USA > Michigan > Mason County > History of Mason County, Michigan > Part 51
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"Mr. Field joined his partner here in the month of February, 1869, and I think it is safe to say he was familiarly known as Field, our young banker, in less than a month after his arrival, and, also, that he knew every nook and corner in the town within the same length of time. He made the acquaintance of strangers very easily and readily; always seemed cheerful and pleasant, with a good word for everybody wherever he met them. Perhaps among his greatest faults as a business man was that of telling too much.
"But such was the firm of Vanderpool & Field, bankers, of Manistee, two enterprising looking young men with fair ability-the one affable and agreeable in society, with a good reputation for busi- ness and an excellent credit for a young man without means in the place from which he had just come, and that a neighboring town; and the other with almost unlimited control of quite a large sum of money, obtained upon his own credit (though not an ordinary busi- ness credit), and genial and talkative almost to a fault. And as such they conducted their business in Manistee until they were really gaining a strong hold as business men in their line.
"Such was the state of affairs on the fourth day of September, 1869. On the evening of that day they finally dissolved partnership, and the Monday following, September 6th, George Vanderpool was, as the successor of Vanderpool & Field, to continue the banking business in Manistee. As Mr. Vanderpool says: 'He expected to simply do an exchange business until he could procure assist- ance.' As yet, reader, we have George Vanderpool in Manistee, as an enterprising business young man, with no known stain upon his character, a respectable citizen and clever fellow, with but few, if any, enemies, and many friends, with a quiet, gentle, respected wife, living in good style, and, to all appearances, contented and happy-and he a banker.
"While Mr. Field, still younger than Vanderpool, one of the merriest of the merry, to all appearances, living with an adopted aunt in a quiet part of the city, by whom he was furnished, as is supposed, the means upon which he became one of the Manistee bankers. He was of that class of persons who have a large circle of intimate friends, some of whom he managed to be with the major portion of his time, and those for whom he claimed the strongest attachment in Manistee, were young men against whose private and business characters no exception could be taken.
" Both made many friends, and were gradually gaining in strength as a business firm, and, I may say, were much respected in the community, so that when, on the following day, that fatal Sunday, Herbert Field was not seen by his more intimate friends in the afternoon-they remember it. And when on Monday it was whispered about and reported in public that he is not to be
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found-he is missing-the story, started by his late partner, that he supposed he had ran away, struck the public ear like (as it were) an electric shock, and went with amazing rapidity through the city.
"And the story that Field's young and roving disposition had broken away from the dull and tedious restraint of his adopted aunt, and sought its freedom in flight, was fast gaining ground, notwith- standing the protestation of his 'aunt,' who felt sure he was the victim of foul play.
"The internal workings and late difficulties of the firm, related to a few of our leading citizens by the 'aunt,' together with the fact that over two thousand dollars belonging to Herbert Field was left in the safe of Messrs Willard Hall & Co., led them to inquiries and researches that soon raised their suspicion against him whose position in society, and whose exemplary life, so far as they knew, almost forbade their giving utterance to; but subsequent investiga- tions increased their first terrible suspicions sufficient to repeat them privately to others, and active measures were taken to quietly exam- ine every avenue from which they could hope to obtain any infor- mation. Repeated inquiries of Vanderpool brought out his opin- ion that Field had ran away. Further investigations could establish no satisfactory object for which he would thus run away, and hence found no rational ground upon which Vanderpool should form such an opinion, and thus matters stood until Tuesday evening of that week, when the boat was expected to return, by which those whose fears were strongest, hoped some tidings of the missing man might come. The steamer came, but with no relief for Herbert Field's anxious friends.
