Abraham Hertel

1872 - 1904  (32 years)

• Name	Abraham Hertel
  Born	1872	, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Residence	1881	Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  	Mennonite
  Interesting	1904
  	crime
  Name	George Hartle
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-143388
  Died	18 May 1904	Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, United States
  Person ID	I143388	Generations
  Last Modified	25 Apr 2024

  
  

  Father	Herman Hertel,   b. 15 Feb 1849, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Mother	Marian Gehl,   b. 20 Jul 1850, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Married	Feb 1872  [2]
  Family ID	F35756	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  TRIED TO ESCAPE, KILLED BY GUARD Abraham Hertel, Formerly of Freeport, Shot While Trying to Escape News reached Berlin Thursday, of a Detroit sensation in which the principal was former resident of Freeport where his father still resides. The man in question was Abram Hertel, who died Wednesday in Detroit Hospital, from the effects of a bullet wound, having been shot by a constable from whom he was trying to escape. Hertel had been arrested on a charge of forgery, and it was while he was being taken to jail that he tried to escape on a pretext of saying goodbye to his children, and was shot in the leg. He was then removed to the hospital, where a few nights ago he was seen by one of the guards descending a ladder from one of the windows of the hospital, threatening to shoot if he did not, The guard shouted to him to stop, but Hertel never heeded the threat, and the guard shot him. Hertel was then taken back to his room, where he lingered between life and death until Wednesday. He is a married man and was in Berlin for some weeks last summer with his wife. His father is Mr. Herman Hertel of Freeport, who is a highly respected citizen. Following are extracts from the Detroit Evening News which gives fuller particulars of the shooting "Hertel was on the third, or top floor, and in the rear of the ward. He was so located that the officer might sit in the hall and watch his every movement. The toilet room is reached by a door, directly opposite Hertel's bed and three or four feet from it. A window leads from the toilet to a ladder or fire escape, and from the latter to the root of the one story clinic building to the east of the hospital proper." This extract is part of the story of the shooting told by Officer Greene who had been detailed to keep a watch over Hertel at the hospital "I had just taken my eyes off Hertel for a fraction of a minute and found he was gone. .. As he started down the ladder I grabbed him, by the coat but he had such ¹ hold of the iron railing that I could do nothing with him." The following dialogue then occurred: "For God's sake don't try to escape, or I'll have to shoot you." "I won't stop," said Hertel. "Then I'll have to shoot." Hertel had just reached the bottom of the 15-foot ladder when Greene fired the first shot, which fractured Hertel's left clavicle. Even then Hertel would not give up, but continued across the tar roof toward Second St. "Halt! Halt! or I'll shoot again," cried the officer. Hertel only ran the faster, and, pulling his revolver, Greene took aim and fired. This time the bullet entered Hertel's back, taking a down ward course, and, it is believed, pierced the kidneys. "Hertel had just reached the edge of the roof," continued Greene, "and as the second shot struck him, he seemed to topple over, and I found him on the ground in the yard in the rear of the clinic building." ""Officer,' he said to me, I've done you a wrong by trying to escape." I said to him. "You've done yourself more wrong." Then he said. You've shot me through and I'm done for.' I then tried to quiet him by telling him that he would not die. In Detroit deceased went by the name of George Hartle. Fifteen years ago Hertel was a prisoner in Berlin jail and ran away and was not recaptured. Chronicle Telegraph 19 May 1904 pg 6

  
  

• Sources

  [S224] Census - ON, Waterloo, Waterloo North - 1881, Div 3 Page 33. [S1573] Census - ON, Waterloo, Waterloo City - 1891, Section 1 Page 19.

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 1872 - , Ontario, Canada Residence - Mennonite - 1881 - Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 18 May 1904 - Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, United States  = Link to Google Earth