Iowa Old Press
Paullina Times
Paullina, O'Brien co. Iowa
March 5, 1896
Mrs. J. Jungers of Marcus visited with her daughter, Mrs. H.
Ricker, Saturday.
Mrs. R. R. Barber was called to her former home in southern Iowa
Saturday by a telegram announcing the sad intelligence of the
death of her mother.
Ethel, the bright little daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. Ricker, died
Friday of whooping cough, aged 2 years, 8 months. Everything
possible was done to save the precious little one, but medical
skill could not stay the cruel hand of death and as the angels
bore her soul heavenward the formerly happy home was shrouded in
sorrow. The remains were laid to rest in the Catholic cemetery at
Marcus Sunday, followed by many friends who sympathize with the
parents in their hour of sorrow.
Sutherland News
There was considerable excitement in town last Friday
when it was generally known that the sheriff of Sioux county had
visited this place the evening before and arrested B. Thompson,
president of the Maurice State Bank and informing him that the
grand jury had presented him with an indictment and his bonds
were fixed at $6,000. Mr. Thompson visited Orange City Saturday
and without doubt the matter was satisfactorily adjusted and he
returned home the same evening. Mr. Thompson is one of
Sutherland's earliest settlers and has been in business of
various kinds during his residence here, and at one time the main
element in the First National Bank at this place and after
retiring from that institution opened a land and loan office
which he has operated for some time. His present embarrassment is
a surprise to his extensive acquaintance here and elsewhere. The
outcome will be watched by many who will hope that it will not in
any way impoverish him and cause any further trouble, while there
are others who will say nothing, but keep right on sawing wood.
--
Mrs. Wm. Dilger has been visiting with her sister, Mrs. Geo.
Colcord, for the past few days.
Mrs. S. Tow of Dale township, being one of those whose birthday
occurs February 29th and will not occur again until 1904,
celebrated this year by an evening at home with neighbors. A very
pleasant time is reported.
Died - At the home of his uncle, O. K. Tow, of
Dale township, Jonas K. Tow, on Wednesday, February 26, aged
twenty-seven years and four months. Deceased was born in Norway,
Europe. He was stricken with consumption while at Grinell, Iowa,
some months ago. The funeral was conducted from the Tow home on
Friday and the remains laid to rest in the Friends' cemetery,
Highland township.
A. Williams, a well known freight conducted on this line of the
C. & N. W. railway, was accidentally and nearly fatally
poisoned at Alton Saturday. For a time his recovery was a matter
of doubt, but an overdose of the drug acted as emetic and is
thought to have been the cause of saving his life. The medicine
we understand was administered by an Alton physician for
headache, with which Williams was suffering while on his run
west. When he reached Hawarden, AL came near being at the
"end of his run."
A little girl who will be one year old in 1904 was born on
Saturday, the 29th of February, to Mr. and Mrs. N. H. Farnham, of
this township. To think that Father Time should be so unkind to
mortals as to compel them to wait eight years for a birthday
seems cruel and uncalled for. This little one will, if future
fortune proves good, marry when she is five years old. Pa Farnham
will be compelled to wield the gad upon this young lady until she
is sixty or more years old for then she will have celebrated only
fourteen birthdays. The little one is reported as doing well even
under these circumstances.
John Schuknecht and Miss Horst [sic, Herbst] were united in
marriage on Sunday last at the Germantown church in Caledonia.
Mr. Schuknecht has accepted a position with Strampe & Meyer,
the butchers, and will live in Paullina.
Married. At the residence of the bride's
parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Warnke of this township, on Sunday,
March 1st, 1896, Miss Mina Warnke to Louie Andresen of this
place. These young people are well known here, the bride being a
daughter of County Supervisor Warnke, one of O'Brien county's
wealthy farmers. The groom is a son of Mrs. Andresen of Paullina.
District Court Doings
Judge Wakefield opened the March term of district court Monday
morning at ten o'clock. On the first call of the calendar old
cases were set for trial fully occupying the time of the court
for the first week. The most important case set is that of Letts,
Spencer & Hoffman Co. vs. William. This is the first to be
tried of the cases brought against Williams Bros. and its result
will influence in a measure the disposition of the forty or fifty
other cases that are still pending. R. W. Williams failed at
Hartley in December 1891, and fled the realm leaving creditors to
the amount of over $35,000 and practically all his property was
claimed by his brothers who claimed to hold the same under
mortgages and bills of sale. The trial will take some three or
four days and commenced Wednesday and probably carry over till
next week many of the cases that have been assigned.
After dinner the grand jury composed of J. R. Elliot, R. M.
