Today's historical story is a short one, but very interesting. This is from the book "Sawdust City" written by Lois Barland in 1960: The First Local Murder On April 30, 1858 Andrew Seitz, a tailor, was murdered by Charles Naither in a room over the U. S. Receiver's Office in Eau Claire Street. The trial was an important case at the session of circuit court and was the first trial upon an indictment for a capitol offense ever occurring in Eau Claire County. Judge Fuller resided. Seitz boarded with Naither and slept upstairs. Naither and another German slept downstairs. On the evening of April 30, Seitz and some friends were sitting upstairs when Naither came in and Seitz upbraided him for leaving dishes unwashed and then threw him downstairs. Naither bought a knife and returned and in another altercation over the payment of $5.50 for which neither had change, Naither stabbed Seitz in the abdomen. He died May 11. An account of the preliminary incidents is given by an eye witness in the store where the knife was purchased; S. S. Kidder was the clerk who was waiting on Naither. Kidder asked the store owner if he would give Charley a knife on credit. As Charley had worked at the store occasionally sawing wood and other odd jobs about the store, he consented. "He seemed a long time in selecting a knife I at length stepped across the store to see what the matter was and found that instead of choosing a good, substantial, serviceable knife, he had picked a dirk with a long, sharp pointed, slim, blade. I tried to dissuade him from buying it, but he seemed determined and he had his way. He had not been out of the store more than twenty minutes to half an hour when one Wm. Schaaf, a German, came rushing into the store, in shirt sleeves and hatless, with eyes almost bursting out of his head with excitement, shouting: 'Vere is de con-stopple? Vere is de con-stopple?' It sounded so ludicrous to us that we all burst out in laughter. At that he turned upon us with, 'Why for you laugh? Andrew mebbe he died, Charley stick him mit a knife.' Then we all jumped from our seats, knowing at once what it meant and rushed out of the store. I locked the door and ran with the crowd up the street to where the fracas had occurred. On going up the stairs, we found quite a crowd had already collected and I went through into the room where Andrew Seitz, the tailor, was lying on the bed and being examined by physicians. After staying a few minutes, I came out of the room and saw Charley Naither leaning back in a chair against the wall with his feet on the rounds, and I stopped before him and said, 'Well, Charley, this is bad business; do you know what it will result in?' 'Oh,' said he, in a sort of don't care way, 'hanging is played out in this state.' And although I was one of Charley's best friends and he had my sympathy, as his victim was a man of terrible temper and liked by no one, still I have never forgotten Charley's remark, and have always used it as an argument in favor of capital punishment." A jury was unable to decide on a verdict and a second trial was held at the next term of court. No account of the second trial or verdict seems to remain. ++++++++++++++++++++ Next time, we'll be reading about the first newspapers that were in Eau Claire. -- Nance mailto:nsampson@spacestar.net