Drowned in Chippewa
Eau Claire Weekly Telegram | May 16, 1905
Such is supposed to have been the fate of Fred Kenney, aged 11 • Coincidence in Tragedy •  Arthur, a brother of Fred, was drowned near the same locality

Eau Claire- It was thought today that at almost identically the same spot where his brother Arthur drowned ten years ago, Freddie Kenney, the 11 year old son of Patrick Kenney, met with the same fate yesterday afternoon after school hours. At least all indications pointed to such a sad ending of the little lad’s life.

Roy Hunner, a school mate of Fred first notified Mr. Kenny of his son’s disappearance. According to the boy’s story, he and Freddie had gone down to Little Niagara immediately after school yesterday afternoon. Roy wanted to go up the hill and pick flowers, while Freddie would not go, and Roy left him and went flower picking alone. After some time he returned to the place where he had left his little comrade but could find no trace of him. After looking around for a few moments he spied a pair of shoes and stockings on the river bank not far from the water, which he found, upon closer examination, to be those worn by his companion. But there were no signs of Freddie, and Roy, becoming frightened, hastened back to town and gave the alarm. It was too late to commence a search last night, as it was too dark to do anything, and it was thought that possibly he had started home and had stopped somewhere leaving his shoes and stockings behind him. But he had not appeared this morning and Mr. Kenney, with a number of friends to held him, went down the river to drag it.

The shoes and stockings still lay on the river bank today as they were left yesterday afternoon.

Chad’s Take – A Cursed Family?

With the warm spring air ushering in swimming weather I thought it was only fitting to include a tragic story of the Chippewa River terrorizing a local family not once, but twice. According to the article, little Freddie Kenney was pulled down to his watery grave in nearly the same exact spot his brother drowned. At first glance this article did not seem that out of the ordinary because I was under the impression that the boys had both drowned at their favorite swimming hole only a couple years apart. It wasn’t until I read the entire article that I realized that Fred was just an infant at the time of his brother’s death, making it impossible that they swan at the location together.

Unfortunately the article gave little detail into Arthur’s drowning. With a little digging I soon discovered that this case was even weirder than I originally thought. Not only did little Freddie drown in the same location as his brother Arthur, he did so at the exact same age as Arthur as well. Arthur and some friends were out playing down by the river when Arthur decided to test his skill by walking out on the jammed logs crossing the river. None of his friends were that daring, so they just sat back and watched him from the river bank. Young Arthur quickly lost his balance and was swept down the river. A local fisherman witnessed the accident and bravely dove in to save the boy, but unfortunately he was too late, and Arthur was gone.

Although the worst was feared, at the time this article was printed Freddie was listed only as a missing person because his body had not been discovered. The family held out hope that perhaps Fred just got lost or disoriented and would soon find his way home. The family’s hopes disintegrated on June 5th when Fred’s lifeless body was found near Caryville, Wisconsin.

What makes this story so fascinating is that the location of Little Niagara is extremely well-known in the Chippewa Valley. It is right in front of UWEC where the Little Niagara creek empties into the Chippewa River. On any given summer day you can spot numerous people out exploring the area, unaware of the place’s grisly past.

Keep an eye out …