" More active measures than had already been resorted to were then instituted for the purpose of determining, if possible, the whereabouts of Mr. Field, and more particularly to ascertain whether he had been murdered, and if so, by whom. Accordingly watches were placed upon the bank building, and also upon Mr. Vanderpool's, none of which resulted in anything, except to ascertain that Van- derpool, early on Wednesday morning, was engaged in cleaning the bank, and this fact directed attention to the condition of the inside of the bank; and those engaged in the investigation determined to examine it carefully; and Wednesday afternoon, in the presence of Vanderpool, the sheriff, with several other citizens, including Mr. Conover, did so. Up to this time Mr. Vanderpool only knew that he was suspicioned as the murderer of his former partner by what he saw of the conduct of various citizens towards him, and even that was not probably sufficiently defined to justify him in coming to any definite conclusion; but, of course, by this examination in his pres- ence, he could no longer doubt it. He could see by the manner of those present that they were not only examining the bank, but him- self, also. It is sufficient to say here that this part of the investi- gation resulted in Mr. Vanderpool being taken into custody by the sheriff, partly because circumstances at that time seemed to demand it, and partly on the advice of his attorney. And though no warrant had yet been issued for his arrest, and notwithstanding the fact that the sheriff, while taking him to jail and for a short time after- wards, expressed a strong belief of his innocence, the telegraph wires heralded the fact all over the land that Manistee had their banker in jail, and on the 17th day of September he was there legally charged with the murder of his late partner. During all this time the community at large could not believe him guilty, and some of his more intimate friends exhibited considerable pertinacity in asserting their belief of his innocence, and the great injustice done him in holding him a prisoner, even after a pretty general opinion had been formed that it was a case that, at least, justified legal investigation.
" The general unwillinginess to believe him guilty is very fairly expressed in a letter written shortly after the body of the murdered
man was found, in which appears the following: 'The general sen- timent among the people here, when suspicion first rested upon George Vanderpool, was that it could not be true. Mr. Vanderpool could not do such a deed-his physical constitution would not per- mit it.' His business relations with this community had been such as to draw around him a host of friends, and the people could not believe it, until investigation revealed fact after fact too convincing to resist the conclusion.
' A ray of hope that George was innocent based upon one theory and then another, would only dawn upon the minds of his most in- timate friends to be totally destroyed by facts that appeared as the investigation progressed.'
" As already stated, when Mr. Vanderpool was taken to the jail the sheriff did not think him guilty, nor did the larger proportion of the citizens of the place; but as there was considerable excitement over the suspicious circumstances already made known, it was thought best by many, including Vanderpool and his legal advisers, that he should remain in the custody of the sheriff while investigation progressed, Vanderpool himself declaring that he desired the matter investigated. Accordingly, he remained within the walls of the jail, but shared the hospitality of the jailer's private table, and had the liberties of the jail. Mrs. Vanderpool was permitted to share his society at her will, and by that means, as also by other sources, Vanderpool was kept advised as to what was transpiring outside ..
" In the meantime, investigation was pushed in every direction to ascertain the whereabouts of Mr. Field, if living, and his body, if dead. The sheriff offered $300, if dead, for his body, and $50, if alive, for information of his whereabouts. The $300 was afterward increased to $500 by J. L. Taylor, the then recorder and acting mayor of the city, all of which has since been paid to Rollin O'Cris- pin, the man who found the body. Steadily day by day the net-work of circumstance against Vanderpool seemed to be increasing, until a more general opinion of his guilt was felt and expressed. Efforts had been made to find the body. The river was dragged, and some other localities examined during the week, but a public meeting was called and held on Saturday evening and largely attended for the purpose of making a more thorough search for the body. The general expression at that meeting of those who had been especially engaged in investigating the matter, was that a foul murder had been commit- ted in our midst, and no pains should be spared to find the body, and all concurred in the opinion that too little had been done when Mr. Vanderheyden was murdered almost in our streets, and also when Mr. Daugherty was missing. These were both old citizens of the place-the first of whom was murdered only a short distance from the then village limits, for a trivial sum, and the latter suddenly disappeared, leaving a family and large property, and has never yet been heard of.
