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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 2015)
8A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL October 14, 2015 Offbeat Oregon History Murderer surprised when Unwritten Law fails to protect him The Unwritten Law Files www.shoppelocal.biz Today’s column is the last in a series of case studies of the early-20th-century mania for honor killings in Oregon. It was popularly known as “The Unwritten Law,” and it was a social convention that permitted a man to mur- der anyone whom he knew to be working to seduce his wife or sister. Unwritten Law cases arose around the country in the 1890s and were alarmingly common until around the time of the First World War. Today’s column discusses the case that fairly defi nitively put the would- be honor killers of Oregon on notice that they could no longer expect The Unwritten Law to protect them. This sketch of the murder scene ap- peared in the Portland Morning Orego- nian the day after the shooting. BY FINN J.D. JOHN For the Sentinel T he Unwritten Law had quite a run in Or- egon during the fi rst decade of the 20th century. But by the time R. Thomas Dickerson made his attempt to claim its protection, the signs of it having worn out its welcome were there for those who looked. It had certainly worn out its welcome at the city’s newspapers. Probably the best demon- stration of the Morning Oregonian’s attitude to- ward The Unwritten Law was the lead sentence in its story about Dickerson: “Charged with the commission of a cold- blooded murder,” the reporter writes, “closely guarded in a cell in the county jail, believing his act will be excused by a jury of his countrymen through invocation of the Unwritten Law, R. Thomas Dickerson, a street contractor, of 512 Patton Road, Portland Heights, his voice shak- ing with vindictive rage, openly told the story while in the custody of offi cers of a tragedy yes- terday morning shortly before 6 o’clock, which ended in the death of Harry A. Garrett, one of his teamsters, and disclosed to the world a shocking scandal of an allegedly faithless wife and the punished wrongs of a home destroyer.” What’s most noticeable about this sentence, other than its astonishing length, is the clear hostility it shows toward both Dickerson and the Unwritten Law. The article went on to detail the full story, or as much of it as was known at the time. Dicker- son was inside a stable when he caught sight of one of his teamsters, Harry A. Garrett, walking out in front of the building. Dickerson immedi- ately exited the stable, pulled a revolver out of his pocket, and fi red fi ve shots into Garrett. Garrett then fell to the ground and died, and Dickerson went to surrender himself to the po- lice. He freely admitted what he’d done, telling them he’d done it because Garrett had wrecked his happy home by getting frisky with his wife, Martha Messner Dickerson — who had, in con- sequence of Garrett’s depredations, moved out of the family manse with the couple’s 7-year- old daughter, Pearl, and sued for divorce. He also claimed Garrett had threatened to kill him as soon as the divorce case was concluded and then run away with Martha, and added, “I have heard of his breaking up other homes. He boasted of this, and some of my wife’s folks said, so I heard, that she told them she was go- ing to leave with one of my men as soon as the divorce hearing was over.” But Martha stoutly denied that there was anything going on with Garrett, and suggested another possible motive for her husband’s ac- tions — one that was easy to document: Garrett was to have been the lead witness in her suit for divorce. And there was another thing, too: This was the Dickersons’ second marriage to each other. The fi rst one had ended when little Pearl was fi ve years old, when Martha had sued for divorce on grounds of physical cruelty and verbal abuse. Please see OFFBEAT, Page 10A Discount Smokes & Cigarettes BEST ! PRICES • Glass Pipes/Water Pipes • 5% off All Glassware (No Accessories) w/coupon • Cigarettes • Cigars • Emerald E-Cigarettes • Emerald E-Juice Mon-Fri 8am-9pm; Sat-Sun 9am-8pm 541-649-1284 COMMUNITY BRIEFS Firewood permits available The U.S. Forest Service says that now is the perfect time to obtain a permit to collect fi re- wood in the Umpqua National Forest. The Cottage Grove Ranger District has been is- suing fi rewood permits since September and will continue to do so, with additional fi rewood becoming available this fall season. One non-transferable permit per household per year is issued for two cords of fi rewood at a total cost of $20. For those households who have already purchased their Cottage Grove fi rewood permit this year, addi- tional permits for other districts may be available for purchase at their corresponding Umpqua National Forest offi ces. Permits will expire within 60 days of issuance or on Dec. 31, 2015, whichever comes sooner. If a permitee would like to re- ceive the full 60 days allotted for fi rewood collection, they are urged to obtain a fi rewood per- mit on or before Nov. 2. Permits are issued on a fi rst- come, fi rst-serve basis. Permits are also limited to correspond with the amount of known fi re- wood available, and demand for fi rewood permits may exceed the supply of available fi rewood on the Cottage Grove Ranger District. Firewood cutting areas are typically on narrow single-lane gravel roads with an average distance of 35 miles from the city of Cottage Grove. More information on specifi c areas for fi rewood cutting will be pro- vided with the permit. Cottage Grove Ranger Dis- trict issues permits Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (except holidays). Those with questions can contact the offi ce at 541-767-5000 or email cgrdinfo@fs.fed.us. The Rang- er District offi ce is located at 78405 Cedar Park Road, Cot- tage Grove, OR 97424. Property tax statements available online Lane County property tax statements became available online on Monday. The County says this is the fi rst year taxpay- ers will be able to access their property tax statements one week prior to the annual mail- ing, which is planned for Mon- day, Oct. 19. The Lane County Assessment and Taxation offi ce will extend its hours of service from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Fri- day between Oct. 19 and Nov. 17 in order to offer additional assistance to taxpayers. In addition to property tax statements, taxpayers also have access to a greater level of data online compared to previous years. Now, it is possible to ac- cess individual account graphs detailing 10 years of property value history (real market value, assessed value, and maximum assessed value). Property tax payments are due Monday, Nov. 16. The County said the total Real Market Value of Lane County as of Jan. 1, 2015 is $50.8 billion – an increase of four percent from 2014. The typical Lane County dwelling’s market value increased 4.25 percent from 2014. In total, $478 million in taxes were certifi ed for the 83 taxing districts in Lane County in 2015 – an increase of 3.1 per- cent from 2014. The 2015 tax roll was certifi ed on Monday, Oct. 5. 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