by Erik Larson
Also in Millon et al., at page 353, a contributing author describes a particular patient named Paul as having “an uncanny ability to identify naïve, passive and vulnerable women—women who were ripe for being manipulated and exploited.”
For details of the Williams case I relied, once again, on an array of newspaper articles, and on Boswell and Thompson, Franke, and Schechter. See Chicago Tribune, July 20, 21, 27, 31, August 4, 7, 1895; New York Times, July 31, 1895; Philadelphia Public Ledger, November 21, 23, 26, 1894, December 22, 1894, July 22, 24, 27, 29, 1895: Boswell and Thompson, 86–90; Franke, 106–109; Schechter, 58–63.
Silver Ash Institute: Chicago Tribune, July 27, 1895.
as many as seventy-five: Chicago Tribune, July 25, 1895.
Tobey Furniture Company: Chicago Tribune, July 27, 1895.
French, Potter Crockery Company: Ibid.
Merchant & Co.: Chicago Tribune, July 30, 1895.
At the nearby Normal School: Chicago Tribune, June 26, 1892.
“a baby face: Boswell and Thompson, 87.
Born in Mississippi: For various details about Minnie and Anna Williams’s backgrounds, I relied heavily on the Chicago Tribune of July 31, 1895.
Throughout 1889: Exactly how and when Holmes courted Minnie is unclear, but it’s certain he traveled to Boston to see her and that he did so often enough to have won her adoration. The Chicago Tribune of July 29, 1895, describes Minnie’s first meeting with Holmes. See the Tribune of July 20, for other details, such as the date Minnie went to Boston for her education in elocution and a sketch of her subsequent travels, including her loss of $15,000 in an ill-starred attempt to establish a theatrical group. See also Philadelphia Public Ledger, November 22, 1894, July 27, 29, 1895.
“a remarkable aptitude: Mudgett, 45.
Anna was skeptical: Schechter, 61.
“I received her wedding cards: Chicago Tribune, July 28, 1895.
She did so on: Chicago Tribune, July 27, 31, 1895.
He established’: Philadelphia Public Ledger, November 21, 23, 1894.
“He induced me: Philadelphia Public Ledger, July 25, 1895.
no record of their union: Philadelphia Public Ledger, November 26, 1894.
Dreadful Things Done by Girls
“money would be so plentiful: Kiler, 61.
“The crowds poured in: Bloom, 135.
Bloom thought a moment: Ibid., 135–36.
Bloom regretted: Ibid., 135.
“it is not quantity: Dedmon, 223–24.
“the mayor will not frappé: Ibid., 224.
“A Mouse Colored Ass: Ibid.
“Outside peoples already concede: Hines, 108.
“how to broil: Hollingsworth, 155.
“The breakfast table: Ibid., 12.
“If the article is black: Ibid., 581.
“Take one part muriatic acid: Ibid., 612.
“Don’t sit between: Ibid., 701.
“Injections of tobacco: Ibid., 749.
“interspersed,” as one visitor put it: Miller, 420.
Clarence Darrow regularly: Tierney, 140.
“You ought to begin: Lewis, 36.
“What dreadful things: Tierney, 84.
“His friends all noticed it: Miller, 440.
His quirks: Johnson, 81–88; Poole, 158, 160, 163, 169.
“the most remarkable man: Miller, 438.
“a most admirable pig: Abbot, 212.
“My Dear Mr. Trude: Prendergast to Trude, Daniel P. Trude Papers.
The Invitation
Holmes suggested: Schechter, 61.
Minnie planned to show: I’ve inserted here a few of the attractions that Gilded Age visitors to Chicago found especially compelling. That Minnie planned to take her sister on such a tour is likely but not certain, as unfortunately she left no journal detailing the minutiae of her days.
Final Preparations
“anxious effort: Wheeler, 832.
The menu: Program, “Banquet to Daniel Hudson Burnham,” Burnham Archives, Box 59.
“Each of you knows: Moore, Burnham, Architect, 74.
“The scale of the whole thing: Moore, McKim, 122.
“I fear nothing: Burnham to Margaret, April 6, 1893, Burnham Archives, Family Correspondence, Box 25.
“I am very happy: Burnham to Margaret, April 10, 1893, ibid.
“Why do you not write: Burnham to Margaret, April 13, 1893, ibid.
“The public will regard: Ibid.
Margaret sent him: Burnham to Margaret, April 18, 1893, ibid.
PILOT OF THE OCEAN: Carter, 368.
At the hotel’s front desk: Ibid., 374.
“You can imagine: Burnham to Margaret, April 10, 1893, Burnham Archives, Family Correspondence, Box 25.
“Every body here: Olmsted to John, April 13, 1893, Olmsted Papers, Reel 22.
“We shall have to bear: Olmsted to John, April 15, 1893, ibid.
