Earl ?-1925

EARL

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 10/28/2012 at 00:32:42

Man Found Dead At M. & St.L. Bridge
L.J. Bixby and Henry Goecke Going to River After Minnows Discover Body
L.J. Bixby of this city, and Henry Goecke, a farmer residing west of town, were up early yesterday morning and made a trip to the Des Moines river for a supply of minnows before they went to the lakes for a day’s fishing. They left their car in the road south of the wagon bridge and started for the river. When they reached the M. & St.L. railroad bridge they discovered the dead body of a man lying under the bridge. They turned he body over and found it was no one they ever saw before. They came back to town and notified city and county authorities. The sheriff, county attorney, coroner and mayor went down to the bridge and made an investigation. They found the name of Jack Ryan on the clothing, money in the pockets and many bones in the body broken and the face covered with blood. The body was brought to the Mahlum and Anderson undertaking rooms and another investigation started. The Robbins Bros. show train, it was learned, left here over the M. & St. L. for Storm Lake about 1:30 yesterday morning and it was thought one of the laborers might have fallen from the train while it was crossing the bridge. They immediately got into communication with the show management at Storm Lake and were told that their tent stake foreman and also passenger coach porter was missing and his name was Jack Ryan. Sheriff Thos. Nivison and State Agent W.E. Deming drove to Storm Lake to get more facts regarding the missing of Ryan and returned last evening but did not learn very much about how the accident occurred. No one saw him leave the train while it was standing on the bridge waiting for the trainmen to throw the switch at the south tower crossing of the Rock Island, consequently the cause of accident and death of Ryan may never be known. He is a man around thirty-five years of age and weighed about 180 pounds. The show management could not give Sheriff Nivison any information about relatives or where he called home. Men with a circus seldom have a home and tell little about themselves. (Estherville Democrat, Estherville, IA, May 20, 1925)

Man Killed by Falling From Train
An Unknown Man Known Only As Earl With Robbins Bros. Circus Here
An unknown man with the Robbins Bros. Circus fell from the circus train at the M. & St. L. bridge south of this city at about two o’clock on Tuesday morning and was instantly killed from all appearances. He was known to the circus and the men as Earl and there was no other record of him.

L. Bixby and Henry Goecke went to the river on Tuesday morning at about five o’clock and when they went under the railway bridge they found the body lying on its side between the fourth and fifth pier of the bridge from the south end. This is on the south side of the river. They at once notified the coroner and sheriff and in a few minutes they were there. It was found life was extinct but it had not been long as the body was still warm.

No one will ever know just how the accident happened. However, the conclusion is that from the fact he was a porter on car number eight which is a Pullman car used by the performers, etc., that he simply stepped off the car when the train stopped for the intersection of the St. L. and the Rock Island. When the train stopped he probably simply walked out to see what the trouble was and thought he was stepping on solid ground. In falling the appearances were that he struck one of the girders as he had a bad gash across the back of his head and had bled profusely. When found he was lying on his side, slightly drawn up and about two feet out from the end of the ties of the bridge. There was no indication that he had ever moved after he struck the ground.

Sheriff Nivison and Wm. Deming went to Storm Lake to interview members of the circus. They returned last night but had found nothing which would be of any benefit to them in identifying this man. No one knew him by any name but Earl. He had had no trouble with any one with the circus. In his belongings he had nothing which would in any manner lead to an identification. He was a porter on car number eight and got only the tips he received and his board.

The coroner’s inquest was held today and the above was about their decision. They found he was about thirty years of age, five feet eleven inches, slightly pox marked on the face, brown hair, had two gold teeth and much gold in all his upper front teeth. He probably had two hundred dollars worth of gold in his teeth and a fine job of workmanship to put the gold in. He carried a lady’s gold watch and is said to have worked for an ice cream company in Detroit last season. Is of military age and may be identified by finger prints which were taken together with his photograph.

