Saturday, May 9, 2015

On This Date in Minnesota History: May 9




Duluth1

May 9, 1983 – A TV commercial with Telly Savalas pitching Duluth as a tourist destination began running in selected markets. Savalas wrote the commercial and donated his name and time to promote the city “that took my breath away.” He’d been dating a woman from Duluth for a number of years and visited the city with her frequently.

Spokane Chronicle; “Savalas now boosts Duluth”; Spokane, Wash.; May 10, 1983; p. 2.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?
nid=1345&dat=19830510&id=wvpLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=efkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7079,2311356





Telly Savalas2

1http://www.health.umn.edu/about/living-minnesota/duluth
2http://www.entertainmentwallpaper.com/celebrity/telly_savalas/index.html


               __________________________________________________________

If you are interested in finding out more about your family history in Minnesota, I specialize in researching  genealogical and historical records in Minn. and western Wis., including:
census records,  birth records,  death certificates, obits, grave site photos, ship passenger lists, marriage records and declarations of intent/naturalization records.  I will visit locations to research local history and county records, as well as take photos. Quick turnaround on MHS records.  Both short searches and family history reports.

Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com ®  click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com  





Friday, May 8, 2015

On This Date in Minnesota History: May 8

May 8, 1917 – More than 100 members of the St. Paul police force went to Minneapolis this morning to attend Patrolman George Connery’s funeral at St. Clements’s Catholic Church. Brief services were conducted at the home at 9 a.m. by Rev. R. J. Fitzgerald, following which the main mass was said at the church.

A police escort was provided to take the body from the home to the church and then acted as a bodyguard to St. Mary’s Cemetery. The funeral was attended by one of the largest crowds that have ever been present at a similar event in Minneapolis.




George Connery’s Gravesite in St. Mary’s Cemetery1

Photos of notes written to his wife and found in Connery’s police notebook were printed in today’s newspaper.

Left by his murderers in an isolated wood near Fridley, Anoka County, Connery struggled to write in his notebook his last words to “Mollie,” his anguished wife and mother of his five children. The upper note is believed to say: “Mollie, goodbye children,” or “Mollie, goodbye darling.” The lower note reads with fair plainness, “Get my” and the supposition is the last word is intended to be “insurance.”




Notes Connery wrote to his wife Mollie2

The finding of the notes proves that Connery did not die instantly, but was left alive by his slayers. There was rain shortly after Connery, mortally wounded, was thrown into the woods, and it is believed the rain revived him so that he was able, though dying, to write a last tragic farewell to his family.

Meanwhile in Omaha, suspect Frank McCool admitted to Detective Bert Weare that he was in the “death car” after the automobile in which Connery was slain was stolen at La Crosse, Wis., the morning of April 24, the day of Connery’s kidnapping.




Frank McCool3

Minn. Gov. Burnquist has issued requisition papers for McCool’s return to Minn. from Omaha. Frank Burnskill, Minneapolis Detective, has gone to Omaha with the papers after the prisoner. A copy of the indictment by the Hennepin County grand jury went with the requisition, which shows that McCool was indicted on a charge of first degree murder.

Chauffeur Jack Gallagher positively identified photos of Joe Redenbaugh and McCool as the two men he drove out of St. Paul to Chaska the night following Mrs. Dunn’s murder. The connection of McCool and Redenbaugh is established by this story, which shows that the men were together after the murder of Mrs. Dunn and that they were together in their desire to get out of St. Paul in some other way than the more common mode of long-distance transportation: the train.





Joe Redenbaugh4

According to Gallagher, the two men wanted to go to Shakopee, but the taxi was only able to get as far as Chaska, arriving there around midnight, because the roads were impassable across the Minnesota bottoms to Shakopee. Redenbaugh, McCool and Gallagher slept at the National Hotel, Chaska, the rest of the night. Redenbaugh and McCool made themselves more memorable because when they arrived, they wanted something to eat, so the cook was woken up and cooked them some lunch.




Chaska5


The suspected murderers left for Shakopee over the St. Paul Road at 7:23 a.m., arriving at 7:34 a.m. They are supposed to have boarded an Omaha train at 10:30 a.m., for Mankato, where they would catch a train that would bring them to Omaha at 11 p.m. Friday night, where they would meet two women said to be their wives.  


