Royal "Roy" Thurber

Cpl. Royal Thurber

Royal (Roy) Thurber was a charter member of the Reedsburg Veterans of Foreign Wars, Thurber-Greenwood Post 1916. He is one of the veterans honored by having his name attached to the Post title.

Thurber was inducted into service on June 3, 1916 as a member of Company A, 128^th Infantry of the Wisconsin National Guard. His unit was sent to the Mexican border where they served with General Pershing to chase Pancho Villa along the Texas border and into northern Mexico.

The Wisconsin troops were again activated in 1917 as the U.S. declared war on Germany. After a period of intensive training, the Wisconsin Guardsmen were redesignated as the 128th Infantry, assigned to the 32nd Division and sent to France. In the closing months of the war, the 128th Infantry participated in several major campaigns including Alsace, Aisne-Marne, Oise-Aisne and Meuse-Argonne. For their fury in combat, the nickname "Les Terribles" or "The Terrible Ones" was given to them by the French. As they pierced the famed Hindenburg Line, the 32^nd Infantry Division became known as the "Red Arrow" Division - a name that has remained to the present day and is reflected in the shoulder patch.

Corporal Thurber was wounded in action during the Third Battle of Aisne on August 31, 1918, when a bullet struck his pocket watch which in turn is credited with saving his life. The Third Battle of Aisne was the Spring offensive staged by the Germans in an attempt to capture the Chemin Des Dames Ridge before the American forces completely arrived in France. The Battle began on May 27, 1918 and while the Germans were able to advance to the Marne River by mid summer, the arrival of the American forces put an end to the advancement.

Corporal Thurber convalesced from his wound and finally sailed for home on April 20, 1919 and was discharged on May 6, 1919.

THURBER MURDERED!

Upon returning home, Thurber worked as a carpenter, never married and lived in the home of Mike Daley. He was considered to be of a kindly nature, was generous and minded his own business. But on the afternoon of Saturday, October 4, 1930, his body was found near the barn on the former Tom Carlin farm 3 miles northest of the city.

Royal Thurber was murdered on the night of Thursday, October 2, 1930 when he was struck in the head 5 times with a stone chisel. The perpetrator of the crime, Tom Newberry, also of Reedsburg, was eventually arrested and sentenced for the killing.

Upon discovery of the body, a search began to find out what happened. A coroner's inquest convened the following Monday with District Attorney F. B. Moss conducting the hearing in the absence of the Country Coroner.

The jury consisted of Glen Kleeber, Frank Wheeler, Guy Albertus, Harry Strand, Floyd Daniels and Gus Laschinski. Seventeen witnesses provided exhaustive testimony. The verdict came to the conclusion that Thurber was murdered with a stone chisel and the motive was robbery. Thurber was in the habit of carrying substantial amounts of cash with him and there was a rumor he had $300 in his pocket the day before he was killed.

Additional witnesses stated that Thurber had been seen in the company of Tom Newberry, age 23, on that Thursday afternoon prior to his disappearance. According to his testimony, Newberry and Thurber had spent the afternoon drinking and by evening, Thurber had become too drunk to drive his car at which point Newberry took over driving.

Newberry stated that they spent some time driving to various locations in pursuit of more liquor. Somewhere along the line, Newberry placed the stone chisel in the car with the intent of robbing Thurber who was carrying $45 at the time.

Newberry drove out to the Carlin farm, dragged Thurber out of the car and struck him 5 times in the head with the stone chisel. The stone chisel weighed 5 pounds and was mounted on a handle that was 2 to 3 feet long. According to the coroner, any one of the blows was sufficient to cause death and 4 of the blows penetrated into the brain.

Newberry stated that he became frightened from what he had done and drove to Madison and then onto Rockford, Il.  Myron Howland received a tip that Newberry might be in Rockford. He contacted the Rockford police department and the Winnebago county sheriff and they were able to verify that Newberry was holed up in a nearby roadhouse.

Howland, along with officer Frank Camp and deputy sheriff Oscar Olson of LaValle, went to Rockford to arrest Newberry. He was captured without resistance and was taken to Madison the next day where he pled guilty before the court and was sentenced to life in prison. He was immediately transferred to Waupun to begin serving his sentence. The time from capture to incarceration at the state prison was 23 hours.

Royal Thurber was survived by 2 brothers and 4 sisters and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, block 2.