Alfred Griner Packer (1842 - 1907)

Born 21 Jan 1842 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, United States

Ancestors

Died 23 Apr 1907 at age 65 in Deer Creek, Jefferson, Colorado, United States

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Biography

Alferd Packer is Notable.

Private Alferd Packer served in the United States Civil War.
Enlisted: 6/10/1863
Mustered out: 4/22/1864
Side: USA
Regiment(s): Company L, 8th Regiment, Iowa Cavalry

Alfred Griner Packer was born 21 Jan 1842, in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He was a son of James Packer and Esther Griner.

During the Civil War, he served in the 16th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and with the 8th Iowa Volunteer Cavalry. Upon enlisting on April 22, 1862, at Winona, Minnesota, in Company F, 16th U.S. Infantry Regiment, he gave his occupation as a shoemaker. He was honorably discharged due to epilepsy eight months later, at Fort Ontario, New York.

In 1875, Alfred murdered at least one of his snowbound companions and cannibalized others near modern day Lake City, Colorado.

Also known as "The Colorado Cannibal", Alfred Packer was an American prospector and self-proclaimed professional wilderness guide who confessed to cannibalism during the winter of 1874. He and five other men attempted to travel through the San Juan Mountains of Colorado during the peak of a harsh winter. When only Packer reached civilization, he said that he had been abandoned by his party but eventually confessed that the party had resorted to cannibalism to stay alive when they became hopelessly lost. He later recanted this story and confessed to having lived off the flesh of his companions during his snowbound state after they had fallen victim to party member Shannon Bell, whom Packer said he shot in self-defense, and to having used their flesh to survive while stranded and during his trek out of the mountains nearly two and a half months later.

After Packer's story was called into question, he escaped jail and hid from justice for nine years before being tried, convicted of premeditated murder, and sentenced to death. Packer won a retrial and was eventually sentenced to 40 years in prison on five counts of voluntary manslaughter.

Alfred died 23 Apr 1907, in Deer Creek, Jefferson County, Colorado. The cause of his death was cited as "Dementia – trouble & worry", although his clinical cause of death has been described as the result of a stroke. He was buried in the Littleton Cemetery, Littleton, Arapahoe County, Colorado, with a full military burial. His grave is marked with a veteran's tombstone listing his original regiment in 1862, which is a replacement, as his original grave marker was stolen.

Civil War service:

• 16th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry
• 8th Iowa Volunteer Cavalry

• Fact: Census (1860) Lagrange Village, LaGrange, Indiana, United States
• Fact: Census (1900) Colorado State Penitentiary Canon City, Fremont, Colorado, United States
• Fact: Burial (1907) Littleton, Arapahoe, Colorado, United States of America

A Human Fiend^[1]

Al Packer’s Fate^[2]

Military

U.S. Civil War

Fold3^[3][4]

Research Notes

Birth information from 1900 census is November 1841.

1860 census lists birth place as Indiana.

Sources

1. ↑ The Fremont County Record, March 17, 1883, Page 1. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-fremont-county-record/135251295/ : accessed November 15, 2023), clip page by user andrewguy1976
2. ↑ The Daily Express, April 14, 1883, Page 1. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-express-al-packers-fate/91721908/ : accessed November 15, 2023), clip page for Al Packer's Fate. by user asiefke
3. ↑ https://www.fold3.com/image/2054102/packer-alfred-us-civil-war-pensions-index-1861-1900
4. ↑ https://www.fold3.com/image/298870035

• Nash, Robert Jay. Alferd Packer. Encyclopedia of Western Lawmen & Outlaws. Da Capo Press. pp. 250–251. ISBN 0-306-80591-X
• Army Register of Enlistments 1862, #182, regular army; Compiled Service Record of Alfred G. Parker, 8th Iowa Cavalry Regiment.
• 1850 Census: "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch [1] : 12 April 2016), Esther Packer, Clay, La Grange, Indiana, United States; citing family 648, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• 1860 Census: "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4NS-9B1 : 28 July 2017), Alfred G Packer in entry for William Sebbey, 1860.
• 1900 Census: "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQM4-FJ3 : accessed 24 September 2017), Alfred Packer, Colorado State Penitentiary Canon City, Fremont, Colorado, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 156, sheet 3B, family , NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,123.
• Burial: "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVJ1-BRV6 : 13 December 2015), Alfred Packer, 1907; Burial, Littleton, Arapahoe, Colorado, United States of America, Littleton Cemetery; citing record ID 785, Find A Grave: Memorial #785.

See Also

• Wikipedia: Alferd_Packer
• Wikidata: Item Q670661, en:Wikipedia
• Colorado Encyclopedia Alferd Packer
• Case of the Colorado Cannibal
• The Colorado Cannibal
• The Men Who Swindled Colorado Cannibal Alferd Packer
• Cannibalism or self-defense? Scientists seek answer to Alferd Packer mystery, The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), Sunday, July 23, 1989
• Wikipedia
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/785/alfred-packer: accessed 15 November 2023), memorial page for Alfred “Alferd” Packer (21 Jan 1842–23 Apr 1907), Find a Grave Memorial ID 785, citing Littleton Cemetery, Littleton, Arapahoe County, Colorado, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.
• The Fort Wayne Sentinel, May 10, 1907, Page 9. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-fort-wayne-sentinel/135230278/ : accessed November 15, 2023), clip page by user andrewguy1976
• The Daily Sentinel, April 26, 1907, Page 1. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-sentinel/135230396/ : accessed November 15, 2023), clip page by user andrewguy1976
• civilwardata

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Keegan Cool for giving permission to upload photos that were originally uploaded to FaG on 20 May 2020

Andrew Simpier created & updated profile on 14 Nov 2023