Haunted Heartland
Page 37
Less than twenty-four hours later, investigators had no more than just begun their investigation when two more explosions shook the city. This time the targets of dynamite bombs were two branch offices of the First Wisconsin National Bank. At 6:40 p.m., October 27, a hole was blown in the rear wall of the bank branch offices at 3602 North Villard. Damage was limited to the back wall and many shattered windows.
Forty minutes later, the east side office of the First Wisconsin National Bank at North Farwell and East North Avenue was targeted.
There was no major damage to the bank, although eight cars in a parking lot were demolished. In both of the bank explosions, witnesses saw the suspects flee in a small, gray motor car.
By this time, Milwaukee realized a reign of terror might have been set loose on the city. Dozens of federal, state, and local investigators converged on the explosion sites.
So far, there had been no serious injuries, but officials feared that in the next bombing they might not be so fortunate.
Guards were posted at all governmental and bank buildings since these seemed to be the chosen targets. Investigators theorized that the bombers may have mistaken the Shorewood City Hall for a bank building.
The city was fearful and on edge as the following week passed uneventfully. Police determined that the dynamite in the early explosions had been stolen from a Works Project Administration work site several weeks earlier. One hundred and fifty pounds of explosives had been taken, along with four hundred fifty fuse caps and two hundred feet of fuse. Authorities were now even more concerned. That much dynamite could cause massive destruction.
The terrorists struck again on Thursday, hitting two police substations. Once again, good fortune limited the damage to the buildings with no personal injuries.
So far, Arthur Price Roberts had been proven correct. Police knew that and, in desperation, turned to him for “advice.” He told them the last explosion would come on Sunday, November 3, somewhere south of the Menomonee River.
Could he identify the criminals?
No.
Did he know precisely where the explosion would occur?
No.
Regretfully, that was all the information he could “see.”
That Sunday an army of police officers flooded the city south of the river. Sharpshooters kept watch from rooftops. Every officer was told to shoot first and ask questions later. As the countdown to Roberts’s predicted catastrophe began, all suspicious persons were stopped and questioned and abandoned buildings searched.
Somehow the police missed the old shed behind a house at 2121 West Mitchell Street.
Inside, two young men with long petty-crime records hunched over a potentially deadly arrangement of dynamite and fuse caps. They were concocting their “final surprise” for Milwaukee.
Then something went terribly wrong for them.
Whether the youthful bombers incorrectly set a timing device or just grew careless no one knows for certain. But at 2:40 p.m. on Sunday, November 3, 1935, an estimated forty sticks of dynamite exploded in that shed, leaving only a gaping hole in the earth, charred rubble, and smoking timbers.
The two men inside were Isador Rutkowski, twenty, and Paul Chovenee, sixteen. They were blown to bits. Tragically, there was the first innocent human casualty in this final blast. Little nine-year-old Patricia Mylanarek, of 2117-B West Mitchell, was playing in her second-story bedroom, overlooking the makeshift bomb factory, when it exploded. The blast collapsed her bedroom walls on top of her.
At least ten other persons were injured, the fronts of buildings were blown out for a hundred yards around the shed, and windows were knocked out of houses for several more blocks around. One witness said the area looked like a war zone.
Rutkowski, the apparent ringleader, was an unemployed auto mechanic with a police record. He was identified when cops found his head leaning against a garage thirty feet away. A later investigation showed he had some imagined grievances against bankers.
Chovenee’s death was not discovered until the next day when his father reported him missing, saying he had last seen him with Rutkowski. His father identified swatches of his son’s hair and scalp, along with the remnants of a blue jacket. Police surmised Chovenee was likely an easily duped sycophant, merely following the older boy’s criminal plan.
An additional two boxes of dynamite were found intact in the building rubble, miraculously surviving the massive destruction. Police said that had they exploded, the results would have been even more catastrophic.
The deaths of Rutkowski and Chovenee ended the bombing terror in Milwaukee. Investigators were unanimous in their opinion that Rutkowski and Chovenee had been preparing another bomb when it accidentally exploded. Doc Roberts’s premonition was accurate, even down to the final accidental bombing that would end the fear gripping the city.
Doc Roberts was probably frightened on occasion by the future he “saw.” Would that have extended to his own intimations of mortality?
It is said—but lightly documented—that a small dinner party was given in his honor in November 1939. He told the gathering how very pleased he was with the tribute and proceeded to reminisce about his own incredible life-solving mysteries. He was elderly now and though he seemed to be in good health, his psychic senses told him otherwise. Or perhaps he had a terminal illness that only he knew about.
