 26

in which the writer refers to their probable trip to Winnipep the fold
lowing June, and looks forward to meeting the boy at St. Paul, and
contains the following declaration of friendship:

W ell, Johnny, old boy, we will stick together this season, and
then, if you wish to leave me on your own account, I won’t pre-

vent you; but I shall be sorry to lose you even then, because I
do care for you.

of the jury to determine.
The degree of guilt, as shown by the circumstances surrounding the

commission of a homicide, is well defined in the law, as the result of
- long experience. By the common law murder was the unlawful kill-
. ing of:a human being with malice aforethought, expressed or implied,
There were no degrees of murder, and all such crimes were punishable
’ by death. But the legislature in its wisdom, in common with many
other states, divided murder into degrees according to the circum-
stances attending its commission. ‘This, upon the theory that in nat-
ural justice the penalty of death should not be inflicted in cases where
the evidence indicated that the homicide was the result of sudden pas-
sion or impulse, and not committed with deliberation, reflection, or a
fixed and determined purpose. A homicide committed on a sudden im-
pulse may be premeditated, in a certain sense, because of intent to kill,
yet it is not deliberate, and therefore does not constitute murder in the
first degree. Copeland v. State, 7 Humph. (Tenn.) 479; Common-
wealth v. Drum, 58 Pa. St. 9; Leighton v. People, 88 N. Y. 117; Iah-
nestock v. State, 23 Ind. 231.
To constitute murder in the first degree there must be a fully formed
“purpose to kill, with so much time for such deliberation and premedi-

Lf 96 M.—2&,

Another point emphasized in the opinion in support of the argu-
ment that the evidence unerringly and conclusively leads the mind to
but one conclusion—murder, deliberate and premeditated—is the inci-
dent at St. James. The record does not support the assertion that the
father objected to the companionship because of any unnatural relation
between defendant and the boy. He objected to his son leaving St
James and going with defendant, as of course he had a right to aes
but that such objection was based upon the ground initiated by the :
state was entirely unproved. If it were true, there would have been
no mere objection by the father, and friendly relations between him
and defendant would then and there have been immediately severed
But after that date defendant visited ‘at the home of the father and oa
upon friendly terms with him at St. Louis, and Mr. Keller did not
deny that he had written defendant asking for a loan of money. Be-
sides, during most of the period under consideration the father was
away from home, and the son was living with his mother, and upon
cross-examination Mr. Keller stated that so far as he knew the boy
might have accompanied defendant upon their various trips with the
consent of the mother, all of which is consistent with an innocent
friendship, although opposed by the father,

370 96 MINNESOTA REPORTS

tation as to convince the jury that such purpose is not the immediate

offspring of rashness and impetuous temper, and that the mind has be-
come fully conscious of its design. Commonwealth v. Drum, supra.
It is enough, however, if there is time for the mind to think upon or
to consider the act and then determine to do it. In Leighton v. Peo-
ple, 88 N. Y. 117, it was said: “An act coexistent with and insepa-
rable from a sudden impulse, although premeditated, could not be
deemed deliberate, as when, under sudden and great provocation, one
instantly although intentionally kills another. But the statute is not
satisfied unless the intention was deliberated upon. If the impulse is
followed by reflection, that is deliberation.” More fully stated in Fah-
nestock v. State, supra, as follows: “In murder in the first degree,
premeditated malice requires that there should be time and opportunity
for deliberate thought, and that, after the mind conceives the thought
of taking the life, the conception is meditated upon, and a deliberate
determination formed to do the act. That being done, then, no differ-
ence how soon the fatal resolve is carried into execution, it is murder
in the first degree. In murder in the second degree, the purpose or
intention to kill is followed immediatély by the act, and is not premedi-
tated, the time and the circumstances are not such as to allow of de-
liberate thought, yet there must be a formed design and purpose to
kill.” :

I will not presume to pass any criticism upon the learned trial court
for the manner in which the different degrees of murder were submit-
ted to the jury, but I cannot refrain from expressing regret that mur-
der in the second degree and manslaughter in the first degree did not
receive more independent treatment with reference to the evidence.
The jury appear to have caught the distinction only in part, for after
being in consultation for a considerable time, they returned into the

courtroom and presented the following question to the court for an- .

swer:

If John Keller was shot by defendant in the heat of sudden

passion, on the spur of the moment, immediately following a‘ °

scuffle with Mrs. Keller, with intent to kill, but without previous
intention, would that be murder in the first degree?

STATE V. WILLIAMS 3871

But the court replied that it could be best answered by again reading
to the jury that part of the charge which explained the question, and

‘thereupon restated the general principles of law applicable to murder

in the first and second degree, and manslaughter in the first degree,
without reference to the evidence applicable to the principles announ-

‘ced. I do nof claim any error here, but, considering subsequent de-

velopments as to influences at work upon the jury, and in view of the
fact that the jury were in doubt on this very point, it was unfortunate
that such phase of the case was not more independently set out in the
charge. However, the trial court was of the opinion that the evidence

was not all one way, but that it was doubtful what degree of crime had

been committed, and hence the jury must determine it. Had the court
instructed the jury that the evidence did not warrant any other verdict
than murder in the first degree, can it be doubted that it would have
been an infringement upon the province of the jury and error? But
the majority of the court, acting as a court of review upon appeal,
differ with the learned trial court as to the weight of the evidence,
and hold that only one conclusion was possible and that any other
than the one arrived at by the jury would have been an impeachment
of their intelligence. |

Such being the issues, were the jurors permitted to proceed in their
consideration of the evidence in that calm, free, and unprejudiced at-
titude of mind demanded by common consent and. guarantied by the
law of criminal procedure? According to the affidavit of juror Gor-

‘man, after the trial had commenced and the selection of a jury was

in progress, at about noon on May 15, the St. Paul Daily News, pub-
lished at St. Paul, was placed in the hands of one of the jurors, and
contained the article referred to in the affidavit as “Exhibit B” and
found in the record. Mr. Gorman affirms that he read the article him-
self, and that many of the jurors commented upon it and accepted its
contents as true. The article was headed:

TWO MURDERERS IN PLOT TO ESCAPE.

. GOTTSCHALK AND WILLIAMS HAD MURDEROUS BLUDGION READY

TOR USE.
Sheriff Frustrated Plan.

The article contains a detailed statement of an effort made by the two
so-called murderers to escape; that Williams confessed to being in the

372 96 MINNESOTA REPORTS

plot, and that he (Williams), being a plumber by trade, had unscrewed
a piece of gas pipe, one inch in diameter and two feet long, which con-
nected the shower-bath arrangement in the bathroom on the third
floor of the jail; that Williams admitted it was planned for either him-
self or Gottschalk, when a favorable opportunity offered, to fell their
jailer with the pipe, get possession of the keys, and so make their escape.
The article was intensified by a picture of the piece of gas pipe, under-
neath which were the words, in large letters:

WEAPON WIIICH GOTTSCIIALK AND WILLIAMS PREPARED TO AID
IN TITEIR ESCAPE FROM JAIL.

At the close of the article it was stated that Williams’ attorney de-
nied any such confession had been made. “The-accusation against the
defendant was false in every particular, but such fact was unknown
to the jurors until the trial was over, and although the paper was
placed in the hands of Gorman and another juror before they were
selected as jurors in the case, yet it is averred in the affidavit that the
article was read, considered, and commented on by different members
of the jury while they were in the discharge of their duties in weigh-
ing the evidence. It is not denied that the article appeared either in
the noon or evening edition of the Daily News on May 15, and there
was no attempt on the part of the state to contradict the statements
made in the affidavit. The consequence was that certain of the jurors,
while considering the’ evidence, were probably under the impression
that the man they were trying for his life was ready to commit another
murder, if necessary, in order to effect his escape.

The trial proceeded, and on May 18, in the five o’clock edition of
the St. Paul Dispatch, appeared an article bearing upon the trial of
‘defendant, and according to the affidavit of Mr. Gorman, one of the
jurors, the jury were permitted to separate during the course of the
trial, and during the adjournment on the evening of May 18 the paper
referred to, containing the article stated, came into his hands; that he
and other jurors read the same; and that. he believed, from his ac-
quaintance with the jury and with the circumstances of the trial, that
the jury were greatly prejudiced against defendant on account of
the article. A similar affidavit was made by juror Reed.

STATE V. WILLIAMS 373

‘ort At’S A DAMNED LIE!”

SHOUTS THE ACCUSED,

‘was the heading in large type, and the paper containing the article is

attached to’ one of the affidavits in the record, and is in part as follows:

Williams’ Heated and Unexpected Reply to County Attorney
Produces a Tense. Moment at the Williams Murder Trial Today
—Proceedings in Detail.

Did you ever see a wild beast at bay—teeth exposed, eyes
glaring with fury, claws unsheathed for the savage spring ?
Williams—William Williams—was the wild beast this morning
as he sat on the witness stand, baited, surrounded, at bay.

The hell within the man burst forth in uncontrolled fury and
he screamed out:

“No sir, it’s not; that’s a damned lie.”

Victims devoted to death used once to stand on the bloody

» gands of the arena in Rome, a circle of faces all about them.
a small, poor

The scale is infinitely less in courtroom No. 1
place to exemplify the ancient show of the arena; but the par-
allel was visible. Williams sat there on the stand, the center
of a semicircle of crowding people that had crushed into the
room,

He finished his story to the friendly attorneys for the defense,
told it with something like a pacific smile on his great mouth,
told it as though it would be received as the correct statement
of his unselfish affection for the dead boy, John Keller.

But if he thought for a moment that this pleasant tale of self-
denial would establish him as the kind friend of “Johnny” he
was terribly deceived.

Baiting Began.

County Attorney Kane began the cross-examination, the bait-
ing, the prodding, the searching into him, the unrelenting scru-
tiny into his dark consciousness, and the man endured for a
time, and then the hell of hot fury burst forth.

It was a terrible spectacle. The great, strong neck made
spectators think of the hangman’s eager noose.


06 MINNESOTA REPORTS

The blood of the murdered lad and his mother called calmly
and coldly far vengeance, never ceasing the appeal even when
the exulting devil within the man prompted him to cry out.

O, if he only held a knife grasped tightly in his right hand;
if he could only once more hold with clinched steady fingers
the pistol that he had been permitted to examine as he sat there,
then how he would have sprung into the arena to fight and die
right there in court room No. 1, die at the very feet of Clark
and Miesen and the stout Picha. :

Surely he would have sprung from that witness stand scream-
ing his defiance, pale, distorted, to kill once.more, with a grin of
contempt for the dangling hangman’s noose.

Quieted by Counsel.

But he did not spring. Once he half rose from the chair of
torture, but sat down again.

“Don’t get angry, don’t show temper,” quieted the counsel,
Cormican and Clarke, and the poor, forlorn, friendless animal
with: the repulsive face subsided, while Kane, county attorney,
resumed the attack. ;

It was no use for Williams to look for friendliness there in
that close ring of faces, no use now to apologize, mumbling for
the bloody deaths of mother and son sleeping the sleep that
knows no waking under the spring sod of the graveyard. ‘Too
late, too late, now—and for the moment the hell of despair
broke its bounds within him and he screamed:

“No sir, it’s not; that’s a damned lie.”

“You had best close that knife on your table,” advised John
Clark, veteran policeman.

“Do you think he would really spring ?”
“Well, he might.”

What Roused the Devil?

What was it made Williams scream out? Why simply this:
He had taken Johnny Keller with him to Fort ‘Assinniboine,

where he was working for the United States government as a
steamfitter,

QT
STATE V. WILLIAMS 875

Why didn’t he stay there at work and good wages rather than
abandon his work in about a week?

Because the “sleeping accommodations” were not fit for
Johnny. So he bought a home ticket for “Johnny,” had fifteen
cents left, and then took “freight” home.

Did he remember a man named Marvin?

Yes, Marvin was a foreman.

ou remember Murphy?

Fiesty it did seem that he had heard the
name somewheres.

Now, didn’t Murphy object to your sleeping in the same room
with that boy? Didn’t you tell him that if the boy went, you
would go, you would both go. Isn’t that true?

And then, face pale with fury, Williams screamed out:

“No sir. it’s not; that’s a damned lie.”

. io quiet, compose yourself, Mr. Williams. A deputy
- sheriff has stolen around on’ your left flank there by the south
end of the jury box. Miesen is there and Clark and Picha.
Don’t spring down to fight and die here in the little arena, dark
from its hideous blue curtains. Keep quiet, Williams. These
strong men would tear you limb from limb.

It was an awful thing to see this homeless hobo sitting there,
fighting the world, his only friend, the leering devil within him,
urging him on with hot whispers to his doom.

Ignoring the assertion in the affidavit that the jury were influenced
thereby, what were the probabilities? Recall here the theory upon
which the state conducted the prosecution for murder in the first de-
gree, and that there was another phase of the case inconsistent with
murder in the first degree, while considering the probable effect of this
newspaper article upon the minds of the jurors. And the majority
opinion disposes of it by stating that it did not purport to refer to any
matter occurring outside of the courtroom; that the article correctly
stated the evidence, and that the comments related to matters occurring
in the presence of the jury, who were in a position to verify them.
The only possible ground for the admission of the question as to

Marvin and Murphy was to lay the foundation for impeachment of

es

_for safe keeping.

