The Pentwater Michigan Murders

In the early 1890's Samuel Minshall left Chicago in search of a better opportunity in Pentwater, Michigan. Pentwater was a small, up and coming village in Western Michigan along the shores of Lake Michigan. 

There he met William Sands who promised him enough work to support his family. That promise was broken and it drove Minshall mad. He couldn't stand to see the rich get richer while his family struggled to make ends meet.

So he took action. Horrible, murderous action. 

Transcript

The summer is a time of rituals for my family. Once the school year wraps up we typically head and see my father in Arizona for a couple of weeks. We come back for a bit, and then get the camper ready and head to Pentwater, Michigan. Then we come home and have a garage sale. Since my mom passed away, that has been the way things went for the past few years. 

I love seeing my dad, as you know. The other two things… well. 

Camping is fun once we’re there and set up. I’m a bit of a nervous Nathan when I have to tow the camper a couple hundred miles west. Something inevitably goes wrong. I blow a tire, or a door swings open and I dump a bunch of supplies, or the roof unlatches somehow on one of the corners and the whole thing starts to pop up on its own… as I’m going 70 down the expressway. You’ll be glad to know that this last time was fairly event free however. 

But with camping comes drama… four to five families, each with different ideas of what they want to do… growing kids falling for one another… alcohol. Still, the kids love it, which is why I continue to go along with it. 

Plus, it’s gorgeous out there along Lake Michigan. The dunes, the lighthouses, the lake itself. I love hitting the antique shops in nearby Ludington and visiting the touristy shops in Pentwater is a staple. 

But one can only shop and beach so much. So this time I decided to do a little research and see if there were any darker stories tied to Pentwater. I had to go all the way back to 1896, but I think I found one. 

We’ll get back to the ‘Suburban Murder’ series soon, but for now we’ll check out a village/township murder. 

Welcome to Year 4 of the Curator 135 Podcast. My name is Nathan Olli and this is Episode 73 - The Pentwater, Michigan Murders.

We’ll start episode 73 with a little history lesson on the village of Pentwater, Michigan. By the mid 1850’s a man named Charles Mears had purchased thousands of acres of timber along the western shores of Lake Michigan. Mears was a prominent lumber businessman and capitalist. He was a staunch Republican and pals with Abraham Lincoln. Over time he built 15 sawmills to produce lumber along with cargo boats to transport his lumber to Chicago. He developed numerous harbors in western Michigan.

Mears named one of these harbor areas, Middlesex, adding a sawmill, store and boarding house. As the timber ran out, Mears turned his attention to politics, becoming a Michigan Senator in 1860. 

Meanwhile, back in Middlesex, furniture factories, brick factories, and commercial fishing sprang up. In 1867 Middlesex was absorbed into the new Village of Pentwater. The area quickly became the hub of the community. By the early part of the 20th century, Pentwater had become a vacation and resort destination thanks to its abundance of shopping, sand and water. 

Shifting our focus, let’s now meet one of the main characters in our story. William Butler Ogden Sands was born July 2nd, 1838, in Boone County, near Belvidere, Illinois. He was the second child born to parents Obediah and Mary. His sister, Betsey, was twelve at the time. In 1840, his mother passed away at the age of 37, William was just two-years-old. Obediah would go on to remarry and had two more children, George and Dianitia, William’s half-siblings. George was born in 1849 and died before his second birthday, Dianitia came along in 1851.

After finishing school, William worked for his father on the family farm. Then, at 4:30 a.m. on April 12th, 1861, Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina's Charleston Harbor marking the beginning of the Civil War. Four months later, in August of that year, William enlisted in the 37th Illinois infantry. With the 37th he served for two years taking part in the battles of Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove, and the Vicksburg campaign. During that time he was promoted to the rank of 1st sergeant. In September of 1863, he was transferred and commissioned captain of Company A, the 92nd United States Colored Regiment. With this company, he participated in the Bank's Red River expedition. He continued to serve until he was mustered out on December 31st, 1865.

