by Erik Larson
He disposed of other: Chicago Tribune, July 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, August 18, 1895; Philadelphia Public Ledger, July 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 1895.
One Good Turn
The rim arced: The Ferris Wheel had a diameter of 250 feet but a maximum height of 264 feet because of the necessary gap between the bottom of the wheel and the ground. The Masonic Temple was 302 feet tall, but that height included a cavernous roof that rose high above the building’s last rentable floor.
“It is impossible: Hawthorne, 569.
“Engines have steam: Rice to Ferris, June 8, 1893, Ferris Papers, Ferris Correspondence: Miscellaneous.
“I did not trust myself to speak: Anderson, 58.
“Suddenly I was aroused: Ibid.
As the wheel began to turn: Ibid., 60.
“No carriages were as yet placed: Ibid.
“I could have yelled out: Ibid.
“The last coupling: Rice to Ferris, June 9, 1893, Ferris Papers, Ferris Correspondence: Miscellaneous.
“Your telegram stating: Ferris to Rice, June 10, 1893, Ferris Papers, Ferris Correspondence: Miscellaneous.
“rather handsome: Weimann, 560.
“Nothing could be more entertaining: Ibid.
“I realize with some bitterness: Ibid., 262.
In preparation: Weimann, 560.
She declared: Ibid.
“Her Highness: Quoted in Wilson, 264.
“I am going to leave: Ibid., 267.
“Royalty at best: Ibid., 269.
Nannie
Without even thinking: Chicago Tribune, July 20, 1895.
First Minnie and Harry: Despite the stench and pools of blood, the Union Stock Yards were Chicago’s single most compelling attraction for visitors, and tour guides did indeed lead men and women into the heart of the operation. It seems likely that Holmes would have brought Minnie and Nannie there, partly because of the yards’ status, partly because he would have derived a certain satisfaction from subjecting the women to its horrors. In The Jungle Upton Sinclair wrote, “It was too much for some of the visitors—the men would look at each other, laughing nervously, and the women would stand with hands clenched and the blood rushing to their faces, and the tears starting in their eyes” (35). For details on the stockyards and the operation of the overhead hog-butchering line, see Sinclair, especially 34–38; all of Jablonsky; and all of Wade. Wade notes that in the year of the fair more than one million people visited the stockyards (xiv). Rudyard Kipling, in his essay “Chicago,” writes, “Turning a corner, and not noting an overhead arrangement of greased rail, wheel and pulley, I ran into the arms of four eviscerated carcasses, all pure white and of a human aspect, pushed by a man clad in vehement red” (341–44, especially 342).
The great fair: I’ve presented one likely path, based on guidebooks from the era, maps of the fairgrounds, and reports that described the features that exposition visitors found most attractive. For details of fair exhibits, see Flinn, 96–99, 104, 113–14; Rand McNally, 34–36, 71, 119–20, 126.
Below the chandeliers: Rand, McNally, 119–20.
Minnie and Nannie rapidly grew tired: Tours of the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building were said to be exhausting. One common maxim of the day held that a boy entering the building at one end would emerge from the other as an old man. Rand, McNally & Co’s. Handbook to the World’s Columbian Exposition observes, “The standing army of Russia could be mobilized under its roof” (116).
“A man in Europe talks: Flinn, 71.
the Moorish Palace: Flinn, 25; Gilbert, 114.
Even the concession tickets: For a collection of the actual tickets see Burnham Archives, Oversize Portfolio 4, Sheets 16 and 17.
He bought a souvenir: Geyer, 300.
Vertigo
By Sunday evening: Anderson, 60.
“I did not enter: Ibid.
“Owing to our car: Ibid.
The car traveled: Ibid.
Gronau’s first reaction: Ibid.
“… it seemed as if: Ibid., 62.
“It was a most beautiful sight: Ibid.
“This,” Gronau said: Ibid.
“God bless you: Untitled typescript, Ferris Papers, 6.
“Six more cars: Rice to Ferris, June 12, 1893, Ferris Papers, Ferris Correspondence: Miscellaneous.
“Burnham nor anyone: Ferris to Rice, June 14, 1893, ibid.
“Unwise to open: Robert W. Hunt to Ferris, June 17, 1893, ibid.