" Arrangements were there made to make a general search on the following day (Sunday). The result was, the river was thoroughly dragged from lake to lake; also a portion of Lake Manistee, and the surrounding country thoroughly examined; also the beach of Lake Michigan for several miles north and south, but to no purpose- nothing was found. Of course, during all this investigation, search- ing for the body and the necessary excitement, various theories were advanced; among them that Field had gone to sea, and that he was really alive, and this community was the victim of the romance-lov- ing Field. This last theory was indulged in more freely after the Sunday search proved fruitless, but, notwithstanding this, those who had been most actively engaged in examining the circumstances against Vanderpool still insisted that Field was dead and Vander- pool had murdered him.
" After this Sunday but little more search was made, except as private individuals, stimulated by the reward offered, would here
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and there be found searching, some with pike-poles, inflicting grievous wounds upon the bed of the river, and some with a more delicate instrument in the shape of a novel ' tin water telescope,' while others were pressing their inquiries into some harmless sand bank.
" The second week was now passing away since Vanderpool was arrested, and he began to be impatient, desiring to be out attending to his business, which, of course, was being sadly disarranged; still, under advice of his counsel, he decided to make no effort to procure his release until the authorities should have satisfied themselves thoroughly and release him of their own accord. But before the body was found it was feared his counsel would conclude to take him from prison by a writ of habeas corpus, and so sanguine were the prosecution that a murder had been committed, a complaint was legally made on the 17th day of September, in the afternoon, charg- ing Vanderpool with the murder of Herbert Field. (A. W. Briggs took the necessary oath, unconscious of what was transpiring on the beach north of us). A warrant was accordingly issued and placed in hands of the sheriff.
" Such was the state of affairs in Manistee on Friday, the 17th day of September, last; but about twenty-eight miles north, on the beach of Lake Michigan, the body of Herbert Field was found, and the wounds upon his head spoke a language a thousand fold stronger than anything that had been before discovered. They forever set- tled the fact that that young form, so lately full of life and happiness, was murderously crushed from earth by the hand of an assassin. But as to who was the prepetrator of the awful deed, they of them- selves were as dumb as the meaningless moan of the damp, cold, lake breeze that swept over his pallid brow.
" After the holding of a coroner's inquest, the body was put on board the steamer ' J. Barber' and conveyed to Manistee, entering the harbor and river during the still hours of the night, placed in the warehouse, and the authorities notified. Saturday morning came but to chill the heart of the community with the sad intelli- gence that Herbert Field was dead, and that he had been cruelly murdered.
"Men who had hitherto freely expressed opinions for and against Mr. Vanderpool at first, seemed amazed and almost dumb. No voice but a tremulous one, but countenances told too plainly the secret inner-workings of the mind, and it was feared by some that men under such excitement would forget themselves and hurl Van- derpool headlong into eternity, and thereby add to the already too horrid chapter of crime, but be it said to the credit of the citizens of Manistee, not a single demonstration of that character was actually made, but instead, a patient waiting for the law to take its course.
" It is true men took an interest in the matter and worked zealously, but a debt had been incurred by this community; a life had been taken in their midst, and to the spirit that had taken its flight, and to those who were yet here, and to come in the future, every man had a duty to perform, viz .: to do what he could to get at the facts; and if what has been accomplished has been the result of over-zealous work, none should rest until it has been undone; but it is the purpose of this work to lay before the public the facts, and let the discriminating judgment of an impartial people take care of the balance.
"Up to the time of finding the body, Mr. Vanderpool manifested great confidence in the theory that Mr. Field was still alive and somewhere in the wide world, and apparently it was with some dif- ficulty that he was made to believe they had found the body. He exhibited some levity at such an idea, when the fact was first made known to him; but once satisfied that it was true, he manifested much feeling and great love and respect for the murdered man, and
said he felt deeply for him and wanted to see the corpse, but the state of public feeling was not such then as to warrant his witnessing it, and the body, already much swollen, had to be interred as soon as the coroner's jury had examined it, and while they were yet tak- ing testimony in the case, holding their afternoon session in the bank building. The whole of Saturday was occupied by the coro- ner's jury in taking testimony, and about 6 o'clock in the evening they rendered the following verdict: 'That the body is the body of Herbert Field; that he came to his death on the 5th of September, A. D., 1869, in .the building lately occupied by Vanderpool and Field for banking purposes, in the city of Manistee, by being struck upon the head in two places with some blunt instrument or weapon, used willfully and maliciously by George Vanderpool for the purpose of murdering him, the said Herbert Field.'
