George Ruggles Griswold
41 YOA
Conjunction of Des Moines &
Raccoon rivers
Des Moines
Polk County
September 13, 1905
In 1905, George R. Griswold was the Iowa agent for State Mutual Life Assurance Company of Worcester, Massachusetts; he lived at 3407 Ingersoll Avenue in Des Moines.
Griswold was last seen alive on the evening of Wednesday, September 13, when he checked into room #20 at Munger’s Hotel at the southwest corner of Fourth Street and the first alley south of Walnut.
He asked for a wake-up knock at 2:00 a.m. so he could catch the 2:55 a.m. train out of the nearby Rock Island Depot to Omaha, where he had business.
Early on the morning of Saturday, September 16, Garfield Gray of 461 SE 1st Street was checking his trot lines at the conjunction of the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers. One of the lines was broken and Gray saw a body caught on it, floating on the surface 200 feet from shore.
Photo Neal BowersThe body was that of George R. Griswold who, although bloated beyond recognition, was identified by a ring and items from his pockets. His hands were tied tightly behind his back with a yard of twine.
Griswold’s pockets were slashed and turned inside out. Missing were his watch, a red leather pocketbook containing $60, his hat, his valise, and financial instruments worth over $25,000.
An autopsy showed that Griswold did not drown, was not shot or stabbed, had not been poisoned, and had not died of a stroke. He appeared to have been struck on the head. Aside from a slight bruise over one eye, he had no other marks on his body.
Some speculated Griswold committed suicide because he was involved in check kiting schemes which threatened his business reputation. He also had a $15,000 life insurance policy which would go to his family.
However, Des Moines Police eliminated that theory because Griswold was dead before he went into the river and could not have tied his own hands behind his back with twine.
After Griswold was discovered to have forged notes on a bank in Rockford, Iowa, authorities concluded he was not murdered at random or by a common thief but by business associates who were being ruined by his shady financial dealings.
Griswold’s body might never have been found had it not snagged on the trot line.
George Ruggles Griswold was born in March 1865 in Elyria, Ohio, to Avis Verona Ruggles and Ebeson Dwight Griswold. He had six siblings: Luther, Harry, Roseious, Augusta, Robert, and Rolin.
In 1888, he married Lulu Belle Cremer and they had four daughters: Hortense and Ruth V. Griswold, Helen Griswold Miles, and Marion G. Griswold Hyde.
For a number of years, Griswold was an insurance agent based in Omaha, Nebraska.
There were many similarities between Griswold’s death and that of 34-year-old Peosta resident Frank Callahan, whose body was found in the Des Moines River near Levy on September 24.
Both Callahan and Griswold were last seen near the Rock Island Depot in Des Moines, were struck on the head, had their pockets slashed with a knife, and were thrown in the Des Moines River.
Questions and comments about the unsolved June 13, 1905 murder of George R. Griswold should be directed to the Des Moines Police Department at 515-283-4864 or to Iowa Cold Cases through the Contact form.
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