Saturday, March 3, 2018

On This Date in Minnesota History: March 3

March 3, 1921 – A robbery set-up as the background for a deliberate plot to murder is the theory that Minnesota police and private detectives adopted this evening in their search for the assailants of J. William Hooks, Minneapolis taxi stand owner, whose battered body was found today under a haystack near North Branch, Minn. Hooks disappeared Jan. 30 in his automobile.

North Branch, Minn.1

The robbery angle, police investigation disclosed, is substantiated by knowledge among many of his acquaintances that Hooks continuously carried large sums of money and further that he protected himself by carrying one or two revolvers.

On this theory police believe that whoever set-up a robbery against Hooks would be prepared to overcome him at once rather than risk a chance of being shot.

Four persons, a woman and three men, are being held at the Central Police Station for questioning, but J. Frank Walker, superintendent of police, declared this evening nothing conclusive had been gained from information furnished by them.

The belief entertained by police and detectives that Hooks was killed the night of his disappearance in a robbery set-up by persons who knew his habits was stated by R. C. Rogers, Minneapolis manager of the Burns Detective Agency.


“The information we have has been gained from talking with every friend and acquaintance of Hooks available and from close investigation of the case,” Rogers said.

“Hooks was killed when he had both his overcoat and inside coat off, as shown by the fact that while his vest, shirt and other clothing were saturated with blood, his two coats were unstained. They were found wrapped around his head when the body was discovered.”

Two theories are advanced for this by the detectives. First, that he was inside a house, perhaps one he was taken to by the persons who made the call for a taxi when he was last seen, and there slugged and robbed, and second, that he may have pulled off his coats to defend himself in a row either inside or outside.

Whichever may be true, it is declared positive that Hooks was hauled in his own automobile to the farm where his body was found and that he was carried from the automobile to the haystack by three men.

They were forced to cross a ditch that at the time was soft mud, and their footprints, later frozen hard, are clearly shown going to and from the haystack.

The tracks of the car were also plainly those of Hook’s car, with two rib tread and two weather tread tires. The car had been driven from the road close to the ditch, where it settled farthest into the soft earth. It did not turn back but continued on toward Duluth.

A nationwide search for the Locomobile car driven by Hooks has been instigated by the police and Burns Agency. Every police department, federal, state and county department and automobile theft detection agency in the country has been furnished with complete description and numbers. Much is said to depend upon the finding of the car (interesting, considering I could not find a photo of Hooks’ or his car in any newspaper).



Example of a Locomobile2

Meantime the dragnet will be extended in Minneapolis. Information is now said to be in possession of the police that two of Hook’s employees were off duty the night the call was received for him to come to 250 Third Avenue South, after which he disappeared.


Hooks is said to have been left word by one of those men off duty that should any call come for him, Hooks was to answer the call, as he was driving for the man that night. The call did come for this driver, and is said to have been the one to Third Street south.

All who knew Hooks are said to have known his habit of carrying a large roll of bills. It was a hobby with him, his friends said. Sometimes he is understood to have carried as much as $1,000, in addition to wearing diamonds valued at $2,000. On the night of his disappearance, though, he had neither the money nor the diamonds, Mrs. Stella Hooks, his wife, said he left his stones home and had only $25 in his pocket.

Perhaps he anticipated trouble on this occasion, the police suggested, but his wife refused to be moved from the theory that it was a “[set-up] robbery.”

Friends of Hocks this evening discredited the theory that the victim had his coats off for a fight. They declared that he always carried at least one gun, with which he kept himself out of trouble and safeguarded his money and diamonds.

This statement is borne out by information received from Eau Claire, Wis., that Hooks was arrested there shortly before his death on suspicion, because two revolvers were found in a suitcase in his automobile. He was immediately released when Eau Claire police communicated with Captain Frank Little of the Minneapolis police department.

It is known that on the night of his disappearance, Hooks was carrying a gun, which together with his watch, were missing when his body was discovered.

