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THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY
Or,
The Assassination of Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin.
A Complete and Authentic History of the
Greatest of Modern Conspiracies.
by
HENRY M. HUNT,
The Noted Journalist.
Profusely Illustrated with Original Engravings.
Apart from Its Value As a History of a Celebrated Case,
the Story Itself Is of Thrilling and
Fascinating Interest.
[Illustration: _From a Photograph taken just before the Murder._]
Copyright 1889,
By
H. L. & D. H. Kochersperger.
PREFACE
This volume is not intended as an addition to the criminal literature of
the country. It has not been published solely for the pleasure of those
who delight in devouring morbid tales of crime and criminals. It rather
owes its existence to a general demand from all parts of the United
States, from the Canadas, from Great Britain, and from many points on
the continent of Europe, for a complete, concise, and accurate story of
one of the greatest of modern crimes and the events connected therewith.
The reports of the public press, while of the most searching and
elaborate character, have nevertheless been of necessity so disjointed,
fragmentary and confusing, covering a period of over seven months, each
day and week replete with new discoveries and new sensations, as to make
it well-nigh impossible for even the most careful reader, with unlimited
time at his disposal, to grasp or comprehend anything more than the
barest outline of this remarkable case. The object of this volume
therefore, is to present in consecutive form and as a complete
narrative all the facts which have been brought to light from the day of
the disappearance of Dr. Cronin, to the close of the trial of those
accused of his murder. Many circumstances have combined to make the task
a difficult and laborious one, but the results are submitted in the
belief that as the only effort of its kind, it will prove not only a
story of thrilling interest to the general reader, but also valuable, by
its accuracy and continuity, as an historical work.
THE AUTHOR.
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
CHAPTER I.
A Crime That Shocked the Civilized World--The Mysterious
Stranger--A Sudden Summons--The Instincts of Humanity
Triumph over Personal Considerations--Last Moments at
Home--Parting Words with a Friend--Dr. Cronin's Eventful
Life--How He Worked His Way Upward on the Ladder of Honor
and Fame, 15
CHAPTER II.
Dr. Cronin Fails to Return Home--Anxiety of His Friends--
The Early Morning Ride to the Ice House--O'Sullivan's
Surprise and Ignorance--The Mysterious Wagon and Its
Occupants--A Bloody Trunk is Found--The Search Commenced--
"It is His Hair," 27
CHAPTER III.
An Accidental Clue--Frank Woodruff's Arrest--How He Was
Hired to Get a Wagon to Carry the Mysterious Trunk to Lake
View--A Corpse is Dumped Out--He Thinks It was That of a
Woman--His Sensational Confession--The Police on a Wild-Goose
Chase, 46
CHAPTER IV.
"It is a Conspiracy"--Dr. Cronin's Friends Claim the Murder
was a Political Assassination--The Public Skeptical until
Startling Developments Are Made--The Physician in Danger of
His Life for Years--Previous Attempts to Remove Him--The
Trouble in the Clan-na-Gael--Charges and Counter Charges--The
Buffalo Convention--Why His "Removal" became a Necessity to
Certain People, 57
CHAPTER V.
Strange Influences at Work--Miss Anna Murphy Thinks She Saw
the Doctor on a Street Car--His Long and Mysterious Ride
with Conductor Dwyer--Reporter Long also Encounters Him, This
Time in Toronto--The Police and Public Satisfied, but His
Friends Still Anxious--Efforts to Prove Him a British Spy--A
Big Reward Offered 101
CHAPTER VI.
Hoping against Hope--The Stench in the Sewer--"Murder Will
Out"--A Ghastly Discovery--Where the Body was Found--The
Recognition by Captain Wing--Its Horrible Appearance--Evidences
of a Foul Crime--The Corpse at the Morgue--Pitiable Scenes of
Grief--The Official Autopsy--The Brutal Way in Which the
Physician had been Done to Death 126
CHAPTER VII.
