MUSKEGON, Mich. — Under a canopy of fading autumn leaves in Muskegon’s Oakwood Cemetery, two headstones are forever intertwined. Worn and damaged, one marks the final resting place of George “Dutch” Anderson, a notorious criminal. The other, standing proudly, remembers Detective Charles Hammond.

The two men shot each other on Halloween night in Muskegon, 1925. They were later buried a short distance from each other. Ninety-nine years later, the Lakeshore Museum Center is retelling the story of the infamous shooting.

“This catapulted Muskegon into the national press,” said Pat Horn, program manager at the museum. “A human story, indeed.”

The names on the stones

Born in Ravenna, Charles Hammond began his professional career as a lineman. He later joined the police force and rose through the ranks to become a detective in Muskegon.

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Meanwhile, George “Dutch” Anderson was not local. Born into a wealthy family in Scandinavia, he attended college in Sweden before immigrating to the United States. He then enrolled at the University of Wisconsin and later dropped out. A well-educated, smooth-talking man, he began a life of crime, one that would lead to his death.

“Adrenaline,” Horn said. “He really chose this life.”

A life of crime

In 1921, Anderson and his partner, Gerald Chapman — who could be called “Al Capone before Al Capone” — stole $2.4 million in jewelry, bonds and other goods from a mail truck. At the time, the theft was the largest in the history of the US Postal Service.

The two were later arrested for murder and sentenced to 25 years in federal prison. However, about a year into their sentence, they escaped separately through a tunnel dug by the incarcerated tuberculosis patients, whose tools were a lunch tray, a trowel and a spoon.

Lakeshore Museum Center

“Almost a celebrity because he was a murderer,” Horn said of Anderson’s reputation after he and Chapman’s escape. “People saw Dutch Anderson in their town; they saw them in this city. That same week, he left Iowa for Massachusetts. Maybe that’s a lot of ground to cover.”

The candy bar

In 1925, on Halloween night in Muskegon, Anderson used a counterfeit $20 bill to buy a candy bar from a candy store and teapot. The clerk accepted the bill, but made her brother run to a nearby bank to verify its validity.

“Twenty dollars in the 1920s is a decent amount of money,” Horn said, referring to inflation. “It’s like getting $100 today.”

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The invoice was fake. The store called the police, who had Det. Charles Hammond on the case.

“At the time, he thinks he’s a forger,” Horn said. “He doesn’t really know he’s this wanted criminal.”

A short time later, Hammond spotted Anderson in the area. He escorted him back to the police station, possibly leading him with a hand on his shoulder, according to Horn.

In an alley between the police station and the confectionery, Anderson tried to escape, shooting Hammond in the liver and lung. The detective returned fire.

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Although the stories differ, an initial account in the Muskegon Chronicle said Hammond, bleeding profusely, reported to the police station with Anderson in tow, saying, “He got me. He got me.” A later account from the Grand Rapids Press said a second officer appeared at the scene of the shooting, apprehending Anderson before helping Hammond.

“A bit of hometown bias. They really want to paint him as this glorious hero who gave his life and did this heroic act,” Horn said of the Chronicle report.

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An autopsy would later confirm that it was Hammond’s gunshot that killed Anderson, though the detective never knew that he had ended another man’s life of crime for good.

“This wanted criminal is off the streets. This criminal is being taken off the streets,” Horn said. “This catapulted Muskegon into the national press.”

However, the program director says there is also a dark element to the story. In losing his life, Hammond left behind a wife and four children.

Lakeshore Museum Center | Chronicle of Muskegon

“A lot of facets,” Horn said of the shooting’s legacy. “A human story, indeed.”

Buried twice

Charles Hammond’s headstone, positioned near the center of Muskegon’s Oakwood Cemetery, says the detective died “in the heroic performance of his duty.”

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However, Anderson’s stone did not appear at the cemetery until some time later, as he was originally buried in a potter’s field when no one claimed his body. When a Georgian learned of the burial, they offered Muskegon’s police $1,000 for the body, planning to display it and charge admission. The police considered the offer, wanting to donate the money to Hammond’s widow, but declined due to laws preventing the sale.

Later, a lawyer who “came to represent” Anderson exhumed his body, but when he looked at the body, he thought it was the wrong man.

“The lawyer looked at him and said, ‘No, I don’t think that’s it,'” Horn said.

The confusion led to an engraving that can still be seen on Anderson’s tombstone: A question mark.

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“It’s a strange turn of events that these two (Anderson and Hammond) would be so connected in such a short time and then for such a long time,” Horn said.

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