Cheslear, Jas. C. Briggs, Harve Hollister and John Bloodgood was
empanelled. The attorneys for A. A. Bull, who is under charge of
the murder of Maud Straw at Sheldon, objected to the competency
of two of the jurors, claiming that they were prejudiced against
their client, but the objections were overruled. After
instructions as usual from the court, the jury retired and went
to work immediately. They do not expect to take up the Bull case
till Wednesday when they will give the latter a full and
exhaustive investigation and endeavor to bring the guilty parties
to justice. Other smaller cases and those where parties are in
jail will engage their attention for the first two days.
In the case of Josie Iverson vs. John Tjossem, both of Paullina,
the defendant has employed Allen & Cullen to defend him. The
plaintiff claims that she is and always has been a single woman
and that on December 9th, 1890, the defendant promised to marry
her; that defendant kept company with her for about two years,
but that in violation of his agreement he has deserted her and
married a Miss Altha Haynes of Bradgate, Iowa, for all of which
Miss Iverson wants $1,500 damages. The defendant has not yet
filed his answer with the clerk but the case will be hard fought.
Trial cannot be had at this term on account of the priority of
older cases.
The bastardy case against O. A. Llewellyn was dismissed as the
defendant and the prosecuting witness had agreed on a settlement.
[transcribed by A.N., October 2015]
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Paullina Times
Paullina, O'Brien co. Iowa
March 12, 1896
Farmer's Awful Death - Drank
Concentrated Lye and Then Cremated Himself
Primghar, Iowa, March 1 - Uriah Compton, a farmer living about
six miles northwest of here committed suicide by taking
concentrated lye and afterward burning himself in a straw stack.
He had been having trouble with his landlord in settling up for
rental and other matters, which caused him to be brought into
court, which is in session here Monday. He was on the witness
stand all day and was very much worn, both physically and
mentally. Just before going home he remarked that he did not know
anything. Anxiety and worry, beyond a doubt, are the causes of
the rash deed. When taken from the burning pile the flesh was all
burned from his face and limbs and he was a horrible spectacle to
behold.
--
Melvin Thompson, son of C. Thompson of Dale township, suffered a
painful injury to his hand on Monday by running it into a corn
sheller. The attending surgeon will make an effort to save the
fingers and thumb, but there are doubts of his being able to do
so, as some of these members were terribly broken and flesh torn.
The four-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Johnson of Dale
township died on Tuesday morning, March 10th. Vernon was an
unusually bright child, an only son, and the parents are
suffering much mental grief. Rev. Herron preached the funeral
sermon at the home today and the remains were carried to their
last resting place in Union cemetery at three o'clock this
afternoon.
The Times mixed up names in the announcement of the
wedding of John Schuknecht last week. The bride in the case was
Miss Herbst instead of Horst as given. They are now located in
the Hendry house in the north addition.
The birth of a sweet daughter to Mr. and Mrs. John Hodgdon of
this township is recorded on March 6th.
A little daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. James Reaney of Baker
township on February 25th.
News of the suicide by shooting of Mr. W. Shaeffer, a young
German farmer of Liberty township, Cherokee county, was received
here yesterday afternoon at the same time of receiving the first
intelligence of the Primghar tragedy. Mr. Reifke, an uncle of
Mrs. Shaeffer, was here after the casket, but he was unable to
give any definite information of the cause of the rash act. Mr.
Shaeffer was about 28 years of age and had been married about a
year. The coroner was investigating the case yesterday.
District Court Doings
The first jury case was Scott Logan against Uriah
Compton. This was a dispute over mutual accounts and a very
complicated matter.
Tillie Scoville and Johanna Conradson were granted divorces from
their husbands.
The criminal case against Jens Conradson in which he was
convicted at the last term of court was up for hearing, but the
parties have all practically settled their differences. It is
agreed that the defendant be sentenced and serve his sentence and
that the other indictment against him be dismissed. Mrs.
Conradson gets a divorce and all the property that has been in
litigation. Conradson was given three years in the penitentiary.
The case of Scott Logan vs. Uriah Compton came to a sudden
termination Tuesday morning by the suicide of the defendant.
Compton had been acting strangely and the evidence before the
coroner's jury showed that he had gotten up in the early morning,
drank a dose of concentrated lye and then went into a straw
covered barn and set the structure on fire and perished. His
funeral was held here yesterday.
The grand jury found no evidence justifying them in holding A. A.
Bull and he was discharged.
[transcribed by A.N., April 2016]
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Paullina Times
Paullina, O'Brien co. Iowa
March 19, 1896
Clerk Armstrong issued a marriage license to Chas. Schnoor and
Charlotte Meyer last Tuesday.
A continuance was granted in the divorce case of James Jenkins
vs. Emeline Jenkins and defendant was given until April 1st to
answer.
Thomas McDonald of Sutherland visited with his sister, Mrs. R.
Russel, last Saturday.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Ed. Hilker on Saturday, March 14, a son.