St. Paul Daily News; “Was In Death Car, F. McCool Admits. Police Find Blood-Stained Clothes Left by Alleged Slayer of Connery. Requisition Papers Issued. More Than 100 St. Paul Police Attend Funeral of Slain Patrolman.”; “Trace Murderers’ Flight in Taxicab. Driver Tells of Taking Men He Says Were Redenbaugh and McCool to Chaska.”; May 8, 1917; pp. 1, 2, & 12.

1http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=88948023&PIpi=106281811

2St. Paul Daily News; May 8, 1917; p. 2.

3St. Paul Daily News; May 7, 1917; p. 1.

4https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19640524&id=bSArAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cZ0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3914,4610516&hl=en

5
Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain May 8, 2015, as long as acknowledgement included.  



Disappearance of Minneapolis Patrolman George Connery; see April 24, 2015 blog
Car Connery disappeared in found in St. Paul; see April 25, 2015 blog
More than 1,000 volunteers join Minneapolis police in the search for missing patrolman; see April 28, 2015 blog
Connery and Dunn murders linked; see May 4, 2015, blog
Anonymous caller tells police where body of Connery is located; see May 5, 2015 blogSecond man in “death car” arrested in Omaha; see May 7, 2015 blog


               __________________________________________________________

If you are interested in finding out more about your family history in Minnesota, I specialize in researching  genealogical and historical records in Minn. and western Wis., including:
census records,  birth records,  death certificates, obits, grave site photos, ship passenger lists, marriage records and declarations of intent/naturalization records.  I will visit locations to research local history and county records, as well as take photos. Quick turnaround on MHS records.  Both short searches and family history reports.

Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com ®  click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com 











Thursday, May 7, 2015

On This Date in Minnesota History: May 7

May 7, 1917 – The photo of an alleged Omaha bank robber was recognized by Minneapolis and St. Paul authorities as the second man in the automobile that kidnapped Minneapolis Patrolman George Connery on April 24. Frank McCool, alias Frank Curtis, alias James Shaw, is under arrest in Omaha, charged with the Connery’s murder.

McCool is also wanted for complicity in the attempted robbery of the Randolph State Bank, Dakota County, Minn., on Nov. 4, 1916.



Frank McCool*

It is said that McCool, Joe Redenbaugh and another as yet unnamed man were closely associated in and about St. Paul in planning many crimes. With the arrest of McCool, it shouldn’t be long before the murderer of Alice McQuillan Dunn is under arrest.

St. Paul Police Chief John O’Connor also announced today that the bullet found in Connery’s body is a 44-caliber, the same as the three bullets that passed through Mrs. Dunn’s body. O’Connor believes this strengthens his theory that the same person is connected with both murders.


St. Paul Daily News; “Warrant Out For Murder Suspect. Frank McCool, in Jail at Omaha, Charged With Killing Connery. Picture Is Identified. Police Say He Was Pal of Joe Redenbaugh, Alleged Slayer of Mrs. Dunn.”; May 7, 1917; pp. 1 & 2.

*St. Paul Daily News; May 7, 1917; p. 1.

Disappearance of Minneapolis Patrolman George Connery; see April 24, 2015 blog

More than 1,000 volunteers join Minneapolis police in the search for missing patrolman; see April 28, 2015 blog

Connery and Dunn murders linked; see May 4, 2015 blog

Anonymous caller tells police where body of Connery is located; see May 5, 2015 blog

Patrolman George Connery laid to rest; May 8, 2015 blog

               __________________________________________________________

If you are interested in finding out more about your family history in Minnesota, I specialize in researching  genealogical and historical records in Minn. and western Wis., including:
census records,  birth records,  death certificates, obits, grave site photos, ship passenger lists, marriage records and declarations of intent/naturalization records.  I will visit locations to research local history and county records, as well as take photos. Quick turnaround on MHS records.  Both short searches and family history reports.

Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com ®  click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com 


Wednesday, May 6, 2015

On This Date in Minnesota History: May 6

May 6, 1903 – Otter Tail County Sheriff Sawyer returned from Granite Fall, Minn., to Fergus Falls, bringing with him a man who is believed to be a foremost crook and swindler. The man has been going under the name of Harry Hargrave, but has half a dozen aliases. He is wanted in North and South Dakota, but it is believed this county has the most charges to prefer against him. The warrant that Sheriff Sawyer took with him charges Hargrave with having swindled Mrs. Berg of Battle Lake out of $1,013. He represented to Mrs. Berg that he was her long lost cousin and proposed to secure a stock of goods for her at about half the ordinary price—a $2,000 stock for $1,000. Having won her confidence, Hargrave then secured her money.

The authorities also believe that he is the same individual who, under the name of Harry Penrose, deceived and robbed Miss Emily Anderson of Parkers Prairie, this county. Penrose came to Parkers Prairie a few weeks ago and stayed several days, representing himself as a postal inspector. He met Miss Anderson and induced her to accompany him, promising to marry her once they reached the Twin Cities. He stopped off at Cold Springs and Osakis, and finally told the girl that business called him to a village a few miles out on a branch line. He stated that there was an excellent engraver there, and persuaded her to give him her watch and some other jewelry on the plea that he wanted to have her initials engraved upon them. He took her money—about $150—from her satchel and she has heard nothing from him since.

The Minneapolis Journal; “All-Around Crook. Cases at Fergus Falls Which Are Likely to Make Hargrave Smart.”; May 06, 1903; p. 2




Otter Tail County Courthouse, Fergus Falls, Minn.
http://www.mnd.uscourts.gov/Courthouses/images/Fergus-02.jpg 


               __________________________________________________________

If you are interested in finding out more about your family history in Minnesota, I specialize in researching  genealogical and historical records in Minn. and western Wis., including:
census records,  birth records,  death certificates, obits, grave site photos, ship passenger lists, marriage records and declarations of intent/naturalization records.  I will visit locations to research local history and county records, as well as take photos. Quick turnaround on MHS records.  Both short searches and family history reports.

Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com ®  click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com  


 


Tuesday, May 5, 2015

On This Date in Minnesota History: May 5

May 5, 1917 – The body of Minneapolis Patrolman George Connery was found this evening a half mile north of Myers Station in Anoka County by Capt. Arthur Gow, 1st Minnesota field artillery, and a detail of guardsmen, after Gow had received an anonymous phone call while on duty at the armory, Kenwood Parkway, Minneapolis.



Minneapolis Patrolman George Connery*


The unknown caller asked, “Is this you Gow?”

“Yes,” Gow replied.

“I want to tell you where George Connery’s body is. I’m not kidding you. You’ll find the body half a mile north of Myers Station on the Anoka & Cuyuna Range Railroad. Get off the interurban line at Myers Station, walk straight north until you cross a small bridge, follow a road crossing  the main road to a point in a scrub oak wood cleanup, where you will find a place where there’s room for an automobile to turn around. Walk 150 feet to the right of this point and you’ll find the body.”

Then the caller hung up before Gow could ask any questions.

Gow and his guardsmen went by automobile to the point designated. They found the body at the exact point the caller had described. By the side of the body were a police book and a crucifix. Officer Connery’s hands were clenched on his breast and his feet were crossed. His police cap was smashed down over his ears, and his skull crushed in.

He had been shot twice, once in the head and once in the leg. The right pant leg of the trousers had been clipped off at the knee. The police were at a loss to explain this.

Minneapolis Police Chief Harthill gave orders the body was not to be removed nor touched by anyone until fingerprint experts had the opportunity to examine it and the surroundings carefully.

The decision was made to inform Mrs. Connery of the discovery in the morning.


St. Paul Daily News; “Mystery Voice Over Telephone Directs Guard; Crucifix and Police Book Beside Corpse of George Connery, Minneapolis Officer. Discovered Near Myers Station in Anoka County. Is Thought Slain By Mrs. Dunn’s Murderers; Policeman Victim of Automobile Tragedy, Fearfully Beaten and Shot—Soldiers Follow Directions From Unknown Man—Suspects Arrested.”; May 6, 1917; pp. 1 & 2.

St. Paul Daily News; “Chief Sure As To Redenbaugh; O’Connor Holds Double-Slayer Theory Strengthened by Finding of Body.”; May 6, 1917; pp. 1 & 2.


