The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-10-28

hand OF a pure ana loving motner. he was
mild-mannered youth, so the people say,
and he could not injure dog or cat with
out pain to himself. 1t is told that he grew
sick at the sight of blood. and tainted on
one or two occasions on seeing persons suf-
fer pain. He graduated with high honors
from the village academy. At the age of
twenty he married Miss Clara A Lonering.
a most estimable young lady of Alton. She
worshiped MIN, and believed in time he
would be man among men. She encour-
aged him when he proposed 10 study medi-
cine, and while he attended school at Bur-
lngton, VT, he had her announcement and
prayers.
A CHANGE OF CHARACTER
1t is not known when the character of
Mudgett, or Holmes, as the world knows
him. was transformed, but transformation
there was. The young medical student was
changed. The change may have been the
result of years. the decision of night
or the effect of association. Anyway, the
Christian-reared man broke away from the
associations of his home, from it's teachings
and the love of true wife, and he now ap-
pears as the chief murderer of the CEN
tury. After graduating at Burlington Mud
gett came West and entered the medical
him, and while within the light of her lov-
ing influence he was transformed. Poverty
is said by some to have been the cause for
the change, for he was ambitious,
| and with his wife he had
to practice strict economy. Anyway.
he sent her to her New Hampshire home
| and the "Mr Hyde of his character began
| TO appear.
,,of II rir
| as the last, but 1t served to harden his heart
and open his eyes to great possibilities in
| other directions. He and chum are said
| to have stolen bodies in a neighbor-
| ing burial ground. from which they realized
| considerable. The robbery of bodies sug-
/ gested to the two the idea or defrauding an
| insurance company by substituting dead
| body for the person whose name appeared
| on the policy Mudgett and his friend went
| to Chicago The friend had his life in
sured for sl250o, and later his supposed
body was found in Connecticut. The scheme
worked we'll; the money collected and
! divided, and Holmes had made by one bold
| stroke more than he could have earned by
the practice OF medicine in two years time.
His first triumph led him on to commit
more daring crimes.
! After quitting Ann Arbor he went to
| of medicine. His wife and child joined him.
For few brief months he tried to live
down his former crime but all the while
| the struggle between DIR. Jekyll and Mr..
Hyde was going on, and, as is often the
case, Mr.. Hyde won. After the wife and
/ child had been sent back to the New Hamp-
| shire home Mudgett said he was going to
Chicago to try his fortunes there and he
would write for her. She believed him. and.
| although she heard nothing from him for
] years, she waited prayerfully for his re-
| turn, hoping that all would be right in the
| end. Mudgett went to Chicago and II. H.
| Holmes was born his arrival.
! IL is a strange observance, once made
| by detective Frank Geyer while in Indian
| apolis, that women have been tangled up
| in his crimes and all the women with whom
he had anything TO do we're blondes. His
first wife was blonde and his succeeding
wives were also blondes. His schemes grew
more gigantic as he advanced, until he
| conceived the idea of numbering his chief
| confederate. and entire family. Minnie
Williams, of Fort Worth, Tex, an ac-
complished young woman, who graduated
| from the Boston Conservatory OF Music,
was the first victim. Her sister Anna
came to Chicago to visit Holmes and his
/
| been seen since Holmes says Anna killed
| Minnie in fit of jealousy and to protect
! his wife he sunk Anna's body in the lake.
About this time Holmes became in pos
| session of his famous castle. on sixty
| third street, Chicago, which has been the
| scene OF numerous crimes. Emma G Gig
rand, of Anderson, Ind, was the victim
| to follow Minnie Williams. She held $2O,-
coo worth of stock in a copying concern:
| Holmes supposed to have married
her; then she disappeared Mrs. Conner
In,.e. m "a &
tie. Holmes became intimate with Mrs.
| Conner, causing a separation between her
and her husband. Mrs. Conner and Gerte
| are now numbered among the missing.
| BENJAMIN Pietzel and Patrick Quinlan went
to Fort Worth TO look after the property
Of pns pIr snd
men of the North. They borrowed $l0,OVu
from bank the strength Of their
claims, stole carload of horses and es-
capped from the town.
THE MUDER OF PIETZEL
Holmes then began 10 figure on a new
scheme, to which Pietzel readily agreed.
| Pietzel was insured in the Fidelity Life
Assurance Company of Philadelphia in the
sum of $4,000. Holmes and Pietzel then
went to Mississippi to secure a body, but
| returned without one. In June, 1894, the
i two conspirators went East. Pietzel located
on Callowhill street, Philadelphia, and he
| advertised himself as a patent agent. His
room contained but a few articles Of furni-
ture. Pietzel at that time was living under
the name of B. F, Perry. On the night
of Sept 1 PietzePs body was found in this
room, with the face badly mutlated. 1t is
claimed that it will be shown that Holmes
| was in Philadelphia at the time OF Pietzer s
! death. However he soon appeared on the
| scene and identified the body as that of
BENJAMIN Pietzel. He was present at the
| coroner's investigation and gave one of
! the most startling demonstrations on rec
| ord. There was some doubt about the body
| being that of Pietzel, but he pointed out
the marks of Identification. To make the
| work more complete he took one of the
/ Pietzel children in his arms and brought
| her before the body of her father. The
| money was paid to Mrs. Pietze.
| Holmes then assumed the role of guardian
/ to the Pietzel children. He came TO In
| dianapolis with Howard Alice and Nellie,
/ 1t being understood that they were to be
| put in school here. In st. Louis Holmes
| met noted train r0bber by the name of
| Hedspath. A scheme was arranged between
the two to defraud an insurance company.
| Holmes agreed, to furnish Hedspath with
300 with which he could get out of his
| trouble. He failed to do SO and Hedspath
| "peached." Then hunt began for Holmes.
He came to Indianapolis and made this
city his headquarters Tor time The
been investigating the Pietze case
| at Philadelphia- 1t was decided that the
body was not that of BENJAMIN Pietzel, but
| substituted one and q reward was Of
fered for the arrest of Holmes, who was
| passing under the name OF Howard While
| the detectives were searching for him