1. 1903 The Dudgeon Family came from Allen County, Indiana and settled near the town of Holton, Michigan

1. In 1905 the family would end up in White Cloud and call it their home.

1. Purchased 1280 acres, 5 miles northeast of White Cloud

1. Their land at one time was called "Big Bear Swamp"  because so many bears lived there

1. Charles H. Dudgeon and Alice Dudgeon had five children: Lee, Wilmer, Herman, Lola, and Meady. 

1. A sixth child, a daughter called "Z" had died earlier.

1. The Dudgeons began to raise breeder livestock for income on their property, which they referred to as "The Ranch".

1. neighbors, who found the Dudgeons hard to deal with and bullish, started calling the property "The Dudgeon Swamp".

1. Basically, the neighbors didn’t like that they owned so much land and their free use of it was cut off. Jealousy

1. Also, they owned an electric truck.  This is 1905!!

1. The family lived in a shanty a few miles away while they were building their home.  I mean, ummm...well it had rooms and levels but the rooms were divided by shanky boards and covered with newspaper.

1. The outside was made of rough boards and were covered with tar paper and strips of

lathe. 

1. The family moved into the house before the windows or doors were installed. 

1. The house was never finished.

1. Odd fact about the property:  The old stagecoach road from Grand Rapids to Big Rapids crossed the Dudgeon property diagonally. 

1. When they purchased the property Mr Dudgeon fenced in  800 of the 1200 acres

1. Not long after, Charles Dudgeon got to work fencing in the remaining 400 hundred acres.

1. This pissed off the neighbors also because they were using the land to let their cows eat!

1. They literally cut the wire once to let all of his stock out.   Douche bags.  Yo, it’s HIS property.

1. Charles Dudgeon mortgaged part of his land to purchase eighty acres, a quarter mile west of the their property, for his daughter Lola and her new husband, Frank Priest.

1. Frank Priest, Charles Dungeon’s son-in-law turns around and sells his contract of the land to this dude  Jake Terwillegar.

1. Charles catches Jake hauling logs off of what Charles thinks is his daughters property and Jake ended up getting a major ass kicking from the Wilmer & Lee Dudgeon.  

1. The two were convicted of assault and resided in the White Cloud Jail for 90 days.

1. Another neighbor, Tom Scott had a fought with the Dudgeons because Scott was coming onto their private property.

1. Wilmer and Lee Dudgeon, the sons, were both badly hurt by Scott, they were again arrested, convicted and served more time in jail.

1. We see that the Dudgeon family isn’t fitting in so well in the area.  Dad Charles dies in 1920 at the age of 68.

1. THEN, the wife...Alice Dudgeon has a fight with the teacher of the school across the road from her house, she was taken to court and fined. 

1. So even Alice has a little spunk in her.

1.  She was even accused of having a fight with Jake Terwillegar where she broke a few of his ribs.

1. Youngest daughter, Meady drops out of school in the 8th grade when she was 16.

1. Meady would go on to work in a telegraph office in White Cloud and a chair factory in Big Rapids.

1. Romie "Doc" Hodell was born and raised in Ensley Township

1. In 1920 Romie moved to Wilcox Township, White Cloud, Michigan where he lived on 2 Mile Road

1. Romie became a "stumper" who would remove tree stumps in the farmer's fields

1. Romie met the Dudgeons when he contracted to buy a load of cedar fence posts from them. It was at this time that Romie first met Meady

1. She worked until she met her husband, Romie “Doc” Hodell

1. MARCH 29, 1921  Romie and Meady get married when she was 20.

1. Meady then gave birth to a child...fathered by her brother.  That child was taken to the Dudgeon barn, clubbed to death and burried.

1. Meady had a SECOND child, again...fathered by her brother.  Again, the child was taken to the barn and clubbed to death.

1. Both babies were buried on the property.

1. Romie and Meady were actually living in the house that Charles son-in-law sold out from under him.   The house that Jake Terwillegar bought?

