interred 1/20/1910
******
Grace Croswell
United States Census, 1880
Name Grace Croswell
Event Type Census
Event Date 1880
Event Place Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States
Gender Female
Age 27
Marital Status Married
Race White
Race (Original) W
Occupation Keep House
Relationship to Head of Household Wife
Relationship to Head of Household (Original) Wife
Birth Year (Estimated) 1853
Birthplace Maryland, United States
Father's Birthplace New York, United States
Mother's Birthplace New York, United States
Sheet Letter D
Sheet Number 269
Person Number 1
Volume 1
HOUSEHOLD
William Croswell Self M 29 Massachusetts, United States
Grace Croswell Wife F 27 Maryland, United States
Joseph Croswell Son M 2 Massachusetts, United States
Sarah Mcclellan Other F 20 Canada
********
This Halloween, Rolla residents are warned to be on guard against the specter of Professor J.S. Croswell. It was 120 years ago that Croswell, once an instructor at the Missouri School of Mines, sparked nationwide infamy by murdering Rolla's Mollie Powell during her 19th birthday party.
"Croswell is of quiet disposition and did not make acquaintances easily," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported of Joseph Simonds Croswell. The 23-year-old professor was originally from Cambridge and newly graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1900. He came to Rolla soon after to teach shopwork and drawing for the Missouri School of Mines.
"He was of medium height and weighed about 135 pounds, his complexion was sallow," the Post-Dispatch continued. "[Croswell] had reddish brown curly hair which he parted in the middle. His eyes were gray, his forehead was high and prominent. His nose large and slightly aquiline, his chin heavy. He dressed well, sometimes flashily."
Of his personality, the Kansas City Star added, "Croswell never drank, smoked or chewed. He never even used slang. He was pretty well built and was a very good bicycle rider. He used to play tennis a great deal. He had a sort of high treble voice that you wouldn't like to hear."
His New England accent and hobbies led to Croswell being teased in Rolla, then a town of less than 2,000. He was sometimes called a "sissy" by locals and it was said he made no friends here. It was perhaps this alienation that drew Croswell to a neighbor, Mollie Powell. She was the third of eight children by Fannie Powell and her late husband, Walbridge J. Powell – former editor of the Rolla New Era newspaper.
"She was a tall handsome girl, full of life and full of hope," the Rolla Herald said of Mollie Powell. "She had dark hair, blue eyes and was very attractive. She was always surrounded by a host of admirers and she entered into every pleasure. Although only a girl she loved to do charity work, it was only necessary to mention to her that some poor person was suffering or in need and she would never stop until she had done something to help him."
The Springfield News-Leader noted Croswell lived above the Gratzmuller millinery store on Pine Street, near the Powell home at the corner of Sixth Street and Pine.
"All last year [Croswell] paid devoted attention to Miss Powell," the Kansas City Gazette reported. "He was a constant caller at her home and through his intimacy and constant attention was treated almost like a member of the family. He would take meals and go driving with the family and was constantly around when not at work at the school."
Marriage was Croswell's ultimate goal. The Gazette continues, "Croswell was evidently desperately in love with Miss Powell and sought her consent to marry him, but Miss Powell always told him that she could not love him and could not marry him; that she was betrothed to another. He was persistent in his attentions and finally Miss Powell's mother, Mrs. W.J. Powell, informed Mr. Croswell that her daughter was already engaged and could not think of marrying him."
Powell's fiancé was Charles Rogers, a Neosho native who previously graduated from the school of mines and was back home before the marriage. Croswell's wooing spurned; he travelled back to Massachusetts for summer vacation following his first year in Rolla. At the advice of Mollie Powell, Croswell even accepted a position at an eastern college. However, "The next day he resigned and advised Miss Powell that he would return to Rolla."
The School of Mines returned to session fall 1901 with Croswell back in Rolla. However, Mollie Powell was by then planning her own departure. Her plans were to go to St. Louis to study music in hopes of becoming a singer.
Monday, Sept. 23, 1901, was Mollie Powell's 19th birthday and to be one of her last soirees in Rolla before leaving town. The celebration was a small affair with the family, Croswell and two other attendees. Following a drive about town, the group returned to the Powell home that night. One by one, each went home or went to bed until only Crowell remained.
"You had better go home, it's getting late," mother Fanny Powell said to Croswell at about 11 p.m. The Post-Dispatch notes, "Mrs. Powell then went upstairs leaving her daughter in the lounge and Mr. Croswell standing in the center of the room. Five minutes later, she heard a faint scream."