“If the directors: Ferris to Rice, June 17, 1893, ibid.
“It was about sundown: Chicago Tribune, June 15, 1893.
Heathen Wanted
He traveled through: Olmsted to Burnham, June 20, 1893, Olmsted Papers, Reel 41.
“Everywhere there is: Ibid.
On June 17: Chicago Tribune, July 11,19, 1893.
“That building gives us: Chicago Tribune, July 11, 1893.
At Last
At three-thirty P.M.: Anderson, 62; Barnes, 180.
“No crank will have: Alleghenian, July 1, 1893.
“wheels in his head: Untitled typescript, Ferris Papers, 6.
“Built in the face: “The Ferris Wheel Souvenir,” Ferris Papers, 1.
“In truth, it seems too light: Alleghenian, July 1, 1893.
Rising Wave
By the end of June: Chicago Tribune, August 1, 1893.
The Roof Garden Café: Weimann, 267.
Mrs. Lucille Rodney: Badger, 162.
“Call it no more: Besant, 533.
The failure of this: Olmsted, “Landscape Architecture.”
In the six months: Rice, 85.
In his official report: Ibid., Appendix I, 2.
Over the life of the fair: Burnham, Final Official Report, 77–80.
“half-boor, half-tightwad: Dedmon, 232; May, 334–35, 340–41.
Frank Haven Hall: Hendrickson, 282.
“he would learn far more: Weimann, 566.
When Cody learned of it: Badger, 163–64; Weimann, 565–66. 286. “as enthusiastic as a girl: Weimann, 566.
There was tragedy: Chicago Tribune, June 27, 1893.
In the week beginning: “Ferris Wheel, Statement of Business by the Week,” Ferris Papers.
“short on news: Untitled typescript, Ferris Papers, 7.
Wherritt staggered: Anderson, 66.
“He seemed to take: Polacheck, 40.
“Existing conditions: Inland Architect and News Record, vol. 22, no. 2 (September 1893), 24.
In June two businessmen: Chicago Tribune, June 4, 1893.
“Everyone is in a blue fit: Steeples and Whitten, 1.
“What shall we do: Muccigrosso, 183.
“everything will seem small: Weimann, 577.
Independence Day
“For half a mile: Chicago Tribune, July 5, 1895.
One man began singing: Ibid.
Red lights glowed: Ibid.
“Home Sweet Home: Ibid.
At nine o’clock: For details about the night’s fireworks displays see Chicago Tribune, July 5, 1895; Burg, 43; Gilbert, 40.
That night the Oker family: Franke, 108.
“Sister, brother Harry and myself: Boswell and Thompson, 88. This letter is quoted also in Franke, 106, and Schechter, 62.
“Anna had no property: Chicago Tribune, July 30, 1895.
Holmes had announced: Schechter proposes the scenario wherein Holmes invites Anna, alone, to accompany him on a tour of the hotel. It seems likely. Another possibility is that Holmes asked for Anna’s help with some last-minute clerical work at his office and recommended that Minnie stay behind in the apartment to handle final preparations for their mutual journey. Certainly Holmes would have wanted to separate the women, for he was not physically strong. His power lay in persuasion and cunning. Schechter, 62.
Worry
At the fairgrounds: See daily attendance statistics in Chicago Tribune, August 1, 1893.
But the next day: Ibid.
The fair’s auditor: Chicago Tribune, August 16, 1893.
The bankers
were pressuring: Chicago Tribune, August 2, 3, 1893.
Estimates held: Chicago Tribune, August 1, 1893.
Claustrophobia
Police speculated that Holmes killed Nannie and Minnie Williams in his vault. Schechter proposes this scenario: “As they got ready to leave, Holmes paused abruptly, as though struck by a sudden realization. He needed to fetch something from his vault, he explained—an important business document that he kept stored inside a safe-deposit box. It would only take a moment.
“Grasping Nannie by the hand, he led her toward the vault” (62).
Something like this must have occurred, although I think my proposal that Holmes sent her into the vault on a false errand, then followed her and shut the door, would have suited more closely his temperament. He was a killer but a cowardly one. See note above from p. 292.
