The murder of the laundress

Bertha Schultz and Fremont Emmons worked at the Exchange Hotel in Pawnee City.
Bertha Schultz and Fremont Emmons worked at the Exchange Hotel in Pawnee City.

It happened on July 26, 1888. No one is left alive who cares or even remembers. But on that summer day 132 years ago a young girl was murdered in Pawnee City. Her name was Bertha Schultz. There was an associated incident. Many vaguely know that a man was lynched at the railroad bridge, but when I first heard this no one seemed to know who or why. Guesses were made that he must have raped a girl. I…