Soon after his return, he married the love of his life, Miss Carrie A. Carmichael in 1866. In March of that year the couple moved to western Michigan, to an area that was in the process of becoming a village, known as Pentwater. 

Once the young couple was situated in their new home, William began his search for work. He’d made friends with a man named John Maxwell and together the pair contacted the owner of a recently dissolved lumber firm in town. The owner of the firm, another Maxwell named George, immediately brought the duo on board. It wasn’t long before Maxwell, Sands & Company opened for business and met the mercantile and lumber needs of the area. 

John Maxwell retired in 1871, leaving the door open for a man with the last name of Harris. A year later, Harris retired and the business became known as Sands and Maxwell. In 1875, the original owner, George Maxwell died, and his younger brother, E. G. Maxwell filled his shoes as secretary and treasurer of the company.

According to one story from that era, the names Sands and Maxwell were seen in a “commendatory light, synonymous with pluck, energy, success, and prosperity. The commercial supremacy of the county. Whether in the heyday of general business prosperity or in the gloom of national commercial depression, their credit has been rated A1.”

Sands and Maxwell, aside from specializing in lumber, was the largest general store between Muskegon and Ludington. Steamboats full of folks from Ludington arrived daily, just to shop there.

The building was brick, two-storied and considered modern for the times. There were groceries, hardware, clothing, dry-goods, carpet, boots and shoes, as well as a pharmacy. Like a late 1800’s Target, Sands and Maxwell were selling a quarter of a million dollars worth of merchandise alone per year. 

By 1885, the company had grown so large it was decided that it would be best to incorporate. The new name for the business was Sands & Maxwell Lumber Company. 

While pouring his heart and soul into the company, William Sands also found time to start a family. Two years after he and his wife moved to Pentwater, in 1868, their first son, Gardner was born. In 1872, a second son, named Herbert, joined the Sands family. A third Sands boy was born in 1876, they named Candus. At just over a year old, Candus passed away from dysentery, like in the Oregon Trail game. It took some time for William and Carrie to get over the loss but in 1882 they were blessed with another baby, a fourth boy named Roger.

The Sands family owned one of the most beautiful homes in Pentwater. Thanks to the success of William’s business, he built a new Victorian style home in 1877. The two story home included parquet wood floors, twelve foot high ceilings, ten foot wood doors and ornate stained glass windows.

Despite running a successful business, being a husband, and a father to three boys, William Sands somehow found time to join local fraternal and benevolent associations. He was a member of Oceana Lodge, No. 200, Free and Accepted Masons. He was also a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, a fraternal organization of Union veterans. He steered clear of any political offices but did serve as the president of the village of Pentwater.

Successful in almost all aspects of his life, William Sands practically ran Pentwater and helped turn it into what it is today. But enough about him, let’s meet the other main character. 

Samuel B. Minshall was born in 1849 in Fulton County, Ohio to parents Cyrus and Elizabeth. Information on Minshall isn’t as readily available as it is for William Sands but here is what we know.   

By the age of five, Samuel and his parents moved to Henry County, Iowa. In 1857, the Minshalls welcomed a baby boy named Robert. Two years later, in 1859, his sister Lucy was born. In 1868, as Samuel was turning 19-years-old, his mother gave birth to twins, John and Mary. 

Tragedy would soon rear its ugly head in the Minshall family as little Mary passed away at the age of five months. Less than a year later, Robert, who was twelve at the time, also passed. The family of seven was down to five. 

The final Minshall to join the family was Wilbur, born in 1870. It was around this time that Samuel, the eldest sibling, took on a job as a telegraph operator. He had bigger ambitions, however. His interests lied in the legal system and in 1875 he left for Colorado to pursue his dreams.   

It was there that he began studying to become an attorney. It was also where he would meet his soon to be wife, Evangeline Mechem. In 1878 the two were married and the following year they welcomed their first child into the world, Ada. A year later, in 1880, they gave Ada a little sister they named Ruby. 

