William Snell McCrea

Genealogical Record

Covered Nationwide

The United Press wire carried the story across the country on October 2, 1920. Papers from Idaho to Chicago to New York ran the dispatch. The son of one of Chicago's most prominent Gilded Age families had traveled from the frontier to shoot his father — and died in the attempt.

United Press Wire Dispatch · October 2, 1920

"CHICAGO (P) — Falling in his efforts to shoot his father, Snell McCrea of Rea, Idaho, fired a bullet into his own head Saturday. He was taken to a hospital, where he died without having regained consciousness. The shooting occurred in the offices of the father, W. S. McCrea, former vice president of the People's Gas Light & Coke company."

International Coverage

The story reached as far as the Hungarian press — Szabadság (Liberty), a Hungarian-language newspaper published in the United States, ran the story on October 5, 1920, three days after the shooting. The Snell name still carried weight across the Atlantic world.

Biography

Life of William Snell McCrea

His Mother · Alice Snell McCrea · Died 1898

Alice Snell McCrea died on 6 November 1898 in New York City, when William was just 13 years old. He had been raised by his father — the man who had beaten his mother badly enough that she fled — and grew up in the shadow of one of Chicago's most prominent families. His grandfather Amos Snell had been one of the richest men in Chicago before his unsolved murder in 1888, the same year his parents divorced.

Life in Idaho · Rea, Idaho

By adulthood, William had left Chicago entirely and was living in Rea, Idaho — a world away from the fashionable clubs and commission houses of his father's world. He married Algenia Sally Trude in 1908 and had four children: William Gordon, Reinette, Margery Trude, and Coralyn McCrea. The photograph of him in cowboy gear, a wide-brimmed hat and bandolier, suggests a man who had reinvented himself on the frontier. But the past followed him.

October 2, 1920 · Peoples Gas Building · Chicago

On Saturday, October 2, 1920, William Snell McCrea traveled from Rea, Idaho to Chicago. By this point, he had burned through the fortune that had come down from his grandfather Amos Snell's estate — the $500,000 inheritance that had made the Snell name synonymous with Chicago wealth. He was deeply in debt. He went directly to the Peoples Gas Building in downtown Chicago — where his father, Wiley Solon McCrea, served as vice president of the People's Gas Light & Coke Company. He entered his father's office to confront him over a trust fund and demand immediate cash. Vera Danford, his father's secretary, was present in the private office when William walked in. When Wiley refused his son's demands, William became highly aggressive. He pulled a revolver from his pocket, pointed it at his father, and fired. The first shot narrowly missed Wiley — shattering glass or striking the office wall. Wiley rushed his son to disarm him. During the struggle for the revolver, the gun discharged again. This second shot struck William in the abdomen. He was rushed to a hospital and died without regaining consciousness. He was 35 years old.

The Official Finding

The Coroner's Jury Ruled: Justifiable Self-Defense

The Cook County coroner's jury ruled the shooting justifiable self-defense. The sequence as officially recorded: William drew the weapon, fired the first shot at his father, and was shot during the struggle to disarm him. The wire dispatches — written in the chaos of the first hours — used imprecise language that has confused the record ever since. The Idaho Statesman said he was 'falling in his efforts to shoot his father.' A second account said he 'turned the gun on himself.' Neither was the official finding. The coroner's jury heard the testimony and ruled: Wiley McCrea acted in defense of his own life. He was never charged.

The wire dispatches written in the first hours used imprecise language that has confused the record ever since:

Neither account was accurate. The fatal shot was fired during the struggle for the revolver — not by William's own hand. The coroner's jury heard the full testimony and ruled accordingly.

