Wright County Murder Trials Pages 597 and 598 (Various names mentioned) USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. If you have found this file through a source other than the MNArchives Table Of Contents you can find other Minnesota related Archives at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm Please note the county and type of file at the top of this page to find the submitter information or other files for this county. Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Glen Pettit Transcribed by: Glen Pettit This Bio is from the HISTORY OF WRIGHT COUNTY, Volumes I and II, Published in 1915 by Franklin Curtiss - Wedge. Surname Index for The HISTORY OF WRIGHT COUNTY can be found at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/wright/wright.html Under HISTORY. NOTE: This file was scanned and changed to text so there may be some typos. HISTORY OF WRIGHT COUNTY 597 WRIGHT COUNTY MURDER TRIALS. Andreas Marx, aged 22 years, was shot by John Brenner, May 1, 1857, and died the next day. Marx and his relatives had taken claims in sections 25 and 35, at the west end of Winnishiek prairie. A dispute arose with John Brenner over claim matters. On ~‘Iay 1, when some of the men of the Marx family, and others, were on the way to their cabins when they encountered Brenner, and brought up the subject of their dispute. The argument be- came heated, and Brenner raised his gun and shot Andreas Marx through the body. IN’Iarx lived several hours. Brenner went to St. Paul, there sold his Rockford claim for a small sum, and dis- appeared. 0. H. Kelley of Northwood, a justice of the peace, issued the warrant, but Brenner had disappeared permanently. The first criminal case tried in Wright county was that of Oscar F. Jackson charged with murder. He was indicted by the grand jury; and on October 6, 1858, was arraigned, pleaded not guilty, and committed to Ft. Ripley. He was tried at the March term, 1859, and was acquitted. The details are given in this his- tory in the chapter on the Wright County War, so called. The Jackson trial, with its fateful results, overshadowed the Oehrlein trial which was heard at the same term of court. Casper Oehrlein was arraigned October 6, 1858, before the district court at Monticello, Judge Edward 0. Hamlin, charged with the murder of Michael Oehrlein. He pleaded not guilty, and was committed to Ft. Ripley. He was tried at the March term, 1859. April 29, upon motion of the prosecuting attorney the case was dismissed, the state being “satisfied that the gun-wad placed in evidence was not taken from the paper found in possession of the defendant.~~ Thomas J. Shippey was one of the only two men who have been sentenced to be hanged in Wright county. On March 3, 1863, in the town of Rockford, he shot and killed Frederick M. Raymond. He was arrested the same day. He was duly indicted, 598 HISTORY OF WRIGHT COUNTY was convicted at the September term of court, the supreme court refused to set aside the verdict, and on December 15, 1865, he was sentenced to be hanged. The governor commuted the sentence to life imprisonment. Shippey was a recluse and somewhat eccentric in his ways. On March 3, 1863, four men of his neighborhood, Frederick M. Ray- mond, Edward Morse, David Kridler and David Beattle, had been in Rockford for a few hours. In approaching Shippey ‘s place on their return, Raymond and Morse declared that they were thirsty. Shippey came out of the house, and they asked him for some water. He said nothing and they entered the yard and followed him around a shed toward the well. Then he ordered them away. They told him that he should not treat them in that manner. Again he ordered them away, and after a few jests they complied. Shippey then went in the house, and came out with a rifle. By that time the men were in the highway. Raymond threw a stick over the fence onto Shippey ‘s land, and remarked that he was now on the highway and that if Shippey had anything to settle with him he should come out there and settle it like a man. Shippey aimed his gun at Kridler, a youth of eighteen, who with David Beattle had been waiting on the highway. Then he turned it on Raymond. Raymond dodged behind a tree, and Shippey still kept his gun pointed toward him. Raymond then stepped from his shelter and called “If you want to shoot me, shoot.” Shippey, who was only a few rods distant, fired at him point blank. Ray- mond gave a surprised laugh, walked a step or two, and fell dead. Shippey started to load the gun again, and Raymond ‘s companions went for help. The highest courts of the state determined that Shippey had been guilty of wilful murder, but the governor took into consideration the fact that Shippey had long brooded over other annoyances real or imaginary on the part of persons passing his place, and commuted the sentence.