The Crime Creates An International Sensation--Discovery of
the Lonely Cottage Where the Irish Nationalist Met His
Death--Evidences of a Terrible Struggle--The Tell-Tale Blood
Stains and Broken Furniture--The Mysterious Tenants and Their
Movements--The Furniture Bought and Carted to the Assassins'
Den--What Milkman Mertes Saw--The Plot as Outlined by the
Surroundings--Iceman O'Sullivan Under Surveillance 154
CHAPTER VIII.
The White Horse and Buggy--Detective Coughlin Hires It for
a "Friend"--The Trouble in the Stable--Dinan Goes to
Schaack--The Captain's Peculiar Movements--Scanlan Identifies
the Horse--The Detective and O'Sullivan are Jailed--The Grand
Jury Indicts Them with Woodruff--The Accused Arraigned in
Court 195
CHAPTER IX.
The Lying in State--An Impressive Scene--The Imposing
Procession--At the Cathedral--An Eloquent Voice from the
Pulpit--Clerical Denunciation of the Crime--Laid to Rest in
Calvary Cemetery 220
CHAPTER X.
The Coroner's Inquest Opens--A Model Jury--Visiting the Scene
of the Tragedy--Taking the Evidence--Captain Schaack's
Compromising Admissions--Prominent Clan-na-Gael Men put on the
Stand--Alexander Sullivan's Threats--Luke Dillon Tells What He
Knows--The Documents Left by the Murdered Man Read by the
Coroner--A Sensational Inquiry 236
CHAPTER XI.
Closing Scenes of the Inquest--The Verdict--Alexander
Sullivan's Arrest Ordered--Midnight Visit to His Residence--
His Cool Demeanor and Cheerful Acquiescence--Taken to the
County Jail--Incidents of the Arrest 259
CHAPTER XII.
At the Toronto End of the Conspiracy--Investigating Long's
Circumstantial Stories, and His Interviews with Dr. Cronin--
A Chicago Fugitive Concerned--His Suspicious Movements--A
Chapter of Startling Coincidences--Long on the Rack--Makes
Damaging Admissions but will not Retract--The Object to
Distract Attention from the Scene of the Crime--Another
Confession from Woodruff 275
CHAPTER XIII.
Sullivan's Arrest Creates a Sensation--His Friends Stand by
Him--The Noted ex-Irish Leader in Court--Efforts to Secure
His Release--Judge Tuley Gives Him His Liberty--Arrest of
Maroney and McDonald in New York--Their Extradition Refused 292
CHAPTER XIV.
Officer Collin's Suspicions--Martin Burke and His Record--
Fortunate Discovery of the Photograph of a Clan-na-Gael
Group--The Carlsons and Others Identify Burke--His Peculiar
Movements and His Flight--An Indictment against Him--The
Capture in Winnipeg, when _En Route_ to England--Stubborn
Fight to Prevent His Extradition to American Soil--The Law
Triumphant--A Memorable Journey Home--Preliminaries of the
Trial--A Separate Trial Granted Woodruff 303
CHAPTER XV.
Theories Regarding the Disappearance of the Murdered Man's
Clothing--The Hand of Providence Manifests Itself--Fortunate
Discovery of the Last Bloody Evidences of the Crime--Dr.
Cronin's Apparel is Found--It had been Secreted, with His
Case of Surgical Instruments, in a Catch-basin, Adjacent to
the One in Which the Body was Discovered--Shoes, Jewelry and
Purse Missing--Complete Identification by His Friends--The
Search Continued--A Piece of Carpet Found--The Conspirators'
Plans Thwarted 333
CHAPTER XVI.
Special Grand Jury Summoned--_Personnel_ of Its Members--
Judge Shepard's Vigorous Charge--The Testimony Taken--
Seventeen Days' Investigation Results in the Indictment of
Seven Men--Full Text of the Indictment--Arrest of Beggs and
Kunze--The Alleged Trial of Dr. Cronin in Camp 20 351
CHAPTER XVII.