"The foregoing verdict was drawn up under the supervision of the prosecuting attorney of the county, after the jury had expressed themselves satisfied that Mr. Field came to his death by the hand of George Vanderpool, and upon the same being read to them before signing, several of them said they were not aware that it was their duty to express their opinion as to who was the guilty party; but under advice of the prosecuting attorney, and with the assurance that it was an er-parte proceeding, and hence could not in any way affect the legal rights of Vanderpool, they signed it.
And inasmuch as there was one witness examined at that time who was not at the trial, it may be of some importance to insert his testimony here, though it was not subject to cross-examination-a great safeguard against false evidence. The witness was William D. Ramsdell, who testified as follows:
" 'On Sunday, about 11 o'clock, September 5, I was sitting in the shoe store, a room adjoining the bank. Mr. Field and Mr. Vanderpool came in together and asked me to witness some paper, which I did. They then called on A. W. Smith to do the same, which he did, and they then went back in the bank. Some ten or fifteen minutes afterward I heard a noise in there, sounding some- thing like a scuffle; I supposed it to be Mr. Field playing with his dog. I was about starting for home, and I noticed that the curtain was up a very little. I thought I would step in, but found the door locked; I placed my face to the glass, but could not see any one; I rattled the door and told them if they did not make less noise I would call the police and have them arrested for riotous conduct, and thought no more of it and passed along home. I should have thought the noise was loud enough to attract attention of passers-by on the side of the street; there was no response. The noise stopped almost immediately. The curtain was up nearly, if not quite, two- thirds of the way up the first light of glass. Could not see any one, at all; at least, I did not. In the shape that curtain was, I do not think I could have seen any one behind the desk. I had no desire to go in, however, and did not examine very closely. Having seen them so recently I did not think there was anything wrong. The noise seemed like a shuffling noise on the floor; heard no voices. We were busy in the next room, and there might have been some loud words and we not have noticed them. I have been accustomed to playing with a dog by taking him by the ears and giving him a shove on the floor; I thought the noise sounded like that would, When they were in for us to witness the papers, they both seemed a little excited-not much, however. I heard this noise first while in the adjoining room, and more particularly when out on the sidewalk. I have been told since that Mr. Field's dog was then tied up at home. I was in back of the desk in the bank about Wed- nesday before this; I did not notice that the carpet was any more worn or dirty where it is now gone than at any other part of it; I did not notice any holes in it. When they came in for witnessing papers Mr. Field was carrying the papers and Mr. Vanderpool the
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ink and pen. Mr. Field was in his shirt sleeves. Mr. Wright and Mr. William Brain were in the shoe store at the time.'
"As soon as intelligence of finding the body made its way to the sheriff, he placed his prisoner in the most secure cell the jail afforded, and took every precaution against his escape.
"Such was the situation. A murder, in boldness and atrocity not surpassed in the criminal annals of the state, had been commit- ted in our midst; the body of the murdered man, as if by the hand of the Almighty, had broken loose from its anchor and arose from its watery grave to furnish the necessary link of evidence against its cruel murderer, and passed away to the silent tomb; sad messengers, bearing the last painful tidings to those who gave him birth in his New England home, had been dispatched; and, oh! how could it be? and yet, it was: George Vanderpool was in a prisoner's cell, charged with the murder of his former partner.
