Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1901-04-25
EASTMAN MURDER TRIAL.
Harvard Professor OH Trial for Killing
His Brother.in-Law,

eAS MAN MUHUEk lklAl.
Harvard Professor OF, Trial for killing
His Brother.in-Law.
Cambridge, Mass, April 24.-1n the
trial of Charles X. Eastman, master
of arts and doctor of philosophy in
Harvard, charged with the murder of
his brother-in-law, Richard r. Grogan,
jr, the prosecutions case was present.
ed at the opening of court today. The
prosecuting attorney asserted that on
the day previous to the one on which
Grogan was shot he had accused East
man of being out with a girl" The
next day, while Grogan and Eastman
were shooting at a target the neighbors
heard cries of Help! Murder" The
men We're seen engaged in struggle.
When the neighpors reached Grogan he
was lying on the ground grooming and
accusing Eastman of having murdered
him. Eastman met the accusation with
the declaration that it was an accident.
Recalls ParkmanW Webster Tragedy.
Since the sensational murder of Pro-
fessor ParkmaE by Professor Webster,
half century ago, no case has 50
deeply Stirred New England, particu-
larly the university circles, as the
Eastman-Grogan case
Richard HI. Grogan was killed in his
own back yard in Cambridge July
last, by pistol bullet fired from a
weapon in the hands of Eastman. No
| third person saw the bullet fired, but
| Grogan lived seven minutes, and in
| that time he accused Eastman, In the
| hearing of a dozen persons, of willful
| murder.
| The Grogans had invited the East
mans to dine with them on the Fourth.
| The two men were on the most friendly
terms all Gay until tine tragedy, and
| spent the forenoon in sitting off fire
works. After dinner they began shoot
| ing at q mark. The weapons they used
We're two modern 32-caliber revolvers,
44-caliber revolver, reak-down
| rifle and a 32-caliber revolver of am
cient make From the latter, it is all
legged, the fatal shot was fired
| Although the Grogan house stands
| on a corner and there are many other
houses in the immediate vicinity, no
| one paid any attention to the two men,
who We're shooting at an old tin can,
until suddenly Walter b. Titus, a drug
clerk. on his way to work, heard a cry.
He leaped over the low fence and ran
| to where Grogan was lying. With East
man bending over him. Titus action
attracted the attention of several other
persons, and they, too, ran to the pros
trate man. All heard Grogan say:
"Charlie Eastman has murdered
mel"
Mary Il. Miller. professional nurse,
heard Eastman reply: Yes, did kill
him; but l did not mean to do it," To
this Grogan replied: HE did mean
| to-" In couple of minutes more he
/ was dead.
Eyplana con of Eastman.
Eastman's explanation, made at the
time, was that they had exhausted the
ammunition for the revolvers they had
been using, and he went into the house
to get the oldfashioned weapon. 1t was
In trying to open the revolver it was
accidentally discharged. the bullet
striking Grogan AS Grogan sank to
his knees his revolver was discharged,
and the ball grazed Eastman's thigh.
AT II o'clock that night Eastman was
in the district court a few days later
Judge -Almy heard all the evidence the
police had been able to collect, and found
no cause to hold the prisoner to the
grand jury. When he left the court East
man was heartily congratulated by a
number of the Harvard faculty who were
present.
dence in the case that has ever become
public was presented. Eastman and Gro
gan were the husbands of two of the
daughters of the late Alvan Clark, the
celebrated telescope lens maker. Grogan
was 90 years old and Eastman is 3d.
All three OF Alvnn Clars's daughters
married against his wishes, two of the
marriages being in effect Opponents.
Later he became reconc1ed to his sons
in-law, and when be died he left his en-
tire estate to be divided equally among
the three handsome young matrons.
Grogan Acquires Lens Business.
Before Mr.. Clark died the lens-making
business had run down considera bly,,
owing to his advanced age. and when the
estate tried to carry II on 1t lost money.
Grogan was a very capable business man.
and he saw that lens making could he
made to pay, but there was already fric-
ton between him and Eastman, and he
was unwilling to go deeply into the un-
dertal1ing unless sure of freedom from
interference
He therefore bought out the interest
of the third sister and made Mrs. East
man an offer for her one-third After
considerable negotiating with Eastman,
Grogan secured the entire business. Soon
fl was paying large profits.
IT was alleged That this was source
OF trouble between Grogan and Eastman,
the latter claiming that Mrs. Eastmans
onc-third interest had been bought at far
too low Il price. Evidence was also pros
duced at the hearing that Grogan had
complained that Eastman and his family
had lived on him until he rcbeled One
witness testified that Eastman once en-
tered the place where Grogan was and
threatened to kill his brother-in-la law
Other specific instances to hostility be-
tween the men were testified to-
After his discharge by Judge Almy
Eastman resumed his work in the Agas-
siZ museum, and remained at Harvard
sntil August, when he went west for his
summer vacation. In the meantime city
county and state authorities had kept at
work on the case. and the result was that
IN October the grand jury returned an In
lictment for murder In the first degree
Eastman came on from the west gave
himself up and has spent the winter In
his cell, reading and studying.
A Native of Iowa.
Charles r. Eastman was born in Ceda,
Rapids la, came out of the west and To-
Gated in Cambridge in 1887. He received
the degree of master of arts in 1891. ant
philosophy in Munich. He returned tc
Harvard in 1894 and there has been con.
nected with the museum as an assstan,
instructor. He was pleasing of manner
always carefully dressed, and his popu-
larity with the ladies was considerable
About II decade ago he welded Caroline
eldest daughter of the famous lens maker
Clark. His family consists of his wife
and a small son.
Determination.
Washington Star: ITS the only tonne
on EARTH" said Mr.. Dolan. who wa:
struggling with a balky horse, that
wsht for AN ottymobilc.
Would yez sell the horse?"
I'd hitch the animal uD in front to tn,
machine an then I'd see whether he't