Double Tragedy

It was an early spring night in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but with the cold, damp air which settled over this northern city, combined with the hour, one should just as well have been in bed.  Yet, 110 years ago on this day, there was a lonely near fifty-year old man walking by the corner of Twentieth Avenue N and Washington Avenue.  It was about one hour and ten minutes before the stroke of midnight.  The next day would be Easter Sunday, the most holy of days on the Christian calendar.   But, neither the risen Christ, or he Easter Bunny were on the man's mind.  As he walked past the corner he came upon Minneapolis patrolman G.A. Larsen.  The forty-nine year old man, who was of medium build and height for his time, told the officer that he was going “to leave the booze alone” and "in time", he said, “Hoped to make up with my family.”  As the man continued on his journey Officer Larsen suggested that he “keep away from the hotel.”  This was an era when patrolmen had the same beat, and would come to know the trials, sorrows and joys of daily life of neighborhood residents they served.  The forty-nine year old man, even though he had been in Minneapolis only for a few years, was well known, suggesting a gregarious and outgoing personality.  Larsen, as we will see, had good measure to suggest he not make his way to the hotel.  The hotel in question was located in Minneapolis at 1914 Washington Avenue N, and the man’s wife operated and lived at the hotel with two of their three children.

1914 Washington Ave N,
Google maps street view

The man himself had once lived in the hotel, but had been ordered out by his wife several months earlier, probably in the later part of 1906.  After having been kicked out of the hotel he resided at 319 Washington Ave. N.  The 1906 Minneapolis City Directory lists him as living at the hotel, but having an occupation as a porter at 228 20th Avenue N.  Earlier in the month of March 1907 he had been sentenced, at the behest of his wife, to the work house for ten days due to drunk and disorderly conduct.  After intervention by friends, he was released in four days.  

Joseph Havel farm was in section 34, shown in this map as owned
by Albert Laraway.  John Hovel farm is in section 33 in this map owned by JF Holden
Union Township, Worth County, IA
1913 plat map, University of Iowa collection

The man continued his journey, and a few minutes after his brief encounter with Officer Larsen, he came upon Sargent Martin Ginsburg.  He relayed to Sgt. Ginsburg the same story he had told Larsen.  Ginsburg told him to avoid trouble and to also stay away from the hotel.  He would not heed the warnings.  Within two minutes Ginsburg, as reported would hear four shots, which he said were fired in rapid succession.  Ginsburg, immediately thinking the man to whom he had talked two minutes earlier was involved, rushed to the hotel at 1914 Washington Avenue N.  Meanwhile, a patron of the hotel saw a young lady coming down the stairs with a gunshot wound to her cheek, and she quickly relayed what she knew.  The patron, Mr. Harrison, left the building to find the police.  Mr. Harrison appears to have left by the back door, and I suppose it possible that Sgt. Ginsburg was heading for the front door.  The young lady with a gunshot wound was the daughter of the man who made his way to the hotel.   The story the young lady, only two weeks and a day shy of her seventeenth birthday, would bare to Sargent Ginsburg was of a double tragedy.  Her story would recount a deplorable act, and probably the most heinous in family history, certainly in its known history.  For you see, the young lady who met Sgt. Ginsburg, was Rose Havel, the daughter of Joseph Havel.  Joseph was my great grand uncle, a younger brother to my great grandfather.

Joseph Havel Baptismal Record (second entry)
digi.ceskearchivy.cz

Earlier that night after having passed Sargent Ginsburg, Joseph went to the hotel.  When he entered the building, Joseph saw Rose with his wife  (her mother) Otillia, who had recently filed for divorce, in the parlor of the building.  Accounts in the Minneapolis and area newspapers vary, one account has them talking in the parlor before the two women went to bed; another account has Joseph upon entering the parlor pulling a gun saying to his spouse, “You are going to die now.”  Rose and her mother were both shot in the bedroom.  The first account saying he re-entered the bedroom as they fell asleep, while the other account has his wife running from him into the bedroom, where he shot her and then the daughter as she entered.  The details in news accounts vary, but the end result is the same.  He shot his wife twice in the head, and turned and shot his daughter (which the first account has her waking up at the initial gun shots).  Before seeing the result of his actions, the man turned the gun on himself.  It is said he died five minutes later.  It was reported that Otillia died immediately.  The daughter, Rose, was so distraught that, even though the wound was reported to be superficial she required attention through the night.  The “Minneapolis Journal,” in its report on the event states that as of its printing she was still under care of a physician, and had not yet been told of the death of her parents.  It was a hotel of horror that week.  The prior night, a man named John Wing committed suicide by gas inhalation.  Earlier that winter two other men were killed by gas poisoning.

