Dickrell, Arthur b. 31 Jan 1900 d. 29 Jun 1933: 1FAMILYTREE Genealogy

1900 - 1933 (33 years) Has no ancestors but 10 descendants in this family tree.

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Name	Dickrell, Arthur
Born	31 Jan 1900
Gender	Male
1930 Census	1930	Russell, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA
Arthur J Dickrell30 Mary K Dickrell31 Joseph F Dickrell3 Anthony J Dickrell2 Ambrose M Dickrell2
Obituary	29 Jun 1933
Sheboygan Press
Arthur Dickrell is the Victim of Poison Murder in County. Attempt to Murder Whole Family Made. Poisoning of Man, Woman and Four Children is Believed to be Act of Person Suffering with a Diseased Mind - Mother and Her Children Are in Serious Condition. Arthur Dickrell, 33-year-old Town Russell farmer, is dead, his wife and four children are in serious condition in Plymouth hospital, and two others are under the care physicians as the result of arsenic poisoning with which they became afflicted over a week ago. The case, which is one the most tragic and pathetic that has come to the attention of the county authorities in many years, is being thoroughly investigated. It may take several days before responsibility for the poisoning will be known. Indications are that Mrs. Dickrell put arsenic in the food, but authorities have not attached definite blame to her yet. A pathetic sidelight of the case is that besides being the mother of four children, the eldest of whom is seven and the youngest, two, Mrs. Dickrell is to become the mother of a fifth child. Mr. Dickrell died in Plymouth hospital at 5 a.m. today. He had been ill for about a week, and his condition grew more serious each day until yesterday when Dr. Steve O'Donnell of Kiel advised his removal to the hospital in an ambulance. Mrs. Dickrell, who is 36 years old, has been in the hospital since Tuesday. Her condition was pronounced as critical. The four Dickrell children, Frances Marie, aged 2; Ambrose and Anthony, twins, aged 5 and Joseph, aged 7, were taken to hospital this morning. All the children are in a weakened condition, and will require most careful attention. Miss Elfrieda Schmitz of the town of Russell, who was employed to assist Mrs. Dickrell during the past eight weeks, became ill Sunday, and went home. She did not know the cause of her illness. Today, Miss Schmitz and Joseph Klapperich, of St. Ann, father of Mrs. Dickrell, who had occasionally visited his daughter's home, were taken to Plymouth hospital for examination, and both are under the care of physicians. Sheriff Ernst Zehms said after an investigation today that a petition asking that Mrs. Dickrell be examined for her sanity has been filed with County Judge F.H. Schlichting, and that in all probability the examination will be conducted, if Mrs. Dickrell recovers from her present critical condition. A post mortem examination of the body of Mr. Dickrell was conducted this morning by Coroner C.N. Sonnenburg. A portion of the stomach was removed, and Dr. Sonnenburg took it to Madison, where it was to be examind by a state toxicologist. First knowledge of the illness of Dickrell family was gained by relatives last Friday night, when Miss Catherine Dickrell, sister of Arthur, who is employed in the office of Dr. Edmund Knauf of Sheboygan, visited the farm, which is on County Highway H, four miles south of St. Ann. Miss Dickrell was accompanied by William Moritz, her fiance, of Milwaukee, she told The Sheboygan Press today. After Miss Dickrell had visited the Arthur Dickrell home, she went to the home of another brother, Nick Dickrell, who resides a short distance from his brother's farm, and told him and members of his family that the entire Arthur Dickrell family was ill. "Arthur went to Dr. O'Donnell at Kiel, Thursday night," Miss Dickrell told The Press. "He told the doctor that he and others of his family were suffering from stomach disorders that caused them to vomit frequently. The doctor gave him some medicine to give to them, and he returned. "Arthur thought the doctor would go to the farm Friday, but he did not go. I notified the doctor Saturday, and he went out and examined Arthur and his wife and the children." Miss Dickrell said she and Mrs. Moritz went back to Elkhart Lake, where her parents reside, and stayed there Friday night, returning to the farm to assist in the farm work Saturday, and again Sunday. After that, Armin Gross of St. Ann was engaged to carry on the farm work. He has been assisted from time to time since then by relatives and others residing in the neighborhood. Interviewed by The Sheboygan Press today, Mr. Gross said he had been eating his meals away from the Dickrell place. Miss Madeline Deville of St. Ann has been taking care of the household duties since yesterday, and she has prepared her own meals, she said. After attention was called to the illness of the members of the Dickrell family Friday, neighbors became alarmed, fearing that a strange