I have a great idea, I will encourage my 4 boys to solve a murder mystery thinking “oh this will be a fun summer adventure” that ends up being “THE MOST HORRIBLE TRAGEDY IN THE HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY”……ugh….(I will be giving the boys the “G” rated version leaving out the parts of the story that involve a prostitute, gambling, the horrific description of the bodies including the missing limbs and pieces of skull bone and burned up dog)….yep, sleep tight boys, this all happened pretty much in your back yard.
Our summer mystery has become much more interesting than I ever could have imagined. Who would have thought a conversation with an old man in the creek would send us to find out about the murdered couple who are buried up our hill?
(Thanks to a friend (thanks Libby!) we found out that this is indeed German and says:
“Here lies the body of Heinrich Greaser. Born in the Pfaiz Rhein Bayern. All 74 years. God rest his soul”)
We still have not found the cellar….and I really don’t want to hunt down the creek man and knock on his trailer home door to ask for directions. Maybe we will stumble upon another clue with its location.
The boys and I stopped by our library to see what we could find.
We had little hope but as I explained my story to the librarians they all became VERY interested and they helped me find our next big clue….and I mean BIG clue.
Since I had the date of Henry and Margaret’s death from their tombstone, we were able to search the story from the paper.
Wednesday morning March 20, 1878 The Fort Madison Democrat posted a full-page that was VERY descriptive covering every detail from the bodies to an interview with the killer who was claiming his innocence.
The copy of the paper was very small print and hard to read. Some of the words were missing.
I would retype the story but quite frankly I am too lazy and it’s not like I’m busy raising 4 boys or anything so I did the next best thing……I just read it out loud and recorded it. lol
Now…..it’s very detailed and long. If it were me, I would probably stick in my ear buds and listen to it like a book. I struggle to read parts of it so you will have to overlook that…oh, and I said that they had the finest farm in the country, I meant county….. Oh, I also said “episode” referring to the newspaper, I meant “issue” lol GOOD LUCK! (I won’t quit my day job to read old newspapers out loud)
The paper talks about Henry Weese being taken to jail in Fort Madison. A mob gathered outside as they yelled “Lynch him!!, Lynch him!!” I went to the old jail house in town and found the dates line up so I assume he was probably taken here. This is probably where the interview from the paper was done.
He was sentenced to life in prison and was probably sent to the Fort Madison State Penitentiary.
Well this has all been very interesting!