1. MAY 20,1920, Charles H. Dudgeon dies at the age of 68. 

1. He was buried at the Goodwell Township Cemetery, across the road from the north threequarter section of his property. 

1. JANUARY 20, 1922 Romie and Meady received a letter from Romie’s mother, Nina Hodell, telling them, they would be visited by Romie's father, David Hodell

1. Holy hell, in the winter with a 1922 car...had to be a long cold trip.

1. David  was a carpenter and barn builder. 

1. Turns out that David and Nina Hodell were having marital problems, so David Hodell left his wife running a rooming house in Detroit, to stay with his children.

1. FEBRUARY 4, 1922 David Hodell, age 67, died at 2:45 p.m. 

1. Romie was at work in Woodville, Michigan. 

1. He died on his return from the woodpile, at which time Meady ran across the road for help from Mrs. Anderson.

1. Dr. Price T. Waters and Undertaker Alex McKinley were summoned from White Cloud. Dr. Waters attributed Hodell's death to apoplexy.  

1. Apoplexy is like a hemorrhaging in the cerebral area.

1. Lee Dudgeon donated the coat from his suit for David Hodell to be buried in. Romie gave his blue serge pants and Undertaker McKinley provided a shirt, these people came together to assure Mr. Hodell was buried proper.

1. David Hodell is buried at the Ashland Center Cemetery in Grant, Michigan. 

1. In 1922 Romie and Meady, rented a house from Jake Terwillegar (remember him?  He bought the house out from under Mr. Dudgeon) in Goodwell Township. 

1. Romie was in the process of buying the land from Anderson when his stumping business faltered and he moved to Jake Terwillegar's place. 

1. Romie and Meady were $1800 in debt. BOOT:  That would be approximately $29,000 today.

1. MAY 5,1922  Rommie was in the trump business again and besides Robert Bennett, Elzie Priest was another man who hired on to work for him.

1. They had little to no money so, Romie sent Elzie to Clarence Rittenhouse's farm to ask him to buy one of Romie's horses, but Rittenhouse refused.

1. Romie was so mad at Rittenhouse for not being interested in purchasing the horse, he grabbed his .22 rifle and started to go after him, but Meady stopped him.

1. Romie  was contracted for a stumping job in Wooster, 17 miles away.  

1. He planned on taking Meady with him to live in a shack, as they had done together on previous long distance business trips. 

1. Meady didn’t like living in a shack away from family and friends. 

1. Lee and Herman had agreed to drive Romie and Meady's furniture out to the shack in their truck, when Carl Sailors showed up.

1. Romie had suspected Carl of seeing Meady while he was at work, so he went nuts when he saw him.

1. Words were exchanged between Romie and Herman which developed into a fist fight. 

1. Lee joined in, and Romie took a bad beating from the both of them. 

1. As Romie and Meady walked home...he confided in her that twelve years earlier he had helped bury a woman named Nellie Reynolds in Ensley Center, Michigan. 
2. Romie had heard that men working on a road had uncovered a skeleton and had taken it to the local undertaker and that authorities were investigating. 

1. He talked at length of them both dying together and finally told Meady that he wanted her to go to White Cloud to see Attorney Harold Cogger about a divorce. 

1. MAY 6, 1922 Romie, went to his rented barn on the Terwillegar place to feed his horses.

1. He was told by Alice Dudgeon that his breakfast would be ready upon his return. 

1. He never returned from breakfast so Lee and Robert Bennett (one of Romie's hired hands) went to the barn where they found Romie hanging by the horse harness. 

1. Meady and her brothers, Lee and Herman drove to White Cloud to notify the authorities.

1. Romie's body was found by the officials hung with his feet touching the ground and his knees flexed.

1. Also, he had one eye blackened, his lip was cut, and there was a cut over one eye and another on his cheek. 

1. There was mud or sand on his shoulders. 

1. They had to put his body in the rear seat of Sheriff McKinley's car because Romie had rigor mortis set in, it was difficult to get him into the car.