That Holmes killed the women on July 5 is supported by a March 14, 1895, letter from an attorney, E. T. Johnson, who had been dispatched to hunt for the missing women. He states they left the Wrightwood house “about July 5, 1893, and none of us have ever heard from them any more” (Chicago Tribune, July 21, 1895). Taken together, this letter and Anna’s happy letter to her aunt written on the evening of July 4, cited above from page 292, provide evidence that the murders did indeed occur on July 5.
Two days later: Franke, 108.
“I do not know how: Chicago Tribune, July 21, 1895.
Also on July 7: The Chicago Tribune of July 20, 1895, identifies the express company as Wells-Fargo. The Philadelphia Public Ledger of November 23, 1894, states that the trunk was shipped from Midlothian, Texas, on July 7, 1893.
The trunk was addressed: Chicago Tribune, July 20, 1895; Philadelphia Public Ledger, November 23, 1894.
A Wells-Fargo drayman tried: Ibid.
“I want you to come: Chicago Tribune, July 28, 1895; Philadelphia Public Ledger, July 29, 1895.
“It was an awful looking place: Chicago Tribune, July 28, 1895; Philadelphia Public Ledger, July 29, 1895.
“Don’t do that: Chicago Tribune, July 28, 1895; Philadelphia Public Ledger, July 29, 1895.
He gave Pitezel’s wife: Chicago Tribune, August 1, 1895.
Holmes also surprised: Ibid.
Storm and Fire
The balloon: Chicago Tribune, July 10, 1893.
The sky seemed to reach: Ibid.
In the Agriculture Building: Ibid.
“It took the combined effort: Anderson, 66.
“I got some pleasure: Chicago Tribune, July 10, 1893.
The tower: Chicago Tribune, July 11, 12, 1893.
The first alarm: Burnham, Final Official Report, 61, 74; Chicago Tribune, July 11, 1893; Graphic, July 15, 1893, Chicago Historical Society; Synoptical History, 74–77.
“Never,” the Fire Department reported: Synoptical History, 75.
“as though the gaseous: Burnham, Final Official Report, 61.
“I saw there was: Chicago Tribune, July 11, 1893.
Daniel Burnham testified: Chicago Tribune, July 12, 1893 303. On Tuesday, July 18: Chicago Tribune, July 19, 1893.
“The attempt to hold you: Geraldine to Burnham, July 19, 1893, Burnham Archives, Business Correspondence, Box 1, File 32.
With the stink: Chicago Tribune, July 14, 1893.
As if things: Chicago Tribune, August 3, 1893.
“no expenditures whatever: Ibid.
Love
The twenty-four teachers: Dreiser, Journalism, 121.
“an intense something: Lingeman, 118.
Dreiser followed the ladies: For details about the teachers’ visit to the fair, see Dreiser, Journalism, 121–38.
“sentimental: Lingeman, 121.
“into a dream: Ibid., 119.
“If you marry now: Ibid., 122.
Couples asked permission: Untitled typescript, Ferris Papers, 9.
Georgiana Yoke: Trial, 364.
He was so alone: Ibid., 436.
“a little heart: Ibid., 364.
He cautioned, however: Ibid., 436.
Mayor Harrison too: Abbot, 233; Chicago Tribune, August 24, 1893; Muccigrosso, 181.
Freaks
“can only be characterized: Chicago Tribune, August 3, 1893.
“If the directory had seen fit: Chicago Tribune, August 2, 1893.
“Hundreds of newspapers: Chicago Tribune, August 13, 1893.
“We want to do something: Chicago Tribune, August 9, 1893.
Millet also organized: Chicago Tribune, August 12, 1893.
“Whether the apprehensions: Chicago Tribune, August 11, 1893.
Further enriching the affair: Chicago Tribune, August 17, 1893; Downey, 168.
“Chicago built the fair: Chicago Tribune, August 16, 1893.
At nine-fifteen that night: Chicago Tribune, August 17, 1893.
It was hot: Ibid.
“native costume of bark: Ibid.
The official menu: Ibid.
Attendance rose: Chicago Tribune, October 10, 1893.
“If Congress does not give: Chicago Tribune, August 9, 1893.
“Why should the wealth: Chicago Tribune, August 31, 1893.
Prendergast
One afternoon: Chicago Record, December 16, 1893, McGoorty Papers.