As the group planned for their next dinner together after the New Year, Roberts expressed his regrets. “I won’t be with you beyond January 2, 1940,” he confided with a tinge of sorrow.
Less than two months later, on the morning of Tuesday, January 2, 1940, Arthur Price Roberts died peacefully in his sleep at the age of seventy-three. His Milwaukee Journal obituary noted that he had been ill for two months. He is buried in Milwaukee’s Wanderers Rest Cemetery. The secrets of his psychic ability—if indeed that is what he used to “solve” the cases—were buried with him.
Selected Bibliography
Illinois
Books
Allen, John W. Legends and Lore of Southern Illinois. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1963.
Brandon, Jim. Weird America. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1978.
Bruce, H. Addington. Historic Ghosts and Ghost Hunters. New York: Moffat, Yard, & Co., 1908.
Dorson, Richard M. Buying the Wind: Regional Folklore in the United States. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964.
Drake, S. A. Myths and Fables of To-day. Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1900.
Gaddis, Vincent H. Mysterious Fires and Lights. New York: David McKay, 1967.
Hintze, Naomi A., and J. Gaither Pratt. The Psychic Realm: What Can You Believe? New York: Random House, 1975.
Holzer, Hans. Psychic Investigator. New York: Hawthorn Books, 1968.
Illinois: A Descriptive and Historical Guide. American Guide Series. Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Co., 1939.
Lamon, Ward Hill. Recollections of Abraham Lincoln, 1847–1865. Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Co., 1895.
Lindley, Charles, Viscount Halifax. Lord Halifax’s Ghost Book. New York: Didier, 1944.
Murphy, Gardner, and Robert O. Ballou, compilers and eds. William James on Psychical Research. New York: Viking Press, 1960.
Rogo, D. Scott. The Poltergeist Experience. New York: Penguin Books, 1979.
Sibley, Mulford Q. Life after Death? Minneapolis: Dillon Press, 1975.
Smith, Susy. The Enigma of Out-of-Body Travel. New York: Helix Press, 1965.
Smith, Warren. Strange Hexes. New York: Popular Library, 1970.
Strange Stories, Amazing Facts: Stories That Are Bizarre, Unusual, Odd, Astonishing, and Often Incredible. Pleasantville, NY: Reader’s Digest Association, 1976.
Tyrrell, G. H. M. Apparitions. Rev. Ed. New York: Collier Books, 1963.
Walker, Danton. I Believe in Ghosts. New York: Taplinger, 1969.
Winer, Richard. Houses of Horror. New York: Bantam Books, 1983.
Winer, Richard, and Nancy Osborn. Haunted Houses. New York: Bantam Books, 1979.
Winer, Richard, and Nancy Osborn Ishmael. More Haunted Houses. New York: Bantam Books, 1981.
Periodicals
Biederman, Pat. “Spirit Abounds in Town of Mediums.” USA Today, June 2, 1983.
Burkholder, Alex A. “April’s Hand of Death.” Firehouse magazine, April 1983.
Geist, Bill. “Resurrection Mary.” U.S. Catholic, August 1979.
“Groans, Forms Haunt Slave House’s Attic.” Rockford Register Star, October 9, 1977.
Hahn, Andrew. “Report Challenges ‘Old Slave House’ Legend.” Southern Illinois University News, July 30, 2015. http://news.siu.edu/2015/07/073015amh15084.php.
Harris, Jesse, and Julia Neely. “Southern Illinois Phantoms and Bogies.” Midwest Folklore 1, no. 3 (Fall 1951): 171–78.
“‘Haunted’ House Conquered by TV Announcer.” Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN), November 1, 1978.
Holleran, Scott. “Lake Forest: A History.” Daily North Shore, November 22, 2015.
Hudson Star-Times (Hudson, WI), February 18, 1870.
Kellman, John. “Death, Darkness and Lies.” Chicago Tribune, October 28, 2010.
———. “Nearly a Century after Girl’s Death, Questions—and Maybe a Ghost—Haunt Lake Forest.” Chicago Tribune, October 27, 2010.
———. “A Verdict, But Not the End.” Chicago Tribune, October 31, 2010.
Lawton, Mark. “A Century Later, Lake Forest Murder Trial Still Fascinates.” Lake Forester, July 13, 2016.
Parker, Molly. “Future of Crenshaw House, or Old Slave House, in Question.” Southern Illinoisan, February 21, 2016.
Patton, Florence. “Girl in Orpet Case Called ‘Ophelia.’” Los Angeles Herald, July 1, 1916.
