New Column: Historical Look at Lake Forest Shows Life Dating Back to Early 1900s

We begin a new Sunday column titled, "Historical Police Blotter."

Don't confuse it with the current-day blotter.

The entries we will post on a weekly basis will be from the early 1900s through the depression era at a time when  was beginning to flourish as a community.

The entries are posted practically verbatim, except for the names of the victims or perpetrators of the crimes noted. They provide a fascinating reflection of the times and culture of that era.

They come from Lake Forest resident John Walker, whose father was a Lake Forest police officer and kept these old police blotters when they were about to be thrown out.

Our first entry is from 1915. Just as an example of what was going on that year, Lake Forest residents voted 495 to 452 against screening movies on Sundays, according to the  timeline.

Blotter entry: 12:10 p.m., April 29, 1915

At 12:10 p.m., a call was received stating that a man, a carpenter, was working on some of the new buildings, and had been relieved of his pocket book containing $70, as he was about to board a southbound electric car on Western Avenue. Officer Barnett went at once to the scene, but was able to get only a slight description of the thief and the direction he went. After a search around the Northwestern Depot, around the Electric Station and along the front street, the officer returned to the City Hall and telephoned what little he had been able to learn of the affair to the adjoining towns, asking them to be on a lookout for suspicious characters. The pocket book was found later, minus the money on the floor of the Electric Station by one of the employees. It was brought to City Hall and turned over to the owner.

Blotter entry: 9 a.m., April 29, 1915

Chief McGuire received a call from a doctor, who lives and has his office in the Anderson Building, stating that sometime Friday afternoon or evening, someone had entered his apartment and had taken a large seal skin coat, some silk petticoats and one Palm Beach suit, as well as some other articles. Your officers are working hard on this case and hope to get some results in the near future.

We'll be back next Sunday with another Historical Police Blotter.