Probably the most lasting tragedy in Minonk was that of the murder of little
Ella Martin. The murder case had all the elements for a sensational story; sex,
violence, vigilantism and the compassion of a local citizenry swept up by
the emotions of the murder. Equally interesting is the convoluted and wordy
prose used by the newspapers in reporting the story.
Ella Martin was the seventeen-year-old daughter of John Martin who had
five children and lived on a farm one mile south of Minonk.
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On October 10, 1879
Ella was walking home from church when she was encountered by a local blacksmith
apprentice by the name of Johannes DeBoer, a recent immigrant from Germany.
When Ella rejected the advances of DeBoer he became enraged and attacked her.
Below is a description of the attack as described in an account of the murder
in a book written by a firm from Dwight, IL. It reveals the unusual prose of
the time. For the full account of her murder, click here.
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