A hundred-year-old murder in Elysian Heights

This week’s Flashback Friday comes to us courtesy of L.A. Creek Freak, an incredibly informative and unique blog that addresses both the ancient and the modern history of Los Angeles’ rios and arroyos, many of which are currently “degraded and forgotten.” The writers speak out and seek to educate readers on L.A.’s ecology, believing that “our rivers and creeks are vital to our communities and our planet.”

A few months ago, Jessica Hall of the Creek Freak website posted a fantastically creepy story about a murder that occurred in Elysian Heights over one hundred years ago. The story came from an old L.A. Times article, found by reader David Kimbrough. Here’s the story, as summarized by Jessica:

On the evening of December 27, 1904, Columbus C. Champion, 67, committed fratricide, shooting down his brother Thomas in a “deadly fusillade…in front of the Elysian Springs bottling plant,” for whom Thomas worked as a water delivery man. Columbus, called “Lum,” lived on property next to the bottling company.

Lum had already been abandoned by his wife, son and father several months previously, and neighbors believed it was “worth almost any effort to keep on good terms. It is said he has terrorized the neighborhood on numerous occasions…” Earlier in the day, he fired BB shot at his niece, threatening to kill the entire family, which precipitated the deadly confrontation with his brother.

Thomas, returning to the Elysian Springs Bottling Company, rode his wagon with his son Sam past Lum’s property:

“At once the old man rushed out of the house and began to abuse his brother. Sam Champion, fearing for his father’s safety, secured a revolver from the home, and started up to where his father and uncle were quarreling.  The younger brother (Thomas) was trying to ward off the attacks of Lum, and just as Sam arrived his father told Lum to go back into his own lot and leave him alone, or he would knock him down.  With an oath, Lum started toward the cottage, crying out that he would kill the whole outfit. He quickly reappeared with his gun, and when within twenty feet of this brother fired the load of shot into his breast. Thomas sank to the ground and expired almost immediately.”

The villain was unrepentant and actually joking with the police who carried him away.

Creepy! So if you’re ever wondering about possible hauntings in Elsyian Heights, this might be a good place to start.

Also, how cool is it that there was a bottling plant in Elysian Heights?

471 replies
« Older CommentsNewer Comments »
  1. free v bucks no human verification ps4 says:

    After study a few of the websites on the website now, and i genuinely much like your way of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark internet site list and will also be checking back soon. Pls have a look at my internet site as well and let me know what you think.

  2. Home & House Improvement says:

    Hello very nice website!! Man .. Beautiful .. Superb .. I will bookmark your web site and take the feeds also¡KI am satisfied to seek out a lot of useful info right here in the publish, we want work out extra techniques on this regard, thank you for sharing. . . . . .

  3. Law and Legal says:

    I will immediately grasp your rss as I can’t find your email subscription link or e-newsletter service. Do you have any? Please let me recognize so that I could subscribe. Thanks.

  4. Law and Legal says:

    Thank you, I have recently been searching for info about this topic for a long time and yours is the greatest I’ve came upon till now. But, what about the conclusion? Are you sure about the supply?

  5. Law and Legal says:

    I’m really impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself? Anyway keep up the nice quality writing, it’s rare to see a nice blog like this one these days..

  6. business engineering says:

    certainly like your web site but you need to test the spelling on several of your posts. Many of them are rife with spelling issues and I in finding it very troublesome to tell the truth on the other hand I will certainly come back again.

  7. science and technology says:

    Attractive section of content. I just stumbled upon your blog and in accession capital to assert that I get in fact enjoyed account your blog posts. Any way I’ll be subscribing to your augment and even I achievement you access consistently quickly.

  8. nike product says:

    I have to show thanks to the writer for bailing me out of this type of scenario. As a result of exploring through the world-wide-web and obtaining concepts that were not productive, I thought my life was gone. Living minus the solutions to the problems you have resolved by way of this website is a serious case, as well as the kind that would have adversely affected my career if I had not come across the website. Your personal talents and kindness in maneuvering the whole thing was helpful. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t discovered such a solution like this. I can also now look ahead to my future. Thanks for your time so much for the expert and amazing guide. I will not be reluctant to recommend your web site to any person who requires guide on this issue.

  9. site web says:

    I simply want to say I’m beginner to blogs and honestly enjoyed this website. Very likely I’m planning to bookmark your blog . You actually come with exceptional writings. Thank you for revealing your web page.

  10. Go Here says:

    I simply want to say I am new to blogs and certainly liked your blog. Probably I’m likely to bookmark your website . You definitely come with tremendous articles and reviews. Regards for sharing your blog site.

