Edson Benjamin: “A Cowardly Murder,” Part 3

The Hood River Glacier, March 29, 1901, Vol. 12, No. 45, Page 2, Column 1, tells a bit more of the story of the murder of Edson V. Benjamin:

"Tragedy at Underwood landing," The Hood River Glacier, March 29, 1901, Vol. 12, No. 45, Page 2, Column 1. Public domain.(Click to enlarge.)
“Tragedy at Underwood landing,” The Hood River Glacier, March 29, 1901, Vol. 12, No. 45, Page 2, Column 1. Public domain.(Click to enlarge.)

“TRAGEDY AT UNDERWOOD LANDING”

     “A cowardly murder occurred at Underwood Landing, Wash., opposite Hood River, Saturday night, March 23rd. Edson Benjamin of Hood River was shot and instantly killed by someone who fired through the window. The tragedy took place at Wm. Wendorf’s house, 1½ miles from Underwood. Benjamin was in the employ of Nicolai & Cameron as foreman of their logging camp. The camp was preparing to move to a new location above the falls of the White Salmon, and a dance was given as a farewell party to the loggers by their friends in the neighborhood. The dance was held in Wendorf’s barn and the supper was given in the residence. At the third table was seated Edson Benjamin, L.W. Jones, Wm. Wendorf, Mrs. Harry Olsen and Mrs. Nellie Brown. Mrs. Brown had been waiting upon the tables and had just sat down alongside Benjamin and was serving coffee when a shot was fired through the window, striking Benjamin in the head and passing through, a part of the ball struck Mrs. Brown on the shoulder. Benjamin fell to the floor and expired without a word. Mrs. Brown’s injury was slight. L. W. Jones immediately went to the barn, were dancing had been resumed, and informed the dancers of the shooting. The men all turned out and hunted for the assassin but he could not be found. Suspicion immediately rested upon a logger named Jim Green, who had had some trouble with Benjamin and threatened his life. Green was in love with a woman who recently rejected his advances and it is supposed to this caused him to become intensely jealous. Edson Benjamin moved from The Dalles to Hood River about two years ago, and about one year ago bought the Dan Smith place on the East Side. He was a man well spoken of by all who knew him. He leaves a widow. His age was about 38, and he was a native of Illinois. The A.O.U.W. lodge of The Dalles, of which he was a member, took charge of the funeral and he was buried at The Dalles Tuesday.

    The coroner came up from Stevenson Sunday, and we understand the jury found a verdict in accordance with the above facts and charged Green as being the murderer.

    Sheriff Totten came up from Stevenson Sunday and with deputies commenced a search for Green. Green was hid in the woods. Tuesday, as the officers passed his near his hiding place, he came out and gave himself up and confessed to the murder. He was brought to Hood River Tuesday evening and taken to The Dalles, and Wednesday morning was taken to Vancouver, where a special term of court will convene for his trial.”

Three additional paragraphs were in the paper that day concerning the murder:

"Hood River gets the …undue prominence…" The Hood River Glacier, March 29, 1901, Vol. 12, No. 45, Page 2, Column 1. Public domain.(Click to enlarge.)
“Hood River gets the …undue prominence…” The Hood River Glacier, March 29, 1901, Vol. 12, No. 45, Page 2, Column 1. Public domain.(Click to enlarge.)

   ” Hood River gets the credit abroad for the cowardly murder at Underwood, Wash., because the dispatches concerning the tragedy were sent from here, the nearest telegraph or telephone station. Hood River isn’t a bit proud of its undue prominence in connection with the affair.”

The Hood River-OR-Glacier_0329_1901_v12_n45_p2_c1_part3
“The citizens of Underwood, Wash., are to be congratulated…” The Hood River Glacier, March 29, 1901, Vol. 12, No. 45, Page 2, Column 1. Public domain.(Click to enlarge.)

   ” The citizens of Underwood, Wash., are to be congratulated upon the law-abiding spirit shown when the confessed murderer, Jim Green, was captured. Consdiering the fact that Green was cordially hated and feared by his neighbors, and his victim correspondingly loved and respected, lynching might have resulted.”

"…badly scared citizens…" The Hood River Glacier, March 29, 1901, Vol. 12, No. 45, Page 2, Column 2. Public domain.(Click to enlarge.)
“…badly scared citizens…” The Hood River Glacier, March 29, 1901, Vol. 12, No. 45, Page 2, Column 2. Public domain.(Click to enlarge.)

     “It is said there are some very badly scared citizens of Underwood after it was learned that Jim Green had killed Benjamin. One young man turned gray in a night. Another, a young man who had loaned Green a gun, fearing arrest as an accomplice, swallowed a big dose of carbolic acid in a quart of cider with suicidal intent. The cider acted as an antidote and as an emetic, and the youth will live to get scared another day. The only person heard of showing any presence of mind during the excitement of the affair was Mrs. Brown, who, after the fatal shot was fired, blew out the lamp so that the assassin could not see into the room to shoot again.”