*http://www.mpdfederation.com/george-connery/

Disappearance of Minneapolis Patrolman George Connery; see April 24, 2015 blog

Car Connery disappeared in found in St. Paul; see April 25, 2015 blog

More than 1,000 volunteers join Minneapolis police in the search for missing patrolman; see April 28, 2015 blog

Connery and Dunn murders linked; see May 4, 2015, blog


Second man in “death car” arrested in Omaha; see May 7, 2015 blog

Patrolman George Connery laid to rest; see May 8, 2015 blog


               __________________________________________________________

If you are interested in finding out more about your family history in Minnesota, I specialize in researching  genealogical and historical records in Minn. and western Wis., including:
census records,  birth records,  death certificates, obits, grave site photos, ship passenger lists, marriage records and declarations of intent/naturalization records.  I will visit locations to research local history and county records, as well as take photos. Quick turnaround on MHS records.  Both short searches and family history reports.

Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com ®  click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com 




Monday, May 4, 2015

On This Date in Minnesota History: May 4

May 4, 1917 – According to St. Paul Police Chief John J. O’Connor today, rapid developments in the Alice McQuillan Dunn and Patrolman George Connery murder cases, originally considered separate crimes, link the murders into a double slaying more startling than any other crime in the history of St. Paul.

O’Connor says he believes the two murders were done by the same person: Joseph L. Redenbaugh, alias G. E. Loucks, 19, alleged youthful desperado.




Joseph L. Redenbaugh1

O’Connor received a photo and short history of Redenbaugh, who was wanted for robbing a bank in broad daylight at University Place, Neb., Feb. 17, 1917. Redenbough’s photo was recognized by the officers at the Prior Ave. police station in St. Paul and by the Minneapolis policemen who later arrested Redenbaugh, as being that of the man who was arrested for speeding.

The police theorize that Redenbaugh did not want to take a chance on being recognized as the man wanted in Neb., which would be likely if he were locked up in Minneapolis when not able to furnish bail. This, and the fact that his arrest would interfere with Mrs. Dunn’s murder, the chief says, caused Redenbaugh to do away with Connery.

When O’Connor’s astounding announcement was made, the St. Paul police had only the following connections to the two murders: the photo of Rendenbaugh, and on the step of the Studebaker car in which Redenbaugh was riding when arrested for speeding, was a footprint that corresponded with a footprint found in the McQuillan yard the morning of the murder.

Later this evening, word was received that fingerprints found on a window that was used by the gunman to enter the McQuillan home the night Alice McQuillan Dunn was killed, matched exactly with those of Redenaugh. While the Minneapolis police had not originally believed O’Conner’s theory that the two murders were both done by Redenbaugh, this new discovery made the theory hard to refute, but Minneapolis Police Chief Harthill was still not committed to the idea.

Flyers and photos of Redenbaugh were sent to the police chiefs of every large city in the United States. O’Connor feels the wide net he has extended is so tight, Redenbaugh will be caught in the next couple of days.

Though the media did not expose it, at this time, the O’Connor Layover Agreement was in use in St. Paul. “The agreement allowed criminals safe travels within the city limits of St. Paul as long as they followed three very simple rules; they checked in with the police upon arrival, committed no serious criminal activity within the borders of the city, and paid all of the necessary bribes. As long as these three things happened city officials turned a blind eye to their misdeeds. The police force even went as far as protecting returning criminals that committed crimes outside of St. Paul - even from federal agents, who lacked the jurisdiction to try these kinds of cases until the mid-1930s.”2


St. Paul Police Chief John O’Connor3



In hindsight, it is obvious why O’Connor wanted to personally oversee the Alice McQuillan Dunn murder. First, it happened in St. Paul, where his layover agreement specifically disallowed serious criminal activity; second, it was most likely embarrassing for him that such a media frenzied murder could happen under his watch; and third, O’Connor had many contacts within the criminal community who could gather information for him.

Through his criminal network, O’Connor had learned that Michael J. Moore, a bartender at C. W. Chickrett’s Saloon, 210 W. 7th St., had seen Dunn meet with Redenbaugh several times in the saloon having long conversations. Moore was now in police custody, being held as a witness.

