John Stephen Craig - a new find!

Way back in 2013, I wrote a post sharing the first newspaper articles I had ever seen regarding the murder of my great-great-grandfather John Stephen Craig. Since that was written, I have discovered other articles, containing very little additional information, and that seemed to be all there was.

But last weekend I was exploring Newspapers.com, and a number of articles showed up in my search results. I wasn't even looking for articles about his death; but they matched my search terms and appeared anyway. Most of these I ignored, as clippings I have examined and reexamined. But a few grabbed my attention, appearing in a newspaper I had never before accessed. It was the Omaha Daily News, and I diligently looked at every article that popped up from that press, although with little expectation of learning anything new.

One front-page article announced his death and its circumstances, giving much of the same information that I have already seen, yet adding a number of details I had not seen. I read with interest:

FIND BODY OF MURDERED MAN IN VACANT LOT
Say Robbery Not Motive for Killing of John Craig, 70, Expressman.
MONEY IN HIS CLOTHING
Home Where He Lived With Son Shows Apparent Evidence of Struggle.
MAN'S SKULL CRUSHED

John Craig, 70, an expressman, Eleventh and Paul streets, was slain by an unknown assassin some time Wednesday night. His body was found with the skull crushed in a vacant lot near his home at 6 a. m. today.

He had been dead several hours in the opinion of Policeman Antone Franel. Robbery is not believed to have been the motive for the crime as Craig had not been robbed of a gold watch and $7.95 in money, which Franel found in his clothing.

The injury could not have been received accidentally, according to police, as the body was not lying near any hard object against which Craig could have struck his head in a fall, and the victim could not have walked to the spot after receiving the injury, which is believed to have caused death instantly.

Evidence of Struggle.

Examination of the one room hovel, Eleventh and Paul, where the old man had lived for thirty eight years, showed that the door had been broken in. The room also bore evidence of a struggle, a can, containing two loaves of bread, being found under the bed, and the other furniture being disarranged.

Detective John Dunn, accompanied by Matthew Craig, 3818 Franklin street, a son, were unable to find a sum of money, which the latter's father was believed to have hidden in the hut.

Among the personal effects found on Craig's body were two tickets to the Orpheum theater for last night.

Police are undecided whether Craig had started to the theater and was struck down, where he was found, or whether he was slain by a man who broke into the cabin.

Harry Craig, another son, who resided with his father, could not be found this morning. He and been operating a small store, owned by his father, a few feet from where they lived, while his father conducted an express business

Go to Daughter's Home.

During his search for Harry Craig, Dunn went to the home of Mrs. Harry Stroesser, 417 North Fortieth street, a daughter. She said she had not seen her brother or father for a long time, that they had been forbidden to come to her home by her husband.

Stroesser, however, said he saw his father-in-law in Micky Gibson's saloon at 5 p. m. yesterday with three men, Stroesser is a city carpenter.

"I did not speak to Craig when I met him," said Stroesser. "We never spoke to each other."

Matthew Craig told police today that he had a premonition of danger last night while eating dinner, and that he was unable to finish his meal.

"I felt as though some misfortune were impending, but I didn't know what it was," he said.

He said his father had driven a negro robber from his store about a year ago with a pistol and that the negro threatened to "get revenge."

County Attorney Magney announced that an inquest will be held Friday or Saturday.

As I scrolled down the page to read, something stunning caught my eye. The article was interrupted by a photograph. Could it be? Could it really be a picture of John Craig himself? Forcing myself to submit to the suspense, I focused on the task at hand, allowing myself to scroll to the bottom of the picture only after reading the words above.

And there, at the bottom of the picture, was his name. It truly was a portrait of my 2great-grandfather, the first I had ever seen.


 

I stared in shock. It really was him. After a few moments to realize what I was looking at, I zoomed in and tried to take him in. Strangely, I could see little family resemblance. But I could appreciate his magnificent mustache, and wonder at his piercing eyes. Is it merely a fluke of the newsprint, or did he have heterochromia? It looks as though one eye was a light color like blue, and the other eye was a dark color like brown.

This extraordinary visual image was not my only discovery, either. I also found an article that gave a much clearer explanation about why John's son Harry, who was held for the crime, was released.

EXONERATE SON OF MAN FOUND MURDERED

Harry Craig, Held for Investigation, Proves an Alibi at the Inquest.
Harry Craig, held by police for investigation in connection with the murder of his father, John Craig, 62, found dead Thursday morning, his head crushed, proved an alibi and won his freedom at an inquest Saturday afternoon.

Craig accounted for his actions from late in the afternoon preceding the murder until the following day and was released by order of County Attorney Magney.

He proved to the satisfaction of the jury that he was at Micky Gibson's saloon at 7 p. m., the night of the murder to keep an appointment with his father, who did not come to the saloon; that he was at the Millard hotel at 8 o'clock; in a pool hall at 9 and in bed at the Millard at 10.

Mrs. Harry Stroesser, a daughter, testified that she knew of no enemies of her father. The verdict was that Craig was killed by a blow on the head, inflicted by an unknown person.

Funeral services will be held at 4 p. m. today.

Sources:

"Find Body of Murdered Man in Vacant Lot," Omaha Daily News, 22 Feb 1917, p. 1, col. 1; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 16 Feb 2025).

"Exonerate Son of Man Found Murdered," Omaha Daily News, 25 Feb 1917, p. 1, col. 5; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : accessed 16 Feb 2025).