Samuel Minshall was doing all he could to make a name for himself in Colorado. In February of 1881 he convinced five members of the Colorado Legislature to head to the penitentiary in Canon City. Samuel believed that the Colorado prison system was full of fraud, corruption and abuse. In the end, newspapers ran stories that dragged his name through the mud. It had been a giant waste of time for all parties involved and hurt any credibility he had earned up until that point. 

Embarrassed, Samuel looked for greener pastures and moved his family to Chicago to look for work as an attorney. His wife, Evangeline found employment as a teacher within the Chicago Public School system.  

Unfortunately for Samuel, more tragedy would strike as their first child, Ada, passed away before the age of six. Whether or not these events began his slow and steady downward spiral we will never know.

Chicago, it would turn out, wouldn’t prove to be helpful to Samuel Minshall’s career or personal life.  

Minshall built his business by taking as many cases as he could hoping that large firms would notice him. At one point he became a partner with the county attorney. The partnership only lasted six months and he was terminated. Rumors were spreading that Samuel Minshall was a tactless, and shiftless sort of a fellow. The former partner was quoted as saying, 

“He paid none of the expenses of the firm during that time and although he had a great many clients he never seemed to have any success. He was of a morbid morose disposition and always was at outs with people with whom he came in contact. He was a genteel-looking man with pleasant manners but I learned that he was in reality a surly person. I thought there was a tinge of lunacy in his temperament.”

From there he went on to work as the lead attorney for the “Woman's Protective Association” where he earned a salary of $50 a month. It would be the pinnacle of his success in Chicago. It was rumored that he was having an affair with a woman around the same time that various creditors began pursuing him. He worked for a while with a firm named Case, Kogan & Case but soon dropped out of sight completely. 

That’s when he met William O. B. Sands who invited him to Pentwater, Michigan. 

The Minshell family moved into their home in Pentwater, two blocks away from the Sands’ Victorian mansion. This, he believed, was finally going to be the move that got him on the right track. Shortly after arriving in Pentwater, Samuel and Evangeline added two more children to the mix. Their son George was born in 1892 and his brother Frank came a little over a year later in 1893.

Older sister, Ruby was thirteen at the time and fell in love with her baby brothers. Not only was Ruby becoming a star piano player and an excellent student, she was also extremely helpful to her mother around the house and had a hand in raising George and Frank.  

Upon meeting Samuel Minshall, William Sands offered him an opportunity to work under the umbrella of the Sands & Maxwell corporation. In exchange for opening up an insurance office in Pentwater, Sands would give Minshall all of their insurance related business. The deal originally sounded too good to be true… and it was. In exchange for Sands & Maxwell channeling all of their insurance business towards Minshall, the corporation would retain one third of Minshall’s profits. 

So although there would be guaranteed built in business, Samuel Minshall now had to pay for an office and give up one third of his commissions. Plus Pentwater wasn’t like Chicago, there could only be so much business. By the time the deal was on the table, Samuel had already moved his family to Pentwater, bought a home, opened an office and borrowed heaps of cash while doing so. 

He’d have to make it work and he still held onto the hope that this would finally be the place for his family… but not for long. 

His troubles from Chicago and Colorado seemed to follow him. He fell out of favor with lenders and continued to work tirelessly for 66% of what he could have been making. Evangeline, who had worked in Chicago, now had two baby boys to tend to. Ruby did her part by teaching classes in music to younger students but was still in school herself. 

Minshall did what he could to make extra money while working under Sands & Maxwell. He made do with a meager income until his pockets were empty. In 1895 he left Sands & Maxwell on relatively good terms and went to work as a local agent of the American Express Company. As a show of good faith for being an employee for the past two years, Sands gave Minshall a line of fire insurance policies to get him started. Samuel was appreciative and started over again with the new company. His family made do, the best they could, but the threat of losing everything constantly hung over their heads. 

