Bernard Parker
| Date of Interment or Death | 02/01/1921 |
|---|---|
| Location | Old Fairview |
| Section | B |
| Block-Lot-Grave | 10-5-1 |
Obituary
Bernard Parker-1921
BEN PARKER DEAD; BOOTLEG WHISKEY CAUSE OF DEATH BODY FOUND HALF FROZEN ON ICE OF BOIS DE SIOUX RIVER DRINKING COMPANIONS TELL OF BUYING BOOZE Wahpeton Men Tell of Buying Booze Which Made a Widow and Four Fatherless Children Ben Parker, about forty years of age, for some time chef at the Merchants hotel, was found dead and partly frozen Sunday afternoon about 1 o’clock on the ice at the edge of the Bois de Sioux river, around the bend and just south of what is known as the old Shepherd place on the Breckenridge side. The body was found by Carl Vanslow, a former Wahpeton policeman now residing in Breckenridge, who notified the Breckenridge police. Being unable to identify the body, the Wahpeton police were called in and Chief Morden instantly identified the dead man as Parker The body lay partly on the shore and partly on the ice. Nearby paper shacks used as a shelter while fishing through the ice belonging to Carl Vanslaw and Adolph Hafner. Indications were that the body had not been lying there for many hours, as in spite of the high wind which blew all Saturday night no snow had collected about the body; and while the temperature was quite low all during the night and Sunday forenoon the body was only partially frozen.
The Wilkin county coroner, Dr. McMahon was called, he taking charge of the remains which were taken up town. Under the circumstances, with the cause of death unknown, an autopsy was deemed advisable. Drs. C. P. Rice, I. C. J. Wig, T. O’Brien, I. C. Edwards and the coroner, Dr. McMahon, performed the autopsy which failed to reveal any signs of foul play or death by violence. Death from alcoholic poisoning was so clearly indicated that a coroner’s inquest was not deemed necessary.
An investigation was begun by the Breckenridge police, assisted by the Wahpeton department, in an attempt to learn where the dead man secured his whisky. Search was made of the two fish houses, and in one of them was found a bottle containing a few drops of the liquor, which was identified as the “home brew” or moonshine variety. Other clews which were discovered led the search back to Wahpeton, and then again to Breckenridge.
Parker was last seen shortly after dinner Saturday afternoon. He had drawn his weekly pay check which he cashed at a local store, in company with Bill McCabe and Alfred Muchvitch he went to Breckenridge, where these two men admitted, some moonshine was procured. The three then repaired to the fish house owned by Vanslaw, referred to above, where they indulged in a drinking lasting several hours, during the course of which Muchvitch
fell through the hole in the ice through which fish are caught, and was soaked to the skin by the icy water. Then about five o’clock the three, according to the story told by the Wahpeton men, started for home, walking westward over the ice on the river. Muchvitch, sobered and chilled by his ducking, stopped at a house on the Breckenridge side to get warm and dry. McCabe and Parker, according to the story, continued westward to the west bank of the river, where a path comes up from the river near the old Aspinwall house. Parker, McCabe state, took this path ostensibly for home, while McCabe turned north along the river to the interstate bridge, where he came to the shore and went to his home. Such is the story told by McCabe and Muchvitch, both positively denying any further knowledge of the affair. From this point Parker seems to have disappeared entirely until the discovery of his body the following afternoon. Whether he lost his way and wondered back over the same trail until he became paralyzed and succumbed to the alcohol poison, or whether he willfully started back after more whisky, procured it and drank himself into insensibility is a question which possibly never with be solved. John Stitz of Breckenridge was taken into custody on a “common nuisance” charge by the Breckenridge police Monday afternoon and immediately pleaded guilty without waiting for the evidence to be submitted, it is reported, and paid a fine of $100, the maximum allowed under the ordinance without a protest, there-after being discharged from custody.
Ben Parker, the deceased, was about forty years of age, and resided with his wife and four children just south of the N. P. track on Second street. It is understood that he carried about two thousand dollars in life insurance, some
of which was in the Maccabees lodge, of which he was a member. Funeral arrangements were taken charge of by the Maccabees.
The service was held Tuesday afternoon at 2:30 at the Congregational church in Wahpeton. Rev. Berman delivering the funeral address. A special choir sang several selections during the service. Wahpeton friends of the deceased acted as pall bearers. Burial was in Fairview cemetery.
Mrs. Parker’s stepfather, Matt Alber, who resides at Moorhead, was here for the funeral. Her mother was unable to come. Parker had no relatives in this country.
Headstone photograph(s)
Location
Old Fairview is located on the southern half of the cemetery grounds.