This fact strengthened the police theory of a set-up and surprise attack. Hooks was killed by a blow from a sharp instrument high on the forehead, which must have been dealt suddenly, police said, or Hooks would have averted it and used his weapon. The wound was so high on his forehead as to suggest that he was seated when he was struck, they declared.

Mrs. Hooks, who first accepted the theory that her husband had been murdered when she was told of his death by a spiritualist shortly after his disappearance, declared on her return from North Branch this evening that she would spend the rest of her life, if necessary, to solve the mystery.

“I believe he was murdered the night he disappeared by someone who knew of the large sums of money he carried,” Mrs. Hooks said. “There have been rumors of bootlegging deals, other women and such things, but I am satisfied it was an out and out [set-up] robbery.”

Mrs. Hooks said that the body would be brought to Minneapolis for burial following the inquest at North Branch tomorrow morning.

Mrs. Bridget Hooks, mother of the dead man, furnished the police with the name of a man, said to be Russian, who is alleged to have threatened her son’s life when he was a detective in N. D. The Russian is said to have been sent to prison on testimony by Hooks and is now out on parole. His whereabouts is being sought.

Discovery of Hooks’ body was made by A. W. Anderson, farmer and county commissioner of Chisago, on his farm at North Branch, which is on the Yellow and White trail to Duluth, 65 miles north of Minneapolis.

Mr. Anderson and helpers were hauling hay and started to loan from the stack near the road, when they came onto the overcoat sticking through the hay. They pulled at it and uncovered the body. It was said to have been a gruesome sight. The skull was crushed in from a heavy blow, apparently dealt with a monkey wrench or similar instrument. The head and face were badly decomposed and had been eaten by rats or mice. Mrs. Hooks later made identification.

Mr. Anderson admitted that he had noticed several times that the hay stack had been torn at of dug into, but gave the matter no attention. He declared also that he had never noticed the footprints that were found leading from the road to the stack.

The trip to North Branch was the last of many Mrs. Hooks has taken since told by the spiritualists that her husband was murdered. On one of those trips she traveled on the Jefferson Highway to Northfield, where she was told she would find his body buried in a swamp. On another trip she went to Iowa, just across the state line, where his automobile was reported to have been found. The final false clue came by an anonymous telephone call, in which a party told her her husband’s body was buried in a cistern at Duluth. A search was made which developed nothing.


The Minneapolis Morning Tribune; Plunder Plot Is Seen Behind Death of Hooks. Slayers Framed to Rob Taxi Man of Jewels, Money, Detectives Say. Tracks of Suspect Found Near Hiding Place of Victim’s Body. Nation-Wide Search Starts for Lost Auto, Key to Mystery.”; March 4, 1921; pp. 1 & 6.

1https://www.bestplaces.net/cost_of_living/city/minnesota/north_branch

2http://www.airplanesandrockets.com/cars/auto-progress-down-memory-lane-december-1954-air-trails.htm

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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 MNHS records. Both short searches and family history reports available.

                                                         


Discover your roots, and watch the branches of your family tree begin to grow.


Website:  TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

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Friday, March 2, 2018

On This Date in Minnesota History: March 2

March 2, 1906 – Indictments were returned today by the Ramsey County grand jury against the Pioneer Press, St. Paul Dispatch and the Daily News for violating the John Day Smith Law that prohibits the printing in any newspaper of the state a detailed account of an execution.

All of the indictments run against the papers as corporations and not against the publishers, stockholders, editors or any other individual.

The specific violation of the law charged in the indictments is the printing by each of the papers of an account of the execution of William Williams, who was hung in the Ramsey County Jail, at 12:30 a.m., Feb. 13, 1906. Under the law it is specifically stipulated that “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.”



William Williams1


Although the law has been on the statute books since 1889 and has been repeatedly violated, this is the first time that any indictments have been returned for its violation. The printing of an account of an execution is under the law made an indictable misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $100 or 90 days in the county jail.

