The Headless Banker
(The Murder of H.C. Mead - As Waupaca Saw It)

This is an historical account of the gruesome murder of Banker Henry C. Mead in October 1882.  Amidst all of the blood and gore, Mead's death was signed with a bloody handprint on the wall.  It was the kind of night of which ghost stories are made.  The book shows how the murder and the subsequent investigation affected the citizens of Waupaca.  Leads to witnesses and suspects were investigated locally, throughout Wisconsin and across the United States.  It is a compilation of historical newspaper accounts, court records and firsthand documentation of a murder mystery.  It has yet to be officially solved despite several confessions and court trials.  The bank, built in 1862, still stands as a reminder of that fateful night.
 

Written in 2001 by JJ Johnson, this book is available at Main Street Marketplace.  Check out the links below to a few interesting items from the book