Creffield and the Holy Rollers made page one headlines from 1903 to 1907. When I was researching Holy Rollers: Murder and Madness in Oregon’s Love Cult I spent months transcribing hundreds of articles. I’m not sure why I was so obsessive. Maybe it was my way of immersing my self into a cult without joining one. Anyway, I’m posting them all for those who are really interested in the story, or are interested the history of journalism, or are interested in how a scandalous story played out in the "media" in a by gone era. Since I no doubt made typos and unconsciously corrected papers' typos, these web pages should not be cited in anything serious (e.g. your dissertation). For such projects they should only be used as starting points and you should refer to the original sources. If you want a shorter version of the story, buy my book. Enjoy.
August 12, 1906: Esther Mitchell Close to Death from Typhoid
HEADLINES IN
PAPERS FOR THE SAME ARTICLE
Oregon Daily Journal (Portland) 8/12/1906 p1
Esther Mitchell Close to Death from Typhoid
Murderess Tossing on Prison Cot for Four Days
Delirious--May Yet Escape Trial.
Corvallis Times 8/14/1906 p1
Esther Mitchell
Near Death’s Door From Typhoid Fever.
Murderess Tossing on Prison Cot for Four
Days--Reduced to a Shadow of Her Former Self.
(Special Dispatch to The
Journal)
Seattle, Wash, Aug 11.--Esther Mitchell is lying close to death on a cot in the
county jail and may, but the intervention of death, be saved from trial for
murder in the first degree for slaying her brother George. for four days the girl has tossed delirious upon a fever-stricken bed, but not
until yesterday afternoon did the jail physician decide that she has typhoid
fever. Even now he refuses to state definitely that this is her ailment, but
admits that all the symptoms of the disease are present.
Esther Mitchell since her
confinement in the jail has enjoyed fairly good health until about a week ago. At
that time she complained of the prison fare and of her inability to eat it.
Four days ago she took to
her cot, and has not been able to rise from it since. The girl murderess is but
a shadow of her former self. Always frail, the confinement has worn her down to
a mere shadow. When she was first taken ill the jail physician thought that it
was simply a case of indigestion, but when her temperature continued to climb
the visits of the physician increased in frequency.
Now he visits the girl some
six or seven times a day. The cell off the jailer’s office in which she is
confined is fitted up as a sickroom and the girl is given the best of care. The
jailers who see the most of her are candid in saying that they doubt if she
will recover. The girl, however, laughs at their fears and declares that her sickness will all be over in a few days and that she will be
ready for trial early in October, when the prosecuting attorney desires to try
the case. The jailers, however, are not as hopeful as the girl. If she does not
improve during the day the judge of the criminal court will be asked to order
her sent to the county hospital, where she can be given better attention than
at the county jail.
During her delirious
moments, the girl does not make any reference to the killing of her brother or
Creffield. Not once during her illness has she shown any disposition to discuss
these matters. Several religious workers who visited the jail tried to
ingratiate themselves with the girl, but they failed. She treated them as well
as she does the most casual curiosity seeker and no better.
When told that she was ill
and should now think of the wrongs that she had done, she declared that she was
prepared to die, as she had never wronged anyone. Prosecuting Attorney
Mackintosh does not believe that the girl will be in condition to stand a long
trial for several weeks. During her illness she has been
visited by alienists in the employ of the prosecution, but they refuse
to divulge the result of their investigations.
Seattle Daily Times 8/12/1906 p1
Esther Mitchell Ill
Girl Who Murdered Her Brother Stricken With Typhoid
Fever and May Never Face Jury or Judge in This World.
Raves In Delirium, But Not Of Crime.
Court Will Be Asked to Permit Her Removal to a
Hospital, but There Is Little Hope of Her Recovery.
Esther Mitchell may never
face a jury or pay the penalty the law demands for the killing of another in
cold blood and without excuse. This eighteen year-old girl, around whose
existence two tragedies have centered, and who is charged with the murder of
her own brother, is now lying on her cot in a little cell at the county jail
tossing in the delirium of typhoid fever and the attending physician believes
that she has little chance for recovery.
Although the girl has been
ailing for some time it was not until four days ago that Dr. Snyder, the jail
physician, considered her to be in danger, and it was not until Friday
afternoon that her case was diagnosed as typhoid. She has been given every care
possible in the confines of the jail and if she does not show some signs of
recovery within a few hours the court will be asked to order her removal to a
hospital.
TEMPERATURE IS HIGH
The girl’s temperature is
very high and although there were a few hours yesterday when it was believed
that she was better later in the afternoon her condition took a turn for the
worse. Esther Mitchell has not stood her confinement well so far as her
physical self is concerned and her condition at the time of the present attack
was such as to make her particularly susceptible to the ravages of typhoid.
Not for one instant so far
as her jailers have been able to determine, has this girl suffered the
slightest compunction for her crime, and now in her delirium she maintains the
same serene indifference to her rash act and its possible results to herself. Not
once during the almost incessant ravings of her fever-tortured brain had she
mentioned the brother she killed, nor the man Creffield whose life this brother
took to protect the virtue of the sister who repaid his kindness by murdering
him close upon the heels of an acquittal by a jury.
This is a surprise to the
men who watch Esther Mitchell at the county jail, for these men who have seen
the girl grew pale and thin since she was placed in their custody have felt
that remorse and worry have caused her to fail.
SAYS NOTHING OF CRIME
Now, however, she is beyond
any restraint which she might have exercised while in
her right mind, but the events of a month ago have evidently left no
impression. During her almost incoherent mutterings this girl has talked of her
childhood and of other things so trivial as to cause wonder that they ever made
any impression upon her, but of the thing which one would believe must have
seared her memory beyond the power of an instant’s forgetting, she makes not a
mention.
