The Saint Paul Police Crime Lab:
An Evolution In Forensics
by
Edward J. "Ed" Steenberg
Saint Paul Police Historical Society
Part I: In The Beginning
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| 1872 | 1891 | 1915 | 1930 | 1964 |
| Saint Paul Police Uniforms Over the Years | ||||
Saint Paul grew up during the nineteenth century as a frontier village/town/city near Fort Snelling, situated at the upper terminus of the Mississippi River boat trade. You could take a paddleboat to Saint Paul, and then an ox cart to St. Anthony (Minneapolis). Early on it attracted voyagers, tradesmen, merchants, and settlers on their way west, but also served the nearby logging industry. Originally called "Pig's Eye Landing" after the nickname of its first settler Pierre Parrant 1, a retired fur trader and person of dubious reputation (bootlegger). The gruff, roughly dressed, tanned and unshaven whisky seller had been driven from Fort Snelling in 1838 and settled in a log cabin on the white bluffs near the foot of what is now Ramsey Street, and out of this saloon grew the majestic city which, like Rome of old, stands on seven hills. It was renamed Saint Paul in 1841 when Catholic missionary Father Lucian Galtier 2, of the diocese of Dubuque (Iowa), built a log chapel dedicated to the apostle Paul in the unincorporated frontier village.
During the second half of the nineteenth century, the city's growth paralleled that of the railroad, as Saint Paul became a major distribution center. Today the state capital, Saint Paul covers approximately fifty-six square miles on both sides of the Mississippi River in southeastern Minnesota. Adjacent to Minneapolis, it is part of a Twin Cities metropolitan region that in 2000 had a population of approximately 3.5 million residents.
Mariticide 5 by Strychnine Poisoning
SPPD Circa 1860
On March 3, 1849 Minnesota became a U.S. Territory, with Col. Alexander M. Marshall being appointed territorial marshal by President Zachary Taylor 3. The town of Saint Paul, containing eighteen homes, whose members, together with the wanderers and adventurers who came to it, made up a census of 840 persons, was incorporated on November 1st of the same year and designated as the capital of the territory. The northern, eastern and southern boundaries were the same as those of today's state, but the western limits ran to the Missouri and White Earth Rivers, and encompassed most of what is today Minnesota, North and South Dakota. Five years later, on March 4, 1854, the town of Saint Paul was incorporated as a city, with William R. Miller 4 appointed city marshal by the common council a month later. Two years afterward, his title was officially changed to Chief of Police. He was assisted by four "patrolmen". By 1857, with murder, robbery, and assault frequent occurrences, and prostitution and gambling rampant, the police force was increased to twelve. On May 11, 1858 Minnesota was admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state, with Saint Paul designated as the state capital.
On March 23, 1860 Mary Ann Evards Wright "Ann" Bilansky, the first white person and only woman executed for a crime in the State of Minnesota, was hung in Saint Paul for the murder of her husband Stanislaus Bilansky by strychnine poisoning. Bilansky and 22 others, including clergy, jail officials, and several "gentlemen" brought there by morbid curiosity, marched to the gallows hastily erected in Court House Square at the corner of Fifth and Cedar Streets where justice was served. Her arrest and prosecution was predicated on a sound crime scene investigation and evidence processing/testing. From items collected at the home and follow-up testimony, the police exhumed the body and were able to confirm the poisoning based on post-mortem body fluids and tissue examination. Bilansky was convicted of the charge of murder in the first degree. The case went to the State Supreme Court on technical grounds, but her conviction was upheld.
The last execution in Saint Paul took place on February 13, 1906, with the "botched" hanging of William F. Williams, a Cornish immigrant miner convicted of a double murder. The strangulation death of Williams led to the abolishment of capital punishment in Minnesota by legislative action on April 22, 1911.
For a job description of the late 19th Century sworn officer, and more, go to Manual of the Police Force of the City of St. Paul; 1882, on our Saint Paul Police Historical Society website.
Part II: The Detective Bureau >>>
1 Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant was the first person of European descent to live within the borders of what would eventually become the city of Saint Paul. His exploits would eventually propel him to local fame and infamy, in addition to seeing his name briefly adorn the village that would one day become Minnesota's capital city.
2 Lucein Galtier (c. 1811-1866) was the first Roman Catholic priest who served in Minnesota. Ordained in January 1840 by the Bishop of Dubuque, Father Galtier was responsible for the construction of a chapel dedicated to the apostle Paul, in what is now downtown Saint Paul.
3 Zachary Taylor was the 12th president of the United States, serving from March 1849 until his death in July 1850. Before his presidency, Taylor was a career officer in the U.S. Army, rising to the rank of major general.
4 William R. Miller was elected City Marshal by the common council on April 4, 1854; was appointed Chief of Police on May 30, 1856; and was removed from service in May of 1858.