From The Sentinel, June 1, 1899
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In a communication from Shell Lake yesterday the SENTINEL learns that a man by the name of Elmer Rand in the town of Rusk has committed rape upon a six years old girl and that the matter has been settled by the father of the girl provided the perpetrator of the crime does two acres of grubbing (that means he would clear the land of all roots and stumps) for him.
The information received by an officer of the law at Shell Lake was signed by three citizens of Rusk, who will vouch for its truthfullness.
Dist. Atty. Myrland and Sheriff Peterson started out yesterday afternoon to arrest the fiend. We hope he will be arrested and dealt with according to law.
The fiend had escaped a week ago Sunday night by way of Shell Lake. The father of the girl had advised him to escape to avoid arrest.
As a journalist, I find it interesting to note that the victim and her family are not identified, which is current practice. However, the Sentinel makes little attempt to hedge its statement that the man is guilty. Today, virtually any newspaper would insert "allege" or "police say" somewhere just to be safe.
I find that the biggest lesson, though, is that even 19th century rural Wisconsin was not immune to serious crime. I think there is often a tendency to romanticize the past, to say it was a simpler time; sometimes we like to think that it was. But this story and the others I've uncovered show that life was not that simple.
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