“Peculiar Experiences Connected with Noted Persons (Apparition of the Dead Two Years before the Death of the Percipient).” Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 15 (1921).
Swarbrick, Fran. “He Spent Night, But Was He Alone?” Rockford Register Star, November 1, 1978.
Taylor, Troy. “The Girl in the Snow: The Haunting Story of Marion Lambert.” American Hauntings (blog), February 10, 2013. http://troytaylorbooks.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-girl-in-snow.html.
Unpublished Works
Federal Writers’ Project Manuscripts for the Works Progress Administration for the State of Illinois.
Indiana University Folklore Archives, Bloomington.
Indiana
Books
Anderson, Jean. The Haunting of America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1973.
Brandon, Jim. Weird America. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1978.
Edwards, Frank. Strangest of All. New York: Citadel Press, 1956.
Edwards, Janet Zenke. Diana of the Dunes: The True Story of Alice Gray. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2010.
Ellis, Edward S. The History of Our Country from the Discovery of America to the Present Time. Vol. 3. Cincinnati: Jones Brothers, 1918.
Gaddis, Vincent H. Mysterious Fires and Lights. New York: David McKay, 1967.
Historical Hannah House. Undated brochure, no publisher given.
Indiana: A Guide to the Hoosier State. New York: Oxford University Press, 1941.
Keel, John A. Our Haunted Planet. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett Publications, 1971.
Norman, Michael, and Beth Scott. Haunted Heritage. New York: Tor, 2002.
Scott, Beth, and Michael Norman. Haunted America. New York: Tor, 1994.
Smith, Susy. Life Is Forever. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1974.
Smith, Warren. Strange Hexes. New York: Popular Library, 1970.
Stuart, Rory, ed. The Strange World of Frank Edwards. Secaucus, NJ: Lyle Stuart, 1977.
Winer, Richard, and Nancy Osborn Ishmael. More Haunted Houses. New York: Bantam Books, 1981.
Periodicals
Benzkofer, Stephan. “Quirkier by the Lake.” Chicago Tribune, July 6, 2014.
Boudreau, George, ed. “Haunted Andrew House?” Oldletter (LaPorte County Historical Society) 12 (October 1982).
Clements, William M., and William E. Lightfoot. “The Legend of Stepp Cemetery.” Indiana Folklore 5, no. 1 (1972): 92–141.
Coffeen, Bob. “Up and Down Town with the Town Crier.” LaPorte Town Crier, November 6, 1975.
“‘Diana of the Dunes’ Dies of Privation.” New York Times, February 10, 1925.
Dits, Joseph. “Learn More about Diana of the Dunes.” South Bend Tribune, October 25, 2014.
Hall, Steve. “Horrors Haunt Hannah House?” Indianapolis News, October 27, 1981.
Heady, Linda. “Forum: The Reader’s Corner.” Indianapolis Star, September 5, 1976.
“Historic Hannah House for Sale.” Indianapolis Star, February 22, 1981.
Johansen, Marguerite Bell. “Dunes Woman.” Dunes Country Magazine (Winter 1982).
O’Dell, Vicki L. “The Haunted Bridge.” Indiana History Bulletin 41 (1965).
Sander, David. “Diana of the Dunes: The Real Story.” Dunes Country Magazine (Summer 1981).
Spiers, Al. “Diana of the Dunes—Michigan’s Original Streaker?” NewsDispatch (Michigan City, IN), March 13, 1974.
Unpublished Works
Indiana University Folklore Archives, Bloomington.
Marshall, Lyn. “The Andrew House.” LaPorte, Indiana, n.d.
Shelby, Tom. “The Legend of the Francesville Light.” Indiana University Folklore Archives, September 23, 1977.
Iowa
Books
Baule, John A. The Ham House and the Life of Its Builder. Dubuque County Historical Society, n.d.
Ebon, Martin, ed. Exorcism: Fact Not Fiction. New York: New American Library, 1974.
Norman, Michael, and Beth Scott. Haunted Heritage. New York: Tor, 2002.
———. Historic Haunted America. New York: Tor, 1995.
Periodicals
“The Ghost of Simpson College.” Des Moines Register, November 8, 1979.
Grant, Donald. “Strange Knocking From Table; Family Prays, Calls Spiritualist.” Des Moines Register, September 11, 1940.
“A Haunted House.” Weekly Gate City (Keokuk, IA), August 17, 1899.
Hopson, Julie. “Tales to Make Your Blood Run Cold.” Des Moines Register, October 31, 1976.
Lackey, Patrick. “Stuart, the Friendly Iowa Ghost.” Des Moines Register, April 22, 1977.