. PIONEER HOME — This sturdy iss house. is
: ' typical of the pioneer homes that began to dot the
prairies of Southern Minnesota about 100 years
ago. ae was the home of pares Sorenson east

pioneers,

eH

of Emmons. Many of these log ‘houses were > built:
‘from oak that grew iative to the prairies. Even
cedar shakes were produced from trees found by

That Killed re Hisband in agen

(For : test three qundaye on :

this page, The Tribune has been fol-
lowing the history of the Bough-
ton family, victim of the first mur-

ee der in the county. The killer was

the
first legal hanging recorded i:

the Minnesota territory. Today’s ~

story involves court testimony of

‘the tragedy. — Editor)

By L. W. SPICER
_ (Fourth of a Series)

“IN PREVIOUS issues of The
Tribune, Colonel White related the
story of the murder of Nelson
Boughton and the frial and con-
* viction of Henry Kreigler as was
“told him by his mother. *
‘The brave woman had probably —
told him as, much of the details
as she could bear.

The murderer, after the posse
had arrested him and brought him
to Albert Lea, was first placed in.”

the basement of the Webber House, ©
“This was a large frame hotel sit-

uated at the present location of
the St. Paul Clothing Store. He

was later placed in the attic of the _

hotel and locked to the floor.
Iron hand cuffs had been fitted
to his wrist by blacksmith David
Crowfoot. At one time the prisoner
was confined for a while in an emp-
ty store building, which the present
location is at 128 So. Broadway.

? other matters of _minor impor-
tance.” A es i
.). «Black September’

. MRS. BOUGHTON swore the
‘murder was committed on the 6th
day of September. between 9 and
“10 o’clock in the morning at their

place in Nunda. Mrs. Kreigler was .

sitting on the out side of the
front door of the house, ‘’she call-
ed for me to come there and told
“me that her husband, Kreigler was

-ehind the wagon which stood half

way between us and where the
murder took place. -The cattle
(exen) were hitched to the wagon
and a load of hay on. it. Mr. Bough-
_ ton_had come from the field with it,

“ei The Kreigler boy was on the load.

"When I stepped from the door my’
husband was standing behind the

load but not so I could not see

Riven He stood a little behind and
_a little to the side, he was facing
“ me.| Kreigler stood not over four
’ feet from my husband with a long
dirk knife.. They were about six
-rods from the door of the house.
My husband had. a pitch sore in
his hand. : Oy,

“As 1 stepped Tiere the door —
Kreigler jumped and caught the
» fork, by the handle as he did so
“Mr. Boughton stepped back’ be-
~hind the load of hay. Kreigler then.
“went back behind the load of hay
— Mr. Boughton called to me to.

poe =

a stick and struck: Kreigler we or
three times—the boy was 13 years

sold. Then Kreigler got. up and

~started for the boy and I did not
see Kreigler after that. There
was blood on both the men's cloth-

ng: or

> “As I carted loware the house
the little boy was in front of me.
—o— ea
- Asked For Help x
I ASKED HIM to go to the
neighbor for help, he said he could
not go. Then I went to the house
and took my two children and went
to the nearest neighbor (Mr. Smith)
a half a mile away. The Kreigler
boy got there about the same time.
nee I returned home my hie
was dead. 2 22 é
~.-“Mr, Smith got “there. Retore I
did and went for another neighbor.
He came back with Mr. King and
Mr. Wilcow. They carried my hus—
band. into the house. No doctor
came at the time. 9 4.07
“Later Dr. Keeler, ~ who was
- down below ata neighbor's home,
came that afternoon. Pid
-(Dr. James Keeler. lived at Bris-

F tol, Iowa. He was one of. the vil-

lage’s first settlers and was also
the Postmaster), . =.

“Some time before Rreigies had
come to our house one day and

told his wife-he was going to take

her things away — I could not un-
‘derstand all, as they talked in

Sheriff Heath assigned Brock bring a gun. I got it and: started German. The little boy told me

- Woodruft the responsibility for his

safe keeping. The prisoner had not

long been confined when the fam-

ous horse thief Neil Brown was
arrested and locked to the. floor

to'load it as quick as I could.

As | got opposite the load of-

hay my husband called me ‘Mary’
and that was the last I heard him ©
say, as I got sight of them they

what they said. Mr. Boughton had
previously gone to. the Kreigler
. place and got a few of Mrs. Kreig-
ler’s belongings and had brought
“back the wagon and oxen. There

~ with Kreigler. Brown escaped so” Were standing up and clasped hold _was, when Mrs. Kreigler left her

Kreigler was taken to Faribault
. At Faribault, Sheriff Wheeler had
several fracases with Kreigler.
Once the prisoner threw a stick

of wood at him and though he was

of each other.

« “I struck Kreigler_ on the head
two or’ three times, as he was
still on top of Mr. Boughton. Then
r little boy (Cabel cabanas got |

‘ husband, an agreement that he
_was to pay his wife’s board of $1
~a week and she to. work as she
_ wished.”
a ee agi More Lessieny)


7 ‘dme SUIMIMEL UL tae your, 4 #e~s
dent Buchanan issued .a_ procla-

mation bringing government lands

[ into the market and directed they

\ be sold to the highest bidder. These
lands included some 304 quarter

ction in Freeborn County. The

news startled most of its citizens,

-. for they had been living on govern-
ment land. Many could not have
paid the. $1.25 per acre. or the
equivalent soldiers’ bounty script
if they could sell their entire per-
sonal holdings. — pene ie
a — Appealed Ruling “=>
THE LEADING citizens. of the

county paid the expenses of a rep-

‘resentative sent to Washington ‘who

succeeded in obtaining an order al-

‘lowing the settlers to refile their

claims. Then on the day of the
sale, Oct, 29, 1860, another com-

mittee appeared at the Chatfield

‘Land Office and made the refiling

for the bona fide settlers. :

. Mrs. Boughton probably at this
__ time realized she ‘must prove up
~ ber claim. In October 1861 Colum-

~~ bus C. Mason deeded her the west

half of the east half of section 35

_. Nunda Township, the same was
_- recorded in September, 1862, The

~~ consideration was $1.25 per acre.

Mr. Mason had received the same

-. from Abner Hobby, the possessor

of a Soldier Land Bounty Script.

It was assigned the same date.

+>’ Mrs. Boughton remained a widow

for three years, then March 19,
1863, married Silas J. White. They
probably remained on the farm
until. Mary B. White sold it,
April 28, 1866 to James J. Soren-
{son receiving $659. The deed. was

_ recorded June 14, 1867.

-* They then moved to Mr. White’s

farm a short distance away, where
they lived until 1869 when they

_moyed to Iowa. Mr. White was
the first clerk of School Dist. No.

105 organized.in 1864, The first

- school was at Peter Knutson’s
home. Then two years later a

school house was built on the north

part of the Boughton farms:

As

T

* oy

ar he RES

_. This cost $100 for material, the
-\ yesidents furnished the labor. It

is safe to state that both Angeline

_and Col. Daniel Boughton attended
~ + school there. RAS See
ee Mr. Sorenson was 27 years old
-- “‘when he purchased the land. He
had served three years with the
_ 36th Regt. in the Civil War. He
had enlisted from Worth County,
Iowa, where he had been farming
with his father, O02 oe 4
.. Mr. Sorenson. married within a


“Testimony Proves okie G ae

(Today's installment of the first
“murder and only legal hanging —
in Freeborn county clears up
date of execution. Also some oth-_

before Henry Kreigler-paid for

his crime. His was the first exe

_cution of a man, — -Editor.) é
‘By Le W. SPICER .
_{Last. oF a Series)

aN WwW: SMITH WAS the ee
witness. - He testified that some
days before, at a neighbor: Nor-—
wegian’s home, ‘Kreigler had told
that he was going » to kilt Bough-
ton. It was to his home that Mrs.
Boughton fled with her two chil-
dren. Mr.- Smith stated that when

| he arrived at the scene of the.

murder he found Mr. ‘Boughton

“curled up near the post and after
straightening him out went for

Mr. King and Mr. Wilcox.

{These three gentlemen lived |
“across the state line in Iowa.) ~

Mr. Smith said that the- fitst
time he had seen Kreigler was at-
the Bright home and Kréigler had |
been to Bristol to bring his wife
back. Kreigler said at that time,
that.in Germany he would ech a
giznt to whip his wife. =

‘Mr. Wilcox, the next witness,
testified that he with Mr. g,
Kendell, Thompson and Charles
White starfed out after Kreigler..
They first went to Mr. Brights
home and found he had left. Others
then joined in the pursuit and they ©
fourd Kreigler in his ‘shanty. ‘They |

arrested him and he admitted. he 2

had killed Mr. Boughton. -- 7 ~~
Charles White testified that’ he

had proposed that the eager hang.

Kreigler at once.
Anthony Bright’s home was in

the Bear Lake settlement some:

what more than three miles from
the Boughton home. |. ee Oe
Christine Alspaugh, Joseph White,

Micheal Donahoe and Ole’ Nelson-.

all of Nunda township, but.not liv- ~
ing near the Boughton home, testi-
fied as to the ugly aE
wot So ereigler 4 oe
aa Sa as
More Testimony |

THE 13-YEAR-OLD step-son™ eft
Kreigler, Cabel Brainard, describ-
ed the murder in detail, corroborat-
ing Mrs. Boughton's -testimony.
The Herald stated that the testi-
“mony would be continued next
week. There were no more issues
published- pus gic sspaper was dis-

+ er facts are put straight. A wo -_~
*.man was hanged in St. Paul

=

\ q8

:

CAPTAIN-SHERIFF — This infantry officer was sheriff. of Free-
‘born county when the only fegal hanging occurred. He was Capt. -
_ James Robson. He raised a company of Freeborn county men, was
elected captain. of Co, D, 10th Reg., and reported ta Ft. Snelling.
_ He was killed poeta in a zcnooting accident. He lived at Geneva.
while sheriff. Ai ae _ (From Spicer peo echion |.


escape. Another time Kreigler cut
the chain and got from the jailor.
The sheriff shot him with coarse
shot in the rear, this not having the
proper effect, the sheriff then shot
him again in the same place with
real. shot. While the prisoner was
picking out the shot the. sheriff.
jumped him and recovered . the
2 keys. Pe; be eet gt Paste pet's

sca RI lS ac eR hs Gi

Feared Murdere

IT WAS NO wonder that the |
brave widow Boughton feared the
murderer would escape and car-
ry out his threats of killing her and
the children. Kreigler was first
tried in Albert Lea. Augustus Arm-.
strong was the defendant's chief
attorney and County Attorney J. U.-
Perry the prosecutor. The jury was
illegally drawn and a new trial was
ordered. Bene aie tg oe

A change of venue was taken to
Steele County. Here at Owatonna
he was first tried as to his Sanity.
The jury pronounced him sane and
in the latter part of May he was
tried for murder. The jury failed
fo agree. Again at Owatonna, a
jury pronounced Kreigler sane. On
Dec, 12, 1861, a jury was selected
which found him guilty of mur-
der in the first degree. Judge N,
M. Donaldson then sentenced him
to hang March 1, 1861. Daniel G.
Parker was the prosecuting attor-
ney. "">

Editor Austin Clark of the Free-
born County Standard wrote in the
issue of Dec. 13, 1860, “There is no
news, everybody had gone to Owa-
tonna to the murder trial. Even the
mail carriers have gone so there
were no excange papers received.”

The issues of the Standard are
missing concerning the trial, but
the issue of Jan. 1, 1861 of the Free-
born Springs Herald have been pre-
served. This newspaper was pub-
lished at Itasca, some three miles
north west of Albert Lea.

Editor Isaac Botsford in this is-
sue Vol. I No. 15 stated:

“We promised our readers two
weeks ago that we would print the
history of the murder trial so
long interesting the people of the
County”, 5

A short resume followed and
continuing, ‘‘we will not give the
testimony of the sanity part but
will resume to reporting the case.’

“The first witness was Mrs.
Mary Boughton, wife of the deceas-
ed. The first part of her testimony
seems to have been taken down by
Mr, Parker in-a very disconnected
manner and Mr. Armstrong did not
take it down at all — (The part
omitted explains how Mrs. Kreig-
ler happened to be stopping at the
house of the murdered man and

Te

Pores)
ie


MURDER IN MINNESOTA

attached by law. In other words, no one may censor a newspaper
before publication, but its publisher is subject to punishment if he
violates any law. This now seems a restrictive view, but it is still
the law; in 1906 it fitted the newspaper's situation in the Williams’
hanging to the letter. A distinct and positive statute forbade such
publication. The editor published his account in spite of it.

Following this authority the supreme court saw no reason to

interfere with the legislature’s judgment that publishing details of
hangings could have no justifiable end. Justice Lewis wrote that “if,
in the opinion of the legislature, it is detrimental to public morals
to publish anything more than the mere fact that the execution has
taken place, then, under the authorities and upon principle, the
appellant was not deprived of any constitutional right in being so
limited.” 18

As a result of this ruling — that the John Day Smith law did not
infringe constitutional freedom of the press — the demurrer was
overruled, and the Pioneer Press had to stand trial. The sequel was
anticlimactic. On March 17, 1908, the case was called; the news-
paper pleaded not guilty; the trial took place the next day; the
journal was found guilty and fined twenty-five dollars.”