Interestingly, another related paragraph appears on page 3 of this same issue, but does not even mention the murder:

Pictures of Jim Green and ...Nellie Brown…" The Hood River Glacier, March 29, 1901, Vol. 12, No. 45, Page 3, Column 3. Public domain.
Pictures of Jim Green and …Nellie Brown…” The Hood River Glacier, March 29, 1901, Vol. 12, No. 45, Page 3, Column 3. Public domain.

See Part 2 of this series for the pictures. Sadly, I have found no pictures of Edson or his wife Jennie (Munger) Benjamin, nor can I find a funeral notice.

 

Tomorrow: the trial.

 

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1) Historic Oregon Newspapers:

http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn97071110/1901-03-29/ed-1/seq-2/

 

Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images.

Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

 
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Edson Benjamin: “A Cowardly Murder,” Part 2

"Points to Green," The Morning Oregonian,(Portland, Oregon) March 26, 1901, Volume 41, Number 12,569, Page 4, Columns 1-3, Image. Public Domain.
“Points to Green,” The Morning Oregonian, (Portland, Oregon) March 26, 1901, Volume 41, Number 12,569, Page 4, Columns 1-3, Image. Public Domain.

The story of Edson V. Benjamin’s murder continues in the Portland, Oregon newspaper- even back in 1901, the old journalist’s maxim, “If it bleeds, let it lead” was in force, as it is still today- we just have so many more media outlets.

Sadly, there is no picture of Edson Benjamin that I could find- that would have been the least they could do to honor him.

This article is not transcribed- please click to enlarge all the sections from the paper if needed.

"Points to Green," The Morning Oregonian,(Portland, Oregon) March 26, 1901, Volume 41, Number 12,569, Page 4, Columns 1-3, Part 1. Public Domain.
“Points to Green,” The Morning Oregonian, (Portland, Oregon) March 26, 1901, Volume 41, Number 12,569, Page 4, Columns 1-3, Part 1. Public Domain.

Circumstantial evidence seems to abound here, and be taken as truth in the Wild West of Oregon, even as late as the early 1900s.

"Points to Green," The Morning Oregonian,(Portland, Oregon) March 26, 1901, Volume 41, Number 12,569, Page 4, Columns 1-3, Part 2. Public Domain.
“Points to Green,” The Morning Oregonian, (Portland, Oregon) March 26, 1901, Volume 41, Number 12,569, Page 4, Columns 1-3, Part 2. Public Domain.

Poor Mrs. Nellie Brown- she was a young woman, already divorced once and having to deal with domestic violence with her fiancé Jim Green, which worsened once they broke up. “Marked as an object of assassination…”- what horrible words. It is so sad that in our country and around the world today, women still sometimes fear for their life even though they have loved the person.

"Points to Green," The Morning Oregonian,(Portland, Oregon) March 26, 1901, Volume 41, Number 12,569, Page 4, Columns 1-3, Part 3. Public Domain.
“Points to Green,” The Morning Oregonian, (Portland, Oregon) March 26, 1901, Volume 41, Number 12,569, Page 4, Columns 1-3, Part 3. Public Domain.

Poor Edson- loggers are tough guys, but to have to deal with Jim Green’s behavior- well, that shows the character of the man when Edson gave his would-be-killer-at-the-time his hand to help him up after a fall.

"Points to Green," The Morning Oregonian,(Portland, Oregon) March 26, 1901, Volume 41, Number 12,569, Page 4, Columns 1-3, Part 4. Public Domain.
“Points to Green,” The Morning Oregonian, (Portland, Oregon) March 26, 1901, Volume 41, Number 12,569, Page 4, Columns 1-3, Part 4. Public Domain.

It almost sounds like high school jealousy drama, but sadly was real life in 1901.

"Points to Green," The Morning Oregonian,(Portland, Oregon) March 26, 1901, Volume 41, Number 12,569, Page 4, Columns 1-3, Part 5. Public Domain.
“Points to Green,” The Morning Oregonian, (Portland, Oregon) March 26, 1901, Volume 41, Number 12,569, Page 4, Columns 1-3, Part 5. Public Domain.

How gruesome- Edson’s body still lying where he fell. There is no mention of his wife until the trial- wonder if she rushed to stay beside him while those ‘in charge’ were trying to decide what to do.

"Points to Green," The Morning Oregonian,(Portland, Oregon) March 26, 1901, Volume 41, Number 12,569, Page 4, Columns 1-3, Part 6. Public Domain.
“Points to Green,” The Morning Oregonian, (Portland, Oregon) March 26, 1901, Volume 41, Number 12,569, Page 4, Columns 1-3, Part 6. Public Domain.

 

The saga continues tomorrow…

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Historic Oregon Newspapers:

The Morning Oregonian, March 26, 1901, Vol, c1-3http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1901-03-26/ed-1/seq-4/

Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images.

Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

 
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post, and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.