A look inside the coroner's files

First published Oct. 25, 2007

By Mark W. Olson

Halloween approaches, days grow shorter, trees are baring their branches and the Minnesota Valley is settling in for the long winter. It’s a perfect time to revisit some of the more dreadful and melancholy moments in Carver County history.

The following reports (the latest dates to 1920) are taken from the Carver County Coroner’s ledgers, now preserved in the bowels of the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul.

At the turn of the century, coroners were generally brought in to investigate violent deaths, apparent suicides and any death that happened under unusual or mysterious circumstances.

The coroner’s inquests illustrate the hazards that awaited early county residents – ranging from farm accidents and pre-OSHA working conditions, to suicides resulting from untreated depression and the dangers of walking the train tracks. (At least three hearing-impaired residents were killed by trains they didn’t know where coming.)

It adds another aspect to the phrase “the good old days.”

File No. 43

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Frank Bornick

By Philip Meyer

Sept. 5, 1895

Frank Bornick came to his death by an accident while sitting on a pole of a threshing engine steering the engine, a bolt broke that held the seat and fell in front of the wheel of said engine and run over him and crushed him, run upon left hip and across to his lower right side rib. After hearing the testimony of the following witnesses, to wit: Levi Johnson, August Hirch, Ivan Anderson and Perry Peterson and reviewing the body I deemed it not necessary to hold any further inquest.

File No. 47

By Everett C. Hartley, M.D.

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Carl Stieve

May 12, 1896

On the 7th day of May 1896, Carl Stieve of Young America, while standing on the double-tree driving his own team, was accidentally thrown or fell off, striking his head, producing injuries from which he died in about fifteen minutes. No inquest necessary.

File No. 53

By E. C. Hartley, M.D.

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Michael Maher

May 15, 1897

On the 26th day of April between 10 and 11 o’clock P.M. Michael Maher, while riding on hand car between Chaska and Shakopee on the M.S.& L R.R. (Rail Road) collided with an engine and was killed.

File No. 55

By E.C. Hartley, M.D.

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Freda A. H. Voss

Sept. 14, 1898

On the 8th day of September 1898 Freda A. H. Voss while playing around a straw-stack accidentally fell down in the loose straw and chaff, where the strawstacker had stood and was suffocated.

No inquest necessary.

File. No. 63

By E. C. Hartley, M.D.

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Christian Karls

Dec. 22, 1899

Coroner’s Certificate: Christian Karls, of New Germany, Carver Co. Minn., died on the 28th day of August 1899. A post-mortem was (done) by Drs. Schrader and Halgren of Watertown.

It was found that death had resulted from abuse of the brain. About two years previous to his death, he was deliberately shot in the head by his father, as a result of the post-mortems, about fifteen large shot were found embedded in the base of the skull, but none were found, situated in the anterior part of the brain, at the base of the longitudinal fissure, involving the corpus callosum and the origin of both optic nerves.

It was the opinion of Drs. Hartley, Shrader and Halgren, that the abuse originally resulted from and was caused by the gun shot wound at the base of the skull. The case was investigated by the Grand Jury and no indictment found.

File. No. 67

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of J. Gesach

By E.C. Hartley, M.D.

Aug. 16, 1900

August 1st, 1900, J. Gesach, of Chaska, while working on the brick yard of Strobach & Faber was killed by the falling of a mass of clay.

No inquest held.

File. No. 74

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Andrew Tapper

By H.A. Halgren

March 18, 1902

On the 18th day of February, A.D. 1902 at the age of 34 years Andrew Tapper was duly hung by August Johnson, Sheriff of said county for the murder of Rosa Mixa at Carver, Minn., on June 3rd 1901, the death penalty having been imposed upon him.

Cause of death, broken neck.

File. No. 86

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Otto Grimm

By John Elford Soper

Dec. 17, 1903

This is to certify that Otto Grimm came to his death accidentally, by several tons of frozen gravel falling upon him, smashing his head almost into a pulp, causing instantaneous death.

Henry Feltmann and Arthur Arndt were witnesses of the accident.

No inquest or post mortem necessary.