The supreme court’s decision was unpopular among those fa-
voring freer expression of opinion, because it seemed to bless a
simple way to suppress freedom of the press completely: the legis-
lature had only to declare publishing certain types of material to
be a crime and to impose stiff penalties. Nine years later, in 1917,
after Minnesota had abolished capital punishment, the statute was
repealed. It had been a dead letter in all instances except this one,
but sparked by Williams’ execution it had served to arouse concern
over a classic freedom threatened with restraint.

Although the St. Paul newspapers were found guilty of mis-
demeanors in doing so, they had brought the bungled execution to
public attention, hinting at a parallel to Inquisition tortures of the
Middle Ages, and Minnesota was shocked. Since the state’s crea-
tion in 1858, Minnesotans had harbored uneasy feelings about
hanging criminals. Under the spur of the Ann Bilansky trial, the
state’s second legislature in 1859 had considered the abolishment of
capital punishment. In 1868, as we have seen, the legislature
enacted a sort of compromise, which provided that the death pen-

166

S-

THE END OF THE ROPE

alty would not be inflicted unless the jury should recommend it
Fate then took a hand and a series of difficult cases followed the
enactment of the law, which proved so unsatisfactory that it was
repealed in 1883 when hanging was restored as the manda-
tory penalty upon conviction of first degree murder. The 1883 law
stated that persons guilty of first degree murder “shall suffer the
punishment of death” unless the trial judge certified compellin
reasons for not imposing it.?° °
By 1906 social reforms of all kinds were in the air throughout
the United States and penal reform got its share of attention. Min-
nesotans had before them the example of the neighboring state of
Wisconsin, which had done away with capital punishment in 1853
and apparently had not suffered in consequence. The brutal details
of Williams’ execution underlined the very specific and nonab-
stract nature of the death penalty: a human being is killed, ve
often painfully. Although the effect of the Williams’ hanging Ee
popular thought can only be guessed, persons concerned may well
have been jolted into taking action. For whatever reason, Williams
was the last man legally hanged in Minnesota. Even though the
death penalty remained on the statute books for five years after he
died, successive governors consistently commuted death sentences
to life imprisonment. On April 22, 1911, the reformers carried the
day and Governor Adolph O. Eberhart signed the law making first
degree murder “punishable by imprisonment for life in the state
prison, On April 20, 1911, the day the bill passed the legislature
the M inneapolis Journal printed a front-page cartoon showing on
one side the old hempen halter with the caption, “This necktie will
= = worn in ati hereafter,” and on the other side the
Striped prison garb wi “Whi i it wi
ic Ps : P cas aa tas the statement, “While this suit will be
To read of William Williams’ crime is not an ennobling experi-
ence. There is no question of his guilt, and the sordid tale of his
epicene romance offers nothing to mitigate his crime. By coinci-
dence, however, his death seems to have been instrumental in
doing away with capital punishment in the state. There is some-
thing fascinating about the beginning and ending of a historic era
Ann Bilansky began the state of Minnesota’s “capital punishment

”. Wi li . . > e .
oa illiam Williams’ fame lies in the fact that he brought it to

167


tm

|; At 12:22 a. m. Sheriff Anton Miesen ap-

‘peared im the corridor. “a.

“Willlams, you must make
> ready for the execution,” said the
: sheriff. ‘

Se@eareers ees et oes eee C8 SHH HEHE OHHH HOHE EHO Hee we ee

Without a word Williams arose from
‘the bunk upon which he was sitting.
- Death Watch Cooke unlocked the door
,of his oell and Deputies Picha and Han-
‘gon stepped in. 1 ig

Deputy Picha carried the handcuffs.

Williams held out one hand and the

cuff was snapped.

As Picha was about to place the mana-
cle upon the other hand Williams said:

‘Wait a moment, I want to
renal: hands with some of the :
ys.” .

°
@reseeeeee Bese ee oe? O8e 88828 Peeeereeereeeeeeeeserses

He then shook hands with Father
Gushen, the sberiff, Under Sheriff Robert,
Guards Cooke and Waters, Deputies
Picha and Hanson, and Miss Lizzie Eden,

the jail cook, who stood as sponsor when |

‘Willams was baptized.

“All right, now,” he said, as he held

‘out the other hand to Deputy Picha,
The steel band snapped upon his wrist,
, binding his hands beHind him. ;

‘His Step Never Wavered in
the Terrible March to Gallows.

Sheriff Miesen then said: ‘Are we all
ready?’ and started the march to the
gallows.

Williams, with his head erect and chin
firmly set, stepped through the barred
doorway, and, with: steps that never
‘wavered, began his terrible march to the
scaffold. .

It had been the intention to use the ele-
| vator as far as the sub-basement, but,
owing to the number in the party, the
elevator was abandoned in favor of the

stairway.

The sheriff mounted the steps, touching
the rail with his left hand, as if the task
of walking up those thirteen steps was
almost too much for his strength.

Williams, with his hands manacled be-
hind him, walked up almost with an
eager step.

Father Cushen followed
Deputies Robert, Picha and
brought up the rear.

'Loked Down to See That He Was

Standing in Center of the Trap.
| Sheriff Miesen indicated to Williams the

closely, and
Hanson

| position jn which to take his stand, and
; Williams walked to the middle of the
itrap, placed his feet close together, and
looked down to see that he was in the
j center of the door.
, Deuties Picha and Hanson picked up)
the long straps which hung on the rail-
| ing of the scaffold and quickly adjusted
‘them, one about the ankles, one about
|the thighs and one binding his arms be-
‘tween the shoulders and elbows.
Willlams watched Picha work: with a
deftness bred of experience in such af-
fairs.

“You certainly can work those straps
fast,’’ he observed.

Deputy Sheriff Robert placed the noose
and drew the knot under the ear.

|Cleared Throat and Told Spectators
That It Was an Dlegal Execution.

eeceseeseeseeseeeeeeeee ee ees

S@eesreeesesseeoseer soe

“William Williams, have you :;
anything to say why the sentence ;
of the court should not now be :
executed upon you,”’ asked the 3
sheriff in a tone troubled by ex- 3
citement and emotion. 3 |

. a :

“Gentlemen,” said Williams, clearing!
his throat and looking at the spectators, |
‘you are about to execute an, innocent
man. I am not guilty of barvitta 4 Johnny
Keller. I had no quarrel with him. He
was the best friend I had, and I cer-
tainly expect to meet him in the: world
to c ome. I forgive every one who has
had anything to do with this business,
and I wish to thank those friends of
mine who have interested themselves in
my welfare.”’

* oe ee Ge Oe OF 08 oe

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°
°
.
.
.
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°
°
°
*
.
.
.
2
.
°
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.
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e
e

eer eeree ee eeeeee®e PCHSe eee eee eeSFeset® eSeneeeaene


MURDER IN MINNESOTA

the Dispatch, and the Daily News — pounced upon the scandal of
Williams’ execution and followed newspaper tradition by giving
the story the space and treatment it deserved. A great deal of gush
was poured over Williams’ admittedly exemplary last days and a
good deal more splashed on his last hours — his walk to the scaf-
fold, his final words, and his death. The Pioneer Press of February
18, 1906, described the execution but did not go into the gory de-
tails of the bungled hanging. The other two newspapers did —
extensively, in detail, and with diagrams. This was not pleasing
to the Ramsey County authorities.

Eighteen years earlier the execution of Nels Olson Holong in
Little Falls had drawn attention to the methods by which hang-
ings were carried out. The sheriff had followed the usual custom
of having the gallows built outside the jail surrounded by a fence
which did not completely hide the proceedings from the spectators.
All the other sheriffs in Minnesota were invited to watch inside the
enclosure. The execution was, in fact, almost public and was thor-
oughly described in the newspapers. Perhaps as a result, in 1889
a reforming legislator from Minneapolis named John Day Smith
— who tried unsuccessfully to get Harry Hayward to pray with
him on the evening of Hayward’s hanging in 1895 — sponsored a
bill which passed almost without opposition. It provided that exe-
cutions must take place before sunrise — they had often been held
at midday — and within a jail if possible, limited the number of
spectators, and also stated explicitly: “No account of the details of
such execution, beyond the statement of the fact that such convict
was on the day in question duly executed according to law, shall
be published in any newspaper.” 1*

The John Day Smith law, as it was known, took effect on April
24, 1889, but the section dealing with newspaper reports of execu-
tions had never been enforced. From the hanging of Albert Bulow
on July 19, 1889, through that of Claud Crawford on December 5,
1905, Minnesota journals openly gave their readers full and grue-
some details of the rope dances which took place during that
period. Apparently no attempt was made to invoke the law even in
1891 when the newspapers reported that the rope had broken in
William Rose’s execution on October 16.1%

The Ramsey County officials, however, seem to have been thin-
skinned. On March 2, 1906, seventeen days after Williams’ death,

164

THE END OF THE ROPE

the county attorney who successfully prosecuted Williams secured
an indictment of all three St. Paul newspapers for violating the
John Day Smith law. The papers pleaded not guilty, asked for
separate trials, and finally agreed to have the Pioneer Press case
tried and to be bound by that decision,14
Chosen to represent the entire St. Paul journalistic world, the
Pioneer Press demurred to the indictment; that is, it admitted pub-
lishing the details of Williams’ execution, while arguing that no
violation of law occurred because the law which punished such
publication was unconstitutional. If the court sustained the paper's
view, the case could be disposed of without going to trial. The argu-
ment was not successful, however, in the district court, which over-
ruled the demurrer on April 16, 1906. The case was then appealed
to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which handed down its decision
on February 21, 1907. The high court’s opinion was written by the
same Justice Lewis who dissented in Williams’ appeal. Whether
the assignment of the case to Lewis was by design or chance, the
Jurist, whose humanitarian opinion in Williams’ case found no
allies, might yet strike an indirect blow for the hanged man.15
The Pioneer Press based its demurrer upon the argument that
the John Day Smith law muzzled a newspaper, violating freedom
of the press as guaranteed by Amendment XIV of the federal Con-
stitution and by Article I, section 2 of the Minnesota Constitution
The case is of special interest to lawyers because counsel in 1906
used a legal argument then novel — that Amendment XIV kept
state authorities from interfering with rights which Amendment I
protected against federal interference — later used effectively and
successfully in the free-speech cases of the 1930s,16
Justice Lewis and his colleagues on the state supreme court were
neither ready to adopt novel legal views nor to concern themselves
much with newspapers. What, they inquired, is this freedom of
the press supposedly protected by constitutional provisions? Going
back to the eighteenth century, they found their answer in a para-
phrase of Lord Mansfield’s famous decision in the Dean of St.
Asaph s case as interpreted by New York’s Chancellor James Kent:
The liberty of the press consists in the right to publish with im-
punity truth with good motives and for justifiable ends,” 17 English
law states it more accurately as the right to publish anything with-
out securing previous license, but subject to all consequences

165


Baker 13, 100. 51. PAUL DISPATCH.

DISPLAYED HIS NERVE
TO THE VERY LAST

and Body Had to Be
Standing on

Williams Strangled to Death, Rope Being Too Long

/

S
Held Up by Deputies Nig
the Scaffold. S

1G 6

(BY A STAFF REPORTER.)

With protestations of innocence upon
his }ips, William Williams was hanged at
‘the county jail at 12:31 a. m. today for the
| murder of John Keller. :
Fourteen and one-half minutes after the
| drop felt he was pronounced dead by the
‘examining surgeon. ‘
' The rope was six inthes too long.
| When the trap was sprung Williams’
‘body: shot through and pulled up with a
jerk.
i **He’s on the floor!” aabaht ah the spec-
_tators.
. Three deputies instantly seized the rope
‘and held up the body.
| Life slowly ebbed.
_ In eight minutes the pulse ceased. In
, 14% minutes the heart ceased to beat.
Williams went to the scaffold with for-
titude, willingly accorded with all sug-
gestions and did not flinch or quiver dur-

his executioners.

Persons who anticipated an outburst of
passion on his part when he was told
thet every hope had failed and that tite
penalty of the law must be meted out
upon him, were disappointed, for beyond
questioning his lawyer as what efforts
he had made, he evinced no further inter-
est in the matter.

yBpent Evening Talking to Wis
Priestly Adviser and the Guards.

Wiliams spent the evening with Father
3. J. Cushen, his priestly advisor, or in
conversing with his guard and the other
Geputies who were admitted to see him.

j
t
{
‘

‘ing an ordeal that wracked the nerves of

SE
»

Williams Takes in at Glance Spec-
tators and Scene of Execution

Room.

As Williams passed through the. door-
way into the execution chamber, he was
confronted by the sheet iron form of the
fresh-air blowers.

He glanced up quickly, with a pussied
look.

Then as the procession turned td the
right he caught sight of the spectators.

He swept the assemblage with a glance
and tien looked at them no more until
he stood upon the fatal frap, with the.
noose about his neck. |

The party, headed by the sheriff, walked |
forward towaed the scaffold, but Williams
did not catch sight of it until he was
within fifteen feet of the stairway.