1. The postmortem examination said that the cause of death was not hanging, but a blow on the back of the neck, two inches below the right ear and that it caused instant death.

1. So he did not hang himself.

1. Romie was buried at the Goodwell Cemetery in Goodwell Township. 

1. Due to the Hodells and the Dudgeons being like the Hatfield and McCoy’s the Sheriff attended Romie's funeral and he frisked the participants for weapons.

1. MAY 8, 1922 Robert Bennett, Romie's hired hand, was arrested, but later released for the murder of Romie, I have no idea why because He would be arrested again and would spend eleven months behind bars. 

1. Robert Bennett received letters daily from his mother, professing her belief in his innocence. 

1. MAY 14,1922 Meady and her brothers, Lee and Herman had Romie's body exhumed by the sexton because they had heard rumors that his body was taken away before being buried.

1. Then at Roberts inquest it was determined that the "suicide notes given to the authorities by Lee Dudgeon were not in Romie's handwriting.

1. JULY 30, 1922 the town formed a mob of 19 people and they confront Lee and Herman Dudgeon.

1. They literally lynched them with ropes attempting to get confessions out of them.  Tightening the ropes and loosening them….one dude put the rope on the back of his motorcycle and pulled one of the brothers.

1. The tree used to lynch the brothers was a maple that sat between the Jake E. Terwillegar house and barn.

1. The tree was cut down in the late 1980's by the county who claimed it was a road hazard.

1. Later testimony revealed that it only took the mob five minutes to get the confession. 

1. The Dudgeon brothers received black eyes, a broken nose and rope bums on their necks.

1. The confession:  I, Lee Dudgeon, don't know how R.D. Hodell was murdered, but I do know that he was murdered by Robert Bennett. My brother, Herman and myself helped hang R.D. Hodell in the upper story of Jake Terwillegar's barn after he was killed. Bennett came to our place and asked us to go with him. I asked, "What for? And he said he wanted us to hang "Doc " in the barn. I told him that I didn’t wish to do anything of the kind, and he said, If you don't I will put you fellows in the same place. " He had his hand in his coat pocket where his gun was concealed and we went with him. After hanging "Doc" up, Bennett said, "By God, he won't bother anybody else. " 

1. The Dudgeons changed their confession.  The Sheriff was out of town, Deputy Sheriff Winfield E. was summoned. The deputy released the Dudgeon brothers and arrested Robert Bennett for a second time.

1. Newly appointed special Prosecutor William J. Branstrom requests help from Roy C. Vandercook of the Michigan State Police after Alice Dudgeon requests protection for her family.

1. Meanwhile, experts from all over the state are brought in.  The suicide notes were deemed genuine, making them take a better look at the Dugeon women.

1. Sergeant Palmer and Trooper Ramsey borrowed two white sheets from Mrs. Beatrice Hurst, wife of Big Rapids' sheriff.

1. Meanwhile,  Lee and Herman are driven to Big Rapids by the three policemen and grilled till they confess to knowing that their sister, Meady killed her husband and father-in-law. 

1. They are kept in the Big Rapids jail.

1. Meady was also driven to Big Rapids and grilled by the police where she confessed before to the poisoning of her father-in-law and the murder of her husband. 

1. Meady was also kept in the Big Rapids jail. 

1. A couple of days later, after being driven to Big Rapids for interrogation, Alice Dudgeon confessed to the murder of Romie and knowledge that her daughter, Meady, poisoned her father-in-law, David Hodell. 

1. She was left in the Big Rapids jail. 

1. Alice Dudgeon and Meady told officers that they were bothered by ghosts until the time of their confessions….ummm sorry ladies, those were cops old school ways of scaring people into confessing.

