Fred Crawford born around 1853 in Canada, son of Irish immigrants John Crawford (1808-1891) and Margaret Forsyth (1808-1902). John was a contractor and built “the fortresses” at Kingston and the Junction Canal. He did a variety of government work in Canada, and a bit in Ogdensburg, New York. The fortresses, built in the 1840s, were done under the supervision of Alexander Mackenzie (1822– 1892), a stonemason who later served as the second prime minister of Canada from 1873 to 1878.
The family moved to Racine, Wisconsin around 1852 and then to Oshkosh around 1858. They were ealy enough to be considered pioneers of Oshkosh, taking up residence at 349 Ceape.
Fred married Jennie Eldridge in 1880, when he was 27 and she was 18. She was the daughter of Ethan Eldridge of Stevens Point. They had two daughters, Ivy and Daisy, before divorcing. Jennie would remarry to a Mr. Dawes of Milwaukee. She would die young – 37 years old – and the funeral was held at the home of her uncle Austin Duane Eldridge at the corner of Sherry and Isabella in Neenah. She is buried in Neenah’s Oak Hill Cemetery.
Fred Crawford married Doretta “Dorothy” Rogers on August 26, 1893. She was the daughter of Francis Marion Rogers of Rock Island, Illinois. Later reports said she was 20 years his junior, which would make her around 20. They had three more children: George, Isabel and Wilfred.
Later reports claimed Crawford ran a wood and coal business in Appleton in 1888 called McKenzie and Crawford, with the main office in Oshkosh. This later report says Crawford “was of very irregular habits in his irregularities as manager,” which caused the business to fail. He sold out to Johnston and Schlosser, who made the trade quite prosperous. These reports are probably confusing Fred with his brother John, who was far more successful in business.
Crawford ran successful plumbing shops in Neenah and Oshkosh. The couple was happy. But then Fred discovered liquor, and turned violent. He would beat Dorothy often and she was in constant fear of him. The pair separated multiple times, but Fred always lured her back with promises.
An article in May 1891 says Fred was in Iron Mountain, Michigan.
Around 1901, the Crawfords moved to Clemansville (an intersection in Vinland between Neenah and Oshkosh, west of Brooks Corners). Fred was using the “Keeley cure” to stay sober, but it only worked so long. A year later, Fred’s drinking became outrageous once more, and when he returned home one night drunk, he beat Dorothy so badly she was helpless for several days. Upon recovering, Dorothy sent their 14- and 10-year old sons to friends in northern Michigan, and left with their 8-year old daughter to her sister’s house in Menasha. Dorothy took up work as a waitress at the Russell House (hotel) in Neenah.
The Keeley Institute at one point had over 200 branches throughout the United States and Europe, and by 1900 the so-called Keeley Cure, which was injections of bichloride of gold, had been administered to more than 300,000 people. New patients were introduced into an open, informal environment where they were first offered as much alcohol as they could imbibe. Patients were boarded in nearby hotels or the homes of private residents. The institute operated out of homes and hotels using a spa like atmosphere of peace and comfort. All patients received injections of bichloride of gold four times daily. The treatment lasted four weeks. The medical profession continued to criticize the method and many tried to identify the mysterious ingredients, believing it to be quackery. Strychnine, alcohol, apomorphine, willow bark, ammonia, and atropine were claimed to have been identified in the injections. How effective the treatments were remains debatable, but Keeley did pioneer one thing: he treated alcoholism as a disease rather than a personal failing, an incredibly progressive outlook for the time.
Fred Crawford, now alone, opened his plumbing business back up in Oshkosh.
A while back, Jules V. DeCremer of Green Bay sold a sewing machine to the Crawfords and was paid half up front, with half to be paid later. DeCremer sent a letter to Clemansville asking for the payment, and the letter was forwarded to Menasha. Dorothy responded, saying her husband took the machine with him and she did not know its whereabouts. DeCremer followed up by contacting Menasha’s chief of police, Richard Allen (1861-1940), and instructing him to recover the sewing machine or arrest someone for theft. Allen had been born in Menasha – his father came from Ireland, and his mother from Canada.
Fred occasionally visited his wife at Menasha, and each time pleaded with her to return. She remained firm that she would not. After a visit in the fall of 1903, Fred was left with the impression that divorce papers would soon be coming, and later reports suggest he was right. He threatened her that he would kill her before he ever accepted a divorce.