London, MN Lower right corner in section 25
Freeborn County genweb site

What poisoned Josef to the level that he would commit such an act?  A common thread appears to be alcohol, showing one reason why prohibition would come to the United States in 13 years’ time.  The Star Tribune article sub-head line, reads: "Habitual Drunkenness Given as Cause of Original Trouble in Family."  Another Minneapolis paper, published on March 31, 1907, refers to it as an “old, old story of a hardworking wife who kept the family together and of a spendthrift husband who hindered and nagged her at every turn.” Apparently, drunkenness, or at least such behavior, was not uncommon at the time, if it was an “old, old story.”  Joseph was referred to in that paper as “mentally deranged by excessive dissipation.”  According to the article he had previously twice threatened to kill his wife.  A different news article relates that his wife never thought much of the threats, and never reported them to authorities.

1908 Minneapolis City Directory
Familysearch.org

Joseph’s wife had filed for divorce due to his heavy drinking.  One article has them having married 21 years earlier.  Tillie was born in 1868, the youngest of six children of John and Josephine Popp.  The John Popp family had farmed in Dodge County, Wisconsin, just north of Jefferson County, as reported in the 1860 and 1870 census records.  Census records also indicate that John Popp and his spouse Josephine Stimper were both born in Bohemia, so the family connection may go back to the old country, although at this point no clear evidence exists.  As of 1885 Otillia, is reported in the census as age 18, and was living with her parents, John and Josephine Popp, along with several siblings and a sister-in-law on the Popp family farm in Rock Township, Mitchell County, Iowa.  The sister-in-law, happened to be Joseph’s younger sister Catherine Hovel, who married Emil Henry Popp in July 1864.  Yet the family connection may have been even deeper.  Family lore suggests that Otillia’s older sister Mary was married to John Hovel, Josef’s oldest brother. Mary is thought to have died in child birth.   In 1885, Joseph, who was born in 1857, cannot be found in a state census, but the Wisconsin census of that year only lists head of household, and given descriptions of gender and place of birth, I think he was living on the former Josef Havel (his father and mother’s home farm) farm east of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, with his sister and her husband.  The farm was now operated by Joseph’s sister, Rose and her husband George Kachel.  Otillia and Joseph were listed as being married 13 years in the 1900 census and that figure generally corresponds to the marriage noted in the newspaper.

1885 Iowa Census  (if readable, see lines 10-15)
Ancestry.com

Joseph and Otillia would have three children--two boys and a girl.  The oldest child, Joseph Frank (aka Frank Joseph), was born in August 1889; Rose in April 1891 and Rufus John in June 1896.  In 1895, they are reported as farming in Union township, next door to Joseph’s sister Annie Fitzl and her husband Jacob.  Nearby, less than a quarter mile as the crow flies, is the farm originally founded by his brother John.  By 1900, however, Joseph and Otillia have sold their farm and are living in Falls Township, Cerro Gordo County, near Plymouth.  Joseph’s occupation is not highly readable in the record, but appears to say "general" with an unknown word following.  Falls Township is just south of Union Township, Worth County.  At this time, they were still close to family. In the town of Falls they owned a house with a mortgage.  Before moving to Minneapolis, they would take residence in the the crossroads community of London, MN, not far north of the Iowa border.  Perhaps they wished a new start.

News article  7 Oct 1904
Albert Lea Freeborn newspaper

What can be pieced together is a pattern of discontent.  Was it an unceasing energy, or was it his desire for fortune?  Perhaps it was his consumption of alcohol.  Maybe it was a combination of all three, but after selling the farm, Joseph would go from one business to the next.  Combined with hard drinking it was likely a recipe for the horrendous outcome on this day 110 years ago.  It appears that the farm was likely sold by 1897, as a JD Havel was accused of operating an eatery on a Sunday.  In that same year, he was also charged with possessing liquor with intent to sell.  The police dumped a few kegs of beer.  You can tell it was not Wisconsin, as I doubt any good Wisconsinite would waste beer.   Not unlike Joseph being at the forefront of farming in Worth County, a newspaper in Albert Lea, MN, reports that he was on the forefront of business activity in the small community of London, near Albert Lea, Minnesota.

Joseph Havel death certificate
Minnesota Historical Society archives

In that small community he opened a general store in April 1902.  Area newspapers report him having made trips to Albert Lea, and Chicago prior to opening day to obtain provisions for the general store. The family probably moved to Minnesota in or before late 1901.  In December 1901 he been convicted in Freeborn County, MN of selling liquor without a license.  More interestingly, he was accused of running a “blind pig” operation, which is like a speakeasy.  Charges in the blind pig operation, for he and his supplier, were dismissed when one of the alleged bottles of alcohol was opened in court and turned out to be ginger ale. (A prosecution precursor to if the "glove doesn't fit, you must acquit" made famous from the OJ Simpson trial.)  In August 1902 he and his wife were said to have entertained guests at their home.  All must have seemed well in the J. D. Havel household, at least for that one day.  An advertisement for his general store, on Christmas Eve 1902, indicates it has a “hotel and boarding house in connection.” This would show the occupation taken by his wife in Minneapolis at 1914 Washington Ave. N.   He also sold farm machinery.  He had an “up to date millinery” and reportedly had the only one in the small burg of London, MN.  The idea of the millinery in this small burg of London reminds me of the scene in "Field of Dreams" where the doctor in the small Minnesota town bought hats for his wife.  We do know he was recognized for selling “the ‘1900 Washer’” which would “wash the clothes in 6 minutes.” The 1900 Company would later become Whirlpool.   Otillia and Rufus would travel to Mitchell County Iowa for several days in February 1903 to visit relatives.  Showing a level of discontent, by July 1903 Joseph is already thinking of selling his store, reportedly, in order to move to town so his children can attend better schools.  While his wife went to Myrtle, MN to visit relatives (which relatives lived in Myrtle, I do not know), Joseph made a trip to North Dakota in regard to selling his store.   It would take a year, but in August 17, 1904 one Albert Lea newspaper reported in its London news “J.D. Havel, who has been one of the most ablest business men since the town was platted has sold his effects here.”  The article goes on to say that “Mr. Havel is yet undecided what he will do.  He has our best wishes for success in whatever line of business he may engage in.”

