Sarah Catherine Schafer:1904, Bedford, Indiana

    

  Sarah Catherine Schafer was born on the 10th of June in 1880. She grew up in Elkhart, Indiana. Her family had sacrificed to send her to college in Danville so that she could become a teacher. She succeeded in that goal. 

  Sarah loved music. She grew up in a family that appreciated music. She loved to sing. Elkhart, Indiana was settled by many German families who had studied music. One of the biggest industries in Elkhart has long been the manufacturing of musical instruments. I first heard of Elkhart when I was in the fourth grade and started playing flute in the school band. I still have my Gemeinhart Flute made in Elkhart, Indiana. 

  A high school boyfriend was eager to marry Sarah but she kept putting him off. She really wanted to pursue her career as a teacher and see more of the world before settling down. 

  She taught Latin at the high school in Elkhart but later took a job further south in Bedford, Indiana. Her family might have had fears about her moving so far away to work. But, they knew she would be staying in a good home with a local doctor and his wife. She would be traveling there by train. They made sure she had a seat in a section of the train reserved for professionals. A young woman had to be careful. 

  Bedford, Indiana is probably best known for the beautiful white limestone that is quarried there.  Quarries in and around Bedford and Bloomington provided much of the limestone that went into many famous buildings in the United States. Grand Central Station in New York City, The Pentagon and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. are just three examples. 

   Sarah Catherine Schafer arrived in Bedford, at the end of summer in 1903. She took up her post as the Latin teacher. At first she roomed with a local doctor and his wife. She took her meals at another popular rooming house. Later she moved into a different rooming house where a friend of hers stayed. 

   Sarah was well liked by her colleagues and her students. 

   On January 21st, 1904, Sarah was murdered. She was found in the carriage house behind William Cook’s home. She had been beaten to death and suffered severe head injuries. A cobblestone or brick was the supposed murder weapon. Sarah had fought for her life. She had attempted to injure the man with her hat pin. Her hat was found further away from her body. As she struggled to free herself; the man had dragged her down the alley and into the carriage house. 

   Sarah had been sexually assaulted. She was also found clutching a few hairs in one hand. 

   She was found the next day by William Cook (called Captain Cook because of his former rank in the Union Army during the Civil War.) Before police could arrive nearly 50 people had trampled in and out of the carriage house to view the victim. 

  Investigators questioned many suspects in town. One suspect, James McDonald, was known by many in town to be violent with his wife. The hairs found in Sarah Schafer’s hand were thought to be a match to James McDonald’s facial hair. 

  Sarah Schafer was buried in Grace Lawn Cemetery in Elkhart, Indiana. Her family members all eventually joined her there as the years passed by. They rest under large shade trees. 

  Newspapers wrote extensively about the investigation and the trial. Each person who knew and worked with Sarah was examined and written about. 

  

  The trial of James McDonald took place in the Spring of 1904. He was found not guilty in late May 1904. Was he actually guilty? It’s difficult to say. He maintained his stance that he was innocent before, during and after the trial. 

  Sarah’s murder is still considered unsolved. 

   Rest in peace, Sarah

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