Friedrich “Fred” Paulus Widmann, 30, was a police officer with the Waterloo Police Department in Waterloo, Iowa, when he encountered a burglar one night on patrol in October 1908. Without warning, the burglar fired two shots in quick succession at Fred, striking him in the abdomen area. He died 11 hours later, and his colleagues never found his killer.
Waterloo, Iowa
Waterloo is the county seat of Black Hawk County and located about 130 miles northeast of Des Moines and 55 miles northwest of Cedar Rapids in the state’s northeast region.
The city and nearby Cedar River are nestled along the Cedar River and were rival cities in the past. The Cedar River briefly served as a transportation route for the steamboat Black Hawk in 1859, but railroads became the primary transportation mode when they arrived in 1861. Waterloo’s industrial growth was assured when the Illinois Central Railroad selected it as the location for its repair shop in 1870, securing its status as a major industrial center by the 20th century.
Waterloo experienced rapid growth around the early 1900s. The population and number of factories increased significantly, and in 1904, Waterloo ranked tenth in Iowa as a manufacturing center. By 1910, Waterloo was known as the “Factory City of Iowa” due to its industrial transformation. This change positioned the city as a regional influence during that time.
Who Was Fred P. Widmann?
Fred Paulus Widmann was born on a farm in Fox Township, Iowa, on July 13, 1878, to Conrad and Mary Widmann, one of 7 children and the second oldest son. Two siblings died in infancy. Conrad and Mary were born and raised in Germany and emigrated to America with their families in 1867 and 1873, respectively.
Fred was raised in the country and attended the district schools. His parents moved from Fox Township to a farm near Raymond and later to a farm in East Waterloo Township. The Widmann family moved to Waterloo when Fred was 11 and settled in a two-story home at 424 Florence Street.
Fred was considered a kind and caring person who looked out for others before himself and cared for his mother and sister as their protector.
He worked in the coal business and at Wangler Drug Co. for six years. In 1906, Fred became a police officer with the Waterloo Police Department, earning $780 annually, roughly $27,000 today.
The Waterloo Police Department (WPD) started in 1869 with just three officers, each covering a different part of town and earning $50.00 monthly. By 1894, the department had grown to seven officers, and in 1908, the WPD had 13 regular officers and one special agent. Fred worked the night shift, and his patrol area included from East Fourth Street between Water and Mulberry Streets and northwest into the residential district (Ewing, 2010)
The Shooting of Fred Widmann
On October 11, 1908, at 2:30 a.m., Fred and emergency policeman Tom Hartmann patrolled the 120-foot-long L-shaped alley behind the E.W. Coburn & Son bicycle and gun store at 313 East Fourth Street. Everything seemed fine, and the night so far was uneventful.
At 3 a.m., Fred checked in at police headquarters. An article in the October 12, 1908, issue of The Courier states Fred met Merchant Policeman G.H. Gilley at the Iroquois restaurant on Sycamore Street.
They discussed their work over coffee and planned to meet at the corner of the First National Bank after they had patrolled the alleys. They left the restaurant and parted ways in opposite directions.
Nancy Bowers of IowaUnsolvedMurders.com writes, “Widmann stopped at the Police Station to report all was well at the Logan House Hotel at East 4th Street and Sycamore.” Bowers does not mention Gilley or the restaurant.
At 3:10 a.m., Fred entered the dark, unlit alley behind E.W. Coburn & Sun at 313 East Fourth Street when he interrupted two burglars near the store’s rear door. Without warning, one fired two shots in quick succession at Fred. Mortally wounded, Fred managed to rise and emptied his .38-caliber Colt revolver in the direction of the shooter, but all bullets went wild, likely never striking anyone because police found no blood trail.
Fred then crawled to Lafayette Street and cried for help. Night officer Tom Hartmann and Watchman J.K. McQuilkin, who were at police headquarters, thought they heard a cry in distress. They followed the sound, leading them to Fred groaning and lying face down at the rear of the Security Savings Bank building near the sidewalk.
“People in residences and hotels in the area reported hearing as many as a dozen loud bangs. V.L. Simmons, a half block away, thought it was an explosion but could see nothing out his window. Others said it sounded like someone pounding a board on the side of a building.” (Bowers, 2010)
Newspaper articles state that Fred told the officers, “I am getting cold and I have awful pains in my stomach.”
Bowers writes that Fred told Officer Hartmann, “Well, Tom, I guess he got me. He shot me twice in the stomach and I fired twice at him behind the boxes at Coburn’s.”
He said he was only about 12 feet from the man, who had drilled a square 5-inch hole in the rear door of Coburn’s with a brace and bit. (Reinitz, 2002). Police theorized there were two men involved. The shooter hid in piano boxes in a blind area and opened fire when he thought he was cornered. The other man might have served as a lookout and escaped to the north when he saw Fred.
Hartman and McQuilkin carried Fred on a stretcher to the police station and summoned Dr. J.A. Jerger. Upon examination, the doctor immediately knew Fred’s wounds were fatal and someone transported the dying officer to Presbyterian Hospital.