Upon rushing back to the lounge, Mollie Powell staggered toward her mother fatally wounded.
advertisement
"Don't go in or he will shoot you! He has shot me and I am dying!" were Mollie Powell's last words. She made it up three stairs but then collapsed with a shot to the heart. Found in the lounge afterwards was Croswell's hat and a four-ounce bottle of chloroform.
"The news of the shooting spread rapidly over the town and before midnight 300 armed men were searching every street and alley," the Post-Dispatch reported. The Gazette adds, "By 1 o'clock Tuesday morning the entire town was being scoured by searching parties and every freight and passenger train was searched by armed men. Telephone and telegraph messages were sent in every direction. At 4 o'clock students hired horses and in bands started on every road."
Press reports emphasized, "The students from the School of Mines, many of whom had worked every day under Croswell's direction, formed posses and were among the most determined pursuers."
Classes on campus the following day were cancelled with Chancellor George E. Ladd advising students they could join the search, but they should bring Croswell in alive.
"Use no violence, except in self-defense," Ladd told the students.
Phelps County Sheriff John W. Cooper deputized many members of the mob in hopes of averting an outright lynching. During a mass meeting the evening after the shooting, Cooper and Rolla Mayor Edward Long were coordinating picket duties when news arrived that Croswell was spotted in the barn of Robert A. Love on the eastern outskirts of the city. Two women chased Croswell from there into a ravine leading to the former home of Judge C.C. Bland. The house at the time was occupied by fellow school of mines professor, E.G. Harris.
"An effort was made to keep the report secret, but it gradually spread, and the searchers started in pursuit," the Post-Dispatch reported. The Iron County Register adds, "The mayor endeavored to get some statement from [Croswell] before he died, but failed."
A team of four pursuers, which included Mayor Long, advanced on a barn in which Croswell was hiding. Hounded by officers, his students, and a mob of outraged townsfolk; Croswell realized he would be taken. He was witnessed fleeing from the barn to under a cedar tree. A shot was then heard.
"The revolver with which he killed himself was the same one used in killing Miss Powell," the Post-Dispatch noted. The weapon was a .38-caliber revolver. Croswell had shot himself through the heart.
Mollie Powell was buried in Rolla City Cemetery to great mourning in her hometown. Croswell was sent back east by rail in a coffin following a short service at the depot. He was buried in Cambridge's Mount Auburn Cemetery.
Perhaps the best coda to the story was offered by School of Mines Chancellor George E. Ladd in dualling statements to the press.
To the Kanas City Star Ladd said, "[Croswell] had just graduated high in his classes and he was very young, not more than 22 years. He was a very intelligent young fellow and very satisfactory. I think perhaps he studied a little too hard in college, being so young, but he was recovering all right. He had no friends or companions among men and none among women excepting in the family of Mrs. Powell. I think his only confidant was Miss Powell. He was with her a great deal and I supposed that he was going to marry her before long, although he never talked about her. I presume it was his first love affair. He probably did not realize what it would be to him to be disappointed in love."
To the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Ladd concluded, "I have noticed it since he came back this fall. His address has been different. The expression of his eyes became wild and unsteady. It was like the expression in the eyes of an insane man."
Contributor: James Hendrix (51242427)
******
Grace Croswell
United States Census, 1880
Name Grace Croswell
Event Type Census
Event Date 1880
Event Place Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States
Gender Female
Age 27
Marital Status Married
Race White
Race (Original) W
Occupation Keep House
Relationship to Head of Household Wife
Relationship to Head of Household (Original) Wife
Birth Year (Estimated) 1853
Birthplace Maryland, United States
Father's Birthplace New York, United States
Mother's Birthplace New York, United States
Sheet Letter D
Sheet Number 269
Person Number 1
Volume 1
HOUSEHOLD
William Croswell Self M 29 Massachusetts, United States
Grace Croswell Wife F 27 Maryland, United States
Joseph Croswell Son M 2 Massachusetts, United States
Sarah Mcclellan Other F 20 Canada
********
This Halloween, Rolla residents are warned to be on guard against the specter of Professor J.S. Croswell. It was 120 years ago that Croswell, once an instructor at the Missouri School of Mines, sparked nationwide infamy by murdering Rolla's Mollie Powell during her 19th birthday party.
