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.
September 10 1906: To Examine Minds of Slayers
HEADLINES IN
PAPERS FOR THE SAME ARTICLE
Seattle Daily Times 9/10/1906 p1
Esther Mitchell May Escape Trial
Oregon Daily Journal (Portland) 9/10/1906 p7
To Examine Minds of Slayers
Superior Judge Frater Appoints Medical Commission to
Determine Sanity of Girl and Mrs. Creffield. Both Women
May Go To Asylum at Steilacoom.
Esther Mitchell and Mrs. Creffield May Be Sent to Steilacoom
Asylum. Commission Appointed By Presiding Judge. Attorneys Claim That They Will Show Clients Were Insane and That They Are Not
in Their right Minds Now.
Esther Mitchell and Maud
Hurt Creffield, charged jointly with murder in the first degree for the killing
of George Mitchell on July 12, will be examined in the superior court on Wednesday
by a medical commission for the purpose of determining their mental condition.
Upon a showing made by the attorneys for the two women that they are now
insane; were insane when the homicide was committed and have been insane for
years, Judge Frater appointed the commission. If the women are found to be
insane by the medical commission they will be sent to the insane asylum at
Steilacoom and the prosecution for murder in the first degree will be dropped.
The
appointment of this medical commission was vigorously opposed by Prosecuting
Attorney Mackintosh and his chief deputy, John F. Miller. They both discredited the report that the women
were now insane and declared that the question to their sanity should be
threshed out before a jury when they are put on trial for murder. after listening to arguments Judge Frater granted the
request of the defendant’s counsel.
He appointed Drs. Kenneth
Turner, J. H. Snyder and R. M. Ames as members of the commission. An
application for an order for the county to assume responsibility of traveling
expenses and witness fees for two witnesses to come from Oregon to testify that
the women are insane was not finally passed upon. The prosecuting attorney’s
office resisted the issuance of the order and Judge Frater refused to pass upon
it. At the examination the witnesses will be examined by the
attorneys for the women and by Prosecuting Attorney Mackintosh.
The women will be sent to
the asylum if the commission should declare they are now insane. If it should
find that they are now sane, but were insane at the time the crime was
committed they will be prosecuted. If the women are tried the finding of the
medical commission can be used as evidence. Even if the commission should find
that the women have always been sane this does not bar them from entering a
defense of insanity when they are put on trial.
During the incarceration of
the women in the county jail, Jailers Larsen and Livesley,
who have charge of the day shift, declare they have acted perfectly normal.
According to these officials the women have acted no differently than the other
prisoners.
Daily Oregon Statesman (Salem) 9/11/1906 p6
May Go To Asylum
Esther Mitchell and Maud Creffield to Be Examined for
Their Sanity.
SEATTLE, Sept, 10.-- Esther Mitchell and Maud Creffield, jointly charged with
murder in the first degree for the killing of George Mitchell last July, will
be examined by a medical commission on Wednesday in the superior court to
determine their sanity. Attorneys for the two women declare they are now insane
and have been for years. The appointment of the commission was secured upon the
petition of the women’s counsel, and was opposed by the prosecuting attorney.
If the women are found to be insane they will be sent to the asylum at
Steilacoom, and this will end the criminal prosecution.
Esther Mitchell shot and
killed her brother on July 12 in the Union Depot, as he was about to leave for
Portland. The killing of Mitchell by his sister took place within two days
after a jury had acquitted him for killing Edmund Franz Creffield, the
organizer and leader of the Holy Rollers on the ground that the deed was
justifiable as the only way to save Esther Mitchell’s virtue. Mrs. Creffield
confessed that she had urged the girl to commit the murder, and had brought the
revolver for her.
Judge Frater named Drs. R.
M. Ames, Kenneth Turner and J. H. Shively as the insanity commission, and they
will begin the examination Wednesday. The majority of the witnesses will be
from Oregon, and will include Esther Mitchell’s brother and other relatives of
her and Mrs. Creffield, as well as probably officials at the Boys’ and Girls’
Aid Society home and the Oregon Asylum for the Insane, where Mrs. Creffield was
for a time confined.
THE SAME ARTICLE
IN TWO PAPERS
Corvallis Times 9/11/1906 p1
Corvallis Gazette 9/11/1906 p3
Seattle, Sept 7.-- Superior Judge Frater this morning set September 24 as
the date on which the trial of Esther Mitchell, charged with murdering her
brother, George Mitchell, will begin. The date of the trial of Mrs. Maud
Creffield, who is charged jointly with the Mitchell girl, has not been set as
yet. The charge against both women grew out of the shooting of Franz Joseph
Creffield, the Holy Roller leader, but George Mitchell in this city last May.
Mrs. Creffield is the wife of the Holy Roller leader.
Seattle Post Intelligencer 9/11/1906 p4
Charges Mitchell Girl is Insane
Brother of Mrs. Creffield Calls for Commission to
Examine Women.
At 9 o’clock this morning in
department No. 1 of the superior court, a commission of physicians named by
Judge Frater will examine into the sanity of Esther Mitchell and Mrs. Maud
Creffield, charged with the murder of George Mitchell. The examination is to be
made on the complaint of Frank Hurt, a brother to Mrs. Creffield.
when the application for the appointment of the commission
was made Judge Frater immediately granted it, although his action was strongly
opposed by Prosecuting Attorney Mackintosh and his deputy, John F. Miller.
Should the examination
develop the fact that the prisoners are insane, it is possible under the law to
return them to the state where they hold citizenship, in this case Oregon.
Should it develop that they were sane at the time of the act, and are now sane,
they may be prosecuted for the deed. Should it develop that they were sane at
the time they killed their victim, but are now insane, they cannot be
prosecuted, but may be sent to Oregon or to the asylum in this state.
In opposing the appointment of the commission Mr. Miller declared he had made affidavit to the effect that the women are sane at this time, but this Judge Frater refused to consider, stating that it makes no difference how many affidavits are made.
Chapter of Holy Rollers where these articles are some of the sources:
Chapter 28: Insanity?
***
September 1, 1906: Four Charged with First Degree Now in County Jail
***
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)