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.
December 4, 1906: Washing
Dirty Linen
Seattle Star 12/4/1906 p1
Washing Dirty Linen
Creffield-Mitchell Insanity Commissioners Were
Reputable Physicians,’ Says Judge Frater.
They Were Neither Reputable Nor Were They Honest Says
Prosecuting Attorney Mackintosh.
___
“The charges are entirely
groundless and untrue. The members of the commission were
selected by me without solicitation or suggestion on the part of anyone.
No advice was offered and none would have been permitted. I selected the
members of the commission because I knew them to be capable and reputable
physicians, and for no other reason.”--Superior Judge A. W. Frater.
___
“I objected to the
commission because there was not, to my knowledge, one reputable physician of
ability in it. I knew at the time that I was being jobbed. I had no notice that
a commission was to be appointed until I was called up by a
physician ten minutes before the matter came up. I would have been
satisfied with the commission had there been one reputable physician named. I
am in full sympathy with the charges made by Dr. Sharples.”--Prosecuting
Attorney Kenneth Mackintosh.
___
With the full approval of
Prosecuting Attorney Mackintosh, Dr. C. W. Sharples,
charged in an address before the King County Medical association last night
that there were ugly rumors aboard regarding the selection of the members of
the insanity commission which passed upon the sanity of Esther Mitchell and the
late Mrs. Edmund Creffield in this county several weeks ago. In substantiation
of his charges Dr. Sharples read communications from
Dr. H. M. Read and Dr. I. A. Parry in which those gentlemen stated that they
had been approached and asked to accept appointment on the commission and bring
in a verdict that the women are insane.
The members
of the commission were appointed by Judge W. A. Frater on motion of Attorney Clark of Portland, who
represented the women. the commission was composed of
Dr. Kenneth Turner, Dr. J. H. Snively and Dr. R. M. Eames. At the time of their
appointment Prosecuting Attorney Mackintosh protested both against the
proceeding and against the character of the men named, and before their finding
was read in court he again protested, declaring that the commission had been
“fixed.”
Judge Frater, when asked
this morning regarding the charges made by Dr. Sharples,
entered an indignant denial.
MEETING CALLED PURPOSELY
Last night’s meeting was
held chiefly for the purpose of affording Dr. Sharples an opportunity to make public his charges. The scandal regarding the appointment
of the insanity commission in the Mitchell-Creffield case has been the subject
of much discussion among the members of the medical fraternity, and has
contributed its share towards the movement among physicians for the enactment
of better laws to govern the criminal insane. It was ostensibly for the
furtherance of the movement towards the enactment of such legislation that the
meeting was called, and Dr. Sharples had been
assigned to discuss the subject of “The Relations of the State to Criminal Cases.
It was first planned to hold
the meeting several weeks ago, but it was postponed on account of the fact that
there was pending in the county another insanity case in the prospective trial trial of Chester Thompson. But when that case was
transferred to Pierce county the members of the
association proceeded with their arrangements for the meeting. In doing so they
consulted with Prosecuting Attorney Mackintosh, who approved of the meeting and
its purpose.
PHYSICIANS WERE APPROACHED
In the course of his address
Dr. Sharples discussed the rumors that the commission
in question had been chosen with a view to brining in a report that the women
were insane. In substantiation he read the statements of Drs. H. M. Read and I.
a. Parry. Dr. Read in his statement said that he was called up over the
telephone and asked to go on the commission and bring in the desired report. He
does not know who the person was who called him up,
but thinks that it was a physician. He refused to countenance the suggestion of
fraud and was told he was not wanted.
Dr. Parry’s statement was
more specific. He stated that he was called upon by Attorney
Clark of Portland, who was defending the accused women, and asked to go on the
commission and bring in a report of insanity.
He refused to do so, and
Clark stated that Judge Frater desired the commission to declare the women
insane.