: “Then he looked up and aaw, in

: the pitiless glare of the electric

: lights, the death machine, gaunt,

: shadowed, primitive and awful
with the long hempen rope an
the noose.

* @8 ee ee Ge oe

But a sight that might have terrified a
man of less courage seemed to nerve him
to the utmost.

He looked up at the platform and, by
an almost unconscious movement, length-
ened his stride and began to take long
steps, like a man anxious and willing to
meet the worst and have it over.

1A

Despite public backing,
death penalty appears
doomed in Legislature

" By Donna Halvorsen
Staff Writer

Wearing a new suit, William Wil-
liams ae his last meal of steak and
fried potatoes and walked calmly to

-the scaffold. A noose was placed
atound his neck and a black hood put
over his head. A deputy released the
trap door in the platform.

The 27-year-old St. Paul steamfitter,
who had killed two people, was the
last person legally exécuted in Min-
nesota. Five years after his death in
1906, legislators took the death pen-
alty off the books.

Will there ever be another person
executed in Minnesota? Minnesotans
have said in public — polls that
‘they favor the death penalty by as
much as a 2-1 ratio.

‘ But in a rare rebuke to public opin-
_ton, the Legislature hasn't moved to
- ven consider restoring capital pun-

if

Legislature 792

Committee in 1989 on a 21-2 vote.

The issue refuses to die, and the
series of headline-grabbing murders
that outraged Minnesotans last sum-
mer has once again thrust it forward.
This session, 10 legislators have lent

Death penalty continued on page 9A

|

Death penalty/ Two bills are destined to fail

Continved from page 1A

their names to two proposals that
would make capital punishment law.

The first is a straightforward death

" penalty bill that would have the Leg-

aslature decide the issue.

‘The other would set a public referen-
dum, allowing voters to decide
whether to amend the state Constitu-
ition to authorize capital punishment
for first-degree murder,

‘But the stage has already been set for
both proposals to fail when legisla-

‘tors return to the Capitol in two’

weeks, The first bill is likely to stall
in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
‘The second simply will not be heard.

And it was the second bill that some
legislators thought had a chance this
‘year. They asked: Could legislators,
even those who oppose the death
penalty, really oppose —— the

ue to the voters? If voters said
they favor the penalty, “opposition
would essentially melt away,” just as

it did with the State Lottery, said’

Sen. Fritz Knaak, IR-White Bear
Lake.

The issue seems to be an anomaly,
especially in an election year. While
legislators are perceived as tailoring
their actions to fit voters’ wishes,

they've been resistant to their con-.

stituents’ apparent desire to reinstate
the death penalty in Minnesota.

“We've got many examples of how
the elected representatives don't rep-~
resent the popular will,” said Univer-
sity of Minnesota sociologist David
Ward. “If they did, we'd have gun
control and there’d be no question

abortion would continue to be legal.”

Knaak, a lawyer and city prosecutor,
saw the voter referendum to amend
the Constitution as a way to get
around two obstacles: Gov. Ame
Carlson, who opposes the death pen-
alty, and the Minnesota Supreme
Court, which Knaak is convinced
would declare a death penalty law
unconstitutional.

A constitutional amendment could
not be declared unconstitutional, he
reasoned, nor would it be subject to a
gubernatorial veto.

But Knaak has mn into other snags.
His bill was sent not to the General
Legislation Committee, as he had
hoped, but to the Judiciary Commit-
tee.

Even though capital punishment is
such a gut-level issue that it tends to
dissolve party labels, Knaak said he
still believes the Judiciary Commit-
tee — “the most urban and most
liberal committee in the Legislature”
ill be an insurmountable obsta-

cle.

And now it a the issue won't
even surface this session. Rep. Kath-
Ieen Vellenga, DFL-St. Paul, chair-

woman of the House Judiciary Com-
mittee, said Senate Judiciary chair-
man Allan Spear, DFL-Minneapolis
— who is vacationing and could not
be reached for comment — has de-
cided not to hear the constitutional
amendment bill.

She said she and Spear that
since a death penalty bill was heard
— and defeated — in her committee
in 1989, his committee should hear a

different bill introduced by DFL.

— MInneERPocis,
Minn.

Star Tribune/Tuesday/February 4/1992

Sens. Charlie Berg of Chokio and
Betty Adkins of St. Michael. Instead
of merely submitting the question to
the voters, the bill provides for death
by injection and spells out how and
when executions can take place.

Vellenga argues that the Constitution
was intended to contain broad gov-
ernment principles, not a specific
criminal penalty such as capital pun-
ishment. She said authorization of
the Minnesota Lottery was different
because the Constitution S pecmpad
prohibited a lottery and had to be put
to the voters.

Sen. Pat McGowan, IR-Maple
Grove, di with Vellenga’s as-
sessment. “It was argued back then
that the Constitution did not prohibit
(a lottery),” he said,

Whatever the rationale, the decision
not to hear the constitutional amend-
ment bill is likely to provoke a fight
when the Legislature returns.

“The question becomes, why are we
afraid to go back to the people?”
asked McGowan, a Minneapolis po-
lice homicide detective.

Knaak doesn’t see the death penalty
as harmful to Minnesota's image as a
progressive state, but just a recogni-
tion that some criminals are beyond
redemption. A recent convert to the
death nalty, he said he was turned
- around by “chilling conversations”
with psychologists about a few preda-
tory criminals — repeat rapists, for
example — who make calculating
judgments about consequences in de-
ciding how to carry out their crimes.

Others, such as Vcllenga, don't sce

209A

the death penalty as a deterrent and
no ian of it on moral grounds, as
we

“I certainly would not want to take
anyone's life unless it accomplishes
something, and (the death penalty)
accomplishes absolutely nothing,”
Vellenga said. “It does not deter
crime. It does not save money. It
doesn’t even give people a sense of
justification.”

No state has reinstated the death
penalty in well over a decade. In
1990, two states — Illinois and Okla-
homa — carried out their first execu-
tions since the 1960s.

Of the 36 states that have the death
penalty, only 18 have used it, most of

. them in the South. Since executions

resumed under a U.S. Supreme
Court ruling in 1976, 160 people
have been executed. More than 2,500
inmates wait on death rows.

According to Leigh Dingerson, direc-
tor of the National Coalition to Abol-
ish the Death Penalty, it takes an
average of eight years and more than
$2 million to get from arrest to exe- |}
cution. Dingerson said poll results |’
showing support for the death penal-
ty are misleading because when pco-
ple are also given alternatives — life
without parole, for example — they
oe to say they favor the alterna-
ves.

“I would find it very shocking if
either of the proposed bills in Minne-
sota were passed,” Dingerson said. “I
think the people of Minnesota realize
that the tremendous expense of the
death penalty is not worth the nega-
tive impact.”

(over)


from
readers

_ Public anger

The Star Tribune claims that Rep.
Sylvester Uphus’ Proposed constitu-
tional amendment allowing the death
penalty is “ghoulish,” and that put-
ting the matter directly to the voters
is harmful because “Minncsotans
consistently have rejected the mode
of government involved in initiative
and referendum” (editorial, Jan, 3),

Weill, big deal! And so what? They
can change their minds if they want
to.

It is not at all clear to me that public
officials in Minnesota, Land of Con-
current Sentencing, arc exercising
very good judgment “on behalf of all
Minnesotans” when a man can mur-
der an entire family of five and be
imprisoned for less than 20 years, —
Lawrence W. Collins, Wayzata.

The only guarantee

How ironic that you publish an edi-
torial against the death penalty on
the same day the headline read, “Ho-
micide records broken in many U.S.
cities.” Your editorial writer says
that “spilling blood to stop the spill-
ing of blood doesn’t work. Minnesota
need only look at states which now
sponsor killing to discover the futility
of that approach.” Does this imply
we should abolish prison time for
murders because it docsn't scem to
deter others from the crime?

The death penalty is the only way to
guarantee there will be no parole, no
escapes, no plea bargains, no deals,
and, best of all, no more killing again
by these dregs of society. The “hu-
mane lady of the north” must review
whose humanity we're worried
about. — John Plonske, Shorewood.

Blood of innocents

The government does not have the
right to kill an innocent person, cx-
cept in time of war or national emer-
gency. Installing the death penalty
will inevitably result in the death, by
government action, of an innocent

person.

The process by which persons are
accused, tried and sentenced for
crimes is — like any other human
institution — subject to error. The
occurrence of miscarriages of justice
is likely to increase in cases of capital
crimes, many of which arise in situa-
tions where emotions are heightened,
public outrage aroused and enforce-
ment bodies pressured to find an
immediate scapegoat.

If the death penalty is reinstated in
Minnesota, the blood of innocent
people will not be on the hands of the
Prosccutor, who indicts, the jury who
convicts, the judge who sentences,
They will be doing their duty under
the law.

The blood of the innocent will be on
the hands of the legislators who made
it possible, when they stand at last
facing the creator. This is a burden
they should not — cannot — must
not — assume. — James H. Levy,
St. Paul.

See the light

Minnesota and the United States
would do well to consider the laws of
God concerning capital punishment
for murder. After the flood, God
commands mankind to take the life
of the murderer. Genesis 9:6 reads,
“Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by
man shall his blood be shed: for in
the image of God made he man.”
The creator and Sustainer of all
things has sct human life at high
valuc, — Roger V. Dane, Wayzata.

Scriptures show it’s not a matter of
deterrent of evil, but of penalty for a
completed work on the part of the
sinner. Thirty-five states and the fed-
cral government authorize the death
penalty; may those who reside in and
govern Minnesota sce the light. —
Gerald Holman, Minneapolis.

False compassion

Progressives sct an example of the
humane socicty they hope to bring
about by extending their compassion
even to murderers. To these evange-
lists of a blessed republic, where one
day all bloodshed will cease, capital
punishment is a sad throwback.

Admitting the retrograde law of an
cye for an eye would imply that we
are still primitive and would give the
lic to the dogma of progress. We
want to sct a good cxample, but we
fail to see that by refusing to exact a
just price for the taking of life, we
place a low value upon life itself, Our
anxiety to avoid the physical punish-
ment implied by “an cye for an cye”
leads us into moral blindness. We
put life before justice, ignoring the
wise observation made by one of
Shakespcare’s judges:

“I show (pity] mest of all when I
show justice. For then I pity those |
do not know,”

Laws that pronounce capital punish-
ment crucl and inhumane reduce the
meaning of life to mercly staying
alive. Cynically exploiting the Chris-
tian rule of forgiveness, socicty pre-
tends to pay its debt to the dead
victim by coddling her killer. That
way nobody has to pay for her life,
and the judicial system does not have
to answer to her survivors.

A more humane socicty would ex-
Press its concern for the dead victim.
Our “compassion” is an evasion. We
smugly despise our ancestors’ “prim-
itivism,” but they can teach us a
lesson in humanity. They too were
being progressive when they institut-
ed laws limiting retaliation, “An eye
for an cye” meant only an cye for an
cyce. The Icgalized butchery that wor-
rics your cditors is not the sole alter-
native to penal confinement. The hu-
mane alternative is a just punish-
ment. — D.B. Haley, Minneapolis.

PINAEAPOLIS Crime.) STAR TRBGNME

Deterrence therapy

Tired of budget deficits? Call for the
death penalty. That’s what President
Bush and our state legislators do. But
hey, don’t write this concept off just
because politicians hide behind it.
The rationale: redress for victims,
redress for society, deterrence.
Sounds OK to me.

And what about those who Steal mil-
lions? What about the Greenwoods,
the Keatings, the Boeskys? Their vic-
tims are legion. They cut a wide
swath of suffering through society,
resulting in many premature deaths.
Deterrence? Believe me, these men
are sensitive, informed; they enjoy
excellent counsel and are used to
looking out for No. 1. Perhaps no
other class would respond so well to
deterrence therapy.

So let’s not be shy when we come up
with a really sound idea. Pass go.
Don’t go to jail. Be logical. Execute.
— Paul A. Moberg, Minneapolis,

Incarcerate, don’t kill

No, David Lillehaug (Commentary,
Jan. 20). Minnesota does nor necd
the death penalty — now or ever.
Our criminal justice and prison SyS-
tems need many improvements, A
good start would be to acknowledge
that the primary Purpose of a prison
is to separate the Prisoner from soci-
ety. Punishment is of questionable
value in many cases and although
rehabilitation is a worthy objective,
we have demonstrated that we don't
know how to accomplish it. Incarcer-
ate, but do not kill the criminal. —
Victoria P. Oshiro, Burnsville.

Other than Pronouncing that “the
ultimate crimes deserve the ultimate
punishment,” David Lillchaug does
not present any other supporting ar-
guments, nor does he credit the judi-
cial system with the potential of de-
terrence or rehabilitation. Advocat-
ing revenge is not only a populist
appeal to the most vile part of our
nature, it is poor public policy.

Most punishments are designed not
just to deal with the specific crime
but to serve as deterrents against oth-
er people committing crime. Punish-
ment should protect society from the
potential criminal by dealing justly
and effectively with the proven crim-
inal. Capital punishment fails to ac-
complish cither goal. States with the
death penalty do not have Statistical-
ly different per-capita murder rates
than states without it. Capital pun-
ishment mercly provides state-spon-
sored revenge against convicted
Criminals in what has historically
been an unfair and racist system, —
Peter Scott, Minneapolis.