"Croswell is of quiet disposition and did not make acquaintances easily," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported of Joseph Simonds Croswell. The 23-year-old professor was originally from Cambridge and newly graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1900. He came to Rolla soon after to teach shopwork and drawing for the Missouri School of Mines.
"He was of medium height and weighed about 135 pounds, his complexion was sallow," the Post-Dispatch continued. "[Croswell] had reddish brown curly hair which he parted in the middle. His eyes were gray, his forehead was high and prominent. His nose large and slightly aquiline, his chin heavy. He dressed well, sometimes flashily."
Of his personality, the Kansas City Star added, "Croswell never drank, smoked or chewed. He never even used slang. He was pretty well built and was a very good bicycle rider. He used to play tennis a great deal. He had a sort of high treble voice that you wouldn't like to hear."
His New England accent and hobbies led to Croswell being teased in Rolla, then a town of less than 2,000. He was sometimes called a "sissy" by locals and it was said he made no friends here. It was perhaps this alienation that drew Croswell to a neighbor, Mollie Powell. She was the third of eight children by Fannie Powell and her late husband, Walbridge J. Powell – former editor of the Rolla New Era newspaper.
"She was a tall handsome girl, full of life and full of hope," the Rolla Herald said of Mollie Powell. "She had dark hair, blue eyes and was very attractive. She was always surrounded by a host of admirers and she entered into every pleasure. Although only a girl she loved to do charity work, it was only necessary to mention to her that some poor person was suffering or in need and she would never stop until she had done something to help him."
The Springfield News-Leader noted Croswell lived above the Gratzmuller millinery store on Pine Street, near the Powell home at the corner of Sixth Street and Pine.
"All last year [Croswell] paid devoted attention to Miss Powell," the Kansas City Gazette reported. "He was a constant caller at her home and through his intimacy and constant attention was treated almost like a member of the family. He would take meals and go driving with the family and was constantly around when not at work at the school."
Marriage was Croswell's ultimate goal. The Gazette continues, "Croswell was evidently desperately in love with Miss Powell and sought her consent to marry him, but Miss Powell always told him that she could not love him and could not marry him; that she was betrothed to another. He was persistent in his attentions and finally Miss Powell's mother, Mrs. W.J. Powell, informed Mr. Croswell that her daughter was already engaged and could not think of marrying him."
Powell's fiancé was Charles Rogers, a Neosho native who previously graduated from the school of mines and was back home before the marriage. Croswell's wooing spurned; he travelled back to Massachusetts for summer vacation following his first year in Rolla. At the advice of Mollie Powell, Croswell even accepted a position at an eastern college. However, "The next day he resigned and advised Miss Powell that he would return to Rolla."
The School of Mines returned to session fall 1901 with Croswell back in Rolla. However, Mollie Powell was by then planning her own departure. Her plans were to go to St. Louis to study music in hopes of becoming a singer.
Monday, Sept. 23, 1901, was Mollie Powell's 19th birthday and to be one of her last soirees in Rolla before leaving town. The celebration was a small affair with the family, Croswell and two other attendees. Following a drive about town, the group returned to the Powell home that night. One by one, each went home or went to bed until only Crowell remained.
"You had better go home, it's getting late," mother Fanny Powell said to Croswell at about 11 p.m. The Post-Dispatch notes, "Mrs. Powell then went upstairs leaving her daughter in the lounge and Mr. Croswell standing in the center of the room. Five minutes later, she heard a faint scream."
Upon rushing back to the lounge, Mollie Powell staggered toward her mother fatally wounded.
advertisement
"Don't go in or he will shoot you! He has shot me and I am dying!" were Mollie Powell's last words. She made it up three stairs but then collapsed with a shot to the heart. Found in the lounge afterwards was Croswell's hat and a four-ounce bottle of chloroform.
"The news of the shooting spread rapidly over the town and before midnight 300 armed men were searching every street and alley," the Post-Dispatch reported. The Gazette adds, "By 1 o'clock Tuesday morning the entire town was being scoured by searching parties and every freight and passenger train was searched by armed men. Telephone and telegraph messages were sent in every direction. At 4 o'clock students hired horses and in bands started on every road."
Press reports emphasized, "The students from the School of Mines, many of whom had worked every day under Croswell's direction, formed posses and were among the most determined pursuers."
Classes on campus the following day were cancelled with Chancellor George E. Ladd advising students they could join the search, but they should bring Croswell in alive.
