"Penick" once was a name to be conjured with in Lucas County although none remain. William C. Penick (1827-1914), of the firm Manning & Penick, was a pioneer merchant. His sons included James A. Penick, lawyer, politician and orator, and William B. Penick, banker, farmer and entrepreneur.
But prominence did not guarantee against tragedy, and the most dramatic of the latter claimed the life of another brother, Charles Edwin "Ed" Penick, who drowned at age 36 after falling from a deck of the steamer Virginia at Racine, Wisconsin, during the early morning of July 26, 1901, while on a pleasure cruise from Chicago to Milwaukee.
Ed was at the time cashier of the family bank and in the process of building a grand new home for his family in the Spring Lake Subdivision (along South 8th Street south of the railroad tracks), married to Lizzie (Yengel) Penick with two young children, and prominent in city affairs, including its school board and numerous lodges. He had been accompanied to Chicago --- and on the cruise --- by Oran Alonzo Hougland, his architect; and Henry F. Brown, prominent bachelor farmer of Lincoln Township.
Although a Racine coroner's jury ruled the death accidental, there was a good deal of sensational reporting about it in Chicago and Racine newspapers at the time and varying accounts of the details surrounding his fatal plunge. Chariton's three newspapers --- The Patriot, The Herald and The Democrat --- were left to sort out the details from a distance and publish the results (at great length) in their editions of Aug. 1, 1901 (the three newspapers all published on Thursday).
I've picked the report published in The Patriot in large part because it relies heavily on the testimony of O.A. Hougland, who was present at the time although he did not witness the plunge. The report was published under a three-deck headline --- "Ed. Penick Drowned; Falls Overboard from Boat in Racine Harbor; Terrible Accident Happens While on a Pleasure Trip to Milwaukee. Was Asleep on Deck and Was Startled by Boat's Whistle. Efforts to Save Him were Unsuccessful."
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Telegrams were received by relatives and friends in this city last Friday stating the Charles Edwin Penick, cashier of the Chariton Bank, who had gone to Chicago on business, had been drowned in the harbor at Racine, Wisconsin. This was sad news to his many friends here. It was reported that he had committed suicide, but that was not believed by his friends and acquaintances, for he would have no cause whatsoever for committing such an act. He was in perfect health, his family relations were pleasant and congenial, and his business affairs were in fine condition. It is quite evident from the testimony given by a traveling man, Mr. McBride, of Warsaw, Wisconsin, who saw him go overboard, that Mr. Penick was asleep near the railing on the upper deck and was startled by the blowing of the whistle for the harbor, which caused him to jump and pitch over the railing.
In an interview with O.A. Hougland, architect, who accompanied Mr. Penick for the purpose of assisting him in buying fixtures for his new residence, he told us the following:
"Mr. Penick wanted me to go to Chicago to assist him in buying the hardware, mantles, floor, etc., for his new house. He had several cars of stock ready for shipment, so got me a pass to Chicago with his stock. Mr. Penick, myself and H.F. Brown of Lincoln township, who also had a shipment of cattle, left Chariton Tuesday morning, July 23, at 9:30 on a stock train with seven cars of stock.
"Mr. Penick had been losing considerable sleep on account of sickness in his family, so when we reached Burlington he said, 'I'll go on to Chicago on No. 6 and get some sleep and meet you at the hotel in the morning,' and gave us the name of a hotel near the stockyards.
"We arrived in Chicago and went to the hotel about 4 o'clock a.m. Penick got up about 6 o'clock and we all took breakfast together. We then went to the stockyards where we spent most of the day and sold all of the stock. In the evening we went downtown and stayed all night at the American House on State and 16th Street. The next morning (Thursday) we started out and went to the Hoop & Ludwig Mantle Co. where Mr. Penick purchased two mantles and tile flooring. Mr. Brown left us there and returned to the stockyards.
"From there we went to the E.A. Hartwell Co. to see about his stairs, and from there to J. Dunfee & Co. to look after parquet flooring. It was then about 2 o'clock p.m. We then went back to the stockyards to see his commission men. Ed said, 'I don't want any dinner,' so I ate my dinner at the hotel and met him afterwards in the Commission office. Brown was there also. From there we went to the Rehm Hardware Co. on Blue Island Avenue. There he bought the hardware for his house.
"About 5 o'clock we returned to the American House and changed our clothes. At about 8 o'clock p.m. we went down to the wharf. At 9 we boarded the boat for a pleasure trip to Milwaukee. Supper was served at 10:30. After that, we were separated for a while. About midnight I met Brown on the promenade. We walked around to the stern of the boat and found Ed sitting on a stool, asleep. We woke him up, and all went down into the hold of the boat to see if we could get berths, but could not as they all were taken. We looked at the engine for a few minutes and Ed sat down on a chair. Brown and I went up into the state room and laid down on the floor. That was when we were about three and a half hours out of Chicago and was the last we knew about him until we reached Milwaukee.
