#harry powers

[lindaseccaspina]

The Missing Harry Powers --- Flower Station

Lanark, Ontario, Canada • Wed, Oct 30, 1912 While Abby McGonegal and Johnny Sampier, two small boys, were hunting partridge in the vicinity of Flower Station on Saturday last they came upon the skeleton of a man lying in the bush about three-quarters of a mile back of Stephen McGonegal’s house. The body was lying on an old shanty road that has not been used for three or four years and is 80…

The Missing Harry Powers --- Flower Station

[humid-teenage-mediocrity]

[thekillerblogofkillers]

Harry Powers (1892-1932)

Harry Powers, also known as Cornelius O. Pierson & A.R. Weaver, was a Dutch-American serial killer who lured victims through Lonely Hearts ads. He claimed to be looking for love, but murdered them for their money. Powers was born Herman Drenth in the Netherlands in 1892 & the family moved to the United States in 1910, first living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, before moving to West Virginia in 1926. The following year, Powers married Luella Strother, farm & grocery store owner, after responding to her Lonely Hearts ad. Despite the fact that he was now married, Powers began taking out his own Lonely Hearts ads, which many women responded to. Postal records indicate that replies came in at a rate of 10-20 letters per day. He built a garage & basement at his home - the garage was later found to be the scene of the murders for which he was convicted. Following his 1931 arrest, police discovered that he had been imprisoned for burglary under his birth name in Barron County, Wisconsin in 1921. Although he wasn’t charged, Powers was a suspect in the 1928 disappearance of Dudley C. Wade, a carpet sweeper salesman he had worked with, as well as the unsolved murder of a Jane Doe in Morris, Illinois. Under the alias “Cornelius O. Pierson,” Powers started writing letters to Asta Eicher, a widow & mother of 3 who lived in Park Ridge, Illinois. He went to visit her & her children (Greta, Harry & Annabel) on June 23, 1931, and soon left with Eicher for a few days. Elizabeth Abernathy was left to care for the children until she got a letter saying that “Pierson” was coming to pick up the children to take them to their mother. On his arrival he sent one of the children to the bank to withdraw money from Eicher’s account, but this wasn’t possible because the signature on the check was forged. Powers and the children disappeared; he told neighbours that they were on a trip to Europe. Later, Powers was courting Dorothy Pressler Lemke from Northborough, Massachusetts, whom he also met through Lonely Hearts ads. He brought her home to Iowa to marry her & convinced her to withdraw $4,000 from her bank account. Lemke failed to notice that instead of sending her trunks to Iowa, where Powers said he lived, he sent them to “Cornelius O. Pierson” of Fairmont, West Virginia. Asta Eicher, her 3 children & Dorothy Lemke had disappeared without a trace. 

In August 1931, police began to investigate the disappearance of Asta Eicher & her children, starting with “Pierson”, who was found emptying her home. They discovered love letters, leading them to Quiet Dell, where “Pierson” lived under the name Harry Powers with his wife. Powers was arrested & his home was searched. Police found the crime scene in 4 rooms under Pierson’s garage. Bloody clothes, hair, a burned bankbook & a small child’s bloody footprint were discovered. Citizens began to arrive to watch the crimes of Powers unravel. When police began to dig up a freshly filled-in ditch on the property, they discovered the corpses of Eicher, her children & Lemke. Evidence showed that the 2 girls & their mother were strangled to death while the young boy’s head was beaten with a hammer. Lemke was found with a belt wrapped around her neck, having been strangled with it. Love letters were discovered in the trunk of Powers’ car - he had written back to many women with the intent of stealing their money & killing them. On September 20, 1931, a lynch mob, trying to take Powers from the jail by force, was dispersed with fire hoses & tear gas. Powers was then moved to Moundsville State Penitentiary. His 5 day trial was held at the local opera house due to the huge amount of spectators. Many witnesses testified about the evidence in Powers’ home, that he had been seen with the victims & had picked up their luggage, etc. He also testified on his own behalf. On December 12, 1931, he was sentenced to death & was hanged on March 18, 1932.

[a-dangerousworld]

Harry Powers (born Herman Drenth; 1892- March 18, 1932), also known as Cornelius O. Pierson and A.R. Weaver was born in the Netherlands. He and his family emigrated to the US in 1910. They lived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa but moved to West Virginia in 1926. Harry, however, did not want to be an immigrant farmer like his father. He wanted to live a high standard of living and planned to use the resources and opportunities in America that were unavailable in the Netherlands to gain money.

Harry married Luella Srtother, an owner of a farm and grocery store in 1927 after replying to her lonely hearts ad in Lonely Hearts Magazine. Despite being married, Harry decided to take out his own lonely hearts ads to gain more money and companionship. He posted fake information in his ads in an attempt to get more attention from lonely women; because of this, many women wrote back. Postal records indicated that replied to Harry’s ad poured in at a rate of 10-20 letters per day. He eventually constructed a garage and basement in his home in Quiet Dell; the garage was later determined to be where he committed the murders.

After he was arrested in 1931, police investigation using fingerprints and photographs revealed that he had also been incarcerated for burglary under his birth name in Barron County, Wisconsin in 1921-1922. Though he wasn’t charged,he was suspected of involvement in the 1928 disappearance of Dudley C. Wade, a carpet sweeper salesman who Harry once worked with, and the unsolved murder of a Jane Doe in Morris, Illinois.

