We hope you enjoyed “On Trial: A Murder Myster Tour” at Stuhr Museum! While we may never know the true story of what happened on that fateful January evening in Lincoln, we are pleased to share with you a number of resources for digging deeper into the Sheedy Murder Trial of 1891 below:

A comprehensive look at the Sheedy Murder Trial:

Gilded Age Plains City: The Great Sheedy Murder Trail and the Booster Ethos of Lincoln, NE
Courtesy of the University of Nebraska – Lincoln

Articles listed by date of publication:

“Mr. Sheedy Will Die” Omaha Daily Bee, 13 January 1891

“Heard in Secret” Evening World Herald [Omaha, NE], 15 January 1891

“Making a Great Mystery: Lincoln Police Profoundly Silent Concerning the Killing of Late John Sheedy” Evening World Herald [Omaha, NE], 16 January 1891

“Did He Murder Sheedy?: Barber McFarland Under Arrest at Lincoln on That Charge” Morning World Herald [Omaha, NE], 18 January 1891

“Lincoln Again Startled: Mrs. Sheedy and Her Reputed Lover Are Also Under Arrest” Evening World Herald [Omaha, NE], 19 January 1891

“Sheedy’s Murder: A Diabolical Plot and Its Heartless Execution” The Grand Island Daily Independent, 19 January 1891

“M’Farland Did Not Do It: The Negro’s Blow Did Not Kill Sheedy, Say the Examining Physicians” Evening World Herald [Omaha, NE], 20 January 1891

“The Story of the Murder: An Effort to Bring it Out at the John Sheedy Inquest” Omaha Daily Bee, 21 January 1891

“She Wears Widows’ Weeds: Mrs. Sheedy, in Mourning, Attends the Inquest Over Her Husband’s Body” Morning World Herald [Omaha, NE], 21 January 1891

“The Web Grows Stronger: Every Hour Productive of Facts Connecting Mrs. Sheedy With the Murder” Morning World Herald [Omaha, NE], 22 January 1891

“Mrs. Sheedy Behind Bars: She Takes Her Arrest Coolly and Goes to Jail With a Smile” Omaha Daily Bee, 22 January 1891

“Damaging to Mrs. Sheedy: Sensational Disclosures Made by a Nephew of the Murdered Man: She Poured a Liquid into His Coffee” Omaha Daily Bee, 23 January 1891

“The Whirligig of Time: What It Has Brought the Parties to the Sheedy Sensation” Evening World Herald [Omaha, NE], 28 January 1891

“They Look On It As A Show: Lincoln People Crowd Into the Court House to See the Trial” Evening World Herald [Omaha, NE], 29 January 1891

“Sheedy Hearing Resumed: The Court Room Crowded and Many Unable to Gain Admission” Omaha Daily Bee, 30 January 1891

“Walstrom Gets Out of It: Mrs. Sheedy’s Alleged Sweetheart Is Released on Preliminary Hearing” Morning World Herald [Omaha, NE], 31 January 1891