Waupaca County Post

April 1, 1947

 

Excerpt from:

STORY OF OUR LAKES TO START NEXT WEEK

 

Fred M. Smith, Long Time Resident, Tells Tales to Ellen Moore

 

 

“Speaking of Fred, reminds me of the old Mead murder trial.  Now there was an awful thing – about the worst that ever happened in Waupaca, I guess.  Or maybe, it just seemed like the worst, because it was the first of its kind, in these parts.

            “Old Mead was a nice old fellow, and he ran a bank downtown, right where the Old National stands today.  He was a bachelor, and he used to live in the back part of the place.  It was there he was murdered one night.

            “Of course it caused an awful uproar, and a lot of people were involved.  Poor old Fred was one of them; but he was later proven innocent.

            “Nothing much ever came of the trial that was held, except it dragged out an awful long time.  There hadn’t been any money taken; only a few papers, like mortgages and notes, so the motive sure wasn’t murder.  Everybody figured if old Mead had stayed asleep, nothing would have happened to him.  But instead he woke up and recognized the robbers, so they had to kill him so he couldn’t talk!

            “Old Judge Cate was sitting on the bench then, and my! what a judge he was.  Not only smart, but so proper-like and dignified.  I remember he had long white curls, natural ones, that hung clear down to his shoulders.  Now, that would look funny on people today, but it looked mighty fine on him.

            “I’ll never forget one suspect they had, though, Judas! what a mess that poor fellow was in. They’d had him in jail for quite a spell, and things were commencing to look pretty bad.  He swore he wasn’t guilty, but he wouldn’t tell them where he was on the night of that murder.  If he’d held out much longer, I guess they’d have hung him!

            “He had an alibi though, and it certainly was a GOOD one. HE’D BEEN ROBBING THE BANK AT SHERIDAN THAT NIGHT!  The poor cuss went to jail for about ten years, when they found that out, but it was better than doing ‘life’ for murder!”

            “Whew!” I exclaimed. “Guess I’ll keep my money in a mattress from now on.”

            “WHAT money?” chuckled Freddie.