The physicians and jailers
believe that this girl will be punished, if at all, by a sentence imposed by a
higher power than human jury or judge. If, however, she does recover, it will
probably be many weeks before she will be well enough to be taken into court
and her illness will, it is believed, necessitate a change in the present plans
of the prosecuting attorney for her trial. It has been intended to try her
early in October, but Dr. Snyder believes that in the event of her recovery it
will be at least two months before she will be able to leave her cell.
Seattle Daily Times 8/13/1906 p5
Esther Mitchell Very Ill
Fever of Girl Who Is Awaiting Trial for Murder Show
No Sign of Abatement--Jailers Anxious as to Outcome.
Esther Mitchell, awaiting
trial in the county jail for the murder of her brother, George Mitchell, is
seriously ill. The fever that has racked her body for the last five days showed
little signs of abatement today. Her temperature is still high, and the girl is
unable to partake of the fare furnished the other prisoners.
The jailers are anxious as
to the final outcome of the girl’s illness. Last night she became worse and Dr.
Snyder made a visit to the girl at the jail. The girl murderess, although very
ill, bears up well and declared to her attorney this morning that she thought
she would soon be better.
If her condition is not
improved by morning, her attorney will probably take up the matter of having
her transferred to a hospital. Prosecuting Attorney Mackintosh will not make
any opposition to the girl being removed under proper guards.
Mrs. Creffield, who is
jointly charged with murder in the first degree, is Esther Mitchell’s nurse. The
woman who has played such an important part in the shaping of the girl’s life
does not leave her companion’s bedside even for sleep. The night jailers
declare that late at night upon their rounds they find her sitting by the
girl’s bedside, ready to minister to her needs.
Mae Hurt, the sister of Mrs.
Creffield, paid a visit to the women this morning. She spent much time
conversing with her sister. She declares that she will be present at the trial
and will testify for her sister.
Corvallis Gazette 8/14/1906 p1
Ill in Seattle
A dispatch from Seattle in
Sunday’s Oregonian says,”
Esther Mitchell is seriously
ill at the county jail, and unless her condition improves soon a request may be
made that she be removed to the County Hospital. Dr. Snyder, the jail physician,
who at first denied that her illness was serious, this afternoon diagnosed the case as one of typhoid fever. The girl’s
temperature ranged near 101.
There is a feeling among
jail officials that the girl’s condition may make it impossible to bring her to
an early trial. It was expected that she could be brought up for a hearing next
month, but this may be impossible.
It is said by jail officials that she is delirious much of the time, but her wandering mind has not run back to the murder of Creffield, or the shooting of her brother.
Chapter of Holy Rollers where these articles are some of the sources:
Chapter 28: Insanity?
***August 8, 1906: St. Louis Woman Coming to Convert “Rollers”
August 13, 1906: Esther Mitchell Not Seriously Ill
***
Newspaper Articles about Creffield & the Holy Rollers
1897-1903: B.C. (Before Creffield)
October to December 1903:Holy Rollers Burn Furniture & Pets
January to March, 1904: Holy Rollers Tarred and Feathered
April to June 1904: Holy Rollers are Committed to the Asylum
July 1904: Creffield is Found & Arrested
September 1904: Creffield's Trial
April 1906: Men are Gunning For Creffield
May 1906: Creffield is Murdered, Murderer is Considered a Hero
May 1906: Holy Rollers Found Starving Near Heceta Head
June 1906: George Mitchell's Trial Begins
July 1906: Hurt Testifies of Debauched Wife and Debased Sisters
July 1906: Esther Mitchell Kills Her Brother
August to October 1906: Seattle Prepares for another Big Trial
November 1906: Maud Hurt Creffield Commits Suicide
April 1909-August 1914: Esther Leaves the Asylum
1953 Stewart Holbrook's Murder Without Tears
1951Startling Detective Magazine, Nemesis of the Nudist High Priest
***
Chapters from
Holy Rollers: Murder & Madness in Oregon's Love Cult
Part 1: The Seduction
Chapter 1: Trust Me, Brothers And Sisters
(Life Before Creffield [B.C.])
Chapter 2: God, Save Us From Compromising Preachers
(Creffield's Preachings)
Chapter 3: The Flock
(Profiles of the Holy Rollers Were)
Chapter 4: The Holy Rollers
(Things Start to Get Wild on on Kiger Island)
Chapter 5: Housecleaning
(There's a Sacrificial Bonfire)
Chapter 6: Community Concerns
(Officers Visit)
Chapter 7: Esther, The Chosen One
(Creffield Plans to Marry 16-Year- Old)
Chapter 8: Tar and Feathers
(The Men of Corvallis Act)
Chapter 9: Sane People Don’t Go Bareheaded
(Holy Rollers are Committed to the Asylum)
Chapter 10: More Beast Than Man
( Creffield is Arrested)
Chapter 11: God Will Plead Creffield's Case
(Creffield in Court)
Chapter 12: Scandal
(Shocking Testimony at the Trial)
Chapter 13: Calm Before the Storm
(The Holy Rollers Resume their Lives)
Chapter 14: Giving Up The Ghost
(Men are Gunning for Creffield)
Part Two: The People V. Creffield
Chapter 16: The Widow Creffield
Chapter 19: An Inherited Streak of Insanity
Part Three: The Madness
Chapter 23: Seeking Reconciliation
Chapter 24: Another Holy Roller Page One Murder
Chapter 25: What Can Papa Do For You?
Chapter 26: Human Life is Too Cheap In This Community
Chapter 30: The Final Chapter
(What Happened to Everyone Afterwards)
The Epilogue
(Heaven's Gate)