The indictments were returned late this afternoon and deputy sheriffs armed with warrants began to make the rounds of the newspaper offices. Notices were served and appearances will likely be made in court tomorrow morning.

A plea of not guilty will be entered, it is likely, and the law may be carried to the Supreme Court in an effort to determine its constitutionality. It is the general feeling among the St. Paul publishers that the law is unconstitutional.

Owing to the fact that the matter was brought to the attention of Judge Bunn, who charged the grand jury, by the Law and Order League, he directed the grand jury to make an investigation into the execution of William Williams especially as the violations of the John Day Smith law.

Included in the indictments is in each instance the printed story that is incorporated as a part of the instrument.

The Minneapolis Tribune; “Violated. Ramsey County Grand Jury Says St. Paul Papers Are Guilty of Misdemeanor. Accounts of the Hanging Contained Much Detail. Law Is Many Years Old, but Present Indictments Are the First Ever Returned.”; March 3, 1906; p. 5.

1https://www.twincities.com/2016/02/12/from-the-archives-bungled-st-paul-hanging-was-minnesotas-last-execution/ (William Williams)
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April 16, 1906 – Judge Bunn, in the Ramsey County District Court, today upheld the John Day Smith Law, which bars newspaper reporters from witnessing executions of criminals, and prohibits the publication in newspapers of detailed accounts of hangings. Judge Bunn’s approval of the law lies in his overruling the demurrer of the St. Paul newspapers from indictments resulting from certain publications relating to the execution of William Williams.

The main objection on the demurrers was the unconstitutionality of the law in that it makes executions practically private affairs and that the law was not properly entitled as prescribed.

The Minneapolis Journal; “Court Upholds Press Gag Law. Judge Bunn, in St. Paul, Declares John Day Smith Statute Stands.”; April 16, 1906; p. 1.

               __________________________________________________________

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 MNHS records. Both short searches and family history reports available.

                                                         


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Website:  TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

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Thursday, March 1, 2018

On This Date in Minnesota History: March 1

March 1, 1909 – Henry M. Sussman, serving a life sentence for murder in the second degree for shooting his wife in the The Glenwood Hotel, Minneapolis, committed suicide in his cell at Stillwater between midnight and 6 a.m. this morning. He was found hanging by a cord made of the covering of his pillow.

Sussman was received in the prison Dec. 19, 1906. His parents live in Fargo, N. D., and he has brothers in St. Paul, where he worked.

The Sussman crime was committed Sept. 26, 1906. For a while there was no trace of the slayer, as apparently no one had heard the shot that killed the young woman, nor had known the young man who had brought her to the room the night before. An attempted suicide in a rooming house on Nicollet Avenue brought a speedy solution, for Sussman had taken a room, laid himself out on the bed and turned on the gas. He was taken by the detectives before he was in a dangerous condition and locked up, charged with murder.

His trial followed shortly afterward on a charge of first degree murder, the jury giving him the benefit of the doubt on his story that his wife had angered him by taunting him until, in a rage, he didn’t remember what he did. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.



The Minneapolis Tribune; “Minneapolis Murderer Hangs Self in His Cell at Stillwater”; March 2, 1909; p. 7.
               __________________________________________________________

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 MNHS records. Both short searches and family history reports available.

                                                         


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Wednesday, February 28, 2018

On This Date in Minnesota History: February 28

February 28, 1914 – A man, believed to be mad, stabbed Mrs. Clarence E. MacRae six times with a pocketknife this afternoon, and then thrust a stove poker down her throat as she lay unconscious. She is still alive but in critical condition. The brutal assault happened in her grocery store in northeast Minneapolis. She was wrapping up 10 cents worth of apples for the man at the time of her attack.

