Freaky Flint History with Joe Schipani - No Permit April 17th, 1921

Flint is well known for its modern violent crimes but Flint's history is filled with little known stories that read stranger than fiction. Gruesome murders, weird accidents, and violent deaths. Join us every Thursday as Joe Schipani details some of the odd but true deaths he found in Flint's archives.

Mrs. Root, the owner and operator of an unlicensed maternity hospital in Flint, was well known for helping young unmarried girls with their problems.

On this Sunday, a young girl came to the hospital to see Mrs. Root and have her problem taken care of. Later, Mrs. Root gave a package to Dr. Howe and asked him to dispose of it. The package contained the remains of a fetus.

Later that evening, Dr. Howe took the remains and disposed of them in the Flint River by throwing them over Hamilton Avenue Bridge.  A patrol officer noticed Dr. Howe and quickly took him in for questioning.

Dr. Howe confessed and was charged with illegally disposing of a dead body in the river without a permit.  He plead guilty and was forced to serve 10 days for his crime.

The police were not able to prove if the fetus was dead before delivery or if Mrs. Root had caused the death.

Mrs. Root did not keep any records about the girls that came to her for help. Mrs. Root plead guilty to operating a maternity hospital without a license and was fined fifty dollars or five days in jail. The fine was paid.   

~ Joe Schipani is the Executive Director of the Flint Public Art Project and the FFAR Project Assistant at the Community Foundation of Greater Flint.  Find him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HauntedFlint/ 

Freaky Flint History with Joe Schipani - When the Cow’s Come Home December 12th, 1921

Flint is well known for its modern violent crimes but Flint's history is filled with little known stories that read stranger than fiction. Gruesome murders, weird accidents, and violent deaths. Join us every Thursday as Joe Schipani details some of the odd but true deaths he found in Flint's archives.

When the Cow’s Come Home December 12th, 1921

This story starts with an incident that happened just after Thanksgiving Day.

Two young men, Charles Austin and Clifford Thorpe worked for Paul De Lisle, a well-established cattle buyer. De Lisle was accused of shorting the two young men some of the pay they were owed.

A week later the two men, who still worked for Mr. DeLisle, decided to steal the money since the rich cattle buyer did not give them what he promised. After a couple days De Lisle realized the money was missing. He accused the two young men of stealing it.

The arguing and fighting went on for over a week. De Lisle threatened the young men with garnishing it out of their next pay. That only made the situation worse. He then threatened to have them arrested. That scared the Charles and Clifford enough to stop the arguing.

On Saturday December 12th, the two men came to De Lisle’s home on Twelfth Street to pick up their pay. De Lisle made good on his promise and garnished the stolen money. They left angry, but not before stealing De Lisle’s bottle of whiskey.

Charles and Clifford took the bottle of whiskey to the barn where they could enjoy the hooch when they noticed a bottle of carbonic acid. They drank the whiskey and replaced it with the acid. They took the bottle back to De Lisle’s home.

Walking in they found the older man was sitting alone at the kitchen table. They told him they wanted to bury the hatchet.

Charles went to the cupboard, grabbed a glass and poured the man a drink. De Lisle drank it down, got up, thanked the two men and went into the other room and sat on a rocking chair.

They turned to leave when another employee showed up at the house to collect his pay. Charles and Clifford continued on their way but the other employee came running out of the house screaming that their boss is dead.

Charles and Clifford didn’t know what to do so they stayed and pretended to be shocked by what happened. The other employee ran next door to get Paul De Lisle’s brother.

When the police arrived they first thought De Lisle had died from drinking illegal whisky that was bad. Then they found the cup that smelled like acid.

Charles and Clifford were brought down to the station for questioning and finally confessed after hours of interrogation. The men were tried and convicted of murder.

Lloyd Lash, who sold the whisky to De Lisle, was arrested and charged with violation of prohibition laws.  

~ Joe Schipani is the Executive Director of the Flint Public Art Project and the FFAR Project Assistant at the Community Foundation of Greater Flint.  Find him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HauntedFlint/ 

Freaky Flint History with Joe Schipani: Dance Hall Shooting September 24th, 1921

Flint is well known for its modern violent crimes but Flint's history is filled with little known stories that read stranger than fiction. Gruesome murders, weird accidents, and violent deaths. Join us every Thursday as Joe Schipani details some of the odd but true deaths he found in Flint's archives.

 Dance Hall Shooting September 24th, 1921

It was a beautiful Saturday evening in the fall of 1921 the Liberty dance hall on North Saginaw Street was packed with people trying to unwind after a long workweek. 

Everyone was having a great time until William Vernon walked in around 10:30 PM with his gun and fired four shots. 

Scared dancers started scrambling to leave the dance hall quickly. The crowd of dancers burst through the back door and filled the streets. 

The bullets hit two people. Miss. Dina Linhart was shot in the arm and Mrs. Ina Knisley was shot three times in the chest. 

After shooting Ina Knisley William yelled, “I got her and now I’m going with her” as he turned the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger.

Ina Knisley’s two children were at the dance hall that night and saw the murder of their mother. They followed the ambulance to the hospital but Ina died before arriving at Hurley hospital. 

William Vernon died instantly on the dance floor. 

Ina Knisley had been divorced for almost a year, leaving behind an abusive husband. She had two children, a son age eighteen and a daughter age fifteen that lived with her. 

After her divorce Ina rented half of a duplex home that was owned by William Vernon, who lived on the other side of the duplex. Everything went well for a while, but the last six months of living in the duplex with William Vernon became weird. William was spreading false rumors about being engaged to Ina and gossiping about them living together. 

Things were getting really scary with William so Ina decided to move out a few weeks before the shooting at the dance hall occurred.