Newspaper ad
24 December 1902 Albert Lea Enterprise

The first outward sign of discontent in the family is a small easy to miss snippet in the Albert Lea Freeborn newspaper of October 7, 1904, it read: “Mrs. Havel and her children took the train for Minneapolis Saturday morning where they will reside for the present.”  One assumes that Joseph is remaining for the time being in London. But, he did not long remain in London, MN.  The 1905 Minneapolis City Directory lists Joseph as residing at 1914 Washington Ave. N, and employed as what appears to be a cleaner.  In 1906 he is listed as a porter at 228 20th Ave N, but still residing at 1914 Washington Ave N.  Rose is listed at the same address as an apprentice for both years.  In 1907 Rose is listed as a stenographer, but for Joseph a simple entry in that year’s directory tells his fate:  “Joseph died Mar 30 ’07 age 50.”   My writing skills cannot compare to the elegant early 20th century prose, and below I quote an article in the April 11, 1907 edition of the “Worth County Index” in its entirety:

Our neighborhood was widely shocked upon hearing of the death and untimely end of our old neighbor, Joseph D. Havel and wife in Minneapolis, a week ago Saturday.  The details are too heart-rending to record, but we cannot let the matter go past without a word to two:  Joe and his wife were once owners of the fine farm on which A. Laraway now resides, and improved the place up to the number-one mark.  Joe worked hard and his good wife did her share of the grubbing faithfully and well.  Prosperity seemed to be something Joe couldn’t stand and he left the farm to indulge in various pursuits.  He finally lost all he had and drifted from bad to worse until the care and support of the family fell entirely to the already hard lot of the little mother.  When goaded beyond the limit of human endurance she applied to the courts for relief in the way of divorce, but before the case came before the courts Joe took matters in his own hands and shot his faithful wife and then himself, besides attempting to take the life of his 16-year old daughter.  Sorrowing relatives brought the bodies home to Mitchell County where they were laid to rest in one grave.  Three children were left orphans to face the cold world and its trials:  Joseph aged 19 years who serves in the U.S. navy.  Rosa, aged 16, a young school girl, and Rufus aged 11.  Mrs. Langschadl of Plymouth who was bereaved by the loss of her own children years ago, has been a ministering angel in this sad chapter in life’s history. 

Otillia Havel death certificate
Minnesota Historical Society archives

It is, indeed, a sad chapter in life’s history.  I have not located a grave in an Iowa grave site database.  Perhaps the grave is unmarked. Today,  1914 Washington Avenue N is near the intersection of Broadway Avenue and is just over a mile, as the crow flies, north of Target Field.  It is also next to Interstate 94, where over 100,0000 vehicles per day pass by the location of the murder.   I myself have driven that route several times, but likely never noticed the old three story building that appears to be before the turn of the century.  Ironically, today a liquor store sits next door to the to the address of the crime.  For some things, perhaps anonymity is best.  For Joseph Havel, the level of discontent he experienced is not necessarily bad; discontent can lead to great things, but one’s energy has to be properly channeled.  Lacking the proper channel, discontent has a terrible downside.  The difference between the two is a fine line.  It was for Joseph D. Havel.  Unfortunately, violence of this type is still present.

1900 Washer, Google images

Hard work which led to success on the farm was not found in Joseph’s other ventures.  One wonders if the lack of success was related more to desire for the drink, than his business acumen.  Did the drinking follow the lack of success or did the drinking lead to lack of success?  Although, his venture in London, MN seems to have met with some success, so was he creating and flipping business operations in an attempt to make a profit?   His level of discontent after leaving the farm is apparent.  We know that farm life in that era was difficult and demanding, but the Worth County Index reports him having “improved the place to a number-one mark.”  In selling his farm and starting varied business operations he never found contentment.  Instead, the cruel hand of fate would intervene, and he would bring the life of his spouse and his own to an end in a terrible manner.  The answer to the actual cause of this sad chapter lies in the vapor of history.  A series of sad, unfortunate events turned into, what new accounts termend "a double tragedy."


Author's note:  While it was a difficult story to write, and perhaps for the reader to read, I struggled more with whether or not to tell the story.  Would anonymity have been best?