"Use no violence, except in self-defense," Ladd told the students.
Phelps County Sheriff John W. Cooper deputized many members of the mob in hopes of averting an outright lynching. During a mass meeting the evening after the shooting, Cooper and Rolla Mayor Edward Long were coordinating picket duties when news arrived that Croswell was spotted in the barn of Robert A. Love on the eastern outskirts of the city. Two women chased Croswell from there into a ravine leading to the former home of Judge C.C. Bland. The house at the time was occupied by fellow school of mines professor, E.G. Harris.
"An effort was made to keep the report secret, but it gradually spread, and the searchers started in pursuit," the Post-Dispatch reported. The Iron County Register adds, "The mayor endeavored to get some statement from [Croswell] before he died, but failed."
A team of four pursuers, which included Mayor Long, advanced on a barn in which Croswell was hiding. Hounded by officers, his students, and a mob of outraged townsfolk; Croswell realized he would be taken. He was witnessed fleeing from the barn to under a cedar tree. A shot was then heard.
"The revolver with which he killed himself was the same one used in killing Miss Powell," the Post-Dispatch noted. The weapon was a .38-caliber revolver. Croswell had shot himself through the heart.
Mollie Powell was buried in Rolla City Cemetery to great mourning in her hometown. Croswell was sent back east by rail in a coffin following a short service at the depot. He was buried in Cambridge's Mount Auburn Cemetery.
Perhaps the best coda to the story was offered by School of Mines Chancellor George E. Ladd in dualling statements to the press.
To the Kanas City Star Ladd said, "[Croswell] had just graduated high in his classes and he was very young, not more than 22 years. He was a very intelligent young fellow and very satisfactory. I think perhaps he studied a little too hard in college, being so young, but he was recovering all right. He had no friends or companions among men and none among women excepting in the family of Mrs. Powell. I think his only confidant was Miss Powell. He was with her a great deal and I supposed that he was going to marry her before long, although he never talked about her. I presume it was his first love affair. He probably did not realize what it would be to him to be disappointed in love."
To the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Ladd concluded, "I have noticed it since he came back this fall. His address has been different. The expression of his eyes became wild and unsteady. It was like the expression in the eyes of an insane man."
Contributor: James Hendrix (51242427)
interred 1/20/1910
******
Grace Croswell
United States Census, 1880
Name Grace Croswell
Event Type Census
Event Date 1880
Event Place Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States
Gender Female
Age 27
Marital Status Married
Race White
Race (Original) W
Occupation Keep House
Relationship to Head of Household Wife
Relationship to Head of Household (Original) Wife
Birth Year (Estimated) 1853
Birthplace Maryland, United States
Father's Birthplace New York, United States
Mother's Birthplace New York, United States
Sheet Letter D
Sheet Number 269
Person Number 1
Volume 1
HOUSEHOLD
William Croswell Self M 29 Massachusetts, United States
Grace Croswell Wife F 27 Maryland, United States
Joseph Croswell Son M 2 Massachusetts, United States
Sarah Mcclellan Other F 20 Canada
********
This Halloween, Rolla residents are warned to be on guard against the specter of Professor J.S. Croswell. It was 120 years ago that Croswell, once an instructor at the Missouri School of Mines, sparked nationwide infamy by murdering Rolla's Mollie Powell during her 19th birthday party.
"Croswell is of quiet disposition and did not make acquaintances easily," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported of Joseph Simonds Croswell. The 23-year-old professor was originally from Cambridge and newly graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1900. He came to Rolla soon after to teach shopwork and drawing for the Missouri School of Mines.
"He was of medium height and weighed about 135 pounds, his complexion was sallow," the Post-Dispatch continued. "[Croswell] had reddish brown curly hair which he parted in the middle. His eyes were gray, his forehead was high and prominent. His nose large and slightly aquiline, his chin heavy. He dressed well, sometimes flashily."
Of his personality, the Kansas City Star added, "Croswell never drank, smoked or chewed. He never even used slang. He was pretty well built and was a very good bicycle rider. He used to play tennis a great deal. He had a sort of high treble voice that you wouldn't like to hear."
His New England accent and hobbies led to Croswell being teased in Rolla, then a town of less than 2,000. He was sometimes called a "sissy" by locals and it was said he made no friends here. It was perhaps this alienation that drew Croswell to a neighbor, Mollie Powell. She was the third of eight children by Fannie Powell and her late husband, Walbridge J. Powell – former editor of the Rolla New Era newspaper.
