While Mrs. Kinrade, mother of the deceased Ethel Kinrade and Miss Florence. the sister, could not be interviewed by members of the case given their conditions of nervous prostration and hysteria, the father, T.L. Kinrade was prepared to talk to the press:
“When interviewed in his Herkimer street home, regarding the Virginia dispatch, Mr. Kinrade, father of the murdered girl, said:
‘My daughter had a position singing in the Manchester Presbyterian Church. She was a good musician, and was always fond of music. One night she was sitting at the window playing and the manager of an amateur theatrical company heard her. He offered her $20 a week to come and sing a couple of songs. As her duties in the church choir were not onerous, she was pleased with the opportunity of supplementing her income of $7 or $8 a week, which was paid her by the church.
‘We were fully informed of what she was doing, and acquiesced. There happened to be some people she knew in the amateur company, which made her work all the more agreeable. “
Hamilton Times. March 4, 1909
Mr. Kinrade went on to explain why Florence had been back and forth from Virginia and Hamilton recently as well as characterizing the relationship that his daughters, Florence and Ethel, had with each other :
“Mr. Kinrade spoke of her illness : ‘Some people never get acclimatized, and her southern doctor told her to come home. She came back to Hamilton in July, remaining a few months, and returned to Virginia in November. She came home again just before Christmas.’
“Mr. Kinrade remarked that the two sisters were always much attached to each other.
“They were always together,’ he said ‘They could not have been more affectionate. I never remember of their having any serious quarrel in their lives. In her delirium, she has started up and cried, ‘Lock the door Ethel!’ as she says she did at the time of the tragedy.’
Hamilton Times March 4 1909.
Mr. Kinrade was quite angry with the way his daughter had been treated by the local police and the Provincial Detective :
“Mr. Kinrade criticized the methods of the detectives:
‘They interviewed her repeatedly and made her pass through those terrible scenes until she was practically out of her mind,’ he said. ‘We have come away from home in order to secure rest for her. During one of the interviews, she started up and pointed at one of the detectives, crying ‘There he is! There he is!’ This illustrates the condition of mind which she was in.
‘I wish to correct a few misstatements,’ continued Mr. Kinrade. ‘It is said that my wife attended the funeral. She did not, as she was under the influence of an opiate at the time. Further, I consider that report of my daughter’s attachment to a southerner absolutely without foundation. She may have had some friends down there, and perhaps some of them were attracted by her. But she is and was engaged to a student, with whom she has been in constant correspondence.’
“Mr. Kinrade shows the traces of the severe mental strain to which he has been subjected during the last few days.”
Hamilton Times. March 4, 1909.
The Kinrade family had quietly left Hamilton for some rest and quiet in Toronto :
“The Toronto News yesterday said Mr. and Mrs. KInrade, Misses Florence and Gertrude, and Earl, the second son, are at the Arlington. They were accompanied by Miss Walker, the trained nurse, who has been attending Florence and Mrs. Kinrade since the tragedy. The family are maintaining the strictest seclusion. Instructions have been issued to allow no newspaper men near the rooms occupied by the family, who have apartments on the first floor. Only one or two friends were admitted this morning.
“Mr. C. Montrose Wright, a friend of the family, was asked if he had seen Miss Kinrade since her arrival in Toronto. He replied that he had not.
“ ‘You know there is no use of your staying around here,’ said he. ‘There is no possibility of your seeing any of the family. They were chased out of Hamilton by reporters and I don’t see why you can’t leave them alone here where they have come for a rest.’
“On leaving the dining room for their apartments, Mrs. KInrade smiled wanly. The nurse was in advance. Then came Miss Kinrade, leaning on the arm of her mother. She looked very weak and pale. There was no life in her movements, and all the vivacity of action was gone. Mr. Kinrade, Earl and Gertrude followed. They passed upstairs at once to a parlor on the first floor above the main entrance to the hotel.
“Something must have happened to bring the remembrance of the few terrible moments of last Thursday back to the girl, for her sobs and smothered cries could be heard by those passing the room. A bell hop stood on guard and all the curious and inquisitive persons were kept from the place.
“Some old gentleman, believed to be a minster, called and had an interview with Mr. Kinrade. He refused to talk to the reporters, however, only stating that none of the family were in any condition to say anything. The elderly gentleman was quite indignant at being spoken to by reporters.”
“A Toronto Star correspondent shared what he had learned about the KInrade sisters plus the prominence of the KInrade family in Hamilton society:
‘Ethel Kinrade, the dead girl, was seldom with a young man, said a friend, in discussing the murdered young lady. He did not mean that she was uninteresting by any means, but that she was rather disposed to avoid the society of young men who crossed her path.
“In features, Ethel was rather attractive, and in conversation bright and cheerful. Just the night before her death, she attended a little house party of the Centenary Methodist Church choir, of which she was a member. Those who noticed her recall that she was very quiet – though that was nothing unusual for her.
“Ethel and Florence were both singers. Mr. W.H. Hewlett, choir leader at Centenary Methodist Church, told the Star last night that Ethel had been in his choir ever since he organized it. In her early ‘teens, she learned to sing, and liked it. Her voice was a contralto, rich and full.
“She was always quiet and unobtrusive,’ said Mr. Hewett, ‘always ready to do her part and never ambitious to appear in the limelight.’
“Her younger sister, Florence, had a soprano voice. She too, was for sometime in the Centenary choir. Three years ago, however, she received an offer to join the MacNab Street choir as a paid soloist. She took it, and remained there till her removal to Virginia last spring.
“ ‘And on her return at Christmas,’ recalled the choir leader, ‘we had her sing for us. Her voice had developed considerably, and I remarked how well she was getting along.’
“Some people estimate Mr. KInrade’s fortune at one hundred thousand dollars, others at a higher figure. It is known that he owned a good many houses in the city. Their wealth would permit them to be members of the fashionable set of Hamilton, but they haven’t accepted this privilege.
“There’s no more highly respected family in Hamilton than that of T.L. KInrade. And that very fact makes the terrible tragedy that befell the household last Thursday all the more unexplainable. The KInrades are amongst the oldest families of Hamilton.
“One who knows the KInrades as well as any Methodist clergyman can know a portion of his flock, after three years’ acquaintance, is the Rev. Richard Whiting. He is the pastor of Centenary Church. He speaks of the KInrades as among the most consistent of his congregation
“So far as he knew, said Mr. Whiting, the family relations of the KInrades were of the best. He was inclined to think that Miss Florence Kinrade’s story – the tramp theory – was the one that should be watched for definite development.
In the Valley City of neighboring Dundas, the following editorial appeared in the Banner:
“Has a reign of terror been instituted in Wentworth? Hardware men report a phenomenal sale of revolvers, locks, window catches and door bolts. Husbands complain that their wives will not let them in if they have forgotten the prearranged signals. Deliverymen have to state their business before locked doors, all strangers are regarded with suspicion. Why? Just a case similar to locking the doors after the horse is stolen. Why the fear of tramps and marauders? There is little to be feared from these gentlemen at present. We are in reality now much safer than before the tragedy , since the police all over the country are aroused to unusual activity. Why become needlessly alarmed?”
Even as far away as the city of Belleville, the subject of the Kinrade case was a major topic of conversation as noted in the Belleville Intelligencer)
“It is to be hoped that the Hamilton mystery will soon be cleared up, or some people in this city will get nervous prostration.””
(To Be Continued)
Pictured: Centenary Church Choir
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