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 25, 1906: Judge Frater is in Very Small Business
Seattle Daily Times 9/25/1906 p1
Judge Frater is in Very Small Business
Governor of Oregon Denounces King County Jurist for
His Action in the Mitchell-Creffield Insanity Case
Executive Says Order Is Illogical.
District Attorney Manning Joins in Criticism of
Proceeding and Southern State Can Easily Retaliate.
The Times
Special Service.
PORTLAND,
Tuesday, September. 25.--The Oregonian says:
When Judge Frater, of the
superior court of King County, Wash., flew off on a tangent the other day and
ordered Esther Mitchell and Mrs. Maud Hurt Creffield, the Holy Rollers,
deported to Oregon because a local insanity commission had pronounced them
insane he little realized what a hornet’s nest he was about to bring about his
head or how ridiculous he was making himself in the eyes of the Oregon
authorities.
Even the people of Seattle
recognized the weakness of his logic, and were loud in their protests against
an order that could not fail to inflict an injury upon the community.
The prosecuting attorney
went a step further and took an appeal to the state Supreme Court, while some
of the Seattle newspapers overlooked the probable expense of a murder trial and
condemned Judge Frater’s action.
Gov. Chamberlain was
outspoken in his denunciation of Judge Frater’s attitude in the matter. He
feels certain that Judge Frater’s ruling will not be
sustained by the higher court. The chief executive of Oregon was on the
point of departure for Salem yesterday afternoon, and was seen at the Union
Depot.
GOVERNOR CHAMBERLAIN TALKS
“I am not advised to the (illegible)
status of the case pending at Seattle against Mrs. Creffield and Esther
Mitchell for the murder of the latter’s brother, said the governor, but I am
informed that a committee of experts has found that they are paranoiacs, hence
not responsible for the crime committed by them, and that the judge before whom
the case is pending will order their deportation to Oregon.
“If it is true that the
judge has made such an unusual order, he has committed a judicial outrage that
ought to subject him to impeachment. These defendants were at one time
residents of Oregon. They left here, intending to remain away, and took up
their residence in Washington, and were residents of the latter state at the
time of the commission of the crime charged against them. If they should not be
prosecuted because at the time of the Mitchell killing they were insane, they
should be committed to an asylum in Washington.
“The court has no power to
deport resident criminals or insane, and if these people are brought here and
turned loose by officers of Washington, they can return there whenever they
please, as the order of the court at Seattle would not justify the
superintendent of our asylum in committing them here.
“In other words, the order
of the Washington court would have no extra territorial force.
JUDGE IN SMALL BUSINESS
“If the judge has made, or
intends to make the order referred to, he is engaged in exceedingly small
business. He would only attempt to do so on the theory that the defendants are
residents of Oregon, and in order to avoid the expense of their maintenance in
Washington. If the authorities here wanted to retaliate, they could do so
easily. Residents of Washington have been committed to the asylum here from
counties bordering on the two states. At least one, and possibly more, patients
are now confined here who were released from Washington asylums. If retaliation
were resorted to, the Oregon authorities could easily even up, but there is no
disposition to do it here.
“There is an unwritten law
regulating these matters--a comity between the states. When a citizen of an
adjoining state is committed to the asylum while in good faith sojourning her,
our authorities care for him. Other states generally do the same thing, and the
accounts will usually about balance each other.
“I do not believe the Supreme
Court of Washington would sustain any such order as that charged to have been
made by the judge before whom the cases of Mrs. Creffield and Esther Mitchell
are pending.
JUDGE WEBSTER’S VIEWS
County Judge Webster was
equally positive in his opinions on the subject. He has the handling of all the
insanity cases arising in Multnomah County, and is frequently called upon to
pass judgment on patients that are brought here form other states. Only the
other day he ordered a woman who was brought here from Walla Walla committed to the Oregon State Asylum, and the only
reason why she was not sent there was because of her unexpected death. In an
interview yesterday, Judge Webster said:
I am not entirely familiar
with the statutes of Washington bearing on the subject, but it seems to me that
the idea of a court commission taking from the hands of the criminal
authorities persons charged with capital offenses is an unheard of proposition,
and I have no doubt the Supreme Court of the state will take the same view of
the matter.
“It strikes me that there
ought to be some sort of interstate reciprocity on questions of this kind, and
so far as Multnomah County is concerned, I am not aware of a single instance
where we have attempted to foist an insane person upon some other state merely
because he did not happen to be a resident of Oregon.
