Crime and Punishment

Funeral of Eugene George Caspar

The funeral of Eugene George Caspar, a bystander killed by police during a strike at Flour City Ornamental Iron Works in Minneapolis. The funeral was held on September 15, 1935.

Flour City Ornamental Iron Works strike casualty with police

Flour City Ornamental Iron Works strike casualty with police, 1935.

Mayor Thomas Latimer with Police Chief Frank Forstal

Minneapolis Mayor Thomas Latimer (left) instructs Police Chief Frank Forstal to allow peaceful picketing outside Flour City Ornamental Iron Works, July 27, 1935.

Pardon Power in Nineteenth-Century Minnesota

Until 1897, Minnesota’s governors enjoyed unrestricted power to pardon, or commute the sentence of, anyone convicted of a crime in state courts. The first such pardon was given in 1854, the last in November 1896. In that span fourteen governors, from Willis Gorman to David M. Clough, issued more than 1400 acts of clemency (the blanket term for pardons and commutations). They covered crimes ranging from petty theft to murder, and canceled (or reduced) penalties as minor as a one-dollar fine, and as dire as death by hanging.

Pardon Board of the State of Minnesota

Pardon Board of the State of Minnesota, 1932. Pictured are (left to right): Samuel B. Wilson, chief justice of the state supreme court; Governor Floyd B. Olson; Attorney General Henry Benson; and the secretary of the Pardon Board (name unknown). Billy Williams is standing behind Olson.

Die Volkszeitung financial fraud

World War I took a toll on Die Volkszeitung, St. Paul’s German-language newspaper. The long-time editor, Fritz Bergmeier, was sent to an internment camp. The paper lost its state printing contracts. Profits dwindled. After the war the paper’s owner, Clara Bergmeier, wanted to sell but found no buyers. This created an opportunity for an opportunist and con man, Clarence Cochran, to engineer a massive financial fraud aimed at German immigrants.

Clara Bergmeier

Clara Bergmeier, ca. 1928. From Mary Dillon Foster, Who’s Who Among Minnesota Women (St. Paul: M. D. Foster, 1924), 26. Used in Paul Nelson, “Fraud of the Century,” Ramsey County History 59, no. 2 (Spring 2024), 2; used here with the permission of Ramsey County History.

Clarence A. Cochran and Arthur Lorenz

Clarence A. Cochran (left) and Arthur Lorenz (right), ca. 1928. From the St. Paul Daily News, March 16, 1928, 1, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 29, 1928, 5. Used in Paul Nelson, “Fraud of the Century,” Ramsey County History 59, no. 2 (Spring 2024), 1; used here with the permission of Ramsey County History.

Andrew Nelson

Andrew Nelson at the US Penitentiary in Leavenworth, ca. 1930. National Archives at Kansas City, Record Group 129, Records of the Bureau of Prisons, Leavenworth Penitentiary, Inmate Case Files (1895–1952), National Archives Identifier 571125. Used in Paul Nelson, “Fraud of the Century,” Ramsey County History 59, no. 2 (Spring 2024), 9; used here with the permission of Ramsey County History.

Clarence Cochran

Clarence Cochran, ca. 1930. National Archives at Kansas City, Record Group 129, Records of the Bureau of Prisons, Leavenworth Penitentiary, Inmate Case Files (1895–1952), National Archives ID 571125. Used in Paul Nelson, “Fraud of the Century,” Ramsey County History 59, no. 2; used here with the permission of Ramsey County History.

Gale Family Library