"She was a tall handsome girl, full of life and full of hope," the Rolla Herald said of Mollie Powell. "She had dark hair, blue eyes and was very attractive. She was always surrounded by a host of admirers and she entered into every pleasure. Although only a girl she loved to do charity work, it was only necessary to mention to her that some poor person was suffering or in need and she would never stop until she had done something to help him."
The Springfield News-Leader noted Croswell lived above the Gratzmuller millinery store on Pine Street, near the Powell home at the corner of Sixth Street and Pine.
"All last year [Croswell] paid devoted attention to Miss Powell," the Kansas City Gazette reported. "He was a constant caller at her home and through his intimacy and constant attention was treated almost like a member of the family. He would take meals and go driving with the family and was constantly around when not at work at the school."
Marriage was Croswell's ultimate goal. The Gazette continues, "Croswell was evidently desperately in love with Miss Powell and sought her consent to marry him, but Miss Powell always told him that she could not love him and could not marry him; that she was betrothed to another. He was persistent in his attentions and finally Miss Powell's mother, Mrs. W.J. Powell, informed Mr. Croswell that her daughter was already engaged and could not think of marrying him."
Powell's fiancé was Charles Rogers, a Neosho native who previously graduated from the school of mines and was back home before the marriage. Croswell's wooing spurned; he travelled back to Massachusetts for summer vacation following his first year in Rolla. At the advice of Mollie Powell, Croswell even accepted a position at an eastern college. However, "The next day he resigned and advised Miss Powell that he would return to Rolla."
The School of Mines returned to session fall 1901 with Croswell back in Rolla. However, Mollie Powell was by then planning her own departure. Her plans were to go to St. Louis to study music in hopes of becoming a singer.
Monday, Sept. 23, 1901, was Mollie Powell's 19th birthday and to be one of her last soirees in Rolla before leaving town. The celebration was a small affair with the family, Croswell and two other attendees. Following a drive about town, the group returned to the Powell home that night. One by one, each went home or went to bed until only Crowell remained.
"You had better go home, it's getting late," mother Fanny Powell said to Croswell at about 11 p.m. The Post-Dispatch notes, "Mrs. Powell then went upstairs leaving her daughter in the lounge and Mr. Croswell standing in the center of the room. Five minutes later, she heard a faint scream."
Upon rushing back to the lounge, Mollie Powell staggered toward her mother fatally wounded.
advertisement
"Don't go in or he will shoot you! He has shot me and I am dying!" were Mollie Powell's last words. She made it up three stairs but then collapsed with a shot to the heart. Found in the lounge afterwards was Croswell's hat and a four-ounce bottle of chloroform.
"The news of the shooting spread rapidly over the town and before midnight 300 armed men were searching every street and alley," the Post-Dispatch reported. The Gazette adds, "By 1 o'clock Tuesday morning the entire town was being scoured by searching parties and every freight and passenger train was searched by armed men. Telephone and telegraph messages were sent in every direction. At 4 o'clock students hired horses and in bands started on every road."
Press reports emphasized, "The students from the School of Mines, many of whom had worked every day under Croswell's direction, formed posses and were among the most determined pursuers."
Classes on campus the following day were cancelled with Chancellor George E. Ladd advising students they could join the search, but they should bring Croswell in alive.
"Use no violence, except in self-defense," Ladd told the students.
Phelps County Sheriff John W. Cooper deputized many members of the mob in hopes of averting an outright lynching. During a mass meeting the evening after the shooting, Cooper and Rolla Mayor Edward Long were coordinating picket duties when news arrived that Croswell was spotted in the barn of Robert A. Love on the eastern outskirts of the city. Two women chased Croswell from there into a ravine leading to the former home of Judge C.C. Bland. The house at the time was occupied by fellow school of mines professor, E.G. Harris.
"An effort was made to keep the report secret, but it gradually spread, and the searchers started in pursuit," the Post-Dispatch reported. The Iron County Register adds, "The mayor endeavored to get some statement from [Croswell] before he died, but failed."
A team of four pursuers, which included Mayor Long, advanced on a barn in which Croswell was hiding. Hounded by officers, his students, and a mob of outraged townsfolk; Croswell realized he would be taken. He was witnessed fleeing from the barn to under a cedar tree. A shot was then heard.
"The revolver with which he killed himself was the same one used in killing Miss Powell," the Post-Dispatch noted. The weapon was a .38-caliber revolver. Croswell had shot himself through the heart.