Chief of Police E.A. Leighton visited Fred at the hospital. Reports vary on what Fred said to Leighton.
Some state that Fred whispered, “Tell the other fellows that I wish them good luck, though I have had bad luck.”
Bowers reports Fred said, “Tell all the boys goodbye. I had bad luck, but I hope none of them will meet with the misfortune I did while performing their duty.”
Fred’s mother, father, sister, and two brothers were by his side since his arrival at the hospital. However, he was the one consoling them. Fred told them that he knew his life was ending because he could feel his strength slipping away, and he was ready to go. He said goodbye to his family, closed his eyes, and died at 2:15 p.m. He became the first policeman slain in the line of duty in the city’s history.
Fred’s body was transported to the Hileman and Gindt Funeral Home. Dr. Jerger and another doctor performed the autopsy and discovered two .38-caliber bullets lodged against his spine. One struck the ribs on the left side of the abdomen. The second and fatal one entered near the stomach, and the wound was singed by gunpowder, which showed the gun fired at close range. (Bowers)
Investigation
Police launched a massive investigation to find the men responsible.
A young man with the last name Adams from Cedar Rapids arrived in Waterloo via the Illinois Central train at 3 a.m. From the train depot, he walked to East Fourth Street and up East Fourth to Mulberry. He started to cross Lincoln Park on a diagonal walkway. Halfway through the park, he heard seven shots in rapid succession to his right. A few moments later, he saw two men emerge from the alley, run to Mulberry Street and toward Chautauqua Park. The men were without overcoats and of medium size, probably young men. Adams was on his way to the home of his uncle, Lewis G. Adams at 418 Walnut Street.
Police resorted to desperate measures to find the men who killed Fred. They questioned several people and had a few suspects but never arrested anyone for Fred’s murder.
Aftermath
Mary Widman was never the same after her third-born child was killed. She died in 1912, followed by her husband in 1926 and Fred’s siblings years later.
Fred’s namesake and nephew carried on his legacy. Fred Carl Widmann was born in 1913 to Fred’s younger brother, Walter Widmann, and his wife, Adelia Widmann. The younger Fred joined the WPD in April 1940 at age 27 and was appointed by then-Police Chief H.R. Crumrine. Like uncle, like nephew, Fred C. Widmann worked the night shift from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. (The Courier, 1940) He retired from WPD in 1969 and died at 80 in 1994.
Eunice Wilson was Fred’s niece and the daughter of his brother, Gustave H. Widmann. She was born in 1923 and lived her entire life in Waterloo. In 2002, Eunice and the Waterloo Police Protective Association collaborated with Fairview Cemetery to extract a large tree’s roots at Fred’s grave that caused the headstone to tilt. They straightened the monument and affixed a bronze plaque to the stone, similar to one Eunice saw attached to an outer wall of the police station.
The original headstone either did not mention that Fred died in the line of duty, or the lettering wore off due to weather and time. Eunice died on November 7, 2006. She was 83.
TCD’s Thoughts
Considering the killer shot Fred with the same bullet as what his police gun held, it is reasonable to theorize that maybe another police officer shot him. That said, I know nothing about guns, so perhaps a .38-caliber bullet was typical back then. I think I read that the Colt was a standard police gun.
Adams did not get a good look at the two men because they were running and it was dark. Fred could not see who shot him because of the flare from the gun when it fired, he said.
There were several burglaries in Waterloo in 1908, and most were committed by one person and none resulted in violence.
A few months before Fred’s murder, a thief or thieves committed a triple burglary on Waterloo’s north end, breaking into two barber shops and a grocery store and stealing multiple items. They entered the buildings through the back. One of the businesses, W.T. Rose barber shop was located at 1025 E. 4th Street, just blocks north of the shooting.
I could not find anything further, so I do not know if the police arrested anyone for that.
Sources
Bowers, Nancy. “‘Very Maw of Death’: Murder of Officer Fred Widmann 1908.” Iowa Unsolved Murders. https://iowaunsolvedmurders.com/the-murders/very-maw-of-death-murder-of-officer-fred-widmann-1908/
“Brief History of Black Hawk County.” https://blackhawkcounty.iowa.gov/
Ewing, Jody. “Officer Friedrich”Fred” Widman.” IowaColdCases.org, October 21, 2010. https://iowacoldcases.org/case-summaries/fred-widmann/
“Freidrich P. “Fred” Widmann.” Online memorial. Find A Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/77230941/friedrich-p-widmann
“Mrs. C. Widmann Summoned Today.” Obituary. The Courier, May 4, 1912.
“Officer Fred Widmann Wantonly Assassinated.” The Courier (Waterloo, Iowa), October 12, 1908.
Reinitz, Jeff. “Mystery Surrounds Officer’s 1908 Shooting.” The Courie, January 1, 2002.
“Waterloo Police Protective Association History.” Waterloo Police. https://waterloopolice.org/history
Wigdahl, Jim. “Officer’s Murder in 1908 Still Unsolved.” The Courier, January 7, 1979
Old image of Waterloo at the top: https://kcrr.com/waterloo-history-lives-through-past-photos-and-postcards/