Stillwater ‘body finder’ John Jeremy is topic of next Washington County Historical Society program

Mary Divine, Pioneer Press
·2 min read

A Stillwater fisherman who was a professional seeker of drowning victims is the subject of a program this week sponsored by the Washington County Historical Society.

The life of John Jeremy, who started a side business in the 1870s using his unusual talent, will be the featured topic Thursday at the Washington County Heritage Center in Stillwater. The free program, “Drowning Victims and John Jeremy,” starts at 7 p.m.; it also will be accessible via Zoom.

“He was a river rat,” said Brent Peterson, the society’s executive director. “He was able to figure out the currents of any lake or river. He would find out where the person had drowned and then would go out and travel in a circular pattern until he found them.”

Families of people who had drowned would contact Jeremy, whose nickname was “Fisherman John,” and he would draw up a contract with them. He traveled throughout North America, including Canada, to find bodies and was paid anywhere from $25 to $500 for his services — a lucrative side hustle considering most people at that time earned $1 a day, Peterson said.

Jeremy was so successful that people thought “black magic” had to be involved. “They thought he had a body compass made out of bread and mercury or trained muskrats who would help him find the body,” Peterson said.

Jeremy would always search at night because he didn’t want to be disturbed, Peterson said. “In the morning, he would have the body with him,” he said. “What made the business even more unusual was how successful it was. When other search parties came up empty, John Jeremy and family were able to make the discovery.”

Three generations of Jeremys carried on the business of finding drowned people until the mid-1950s, when Jeremy’s grandson, George Thompson, retired, Peterson said. It’s estimated that they found more than 1,000 bodies of drowning victims, he said.

“A newspaper reporter once asked Thompson to describe how they did it,” Peterson said. “He said the system wasn’t patented, but they just didn’t talk about it. The secret was knowing the currents, and, most importantly, having patience.”

Advanced reservations are not required. The program will be held at 1862 S. Greeley St., Stillwater. For more information, including the Zoom link, go to wchsmn.org/event/johnjeremy.

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