At the conclusion of the
meeting Dr. Sharples, in conversation with Deputy
Prosecuting Attorney John F. Miller asked Mr. Miller if he had gone too far in
the matter, and Miller replied that he had not.
At the time of the
appointment of the commission Prosecuting Attorney Mackintosh declared that the
members were both incompetent and partial, and that their report would be that
the women were insane. The case is now on appeal in the Supreme Court from the
decision of Judge Frater to deport them to Oregon.
Seattle Star 12/5/1906 p1
Say It Is Up To Judge Frater
Among the members of the
local bar there is a feeling that it is now up to Judge Frater to take some
action in the matter of the charges of collusion in the appointment and
findings of the medical commission appointed to inquire into the mental
condition of Maud Creffield and Esther Mitchell.
It is pointed out that the
charge has been openly made that Judge Frater was desirous of appointing only
medical men who could be relied upon to declare both women insane. Men who
declared they spoke for Judge Frater are reported as having gone to them in an
effort to secure their services on the commission, providing they, the
physicians, could give some assurance beforehand that they would find the two
prisoners to be insane.
VERY GRAVE CHARGE
This accusation is one Judge
Frater’s brother lawyers say the jurist cannot allow to pass unchallenged. It is a charge of very grave nature and one that can be dispelled
only after a thorough investigation. That Judge Frater would, within a very few
days demand an inquiry into the affair seemed to be the general impression
among lawyers this morning.
Members of the new Seattle
Bar association express the opinion that the matter is one which would properly
be a subject for investigation by that body, with a view of ascertaining the
facts so far as they involve the methods pursued by the accused attorneys in the
case, but for two reasons; one of these is that the attorney chiefly involved
is Attorney Clark of Portland who is not practicing before the local courts,
and the other is that the charges involve also the integrity of a member of the
judiciary. Many members of the association feel that it might be taken by Judge Frater as a reflection upon his court should the
matter be brought before the association for an investigation and action.
FIVE DOCTORS APPROACHED
Developments within the past
24 hours now indicate that at least five members of the
medical fraternity were approached in one way or another by persons desiring to
ascertain whether they would return a report of insanity in case they were
appointed. In addition to Drs. Read and Parry, who were quoted by Dr. Sharples before the Medical association Monday night, it
has developed that Dr. George Newlands, Dr. C. H. Thompson and Dr. J. B. Laughary were also approached, much in the same manned.
Attorney Clark of Portland,
who is accused specifically by Dr. Parry with having approached the latter on
the matter in an interview given out at Portland yesterday, indignantly denies
that he had any such conversation with Dr. Perry as the latter recites in his
letter to Dr. Sharples.
Dr. Kenneth Turner, who was
a member of the insanity commission appointed by Judge Frater, has decided to
ask for an investigation of the charges, and the charges will
probably be investigated further by the King County Medical association.
(The headline of the article
next to it is cut off, but may read Chester Thompson Guilty)
Seattle Daily Times 12/5/1906 p1
Bar Association Will Investigate Charges Against
Frater!
“The report of Doctors
Loughery and McLeish convinced me there was nothing in thrmental condition of the womn to warrant calling a
commission. I so informed Judge Frater when he approached me and siad that the he believed the women should be examined as
to their sanity, and if found insane sent to Oregon.” . . . .
“I do not believe Lawyer
Clark made the statement that Dr. Parry attributes to him. I am certain of one
thing, however, and that is that if Clark did make the statement he had no
authority to do so. He nor any other man had any
excuse whatsoever for connecting my name with any such proposition.
“I never men Clark until the
morning the commission commenced its hearing. I was introduced to him in the
room in which the commission was sitting in the presence of the commission. I
never spoke or wrote a word to him in my life previous to the morning the
commission commenced its labors. Attorney Clark had nothing to do with the
selection of the commission. The fact that I did not know him is proof that he
could not have influenced me in any way.