HUMANITY SHOULD COME FIRST
“The humane view of the
matter would be for us to care for them without considering where they might
legally belong, and for other states to adopt the same Golden Rule doctrine.
“I do not think there would
be much difference in the balance of accounts, and consider that there are not
enough cases of this character arising to cut much figure, anyway.
“If we wanted to be that small,
the boundary line between Oregon and Washington is not very far distant, and we
could very easily dump all our crazy people upon them and save ourselves a
whole lot of botheration and care, but there is not much likelihood of our
resorting to any such narrow course.”
“It is a very unfortunate
affair that the state of Washington has been put to a great deal of expense and
trouble because of those deluded women having taken up their residence in the
state,” said District Attorney Manning, “but just the same, I cannot see for
the life his order in the matter as I gather it from the newspapers, can expect
such an order to be binding on any of the courts or state institutions of
Oregon.”
WHAT MR. MANNING THINKS
“I believe that if those
women are brought into our state by the Sheriff of King County, they will be
turned loose upon us unless the authorities of Multnomah County take the matter
in hand and bring them before the board of insane to be examined there as to
their sanity before the superintendent of the insane asylum of our state would
have any right to accept them.
“However, I presume the
authorities of our state will cross that bridge when they come to it. I believe
those women are insane, and therefore should not be turned loose upon any
community in their present mental condition. And therefore I believe it to be
the duty of the officials here to take the matter in hand and do what is right
with the women if they should be brought here.
“It is an unfortunate affair
that Esther Mitchell should have killed her brother, because I believe he did a
very laudable act in eliminating that miserable animal, Creffield, from the
face of the earth.”
Seattle Post Intelligencer 9/25/1906 p1
Injunction Issued in Mitchell Case
Supreme Court Demands Cause for Making Insanity
Order.
Deportation Prevented
October 26 Set as Day to Appear and Argue the Matter.
Special to
the Post Intelligencer.
OLYMPIA, Sept. 24.-- The state Supreme Court this morning, on application of
Kenneth Mackintosh, issued a writ prohibiting Superior Judge A. W. Frater, of
King county, from issuing an order finding Esther Mitchell or Maud Creffield
insane or from ordering their deportation to Oregon.
The order cites Judge Frater
to appeal in the Supreme Court October 26 next at 10 a. m. and show cause why,
if any, this injunction should not be made permanent.
In his application the king
county prosecuting attorney contends that the court could not legally delegate
to a commission the declaring the women named insane, nor was it proper to take
the evidence in secret, nor should a jury have been denied to pass upon the
sanity or insanity of the women. The show cause order is
signed by Chief Justice Wallace Mount.
GIST OF THE PETITION
the petition filed with the Supreme Court and upon which
the order was issued sets forth the history of the case since the shooting of
George Mitchell. It then goes into the charge of insanity made against the
women by Frank Hurt and the examination which followed.
The court and commission are
attacked in the plea and it is alleged that Judge Frater failed to comply with
the law in allowing the commission to usurp the judicial functions of the
court. The entire plea made by the prosecutor was along the same lines argued
before the report of the commission and practically the same charges of illegal
measures are recited.
Seattle Star 9/25/1906 p6
Writ for Frater
Supreme Court Grants Junction Against Determination
Of Esther Mitchell And Maud Creffield.
Within two or three days,
Judge Frater of the Superior Court of King county will be served a writ of
prohibition issued by the Supreme Court of the state ordering him not to deport
Esther Mitchell and Mrs. Maud Creffield to Oregon under the recent findings of
an insanity commission.
The writ was ordered (illegible)
the Supreme Court on the petition (illegible) of Assistant Prosecuting Attorney
Miller and is returnable October (illegible) 26 at Olympia.
“I believe that the (illegible)
insanity proceedings in (illegible) (illegible) irregular, and can be shown to
be so in the hearing in the superior court.” said Mr. Miller this morning upon
his return from Olympia.
“I expect to be able to have
to (illegible) set aside and the two (illegible) brought to trial for their (illegible).
Corvallis Gazette 9/25/1906 p3
Mrs. J. K. Berry, who attempted to commit suicide last Thursday at the Occidental hotel, by taking antiseptic tablets, is entirely recovered and is employed at the Occidental as waitress. Her rash act was due to melancholy resulting from domestic troubles.
Chapter 28: Insanity?
***


***
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)