Public Abhorrence at the Crime--A Great Out-pouring of the
People--Cosmopolitan Assemblage at Central Music Hall--A
Judge's Vigorous Speech--Congressmen Denounce the Crime--
The Rival Demonstrations at Cheltenham Beach and Ogden's
Grove 369
CHAPTER XVIII.
In Court at Last--The State's Attorney Points Out the
Accused, Man by Man--A Formidable Array of Legal Talent--
Objections to Luther Laflin Mills and his Associates--
Over-ruled by the Court--Weeks consumed in the Wearisome
Task of Securing a Jury--Scenes and Incidents 384
CHAPTER XIX.
Startling Interruption to the Trial--Villainous Attempt to
Frustrate the Ends of Justice--Bold Efforts to Bribe the
Special Veniresmen in the Interest of the Prisoners--A
"Hung" Jury Wanted--Fortunate Discovery of the Plot--The
"Wheels Within Wheels" of the Conspiracy--Prompt Action of
the Prosecuting Authorities--Speedy Arrest and Indictment
of the Guilty Parties--Crime Added to Crime 399
CHAPTER XX.
A Jury Secured at Last--Names and Sketches of the Twelve
Men Selected to Determine the Guilt of the Accused--The
Trial Under Way--Opening Speeches for the State--Scenes in
the Court Room 414
CHAPTER XXI.
Evidence for the State--The Story of the Crime Retold--A
Long Line of Witnesses--Sensational Disclosures and Missing
Links Supplied--Mrs. Hoertel's Graphic Story--Dr. Cronin's
Knives are Found and Produced in Court--A Masterly Grouping
of the Testimony Against the Prisoners 430
CHAPTER XXII.
The Defense Takes its Turn--Unsuccessful Efforts to Exclude
the Bulk of the Evidence Given for the State--Alibis for the
Prisoners and the White Horse--A General Denial of Complicity
in the Tragedy--Rebuttal Evidence for the Prosecution 457
CHAPTER XXIII.
Opening for the State--The Evidence Reviewed--A Masterly
Argument by State's Attorney Longenecker--Tracing the Plot
from its Inception to the Murder--An Appeal for Justice--
Arguments for the Defense--Donahoe, Wing, Foster and Forrest
make Their Final Pleas for the Prisoners, and Ingham, Hynes
and Longenecker Close for the State 470
CHAPTER XXIV.
All the Testimony Before the Jury--Judge McConnell's Lucid
Charge--The Jury Retires--A Period of Anxiety--Popular
Excitement at its Height--Demeanor of the Prisoners--
Suspense at Last Ended--The Verdict 563
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
PORTRAIT OF DR. PATRICK HENRY CRONIN, THE MURDERED
PHYSICIAN Frontispiece.
PORTRAIT OF PATRICK O'SULLIVAN, THE ICE MAN, ONE
OF THE DEFENDANTS 28
PORTRAIT OF DANIEL COUGHLIN, THE DETECTIVE, ONE
OF THE DEFENDANTS 197
PORTRAIT OF MARTIN BURKE, ONE OF THE DEFENDANTS 315
PORTRAIT OF JOHN F. BEGGS, ONE OF THE DEFENDANTS 360
PORTRAIT OF JOHN KUNZE, ONE OF THE DEFENDANTS 367
O'SULLIVAN AND KUNZE, FROM PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN DURING TRIAL 392
PORTRAIT OF PATRICK COONEY, "THE FOX" 452
PORTRAIT OF SUPT. OF POLICE HUBBARD 210
PORTRAIT OF OFFICER DANIEL BROWN 354
PORTRAITS OF MR. AND MRS. T. T. CONKLIN 39