‘Honored’ company

Our death penalty policy places the
United States in the honored compa-
ny of nations like Iran, Jraq, South
Africa and Cuba. Only with the death
penalty tool can a dictator hope to
keep his job for long. No other West-
ern democracy uscs the death penal-
ty, which says something about our
trustworthy politicians, doesn’t it? —
Tim O'Neil, Park Rapids, Minn.

pin
BP

és


Minnesota on March 6,

at 1:40 this morning ‘for’ murder
of Ida ‘MeCormack, Dea te! due to
stratigulation. “ ‘ ‘

The first judicial execution’ 4a,
Louis ‘county tn: twenty year: baer

‘b-"Our marked by ~ pathetic

Gramatic incidents.’ ‘ .
In iteelf the mandate of the iaW was
carried out with fitting solemnity ang}

the duty imposed upon Sheriff Butch-
art was performed by him with noth-}
ing that tended to add to. the grue- |
someness of a scene. the meanlig of
peer: the few Spectators Rally apprect

1 1n' any
=Y  Coats-

It was the central figure—-Henderson’
“placed —who contributed ‘by -his manner : and
* 4 Oratorical effort whatever is ‘supposed | T
fo be uncommon at the taking of Site
; “| Wherein the law acts as executionsr. .
inue the} He presented “a: figure,’ as he stood
m@vidence | upon the scaffold, which it is doubtful}
alieve 10; has’ ever been witneased from a char-
/ timte not | actériatic standpoint, when ¢
on by @/ and occasion are considered.
: ¥ It. wae not. proves.
the. dis- wpothing of a forced eff
One of | and acted. .
9 well, Mr- i

: mat He was not only fully master of his
‘suroundings, but of himself.’

He. paid attention to’ the ‘slightest
detail. When > the light.’ Rickered. be,
stopped “in® themiddie of -a) sentence

| and turning to those. who. were about
ge “1 him -on . the scaffold asked i Joore
Losseasion | This marster was exidenced from the:
for the | moment he entered the hata are chamber.
sclowures Ati Sitmly strode to the hepa oat ng to,
divorce j the orafold. ¥
od. auth-
3 {o. a Wor

1 o® tha pak ty wes reser ‘Jucident.
| Sberift Butchart, ted the war. Wender

. Atke for Tie
alte tor eA Roe ® prayer offered by
member, Celahan. ‘the condemned ‘man ’ .
Ler name | Shor! Butchart. how much time: he
4, tn con-}tlght. have i which to\address’ the
er neces: | audience. : Pea. tineeeroen taeety cone
versation and. Hendersog re<43
pine serene Chie wanted “abous thlery

ght

marked that he
mingiés and, whateved’ time he difin’t.
use he would give back. to them.

“To you who gloat’ or sre curious.”

‘os 3} he remarked in @firm voice, “I bépe all

® terse | ere patiafied.”

it,

The

into fis remnarke With the request tha} |!

fing. this: the single’ incandescent light shine

bart aan j

theising

“et

t

upon his face.
“The pensity 3 habe pala wilt watis-
the Jaw he continued, “but tt will

Then be suddenly. broke “

the beam

‘the ‘noose: Was surpended,

The es

ipdan's cont rot :

tt a fo Coraant over:
and’ bounty “physiclah Orbbacr pe
powided. the p¥isoner’ dead,

a Rw visitors. applied for Sot ligaet
go fhroven: the county Jatt Yesterday’


Gtigbvek
in,

eww
ri
toh:

xz

T hope’ att:
+ into poe hes nse? a ae
. ‘+ the single: ’ o B f
Tne sonatty ¥ have weld Sil bales |
The t ve paid’
stl 'ty the nw,” he continued. “but tt; will
fot satisfy al. I have no fear of death,
i but it is not my, nerve, It tee,
io ‘the Almighty God to whom I have
given wy. soul. -T have praved'to him
FS to guide me when. through: this:
trap to eternity, © hod
fo Beare Ne Malloy 2 2S. Toc : } apie nett
1.2 Sleotelelty,: : pf ie teat Again or Merges fit bra eke

o*%

STRICKEN © kW TRIBUNE BURE fe see wags taneeeaaneKu : ae ;

ST, PAUL, M ‘ Loh BT. PAUL, Minn, March S—
: Rotise! com

a ie

‘The house’ committ The ‘bill mtroduced a few: days e270 -~

: * by” tative Dowling ‘of the 6t. |

\ Lanta county delegation, providing that
St. Loale county shall furnish the ster-

{tt pith @ residence frée of charge, 2s

known, } it. ia thought hig eyesight “might be
gan'to recovered . after ; long and persistent
{treatmer is -koown

as born ae a cold which vettled ‘tn ‘bla ext.

os


Wethern’s death May 16, 1871 found Granite Falis still without a cemetery .or as yer orn
there was iO Org, hized town and if there were any YX
piece of ground, now the city cemetery, Wes given the cemetery association
Sy Mr. Pillsbury and the bodies re-interred\there. The first grave was that of

eathered tombstone reads: ‘Here les Dawid Y. Wethern shot May 16, 1871",
@st burial in the Granite Falis city cemetery. Severa! other remains previously

&

is Mey were made on individual

plots. In 18
apparently

| burfed were aisd\re-interred there. \
While the murderer of Ciranite Falls’ first merchant paid for his crime by serving in
! Stillwater.a Yellow Medicine county murderer paid for his misdeed by being hanged atthe
grounds of the jail in Granite Falls.

It was seventeen vears and two days after Wethern’s murder, on May 18, 1898, that a
murder took place four miles south of Echo.

Mrs. Louisa Ott and her children had attended a neighborhood wedding that day. At S1X
o'clock she and the oldest son Sam drove home in the wagon to prepare supper for her
husband who had remained at home. She expected to return to the wedding festivities where
they had left the other five children.

On entering the home she discovered her husband Joe in the parlor reading a
newspaper account of the assassination of President Garfield. He looked up, inquiring
where the other children were. On being informed his wife had left them at the wedding
party and that she intended to return there, he attacked her with a jeather covered “billy”,
striking her repeatedly until her head caved in.

Ott then went to the door ordering Sam to go and fetch the other children. Changing his
mind he countermanded the order saying “Never mind the children. I have just killed your
mother. Come and look at her.” The boy ran into the house, saw his mother’s battered body
and fled to the wagon where the horses still remained hitched up.

a

* Sam whipped the team to go to Echo for help. On the way he meta neighbor and told the

Kw story. Other neighbors were alerted and Ott was captured and taken to the jail at Granite
Falls where he remained until tried for murder. |

~y Ott was convicted and sentenced to death by Judge G. BF. Quale. The judge decreed that

a % Ott should be hanged between midnight and sunrise Thursday morning, October 27, 1898.
“ . Sheriff J. H. Schwalier was charged with the duty of carrying out the sentence. A seven foot
8 y high board stockade 36 by 60 feet was erected back of the jail, within which gallows were

‘ s built. The forthcoming attraction excited much interest, and on the Sunday before the
‘ iN hanging was to take place, many women as well as men were admitted to the stockade to
1 > satisfy their curiosity.
Q ‘S On the evening prior to the hanging a festive air prevailed around the saloons as men

reinforced their courage before witnessing the execution. Marshal Frank Dillingham was
kept busy preserving order among those who came to witness the event. The newspaper
files noted that about 500 witnesses from throughout the county, all deputized, crowded into

the compound to eye the spectacle.

Shortly after one o’clock a.m. preparations for the hanging were begun by Sheriff
Schwalier and Deputy Beard. Just before the trap was sprung there was a terrific clap of
thunder and lightning across the sky. Sheriff Schwalier sprang the trap door and at 1:23
a.m. the murderer was pronounced dead. His body was not claimed by relatives or friends so
he was buried in an unmarked and unknown grave in potters field north of the city

77.

C07} ):

cemetery.
The Ott family was of German-Jewish descent and had come from Chicago a few years

earlier. The billy which was the murder weapon had accompanied the family from their
former home and here in their new home it was to be Joe’s downfall.

Of Jails and Criminals - 27

The Ott execution has been the only one performed in Yellow Medicine county.
Schwalier was awarded $350 for the execution of Ott, out of which he had to pay about $50 'n
i The rope used was cut into short pieces and passed out to witnesses as souvenirs
Schwalier was later called elsewhere in the state to serve as executioner, and was credited

arith. han O10 sak RMA Men AT Ao

ani athear man in Minnesota.


ee Te cakes sa he: ji si tf

ort, Joseph Ses White, hanged at Granite Falls, Minnesota, on October 20, 1898,
"eon May 18, 1898, a murder took place four miles south of Echo,
"Mrs, Louisa Ott and her children had attended a neighborhood wedding that day.
At six o'clock she and the oldest son Sam drove home in the wagon to prepare supper
for her husband who had remained at home, She expected to return to the wedding
festivities where they had left the other five children.
"On entering the home she discovered her husband Joe in the parlor reading a news-
paper account of the assassination of President Garfield, He ooked up, inquiring
where the other children were. On being informed his wife had left them at the
wedding party and that she intended to return there, he attacked her with a leather
covered 'b&lly', striking her repeatedly until her head caved in,
"Ott then went to the door ordering Sam to go and fetch the other children, Chang-=
ing his mind he countermanded the order saying ‘Never mind the children, I have
just killed your mother, Come and look at her,' The boy ran into the house, saw
his mother's battered body and fled to the wagon where the horses still remained
hitched up,
"Sam whipped the team to go to Echo for help, On the way he met a neighbor and
told the story, Other neighbors were alerted and Ott was captured and taken to
the jail at Granite Falls where he remained until tried for murder.
"Ott was convicted and sentenced to death by Judge G F. Ouale, The judge de-
creed that Ott should be hanged between midnight and sunrise Thursday morning,
October 27, 1898, Sheriff J. H. Schwalier was charged with the duty of carrying
out the sentence, A seven foot high board stockade 36 by 60 feet was erected back
of the jail, within which gallows were built, The forthcoming attraction excited
much interest, and on the Sunday before the hanging was to take place, many women
as well as men were admitted to the stockade to satisfy their curiosity.
"On the evening prior to the hanging a festive air prevailed around the saloons as
men reinforced their courage before witnessing the execution, Marshal Frank
Dillingham was kep busy preserving order among those who came to witness the event,
The newspaper files noted that about 500 witnesses from throughout the county, all
deputized, crowded into the compound to eye the spectacle,
"Shortly after one o'clock a.m,, preparations for the hanging were begun by Sheriff
Schwalier and Deputy Beard, Just beffre the trap was sprung there was a terrific
clap of thunder and lightening across the sky, Sheriff Schwalier sprang the trap
door and at 1:23 agm, the murderer was pronounced dead, His body was not claimed
by relatives or friends so he was buried in an unmarked and unknown grave in
potters field north of the city cemetery.
"The Ott family was of German-Jewish descent and had come ffom Chicago a few years
earlier, The billy which was the murder weapon had accompanied the family from
their former home and here in their new home it was to be Joe's downfall,
"Phe Ott execution has been the only one performed in Yellow Médicine County,
Schwalier was awarded $350 for the execution of Ott, out of which he had to pay
about $50 in expenses, The rope used was cut into short pieces and passed out to
witnesses as souvenies. Schwalier was later called elsewhere in the state to
serve as executioner, and was credited with hanging more people than any other
man in Minnesotae"
From GRANTIFE FALLS HISTORY BOOK by Narvestads, pp 26-27.

"Joseph Ott, hated at Granite Falls, Minn,, on Oct, 20, 1898, Ott was a German Jew |
who turned to farming in western Minnesota, A thoroughly brutal character, he found
his chief recreation in beating his wife, She had twice begun divor e proceedings
but each time had been persuaded to rejoin her husband, On May 15, 1898, he again
beat the unhappy woman with his fists, but this did not satisfy him, Seizing a lea-
ther bludgeon loaded with shot, he beat her to death as she pleaded for mercy, After
saying farewell to his six children, he mounted the gallows, saying coldly: 'I bid
you all good evening,' and danced on air in the presence of some four hundred spec=

tators,"
MURDER IN MINNESOTA, by Walter N, Trenerry; St. Paul: The Minnesota Historical

Society, 19623 p 22h.

