THE REPUBLICAN

October 13, 1882

 

ATROCIOUS MURDER !

 

Perpetrated for Purpose of Robbery!

H. C. Meade Killed in his Bank and the Bank Robbed!

 

            The peaceful Sunday musings of the people of Waupaca were broken and transformed into the most intense excitement, shortly after one o’clock Sunday afternoon, by the discovery that H. C. Meade, the banker, had been cruelly murdered and his bank robbed some time during the preceding night.  As Mr. Meade did not come to breakfast or to dinner at the Vosburg House, where he took his meals, in the kindness of their hearts the dining room girls thought maybe he might be sick, and went over to the back window of the bank building, where he slept, to ascertain what was the matter.  Raps and calls failed to bring any response, when one of the girls stepped upon a box and looked in through the window and was horrified at seeing Mr. Meade upon the floor dead and the walls, bed, books and desk daubed with blood.  The alarm was raised immediately, and the writer hereof was the second person at the scene.  An immense crowd assembled, but the doors were not opened or a thing disturbed until Justice Chesley summoned a jury of inquest.  The scene which presented itself on looking into the window was of the most sickening character.  Mr. Meade was lying on the floor so nearly upon his face that the character of the wound could not be seen, but everything in the room was spattered with blood, the floor was smeared with gore and pools of blood had collected against the baseboard.  That those unfamiliar with the premises may form some idea of the building where this terrible tragedy was enacted, we will briefly describe it.  The bank building is on the corner south of the courthouse, is one story high and about 18 by 26 feet in size. Inside, the banking room is about 18 feet square, a partition cutting off a room at the south end about 8 feet wide and 18 feet long.  In this room was the bed in which Mr. Meade slept, and his private desk, and here it was that the bloody scene was enacted.  Now imagine this room about 18 feet east and west and 8 or 9 feet north and south; in the northwest corner is the bed, near the southwest corner, opposite the bed is a window, and in the east end his desk.  At the time the shot was fired he was sitting at his desk with his cash book and some checks, making up his cash account, the cash portion of which amounting to over $600, he had counted out at the cash desk in the bank room and had not yet been put into the safe.  As to how the deed was done there are two theories, but the one which seems most reasonable to us is that he was shot from the window.  At the outside of the window a large box had been placed, the wire netting outside cut out of the way, and the window being down from the top for ventilation, made the murder easy.  The indications are that as he sat at his desk at work, he heard something, and turning his head to the right toward the door leading to a little wood shed, the charge struck him in the right temple, tearing out both his eyes and killing him instantly.  The murderer then seized the money and bonds in the safe, in his hurry overlooking the cash on the counter, went out through the window, closed it as much as he could and left.  The wadding on top of the shot, pieces of newspaper of the Waupaca Post of August 30, was found, showing that the weapon used was a muzzle-loading shotgun.  The shot used was pigeon or mustard shot.  There are some contusions on top of his head which lead some to think he was first attacked with a bludgeon by some one in the room and afterwards shot, but there are several reasons why we think the former is the correct theory.

            Mr. Meade was a very peculiar man in his habits, leading a sort of isolated life, and the villain that perpetrated the deed had studied his habits and surroundings well.  Mr. Meade had been warned hundreds of times, but he seemed to have no fear, though attacked once before with a bludgeon, three years ago.  Dan Browne opened a new set of books in the bank during the summer and made a complete balance sheet and he informs us that Mr. Meade never carried as heavy cash balances in the bank here as many supposed, the excess being kept in Milwaukee, Chicago and New York.  A hasty examination since the murder leads to the belief that the murderer did not get more than $1,200.  On Saturday he had fortunately paid out about $3,000 on checks.  The time, Saturday; the night, stormy and dark, were well chosen for such a dark deed.  Justice Chesley summoned H. J. Stetson, Wm. Dayton, G. L. Lord, H. Nordvi, M. R. Baldwin and Ripley Hudson as a jury of inquest, who returned a verdict that the deceased came to his death about midnight of October 7^th, 1882, by a charge from a shot-gun in the hands of some person unknown.

            Mr. Meade’s relatives at Ripon, Sheboygan, Buffalo and New York were promptly telegraphed, and no means will be left unemployed to bring to justice the perpetrator of this, one of the darkest deeds in the history of Wisconsin.

            LATER – Since the above was written and printed in our extra of Monday, Dr. Russell, of Oshkosh, has assisted in a critical examination of the body, and this, together with a more critical examination of the room where the tragedy occurred, considerably modifies the theory of the murder.  The generally accepted theory now is, that the murderer entered the building during Mr. Mead’s absence in the evening, secreted himself in the little wood shed, and when all was quieted down after Mr. Mead’s return, he suddenly threw the door open and struck Mead the three blows upon the head, the physicians being firmly of the opinion that the blows preceded death, which resulted from the shooting.  The blows did not break the skull, hence he was only badly wounded and stunned by them, and staggered to the bed.  That by the time the robbery was completed he had staggered to the chair in a dazed condition, and then, fearing he might revive and identification follow, the robber shot him and left.  And the physicians are confident two charges were fired, and they seem to have come from the direction of the woodshed, as no shot are lodged in the bookcase, which must have been the case if the shots had been fired from the window.

            That the murderer is here among us, which was only suspected at first, is proven by the fact that he dropped the stolen notes and papers in the alley near the west door of Lea’s warehouse in the rear of the store, last Tuesday morning.  The papers were found shortly after 7 o’clock Tuesday morning, and they must have been there some hours, as they were damp on top from the falling dew.

            Immediate action being necessary in arranging the business and paying depositors, application was made Tuesday morning to the County Judge and J. A. Chesley appointed special administrator, who has taken charge of the premises and business.