Then, in March of 1896, for reasons unknown, Sands canceled half of the policies that he’d gifted Minshall. This greatly angered Minshall, who went to the Sands & Maxwell offices and nearly came to blows with his former boss. 

With no other options, Samuel Minshall left his family and traveled back to Chicago to visit an old acquaintance that he hoped could help him. 

The man, known only as Mr. Williams, was the manager of the western department of the Connecticut Insurance Company. Minshall had embezzled funds from that company to the extent of $161. Williams had taken pity on Minshall and showed him kindness, telling him he could pay him back later. Samuel hoped he would help him again. 

Mr. Williams could see the despondent look on Minshall’s face. He attempted to ease Minshall’s mind by erasing the debt and promising he would never report him to the law. He urged Minshall to return home and try to straighten out his affairs. 

Mr. Williams is quoted as saying, "The man seemed to be completely unnerved by his financial troubles. He talked of killing himself and I told him he was the biggest coward I ever saw to talk in that way. I told him a man who would give up because he was a few hundred dollars behind in his affairs was a coward. He wanted me to give him work but I had none for him at the time. His shortage with all the companies amounted to about $600 I think. The trouble seemed to be that Pentwater was such a small place there was little business there and he could see no way out of his difficulties. He told me that he was expecting to get the business of a large concern there but when the time came he said the man wanted him to divide the commissions with him and leave him practically nothing out of the transaction. From the way he talked that transaction seemed to prey on his mind."

Samuel Minshall returned home to Pentwater feeling like he’d run out of options. No one could have imagined what would happen next.

During the afternoon on Thursday, April 9th, 1896 Minshall left for Sands & Maxwell and ordered five gallons of kerosene. After it was delivered he brought the container to his woodshed and poured the liquid into a large pail. He retrieved a tin cup, set it next to the pail and covered both with a blanket.

From there he went to a drug store owned by a man named S.W. Fincher. Minshall had learned that the druggist had a rifle for sale. He asked Fincher what the price was and upon hearing his answer said, "That's cheap enough but I would like to try It first. Is it a good shooter? If you will let me have it for a day or two I will test it and if satisfactory we can make a trade." 

Fincher agreed and Minshall was given the rifle. 

Minshall then returned home, grabbed the empty container from his woodshed and left for another firm that sold kerosene. When he arrived, he was disappointed to learn that it was too late in the day for any more deliveries. 

Meanwhile, William Sands was wrapping up a long work day with business meetings keeping him at the office until nearly 9:30 pm.   

William said goodnight to the few remaining co-workers at Sands & Maxwell and headed for home. It was a walk he’d taken a thousand times before. He could make the 0.6 mile walk in under 15 minutes. He was looking forward to seeing his wife and getting to sleep. 

As he made his way north along Hancock Street, just four blocks from his home, he heard something or someone in a grouping of trees on the side of the street.  At the corner of Hancock and what is now known as Concord a man armed with a rifle stepped out into view in front of him. The man holding the gun ordered Sands to halt and put the rifle to his shoulder. 

William Sands was nearing 60-years-old but sprang at the man with a quickness that the assailant wasn’t expecting. He attempted to wrestle away the weapon but the unknown man was able to get off a round that struck William in the right arm near his  shoulder. Sands howled in pain and ran northeast towards his home. He made it to his front door and tried to open it. It was locked. He then attempted to run to the back of the house. 

Hot on his heels, Minshall was able to get off four more rounds before Sands could get the back door open. Three of the shots connected. William Sands stumbled into his kitchen and fell to the floor unconscious. Minshall ran away. While his wife attended to him, neighbors were able to summon local physicians. After careful examination it was decided that they would need to amputate the arm. The bones near his shoulder were shattered and he’d lost so much blood. 

While everyone’s attention was on the Sands home, Samuel Minshall returned to his own house just blocks away. 

He placed the borrowed rifle inside of the woodshed and retrieved his pistol before heading into his home. Once inside, he murdered his wife and three children before turning the gun on himself.