  11. John Deere Diagnostic and Test Manuals says:

    Nice post. I discover some thing much harder on various blogs everyday. Most commonly it is stimulating to read content off their writers and rehearse something at their store. I’d opt to use some using the content in my small weblog no matter whether you don’t mind. Natually I’ll offer you a link with your internet weblog. Thank you sharing.

  12. Health Information says:

    I am not sure where you are getting your info, but great topic. I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding more. Thanks for great information I was looking for this information for my mission.

  13. Health Plan says:

    certainly like your web site but you need to check the spelling on several of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very troublesome to tell the reality nevertheless I will surely come back again.

  14. what is my past life says:

    Do you in reincarnated souls? Would you find it interesting to investigate who you were before? Past life regression hypnosis is a convenient technique to learn about your forgotten past lives memories.

  15. quest bars cheap says:

    You really make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this topic to be really something which I think I would never understand.
    It seems too complicated and very broad for me. I’m looking forward for your next post, I will try
    to get the hang of it!

  16. MacawWeb says:

    Web Tasarim ve SEO hizmetlerinde web macaw Kurumsal web tasarim firmasi MediaClick Istanbul, SEO ve mobil uyumlu profesyonel web site tasarimlari, web yazilimlari ile web sitesi tasarim. Grimor, kurulusundan beri sizlere özel tasarim ve web hizmetleri vermektedir. Web tasarim ihtiyaçlariniz için en dogru adres Grimor.com Web tasarim Istanbul’da en kaliteli firmalarin basinda gelen firmamiz sadece web tasarim degil ayni zamanda Istanbul Seo Firmasi olarak da hizmet vermekte. Profesyonel web tasarim hizmetleri sunan, Biltek Web Tasarim sirketi ile kusursuz bir web sitesi tasarimina sahip olacaksiniz.

  17. health and fitness says:

    Hello there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that it’s really informative. I am gonna watch out for brussels. I will appreciate if you continue this in future. Many people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!

  18. cool games says:

    I was just seeking this information for a while. After six hours of continuous Googleing, at last I got it in your website. I wonder what is the lack of Google strategy that do not rank this type of informative sites in top of the list. Generally the top sites are full of garbage.

  19. africa trip says:

    Thanks for sharing superb informations. Your web site is very cool. I’m impressed by the details that you have on this blog. It reveals how nicely you perceive this subject. Bookmarked this website page, will come back for more articles. You, my pal, ROCK! I found simply the info I already searched all over the place and simply couldn’t come across. What a perfect web-site.

  20. health news says:

    I wanted to develop a small comment so as to appreciate you for the precious techniques you are giving on this site. My prolonged internet lookup has now been honored with extremely good knowledge to write about with my pals. I would point out that we visitors actually are unequivocally blessed to dwell in a good community with many marvellous people with helpful points. I feel very happy to have come across the web pages and look forward to plenty of more entertaining times reading here. Thanks a lot once again for a lot of things.

  21. Furniture says:

    I have not checked in here for a while because I thought it was getting boring, but the last several posts are great quality so I guess I will add you back to my daily bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂

  22. barrister says:

    It is appropriate time to make some plans for the future and it’s time to be happy. I’ve read this post and if I could I want to suggest you few interesting things or suggestions. Maybe you could write next articles referring to this article. I want to read more things about it!

  23. Furniture says:

    Thanks for the sensible critique. Me & my neighbor were just preparing to do a little research on this. We got a grab a book from our area library but I think I learned more from this post. I am very glad to see such magnificent information being shared freely out there.

  24. Monisaha says:

    This is the perfect website for anybody who wants to find out about this topic. You realize so much its almost tough to argue with you (not that I actually will need to…HaHa). You certainly put a new spin on a subject which has been written about for decades. Great stuff, just excellent.

  25. Skelbimai says:

    Can I just say what a comfort to discover somebody who truly understands what they’re talking about on the net. You actually know how to bring a problem to light and make it important. More people need to read this and understand this side of the story. I can’t believe you aren’t more popular because you definitely have the gift.

  26. The JVC Shop says:

    Good post. I learn something totally new and challenging on websites I stumbleupon on a daily basis. It will always be helpful to read through articles from other authors and practice something from other sites.

  27. food court says:

    I carry on listening to the rumor lecture about getting boundless online grant applications so I have been looking around for the best site to get one. Could you tell me please, where could i get some?

« Older CommentsNewer Comments »

Comments are closed.