The first murder he was eventually convicted of was in 1931. Using the name Cornelius O. Pierson, Harry began writing letters to Asta Eicher, a widowed mother of three in Park Ridge, Illinois. Harry visited Asta and her children – Greta, Harry, and Annabell – on June 23, 1931, and shortly after left with Asta for several days.  A woman named Elizabeth Abernathy cared for Asta’s kids while she was gone. Elizabeth got a letter saying that “Cornelius” was going to pick up the children to join him and their mother. When he came, he sent a child to a bank window to withdraw money from their mother’s account. The child came back empty handed because the signature on the check turned out to be forged. Harry took the children and quickly got away. He even told concerned neighbors that they were on a vacation trip to Europe.

Later, Harry attracted Dorothy Pressler Lemke from Northborough, Massachusetts, who was also looking for love through a lonely hearts ad. He brought her to Iowa to marry her, then persuaded her to withdraw $4,000 from her bank account. Dorothy didn’t notice that, instead sending her luggage to Iowa, where Harry claimed to be living, he sent them to the address of Cornelius O. Pierson of Fairmont, West Virginia. Both women and Asta’s children had went missing with no explanation.

The murders came to light on August 26, 1931 when the police started looking into the disappearances of Asta Eicher and her children. Police began searching into Asta’s last known contacts, and they found that Cornelius Pierson was one of them. The police realized that no one named Cornelius Pierson lived in Clarksburgh, West Virginia but the description of Cornelius matched Harry Powers. Police eventually obtained a search warrant for Harry’s home in Quiet Dell.

After searching the home, police found the crime scene in four rooms located under the garage. Bloody clothing, hair, a burned bankbook and a small bloody footprint of a child was found. Police dug up a freshly filled in ditch found on the property; because of this, the bodies of Asta Eicher, her children, and Dorothy Lemke were found. Evidence and autopsy reports showed that the two girls and their mother were strangled to death while the boy’s head was beaten in with a hammer. Dorothy was uncovered with a belt wrapped around her neck, which she was strangled with. Love letters were found in the trunk of Harry’s car; he had written back to many women and had intentions of stealing their money and killing them, similar to his last victims.

On December 12, 1931, Harry was sentenced to death by hanging. Judge John Southern said, “It is the judgement of the court that you will be taken to the state penitentiary at Moundsville, there to be kept and treated in the manner provided by law and then hanged by the neck until dead on March 18, 1932 between the hours of sunrise and sunset.”

On March 18, 1932, Harry was walked to the scaffold at the Moundsville State Penitentiary to be hanged. He declined to make a last statement. The guard put a cap over his head at 9:00 a.m., the button was pushed that dropped Harry through a trap door. He was pronounced dead by the prison doctor and a physician who witnessed the hanging after eleven minutes.

[grandmasneighbor]

[mmckenzieport]

By Melissa McKenzie

It starts in the Rotunda. Bay Area artist Harry Powers’ "From The Inward Eye" show at the Triton Museum of Art draws viewers in instantly. "Boyne," Powers’ cast bronze sculpture pulls visitors in before releasing them to the Warburton Gallery where the rest of the exhibit is housed.

Immediately, rich, bold colors entice art and sculpture lovers to step further into Powers’ world. A maroon-painted accent wall pulls everything together. This isn’t just another exhibit; it’s another world.

Powers utilizes abstract pieces - both sculpture and painting - to give an ethereal feel to his work. Painted bronze and aluminum sculptures are placed throughout the room and canvases painted in reds, blues, and purples align the walls of the gallery. Viewers are pulled into an out-of-this-world setting and into the depths of Powers’ mind. There are misplaced faces, astrological signs, swirls, and the concept of outer space used as themes throughout Powers’ show. Each piece fits together as a whole, but stands out on its own, as it would be easy to spend hours staring at the intricacies of the designs.

While most of the pieces lay flat on the canvas, Powers uses shading to give depth to some paintings, for example, "Infinite-Energies," where a crater appears to pop out of the background. It isn’t unless the viewer approaches that they realize it is flush with the background.

Powers’ "New and Distant Vistas 2" cast aluminum and acrylic sculpture is mesmerizing. Red, silver and blue painted aluminum has been molded in a draped effect. A gold-colored sculpture with tentacle-like arms protruding in a spherical way from the center sits atop the aluminum like a tree-topper. Perhaps it’s a testament to Chief Curator Preston Metcalf’s ability to light a show, but at certain angles, when the light hits the sculpture just right, the piece is illuminated and demands the viewer’s attention.

"My interests and curiosity are eclectic," says Powers’ artist statement. "I incorporate any material or technique which helps articulate the work’s ideas and feelings. Often images gleaned from contemporary science combine with those using historical viewpoints. Sometimes images will be the visual equivalent of some quality or essence. It might result in abstract, or symbolic, or literal images...I seek to make work which is provocative to the viewer’s imagination, as well as richly joyful for me."

"From the Inward Eye" runs through September 16 at the Triton Museum of Art at 1505 Warburton Avenue in Santa Clara. For additional information on the Triton visit www.tritonmuseum.org and for information on Harry Powers visit www.harrypowers.com.

[ohellgirl]

Circus Smirkus