PORTRAIT OF ALEXANDER SULLIVAN 263
PORTRAIT OF MERTES, THE MILKMAN 187
PORTRAITS OF FIVE DEFENDANTS ON TRIAL 429
PORTRAITS OF THE SIX PRISONERS IN COURT 332
PORTRAITS OF THE TWELVE JURYMEN 416-417
PORTRAIT OF JUDGE MCCONNELL, PRESIDING AT THE MEMORABLE
TRIAL 456
PORTRAIT OF JOEL M. LONGENECKER, THE STATE'S ATTORNEY 469
PORTRAIT OF LUTHER LAFLIN MILLS (THE NOTED CRIMINAL LAWYER),
FOR THE PROSECUTION 550
PORTRAIT OF GEORGE C. INGHAM, ATTORNEY FOR THE PROSECUTION 514
PORTRAIT OF W. J. HYNES, ATTORNEY FOR THE PROSECUTION 521
PORTRAIT OF W. S. FORREST, LEADING ATTORNEY FOR THE DEFENSE 536
PORTRAIT OF JUDGE WING, ATTORNEY FOR THE DEFENSE 512
PORTRAITS OF THREE OF THE CARLSON FAMILY 168
PORTRAITS OF PRINCIPAL WITNESSES BEFORE THE CORONER'S INQUEST 254
PORTRAIT OF DETECTIVE MICHAEL WHALEN 206
PORTRAIT OF DETECTIVE BARNEY FLYNN 464
PORTRAIT OF LAWRENCE R. BUCKLEY 242
PORTRAIT OF T. P. O'CONNOR 244
PORTRAIT OF P. M'GEHAN 247
THE COURT ROOM, SHOWING THE GREAT TRIAL IN PROGRESS 413
THE CARD OF SULLIVAN ICE CO., THAT LURED DR. CRONIN FROM
HIS HOME ON THE NIGHT OF THE MURDER 20
THE MYSTERIOUS WAGON 31
DETECTIVES INSPECTING THE SPOT WHERE THE TRUNK WAS FOUND 42
THE BLOODY TRUNK AND ITS CONTENTS 35
PICTURE OF DR. CRONIN TAKEN AFTER HE WAS FOUND IN THE
CATCH-BASIN WITH THE "AGNUS DEI" ON BREAST 135
SCENE AT THE MORGUE, SHOWING THE BODY LYING ON SLAB AND
BEING IDENTIFIED BY SCANLAN AND CONKLIN 140
THE SPOT WHERE THE TRUNK WAS FOUND 33
THE SKULL OF DR. CRONIN, SHOWING THE WOUNDS 143
THE BROKEN ROCKER ON WHICH DR. CRONIN PROBABLY SAT WHEN KILLED 161
BLOOD-STAINED PIECE OF BRASS 161
THE SOLITARY LAMP 161
THE CATCH-BASIN--SOUTH VIEW 127
THE CATCH-BASIN, SHOWING FIRE-PLUG AND DITCH 129
THE DISCOVERY OF THE BODY IN THE CATCH-BASIN 131
ALEXANDER SULLIVAN'S RESIDENCE 264
THE ASSASSINS' DEN, SHOWING THE CARLSON COTTAGE IN REAR 157
DIAGRAM OF THE LOCALITY OF THE MURDER 156
FOOTPRINT FOUND IN HOUSE 160
THE CORONER'S JURY 239
JURORS EXAMINING FINGER MARKS IN PAINT ON WINDOW BLIND 245
JURORS EXAMINING BLOOD STAINS IN PARLOR OF COTTAGE 238
THE WHITE HORSE AND BUGGY THAT TOOK DR. CRONIN AWAY FROM
HIS HOME 199
LIVERYMAN DINAN'S STABLE 198
THE FUNERAL PROCESSION 223
DR. CRONIN'S APARTMENTS IN WINDSOR THEATRE BUILDING 18
DR. CRONIN'S RECEPTION ROOM IN CHICAGO OPERA HOUSE BUILDING 184
DR. CRONIN'S OFFICE IN CHICAGO OPERA HOUSE BUILDING 181
DR. CRONIN'S MAIN OFFICE IN CHICAGO OPERA HOUSE BUILDING 183
STATE'S ATTORNEY LONGENECKER ADDRESSING THE COURT 296
DR. CRONIN'S BOX AND ITS CONTENTS 337
THE LOAD ON THE STRETCHER 338
SOME OF DR. CRONIN'S CLOTHES 340
TWO VIEWS OF DR. CRONIN'S HAT 341
DR. CRONIN'S POCKET INSTRUMENT CASE 342
DR. CRONIN'S SLEEVE BUTTON, COMB, R. A. BUTTON, CASE, ETC. 343
DR. CRONIN'S POCKET CASE 345
REMAINS OF THE MURDERER'S VALISE 346
THE SILVER HYPODERMIC SYRINGE CASE 347
DR. CRONIN'S SURGICAL INSTRUMENT CASE 348
THE ENGLISH PRESCRIPTION BOOK 349
THE JUDGE HEARS OF THE JURY-BRIBING PLOT 401
THE KNIVES 466
CHAPTER I.