Mrs. F. E. Brown, previously known as Madam D., in a statement given out by the police, corroborated the story told by her former husband, Al Brown and S. C. Ferdig of Mont., of a plot for the murder of Alice McQuillan Dunn, which preceded the actual killing by nearly two years. Ferdig, she said, told her of the plot first, and later Brown, then her husband, admitted it.






Mrs. F. E. Brown, aka Madam D.4

Mrs. Brown said she was too terrified to reveal the alleged plot, though now she regrets not having done so. She was divorced from Brown in Roundup, Mont., in Oct. 1915, she said.

Frank J. Dunn, his attorney said, would make no attempt to be released from jail, where he has been held since the killing. Brown and Ferdig, the police explained, while held under close surveillance, technically are not under arrest.


St. Paul Daily News; “Footprints Reveal Slayer, Says O’Connor; Joe Redenbaugh, Former St. Paul Man, Hunted by Police of Many Cities as Perpetrator  of Two Foul Offenses. Killed Policeman Connery To Be Free For Dunn Crime; Meetings of Desperate Criminal and Mrs. Dunn’s Husband Revealed by Bartender in Buffet Where Killing Was Plotted.” May 4, 1917; pp. 1 & 2.


The Bismarck Tribune
; “New Angle In Dunn Murder Case Visible; Police of Pacific Coast Cities Asked to Locate Joe Redenbaugh, a Criminal; Believed He Misled Missing Officer Connery; Hunted Man Said to Have Had $10,000 Thought Paid Him for Killing Mrs. Dunn.”; Bismarck, N.D.; May 4, 1917; p. 1.


1St. Paul Daily News; May 16, 1917; p. 1.

2http://www.streetsofsaintpaul.com/2012/09/john-oconnor-and-oconnor-layover-system.html

3http://www.mnopedia.org/thing/oconnor-layover-agreement   

4St. Paul Daily News; May 3, 1917; p. 1.

Disappearance of Minneapolis Patrolman George Connery; see April 24, 2015 blog
Car Connery disappeared in found in St. Paul; see April 25, 2015 blog
Murder of Alice McQuillan Dunn; see April 26, 2015 blog
St. Paul Police Chief John O’Connor tells reporters he expects to arrest a man he thinks was paid a large sum to murder Alice McQuillan Dunn.; see April 27, 2015 blog
More than 1,000 volunteers join Minneapolis police in the search for missing patrolman; see April 28, 2015 blog
Two St. Paul detectives are in Mont. interviewing people who knew Mrs. Dunn when she worked there; see April 29, 2015 blog

Two Montana men claim Dunn paid them to kill his wife; see May 1, 2015 blog



               __________________________________________________________


If you are interested in finding out more about your family history in Minnesota, I specialize in researching  genealogical and historical records in Minn. and western Wis., including: census records,  birth records,  death certificates, obits, grave site photos, ship passenger lists, marriage records and declarations of intent/naturalization records.  I will visit locations to research local history and county records, as well as take photos. Quick turnaround on MHS records.  Both short searches and family history reports.



Website:  TheMemoryQuilt.com ®  click on Family History


Contact me at: pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com   







Sunday, May 3, 2015

On This Date in Minnesota History: May 3

May 3, 1996 – “Darryl Strawberry, [former major league outfielder for the New York Mets and New York Yankees] signed with the Saint Paul Saints of the Northern League [on this date] in an attempt to rehabilitate [from cocaine abuse]. On June 2, the Saints faced the Duluth-Superior Dukes at Wade Stadium, where Strawberry hit his first home run for the Saints, at a distance of 522' off of pitcher Pat Ahearne. Soon thereafter, he found himself back with the Yankees who signed him on July 4, 1996.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darryl_Strawberry





Darryl Strawberry
http://mentalfloss.com/article/18281/9-big-names-who-lived-above-tax-law



               __________________________________________________________

If you are interested in finding out more about your family history in Minnesota, I specialize in researching  genealogical and historical records in Minn. and western Wis., including:
census records,  birth records,  death certificates, obits, grave site photos, ship passenger lists, marriage records and declarations of intent/naturalization records.  I will visit locations to research local history and county records, as well as take photos. Quick turnaround on MHS records.  Both short searches and family history reports.

Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com ®  click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com