In 1853, Edward Graham was made the County Judge of Clinton County, Iowa, when his predecessor unexpectedly vacated the position. While the new promotion may have come as a surprise, he was more than up to the task. Born in Pennsylvania, he decided to become a lawyer. Seven years later, he and his …
Edward Graham’s Legacy: The Forgotten DeWitt Courthouse of 1854 Read More »
If you ever happen to be driving along Highway 34 through Adams County, Iowa, you’ll eventually pass a cemetery along the right-hand side of the road. While mostly unobtrusive, there is one stone that definitely stands out. Standing nearly ten feet tall, it’s an elaborate monument, topped by a beautiful woman carved from marble. She’s …
The Marble Woman: Thoughts of Henry Reese in Adams County Read More »
Paul Schroeder was running through the repair shop, trying his best to avoid the hail of bullets flying his direction. He fired back blindly, trying to make the cops stop shooting long enough so he could get to his car. To be fair, it wasn’t his car. He and his brother, Everett, had stolen it. …
Bandits in the Blizzard: The Schroeder Brother’s Crime Spree of 1937 Read More »
From his home in Elvira, Iowa, Captain Robert Lyons surveyed his property with his mariner’s telescope. A relic from his 18 years as a sailor and sea captain, Lyons still liked to use it on occasion, and what he saw on that day in 1851 surprised him. There, in one of his …
Justice on the Prairie: Farmers Break a Horse Thieving Ring in Clinton County, Iowa Read More »
William Kelly was a large man, 6’2″, with hard muscles built from a lifetime of farm work. But still, he sat humbly and quietly. Across from him sat his mother, Myrtle Kelly, who was fervently asking why he had committed the deed that had put him here, in the Harrison County, Iowa jail. He explained …
Deadly Lessons: The Logan, Iowa Hammer Murders of 1933 Read More »
The grass was ready to turn from brown to green, and some of the trees had started to bud new leaves in anticipation of warmer weather. Birds and other animals were building nests and dens. It was April 1896, and spring was returning to Iowa. All of this was lost on Herman Boek …
Sin and Redemption: The Augusta Bartz Murder of 1896 Read More »
Hard as it is to believe now, Scott County, Iowa, bordering the Mississippi River on the state’s eastern edge, was once America’s frontier. Before 1833, when the United States Congress opened what was then known as the Blackhawk Purchase to free settlement, nearly that entire region was as wild and untamed as anything the …
Perhaps the most dangerous weather in the Midwest is the blizzard. Temperatures plummet, and the wind not only drives that cold through a person, but blows the snow so hard that they can hardly see. Many lives have been claimed by Iowa’s winter storms over the years, and H.V. Morrill was almost among …
Once Upon an Iowa Blizzard – The Journey of H.V. Morrill Read More »
All marriages have their ups and downs. It’s not always an easy thing living with another human being. More than sharing space and material goods, living with someone else is also the sharing of moods and attitudes toward life in general. Like so many other things in life, these things aren’t always positive. No one …
The Day Horace Angle Chased His Wife Through a Window Read More »
Breakfast was slightly awkward in the Hoskins household that cold January morning. John Hoskins and his wife, Hulda, had been arguing. While that wasn’t necessarily unusual, it didn’t make things exactly comfortable. All four of the children – Roy, 12, Merlin, Irene, 15, and Gladys, 18 –seated at the table could tell that John was …
The Devil You Know: The John R. Hoskins Family Murders of 1919 Read More »