File. No. 88

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Theresa Gardner

By John Elford Soper

Feb. 25, 1904

Theresa Gardner married, age 56, Victoria, Laketown, wife of Jacob Gardner, was accidentally burned to death at her home, about 1 a.m. of the night of Jan. 21, 1904.

The house accidentally caught fire in the kitchen from some unknown cause. The family were all awakened and came out of doors. Mrs. T. Gardner returned into the house to get some money which she had in her room. She was overcome by the smoke and could not get out again and was burned to death.

I made a careful inquiry and from all reports Mrs. Gardner came to death accidentally.

No inquest or P.M. deemed necessary.

File. No. 91

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Mrs. Mary May

By John Elford Soper

Oct. 5, 1904

This is to certify that Mrs. Mary May age about 35 years wife of Gustaf May was killed in cyclone at Waconia same time as husband (and child, age 3) met his death, Aug. 21, 04.

Cause of death face crushed by falling timber.

No inquest deemed necessary.

File. No. 99

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Richard Strauss

By John Elford Soper

Oct. 13, 1905

This is to certify that Richard Straus, 30 years, single living in Watertown Township was accidentally killed by shooting, while hunting with his cousin at Oak Lake Watertown Township.

Statement of Mathias Singler, 21 years, single:

I with my cousin, Richard Strauss, were hunting ducks on Lake Oak in a boat, we had reached the island and were getting out, Strauss had gotten out first, I having rubber boots on was shoving the boat further on shore, when Strauss said, give me my gun, here are some ducks coming.

I reached for the gun and got it by the muzzle, when Strauss reached over me and drew the gun towards himself, when the gun went off, shots tearing off a part of my hand and some into Strauss’ body. He seemed to be dead right off. I got him into the boat and rowed for shore. I had gone a short distance when Ed Koehler saw us, my hand was bleeding so, that Ed came and helped me row to shore.

Strauss was shot in the region of stomach, death must have been sudden.

From inquiries made, death was purely accidental. No inquest or post mortem deemed necessary.

File. No. 104

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Unknown Man

By John Elford Soper

Sept. 24, 1906

This is to certify that on the evening of Sept. 8, 06, at about 6 p.m., a wreck occurred on the C.M & St. P. Ry. Co. tracks at Hazeltine. Said wreck caused by a broken phlange on tender of engine. The unknown dead was riding in a box car in company with another man, this other man did not give his name but said the unknown got on at Granite Falls. The dead man was crushed to death between two cars.

No identification marks nor any name except G.N. Putnan. He is a man about 5 ft. 8 in. weight about 170, dark hair turning grey, brown mustache, turning grey, florid complexion, about 45 to 50 years of age, wears No. 7 shoe, hands do not show signs of hard work. Personal property found on him turned over to Co. Auditor Connolly for safe keeping.

No inquest nor post mortem deemed necessary.

Long (Lotus) LakeFile. No. 109

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of William Mulligan

By H.A. Halgren

Nov. 29, 1907

This is to certify that William Mulligan, age 23, came to his death by drowning in Long Lake, Chanhassen Twp., Carver County, Minnesota, on June 29th 1907, at 8:30 p.m. Body recovered by old sailor from Stillwater on July 1st 1907, 2:30 p.m. who received $25 reward for his services from the mother of Mulligan.He went out to the lake from his home in Minneapolis 2329-22nd Ave. So., to join his brother and some friends who were camping there.They had been drinking and all were intoxicated. William got into a boat and went around the lake to find another boat, but was lost ere he returned. Was seen to fall into lake but help could not reach him in time.

Body found in 50 ft. of water. Brother was permitted to take body to Mpls. for burial. Irish decent. Death certificate made out and removal permit given. Body taken charge of by Engler Bros., undertakers, 412 Cedar Ave. Minneapolis, Minn.

File. No. 110

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Mrs. Genive Francen

By H.A. Halgren

Nov. 29, 1907

Mrs. Genive Francen, German decent, age 41, was instantly killed at 3:30 p.m., July 5th 1907 in a run-a-way. The horse took fright at an approaching train where the wagon road is very near the R.R. track on the Carver road near the Brewery in the City of Chaska, County of Carver, State of Minnesota. Her husband and a 4 yr. old child were with her in the carriage at the time. An autopsy was made at 7:30 p.m. the same day and showed cause of death to be due to cerebral hemorrhage.

