Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1920-05-29
HORRIBLE CRIME AT
POWELL LAST FRIDAY
Five Year Old Gwendolyn Sherman Is
Assaulted aud Murdered. As
saiIant Gets Life Term.

with handkerchief, criminally
assaulted and left in the throeS of
death, suCh was the fate of little
/ Gwendolyn Mae Sherman, five
year old daughter of Mr.. and Mrs.
Herbert Sherman, at Powell, last
I Friday afternoon. thus furnishing
the most hideous crime ever known
in the history of the community and
one that touched the hearts of all
with derision for the perpetrator of
the deed and sympathy for the be.
reaved relatives and shocked the
community to its very roots.
The depraved piece of humanity
who thus committed a crime against
society, snuffed out the life of a
promising, bright little child, and
brought grief and sorrow to her
parents and relatives, was captured,
gave his name as Edward Mcleod,
a lumberjack. and for once justice
was swift and in less than twenty
four hours after the crime had been
committed Mcleod was sentenced
to life Imprisonment in the state
penitentiary.
When the news of the murder
spread excitement reached a high
pitch, each and every reCounter of
the deed causing increased hatred
for the murderer, and but for the
vigilance of the authorities and their
haste in spiriting him away there is
no telling but that the first lynching
in the history of the northwest
would have been staged right here.
But even with the sentiment that
vengeance should be wrought there
was present the feeling that the law
should be allowed to take its course
and when it became known that
Mcleod had been given the limit
allowed by the state law covering
such crimes it was felt that the crime
had been avenged in so far as con-
cerned society.
A picnic was held at the Powell
school last Friday afternoon as
closing feature for the school wear.
Miss Blanche Peterson. of this city,
teacher in the school, arranged the
picnic and there were present many
of the mothers of the children atten-
ding the school, of which Gwen
! dOlyn was a student Mrs. Fred
Peterson, of Hurley, was also pres
ent. The luncheon had been served
and the ice cream course had been
reached. Gwendolyn was eating her
/ ice cream when she leftthe building
and went to the clubhouse about
hundred feet in the rear. She met
two sChOolmates on her way to the
Outhouse and they exchanged greet
iugs. That was the last seen of her
alive A short time later it became
known that Gwendolyn was missing
and a search was instituted after it
was discovered that she had not
I gone to her home, as was first supp
osed. William Sherman, grandfath-
er of the child, joined in the search,
and found the body lying between
two logs in the brush near a road
leading to the school house. The
little girls body was carried to the
home of her parents, who were yet
unaWare of the dastardly crime that
had been committed. 1t was at first
thought that the child had fallen
and struck her head on one of the
logs near which her body was found
as there were evidences of bruises
about her face and head, but when
a kahki handkerchief was pulled
from her throat the motive for the
deed and the CaI1Se Of the pirl'e dis
appearance became apparent to
those about.
The men folks az Powell immed-
lately started in search of the man
who had so brutally assaulted and
murdered the innocent child. They
secured the woods in the vicinity Of
where the body was found but since
almostan hour had elapsed between
The time nj disCoveriny that th-