(Note: Information from GRANTIE FALLS HISTORY BOOK * rovided by Mrs. Zula D, Aakre,
Gurator, Yellow Medicine County Museum, Box 160, Granite Falls, Minn, 562h1., 1982)

pect ap0 feos ped den gages natn Was inde Oct. 3 a i

lantous, ¢ The “ph, emt a) the wei ago, The Anatctener was returiond Nov, ihe tock prey ot thn iiate prinoti: 5 His Lot P PO VASAL aa
heatt. soccer? moe | M Z -s ‘ 4 Chg sank wae called before }ianguaes. War shocking. eve to ihe pro=| 4 Sash, AV Adi
aud if 3 , 2: E : To A, Carcity appeuring for |fane: and vulgi pough the luet two} . iC :
Lp OO; fee couaty Attorney: Peter | weehs of his Ile snowed amarked cha 5 : Reray
Moshin's lant Rout was uit ith rAd J. 85 hy Rte Fegpes ig PHS ARO EGRARULE Preomeves.
Father Jujesky In .prever. in i ,. a een eae t< é >
ceili nis alsfere hd. the priest, just outs Bhaw,fo8 boo ovr PETER fae ok ) Observe the Numbers. We Have.
~1 wide, the man. whose doom wan #0 near # 5 che a

prayed and listened tq words of. consola~\ ra “ot ‘diet tore “of. Gumavus
tiéu from fhe churchman, now and then) Edwagt “Millward, ‘Adolph Cillege met here this week und -
jlapenking a word of comfort to bis sistera, | Moses J) Seymour” ae holas Odenbright, elected ‘the Collewitne tne ere tor the eek t ees y s .
4 Mrs. Wenzel finally had to -be tuken.40 | P. Bo Harding, Ld praia ai tar Sars ; 3, Hi. Grad, fret eg) aH has {Ths tadt-heamed ie. the. prevent , Myo,
the who were sIniost overcome with emotion. Upon the ep of the jury, Asniet-| : * Hund, second mal cic aa nd seeks x sores Jered Vets i
woe [thé maifou's Aburtments, where” he Re y Al J. Bmith pr . - 23, ian ~~ ee edt Reiatis —, ue o> i Monk? Cat Wace | Pap
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isbnapas Shy Spee ey SEE:

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jag of A Pubewel det tery (Jot SVE | accused wines. SlOucked, Gown Sine cbis A, Bho 5 Fab Bergstroin pea TY fated over H..< Hanson tor ost :
new 44 Anomisa, bows, reac for mur-fohair near pis actotney. wlth his hands] gungts get “slg. Soindie: ye pep # Sy eqinaes fe contestants, Sine te “3 SAUK CENTER :
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s i ata ae gerne Gg-j chest. he seem i oblivious ‘Lo- they pro- vies parties & numberof lots on Wash» mas rere road in Sue x % sour eater: hast es theo id
arci-wtelt arettes to John McAvoy, allege jorde } ceedings “und tly 1 of ihe horrible} ington avenge” and _ will -commencethe hehe i meelvem atts
ee eae ose a A aey Fee the | thet, whe tecupled a cell svear him and } tale, enben for Sites s e : sae tion of & handsome new cesidenve at Ay} en pr Avenia. Walfor Pravkperg. jpree
sath ilo us ni ot ee giandtied wed acl drpw | WRG. NAS (enuticd: ol the: defense Sit Mus” | sicabetelike exes ow : POROe i i ie OO et of 2 i. a dressed ¢
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raat Sate Nea sj Tae Corcora laced ai etn plan to eacape fn which he attempted te. ~faney. sei hie imind? . Wotiee: “of the: tele; phone sty BM bighisn 1D rs Mea wel ce Pinck if crnlam 5H in Vriz i
: feet. kegs hather «tra Toplicata his guard, W.. A. Pelereones: ne sr cdion of ig eupatan na Pon Yount m, Te thy rear OF hel \Siateee, window {8 th ta ight me, Wriehf. woe
Na ; he’ tupe tight enough fi gta sees Heel ore attra ey Se inscrutable, face “hange, but then. sre iee fe went ina & tga. | Peron ane, the, day Darore. $33 c Regine ne are the ar oe r
habout my neck, cautioned Mostik, ina] te Wet %, “ ae Dg erin, such as. 6 (Mr. Teaver nex onday ore 4 Rie sore mervices. every. Friday
rity.-and by Dr, Wang, who had “peatified| tyde ight. Wese, i t we a TITLES, ‘cloc ts
to. ‘calm, monotongus yotee, an which there |i tie defense, ‘The death warrant was ae ny he Tan ant cinaiiycbeebante Bal alien ce aster re ; : Rew Charles ne:
je kad & slanio of feeling: “| eid at 11310, (A reawest by Moshi th. pee} sorgttennive'to hi attorney that the latter SoeYbetnvoal . Muyore ochester i feovore “ 4
th wie. hu sighuy att ae hip coffin wab dented, — 7. was obliked to [dsigt upon Its suppression: | Mins Aw al tee has pony io Rocheater| ett
s}.cho eee + ft At 2:20 the ¢ell aoar waa thrown “open The: assistant vole ty atiorney. claimed ‘an opera ae
‘grers fend jhe procession moved to the galowst rubbery: to be thé motive for. the erime. mae ee village ot cect are vow na
A 08. i gnetit’ Phillips lead the march, -Yehind | atter théstrial Mosbik’etoutly delved that Stoseeet ai tk (aueeday w float-settie-1? \
him came the doomed man. hia sleter, Mr. | gach: wae the (sey and claimed: that he rene: wai made Char ‘Of supers
Kareti, on one aide and Jatipr DuMeld on | committed: the Fringe through fear: : He pyors of the wna and the tritees ef
the other,.andibebind these he priest.and | went ta Cathdér, ‘with Lemke; waits Th ee at ite sh
Ove depulles inv this fashion “they? “pro~ cording to ‘til efi: , with the precons
ceeded (o the door of the death ee rf ‘obing atord. and hold:
* peed. Whe)

f FP. totee Solana .
ao oer at dar
WW Stracio
he ree, af

where he said farewell
he wcene of the

€. cab “porsrasion: Seema 8 contro. oak
Aopen reg ide pate Moshik was not saany eventha . ave Sak
fur: ry yenport. Lows, ‘where .
¢ na, 3b he exbresved f + in u i A
tit rior oot 8 ont ee ie rt Soak oon ae tea Boneh MP] meson aa mae,

iter AY

Mie yd paca A twenty éayn ere St. ie “Two peat rdaa cre hae
diot Will add &. fours x igs yee gh!
Ea een alert ts me heat Sunday nt feet. tg. alvelr sa S Wein cae Eysan eQry ¥ 53 fee { wis
tuner, te fet abou’
+ ne a reel ene iit an et ¢ Sehitplin ‘é the iestiution et vey
necatenet | vt Cl be es i
frateene Moet and | Sick mort li gob ko Samet ine tabs jou gna
aden. DARK utter he, Rye Biers : _ be
comexher a Wo Re Tt ‘Ancona, | 4

meee tigns an a

ae b. —
reat Western Re.
yee Soceter, nv anh ea

Oye : ee st ; olerage. ‘ d Hid, onde | einaing Ma case? Myeh
ped mes ‘ F a8 : nlgne a eta aki put wid
"opher i sosresroasid “ :

4 ‘oo syatse
cat Ag Scraweirres

ery
failing,
‘bis only: pay
vat Ma best ageae
his pur ris one

ena sy
aistiing. Great a
ied tur Get ne ea a wat
arate a * REE TOG Weneled ba One
2 Whthe, aye of the pe pe
Was xen Lucio fe.

: | owt et D Wadat donate es RE heught & Means
dieid [0 opie Sane’ of ps 4 et Wa winter: Fortin Pers Ihe 40 afi ¥ cy ; ‘
Sort of athe PeveIvet WALER ter su eat | b Rtg nae ‘eas yoathar-tst as < o} ay a + tee igh pane het.
le ide Naa alton ed blip fa Cait: | = $f wae bond'tn pee shea ee a 3 ‘ ae
ae wet: One Ter “Pest ; 5

Site 0b fuchive head.

ety aa eante

ee lthat tnd

to


HA > Rae eS aawe sons
nc ommenereeen

Men% Tan Shoes”

A page

tb ay er |, ail nizew

S18

RS ty vate

ae jee chocedate 4 Sat
f-eques. ei

er rae.

wre vel Shinoes

‘Home Trade:
Shoe. Store,
219-224 Nivallet Ave.

UE $1.39

In Tbs be ie sed onto. abe 8

shrouged! figure w: throngh
the Mut. and a ay ioe! mass Pareles
at the ef@ of @ taut tape.) pT

Io [y@ than three minutes <i time
he-eateryd tha deuth chamber, nik had
Kone fo his doom... No-tremar, no twitch:

heart: dreede' ps wiry tor some time,
and it waa Bot wnttt the #Mfening corpse
had bung fourteen minutes * the mure
bar tif Was pronoutced dead.

@ movement at the ddor Ipfarmea
the ran oh B. witgenves that the ‘awful event
of the night was’ scen to take — place.
Firs. Bhetift Phililps, accompanied dy.
Deputes Clement we: Dean. , passed | PPR:
theaggh the doorway. ron eon-

1 dasistance He
ests and was shes pa uns

Loree “
“ermind. Vigor
Todas ce at hace 1a

erday

tye Jury

Fig at erect

t Jatt ae

and -Weild an ap ak is

A ashies ty pay © ane Pavia
te * ait be nisl ee bal toe! wu i
pe!

wap andi the dexter or prao:
teetydhanids Guard Brungon® fed the
rtrafh found tre manacled arma and drew

feldalipped the nove over hid Bead and
(sant) Coreoran: placed
about tie feet.
*yothaventt got the rope tight enougnit
about my usek,” cautioned Mustik, th a

another wttap

as hae

taj cala,

mover

at
tite.

‘ qj phokte, him elighuy: 4 theknot placed’
oe. ef
5

voice, In. which there
was pteven & shade of feeling. -
“TRWibose wun tightened about his eek,

1 ear:
my feet, he spoke! up

again,
The strap about ¢

¢ timbes
wan (Atened still mere and also the ~~

nrodh*the plutomed arma, During the
operain” he stegaeted some and. pieens

Some
7a ts
nee ,
NOUME IN in
ek Dat

a, Bary ies REMEN ;
Amovnt paid for pases
ine et Yetuenes. to bene

trokerawe. Mab:
and. afigwances +o

a tie

ee ere) 4
 sdiontted sauna

cwadinyied saaitle
of bhai ee

we fteo ncineg iter ©

ter #Tve 7 ates >
wai

ek ee

am A

as nal of the Foanty. 3 wae entirely int
() Sat ety paliiatiog clreum
2

Ua ete,
SENG tHE: Cad bends

J € ais Pia paste
pone
i: Sint Spr lbdiag
tee

SD wetrient vi ay a +
sini thy bats a Pike. ae
Ire Bg pea -

yer

“|@rent responsibility that the law hi

thie iebtly against the body, Iatlor Dut. | MK

a

7 ‘aan befire the dying man far gan”

“Graney, and desired to fled some friemis.

3 Hug doket: ate, nat down, a0 tht Dali.

fp telet the Ghat Wild at the she pat

a replaced tt per lie ated

"After theyady had swung too and fro
afew moments, the phyatelans. present
Cearoner: Dennis. Deputy Coroner Nelson,

ere,
ply bh y ely wend ieqoaht
he was taker to
oy: poopteel. yh eye ee, Lemke, oThe ying

Dra Golden. Bel), Kilvington, .T
Wane and Taw gathered ebout. In was
3:0) before they woe way that ite, ae
extinct. 1°*

Sheriff Phiitips wae sobbing hysterically
over in @ corner, quite overcome wit ~

posed on him. The priest looked alvapet;
as if he would give way; and showed much | al
mental Wlatress, but. soon recoveredi« 1%

turned over to. Undertakers 0"
Long. mveral vandalistic witne
out thelr pocket knived and supplied them-
selves with pieces “of the rope. 1b .was
going {wt ee the busy knives were pifed,
when the priest. shocked and: grieved, in-
terfered,and prevailed on a‘deputy apace
to restrain 1 ihe pelle hunters.

