The Wichita daily eagle., 1896-05-08
GIVES ONE FOR MANY
Continued from First Page)

trated that he held affection for the
woman he called his wife-Miss Yoke
1t is a well known fact that women
were attracted to him, and one not
hard to understand when the superficial
man is considered, for he was born oi
reputable parents, reared under the IN
yiuence of Christian home, and sur
rounded In his early years by every re-
ffnement He was born at Gilmanton
tn 1858, so that he was 3s years old when
the end Of his spectacular career came.
He was of medium build, with an erect
and manly bearing His hands and feet
were small, and the skin smooth 10 the
touch; the features were regular, the
brown hair not too sparce, and we'll
kept rnoustache shaded his small mouth
Pretty he might have been called, for
the paleness Of his cheek was modified
by just a touch Of color and his big
blue eyes, before the confning walls OF
prison robbed them of their light,
we're mild AID gentle. The voice was
soft and low. Besides, he was well-edu-
cated Although, while by no means
sffeminate, it was easy to consider that
ne was what is called a ''lady's man."
His parents were among the most re-
Tpected persons in their part of the
Ttate. His father had been postmaster
Holmes had two married sisters, living
In Boston and one brother. They were
younger than he, and had grown up TO
be good citizens, respected and honor
I'd by their neighbors.
NOT A GOOD LITTLE BOY.
Holmes was not good boy He was
always regarded as the scapegrace Of
the family. He worked on his father
farm and went to school in the winter.
The one thing particularly noticeable
about him was that he was a faithful
student. When he got to be 20 years
old he was still studying, though he
had long before left school. Then ne
got married. His bride was Miss Clara
A. Lowering, daughter of a well-to-do
citizen Of London, n. II. She was IS
years old. He had been courting her a
long time. They went away together
on the Fourth Of July, 1873, and were
married in the town Of Alton by Squire
John w. Currier. Holmes had some
money at the time, and he was ambi-
tious Of studying medicine. His wife
encouraged him, and he started in at
the college at Burlington, VT The next
year he went out to Ann Arbor, Mich,
to study there. His money was gone.
He determined to work his way through
i
own story is that he began his GRIM
lnal career. 1t was as a swindler Of
insurance companies. He says that
tellow-student in the university, who
Is now a physician in New York, was
his accomplice. The thought came 10
him when he was in the dissecting room
and body was brought in, "Why
couldn't a body like that be substituted
for the body Of man whose life was
lnsured?' He decided il could His
fellow~student was Of the same opinion,
and agreed TO get his life insured for
$4,000. A year later a body was OBJ
tained and successfully palmed off on
the insurance company as that OF the
insured man. The money was divided.
BEATING HIS BOARD.
Whether this was Holmes first SER
tous crime or not it is impossible to say
Whether ii ever happened as he SAID
1t did is question. Certainly at a later
period than this he appeared to be with
out money, and taught school for a liv-
ing This was at Afooers Forks, Clinton
county, n. Y He went there as a nur-
sery agent for firm in Maine, and
was engaged as a district Cschool teach
er He represented himself as single.
and proposed marriage to two or three
WOIiieiIs OOdfuSO WIN a man name u
Hayes. ran up a big board bill, and
then left in broad daylight, never to
return. Holmes had lived with his
wife off and on. She had borne him one
child, boy, and she spent nearly all
her time with her parents in London. |
Shortly after the school episode he vis> |
ited her, and then he left, it seems, for |
good.
Holmes is supposed to have gone from |
New Hampshire 10 St. Paul. where he |
started in business, earned the respect /
OF his neighbors. and got appointed re- |
ceiver for restaurant. He stocked the |
restaurant with goods on credit, sold |
them all, and walked away, leaving his /
bondsmen to settle.
KALEIDOSCOPE INIQCTTY.
He was next heard Of in Chicago. |
Then began his Kaleidoscope career. |
He began by marrying a Miss Myrtle |
a. Belknap. daughter of a resident OF |
Willamette, a suburb of Chicago. He |
had not been divorced from his first /
wife. He tried to get possession Of her /
fathers property by means of forged 1
deeds. He failed in that. and then his |
wife left him, keeping with her the girl |
baby that had been born to them.
his third wife, Georgiana Yoke, he |
married in Denver under the name of |
Howard. She lived in Franklin. Ind
and IS woman of refinement and !
beauty.
The murder of the Peitzel children
was prohaoiy Holmes next crime after
1hat OF the father. When Holmes was
called from st Louis by the insurance
company 70 identify Pitezel's body in
this city he prevailed upon Mrs. PitezeI
10 allow the child Alice to go with him
Upon their arrival, the body was disfn
TERED from the Potters field. and
Holmes. in the presence Of doctors and
ofilcialS Of the company. calmly cut Ger
tain marks from the corpse. The iden+i
tlcation being complete. the money. was
paid. and. as Mr.. Pitezel swore at the
trial Holmes appropriated all but a few
dollars. which he gave to her.
IN THREE SQUADS.
After the departure % IIolrnes and Al
dee for Philadelphia. the next time Mrs
Pitezel saw him was September -. He
SAID ne had left Alice in Cincinnati in
the care Of his cousin" Minnie VIII
iams. Then he induced her 70 let him
take Nellie and Howard there. so thar
Alice should not be lonely. She never
again saw her children alive Some time
afterwards he took her 10 Detroit under
the prctence that she was 70 meet ber
husband there. From that tin., ~ tba
day or his arrest he kept her moving
from place 10 place throughout the
country on some pretence or other. Dur-
ing these travels Holmes carried wtrb
him three separate detachments-NTrs |
Miss Yoke and the chudren-au
WITHIN four blocks Of each other in all
me olfterent cities. almost travelling TO-
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