The Tragic Story of a Kearney Boy Gone Bad
About the
family
Art’s father born in Virginia, went west to
Illinois where he met a girl & married in about 1874.
Two daughters born in
Illinois
About
1878 they moved to a farm in Custer County, Nebraska
Where Art was born in 1882
By 1900 five more children
were born, but of these 8, four died
Parents and three children were living in Kearney
The location of the eldest daughter was unknown
Art was 18 and working on a farm, living at home
His Life of
Crime
Two years later Art, now 20, was sent to penitentiary for burglary
After a
month he escaped and was captured near the Colorado border
November 22, 1903 – Art was released after serving 1 ½ years in the
pen & returned to Kearney
Probably early in March – Art left Kearney
March 15 – Art, aka Harry Rogers, and a man named Jake Kelly were
arrested for intoxication and quarreling and put in the Dodge County jail at
Fremont.
(Kelly, 42, plumber from East Lake, Michigan, well known crook in Nebraska
Suspected of helping with a murder in Holdrege in 1891)
Next day
(March 16) – They were released if they
would leave town They did not
leave; arrested again and given 10 days
Other
prisoners heard them arguing
Kelly said he would kill Rogers (Art) first chance he got, that Rogers
(Art)knew too much about him
and was likely to “peach”
After 10 days (March 26)
they were released again; this time they headed west
Next day
(March 27) they were both seen in Humphrey
That
night they burglarized a store in Creston
March 28, 1904 –
Art was murdered 12 (or 4 ½) miles from Humphrey, between Columbus and
Norfolk.
Bullet in the head
Found in a vacant house. Theory he was killed outside the house and dragged
in.
Over the next 3 weeks
Identification & Arrest
At
first the identity of body unknown
Cards
in his pocket had the name Harry Rogers, written by a man in Fremont jail
when Art was there
Sheriff in Fremont recognized clothes as those belonging to man he knew
as Harry Rogers
Body taken to Lincoln to be turn over to medical college if unclaimed
A heavily veiled woman and a man came to the
undertaking rooms
The woman identified body as her son and arranged for burial under the name
William Bell. She refused to
give her name. She may have been a relative.
Sheriff in
Columbus was investigating
He went to the penitentiary and found Art’s record
Also found a young lady from Hastings knew Art was using the name Harry
Rogers
Buffalo
County deputy sheriff went to Lincoln and identified Art from a photo
$400 reward for
Kelly’s arrest and conviction of murder; Kelly arrested sometime in the next
10 days
Hub report on April 28 –
Now believed the woman who claimed to be Art’s mother and arranged for his
burial was probably his sister
She was possibly living in St. Louis or Kansas City
Her parents (Art’s parents) didn’t know where she lived but were looking for
her
They wanted her evidence in Kelly’s trial.
About a week later – A picture of the dead man was brought to Kearney
from Lincoln by the Buffalo County deputy sheriff. Art’s parents positively
identified him as their son.
Deputy wrote to the Lincoln undertaker asking were
the body was buried
Undertaker dodged the question saying it was not
Art and that relatives had identified him and paid for burial.
[never did find where Art was buried]
More evidence against Kelly
A shop in David
City was robbed a few days before the murder
The shop owner identified the shirt and tie Kelly was wearing came from his
store.
Search of
home of a peddler turned up over $100 worth of clothing; a warrant was
issued for his arrest
Peddler identified Kelly as one of men he had
bought the stuff from two days before the murder
There was also had
evidence Art and Kelly were in Humphrey the day before the murder and Kelly
was there the day after, before the body was found
Trial against
Kelly took place in Columbus. June 16 & 18
Art’s mother testified
and broke down when questioned about the waywardness of her son.
Two men in Fremont jail
with Art and Kelly swore they heard Kelly tell Art he knew too much about
him, Kelly, and he would have to “put him away”
Peddler swore he bought
goods from the two men a few days after they got out of jail
Another man testified when
he went to see the corpse, that Kelly entered with a policeman and said “If
you send a photograph of this man to Kearney you will find his relatives.”
Kelly testified on
his own behalf.
Admitted they were in jail together in Fremont and both released the same
time
Did not see Art again until he saw the body at Humphrey the day of the
murder
After 15
hours of deliberation, jury declared Kelly guilty of murder in 2nd degree &
was sentenced to be life in prison
Also: One of the
two men from the Fremont jail eluded the Platte County sheriff, jumped from
a second-story window of the courthouse and escaped the day after testifying
What happened to
Art’s family?
Parents & younger sister moved across the river to a farm in Phelps
County
Sister married; younger brother moved back home to do the farming
February 1932
– Mother died of apoplexy, buried in Kearney Cemetery with the 4
children
Father moved back to Kearney
where he died in November 1942 at age 96
A few
days later – The youngest son, apparently home from Utah for the
funeral, plead guilty to forging a $15 check |
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