File. No. 115

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Mrs. Elizabeth Mueth

By H.A. Halgren, M.D.

March 24, 1909

Mrs. Elizabeth Mueth came to her death by fire which caught her clothes while she was putting wood in the stove about 9:15 a.m. Feb. 21st 1909. She had her private living room in the house of Mr. Wm. Mueth, in Camden Township, County of Carver, State of Minnesota. She was partially paralyzed and in the attempt to put wood in the stove her clothing caught fire. Mrs. Wm. Mueth was the first to smell the smoke in her room but was unable to open the door and called her husband Mr. Wm Mueth to open the door which he did and put the fire out that was burning her to a crisp.

She showed some signs of life for a few moments. She was Swiss born in Switzerland and mother of 11 children of whom 5 are living. She was 69 years 6 mo. and 28 days old.

Miss Lena Classen, age 19 years was in the house during the time, but did not hear any voice as there was one room between the door of her bedroom leading to sitting room was closed and the door leading to dining room nearly closed.

File. No. 118

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Kurth Oestreich

By A.G.W. Anderson

Oct. 11, 1909

Aug. 15th 1909, viewed the dead body of Kurth Oestreich an infant 4 days old son of Frank Oestreich and his wife Lilly Oestreich. Upon investigation could find nothing to indicate anything but a natural death being a very small and delicate infant, seemingly not enough vitality to live.

Chanhassen Village HallFile. No. 120

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Sava Prica

By A.G.W. Anderson

Oct. 11, 1909

Aug. 10th 1909. Viewed the dead body of one Sava Prica at Chanhassen Village, County of Carver, up on investigation found that one Dr. Fischer of Shakopee, Minn., did attend Sava Prica prior to his death. Dr. Fischer was called to Chanhassen and under oath testified to the following: Found Sava Prica with 13 stab wounds 3 of which were individually fatal, first stab wound between 8th and 9th rib 1 inch posterily to the oxilary line one and one half inches wide and four inches deep pointed inward and upward perforating the skin into costal muscles the pleanoa the left lobe of the lungs a fiev smaller bronchi.

(Illegible) severity was a stab wound in the center of the back in line with the fourth or fifth rib one and one half inches wide and two inches deep perforating the skin all the muscles of the bone and hitting the bone so forcibly that it left an indentation in the bone sufficient to hold the probe wound on the right side of his abdomen one half inch wide and two inches deep running forward and upward on lien with crest of the Illeum 2 inches back of the axillary line.

And that the Sheriff Gustof Gatz of Carver County helped to remove said Sava Prica to the City Hall building of Chanhassen Village and that said Sheriff had in custody at the time of Sava Pricca’s death some of the parties accused of who had dealth him the above described wounds and that the County Attorney would hold a preliminary hearing at some future date.

Carver County Jail/CourthouseFile. No. 122

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Julius Ponteck

By A.G.W. Anderson

Oct. 4, 1910

Feb. 20th 1910, Julius Penntek, died in Chaska jail on Feb. 20th 1910, age 24 years, death was due to acute alcoholism. I was called to Chaska by Mayor Gibson found body of said Julius Penntek, on the bed in cell of said jail. I examined Marshal Tom Powers who had charge of and brought said Julius Penntek to jail. Said Tom Powers testified that he was called by one Frank Smith, a saloon keeper of Chaska to take charge of an intoxicated man as said Frank Smith wanted to lock his place of business.

Said Tom Powers tried to rouse said Julius Ponntek but could not but paid no attention to this as he saw him in such a condition before when he took charge of him on other occasions.

Said Tom Powers then sent for a livery to convoy said Julius Ponntek to jail which they did put him. They put him in a bed in said Chaska jail.

