Remember This? How 'Lead Pencil' Rowe got his name

From the archives of the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library:

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Remember This: ‘Wild West’ or The Challenges of the Early 20th Century Police Force!

According to many newspaper accounts, in the early part of the 1900s, Sault Ste. Marie seemed to be more “Wild West” than developing urban centre. 

The Sault Star claimed, in an article printed at this time, that the influx of immigrants had introduced new problems for the rapidly growing community.  

A Sault Star article from the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library archives, describes an early hanging

Due to a lack of infrastructure, the clashing of so many different cultures often resulted in serious disputes. 

In one article the claim was made that murder was so common in the West End where Italian labourers were settling that it rated only a few lines in the newspaper. 

“The murderer usually got away and the victim was buried and forgotten.” 

The West End (Gore to James Street area) had developed rapidly with the arrival of immigrants and there were no sidewalks or streetlights and much of the area was covered in bush so opportunities for crime were rampant. 

Sergeant John Johnson shared some of his memories in 1942 about how wild this neighbourhood was in the early part of the century.  He claimed that he had “helped take 18 dead men out of that section of the city and they were found with their throats cut, stabbed, shot and everything else.”

In February, 1902, a barber named Hunt separated from his wife. 

Accompanied by a bailiff and Constables Archie Campbell and John J. Johnston, the man attempted to remove his furniture from the apartment of his wife’s parents. 

His young wife was so angry that she grabbed a .22-calibre revolver and shot her husband in the cheek and then fired on the officers. 

In the Sault Star’s account of the story, they reported that the barber had “a narrow shave.”  

Even though the city was growing, it was not unusual for people to keep livestock on their property, including cows, horses and chickens. 

This of course caused its own set of problems for the police and town leaders. 

Stealing chickens was almost a daily crime and since the evidence was generally quickly “consumed” it was hard to prosecute. 

However this type of crime contributed to the constant bickering between neighbours that sometimes escalated to more serious crimes.  

By 1912, automobiles were becoming a more common sight on the streets of Sault Ste. Marie with at least 60 known to be in the city as well as in Township of Steelton. 

Unfortunately driving instruction was not usually part of the process of acquiring an automobile, sometimes with disastrous results.  

In 1916, a driver was following a streetcar when it stopped at the corner of Queen and Spring Streets to let a passenger off. 

The driver failed to stop, hitting the woman as she exited from the streetcar.  She succumbed to her injuries and the driver was convicted of motor manslaughter and sentenced to jail. 

This accident, in part, led to a call to address the problem of speeding. 

It was felt that five miles an hour would be sufficient for most drivers with the exception of police and firemen and perhaps some doctors on their way to an emergency call.  

In the 1930s a young man was walking beside a fence near the yard of McFadden School when he was shot. 

There were no witnesses and the case might have remained unsolved except for some ingenuity and a little early forensic investigation carried out by Detective Sergeant Frederick Rowe. 

He placed a pencil in the bullet hole in the fence and determined from the angle of the pencil that the shot came from a window on James Street, resulting in the conviction of the shooter. 

Officer Rowe received the nickname “Lead-Pencil Rowe” from his fellow police officers for this inventive detective work.  

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​Each week, the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library and its Archives provides SooToday readers with a glimpse of the city’s past.

Find out more of what the Public Library has to offer at www.ssmpl.ca and look for more Remember This? columns here