Back outside the Sands’ home a rifle cartridge was found on the ground. S.W. Fincher, the druggist who’d let Minshall borrow the weapon identified it as belonging to his rifle. Minshall had told Fincher he’d be using it on squirrels and crows. 

This immediately put Minshall under suspicion and several of Mr. Sands' friends made their way to the Minshall home. They found lights burning inside but no one came to the door after repeated knocks. 

The group left the house but returned two hours later. This time, after knocking again with no response, they forced the front door open. The men saw a sight which nearly froze their blood. Mrs. Minshall was found lying on her right side with her back to the door and her head near the family piano. Blood ran across her face and onto the carpet from a tiny hole in the middle of her forehead.  

In the corner of the same room lay 16-year-old Ruby. She was in her night dress which appeared to have been partly consumed by fire. The fire had been put out by the girl's own blood. She was also shot once, in the head. At the foot of the stairs, lying on his back with one leg bent under him, was Samuel Minshall. He’d died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. 

What upset the men most was found in the bedroom off of the parlor room. The two young boys, George, three and Frank, two were found on their beds, surrounded in sheets, saturated with their own blood. 

Back downstairs, one of the men found a business card inside Minshall’s coat. The note had been written in pencil, presumably as he waited for Sands to leave work. It read, “When you compelled me to give one-third of my income and compelled me to do work for you for nothing you knew I was obliged to submit because my children's food was In your hands and you could withhold it if I did not submit to any demands you chose to make. A slave Is one compelled to serve another against his will and receive insult and indignities for pay when the master chooses to pay that way. I have worked that way for you. For some work I got naught, for some I got a partial living for my family.”

The following day, at 7:00 pm, William Sands succumbed to his injuries and passed away. 

The initial assumption was that Minshall had lost his mind and went on a murderous spree for no reason other than insanity. The local police, after learning of the kerosene orders and the borrowing of Fincher’s rifle, figured that at least some forethought had gone into it. They assumed Minshall’s initial plan was to set fire to his home to cover up the murders. Had he received the second order of kerosene, he might have pulled it off.

It was only after Mr. Williams, the insurance man from Chicago, received a letter in the mail from Minshall, a day after the murders, that everyone realized just how long Minshall had been considering killing everyone. 

“My Dear Sir: If when this reaches you my wife and family are living this letter may cause you to show to them some kindness such as you have often taken pleasure In showing to those In distress about you. Failing to get a position which would give my family support, my death though distressing to them would be no misfortune to them. Often I have seen men who at my time of life had allowed themselves to be elbowed out of the swim. For years unhappy themselves and a detriment to those they so earnestly wished and tried to help. A father who can't keep a wife, daughter and sons is better dead.”

Minshall continues by describing his idyllic family.  

“Should my family survive me there is my wife whom I have always thought a perfect wife and mother. Ruby, my daughter, is a good girl who has constantly had her loving mother's care and companionship. Her pure-minded mother has been mindful of good thoughts and has occupied her mind with the study of music and other pleasures like it. She has had her daughter avoid doubtful society spending the time with good books instead. She plays the piano skillfully for a girl of 16 and has a class of some twelve pupils. She expects to make music her profession. Her mother has had the advantage of much musical training and has been a teacher in the Chicago public schools.

The little boys, George and Frank, are Intelligent and affectionate. Their sister loves them like a sister and like a mother. To have these children subjected to the best influences has been the constant care of the parents even before they were born. I believe these children show the good results of this care.” 

The tone of the letter seems to change a bit here, for the first time, he blames others for his woes. 

“Our family life was as happy as possible but for some years I have had the ever-present care resulting from overmastering business trouble and every moment day and night has been pervaded with anxiety… with the feeling that I would be liable at any moment to find myself without income. My relatives who have hearts, have no surplus means. Those who have means have no willingness to aid. 

