Surnames: Holz

----Source: NEILLSVILLE TIMES (Neillsville, Clark County, Wis.) 05/29/1902

Holz, William (? - 29 APR 1902)

On April 29th, 1902 Wm. Holz left his home in Dewhurst (Clark Co., Wis.), four miles south of Columbia, for the latter place, telling his wife he was going there to see about some logs in which he was interested. He carried a double-barreled shotgun with him, both barrels loaded. At night he did not return, and the wife and two daughters worried some, but as time went on and nothing was heard of him and as he had not been to Columbia, neighbors began to search for him, but not until last Sunday was he found. A neighbor finally found him by searching for the source of a noisome odor. The body was badly decomposed, and was lying on its face, the gun lying a short distance away, with both barrels empty.

That - Sunday - afternoon Justice A.S. Dudley impaneled a coroner’s jury, consisting of Peter Johnson, H.H. Heath, Ole Jackson, Frank and Jake Burnett, and went to the place. It was a hard drive, as the country was flooded in many places. They sat on the case, examined the gun and the body as much as possible, and rendered a verdict of accidental death. Neighbors later took charge of the body and decently buried it. The circumstance that both barrels were discharge might lead to a suspicion of suicide, but as he was found in the brush, it is more probably that the gun was discharged by some twig catching the trigger. It was not discovered where the bullet or bullets entered his body, decay having made this impossible.