On October 13, 1903, Crawford was in Menasha to see his wife and ran into Chief Allen. The two were vaguely acquainted because 15 years prior Crawford had assisted Allen after the chief (at that time a railroad employee) had been kicked by a horse. Allen asked about the sewing machine, and Crawford acknowledged he had it and could return it. The two walked to the home of Dorothy’s sister Ina Dell Elliott (possibly 419 Tayco Street), and found she was not there, but at the Ambrose V. Richardson home on the island (current address: 501 Keyes Street) doing some sewing for that family. The chief made his way towards the post office, while Crawford walked towards the Mill Street bridge, which is the way he suspected his wife would be returning from. (Today the bridge rom downtown Menasha to the island is the Racine Street bridge – at this time, however, Racine Street had no bridge and there was a bridge a couple blocks over at Mill Street. Today, Mill Street is just a stub.)
Near seven o’clock in the evening when Menasha Main Street was bustling with what the Oshkosh press called “hundreds of shoppers and citizens” going about their business. Crawford had guessed her route correctly, because Dorothy was returning by foot on the Mill Street Bridge and had some Oshkosh property lien papers for her husband. They walked together for a bit, and Mrs. Mary Lingenfelt (possibly Mary O’Brien Lingenfelter)witnessed the Crawford couple confronting each other in front of the entry steps to the Elisha D. Smith Library. This library was dedicated in 1898, meaning it was quite new – the library of the same name today is a few blocks away and was opened in 1969. Lingenfelt could not hear them, but the conversation was “animated” and the husband was “greatly agitated.” The meeting ended with Fred Crawford shooting his wife twice with a revolver – the fatal shot entering her right temple.
A passerby, insurance agent Louis Thomas Jourdain, was shot once. One version of the story says he was hit by a stray bullet, while another version says he approached Fred Crawford to see what was going on and was shot for interfering in a private quarrel. Jourdain was connected with the Menasha Woolen Mills for a number of years before he established the insurance and real estate business known as L. T. Jourdain Insurance Agency. He was organizer of the Lakeside Paper Company of the town of Menasha and served as secretary of the organization until the mill was sold to Sears Roebuck of Chicago.
After that, Fred Crawford walked to the side of the library and shot himself the same as he shot his wife, in the right temple. Death was instant. As the Eau Claire newspaper put it, he “blew out his own brains.”
One of the first to arrive on the scene was Chief Richard Allen, as the post office was not far away.
Jourdain, found unconscious, was treated for a bullet wound by Dr. G.W. Dodge (known for his anti-alcohol stance) and Dr. J.V. Corry. The shot grazed his seventh rib on his left side and embedded itself in his sternum. This sounds bad, but was apparently mild. He was declared alright, so long as blood poisoning did not set in, and walked home of his own accord.
The event was said to be the most exciting thing to happen in Neenah or Menasha in many years, and within a half hour 5,000 people packed into the square where the library sat. (Given the population at the time, this almost has to be an exaggeration.)
Coroner T. D. Phillips transported the Crawford bodies to his funeral parlor for further examination. A coroner’s jury was assembled: Peter Craven, Richard Gill, John Mullen, Nick Remmel, Frank Kenfield and Charles Robinson. Their determination was obvious: murder-suicide. Fred Crawford was sent to Oshkosh for burial, while Dorothy was sent to the home of her sister, Mrs. Ina Dell Elliott of Menasha.
The Crawford children:
The eldest child, Ivy, married Benjamin Chase Davis in Illinois in 1902. They had at least one child, Genevieve. Where this family ended up, I do not know.
Daisy Crawford was raised by her uncle Austin D. Eldredge in rural Oshkosh after her mother’s death. Daisy died April 15 or 16, 1905 and is buried in Oak Hill (Neenah). She would have been around 21 years old.
George C. Crawford moved to Chicago and worked as an auditor for Price Waterhouse. In Chicago, he married Lillian Gullborg and then returned to Wisconsin, where he operated taverns in Presque Isle, Stevens Point and Antigo. George was an assessor fro the Town of Rolling. He passed away in Antigo in 1983, the last living child of Fred Crawford. He had no children.
Isabella M. Crawford was raised by her aunt, Ina Dell Elliott. Census records show her under the name Isabella Elliott, which is likely an error, though she may have been adopted by her new family. Her whereabouts after childhood are unknown, though there is someone with her name buried in Neenah, died 1973. This person’s obituary says they were born in Jamaica, though.
Wilfred Rogers Crawford was the most mobile, getting married in Philadelphia in 1923 to Blanche Alice Bleming. They had two daughters, Dorothy and Jean. The couple divorced some time between 1931 and 1940, and Wilfred was a single father with two girls in Detroit.