Word was received here last evening that J. A. Winegar, better
known as "Dell," who is known to a number of Paullina
people, having lived here several years ago, met with a severe
accident March 15th, at North McGregor where he is employed in
the C. M. & P. shops, having his right arm and right foot
crushed so as to necessitate the amputation of his arm just below
the elbow and his foot above the ankle.
Rev. C. D. Nuoffer, a German minister who is located in the
Schaefer neighborhood near Cherokee, refuses to preach the
funeral sermon over the remains of William Schaefer, who
committed suicide Tuesday night, or to allow the corpse to be
brought in to the church. This action on the part of the minister
is said to have caused a great deal of hard feeling in the
church. The mother of the dead young man is confined to her bed,
in very critical condition. Sioux City Journal
We clip the following account of the Liberty township suicide
from the Meriden Call: Tuesday afternoon, March 10,
between the hours of four and five, Wm. G. Schaefer of Liberty
township, took his own life by shooting himself through the heart
with a 32-calibre revolver. He was married last September to Miss
Louis Drifke and they have been living with the bride's parents
until the first of the week, when they began to move their
household goods to the farm they had rented of Mrs. H. A.
McConchie for two years. He had moved several loads Monday and
Tuesday afternoon he went to the barn to do some work and told
his wife to bring out a straw tick in a little while and he would
help her fill it. She went out about five o'clock and called him,
but he did not answer, she the began to look around and found him
lying in one of the stalls, apparently asleep, she went to him
and made the horrible discovery that he was dead. He was lying on
his back with his right hand in his trousers pocket and a few
feet away laid the revolver. Upon examination is was found that
he had unbuttoned his coat and vest, pulled them back and pressed
the muzzle of the revolver close to his body over the heart and
pulled the trigger with the thumb of his left hand. The body and
underclothing were burned with the powder, and it is evident that
death was instantaneous. The coroner's jury held an inquest
Wednesday afternoon and it was determined that he came to his
death by his own hand, and the testimony of the witnesses showed
that the act was evidently premeditated.
Mrs. E. E. Rothrock of Cedar Rapids, arrived Saturday morning for
a visit with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Gargett.
[transcribed by A.N., April 2016]
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Paullina Times
Paullina, O'Brien co. Iowa
March 26, 1896
J. E. Scott is enjoying a visit from his nephew, Mr. Walter Pahl,
of Mason City.
C. Rickabaugh of Center township died rather suddenly last
Sunday. He had been sick but a short time with lung fever. He was
a prosperous farmer, a little past middle age and leaves a wife
and family.
News reached here the first of the week of the death of Geo.
Scott at Portland, Oregon, on the 19th inst. He has been
suffering from quick consumption and his death has been expected
for some time. He was well and favorably known here, having been
bookkeeper in the State Bank, both here and at Sanborn.
The sad news of the death of one of Sutherland's former residents
was received here last Monday. It was A. M. Cilley, who at one
time was engaged in the hardwood business here. Deceased had been
in poor health for several years and had of late been failing
fast, and last Sunday, at his home in Peterson, he passed away
surrounded by his many friends and relatives, who had done all
that was possible for loving hands to do to alleviate his
suffering. The remains were sent to this place Tuesday morning
and the funeral services were conducted at the Christian church,
after which the remains were laid to rest in the cemetery at this
place. The bereaved family and relatives of the deceased have the
sympathy of all in the hour of sorrow.
Mr. Siefkin, who lived in Liberty township, died last Sunday and
the funeral services were held at this place Tuesday.
Born - To Mr. and Mrs. A. Tjossem, Monday, March 23, 1896, a son.
Judge Toman, editor of the Cherokee Times is reported to
be dying, having been nearly helpless since he received a shock
of apoplexy nearly two years ago.
We clip the following from the Sioux City Tribune, March
20: No indictment was found yesterday by the grand jury against
Harry Mewhirter of Little Rock, Iowa, for seduction, on the
charge preferred by Miss Rose McDermott. It will be remembered
that Mewhirter was arrested on January 14 last, on a warrant
sworn out before Justice Bernard of Morning Side. The woman in
the case offered to settle for $200, but Mewhirter refused,
claiming that it was nothing but a blackmailing scheme and that
W. J. Keefe, the real estater, was in on the deal to pull his
nether limb. Before the grand jury Mewhirter had as witnesses
Policeman Matron Thurston and Humane Officer Huffman, the
character of the plaintiff being at issue. The grand jury
discharged Mewhirter. It is now stated that the parties who were
instrumental in causing Mewhirter's arrest and consequent
disagreeable notoriety, will be called upon in a short time to
explain their action or stand a criminal prosecution for
conspiracy and attempted extortion. Mewhirter is a druggist at
Little Rock and has always born a good reputation.
[transcribed by A.N., April 2016]