The Official Record and What It Cannot Answer

Power and Truth

Wiley Solon McCrea was not an ordinary man standing before a coroner's jury in October 1920. He was the son of Samuel Harkness McCrea — former City Treasurer of Chicago, major figure on the Chicago Board of Trade. He was himself a former vice president of the People's Gas Light & Coke Company, one of the largest utility corporations in the Midwest. He had the connections, the legal resources, and the social standing that shaped how investigations proceeded and how juries ruled in Gilded Age Chicago. The only witness to what happened in that office was the woman he would marry fourteen months later. The coroner's jury ruled in his favor. Whether the ruling reflected the full truth of what happened in that room — or reflected the power of the man who survived — is a question the official record cannot answer.

His Father Survived · And His Secretary Was There

Wiley Solon McCrea survived the confrontation. His secretary, Vera Danford — who would become his third wife just fourteen months later, on New Year's Eve 1921 — was present in the office that day as a witness. Wiley lived another seven years, dying on May 27, 1927 at age 69. He was never charged. William is buried at Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago — the same cemetery as his mother Alice, who had died when he was 13.

The Testimony That Cleared Him

What Vera's Account Established

Vera Danford was the only person in that office who was not a party to the bloodline dispute. She was not Wiley's wife yet — she was his secretary. Her corroboration that William drew the weapon and fired first was the cornerstone of the investigation. Because of her testimony, the coroner's jury ruled the shooting justifiable self-defense. Wiley McCrea was never charged.

Fourteen months later, Vera Danford became Wiley's third wife. The coroner's jury had already cleared him by then. The woman whose testimony saved him from a murder charge was the woman he married.

Fourteen Months Later

The woman who watched William die in his father's office became his father's wife fourteen months later. There is no record of what Vera Danford said about what she witnessed that day. There is no record of what Wiley said either. The marriage certificate exists. The newspaper coverage of the wedding exists. The silence around everything else is its own kind of document.

Vera Danford McCrea outlived Wiley by 64 years. She died in 1991.

What the Record Cannot Explain

The Only Witness Married the Survivor

Samuel Harkness McCrea was Wiley's father and William's grandfather — a man of genuine political and financial power in Chicago. He served as City Treasurer and was a major figure on the Chicago Board of Trade. When Vera Danford married Wiley in 1921, she did not merely marry a wealthy businessman. She married into a dynasty. When Wiley died six years later, she inherited a position in that dynasty at age 30.

The coroner's jury ruled. Wiley was never charged. The legal record is closed. But Wiley Solon McCrea was not an ordinary man before that jury — he was the son of Chicago's former City Treasurer, a former VP of one of the Midwest's largest utilities, with the connections and resources that shaped how Gilded Age investigations proceeded. The only witness was the woman he married. Whether the ruling reflected the full truth of what happened in that office, or reflected the power of the man who survived, is a question the official record cannot answer. The full coroner's inquest transcript — Vera's complete statement — has not been located.

Why He Went There

The confrontation at the Peoples Gas Building was not random. Wiley Solon McCrea had beaten William's mother badly enough that she divorced him in 1888 on grounds of extreme cruelty — then took custody of William, the son, while Alice fled to Europe. William grew up in the household of the man who had destroyed his family. By 1920, the Snell inheritance was gone. He came to Chicago with a revolver and a demand. The coroner's jury heard the evidence and ruled it self-defense. Whether that ruling captured the full truth of what happened in that office is a question the record cannot answer.

Open Research Questions

For further research: (1) Cook County coroner's inquest records for October 1920 — the jury ruled justifiable self-defense, but the full transcript of testimony, including Vera's statement and Wiley's account, has not been located. That transcript is the primary document for this event. (2) Chicago Police Department reports from October 2, 1920 — the first-response record: officer names, exact time of arrival, condition of the office, position of the body, the revolver, and any statements taken at the scene before the coroner's jury convened. (3) Chicago Tribune and Chicago Daily News coverage from October 2–5, 1920 — local papers likely ran fuller accounts than the wire dispatches and may quote Vera's statement to police directly. (4) The Snell estate inheritance — how much did William actually receive, when did he exhaust it, and what debts was he carrying in 1920? (5) Did any of William's four children leave accounts of their father or the event?