Details

Collection Summary
Collection: FND002 - SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Peace Officer Memorial Program
Series: Tribute
Folder: DIG
Item: 03674
Title: Nels H. Romer
Date:
Creator:
Inscription/Marks: 1/14/1871
Summary: Nels Hanson Romer Mandan Daily Pioneer 27 December 1926 Mandan mourns Police Chief Romer who was murdered Christmas Day. "We find that Arnold Thiele knew Chief of Police Romer and that Nels H. Romer came to his death by a felonious assault committed by Arnold Thiele," was the gist of the coroner's jury verdict returned this afternoon. Chief of Police Nels H. Romer was instantly killed about 12:30 Christmas noon, his life sacrificed in line of duty as he sought to stop a family row in which Arnold Thiele threatened to kill his wife and four children. Thiele was captured within a half hour after the shooting by Sheriff Charles McDonald and John Klein, the latter an employee of Western Auto Company, after Thiele attempted and threatened to shoot both of them. Nels Romer, unarmed, fearlessly walked into the kitchen of the Thiele home, smiling at the time, and was shot down by Thiele within a second or two after entering the house, was the testimony adduced at the coroner's inquest this morning. Nels Hanson Romer, aged 55, was born at Vestilinet, Denmark, January 14, 1871. He was brought to the United States when a boy of nine years by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Romer who came directly to Stutsman County, N.D., to make their home 46 years ago. Following completion of his public school education, he secured a position with Northern Pacific and finally qualified as an engineer, serving the Northern Pacific in that capacity for 14 years. He was also master mechanic for the Midland Continental Railroad out of Jamestown for five years and during the course of his life was engaged in the horse buying and trading business for six years. Mr. Romer served as Sheriff of Stutsman County from 1909 to 1914. He came to Mandan ten years ago and purchased the Mandan Hotel, which he has since operated. Mr. Romer served as a member of the Mandan City Commission in 1922-23 and about a year ago was prevailed upon to take the position of Chief of Police. The deceased was twice married. His widow was Miss Lillian C. Olson, whom he married at City Point, Wis., in September 1910. Four children also survive, Mrs. R. S. Little, Nortonville, ND; Fred N. Romer, Mandan, Madeline E. Romer, Mandan and Walter U. Romer. Miss Madeline was visiting her sister at Nortonville over Christmas. The two arrived in the city Sunday morning with a sister of Mr. Romer's, Mrs. Christ Nielson, Buchanan, N. D. There are two other sisters surviving, Mrs P. H. Kelley, Helena, Mont., and Mrs. Anna Clausen, Mill Valley, Calif. Mr. Romer served as exalted Ruler of Mandan Lodge No. 1256, B.P.O. Elks in 1924-25 and was prominent in the activities of the order.
Red ID: FND_I_77334 Image ID: 509155 Image Notes: 10950 00002 03674

Collection: FND002 Digitized Images from Collection
Title: SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Peace Officer Memorial Program
Date:

Summary: The North Dakota Peace Officer Memorial Program honors fallen officers with highlights of their lives and careers.

Enter a subject or term in one or both of the “Search” boxes.

  • “Item Detail” searches the Title, Creator and Summary fields of all item-level records.
  • “Collection Number” searches the Collection Number field only and requires an exact match.

The “DETAILS” button provides additional information about an item, as well as the following options:

  • “Collection Summary” details the contents of the entire collection in which the selected item is located.
  • You can print the image and its corresponding details by selecting “Print".
  • “Digitized Images from the Collection” returns a list of all digitized items within that collection (available from the “Collection Summary” screen).

Click on image to expand/zoom the image view.

“Photobook home” takes you back to the main Photobook page where you can start a new search.

“Featured Collections” showcases new and/or popular collections and the digitized images within those collections.

Information on how to order copies is located here.

The collections preserved in the North Dakota State Archives include over a million images. Only a small percentage of these images have been digitized. This photo gallery provides a preview of the images that have been digitized.

For more information on the non-digitized images, please refer to the finding aids found on our website at history.nd.gov, or ask a member of our reference staff for assistance.