Frank Smith keeper of saloon testified that said Julius Ponntek came to his saloon and asked for a glas of beer, but was then in a state of intoxication. After persistent pleading said Frank Smith gave said Julius Ponntek a glass of beer and no more, in a short time said Julius Ponntek sat down and remained there until removed by Marshal Powers. I called Dr. Marschall, of Chaska, to examine body of said Julius Ponntek and he pronounced him dead from acute alcoholism.On March 9th 1910 I was called to Chaska by County Attorney Fahey to examine the body of said Julius Ponntek and to call Dr. Robinson of Minneapolis to hold post mortem, which he did.

All records of said post mortem on file in County Attorney’s office.

File. No. 125

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Walter August Teich

By A. G. W. Anderson

Oct. 4, 1910

July 2nd 1910. Viewed the remains of Walter August Teich, of Chanhassen, age 7 years, killed by sweep capstain stump pulling machine. No inquest. Accidental death.

File. No. 162

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Charles Pigg

By H.D. Diessner

July 15, 1913

This is to certify that Charles Pigg, a freight conductor on the M & St. L. R.R. died suddenly in the M & St. L. Station at Chaska while writing his reports. He fell forward from his chair dead. Witnesses Dr. N.H. Marshall, C.D. Cotey, O.L. Swudsteom and H.R. Sell when questioned have no doubt to the fact that he died of natural causes.

Deceased had complained all day of anginal pains. Was a young man about 27 years of age – white weighed about 140 pounds. Time of death 7:30 p.m., July 14- 1913 and supposed cause angina pectoris

No inquest or post mortem. Certificate filed with clerk of Chaska.

File. No. 165

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of James Smith

By H.D. Diessner

Aug. 15, 1913

This is to certify that James Smith came to his death by having his skull and face (left side) battered in by a machine hammer.

Deceased was of German Polish decent age about 37 years, weight about 170 pounds blue eyes and was “(illegible) straw boss” for the Cook Construction Co. on the C.M & St. P. R.R. new right of way. He was last seen alive Sat. night after 11 p.m. in the Village of Chanhassen from he started for camp with his companions three of whom are held bound over to the grand jury.

Deceased was found dead by the foreman near the right of way about 300 feet east of the place where the public highway crosses the R.R. Tracks. Cause of death homicide.

Carver Railroad TracksFile. No. 167

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Arthur E. Clark

By H.D. Diessner

Aug. 30, 1913

This is to certify that Arthur E. Clark of St. Paul was struck and killed at 10 a.m. by passenger #5 on the M & St. L. R.R. tracks about 1,000 feet N.E. from the Carver Station. He was State Deputy Fire Marshall and after inquiring at the station when he could get a train for Chaska decided he would walk rather than wait seven hours.

No inquest or postmortem held.

File. No. 188

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Raymond Schmidt

By H.D. Diessner

May 11, 1915

This is to certify that Raymond Schmidt aged 7 years son of John Schmidt of Chaska Minn. died at 12:05 a.m. May 9-1915 of shock and internal abdominal injuries received in an automobile accident. He was struck while on the street by Lambert Neller driving his own automobile. The accident was witnessed by about 10 persons who were questioned and no inquest or post mortem deemed necessary.

File. No. 196

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Unknown Man

By H.D. Diessner

Nov. 19, 1915

This is to certify that an unknown man was found dead in the brush in the Village of Chanhassen. He had taken of all his clothes and put them on a corn shock and walked around the field barefooted when he went into the brush there crawled on hands and knees until he froze to death. He was about 30 years of age. No marks of identification and no name or paper in his clothes to give any clue to his identity.

No inquest or post mortem necessary.

File. No. 239

In the matter of the inquest held upon the body of Unknown baby girl

By H.D. Diessner

April 13, 1920

In the matter of viewing the remains of unknown baby girl deceased, I, H.D. Diessner, Carver, Carver County, Minnesota do hereby certify that on the 11th day of April A.D. 1920 I was called to view the remains of Unknown Baby girl deceased. That after viewing said remains and after tan examination of the matter, I came to the conclusion that the said Unknown baby girl came to her death by infanticide, child was evidently born on passenger train going west 4/9/20 and thrown out of train window and deemed an inquest unnecessary hence none was held.