Miscellaneous History Items

TRAIN HOLDUP AND MURDER

November 1914 - Source Helen Naeve

Freight Conductor Reynolds of the Chicago & Northwest was shot and killed by a masked holdup man early on Wednesday morning as the train was coming east between Bradgate and Rutland, just above the Murray Bridge.  The brakeman in the way car was surprised by a masked man who entered the caboose and demanded "hands up."  Conductor Reynolds was near the door when the bandit entered and grappled with him.  Several shots were fires, in the scuffle, the two men fell from the door.  The train was stopped and backed to the scene of the tragedy.  The conductor was found in a pool of his own blood, shot through the head, the bullet entering from the back of the head.  The stricken man was taken on board the caboose and moved to Eagle Grove, but died before the train reached there.

It was later learned that there were two men involved in the holdup.  They both started walking, and one stopped at the Hemerson place just west of the Murray bridge and asked for work.  The Hemersons thought he looked and acted suspicious.  He had blood on his pants and shoes; he also had some discharged revolver shells in his pocket, but no revolver.  His stories were conflicting and he acted in a guilty manner.  He was a man of about twenty and claimed he knew nothing of the murder.  He gave his name as Roy James and said he went to school in Dallas, Texas, and admitted that he had deserted from the army.  He was arrested.

The other man was later found at the Pete Naeve farm.  He had walked on and stopped at the Dickey farm and asked for work, but Dickey did not need help so he went on and stopped at the Sam Christensen place.  Same hired the man.

This is the way Otto Naeve remembers him being found.  Otto (Pete's son) was about fifteen years old and living with his folks on their farm.  It was his job to go after the milk cows early in the morning and he had seen a man walking on the road.  His dad was building a new corncrib on the farm and had a carpenter from Bradgate named Bill Nielsen.  He was also the marshal of Bradgate.

Sam called Pete to borrow a wagon to use for corn picking and said he had hired a man and would send him after the wagon with a team of horses.  When Nielsen saw the man, he suspected him, as he had heard in Bradgate about the holdup and murder.  Otto then told his dad about seeing a man walking on the road earlier in the morning.  Nielsen had his gun and handcuffs in the car.  He handed the gun to Pete and put the handcuffs on the suspect.  Otto remembers Nielsen asking him his name and he said "Clyde Spiker."  They went back to the Christensen place and found the gun in the water tank.  He must have dropped it in there when watering his team.

Spiker said his home was Minneapolis and he was a pal of Roy James.  He also admitted that he knew there was a holdup, but denied that he was in it.  He was held as an accomplice.