Every effort will be used to identify him and get in touch with his people. He was apparently a fine fellow and liked by all. Robt. Penn who shaved him and cut his hair, the last man he worked on Monday night, said he apparently was a fine young man.

If not identified his remains according to law, will be shipped to the University of Iowa City where they will remain we believe for ninety days.

It’s a sad case to say the least, and Emmet county should use every effort to find his people. (Estherville Enterprise, Estherville, IA, May 20, 1925)

Find Dead Body of Circus Man
Is Discovered Under M. & St. L. Bridge Monday
Identity Unknown – Porter on Car 8 – Called Earl by Circus Employees
The body of a young man, dead, but with the warmth of life still remaining in the corpse, was found early Tuesday morning under the M. & St. L. railroad bridge south of town by Henry Goecke and L.J. Bixby. These two men were down at the river at half after five to seine for minnows when they made the grewsome find.

The man’s face was covered with blood but he was taken to the Mahlum and Anderson Undertaking rooms and when the blood was cleaned away there was found no signs of violence. A swelling on the back of his neck would indicate that he had struck some beam in his fall which was probably the cause of his death.

Laundry tickets from the Estherville Steam Laundry gave the names of two men, Joe Ryan and R.H. Hellyer, and Car. No. 8, indicating that he belonged to the Brobbins [Robbins] Brothers Circus that left here over the M. & St. L. for Storm Lake at two o’clock that morning.

The unfortunate man appeared to be about twenty-five or thirty years of age and although in the garb of a working man could not be called a bum. There were four dollars in bills and six fifty in silver in his pockets and a ladies’ gold watch. He was clean looking and his teeth were well filled with gold two of the front ones being entirely of gold. He was [ ] 11 inches in height, brown hair, almost reddish, and would weigh one hundred and eighty pounds. He was slightly pox marked.

Sheriff Tom Nivison and state Agent W.E. Deming motored to Storm Lake where the show was playing Tuesday to endeavor to find any clues to the man’s identity or how his death occurred. They took with them two men who had left the employ of the circus while here to question them on the road. They said that the man’s name was Earl and that he was porter on Car 8. At Storm Lake, the circus authorities gave every co-operation possible but nothing was known of the man other than this. As a porter he was not on the regular pay roll but was dependent on tips from the people on the car. He joined the circus force while at winter quarters at Granger and was a young man of peaceable and friendly ways, and of good habits, a clean young fellow in every respect. Everyone who had ever gone about with him was interviewed and the only other clue was that he had worked for an ice company in Detroit, Michigan last summer.

The most plausible explanation of his death is one advanced after the trainmen on the M. & St. L. who handled the circus train told that when the switch was made for the Rock Island crossing just south of town that part of the circus train was still on the forty foot trestle. It would naturally come to anyone’s mind to step off the car and go ahead to see what was the matter unless he was familiar with the proceedings and the location of the bridge. It is thought that the porter must have done this. The bridge is a narrow one and he would have dropped straight to the ground.

A coroner’s inquest will be held this afternoon but the man’s identity still remains a mystery unless some word comes from Detroit where the authorities have been asked to assist in tracing his employer of last summer. (Vindicator and Republican, Estherville, IA, May 20, 1925)

Verdict Returned in Regard to Circus Man
Met His Death by Stepping From Car, Jury Declares – No Evidence of Foul Play
The following verdict was returned by the jury in regard to the circus man that was found dead by the M. & St.L. bridge. No further information has been found that will prove his identity. The only name that was given him was “Earl” but it is not known whether that was his first or last name.