A CRIME THAT SHOCKED THE CIVILIZED WORLD--THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER--A
SUDDEN SUMMONS--THE INSTINCTS OF HUMANITY TRIUMPH OVER PERSONAL
CONSIDERATIONS--LAST MOMENTS AT HOME--PARTING WORDS WITH A FRIEND--
DR. CRONIN'S EVENTFUL LIFE--HOW HE WORKED HIS WAY UPWARD ON THE
LADDER OF HONOR AND FAME.
Little introduction to this volume is needed. It is the story--told in
plain unvarnished words, so that everyone who reads may understand--of a
crime that has shocked the people of the United States, and astounded
the civilized world. Back of that crime was a conspiracy so wide in its
ramifications, so cunningly contrived, so successfully executed, as to
rival the diabolical plots and outgrowing tragedies that have been
placed at the doors of the secret societies of France, Italy and Spain,
by the historians of the Dark Ages. In the United States, as an event of
national importance, the crime may be said to rank with the
assassinations of Presidents Lincoln and Garfield. In the case of the
former, as of the latter, the perpetrator of the crime was a half crazed
enthusiast, who imagined that he had a mission to perform in taking the
life of the Chief Magistrate of the Republic. An effort was made, it is
true, to demonstrate the fact that the assassin of Abraham Lincoln was
but the tool of a band of conspirators, but, despite the fact that five
of his alleged accomplices suffered an ignominious death upon the
scaffold upon conviction for complicity in the appalling crime, the
question as to the actual existence of a conspiracy has remained to this
day a mooted one. In the case of President Garfield there was not even a
suggestion that the assassin acted upon other than his own insane
impulse. So far as concerns the Haymarket horror in Chicago, the point
as to whether the throwing of the bomb that echoed around the world was
the outcome of a conspiracy, or the act of an individual who had inbibed
anarchistic principles and doctrines until reason had been dethroned,
and a desire for vengeance upon the supposed enemies of the proletaire
had generated into an uncontrollable determination, is still unsettled
in the minds of many people eminently well versed in the law; as well as
in those of a goodly proportion of the masses. So far, however, as the
tragic fate of Dr Cronin is concerned, no such doubt may be said to
exist. That he fell a victim to a plot, remarkable in its conception and
execution; conceived in shrewdness and forethought, and executed by the
aid of far-reaching and elaborate machinery; and with remorseless
precision, is beyond peradventure. But it serves no purpose to
anticipate. The following chapters tell their own story of the manner
and methods by which the murder of a law-abiding American citizen,
prominent in his profession and of national reputation, was decreed and
carried out. It was the first crime of its character in the history of
the United States. It will probably be the last.
THE DISAPPEARANCE.
The locality was Chicago. The date Saturday, May 4th, in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine. The time eight o'clock
of the evening. Philip Patrick Henry Cronin--for this was the full name
of the physician--was closeted with a patient in the most spacious of
the front suite of rooms attached to a handsomely furnished flat
directly over the Windsor Theatre on North Clark Street. The tenants of
the flat, T. T. Conklin, a well-known saloon keeper, and his wife, were
among his most intimate and confidential friends, and with them the
physician, who was a confirmed bachelor, had resided so long that he was
regarded, to all intents and purposes, as one of the family. They nursed
him in sickness, studied his every requirement when in health, and in a
great measure, shared with him his personal and political knowledge. It
was a happy, congenial family in every sense of the term. Dr. Cronin was
on the point of dismissing the patient, for an important meeting of the
Celto-American Society, which published a paper of which he was the
political editor, necessitated his hurrying away to the other side of
the city, when the door-bell rang violently. Mrs. Conklin responded. A
man pale and breathless, stood on the landing.
