Otto Garfield Dolph (1882-1908)

DOLPH

Posted By: Dorian Myhre (email)
Date: 3/4/2017 at 22:23:32

From Nevada Representative April 20, 1908

OTTO DOLPH KILLED

Death Near Collins.--Circumstances not yet Explained

Otto Dolph, son of Chas. Dolph of Collins township, and himself engaged in working a farm northwest of Collins, was found dead under one of the buildings at his place sometime this forenoon. Information upon the subject is yet very meager; but the first advice was that he had accidentally shot himself while hunting for skunks, and the second that his head appeared to have been split open with an axe of some other sharp instrument. The coroner, Dr. Hanson of Cambridge, was summoned and he notified County Attorney McCall, wh with a couple of doctors has gone down from here this afternoon to investigate. The inquest will be held Tuesday at Nevada; and it would appear that judgment upon the matter should be suspended until further report. We understand later that Dolph, who was soon to have been married, did not call upon his sweetheart Sunday as usual and that this circumstance occasioned investigation this morning. The farm on which he lived was the Andrew Dunahoo farm on the township line between Collins and Indian Creek with the buildings in Collins and Dolph was observed in the field some time the latter part of the week.

From Nevada Representative April 22, 1908

DEATH WAS ACCIDENTAL

Conclusion of Inquest in Case of Otto Dolph.

The inquest in the case of Otto Dolph, who was found dead on his farm on the west side of Collins township was conducted at Nevada Tuesday afternoon by Coroner Hanson; assisted by County Attorney McCall; and the jury, when the case was submitted to them, promptly returned a verdict of accidental death. The development of the case permitted some doubt whether the case was one of accident or of suicide; but the theory of murder did not have shred of evidence to support it and was utterly rejected by practically everyone who looked into the matter. The report that Dolph's head had been split open with an axe or some other sharp instrument was without basis. His head was split for about four inches from the root of the nose up onto the top; but though he had an abundance of hair, there was none driven into the wound nor cut off, and the doctors on the case concurred unreservedly in the judgment that his head had been generally shattered and split by reason of his forehead being so close to the gun that the gases from the gun entered the head and virtually exploded it. The only gash there was on the back of the head was one that had been made after death by the coroner himself in looking for the charge of shot. There was not known motive for a murder and in fact nothing to warrant suspicion of murder.

The question of accident or suicide was not readily settled; nor indeed was a general concurrence upon that matter really secured. The neighbors, however, were of the opinion that the death was due to accident, and the jury reflected and endorsed this opinion. The body was found with the left hand tightly grasping the muzzle of the gun, and near by was a stick that might not have been used in pushing the trigger. The gun had been borrowed a few day before with view to hunting skunks, and an empty shell showed that the gun had been fired once before the fatal shot. The place was a low shed, and some conditions about suggested that Dolph had been trying to poke skunks, which had been killing his chickens.

Dolph was last seen Friday forenoon, when he was over to a neighbor's and apparently in good spirits. Friday afternoon was showery, and the time was favorable for fussing about the buildings instead of going into the fields. It is assumed that it was in the fore part of this afternoon that he was shot, and when he was found his were in the stable with their harness on and nearly starved. Perhaps this last fact militates against the suicide theory as much as other any single circumstance; for it would seem that a man who might be about to commit suicide would at least unhitch his team and turn the horses out to grass. The discovery was later Sunday evening and was due to his non-appearance to take his affianced bride to church. He was to have come to Nevada Saturday for a marriage license, and he was to have been married that (Wednesday) evening to Miss Hattie Cooper of Collins township. When he did on come Sunday evening and did not respond to telephone calls, she was alarmed and insisted upon her father going over to investigate. With some other neighbors he did so with most unhappy disclosures as indicated.

Otto Dolph was a young man of about twenty-three years, of most excellent habits and well regarded in his community. He was a son of Elmer Dolph (not Chas. Dolph, as reported Monday) and has lived for all or the most of his life in the community where he died. The farm of the Andrew Dunahoo estate had been sold this last winter to the Coughenour brothers of Indian Creek township, and he had rented the farm and been keeping bachelor's hall there. This arrangement was, however, very soon to have been changed by the advent of a bride, whose disappointment now adds to the tragedy.