1. The 4 Dudgeon family members  were brought back to White Cloud and arraigned. 

1. All of them waived examination and were bound over to the circuit court. 

1. Wilmer Dudgeon, who was away at the time of the crime, was detained for a few days but not charged.

1. AUGUST 15, 1922  David Hodell's body was exhumed, by order of the court, from Ashland Center Cemetery in Grant, Michigan.  Later we would find out that the vital organs of his body were reported to contain enough strychnine poison to kill a dozen men. 

1. AUGUST 18, 1922 The lynch mob were arraigned and all the defendants plead guilty.

1. They were fined $25.00 plus court costs. (Today 342 dollhairs)

1. This was reduced to a fine of $1.00 each.
2. It was rumored that if any fines were levied against the mob, the people of White Cloud would take up a collection for them.

1. There was also talk of presenting medals to each of the vigilantes, but never happened.

1. AUGUST 24,1922 Alice, Lee, and Herman Dudgeon, Meady Hodell and Robert Bennett all reputed their confessions.

1. A huge trial begins.  I mean, not one but separate trials are started for each family member.

1. It’s a big event, with loads of witnesses including family members.  We are talking chemists, undertakers, handwriting experts.  A lot for the 1920’s.

1. Loads of back & forth information is argued.

1. Eventually, Mr. Dudgeon’s body is exumed and they also find strycnine in him.  It had been given to him during a family dinner by Alice & Meady.

1. DEC 7, 1922   Alice Dudgeon was found guilty in the first degree for the murder of her son-in-law, Romie "Doc" Hodell. 

1. It was claimed that Meady Hodell had put strychnine poison in her husband Romie's coffee and since he did not die immediately, she clubbed him with a rolling pin. The blow did not kill Romie, so Alice finished the job with the same rolling pin. 

1. She instructed her sons, Lee and Herman to hang the body in the Terwillegar barn while she and Meady wrote “suicide" notes. 

1. The jury deliberated for an hour and forty-five minutes before reaching their verdict. 

1. She was sentenced to life in the Detroit House of Corrections as her daughter was six weeks before. 

1. Alice Dudgeon spent one year in prison before returning to Newaygo County jail to await retrial ordered by the Michigan Supreme Court.

1. DEC 12,1922  Meady Hodell is sent to the Detroit House of Correction.

1. She became a housekeeper for the Superintendent of The Detroit House of Corrections

1. Meady was a model prisoner, who constantly professed her innocence. 

1. Although she had no previous religious background, Meady attended religious study sessions.

1. FEBRUARY 22, 1923  The trial of Lee and Herman Dudgeon and Robert Bennett began after a change of venue from White Cloud to Big Rapids

1. The trial was slow due to the difficulty in selecting a jury and a severe blizzard prevented some jurors from arriving at the courthouse. 

1. The trial was a repetition of the Meady Hodell and Alice Dudgeon trials.

1. MARCH 5, 1923  Circuit Judge Joseph Barton declared a mistrial in the Dudgeon/Bennett murder trial due to the sickness of a juror J. William Turk, a grocer from Big Rapids, contracted pneumonia.

1. MARCH 6,1923 Meady Hodell writes a thirteen page letter telling the story of her life and a fifty-nine page letter containing the story of how David Hodell died to her defense attorney.

1. JULY 26, 1923 Lee Dudgeon was found guilty for complicity in the murder of his brother-in-law, Romie "Doc" Hodell and received three consecutive terms of 2 1/2 - 15-5 years in Ionia State Prison.

1. Herman Dudgeon and Robert Bennett were found not guilty.

1. MAY 1924 Lee and Alice Dudgeon's cases were appealed in the Michigan Supreme Court. 

1. Meady's case was never appealed to the Supreme Court because her attorneys failed to file exceptions to the charge within a specified time.

1. DEC 24, 1924 Lee Dudgeon was released from Ionia State Prison for a new trial.

1.  Lee Dudgeon's sentence was reduced to three years.  

1. After his release, he settled in Muskegon, Michigan, where he married and had a son named Lee. 

1. JUNE 11, 1925 a direct verdict freeing Lee Dudgeon. 

1. It was determined by the judge that it was not a crime under Michigan law to dispose of a body. 

1. The jury could not agree on a verdict for Alice Dudgeon and recessed with a vote of nine to three for acquittal. 

1. She was held in the White Cloud jail until she was released to the care of her son, Lee in Big Rapids, who had fallen off a train boxcar and was in serious condition. 