[Illustration: DR. CRONIN'S APARTMENTS IN WINDSOR THEATRE BUILDING.]
"Is Dr. Cronin in?" he demanded, in a hurried, nervous manner.
"Yes," was the reply, "but he is busy with a patient."
"Well," responded the stranger with increasing nervousness. "I want to
see him. It is a matter of life or death."
Some fragments of the conversation had penetrated to the office where
the physician was giving a final injunction to his patient. He threw
open the door and came out into the vestibule.
"What is the matter?" he asked.
"Doctor" said the strange visitor as he presented a card, "one of the
workmen at P. O'Sullivan's ice house at Lake View, has met with an
accident and been terribly injured about here" (indicating the abdomen
by a wave of his hand). "Unless a doctor sees him at once," he went on
in his hurried, nervous, manner, "he will die. O'Sullivan is out of
town, but he has spoken so often of you and said that you should be
called in case of an accident that I thought I'd better come to you."
Dr. Cronin glanced at the card. It was a fac-simile of this.
[Illustration]
For a moment he twirled it between his finger and thumb. Then he looked
at his watch. It was near the hour for the meeting, in the proceedings
of which he was liable to take a prominent part. But the humane
instincts of the profession quickly overcame all other considerations.
"One moment" he ejaculated, "and I will be with you."
"I have a buggy and fast horse down stairs" called out the stranger.
Dr. Cronin darted into his office. Hastily gathering up his surgical
instruments, he packed them into their case. A package of lint and
absorbent cotton was pushed down into his pocket. Then he reappeared and
with the remark "I am ready," made for the stairs. The unknown went down
in advance and the doctor followed. At the curb, with a white horse in
the shafts, was the buggy that was to take the physician on his supposed
errand of mercy. As he reached the street, he came _vis-a-vis_ with
Frank T. Scanlan, Jr., a prominent young Irish-American, who had
previously arranged to call for and accompany him to the meeting.
"Are you ready" the latter asked.
"No," was Dr. Cronin's reply. "I'm called away on an accident case."
The stranger was already in the buggy. "There's no time to lose," he
called out, and the ejaculation caused Scanlan to turn his head in that
direction. He was startled for a moment by the look of fiendish rage
with which the fellow was regarding him. Before he could say a word,
however, Dr. Cronin had taken his seat in the vehicle. A whip cut
through the air and descended on the animal's back, and as it started
off the physician called out to his friend, who still stood on the
sidewalk:
"I may get down town in an hour, but don't wait for me. I really don't
know how long this case may occupy me."
Man proposes, but God disposes. It was the physician's last farewell to
his home and his friends. The white horse sped into the darkness and
each revolution of the wheels of the vehicle carried one of its
occupants nearer his doom.
THE STORY OF HIS LIFE.
It is necessary to digress a moment at this point in order that
something may be said regarding the previous history of the man whose
name was soon to be on millions of tongues. Born on August 7th, 1846, on
Erin's soil, near the town of Mallow, in the famed county of Cork, he
was brought to the United States when yet a babe in his mother's arms.
For five years thereafter he was numbered among the population of New
York City. Thence the family moved to Baltimore, and thence again to the
province of Ontario. When ten years of age he was placed in the care of
the Christian Brothers at the Academy of St. Catherines. He graduated
with honors in 1863, and, a boy of seventeen, started out to battle with
the world. His first wages were earned at Petroleum City, Pa., where he
taught school. From here he went to Titusville and thence to Clearfield,
in the same state, where in 1866 he held a good position in a store. But
he was restless and ambitious.
