Gorman, Patrick 1865-1930

GORMAN

Posted By: Paul Van Dyke--Volunteer
Date: 2/1/2017 at 08:41:25

Source: Hawarden Independent (11-13-1930)

Born: 1865
Died: 1930

PAT GORMAN AND SON PAUL ARE MURDERED BY ROBBERS--TWO MEMBERS OF FORMER WELL KNOWN HAWARDEN FAMILY SHOT DOWN AT ISOLATED HOME OF RELATIVES

Patrick C. Gorman, aged 63, a former well known resident of Hawarden, and his son, Paul, aged 21, of Chicago were instantly killed Tuesday evening by three men and a woman, posing as hunters, who entered an isolated farm home 17 miles northeast of Boscobel, Wisconsin, where the Gormans were visiting, and shot them down in cold blood while they were seated at the dinner table, Cornelius and Stephen Horrigan, brothers-in-law of Mr. Gorman, and reputed wealthy, at whose home the shooting occurred, were critically wounded and the former also died that night at a hospital to which he was removed.

According to Associated Press reports an automobile carrying three men and a woman drew up to the Horrigan home while the family was seated about the dinner table. The woman entered the house and asked fro a glass of water. When Miss Ellen Horrigan, aged 75, who lived with her brothers, left the room to get the water, the three men entered the house. “We would like to go squirrel hunting on your farm,” one of the men said. “Sure you can hunt anywhere you like on my land,” Stephen Horrigan replied.

One of the men suddenly drew a revolver and issued the command: “Hands up,” The others also produced weapons.

Stephen Horrigan moved as if for a weapon and the men fired. The Gormans were killed instantly and Cornelius Horrigan fell wounded, with bullets through his jaw and one arm. Stephen Horrigan ran into an adjoining room for a pistol which he fired twice as the intruders fled to their automobile. One shot shattered the windshield of the car, but posses failed to find any trace of the bandits.

Cornelius Horrigan, 60 years old, was the most seriously wounded of the two brothers and passed away that night. Stephen Horrigan is 57 years of age.

From the description of the robbers, authorities believe that they were all novices. The woman is said to have had her face partly covered with adhesive tape while the men were all unmasked.

Tales of buried treasure on the Horrigan farm were believed by the authorities to have prompted the slaying. Neighbors said the Horrigans feared to trust their money to banks and buried their savings.

A quartette answering descriptions of the slayers was route from the farm the past summer. At the time they were frightened away, they were digging about the farm in search of the reputed hidden wealth.
The Gorman family made their home in Hawarden for many years during which time Mr. Gorman was section foreman for the North Western Railway Company here. He was a man of powerful physique, weighing in the neighborhood of 300 pounds and his genial nature made him a friend of everyone. A little more than twenty years ago he purchased a farm near Canton and moved his family to that place. The family prospered on the farm and following the death of his daughter-in-law, Mrs. John Gorman, a couple of years ago, Mr. and Mrs. Gorman moved to Huron to make a home for their son, John Gorman, and his motherless children. Mr. Gorman and son Paul of Chicago had gone to Wisconsin to visit the Horrigans only about a week before the tragedy. Mr. Gorman had visited here frequently during the past few years and was here several times the past summer.

News of the tragedy came as a distinct shock to many old Hawarden friends of the Gorman family, all of whom are highly regarded here.

Besides the widow, surviving members of the family include six sons and three daughters, Philip Gorman of Leesburg, Florida; John Gorman of Hudson, South Dakota; Walter Gorman of Algona, Iowa, who moved to that place from Hawarden within the past year; Raymond, Maurice and Elmer Gorman of Canton; Mrs. Martin Connaughton of Thunder Hawk, South Dakota; Mrs. William Logan of Carthage, South Dakota; and Miss Margaret Gorman of Chicago.

Upon receiving word of the tragedy, the widow, accompanied by her son John, who is a conductor on the North Western Railway, departed from Huron for Wisconsin. The funeral of Cornelius Horrigan is being held there today. The remains of Mr. Gorman and his son will be brought to Canton where funeral services will ne held at the Catholic Church at 9 o’clock Saturday morning. The two bodies will then be brought to Hawarden and interment will be made in the family lot in the cemetery here.