Bath Massacre: America's First School Bombing

Six - A Growing Storm

Chapter 6 A GROWING STORM Despite his reputation as the activist steward of public funds, Kehoe lacked any personal sense of ‹scal responsibility. Up through March of 1921, he made regular payments on his mortgage and interest to the Lawrence Price Estate. And then: nothing. April came and went. May slipped by. June, July, August. No payments . It continued through the rest of the year and into 1922. Not a word was said, not by the Price family or Joseph H. Dunnebacke, the attorney representing the estate. Finally a letter arrived from Kehoe stating that he couldn’t make the payments. The estate granted him an extension . Another year passed, then another. Kehoe wrote another letter. Would he and Nellie be evicted? Again the answer was a calming no. By all means, the estate would be happy to work with Kehoe. And still no payments. In August of 1925, Lawrence Price’s estate released 60 percent of its legacy payments to the late man’s heirs. Nellie Kehoe’s share was twelve hundred dollars. The Kehoes arrived at Dunnebacke ’s of‹ce, collected their check, and left. Although Dunnebacke remained polite throughout, he was amazed that the couple never brought up the subject of their defaulted mortgage.1 The matter took another strange turn one month later. The probate 39 judge overseeing Lawrence Price’s estate received a letter from Nellie Kehoe. Enclosed was a card on which Nellie asked the judge to write down the appraised worth of the Kehoe property.2 And still no payments. In March of 1926, Dunnebacke was bound by terms of the Lawrence Price Estate to provide Nellie Kehoe with another ‹ve hundred dollars. This time the attorney applied the money to payments on the house, sending the Kehoes a note explaining what he was doing with the small inheritance check. Nellie wrote back, thanking Dunnebacke and asking how much she and her husband owed on their mortgage. She also mentioned that Andrew was deeply involved with school board activities, but at some point they would like to come to Dunnebacke’s of‹ce to discuss their debt.3 Instead, in the days following the school board debacle over Ruth Babcock, Kehoe contacted Kelly Searl, one of the best legal minds in the region. Searl, a former Circuit Court judge, had left the bench nearly ten years earlier to again practice law, entering into a partnership with his son William. Ultimately, William left private practice to become county prosecutor. For now, Searl the elder agreed with Kehoe’s argument that the executors had inappropriately diverted Nellie’s inheritance check. Legally, the money had to go to Mrs. Kehoe. The executors of Lawrence Price’s estate could not make decisions on Nellie’s behalf without her consent. Notice was sent to Dunnebacke and Richard Price, the estate executor , who had originally sold the property to Andrew and Nellie. They agreed to meet with Searl in the chambers of the probate judge, a man named McArthur. It was assumed that the probate hearing, held in August of 1926, would be a simple matter during which the dispute would be solved through sound discussion and compromise between legal authorities. Instead, and to everyone’s surprise, the Kehoes were there. They had not been noti‹ed of the time and place; apparently Kehoe had done some investigating. Dunnebacke was dismayed; he’d gone out of his way to help the Kehoes, particularly in light of Nellie’s health, and felt they should leave the matter to be solved by legal parties. Yet the hearing continued with Kelly Searl’s clients soaking in every word. Dunnebacke thought it “peculiar” that the inheritance was in Nellie’s name, the property deed in her husband’s name, and the mortgage held 40 BATH MASSACRE by the couple. Legally, Nellie had the ‹nal decision about how to use her inheritance. Judge McArthur’s ‹ndings were simple: yes, the Price estate had acted inappropriately, but applying the ‹ve hundred dollars to the mortgage would be in everyone’s best interest. Searl advised his clients to accept the decision. Nellie indicated that she liked the idea, but Kehoe disagreed. Polite but ‹rm, he insisted that the money go to Nellie immediately; she could then decide how to use it without any legal intrusion. Nellie acquiesced to her husband; they were issued a check for ‹ve hundred dollars.4 Two months passed without...