“We do find that said deceased came to his death by stepping or falling from car number eight of the Robbins Brothers’ circus train, which left Estherville, Iowa, over the Minneapolis & St. Louis railroad at 1:35 a.m. May 19, 1925, and was known as Extra No. 415. That he met his death while said train was stopping on the trestle some time between 1:45 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. We find that his death was accidental and do not find that there was anything criminal connected with the death.”
F.E. Albertson, R.H. Green, James P. Kennedy – Jurors (Estherville Democrat, Estherville, IA, May 27, 1925)

The remains of the unknown man still remain in the Mahlum & Anderson parlors and the victim of the accident is unknown. There have been many who have written and wired here saying they thought it might be a relative of theirs. One description was very accurate but for the fact that the dead man was supposed to have a toe off. Otherwise the description tallied in every respect. It’s a sad case when one thinks of it and every effort should be used to trace the identity of this unknown man. (Estherville Enterprise, Estherville, IA, May 27, 1925)

The remains of the circus man that was found dead down by the M. & St.L. railroad bridge were shipped to Iowa City Monday evening. The law provides that all unidentified bodies shall be sent down there. The body will be held there for two months to give opportunity for identification and after that time if still unclaimed will be used by the school of medicine at the State University. (Estherville Democrat, Estherville, IA, May 27, 1925)

What Fairmont Learned About Dead Circus Man
Reported That Two Others Were Killed – Sheriff Nivison Gave Them Right Dope
Sheriff Nivison of Emmet county, Iowa, today was trying to identify the body of a man found under a railway bridge near Estherville under conditions that pointed to the possibility of murder. The body was discovered at 5 a.m. Tuesday by L.J. Bixby, of Estherville, and Henry Goecke, a farmer near that city, who were on their way to the Des Moines River for a supply of minnow bait. After failing to find identification marks of any kind they reported their discovery to the sheriff. Reports ran wild in Fairmont and surrounding towns this morning following the return of residents who had been to Estherville on business and by noon the story had assumed the proportions of a sensational murder mystery. The occasion for this probably was the fact that a circus, the Robbins Bros’. Shows, had been in Estherville recently. It was reported on the streets that two men had been found dead and that both had been identified as members of the circus stake driver crews. A third man was supposed to have died while in the act of clearing up the mystery. A strong man was held in custody of the sheriff, it was said, and the entire show as being investigated. These wild yarns, born of fantastic imaginings about circus folks and their strange lives, were dispelled, however, by Sheriff Nivison in a long distance telephone conversation with the Independent. Mr. Nivison said that only one man had been found dead and that none was suspected in connection with the case and that identification had so failed, although it has been learned that the victim was one of those migratory birds who travel with circuses, paying for their transportation by cleaning the cars and doing odd jobs about the tents. Officials of the show were unable to give any information as to who the man was. They could not remember where he joined the show or how long he had been with them. He was just a circus man, here today and gone tomorrow. When found under the bridge the body was not yet cold. The circus train had passed over the bridge about three hours before and the supposition is that the man fell or was thrown to his death from the train. Sheriff Nivison also hinted that the theory of suicide was not out of consideration. The fact that all means of identification were absent to an extent that might indicate an effort deliberately to die as an unknown gave rise to this supposition. The body is now held at the Mahlum & Anderson undertaking rooms in Estherville and an inquest was being held this afternoon. The victim is described as having been from 27 to 30 years old, five feet, eleven inches tall and having brown hair. He had two gold teeth in front and another on the left side. There were no distinguishing scars on the body or face. – Fairmont Independent (Estherville Democrat, Estherville, IA, May 27, 1925)

Body of Unknown Porter Shipped to Iowa City
Coroner Wilson held an inquest on Thursday over the body of the unknown man who was found dead on the Des Moines river bank below the M. & St.L. railroad bridge in this city Tuesday morning of last week. There were no new developments at the inquest other than what were published last week. The verdict of the jury was that the man came to his death by accidentally stepping off the bridge when the circus train stopped there Tuesday morning on its way from here to Storm Lake.

No information of the man’s identity could be obtained and after holding the body here until Monday it was shipped to Iowa City that evening where it will be held by the university for sixty days for identification and after that will be turned over to the medical department.

The man, it will be remembered, was porter on Car 8 of the Robbins Bros. circus train but was not on the pay roll of the circus company. He was known by the name of Earl and no one has been found who know his surname. (Vindicator and Republican, Estherville, IA, May 27, 1925)