malady had seized them and that it might be contagious. Relatives were frequent visitors to the Dickrell home after that. On Monday evening a number of relatives gathered outside the home and were discussing the situation, Nick Dickrell said. During that time Mrs. Dickrell made statements which indicated that she had poisoned her husband, children and herself, Mr. Dickrell declared. "We were standing outside talking," said Nick Dickrell, when Mrs. (Arthur) Dickrell, who had been watching us from the window, came out. "She said, 'You are acting as if you think I poisoned them' (Mr. Dickrell and the children). If you will come in the house I will tell you all about it." Nick Dickrell stated that he and the others followed the woman in the house, and that she made a lengthy explanation. "She said that she had wanted to kill the children for a long time," Mr. Dickrell continued. 'Once she took two of them in an automobile with intention of gassing them, but she didn't quite know how to do it, she told us. "Another time, she said, she went to Kiel and bought some strychnine, which she had planned to give the members of her family. She changed her mind about that, however, and took it back to Kiel. We haven't investigated yet, so we don't know whether she told us the truth about that or not. "We asked her way she wanted to kill her family, and she said, 'The children are damned, Arthur is damned, I am damned, we are all damned, so we might as well all die. That's the reason.' "After we heard her story, we concluded that her mind must have been affected. She had been acting somewhat strangely for a long time." Mr. Dickrell said his brother and wife had not had any serious trouble so far as he knew. "They had little quarrels occasionally, the same as any man and wife have, I suppose," he said. "But otherwise they seemed to get along all right." Coroner Sonnenburg said Dr. O'Donnell told him that Mrs. Dickrell is expecting a fifth child, and that this might have affected her mind. Mrs. Dickrell did not reveal how she poisoned her husband and children, and it was not until yesterday that she was suspected of having put arsenic in their food. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Klapperich, parents of Mrs. Arthur Dickrell, went to the home yesterday to help with the farm work. They planned to spray a field of potatoes with arsenic, and they stopped on the way to Elkhart Lake to ascertain how much arsenic the Dickrells had from last year's supply. They asked Arthur Dickrell where he kept his arsenic, and were informed that it was on the pantry floor under a shelf with a cover over it. Nick Dickrell stated that Mr. and Mrs. Klapperich searched for the poison, but could not find it in the place described by Mr. Dickrell. Finally they found it on a pantry shelf. It had been uncovered, and appeared as though it had been used recently, Mr. Dickrell said. Then it was concluded that Mrs. Dickrell had administered poison to her family and herself in food. When questioned about it today, she denied it, Questioned by Sheriff Zehms, Miss Schmitz said that while she was employed by Mrs. Dickrell, it was her duty to start preparation of bread and other food, and that Mrs. Dickrell finished the work. "I never saw her put anything in the food," Miss Schmitz was quoted by the sheriff as having said. "But every time I ate bread or potatoes, I became nauseated and had vomiting spells. Others of the family suffered the same way as I did." Miss Schmitz said Mrs. Dickrell acted strangely at times, according to the sheriff. The arsenic, as well as bread that Mrs. Dickrell had baked recently, other food she had prepared, and ingredients used in the preparation of foods for the family, were turned over to the county authorities today. Mr. Dickrell, who was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Dickrell of Elkhart Lake, and Mrs. Dickrell, nee Mary Klapperich, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Klapperich of St. Ann, were married about eight years ago. (This article includes pictures of the family members and the family home with a caption.) Sheboygan Press, Thurs. June 29, 1933, p. 1, c. 1
Died	29 Jun 1933
Person ID	I158714	1FamilyTree \| RobinRainford196303
Last Modified	12 Oct 2015

Family Klapperich, Mary, b. 1 Dec 1899, Marytown, Calumet, Wisconsin , d. 14 Jan 1971, Elkhart Lake, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA (Age 71 years)

Married Bef 1926

Children

	1. Dickrell, Joseph
	2. Dickrell, Ambrose, b. 11 Oct 1927, Elkhart Lake, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA , d. 22 Sep 2009 (Age 81 years)
	3. Dickrell, Anthony "Tony", b. 11 Oct 1927, Elkhart Lake, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA , d. 23 Dec 2005 (Age 78 years)
+	4. Dickrell, Clement J., b. 23 Nov 1933, Oshkosh, Winnebago, Wisconsin, USA , d. 6 Dec 1988 (Age 55 years)

Last Modified 30 Jul 2015

Family ID F52459 Group Sheet | Family Chart