"From this time forward to the trial, the prosecuting attorn ey with his assistants, were diligently engaged in preserving and col- lecting testimony against the prisoner, on the supposition that he was the murderer; and the prisoner's counsel, with their assistants, were as busily engaged in preserving and collecting testimony for his defense, on the supposition that he was innocent, all of which testimony it is the more especial object of this work to lay before the public, as it was taken at the trial by a phonographic reporter, and which will be found in the subsequent pages of this work.
"In the meantime the prisoner was taken before a justice of the peace for examination, which he waived, and was regularly commit- ted for trial.
"Of the manner of the prisoner from the time of his committal to the time of the trial, and of incidents connected therewith, much might be said, and yet fail to express the indifference and unconcern manifested by him. If the reader can imagine a young man of life and activity taken from the best society, torn from warm and inti- mate friends, and among them a tender, loving and idolizing wife, and thrust into prison charged with the awful crime of murder, and yet manifesting but little feeling, appearing precisely the same as if nothing had happened, cracking a joke here and there, where occa- sion offers, as well when the material for it is drawn directly from the circumstances that led to his imprisonment as from other sources, usually eating his regular meals with the same zest as though they were being earned by himself with strong and ennobling exercise, he can form some idea of George Vanderpool's bearing and demeanor during that time, and without he cannot; for such, to all appearances, was hiis general bearing. Occasionally, however, very slight indica- tions of feeling could be seen forcing their way up through the smooth surface, but they were as quickly driven back, and his gen- eral jovial manner restored, perhaps spiced with some witty remarks.
" He professed to sleep well at nights, and of course of that no one would be a better judge than himself. He diligently guarded against ill-health and the effects of prison life by a judicious ar- rangement of his time-alternately reading, writing and exercising. His mode of exercising was in walking backward and forward across his cell, and in swinging his arms. To make the latter exercise more beneficial, he requested the sheriff to furnish him some dumb- bells; they were, however, never furnished. His wife kept him con- stantly supplied with fruit of various kinds, thereby making his fare much better than it would otherwise have been. These means prob- ably aided materially in preserving his healthy appearance, com- mendable, of course, whether guilty or innocent.
" He professed great piety in the presence of the sheriff and some others; but when only in the presence of the keeper or other inmates, he would at times, when matters were not moving as smooth- ly as at other times, give vent to impatient expressions and some-
times strong language. There was a more general watch over him than is usually the case with prisoners, from the fact that the large wooden door of his cell was changed for one made of strong iron bars bolted together diagonally, through which his cell could the more easily be kept more comfortably warm.
" During his imprisonment the keeper of the jail at night occu- pied the adjoining hall and more or less during the day time. Mrs. Vanderpool had been permitted to see him and talk with him through the hole in the large wooden door of his cell, though always in the presence of others. On one occasion the letter referred to in the sheriff's testimony, and interlined with pin or stick marks, was dis- covered, and at first indicated to the authorities that she might in some way have some knowledge of the crime, if her husband had; and she was taken into custody also, and confined within the jail for two days, but permitted to have the society of a lady friend, during which time the officers satisfied themselves that she knew nothing of the matter, and was therefore released.
"About the 1st of October the sheriff received for the prisoner a very noble letter from Vanderpool's mother. Evidently, from its tone, the newspapers she had seen were strongly against her son, and probably she had only heard the reports against and none for him; but notwithstanding that she had such confidence in his kind, gentle disposition that she was sure, if he had taken Herbert Field's life, it was not premeditated, but was the result of some difficulty between them, and the result of an unlucky and unintended fatal blow, and therefore she advised him to make a full, complete and truthful statement of the whole matter, giving every particular, whether for or against him, and take the result of the facts, what- ever it might be. And in compliance with that advice, he wrote out a statement covering thirty-eight pages of legal cap paper, commen- cing it on the 3rd of October, and addressing it to his mother. As the beginning and ending of it are the only parts that will not be found in substance, in his statement given on the trial, I give them below. The one is adapted to a statement to his mother and the other to a statement to the jury-that being the only material difference in the two.
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