Mollie Powell was buried in Rolla City Cemetery to great mourning in her hometown. Croswell was sent back east by rail in a coffin following a short service at the depot. He was buried in Cambridge's Mount Auburn Cemetery.
Perhaps the best coda to the story was offered by School of Mines Chancellor George E. Ladd in dualling statements to the press.
To the Kanas City Star Ladd said, "[Croswell] had just graduated high in his classes and he was very young, not more than 22 years. He was a very intelligent young fellow and very satisfactory. I think perhaps he studied a little too hard in college, being so young, but he was recovering all right. He had no friends or companions among men and none among women excepting in the family of Mrs. Powell. I think his only confidant was Miss Powell. He was with her a great deal and I supposed that he was going to marry her before long, although he never talked about her. I presume it was his first love affair. He probably did not realize what it would be to him to be disappointed in love."
To the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Ladd concluded, "I have noticed it since he came back this fall. His address has been different. The expression of his eyes became wild and unsteady. It was like the expression in the eyes of an insane man."
Contributor: James Hendrix (51242427)
******
Grace Croswell
United States Census, 1880
Name Grace Croswell
Event Type Census
Event Date 1880
Event Place Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States
Gender Female
Age 27
Marital Status Married
Race White
Race (Original) W
Occupation Keep House
Relationship to Head of Household Wife
Relationship to Head of Household (Original) Wife
Birth Year (Estimated) 1853
Birthplace Maryland, United States
Father's Birthplace New York, United States
Mother's Birthplace New York, United States
Sheet Letter D
Sheet Number 269
Person Number 1
Volume 1
HOUSEHOLD
William Croswell Self M 29 Massachusetts, United States
Grace Croswell Wife F 27 Maryland, United States
Joseph Croswell Son M 2 Massachusetts, United States
Sarah Mcclellan Other F 20 Canada
********
This Halloween, Rolla residents are warned to be on guard against the specter of Professor J.S. Croswell. It was 120 years ago that Croswell, once an instructor at the Missouri School of Mines, sparked nationwide infamy by murdering Rolla's Mollie Powell during her 19th birthday party.
"Croswell is of quiet disposition and did not make acquaintances easily," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported of Joseph Simonds Croswell. The 23-year-old professor was originally from Cambridge and newly graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1900. He came to Rolla soon after to teach shopwork and drawing for the Missouri School of Mines.
"He was of medium height and weighed about 135 pounds, his complexion was sallow," the Post-Dispatch continued. "[Croswell] had reddish brown curly hair which he parted in the middle. His eyes were gray, his forehead was high and prominent. His nose large and slightly aquiline, his chin heavy. He dressed well, sometimes flashily."
Of his personality, the Kansas City Star added, "Croswell never drank, smoked or chewed. He never even used slang. He was pretty well built and was a very good bicycle rider. He used to play tennis a great deal. He had a sort of high treble voice that you wouldn't like to hear."
His New England accent and hobbies led to Croswell being teased in Rolla, then a town of less than 2,000. He was sometimes called a "sissy" by locals and it was said he made no friends here. It was perhaps this alienation that drew Croswell to a neighbor, Mollie Powell. She was the third of eight children by Fannie Powell and her late husband, Walbridge J. Powell – former editor of the Rolla New Era newspaper.
"She was a tall handsome girl, full of life and full of hope," the Rolla Herald said of Mollie Powell. "She had dark hair, blue eyes and was very attractive. She was always surrounded by a host of admirers and she entered into every pleasure. Although only a girl she loved to do charity work, it was only necessary to mention to her that some poor person was suffering or in need and she would never stop until she had done something to help him."
The Springfield News-Leader noted Croswell lived above the Gratzmuller millinery store on Pine Street, near the Powell home at the corner of Sixth Street and Pine.
"All last year [Croswell] paid devoted attention to Miss Powell," the Kansas City Gazette reported. "He was a constant caller at her home and through his intimacy and constant attention was treated almost like a member of the family. He would take meals and go driving with the family and was constantly around when not at work at the school."
Marriage was Croswell's ultimate goal. The Gazette continues, "Croswell was evidently desperately in love with Miss Powell and sought her consent to marry him, but Miss Powell always told him that she could not love him and could not marry him; that she was betrothed to another. He was persistent in his attentions and finally Miss Powell's mother, Mrs. W.J. Powell, informed Mr. Croswell that her daughter was already engaged and could not think of marrying him."