There was no charm--from his point of view--in the plodding life of a
country school teacher or store keeper. He wanted to make his way in the
world and he realized that in order to accomplish this it would be
necessary to take the historic advice of Horace Greeley and "go west."
Accordingly, late in the fall of 1867 he bade farewell to the many
friends and acquaintances he had made in the oil regions and departed
for Missouri. He first located in a country town, but after a short stay
removed again to St. Louis. Here he secured a position in the store of
Michael Dougherty, a grocer. Those who came in contact with him at that
time remembered him in after years as a young man of pleasing presence,
fine attainments and a remarkably good musician. He was especially a
fine tenor singer, and soon after his arrival he became a member of the
choir of the Catholic Church of St. John's. The numerous services and
consequent rehearsals, however, conflicted materially with his work at
the store, and as a result he secured another position as superintendent
of omnibuses for a local transfer concern. Meanwhile he had been
industriously engaged in the study of pharmacy, and so well did he
combine this craving after knowledge with commendable prudence and
economy, that after awhile he was enabled to become a full fledged
druggist with a store of his own on Garrison street, adjacent to Easton
avenue. Even then, however, he was not satisfied. He aimed still higher,
and immediately begun the study of medicine at the Missouri College.
From this institution he graduated in 1878, and, relinquishing the drug
business, entered upon the practice of his newly chosen profession.
Meanwhile he had identified himself with the local militia, and held the
rank of captain at the time of the strike in 1877. Shortly after his
graduation he was appointed a commissioner to the Paris exposition. The
next twelve months were passed abroad, a goodly portion of that period
being spent in Dublin and other parts of Ireland. Returning home, he
accepted the professorship of _materia medica_ and therapeutics in the
St. Louis College of Physicians and Surgeons. Even with the onerous
duties of this responsible position he found time and opportunity to
study for two years--'80 and '81, at the Jesuit University, and received
as his reward the degrees of A. M., and Ph. D. In 1882, by the advice of
friends, he left St. Louis for Chicago, and almost immediately upon his
arrival in the Garden City was appointed one of the staff of physicians
at the Cook County Hospital. From this he drifted into private practice,
and gradually became identified with a large number of political and
secret societies. Among the latter were the Royal League, the Legion of
Honor, Ancient Order of Hibernians, Ancient Order of United Workmen, and
Independent Order of Foresters. He was at one time or another a Deputy
Grand Regent of the Royal Arcanum, Past Commander of the Knights of
Pythias and Chief Ranger of the Catholic Order of Foresters. Of many of
these societies, as well as of the Plasterers' Union, he was the medical
examiner. His practice necessarily was a lucrative one. He took an
active interest in various Irish movements calculated to elevate his
race and to promote the cause of Irish independence, and, at the time of
his taking off, he was president of the Celto-American Club of Chicago.
Dr. Cronin never married. When rallied on one occasion on his apparent
determination to live and die a bachelor, he tersely rejoined that "he
had no desire to make widows." His only surviving immediate relatives
were a sister, Mrs. Carroll, living at St. Catherines, Ont., and a
brother John, who, just before the tragedy, had removed from Pawnee
Rock, Kan., to Arkansas. He also had two nieces who were Mother
Superiors in Canadian convents. In appearance he was a fine looking man,
five feet ten and one-half inches tall, weighing 180 pounds and well
proportioned. His hair was black and his luxuriant mustache was
generally worn long and wavy at the ends. Personally he was courteous
and warm-hearted. At the same time his impulses were quick and strong,
and, while he would go to any extreme to serve a friend, he would follow
up an enemy with relentless determination and vindictiveness. Wherever
he went he enjoyed great popularity, and he could always boast of an
extensive acquaintance and a host of close friends. He always retained
the fine tenor voice of his youth and almost his last public appearance
in Chicago was at the Washington centennial celebration at the Cavalry
Armory, on which occasion he sang a specially composed "Hymn to
Washington," with such telling effect as not only to elicit an encore
but to rouse the vast audience to unwonted enthusiasm.