According to Ina’s son, as soon as they moved out of William Vernon’s duplex on North Street he would show up at the new house they rented on Jane Street. 

He would profess his love for her. Everyday William would show up trying to win Ina’s love, but she would turn him away.

The Thursday before the dance hall shooting he showed up with a pistol trying to force Ina to be with him. She filed a complaint with the police that William said “if I can’t have her no one else will.”.  

The police searched Mr. Vernon’s house but no pistol was found. 

The pistol did not resurface until the following Saturday at the dance hall where he killed Ina and himself. 

~ Joe Schipani is the Executive Director of the Flint Public Art Project and the FFAR Project Assistant at the Community Foundation of Greater Flint.  Find him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HauntedFlint/ 

Freaky Flint History with Joe Schipani - Stampede April 23rd, 1921

Flint is well known for its modern violent crimes but Flint's history is filled with little known stories that read stranger than fiction. Gruesome murders, weird accidents, and violent deaths. Join us every Thursday as Joe Schipani details some of the odd but true deaths he found in Flint's archives.

Stampede April 23rd, 1921

Trolley, more commonly known as a streetcar back in the early twentieth century, was a major form of transportation in large cities.

On this Saturday afternoon while businessmen were coming and going to work and shoppers were going to the bustling city center to get the latest deals, a streetcar tragedy was happening just outside the city’s center.

Just north of Fifth Avenue on Detroit Street, the north bound streetcar had an explosion when the controller caught fire. Flames flew through the car while the passengers scurried to exit the back door of the moving streetcar.

Mrs. Caroline Kessler was one of the first to get out of the streetcar.

While jumping off the back, Mrs. Kessler lost her balance and fell to the ground. The other passengers desperate to escape the inferno did not notice the forty six year old woman lying on the ground.

After dozens of people trampled over the woman, the streetcar was empty. 

A doctor that lived in the house on Detroit Street noticed the woman lying there. He acquired help from a few of the gawkers to bring the woman inside his home to administer first aid until the ambulance came to take her to the hospital. Mrs. Kessler suffered multiple head fractures with internal bleeding that caused her to die later that evening at Hurley Hospital.  

Another woman jumped from the streetcar covered in flames. The woman had her bag filled with her shopping finds clutched in her hand. Needless to say, the shopping bag had also caught fire. As people scrambled to find something to put out the flames flaring from the woman’s body, she fell to the ground. The crowd tried endlessly to stop the fire, but the body had been sprayed with a lubricant when the controller exploded. The lady’s body was so burnt that she was unidentifiable.

No missing person’s report was ever filed to match her description. The body remained unclaimed and was buried in an unmarked grave in Flint Memorial Cemetery.

Three other people suffered minor injuries. The driver of the streetcar suffered third degree burns and lacerated his ankle jumping out the side door. Mrs. Ed Maynard and Mrs. Eleek Hart suffered minor burns and major bruising. 

~ Joe Schipani is the Executive Director of the Flint Public Art Project and the FFAR Project Assistant at the Community Foundation of Greater Flint.  Find him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HauntedFlint/ 

Freaky Flint History with Joe Schipani - Revenge April 7th, 1921

Flint is well known for its modern violent crimes but Flint's history is filled with little known stories that read stranger than fiction. Gruesome murders, weird accidents, and violent deaths. Join us every Thursday as Joe Schipani details some of the odd but true deaths he found in Flint's archives.

Revenge April 7th, 1921

This story starts in October of 1920 with a fifteen year old girl named Bessie.

After School, Bessie enjoyed going to her father’s grocery store on Saginaw Street. She would help out her father and earn a little money to go shopping at the second hand store just a couple blocks up the road.

On that day in October, Bessie found herself alone with the store owner Hyman Potashnich. After being gone for a while, she ran back to her father’s store, told him she did not feel well and wanted to go home. A few months went by, Bessie’s mother noticed a change in her little girl. At first she thought it was just the winter blues, but by April she knew something was seriously wrong. Bessie’s mother consulted with her close friend and the two of them sat Bessie down to find out what was wrong. Bessie finally confessed that while in Mr. Potashnich’s store in October, he assaulted her.

Outraged, Bessie’s mother told her father and he soon gathered a small group of friends to avenge his girl. Bessie’s father and friends went to the second hand store where Hyman lived in an apartment upstairs.

According to a neighbor, around three in the morning she heard gun shots and saw a number of men leave the store and drive away. Hyman’s partner in the store arrived at the scene and was the first to find Hyman. He called the police and they found Hyman with two bullet holes in his chest, lying on a small cot in an upstairs room.

After interviewing the only witness, the neighbor, they arrested seven people for questioning. Amongst the people detained were Bessie’s father, her brother, Hyman’s business partner, and a few family friends. Hyman’s partner claimed that it was a suicide and at first the police believed the claim. A rifle was placed in Hyman’s hands and the place was staged to look like it might have been a suicide.

Upon further investigation, they found a bullet hole in the side of the mattress that indicated that the shot was fired in the doorway of the room. This sparked an investigation. During the coroner’s autopsy no gun powder or residue was found on Hyman’s hand. With the new evidence, the case became a homicide.

After the investigation, Bessie’s father confessed to the murder and justified it by claiming he avenged the wrong doing of his daughter.

Hyman’s business partner was also arrested after confessing to the police that this was not the first time Hyman had been accused of assaulting someone. He felt Hyman deserved what he got.

Five people were tried for the death of Hyman and only three served time for the crime. Bessie’s father and Hyman’s business partner were indicted for murder and a close friend of Bessie’s father was convicted of attempted murder. 

~ Joe Schipani is the Executive Director of the Flint Public Art Project and the FFAR Project Assistant at the Community Foundation of Greater Flint.  Find him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HauntedFlint/