Powell's fiancé was Charles Rogers, a Neosho native who previously graduated from the school of mines and was back home before the marriage. Croswell's wooing spurned; he travelled back to Massachusetts for summer vacation following his first year in Rolla. At the advice of Mollie Powell, Croswell even accepted a position at an eastern college. However, "The next day he resigned and advised Miss Powell that he would return to Rolla."
The School of Mines returned to session fall 1901 with Croswell back in Rolla. However, Mollie Powell was by then planning her own departure. Her plans were to go to St. Louis to study music in hopes of becoming a singer.
Monday, Sept. 23, 1901, was Mollie Powell's 19th birthday and to be one of her last soirees in Rolla before leaving town. The celebration was a small affair with the family, Croswell and two other attendees. Following a drive about town, the group returned to the Powell home that night. One by one, each went home or went to bed until only Crowell remained.
"You had better go home, it's getting late," mother Fanny Powell said to Croswell at about 11 p.m. The Post-Dispatch notes, "Mrs. Powell then went upstairs leaving her daughter in the lounge and Mr. Croswell standing in the center of the room. Five minutes later, she heard a faint scream."
Upon rushing back to the lounge, Mollie Powell staggered toward her mother fatally wounded.
advertisement
"Don't go in or he will shoot you! He has shot me and I am dying!" were Mollie Powell's last words. She made it up three stairs but then collapsed with a shot to the heart. Found in the lounge afterwards was Croswell's hat and a four-ounce bottle of chloroform.
"The news of the shooting spread rapidly over the town and before midnight 300 armed men were searching every street and alley," the Post-Dispatch reported. The Gazette adds, "By 1 o'clock Tuesday morning the entire town was being scoured by searching parties and every freight and passenger train was searched by armed men. Telephone and telegraph messages were sent in every direction. At 4 o'clock students hired horses and in bands started on every road."
Press reports emphasized, "The students from the School of Mines, many of whom had worked every day under Croswell's direction, formed posses and were among the most determined pursuers."
Classes on campus the following day were cancelled with Chancellor George E. Ladd advising students they could join the search, but they should bring Croswell in alive.
"Use no violence, except in self-defense," Ladd told the students.
Phelps County Sheriff John W. Cooper deputized many members of the mob in hopes of averting an outright lynching. During a mass meeting the evening after the shooting, Cooper and Rolla Mayor Edward Long were coordinating picket duties when news arrived that Croswell was spotted in the barn of Robert A. Love on the eastern outskirts of the city. Two women chased Croswell from there into a ravine leading to the former home of Judge C.C. Bland. The house at the time was occupied by fellow school of mines professor, E.G. Harris.
"An effort was made to keep the report secret, but it gradually spread, and the searchers started in pursuit," the Post-Dispatch reported. The Iron County Register adds, "The mayor endeavored to get some statement from [Croswell] before he died, but failed."
A team of four pursuers, which included Mayor Long, advanced on a barn in which Croswell was hiding. Hounded by officers, his students, and a mob of outraged townsfolk; Croswell realized he would be taken. He was witnessed fleeing from the barn to under a cedar tree. A shot was then heard.
"The revolver with which he killed himself was the same one used in killing Miss Powell," the Post-Dispatch noted. The weapon was a .38-caliber revolver. Croswell had shot himself through the heart.
Mollie Powell was buried in Rolla City Cemetery to great mourning in her hometown. Croswell was sent back east by rail in a coffin following a short service at the depot. He was buried in Cambridge's Mount Auburn Cemetery.
Perhaps the best coda to the story was offered by School of Mines Chancellor George E. Ladd in dualling statements to the press.
To the Kanas City Star Ladd said, "[Croswell] had just graduated high in his classes and he was very young, not more than 22 years. He was a very intelligent young fellow and very satisfactory. I think perhaps he studied a little too hard in college, being so young, but he was recovering all right. He had no friends or companions among men and none among women excepting in the family of Mrs. Powell. I think his only confidant was Miss Powell. He was with her a great deal and I supposed that he was going to marry her before long, although he never talked about her. I presume it was his first love affair. He probably did not realize what it would be to him to be disappointed in love."
To the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Ladd concluded, "I have noticed it since he came back this fall. His address has been different. The expression of his eyes became wild and unsteady. It was like the expression in the eyes of an insane man."
Contributor: James Hendrix (51242427)
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