Northeast Minneapolis1

Leslie Almquist went into the store just as the man was leaving. He was seized, dragged near the prostrate woman, and beaten with the bloody poker as it was drawn from Mrs. MacRae’s throat. When the boy cried out, the mad man stifled his moans by forcing the poker between his teeth. The boy’s throat was horribly lacerated, and he is also in serious condition.
Mr. MacRae entered the store about 10 minutes after the assault. His wife and the boy lay unconscious on the floor. 


Mrs. MacRae’s engagement ring was missing, and about $30 was taken from a cash drawer. The ring was later found in her purse.

Mrs. MacRae was taken home and her wounds were treated. Her injuries were too serious to permit removal to a hospital and surgical treatment had to be given in the dining room of her own house. Leslie was also taken to his own home.





Their grocery store was on 23rd Ave. NE between Lincoln St. NE and Johnson St. NE (building is no longer there); their home was around the corner on Lincoln St. NE (built in 1910).2


The neighborhood of the grocery store was soon alarmed. Squads of citizens began to search, independently of the police, for Mrs. MacRae’s assailant. The brutality of the attack made it a case of horror to the community.


Mrs. MacRae had difficulty in telling the story of her attack because of her lacerated throat, and the weakness caused by loss of blood. She said her assailant was well-dressed. He wore a gray suit, a dark overcoat and a soft black hat. Several times before, she said, he had been a visitor at the store.

For a long time he sat in the store, reading a newspaper. She paid little attention to him. It was only when the store emptied of customers, about 3 p.m., that she became more aware of his presence.

He asked for 10 cents worth of apples. She stopped besides the counter to put the apples into a sack, and the man hurled himself upon her. He had a knife in his hand. Three times he struck at her throat. She could feel the blood from these wounds trickling down her neck. She tried to cry out, but this only increased the fury of his attack.


As she staggered away from him in an attempt to reach the door, he struck her in the breast with a full-arm swing. She sank to the floor, face downward. As she lay there, he struck her three more times, in the back, causing her to become unconscious.

A moment later, Leslie Almquist stepped through the door of the store. The madman met him there and pulled him inside. The man’s hands were covered with blood. He beat the boy furiously and swung him toward the stove, where Mrs. MacRae lay. When the bloody work with the poker was over, Leslie too, lay unconscious. The poker was replaced in Mrs. MacRae’s throat.

It was the wounds made by the poker that were the most serious in each case. Dr. C. C. Tyrell treated Mrs. MacRae and the boy. He said there were seven stab wounds on Mrs. MacRae’s body, three at her throat, one in the breast, and three on her back. The boy fared little better, though he was not stabbed. The knife has not been found. Dr. Tyrell thinks it was a pocketknife.

The police surgeon assisted Dr. Tyrell in an emergency operation in the dining room of the MacRae home. It was found that the wounds were all about four or five inches long and very deep. The throat was terribly torn. Dr. Tyrell says the poker must have been thrust far into her mouth again and again.

Chief Martinson personally directed the search for the assailant.

Leslie Almquist spent a comparatively quiet evening under the attention of his physician. He is 11 years old.

The Minneapolis Morning Tribune; “Madman Stabs Woman; Poker Thrust in Throat. Mrs. C. E. MacRae in Critical Condition; Boy Also Seriously Hurt. Brutal Attack in Northeast Grocery Store May Result Fatally. Robber-Customer Inflicts 7 Deep Wounds With a Pocketknife. Leslie Almquist, Who Happened on Scene, Second Store Poker Victim. Horrified Community Is Aroused—One Arrest by Police Unidentified.”; March 1, 1914; pp. 1 & 2.

1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast,_Minneapolis#/media/File:MinneapolisNortheastCommunity.PNG

2Photos taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain Feb. 28, 2018, as long as acknowledgement included.

Attacker of Grocery Store Owner and Boy Customer Caught; see March 4, 2018 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 MNHS records. Both short searches and family history reports available.

                                                         


Discover your roots, and watch the branches of your family tree begin to grow.