When in the daily papers I see accounts of pauper fathers killing first their pauper children then themselves I feel as though their Spartan-like resolution had simply saved them, especially the children, much distress… but oh! the distress that brings the fathers' resolution to that point which has been almost as keen with me so many hopeless days and sleepless nights. I believe no one can realize it who has not been so situated. Kindly Christian people all about with a surplus and so large they are puzzled as to how to manage it yet studiously engage in wringing from and retaining from the less fortunate. 

From those In distress they can and do wring the most. If they met a starving man In the wilds of Africa they would practice the golden rule but here he with a hundred houses sees a homeless family or a hundred homeless families… the fathers desperately asking leave to toil and he adds to his gains by grinding the faces of those at his mercy. 

There is an oversupply of labor and the supply governs the price. The great plague of London destroyed so many of the poor that the survivors found themselves sought for by the rich and useful to their own families. How desirable It will be for all concerned if these poor wretches who find themselves homeless and without employment will relieve themselves and their more fortunate fellows by obligingly putting themselves out of the world. 

From there, the letter focuses on William Sands.

“Of this Sands & Maxwell Company, Sands Is the man, the other is scarcely more than a clerk. Sands told me without any qualifications or reservations that if I would open an insurance office here I should have their business. Upon that promise I bought an agency here and opened an office. Then I was obliged to allow them to retain one-third of my commission as the condition of writing business for them. When they flashed this condition on me I was settled here and helpless at their mercy. I had expended borrowed money to establish myself In the business which did not when reduced by this one-third yield a living. There were other impositions by which I was refused what was my due until I decided to spend all they kept me out of in the effort of finding a position at a living salary. 

My expectations were not realized and now I am at the end of my resources. I thought I had one friend who would take pleasure in aiding me so far as he could without detriment to himself but I was mistaken. Other business associates I had from whom I expected no more consideration who showed me so much kindness that now when I feel that the end of my life is notably very near one of my chief regrets is that I cannot remain here to enjoy their friendship and show to them how highly I appreciate their great kindness for which I could only return my gratitude. 

No one else do I feel so much Indebted to on this account as yourself and though you could not relieve me in time yet you did all you could for me. Had you not met me in such a kind and fraternal way at the time of our last meeting I think I should have been dead twenty-four hours after. Well your kindness gave me two months more of life but I do not know that that has been desirable considering that my hope is now gone. 

Since as you read this I am dead I demand of Sands the amount of which he has robbed me. He will probably refuse. If he does I think he as well as myself will have gone to mix forever with the elements. Thanks to him I am where my outlook promises no better than that of my children leading low miserable lives from hand to mouth and her, in love with a beggar! 

Here the tone switches again and he seems to imply that not only will he be dead, but his family too and probably Sands.

Better for them and for me that we die before then. I have long known that Sands would treat me as unjustly should a whim or some unreasonable irritation come over him. Though his situation has enabled him to crowd me off the earth yet I can probably If I like, leave the world the better by ridding it of one like him where the object in life seems to be to devour those who are in his power.

If any family survives me do as near for them what you would wish me to do for yours were our situations reversed. I ask this of you whom I had no better friend.”

The last line is interesting because according to Mr. Williams, he hardly knew Samuel Minshall.

So in the matter of an hour, one family was completely wiped off the face of the earth while another family, and town for that matter, lost its father and president.

While researching this story, I have gone back and forth on who is to blame. Nearly 130 years later, it’s a moot point. But the story is one that has popped up in the news in varying ways hundreds of times since. A father or mother who feels as though they’ve failed their families, not wanting to see them suffer through life, makes the ultimate decision for them. Who knows what might have become of the three Minshall children. Who knows what the village of Pentwater might have looked like with William Sands in charge of things. 

Was Sands a Mr. Potter or Scrooge-like character that cared for no one other than his own flesh and blood? Was Samuel Minshall a crazed man who blamed others for his poor business decisions? Or both? Or neither? I’m not sure. 