"He undoubtedly went up in the bow of the boat onto the promenade and sat down on one chair, put his feet on another and went to sleep. Mr. McBride, a traveling man from Warsaw, Wisconsin, saw him in that position and asleep. McBride said, 'After we entered the harbor at Racine the whistles blew. This startled Penick; he jumped as if shot, pitched over the railing and fell into the water, which at that place is 35 feet deep. He was undoubtedly asleep and did not know what he was doing. When he struck the water he cried for help twice. The watch on the boat threw him a stool. The captain lowered a boat from the vessel and then called to the live saving crew at a pier 500 feet distant. They immediately shot a boat out into the water to rescue him, but it had been raining and was quite dark and they could not see him.'
"We did not know anything about the accident until we reached Milwaukee about 5 o'clock Friday morning as they did not make much noise about it. When we arrived we began to look for Penick but could not find him. We then went to the purser, to see if he had succeeded in procuring a berth. He said no, but that there was a man overboard at Racine, 300 feet from land, and gave a description, which fit Mr. Penick. I boarded the 9 o'clock a.m. train for Racine, arriving there at 9:30, leaving Brown at Milwaukee. I identified Penick's hat, which had been picked up on the water and immediately telegraphed his relatives in this city. I also telephoned Brown, and he arrived in Racine about 11 a.m. In the meantime, his purse was picked up out of the water in the harbor. the contents were a $10 bill, a note given to Penick by Scott Richmond, and a receipt on an insurance policy, carried on the life of J.S. Howard.
"We immediately offered a reward of $100 for his body, and five or six boats dragged the harbor until 5 o'clock. Then we secured experts with dynamite, who made several heavy charges up and down the harbor.
"The report that we had been drinking is utterly false."
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Hon. F.Q. Stuart, a brother-in-law of Mr. Penick, left on No. 4 the same day for Racinie. Hon. J.A. Penick, a brother of the deceased, went to Racine the following day. They offered a reward of $300 for the finding of the body and did all they could, but to no avail. Mr. Penick came home Monday, as he could do nothing more than was already being done by the authorities and the different lodges of which deceased was a member.
A telegram was received Tuesday evening stating that the body had been found at 6:15 that evening about the same place where it went down. Simon Press and O.A. Hougland went to Chicago the same evening and identified the body.
The remains were brought to Chariton today on No. 3 at 10 a.m. and taken immediately to the home of his father, W.C. Penick, where a brief service was held, conducted by Rev. W.V. Whitten of the Episcopal church and Rev. W.B. Thompson of the M.E. church, a cousin of the deceased. The services were then taken in charge by the Knights Templar and the body was interred in the Chariton cemetery beside his brothers, Fred, who was drowned in a cistern when a child, McClelland and Haller.
The pall bearers were J.E. Lockwood, E.W. Drake, Will A. Eikenberry, J.A. Campbell, Bert Beem, Earnest Gasser, all brother knights. The funeral was one of the most largely attended ever held in Chariton.
Mr. Penick was 35 years old and had lived in Chariton all his life. He was a member of the Chariton School Board and an honorary member of the Chariton Fire Department, and a member of the following lodges: Knights Pythias, Masonic, Modern Woodmen, Independent Order of United Workmen and Macabees.
In 1894 he was married to Miss Lizzie Yengel, who with their two children, Dorothy and Calvin, are left to mourn their irreparable loss. His wife and mother are almost prostrated by their great grief.
Ed Penick as he was familiarly known all over the country, was a general favorite with all his acquaintances, both rich and poor. He was a capable, thorough businessman and always had a pleasant word for all whom he met. he was genial, kind hearted and generous almost to a fault. He will be sadly missed by all his friends and acquaintances, to whom he had endeared himself by his congenial and happy manner.
The citizens of Chariton and Lucas county are mourning with the bereaved families in their deep sorrow. May the Father of Mercies pour into their broken hearts sweet peace and resignation.
Mayor Alexander issued a request in response to a well defined public sentiment that the businessmen of our city close their places of business from 10:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. today out of respect to our lamented fellow citizen. The request was complied with by most of our businessmen.
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A substantial life insurance policy was among Ed Penick's considerable assets, so his widow, Lizzie, lived in comfort in Chariton until her own death 30 years later at the age of 62. Son Calvin, in business in Chariton for a number of years and then a resident of Tucson, Arizona, and Des Moines, died at the age of 91 in 1989. He had no children. Daughter Dorothy married Hal Larimer and lived and died in St. Louis.
Many years later, the remains of Dorothy's daughter, Berthenia L. Cleminson (1921-2004) were brought from Michigan and buried with her grandparents in the Chariton Cemetery.
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