Website:  TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

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Tuesday, February 27, 2018

On This Date in Minnesota History: February 27

February 27, 1909 – The Commissioner of Indian Affairs was requested to urge the Department of Justice to bring suit against the state of Minnesota to protect the lands belonging to the Indians in the new county of Mahnomen. Facts laid before the Indian Commissioner today by Attorney C. B. Richardson, resident attorney for the White Earth Indians, show a serious condition to exist in Minnesota, which threatens many of the Indians with the loss of valuable allotments of farming lands.

William Madison of Beaulieu, representing the aged Chief May-Zhuc-Ke-Ge-Shig of the Chippewas, declares that the state is levying taxes against the land of the Indians, title to which is held in trust by the government and should be free from taxation. He says that the Indians were entirely unprepared for such action, that they have no money to meet the taxes, and that they are completely at a loss to know what to do.


Chief May-Zhuc-Ke-Ge-Shig1

Meantime land men have come in amongst the Indians, he says, and convincing them that the state will take their land away from them May 1 for taxes, and that the best thing they can do is to sell for whatever they can get. In some cases the Indians have partly agreed to sell their valuable farms for $100 to $200, it is claimed.

Attorney Richardson submitted a brief to the Indian Commissioner today and requested immediate action to protect the Indians through the Department of Justice. He declares that the titles to the land of full-blooded Indians remained in the government, and that the state has no right to tax them; that many of the mixed bloods had not secured full patents to their land, and that therefore their property is also not taxable by the state.


White Earth Indian Reservation2


“Unless the relief suggested can be afforded,” said Mr. Richardson, “the titles to many of the allotments will be clouded and in a majority of cases the peaceable Indians will simply lie down and let the tax title shark walk over him.”


The Minneapolis Tribune; “Would Protect Land of Minnesota Indians. Urged That Department of Justice Sue North Star State. Chippewas and the White Earths Have Representatives in Capitol.”; Feb. 28, 1909; p. 3.

1http://genealogytrails.com/minn/becker/bios_m.html

2https://mrclaystopstudents.wikispaces.com/file/view/map.jpg/223293632/299x280/map.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 MNHS records. Both short searches and family history reports available.

                                                         


Discover your roots, and watch the branches of your family tree begin to grow.


Website:  TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

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Monday, February 26, 2018

On This Date in Minnesota History: February 26

February 26, 2009 – “Harold Schroetter, (57), was last seen at his Falcon Heights home early in the morning [on this date]. He was reported missing on the afternoon of Feb. 27 by his live-in girlfriend. Schroetter reportedly left to visit the Mille Lacs Grand Casino and did not return. He was also in the process of ending his relationship with his girlfriend at the time of his disappearance. Authorities located Schroetter’s red Chrysler under suspicious circumstances in the area of Arlington Ave. and Jackson St. in St. Paul on Mar. 1, 2009.

Foul play is believed to be involved in Schroetter’s disappearance. Authorities have been unable to locate him despite extensive investigation. Blood from Schroetter was found in the trunk of his girlfriend’s car, and a new trunk liner had been purchased for her car just days after his disappearance.”




Harold Schroetter

http://www.spotlightoncrime.org/case_harold_schroetter.cfm

               __________________________________________________________

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 MNHS records. Both short searches and family history reports available.

                                                         


Discover your roots, and watch the branches of your family tree begin to grow.


Website:  TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

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Sunday, February 25, 2018

On This Date in Minnesota History: February 25

February 25, 1856 – Minnesota’s Sherburne County was established on this date. It was “named in honor of Moses Sherburne, who was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Minnesota Territory from 1853 to 1857.”

Upham, Warren; Minnesota Geographic Names, Their Origin and Historic Significance; Minnesota Historical Society (St. Paul, Minn., 1969); p. 513.  


Moses Sherburne

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Sherburne

               __________________________________________________________

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 MNHS records. Both short searches and family history reports available.

                                                         


Discover your roots, and watch the branches of your family tree begin to grow.


Website:  TheMemoryQuilt.com > click on Family History

Contact me at:
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