Dolmage Homicide and Suicide

DOLMAGE, HARWOOD

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes
Date: 2/16/2014 at 09:37:55

From The Victor (IA) Record...EXTRA

Adam Dolmage and his wife, Mrs. Florence Dolmage, were found dead Friday at 11:30 a.m. at their home in South Victor. It was an apparent case of homicide and suicide, deaths resulting from shotgun wounds with Mr. Dolmage wielding the weapon.

First indication of the terrible tragedy came through the medium of a letter written by Mr. Dolmage to his son, Frank. The letter was postmarked at 1 p.m. Thursday, and was delivered on the rural route Friday morning. It was as follows: "To Frank and Flora Dolmage. This is my last. Come in as soon as you get this. The doors are open."

Frank Dolmage was not at home when the letter was delivered and it was opened by members of his family, who immediately got in touch with him. He came at once to the residence in Victor and found the house cold, the fire having gone out. He went upstairs and found Mrs. Dolmage lying dead upon the rug in the bath room. A hasty search of other rooms was done and then Frank went to the basement where he found his father dead upon the floor, a shotgun lying by his side.

The son left the house and summoned help. Dr. D.W. Phillips and Chas. Raffensperger returning with him . They made an examination and then summoned Coroner R.A. Fesier and Sheriff Hess. The latter two officials arrived from Marengo about 1 p.m. and an inquest was begun, with Louis Feller, Max Speck, and Steve Smith as jurors. Examination of the bodies and the circumstances revealed the manner of death and little testimony was necessary.

Two letters were found on a table sealed one addressed to Frank Dolmage and the other to Frank and Flora. The letter to Frank and Flora was explicit in its directions and left no room for doubt the act was fully premeditated. It gave directions as to the disposal of his property, naming Frank and Flora to have charge of the estate, and stated that his will would be found in the deposit box at the Farmers Savings Bank. Domestic difficulties were stated to be the cause of the double killing. T.H. Whitworth, who lives just south of the Dolmage residence, was examined as to whether he heard any shots during the night. He replied that early in the evening he heard four to five shots in rapid succession which sounded like a pistol shot. Some time later he heard another shot more like the report of a shotgun, the only one he heard. Mr. Dolmage was seen on the streets of Victor, as late at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, so the shooting must have occurred during the night.

A verdict of homicide as to Florence Dolmage and suicide as to Adam Dolmage was returned by the jury. Examination of the upstairs rooms indicated that Mrs. Dolmage had been packing as if in preparation for a trip. While the couple had only been married a few months, there were reports of domestic differences and it is probable that she was preparing to leave. Mrs. Dolmage had been shot through the left breast at close range, with powder burns on her clothing. After the killing, it is presumed that Mr. Dolmage finished his letter giving directions as to his affairs, after which he went to the basement and laid down upon the floor. A broom handle with a long nail fixed in the end was used to discharge the shotgun which he grasped with one hand. He was shot through the right breast. The gun used was a Winchester repeating shotgun. Mr. Dolmage would have been 69 years of age on the 19th of next January.

His first wife died a number of years ago and on September 20th of this year he was married to Miss Florence Harwood of Evanston, Ill. The marriage took place in California, while both were visiting in the west. The second wife was an acquaintance of the days when Mr. Dolmage was an employee of the Chicago Elevated Railroads. After the wedding Mr. and Mrs. Dolmage returned to Victor and had made their home here since. Contrary to published reports there was no evidence of a desperate struggle on the part of Mrs. Dolmage and her body was not found wedged between the bathtub and the wall. She was lying flat on a rug in the bathroom, with every indication of having been carefully laid there. All blood stains had been wiped away and the clothes used for that purpose were found in a closet. There was no spot of blood in the bathroom or on the rug.

Mrs. Dolmage was 48 years of age, twenty years the junior of her husband. In the letters no charges were made involving her conduct since she was married or since she came to Victor. The steel framework of her handbag, a half dollar, and the melted gold of some rings were found in the ashes of the furnace. Just what were the real causes of the enactment of the killings will never be known.

A simple funeral service for Mrs. Dolmage was held Saturday evening at 10:30 p.m., at the residence in charge of Rev. J.M. Fleming, after which the body was taken to Marengo for shipment to Red Cloud, Nebraska. The funeral there was on Tuesday.

The funeral for Mr. Dolmage was held Monday afternoon from the Methodist church. Rev. J.M. Fleming read a scripture lesson and offered a prayer. The sermon was preached by Rev. J.J. Pritchard. The only music of the service was a solo by Prof. Covert, after which the body was interred in the I.O.O.F. cemetery beside that of his first wife.

The stories which appeared in the Cedar Rapids Republican and Des Moines Register concerning the Dolmage tragedy were not sent out from Victor by any local correspondent. A sensational story was telephoned from Marengo to Cedar Rapids and appeared in the Republican on Sunday. It had been "played up" by the Republican writers as is usual with metropolitan papers and contained a great deal of misinformation. The same story was vamped and appeared in the Des Moines Register on Monday. The Victor Record issued an extra Friday afternoon which gave the facts at first hand, the Record editor being present during the coroner's inquest and had every opportunity to learn the truth.