“No,” Prendergast said: Ibid.
Toward Triumph
By ten o’clock: Dybwad and Bliss, 38–40.
“The Paris record: Ibid., 38.
“There must be a million: Ibid., 39.
The fireworks: Ibid., 64–68.
In that single day: Chicago Tribune, October 10, 1893.
The Tribune argued: Ibid.
But the best news: Badger, 109.
Departures
“You know my dislike: Moore, McKim, 127.
“indeed it is the ambition: Ibid., 126.
“better to have it vanish: Boyesen, 186.
“I can’t come to you: Stevenson, 415.
For all of 1893: Crook, 102.
“Never before: Bogart and Mathews, 398.
The pressure: Philadelphia Public Ledger, November 21, 1894.
First he set fire: Philadelphia Public Ledger, November 23, 1894; Boswell and Thompson, 89; Franke, 41; Schechter, 64–65.
He advised the insurers: Ibid.
The guardians of Minnie: Philadelphia Public Ledger, November 21, 1894; July 27, 1895; Franke, 106.
In the fall of 1893: Philadelphia Inquirer, May 8, 1896.
Holmes fled: Ibid.
Soon afterward Holmes set out: Geyer, 346; Trial, 302, 608; Franke, 213.
Just before leaving: Geyer, 346; Trial, 210.
Nightfall
Throughout October: Chicago Tribune, October 29, 1893.
Twenty thousand people: “Ferris Wheel, Statement of Business by the Week,” Ferris Papers.
“peer cautiously: Chicago Tribune, October 25, 1893.
“Look at it now: Abbot, 228.
At two o’clock: Chicago Tribune, October 29, 1893.
At three o’clock: Chicago Tribute, December 20, 1893.
In the midst of supper: Chicago Times, December 14, 1893, McGoorty Papers.
“It must have been: Ibid.
They argued: Chicago Record, December 15, 1893, and Chicago Daily News, October 23, 1943, McGoorty Papers.
“Lock me up: Chicago Record, December 15, 1893, McGoorty Papers.
“We are turning our backs: Chicago Tribune, October 31, 1893.
At exactly four-forty-five: Ibid.
The six hundred carriages: Chicago Tribune, November 2, 1893; Miller, 101.
Harrison had heard them: Chicago Tribune, November 2, 1893.
“The good-by: Dean, 418.
“Beneath the stars: Pierce, As Others See Chicago, 357.
The Black City
“The poor had come: Herrick, 135.
“What a spectacle!: Gilbert, 211.
One shows: Hales, 47.
“It is desolation: Dean, 424.
George Pullman continued: Wish, 290.
“more threatening: Papk
e, 29.
On July 5, 1894: Gilbert, 210; Miller, 550.
“There was no regret: Miller, 550.
“There are hundreds: Quoted in Chicago Tribune, August 18, 1895.
PART IV: CRUELTY REVEALED
“Property of H. H. Holmes”
Detective Frank Geyer: For details about Geyer, I relied heavily on his book, The Holmes-Pitezel Case, a detailed, dispassionate, and above all accurate account of the murder of Benjamin Pitezel, and Geyer’s search for Benjamin Pitezel’s children. Salted throughout are copies of letters written by the children and excerpts of other valuable documents, such as interrogations and confessions. I found additional material about Geyer at the Free Library of Philadelphia in annual reports from the city’s superintendent of police included in the “Annual Message” of the city’s mayor. (See City of Philadelphia, below.) These reports contain valuable bits of information, for example, the fact that for routine detective work Geyer was paired with another top detective, Thomas G. Crawford, the man who escorted Holmes to Philadelphia from Boston. On that trip Holmes asked permission to hypnotize Crawford. The detective refused. Holmes asked again, this time offering to pay $500 for the privilege—a thinly veiled bribe. Geyer and Crawford consistently ranked first or second among the city’s two-man teams of detectives for the dollar value of stolen goods they recovered.
I also mined details from The Trial of Herman W. Mudgett, Alias, H. H. Holmes, a word-for-word transcript of the trial, with closing arguments and the appellate court’s opinion. See also Franke, 61–81 and Schechter, 195–205.
Geyer’s assignment: Geyer, 158–61, 171–74.