“Mildred Hedges: The Spirit of College Hall.” YouTube video, 8:06. Posted by Simpson College, July 31, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4mPlNKjxq0.
Monson, Val. “Simpson College Ghost Story.” Des Moines Tribune, October 30, 1980.
Ryder, T. J. “Spending the Night with ‘Spirits.’” Des Moines Register, October 31, 1978.
Shanley, Mary Kay. “They Didn’t Believe in Ghosts Either.” Des Moines Register, October 28, 1973.
Worrel, Elaine V. “The Ghost Was a Stranger.” Fate, April 1972.
Unpublished Works
Conaway, Minnie. “The Great Mystery.” Federal Writers’ Project manuscript, Decatur, IL, 1936.
Kansas
Books
Harter, Walter. The Phantom Hand and Other American Hauntings. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1976.
Hollenberg Pony Express Station. Topeka: Kansas State Historical Society, n.d.
Kansas: A Guide to the Sunflower State. American Guide Series. New York: Viking, 1939.
Montgomery, Ruth. A Search for the Truth. New York: William Morrow, 1967.
Norman, Michael, and Beth Scott. Haunted Homeland. New York: Tor, 2006.
Reid, Chick. “Legend of White Woman Creek.” Condensed by Daniel Brown. In History of Early Greeley County, vol. 1, A Story of Its Tracks, Trails, and Tribulations, 96–97. Tribune, KS: Greeley County Historical Book Committee, 1981.
Smith, Warren. Strange Hexes. New York: Popular Library, 1970.
Periodicals
Elmer, Timothy R. “Ghostly Deeds Haunt Ancient Topeka Home.” Topeka Capital-Journal, October 31, 1981.
Findley, Rowe. “The Pony Express.” National Geographic, July 1980.
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��Franc Shor, 60, Dies; Geographic Editor.” New York Times, July 16, 1974.
Maxwell, Bob. “Ellis County’s Own Ghost (1867–1919–1967?).” Heritage of Kansas 3, no. 1 (1975).
“This Ghost Enjoys Tickling Sleepers’ Feet.” Des Moines Register, March 25, 1940.
Unpublished Works
William E. Koch Folklore Collection. Kansas State University, Manhattan.
Michigan
Books
Anderson, Jean. The Haunting of America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1973.
Dorson, Richard M. American Folklore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1959.
———. Bloodstoppers and Bearwalkers. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1952.
Hamlin, Marie Caroline Watson. Legends of Le Detroit. Detroit: Thorndike Nourse, 1884.
Skinner, Charles M. Myths and Legends of Our Own Land. Vol. 2. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1896.
Steiger, Brad. Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits and Haunted Minds. New York: Award Books, 1968.
Stuart, Rory, ed. The Strange World of Frank Edwards. Secaucus, NJ: Lyle Stuart, 1977.
Walker, Danton. I Believe in Ghosts: True Stories of Some Haunted Celebrities and Their Celebrated Haunts. New York: Taplinger Publishing, 1969.
Periodicals
Chari, C. T. K. “To the Editor of the Journal” (correspondence). Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 57 (1963): 163–67.
Donahue, James. “Great Lakes Ghost Story.” The Mind of James Donahue (blog), n.d. http://perdurabo10.tripod.com/ships/id133.html.
Johnston, Nina E. “The Haunted Camp.” Saginaw Daily Courier, March 6, 1889.
“A Lake Huron Ghost Story.” Sun (New York), August 20, 1883.
Lewis, Walter. Maritime History of the Great Lakes (online archive). http://www.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca. (Photocopied material from various newspapers and one scrapbook; no headlines; first words cited here. Buffalo Commercial Appeal: “The following is taken from the protest . . . ,” August 3, 1874; “The wrecking steamer Magnet . . . ,” August 5, 1874; “The Coast Wrecking Co. has entered . . . ,” August 24, 1874; “The underwriters . . . ,” March 16, 1875; “Henry A. Haywood dies in Cleveland,” April 4 1906. Chicago Inter-Ocean: “Schooner Board of Trade . . . ,” December 25, 1874. Toronto Daily Globe: “Captain Thomas Fountain is wanted by the underwriters . . . ,” August 18, 1875; “About seven o’clock Monday evening . . . ,” August 20, 1875; “Captain A. R. Manning of Cleveland . . . ,” August 21, 1875; “The barque Chicago Board of Trade . . . ,” August 31, 1875; “The J.W. Hall Great Lakes Marine Scrapbook,” August 31, 1875; “It was sworn by the defence [sic] in the Bark Board of Trade,” June 1877.)