1. She was never brought back to trial. 

1. JUNE, 1925 Harry L. Spooner, reporter and county historian, who had reported for the local newspaper on the Hodell/Dudgeon murder trials became a crusader on the behalf of Meady Hodell. 

1. Even though he was a close friend of David Hodell he was convinced that Meady was innocent and spent the next 24 years sending letters to the leading officials of the time trying to get Meady paroled.

1. 1925 Lee and Herman Dudgeonfile a damage suit in Newaygo County Circuit Court against the nineteen members of the vigilantes. 

1. Judge John Vanderwerp of Muskegon, Michigan returned a verdict of no cause of action.

1.  A motion for a retrial was made, but denied by Judge Vanderwerp. 

1. The Dudgeons contemplated approaching the Michigan Supreme Court, but by this time it was financially impossible.

1. NOVEMBER 9, 1927 Alice Dudgeon sent a letter to the Commissioner of the Detroit House of Correction:

1. Dear Mrs. Campbell Commissioner of Detroit House of Corrections Board in regard of my poor little Daughter Meady Hodell Dear ones of the Board I hope to see my Daughter home on a Parole to stay with her old mother that cant hardly get around more the Poor Child is their for something that she is not guilty of god bless you Dear Mrs. Campbell I do think it is wicked to keep her there oh How glad I am the Poor Child is clear of everything that was put on the Poor girl Pleas do let her Come home oh god the Board will Be reward in the other world with______ hes to my heart each for his to think she has to suffer for something that she is not guilty of oh How grand it is that We Can Say that an say truth god know that she is an innocent Child Pleas Parole her to me god Will be with You Dear ones of the Board Alice Dudgeon Poor Meady Hodell Mother god Bless your

1. Despite Spooner & Alice’s YEARS of begging on APRIL 27, 1934 Meady Hodell was denied parole

1. Alice Dudgeon died at her son, Lee's house in Muskegon in January of 1935.

1. JANUARY 10, 1935 Meady Hodell, on guarded release, attended the funeral of her mother, Alice Dudgeon, in Muskegon, Michigan.

1. Meady paid for her mother's funeral with the money she had saved from her $.10 a day prison salary.

1. OCTOBER 29,1936, 

DECEMBER 10, 1937 

MARCH 30, 1938

FEBRUARY 12, 1948

FEBRUARY 2, 1948  Were ALL parole dates that Meady was denied parole.

1. JUNE 16, 1949 Meady Hodell's parole is finally considered.

1. JULY 26, 1949 Meady Hodell’s sentence was commuted by Governor G. Mennen Williams.

1. AUGUST 8, 1949 Meady Hodell was released from the Detroit House of Correction after serving 26 years, 7 months, and 23 days. 

1. The Superintendent of the prison, gave Meady the $400 in cash and $850 in bonds she had saved from her $.10 a day prison salary. 

1. She became a housekeeper for four priests at the St. Matthew's Roman Catholic rectory in Grosse Point, Michigan.

1. Meady died just a couple of years after being released from prison. She was buried in Muskegon, Michigan

1. I’m not sure what happened to brother Wilmer and sister Lola.  They managed to stay away from that evil town and it’s creepy swamp.

1. To this day, it is said to be haunted.  People go up there all of the time and claim paranormal activities happen.  I think it’s flatlanders who have never been in the complete dark woods before.

1. You must admit, this family seemed haunted though.  There were 18 ways of nuts going on.

1. I must thank Lee W. Keippel of Reno NV for writing The David and Romie Hodell Murders, it was a huge help in the timeline.  I also watched numerous videos and read loads of articles about this one.