Fit

‘fant hour was coaalt ye
Father Jujesky In ptever,: Seated in. his
ceit, hig sisters End the priest jast out-
side, “the man whose doom was #0 Wear] W.
Prayed und Ustened te words of cansela-
Hon ‘from, the charchman, now and then
apeaking a word of comfort to his sisters.
Mrs." Wenzel finally had to be taken. to
jwho were Almost overcume. with emotion.
the. matron’s gipartments, where . she
fainted and wax with difiewlty revived,
Mra. Kareft, the other sister, returned
her-brother and remained with hiak until
he feached the very door of the exeq
pb’ with: thé. death: procession,
selena
Be mwemech~ on
P dys Joe Whine
phew td Atameta) lowa, prlaun foo mur
der. Lrariig. tbe day he also sent A-emaly
vellgious “emblem and a package of cla-
aret(es ‘to Jotn McAvoy, alleged yhurne
thiet, -whe'Lecipled a ceil near him and
who had'testified forthe defense in Mon-
rial) At‘the request of Sheriff Phite
he made a statement a6 to the recent)
n fo edcape in which he attempted ty)
implicate hin kuard, Petersane jx
“Durtog the haure Just before midnight
he wan visited by his aitorney, T. A.Gar-
en and by Dr. Wang, who had testified
inv his “defense... The death’ warrant: was
veid at 110A d: Nope wo:

ine ct a tarew es er

chim»
rhe. offtcers. fount thes Fevolver mh the
Kilohen stove, wher Moshik had placed
i Fieago morning nis. brother-in-
jaw. handed to the: aothorities Lemke's

“After the dudy had been cut down whd | maurd
ily ene :
pulled

six Weeks From the © Murder, Mout
Wap Seulenced,

Tha admintatratiy' of jdeticn in’ Mom
hik's Cane’ Wan atin o/: the swiftest in thé
legnt history. of the County. .The ‘arfeat
was ™ Ort. 23, [ss than five monthe
ago. . The Indictmef Swas returned. Nov,
8. and Nov, 26 the cide wae valied before
Judge Bitiott, “T. ‘areity appearing for
the defense and uty Atte = Peter=
son, assinted by Al J. Smith, fo

Atter three and Ghe-hulf days. the follow:
ing jury Was completed: Julius H. aoa
1. Kennedy, Alice Fergusoh,
Ganrteton, Charles Kelley, Archis. Curtis

isof the jury; FRasiade
fait County Aces Al J. Smith: pre-
es It way here that

np sls ‘ 2,
Boe ers @)yves., SOuched Ae wn iu his.
ebule neat bis aiterhey, oelih his jands
folded and: hie tend howed turward ov bis
chest,” he seem! Gbiivicus to” the: pro<
évedings jand 1f-."Reeltal ofthe horrible
tule, exeem for che piercing glance-vf bis
simlet-like eyes owhich. looked ‘out from.
bis nearly cloat with an expression
vindfetive and urdicious.. Only whey some
grimy humorous fancy” seisele his ming:

Inecrutable: tace +
break into 0 lve’

hig cotfit was dented.
ne a the- cell door was Undo ou apen
of Pe moved to the gallows®
Bheeiet iips lead ‘the mareh.  Hehind.
him ¢ame the doomed man.. bis sister, Mra.
Karen,’ on. one side and Jatlyr Duffield on
the other and/behind these the priest: and
the. deputies. In) this fashion “they pro~| ¢
cemded to the door of the death chamber
where (he said furewell to t

nees, aml waa
prompted by a ctiminaily Iphoman nature,
Sivan by hy Sosten for 4 few. dyttand-~

r Satyrtrated —
spect Sa Berries Of Oct 2, 1.
‘The ciréemstances Iwading. ip ( the mur-
Ger were given by Jobs Lemke, ne_he lex
upon hie death bed at the city hospital,
at wet af the facts of the shooting, This
#@ after Moshik bad leet arrested, and

“one net Mosbin. he’ the. tr aion pee
bret nen on the day of the’ mar

~
Mimhte paid We wae « stratteer,

without

Lamhe repited (ath he was a slranger,
but wilting 16 help the steangér tnd Abe
inte The (84 Bounded 4 dagen Mace
cat and rate 49 the ond of Die las, They
tite walned Tor a AOteote, Wud em,
near Porty) ee ay steel ond Hainan
avende. Mod Hout “F9 tert from, the
residence at” orth rdeley, waa

that - Tre hark

‘Deen relented trom the penitentlary, |
bat a prea ri @

Lat Wace ra mere

Yattroed trains, Whee Tenrke drew

du

whe het ale bod. art ebay 4
yiatley fell, —geak Muahiti, ’ the
tte pow. aeectting ileeit. Fuened fo the
wifate mah ant sere’ Him veo
bart. Be detehepar, etd odasin,
meen tlt per mine f Oy back few lielred

che purdeter tated hoe Victim over bi

90d, texte the Watt ead oF nls ©, mala |e
Demat te leat Mim vee the hua und fare,
Tt aka Lette toads be wert thiowsl
span Relay toe TH wail and 311,’ art
han ARAL DIO ty thE Toot Inte clit
Mt beshes.¢ ie fsb Huns peas vpn oy

4 Y hack
£3 dailies
04 tht arte oF the Nani eye
i Stat y Ln ib-igh
Ben oi ead Pothiberes vagy
RRA URE PRGIVED Whe bs- niet shane
we rand. We Ldlow et hip fo ttm ter)

ne

pea hae “tars int ” ie at tier fen

+
See regcarsd |

ab
was obltKed | tot
Assistant
robbery tobe. t)

motive for the: ¢rime.

such wee the &o.¢; and claimed-that he
committed: the” eine fhrough fear, . He
went? Po Held Ft a with Lemke. ac<

him ih; a crime.

'® Watch Waw founda] bet
He -beeme te eontro«
Mashik was riot |

eo Hate
iseeye nd» Btavio,
Assistant Vounre Attorney Jones, Thomas
Flaherty, te whoni deomke had: gone aftert

4 nd
i Laem ater dink
togather wat) the

chdin ‘was typrie

Would: the’ wxprosaian af “hia. Yellow: anad eee,

‘haw bee!
Sirs. Ln emma
¥ Erickson witt leay
Bailar “wahneore

wppre: y
Nowa atiorney.claimed | 4
After theitriit Modhik’atoutly deitied that pu

fa famous FO

Pe Tein belkefed final mis}
* spire

Ye oer beg

ares after tnree peohthe having been
iecovered te: be lnnonehe of she crime
Penurged.< This Was pftee u wialt to Mone
fanaowhere be Waa 4 tramp. and a cook
ina cheap hotel Boon after his, release
pfrom (the: Missourt princm he, wits pent: te
fStiiwater for’ four So yeirs~ and eight
aaeiie. He hud Just comapleted that sens.
when. he. committed the Prins fos
A bwhich he. wha eee to-day.
= thee cee hig histoty of, ‘erie. there.

Prune’ evidence of uy adandonment to drim-
That impalees ttle short of total deprave
tty.’ Net. there is evidence Mat in many
‘Canes, such a6 the one In which he waa
went to the Missgurt prison, he was made
a “mark” of by unscrupulons Hetecstven
and police Imepectora.

His criminal cafecr felt. its’ traces im
every
smhovemernt and action and in every wort.
In hig. walk Gould be geen the shomte 5
the. lock: step of the wtatacprinet
languagé wan sRovking even ty the pro-~
faue and valgar shough The last two
‘We eke of hia ire showed. * eae sehen
Sg ‘Feapect,

_ EST. PETER

Phe board of Wire frestors’ ‘4
Adolphus College met here Week and
lected the following officers toe the year:
esident, .G. 3
huis: gecrote
vise the fina!
of three. w race hasielpe ts
ae nile nea Dany
pate pall P.

orm oe ue.

"ee Po Ber rat :
wiailges: Bcandis ‘a are

nein ‘tAspure urchased from

eastern parties @ number of lots. on Wash-
ington avenue @hd will commence =the
erection: of & handsome new realest: ati

Mire. Harvey” Wi
oreents 2 Sues decay, me

¥-
otice of the télephone’ com-
tic aalh be ane Tear of the

2 rete Olen Sere

‘a. condition remains
or kor.. May: of. Roch
Be a oc lester

Pty
¥ te gon¢_ to ‘Rochester |.

tion
Tage of Kuwe
“~ eh: other a
ve BN eotties
“the he supers
Steere OF
e wold ite share tn
for the sum of $3900. and
tite bh of Ia ght hand,

Pidito:
bout th
beer

= diene mee ed

re the the <i
sae vere Uend

ares.
om Awente days

«| f Tees” te ts Me sadtect oor
srening: ast

nen’ Sunday
cote cam ae
“sees wer

lineament< of ite face. in avery,

ee ie

the §
nts,

cnbe xa
00, “are much Pesos
rity Overtwats, €2.
+00 and apwads... - -)

In Hats the New Blocks a All Ia,

Highest HumliGes at $1-50 to $3.00.”

Flyer {

Men’s Wool Cheviot suits

In dl

S

for Saturday Oaly—

52,50

ack: only, all sizes.

~~ Observe | the. Seubert ‘We Have Neo Branch.

> éaplata?

Hunt,

atatlation Dace tind the Visitors dy deadedi heel el ete juin Mont aring we.
the sae very ©

cond

z| eee Tawa tos

alderman.
7

Hae
me dew

amie

ie
[pany wih play
eve! Bight, n
Sixtern

we See

Grass, first Jleutenant? Fj The. last-rareed : é
ats Heutenant.. Aftet the ie ay pocus © ede he Prewent mayor,
ine
om
sei pas gece a

aod was al petier &, very Se tordas ering ie
oi

ee. deftne
ee meweber of the
Afid Hetend ‘hl ig

BA

Reus: Martow
< Jiapson tor

~ SAUK CENTER

Last. nt a
rene nt he x

mes ot the sontesiante ts ie tbe: ay. :
‘¥ contest, to be “held -

¥4 tbe high Scan
vee untli
a er
ay Pa eine al His Fintan No f dresme. ee milk kot ie t

# 2
ravidevitle ems ~Y
Lyceum theater ir.

ha Wright lock |
windstorm of yes

lama t

inige aia
wr

oérew McPhee
in.

windows “tn
Wrout by thé-w.
andthe day before.

reine

ne ae re teother,
fornia 3 roy hone ks Salis

Wars: at
oe Former. Ww a beth:

‘today.’ the Roiseupal
 atter 5 tia ey eer: F ‘any

ic dts tate es

k's tin

eg Al
“this
aber

ne hall

> Mrew
re Pig Paut.
Perce Co eye

ager ta

vigh wt

tariom,

aie

i cee paces ioe

Jy
Jai

Otter tne
Oped Thee for

rap
yeaa py owt father

s sm. wh eM anace Ks Dosing

uy

oon,
du t mee, SS Taw ¥ a. ane

idisters Sh ike Ornen pes Bt Behe

*
ner wilt adil a Sprstayy ‘a
tq hele 4 = avemy

Bu by ef

et phe

Bees $14.00. t0 ae ae i>

stolid Caee Of the Shes i BHF Sigh

Of fev. wot (ove when €

sas wn ‘i a sees ie: Yevolver
ered In. tis. she!

qe Usual mene be. Ae Pees

AHOFL Fetewers he WOMId, teRort co hia tg:

arett@ at whieh. would puff violently.

The state teerer the thitd dny after be-
@inging Ha eas” Monh ‘ _apitlac

Hemet: Die olsen, Mow,
Pav. wae the nee. wit,

biited bans
hefory naming to) thts: magia f
lomhiKiatinelt: had’ ehowh slarhs

yea Dei Wang
we mo ae

| Ad Roctsamnt

nee sn be bout ihe
Pa Se oe baly oe os
sate te. Portrait

rime vib i
are ts tary’
wah P OR Wit hy the

ib wesinae ever

be
ama Pur: val between the

was tone war 2.
wore thant
Duriha the e

piniwed sone T”
plgtin of the wee lo> bet aid thet change his |

a Beypompanied by he
+ Sy : atverhbour
$ herd <hatew anyit cond
fa Tea ee

ee lestoratve ff Neva’

}
ty

ve

IQ0

‘

hie?

ye fe

x a oe os, a
r ye Force.” | .

:

x
Sw

lected: (y’
man cannot Straddie
Tres to: OTrailt

are i
W elt rahe st

¥ 4

of

ae
=<}

: tem: fas been. weakenéd or. d

i

<a

x)

gt? iin the
Lboug ht ‘
Ae Mig ta a a rath 3 he

. the functions 6f his body. th

ontrolied by the nerve

vis strength Asvfailing, tf

Ver, his oly realtsafety
el

Organs. wae
oe muscular

my Raye wan = ao
{ sradiy are ae nd

gy

Net
hie alee HT ay
¥ ae

-


360 ;
o 96 MINNESOTA REPORTS

Mr. Clarke: I i
het ; se: He has no recollection, if the court please, of
s having had a revolver, and hi i |
eae ec ar , we think the circumstances will
ee at he didn't have it, at that time, in his hand, and that
aly r :
ses y came into his hand in the course of the struggle; that
1¢ has membrane
| as no remembrance whatever of what took place durit
the strugele > that a
a uggle, but that he woke up with the revolver in his hand,
1¢e =f. 7 ~ : bf ,
x e Court: You claim some emotional condition?
r. Clarke: motional insanity; yes, sir
"The & an . . : ' °
ourt: ‘motional insanity,

There is i
1 .
oa ‘. evidence to support this defense of complete lapse of
y and consciousness, ex
cept the Ie 5 ;
mony to , P defendant’s improbable testi-

ne ine effect that up to the moment the fatal shots were fired

emembere rything i i

' 1em =" ed everything in detail and everything that occurred after

they were fired, but has no r i

‘ ecollection of firing tl
ot eta s 1 g them. A person is
. excused from a criminal act, except upon proof that roe time
conimitting the act he was labori
z oring under such a def f
as not to know the nature itn Geass
i or quality of the act he i

an ¢ was doing, or n

to know that the act was wrong. G. S. 1904 § 6303. The inst ti
, ; ructions

of the lez a eee .
nn mea trial judge to the jury were exceptionally clear, full
d fair, and of them the defendant makes no complaint , :