On May 1st of 1896, the Intermountain Advocate out of Colorado ran an interesting opinion piece on its front page. 

“Someone sends me an account of a horrible result of our social system. S.B. Minshall, aged 45, was a lawyer, life and fire insurance agent, and any other odd jobs that would make a living for himself and family, a job he found growing harder. One William Sands, agent of a lumber monopoly, induced him to move from Chicago to Pentwater, promising him the insurance on the company's property and after he got him there forced him to divide up the premiums, leaving him so little he could not feed his family. His household effects were about to be sold, and this made him desperate. He got a Winchester, killed Sands, and then went home, killed his wife and three children and himself, leaving a note that he did so because he knew his family would starve and it were better they were all dead. Six people were killed because the social system shut them out from making a living.

I knew Minshall in Colorado. He was a good citizen, industrious, sober and had a charming family. He was a dyed-in-the-wool republican and laughed to scorn the reformers who preached that the social system was wrong, unjust, inequitable and productive of harm. He refused to see anything wrong with it and died at his own hands, still ignorant that his vote and influence had helped make and keep the world a perfect industrial hell, to get out of which he committed his awful crimes. Had there been no private monopolies sucking the people's substance away, had the opportunities been ever-present for a man to earn an honest living, such as would be under a public ownership of all monopolies, Minshall would not have committed his awful deed. A happy family would still be living where now there is only horror. Society is responsible for that and all other crimes by the environment made by its ignorant ideas of the divine right of private property. 

These crimes are common. They are getting more numerous every day. The world is getting crazy by the pressure of the big fish gobbling up the small ones. A change in the laws regulating the holding of property must be made in the near future, or else a revolution will come up and chaos will reign. Oppression will produce revolt. It always has and always will have just such an effect. That is what made the men of 1776 organize the revolution. Wake up, you sleeping slaves and throw out of office the upholders of the present order-producing, confusion-breeding social system.”

The funeral for the Mlnshall family occurred on Sunday, April 12th at 2 o’clock. The services were conducted by an Episcopal minister from Grand Rapids inside the Minshall home. Samuel Minshall had spent a lot of time working with the Episcopal church. 

By noon that day, people from all around began filling the streets of Pentwater. They all wanted a glimpse of the caskets and what was inside. The long parade of people followed the caskets from the Minshall home to the cemetery. They took the long way out of respect for the Sands family. It wouldn’t have been right to pass by their residence.  

Evangeline and Ruby were each in their own casket, the two young boys, were buried together. All four of the caskets were lowered into one wide grave. Samuel Minshall was buried nearby in an unmarked grave. The only family to attend were a cousin of Evangeline and her brother.

William Sands’ funeral was held on Wednesday, April 15th. He was buried in a plot of land set aside for the Sands family. It was a private funeral with his family, close friends and local dignitaries in attendance. 

I was lucky enough to visit the Pentwater Township cemetery during my last camping trip. Words can’t express how beautiful and sprawling the cemetery is. I’ll have pictures up on Curator135.com. I recommend taking an hour or two and walking around the cemetery if you’re ever in the area and get the chance. 

I want to make sure to thank the folks at the Pentwater Historical Society Museum. I was able to stop in twice and on the second visit the gentleman went upstairs and located a great big book from 1895 that helped with some of the research for this episode. Once again, if you’re in the area, take some time to stop by and visit the museum. It’s small but full of awesome memorabilia, all donated by the fine folks of Pentwater. You can check out their website, PentwaterHistoricalSociety.org for more info.

The events of April 9th, 1896 had a profound impact on the village of Pentwater in the days, months and years after the murders. The Sands family, for the most part, dispersed to other areas of the country. The Sands and Maxwell building burned down a number of years later. Now, unless you’re from Pentwater, you probably wouldn’t hear about this story, and even if you were you might not know anything. But now you know… and knowing, well you know the rest. 

Let me know what you think. Nathan@curator135.com And again, visit the website to see photos and information regarding this case. Curator135.com  

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