“I had no interest in the
disposition of the Mitchell and Creffield cases. I believed, and believe now,
that I had a legal right to appoint such a commission. My sole object was to
see that the law was upheld. In open court when I held that I would call such a
commission I told the attorneys that the matter belonged in Judge Griffin’s de-
(sic) to appoint the members of the commission. Both the attorneys for the
prosecution and the women requested that I appoint the commission and conduct
the hearings, as the case had been before me. It was only upon the earnest
solicitation of the attorneys for both sides that I consented to have the
matter remain in my department. . . .
Dal Case, clerk in Judge Frater’s court, corroborated
the story.
Seattle Daily Times 12/5/1906 p2
Strikes Blow at Insanity Plea Dodge
Seattle Star 12/6/1906 p1
Judge Frater Hits Back at Mackintosh
Considers it Beneath His
Dignity to Notice in Any Way What He Terms the Malicious and Vilifying Attack
of the Prosecuting Attorney.”
(In a box)
“I consider it beneath my
dignity to take any notice of the absolutely false, malicious and vilifying
charges made against me by Prosecuting Attorney Mackintosh. I stand ready at
any time to answer before any impartial tribunal any specific charges emanating
from dignified sources attacking my official conduct.”--Superior Judge A. W.
Frater.
___
“Judge Frater came to me
shortly after these two women had been arrested and suggested that a commission
be appointed to inquire into their sanity. I told him that in my opinion such a
step would be useless, for I believed that it would be impossible to find a
reputable physician who would find the women insane. To this Judge Frater
declared that he would find a commission that would find the women
insane.”--Prosecuting Attorney Kenneth Mackintosh.
___
That judge Frater must in self protection move immediately against Prosecuting
Attorney Mackintosh for the refutation of the charge made by the latter in
connection with the Mitchell-Creffield insanity case is the opinion of the
closest friends of the former among the legal profession of the city. Judge
Frater declares that it would be beneath his dignity as a judge to take any
notice of Mr. Mackintosh’s charges, characterizing them as false, malicious and
vilifying. But despite this declaration on his part, prominent members of the
bar are frank in declaring that the charges cannot be permitted by judge Frater
to long go unchallenged.
Consultations on the subject
of the charges made by Mr. Mackintosh have been held by other members of the
superior bench of King county, but the position taken by the other judges is
that Judge Frater should be the first to move in the matter. The same position
is taken by many leading members of the bar, who however for obvious reasons,
refrain from discussion for publication in a matter concerning the integrity of
the court.
DEFEND FRATER
On behalf of Judge Frater,
it is claimed by his friends that if the prosecuting attorney had any basis for
his charges that the sanity commission in the Creffield case was fixed it was
his duty to present the matter to the Supreme Court at the time it was argued
before the tribunal. This was not done, the appeal being argued purely on
abstract questions of law. George H. Walker, who represented Judge Frater
before the Supreme Court, said this morning:
The only questions raised on
the appeal of the case to the Supreme Court were purely questions of law. No
suggestion was made by the representative of the prosecuting attorney’s office
of any suspicion that there had been anything improper in the proceeding.
Dr. Kenneth Turner yesterday
informed officers of the King County Medical Association that he desired the
association to investigate the charges made before the association insofar as
they involve his conduct in the matter, and this will be taken up at the
meeting of the association a week from next Monday night.
TURNER DENIED ADMISSION
Dr. Turner has been a member
of the association for a little more than a year. He applied first for
membership more than two years ago, but objection was urged to him on the
ground of his ethical standing in the profession and the application was
withdrawn. Last year the application was again presented and favorably passed
upon, though in the face of some slight protest.
The Seattle Bar Association has called a meeting of its members for the evening of December 12, at which the relations of attorneys to the scandal will probably be taken up, though nothing of that nature is suggested in the invitation cards sent out yesterday.
Chapter of Holy Rollers where these articles are some of the sources:
Chapter 29: Poison?
***November 22, 1906: Esther Says Maud Did Not Kill Herself
December 17, 1906: Sad Christmas For Holy Roller
***
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)