The
quite as favorable to him as the evidence warranted mous

. ’ a
c ~ | | | l] fey al ro] tl
| . ) I
> an

\
\
\
\

' gTATE V. WILLIAMS

claims that he was in the same bed with the boy, but could not

sleep by reason of the noise the mother made, so he got up, dressed,
and it was not until he got to the door near the head of the boy’s bed
that she rushed in and seized the defendant, when he immediately lost
at was going on until he found himself in her
in other words, he
the time

all consciousness of wh
room with the smoking revolver in his hand, or,
had a clear conception of every thing which occurred up to
he was seized by the mother, and from a time before the smoke from
the revolver had cleared, but from the time he was seized until the re-
volver was discharged he was unconscious. Any suggestion that the
mother left the defendant after he became, as he claims, unconscious,
and shot the boy herself, and then forced the revolver into the hands
of the defendant, is absurd. If the shots that killed the boy were not
accidental, as clearly they were not, then it follows that the mother
did not fire them. ‘There were but three persons present when they
were fired—the defendant, the mother, and the boy. The boy could
not have fired them, for his wounds show that they could not have been
self-inflicted, and the mother did not fire them. Who did? The un-
disputed facts and the evidence in this case so unerringly point to the
guilt of the defendant of the crime of which he was convicted that any
verdict other than the one returned by the jury would have been an
impeachment of their intelligence and a reproach to the administra-
tion of justice.
This brings us to a consideration of the alleged errors relied upon
by the defendant as the basis for a new trial.
1. The defendant, when under examination as a witness, was asked
_ by his counsel how Mrs. Keller (the mother) appeared with reference
to being under the influence of liquor. The trial court sustained an
objection to the question, but permitted him to state all that he had
noticed as to her action and condition. Another witness, called by the
defendant, and who saw Mrs. Keller about four o’clock in the after-
noon of the day of the homicide, was asked by the defendant’s counsel
if she saw Mrs. Keller drink any beer at that time. The court sustained
an objection to the question. It is obvious that there was no error in
either of the rulings. As to the first one, the defendant was given the
opportunity to state all he had seen or observed in the actions or
conduct of Mrs. Keller whieh would indicate that she was intoxicated,

‘

362 06 MINNESOTA REPORTS

if such fact were material; as to the second one, the question related
to a time too remote to make the answer, in any event, of any value.
Another witness, who saw the defendant at the police station at about
two o'clock the next morning after the shooting occurred, was asked
by defendant’s counsel how he appeared at that time as to being sober
or otherwise and able to understand what was said to him. The court

sustained an objection to the question on the ground that it was in-'

competent and immaterial. The question was apparently immaterial,
and no statement or offer was made by counsel indicating the materi-
ality of the evidence. It is, however, here claimed in the brief of counsel
that the evidence was material as tending to show that the defendant
was not responsible at the time Dr. Moore had the conversation with
him. ‘The ruling of the court was correct. |

Another witness, a physician and surgeon called by the defendant
was asked in effect to give an opinion, based upon the nature of the
wounds inflicted upon the boy, as to how far the revolver was from
his head when it was discharged, and whether it was upside down
when it was fired. The court sustained the objections of the state to
the questions, to the effect that they were incompetent and immaterial.
We find no error in the ruling, : ;

2. The statement or exclamation of Mrs, Keller to Mrs. Kline to
which we have referred was received over the objections of the de-
fendant, and the ruling is here assigned as error. It is the contention
of the defendant that the statement in question. was simply the narra-
tion of a past transaction and not so connected with the main fact, the
shooting, as to illustrate its character. On the other hand, the state
claims that the evidence was clearly admissible as a part of the res
geste. We are of the opinion that the evidence was properly received.
The record shows that Mrs. Keller was one of the victims of the trage-
dy; that her statement or declaration to Mrs. Kline was made within
a few minutes after the shooting took place. It was not mere self-
serving, hearsay evidence; for the statement was a natural and in-
stinctive declaration, made in close connection with the shooting and
under circumstances precluding any suspicion of fabrication. ‘The evi-
dence was admissible as a part of the res geste.: The decisions of this
court fully sustain this conclusion. O’Connor vy, Chicago, M. & St.

STATE VY. WILLIAMS

P Ry Co., 27 Minn. 166, 6 N. W. 481; State v. Horan, 32 Minn. 394,
20 N. W. 905.

3, The trial court permitted the jury to separate after proper ad-
monition during the recesses of the court before the final aie
of the cause. This action of the court is here urged as error emt “
the defendant to a new trial. Whether the jury in a capital case s ity
be permitted to separate during the trial and before the final me
sion of the case is a matter within the sound discretion of ee
court. Bilansky v. State, 3 Minn. 313 (427 ) : State v. Ryan, 13 ae
343 (378). ‘The trial court did not abuse its discretion a permi ae
the jury to separate in this case.. It must be admitted, ale .
times and conditions have materially changed since the Bilins cy i
was decided, and we are inclined to believe that in capital cases, i
the trial court has any doubts as to the propriety of permitting the

to separate during the trial, it would be wise to keep them together,
i in the large cities of the state.

a last i upon which the defendant’s motion for ae
trial was based is the alleged misconduct on the part os some 0 ‘ 1e
jurors in reading two certain newspaper articles referring to ae e-
fendant and his trial. ‘The first one complained of was publis nes ce

May 15, which was after the trial commenced, but before the ie

ing ofthe jury was completed. The affidavit of one of the jurors is

to the effect that a newspaper containing the first article was ie y

him and other jurors on the day of its publication ; but it appears om

the record that he was not summoned as a juror until the next ay,
when he was accepted as an impartial juror. The other cae —
published on May 18, during the progress of the trial, and re ean
to a passionate outburst of the defendant in reply to a es hel a ;
him when on the witness stand by the county attorney. le ae
in so far as it referred to the character oF the question and ve cs 7
mony leading up to the outburst, was a fair report of what ee panne
‘but in its comments upon the manner and appearance of the wen
ant it was unfair, and showed a bias against the defendants It at
appears from the affidavits that some of the jurors read the i *.

It is to be noted that the article did not purport tp-store or rs is

any matter occurring outside of the courtroom, that it correctly s a “

the evidence, and that the comments related to matters occurring

o6x ‘
96 MINNESOTA REPORTS

the presence a .
l ice of the jury, who were in a position to verify them. We

are no JeV ispose
t, howe er, disposed to attempt any defense of the article and
; .

direct ¢ enti i
“ “ a attention to the question whether it appears from: the record
at the defe
7 “ efendant could not have been prejudiced thereby. The alleged
se es . : * . . °
" coms uct of the jurors in reading the article was an irregularit
ccurring ri i |
date at ie trial, but it does not necessarily follow that the dc
. ae entitled to a new trial; for, if there be no doubt of the guilt
ee endant in a crithinal case, alleged errors, not affecting his sub-~
antial or constitutional rights . |
ghts, should not be held to be
* o : reversible er-
ron appeal. State v. Nelson, 91 Minn. 143, 97 N. W. 659: S
Crawford, supra, page 95. ) a ine
ani : Le 4
oa 1is oo not mean, and the court had no intention of holding in
‘ther of "ases Ci 7
ae 2 ud cases cited, that an appellate court May assjime the fates
ee 6) he jury, or, if it concludes from the evidence that the defend
ant is ¢ i ;
‘ guilty, it may say that, no matter what errors were committe J
} = ATA © ; ; ; ‘
mn eenenclaiyt is guilty anyway, and his conviction must be affirmed
i. rule is that if substantial error is committed on the trial of a d
5 a d od . : “
men an in a criminal case, the natural tendency of which is to prejudice
1e defendant, it will be a
: a ground for a new trial l i
Hecein | , unless it appears
: ; the jury could not have been prejudiced thereby ; but if it affirma.
ively < ‘ ;
| ve ” ippears, from the whole record, that the defendant could not
tave heen prejudiced by the error, it j
, It is not a ground f i
It would be trifling with justi . nde tach ee
g with justice to grant a ne i (
ae w trial under such ci
we . ch cir-
wes Now, applying the test to this case it affirmatively ap
pears, as already stated, from th i i / ,
ated, e evidence in this case, th j
, that the jur
could - have returned honestly or intelligently any other vende
tan the one they did return. N i
- Nor can we intelligent
they would have retur i ie gh hee oe
: ned a false verdict, if s
: : ome of them had
_ iad not read
ae articles in question. Therefore we hold that the reading of the
Meet al articles in question by the jury was not prejudicial error
. tere being no reversible error in the record the order appealed
rot _
n must be affirmed. So ordered, and that the sentence be executed

ache J. (dissenting).

rh
culmin ee eese was emotional insanity, and the case was
ve werden jury upon the theory that the evidence would war-
ran murder in the first or second degree, or manslaug!
in the first degree. Conceding that no error was committed in the ral,

STATE V. WILLIAMS 3

ings during the trial and in the charge of the court, in view of the

fact that the jury were permitted to separate during the trial, and re-
ceived and read certain prejudicial newspaper articles, a new trial
should have been granted upon the ground of irregularity in the pro-
ceedings and misconduct of the jury.
The attempt is made in the majority opinion to show that the crime
was deliberate and long planned, and that no other conclusion was
possible ; and this assertion rests upon certain excerpts taken from let-
ters written by defendant to the boy. Looking back to these letters,
with: the incidents of the tragedy in mind, the fact standing out that
,two innocent lives were sacrificed, no excuse or justification appear-
ing, and by reading here.and there and putting emphasis on certain
words, possibly the inference may be drawn that for many months
the purpose had been forming to destroy the boy and any one else who
should interfere with their companionship. But it was for the jury,
and not this court, to determine whether such an inference is justified.
However, other extracts may be taken from some of the letters which,
when read in connection with the entire contents thereof, tend to show
a relation of great friendship, trust, and confidence, an unusually deep
attachment and unselfish interest in the boy; and when all the letters
are considered as a whole, even retrospectively, they are inconsistent
with the theory of a deliberative and premeditated murder.
The first of this series of letters was dated March 3, 1905, and is
quoted in part in the opinion, but closes as follows:

‘Well, old boy, I should like to think that it is not your fault,
as I used to; but it looks as if it was you now. Well, Johnny,
old boy, you know how I love you and what I have tried to do
for you. I have spoiled my own chances for your sake, and

what reward have I got? Well, we will try once more and make

"a success of it, or————. Well, John, I might get a letter from
you in answer to one of mine; but what makes you take so long
‘before writing? ‘Tell me all about yourself when you write.

Hoping to hear from you soon, I remain your loving friend,
Bill.

Reading this letter as a whole, it does not necessarily convey a threat
against the life of the boy, and, when read in connection with defend-


366
96 MINNESOTA REPORTS

tos sestinony, is consistent with the theory that he had assumed a sort:
andl cues a Wkrauicnaobed him, had furnished him with mon--
wens pted to instruct him in his trade. And so with the letter:

arch 7, found on page 194 of the record, from which an extract

is set out in t at os

eas is in opinion. If any sinister motive or threat may be in--

oa a that part of the letter copied, it is explained when taken
ection with that part which is not referred to in the opinion:

Now, John, I always tri .
and should like to ape can . = ae oe:
be aie ; ove you now as much as I ever did, a iut
right soon. * _. ;. ot ena: that everything will be all
for you and ou wisl — if you find that job too much
ae oo 4 wish to be with me, you don’t have to wait
working if I Scar. on, but come right away. I could be
working sure. B well enough, and if you were here would be
ing Scho 1 ; i sure and say what you think about the plumb-

spoke about in my last letter.

From your loving friend, Bill.

The next extract in the opinion is iaiten from |

, the letter
vey fraveatate ck portions taken from selected parts, acai
record, and the a of it as a whole. It is found on page 178 of the
ate: € important passages not referred to in the opinion
es ee. iia you deal square with me I will- try and do:
‘ain <br y : , think you will change your mind about some
to take ae of ee been fo Cincinnati since I wrote last. Went
ha han sass on train, got pass back, and, as I expected’
— eer o pes used it and got back in time to get your
fone © tad we a much for the style of it, but think it
if you intend to net wn to say any more about what is past,

Now, Johnn vin a
Sec ii nies | boy, you know how I care for you, and
right. So consid you (o anything for you that I consider
sonether Katee Tk everything, also remember our talk we had

nao re. e I left St. Paul. Why is it you turn against m

¢ Is it because I am in poor luck and broke? * * * e

367

‘STATE V. WILLIAMS

past, and gave you a true account of
it, too. I did not think you would care for me after, but you
told me then that you cared more for me then than you did be-
fore. I would not try to make friends with any one without Iet-
ting them know my record. Well, everything you did at that
time got me to care more for my little partner. Don’t turn
against me now, old boy, just when I need a friend more than

I ever did.

I told you all about my

ays, but had found a friend in this

Evidently this man had seen dark d
d, and whom he appeared to want

boy, in whom he confided and truste

to help.
The extracts set out in the opinion from the letter of March 13 con-

stitute another instance where only portions are extracted and put to-
gether, apparently making a consecutive writing, whereas it requires
a consideration of the entire letter to ascertain the meaning of the
writer. ‘The following selections illustrate the theory that no immoral

motive induced the correspondence:

If you stuck to me, would I be bumming around the country,
or would I be working steady and saving money for us both?
Just think, John, old boy, think of the number of times you
told me you cared for me, how you got me to give up my habits,
and at the same time the few friends I had. Why did I do it?
Why did you get me to think you cared for me? Was the
‘little you got out of me worth it? ‘To wreck a man’s life, spoil
all his chances, try to drive him crazy, or send him to the pen,
will you do all this, John, or will you stick to your word this
time? * * * I need you to keep me straight for awhile

until I get settled somewhere.

The letter of March 28, found at page 192 of the record, contains the

following:
So keep o
to make it public.

ur business to yourself until such time as I wish
You know that my letters to you have been
crazy enough, but you also know that I don’t write such letters
to any one else. As for your mother, you know that I always
‘said that she was all right, and that I have the greatest respect