Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2026 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ =========================================================================== USGenNet Data Repository Notice: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ============================================================================= Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. ============================================================================= The State Republican, Lansing, MI Monday, 12 August, 1889 Murdered in Benzie A Wealthy Lumberman Kills Two Officers NEARLY A LYNCHING BEFORE HE WAS ARRESTED Jailed at Frankfort, He was Removed to Manistee For Safe-Keeping - Particulars of the Double Murder - The Entire Section Excited Frankfort, Mich., August 12. - A terrible tragedy occurred Saturday night at Aral, some 20 miles north of here, where CHARLES T. WRIGHT, president of the Otter Creek lumber company, of Racine, Wis., shot and killed Under Sheriff NEIL MARSHALL and DR. FRANK E. THURBER. It seems that WRIGHT had refused to pay his taxes on his mill property at Aral lake for several years until they amounted to $700, claiming illegal assessment. One claim is that his steamer, Seymour, is registered at Racine and taxed there, which he paid. She was also assessed in Michigan. After several suits, the sheriff seized some hardwood logs in Wright's mill yard and Deputy Sheriff MARSHALL and Supervisor THURBER were placed as guard over them. WRIGHT took a gang of men and rolled the logs into the stream to be cut up in the mill. The officers protested and started to go to the mill and prevent the men from sawing the logs. On their way they met WRIGHT and after som dis- cussion he shot MARSHALL with a Martin repeating rifle, the ball entering his breast and coming out of the back, causing him to drop dead instantly. THURBER sprang to his assistance, grabbing the rifle to wrest it away. In the tussle WRIGHT pulled a revolver from his hip pocket, placed the muzzle to THURBER'S left ear and fired. The ball lodged in the brain, THURBER staggered a few feet and fell on the bridge crossing the stream. After the shooting WRIGHT went to the store, and, it being Saturday evening, he settled up with his hired men, paying them their week's wages and trans- acting other business, after which he fled. The excitement was most intense here on receipt of the news of the tragedy, and threats of lynching were frequent, but order-loving citizens determined to pre- vent such action if possible. The Murderer Captured. As soon as the news reached Frankfort, Sheriff CASE, with a force of officers and a company of picked men, left on the propeller J. D. Dewar for Otter Creek pier to capture the murderer. When they arrived at the pier late Saturday night they found assembled about 200 armed backwoodsmen from the surrounding towns of Empire, Platte, Edgewater, Homestead, Benzonia, etc., seeking WRIGHT with the avowed determination to capture and kill him; but no trace of WRIGHT could be found. The sheriff swore in a large force of deputies and the steam barge Seymour, as well as every house in the vicinity, was searched. Finally an Indian named JOHN LAHEY was found acting suspiciously and was questioned as to WRIGHT'S retreat, but stoutly claimed ignorance. The crowd cried "Hang him," and dragged him to a pine tree, where the heavy line of the propeller Dewar was placed about his neck, and he was jerked up in the air, nearly strangling, three times, when he confessed that WRIGHT was hiding in the woods on North Bluff, and had arranged with the Indian to secrete a skiff on the beach, where he would take her, row out to the barge and seek the Wisconsin shore. Several hours had passed in the search and some of the crowd were leaving for their homes when WRIGHT was seen coming out of the deep shade of the woods calling to the sheriff and his men, saying that he surrendered and claimed protection. A brother of MARSHALL heard that WRIGHT had been captured, and hastened with a Winchester rifle in hand to kill him on the spot, but cool headed men interfered and pre- vented another crime. MRS. WRIGHT had just arrived home from a two months' visit to Wisconsin, and had not seen her husband until he was brought before her a handcuffed prisoner. The scene affected even the officers to tears. WRIGHT is a pushing young business man and one of the self-made men of this region, and the victims were both promi- nent. Besides CHARLES T. WRIGHT, the murderer, the officers brought to Frankfort JOHN LAHEY and JOHN ANDERSON, a Swede, who are said to have been the only witnesses of the shooting. They were jailed and an armed guard em- ployed to prevent possible violence. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - He Feared Lynching Interviewed at the jail in Frankfort, WRIGHT intimated that self-dense (sic?) would be his plea, remarking that the examination would put the matter in a different light. He has retained N. F. PARKER as his attorney, and also sent to Racine, Wis., for Senator CHARLES and Lawyer FISK to assist in his case. He quaked with fear as the mutter- ings of the assembled crowds outside the jail were heard, acknowledged that he feared lynching, and hoped that order- loving citizens would protect him. At last the authorities, feeling inability to stay violence if it were really attempted, and knowing the insecurity of Frankfort jail, hurried WRIGHT aboard the propeller John Dewar again, and started with him for Manistee, 30 miles away, for safe keeping. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Murder and His Victims WRIGHT, the murderer, has been in business at Aral for the past eight years, and his fearful crime is a suprise to everyone. The murdered men were both well known and respected. Under Sheriff MARSHALL was an old settler in this region, and brother-in-law to LEWIS SANDS, the mil- lionaire lumberman of Manistee, and leaves a large family. DR. THURBER, WRIGHT'S second victim, was a cultured gentle- man who moved to Frankfort last fall from Holland, Mich. He formerly traveled with DR. O'LEARY in the latter's lecture tours, and was consequently well known all over the United States. He leaves a wife and children. The bodies were brought down on the steamer with the prisoner, and MARSHALL'S remains will be buried at Benzonia today. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - WRIGHT at Manistee Manistee, Mich., Aug. 12th - C. T. WRIGHT, charged with the double murder in Benzie county, arrived here from Frankfort last (Sunday) night, and was placed in jail for safe keeping. The people here were greatly shocked by the tragic occurence. WRIGHT refused to be interviewed. His examination will take place on Wed- nesday, in Benzie county. Transcriber's Note: On 30 April, 1890, at Benzonia, Mich., CHARLES T. WRIGHT was found guilty of murder in the first degree; mandatory sentance being imprisonment at hard labor for life. ===============================================================================