“I am afraid: Ibid.
“Ulrich is unwittingly faithless: Olmsted to John, May 3, 1893, ibid.
“I suppose that our time is out: Ibid.
“frightful dust: Olmsted to John, April 13, 1893, Olmsted Papers, Reel 22.
“with sore throat: Olmsted to John, April 23, 1893, ibid.
“A larger force is employed: Ibid.
The odd thing was: Chicago Record, December 16, 1893, in McGoorty Papers.
“It rains: Burnham to Margaret, April 18, 1893, Burnham Archives, Family Correspondence, Box 25.
“Last night turned out: Burnham to Margaret, April 20, 1893, ibid.
“The weather is very bad: Ibid.
“I wrote you: Olmsted to unidentified recipient (stamped as received and read by his firm), April 27, 1893, Olmsted Papers, Reel 22.
“My ulcer has shrunk: Ibid.
“We are having bad luck: Olmsted to John, April 27, 1893, ibid.
“I don’t like it at all: Ibid.
“The diet of the provisional mess: Ibid.
“I took cold: Olmsted to unidentified recipient, April 28, 1893, ibid.
“It is queer: Ibid.
“It does not look ready: Ibid.
“I get wind: Ibid.
“gross incompleteness: Miller, 489.
the World’s Fair Hotel: Schechter, 56.
PART III: IN THE WHITE CITY
Opening Day
Twenty-three gleaming: For details of the Opening Day procession: Badger, xi, xii; Burg, 111; Chicago Tribune, May 2, 1893; Miller, 490; Muccigrosso, 78–80; Weimann, 141–46; The World’s Fair, 13–16, 253–63.
Burnham and Davis: The World’s Fair, 254.
the sun emerged: Ibid.
The farm offered omelets: Bloom, 137.
Bloom gave a nod: The World’s Fair, 255.
“When the fair opened: Starrett, 50.
Twenty women fainted: Burg, 111.
Reporters lucky enough: Ibid., 23.
“Then from the Pinta’s foretop: The World’s Fair, 257–58.
Director-General Davis spoke: Ibid., 259.
Nearby stood a table: Weimann, 241.
A tall man: Miller, 490.
“As by a touch: Badger, xii.
At precisely 12:08: Chicago Tribune, May 2, 1893.
Jane Addams realized: Badger, xi; Miller, 490.
“The scene burst on me: Frank Collier to Burnham, May 1, 1893, Burnham Archives, Box 1, File 13.
The official history: For crowd estimates, see Badger, xii; Dedmon, 226; Weimann, 242.
On Tuesday, May 2: Weimann, 556.
On the night of Thursday: Chicago Tribune, May 5, 1893.
Next Chicago’s Chemical National Bank: Chicago Tribune, May 9, 1893.
Three days later: Chicago Tribune, May 19, 1893.
In Brunswick, Georgia: Ibid.
In Lincoln, Nebraska: Ibid.
Olmsted had yet to complete: Ulrich, 46–48.
General Electric alone: Chicago Tribune, May 3, 1893.
“I remain fairly well: Olmsted to John, May 15, 1893, Olmsted Papers, Reel 22.
The World’s Fair Hotel
The first guests began arriving: Boswell and Thompson write, “Every night the rooms on the two upper floors of the Castle were filled to overflowing. Holmes reluctantly accommodated a few men as paying guests, but catered primarily to women—preferably young and pretty ones of apparent means, whose homes were distant from Chicago and who had no one close to them who might make inquiry if they did not soon return. Many never went home. Many, indeed, never emerged from the castle, having once entered it” (87). Franke writes, “We do know that Holmes advertised his ‘hotel’ as a suitable lodging for visitors to the world’s fair; that no fewer than fifty persons, reported to the police as missing, were traced to the Castle; and that there their trail ended” (109). Schechter: “No one can say exactly how many fairgoers Holmes lured to the Castle between May and October 1893, though he appears to have filled the place to capacity on most nights” (56).
He found a place: Chicago Tribune, July 21, 1895.
They first advertised: Ibid.
Holmes went alone: Ibid.
Holmes explained the move: That Holmes wanted Minnie as far from the hotel as reasonably possible seems certain, given his choice of an apartment on the North Side, though exactly what he told her about the move can’t be known. I propose one likely possibility.
Holmes and Minnie moved: Chicago Tribune, July 21, 1895.
“seemed to be very attentive: Ibid.
That he often smelled: A barber who worked in Holmes’s building reported the many “queer” smells generated within. Chicago Tribune, July 30, 1895. In Tribune, July 28, 1895, a police detective states, “We have always heard of Holmes’ castle as being the abode of bad odors.”
Prendergast
“I am a candidate: Chicago Record, December 16, 1893, McGoorty Papers.
“Night Is the Magician”
Only one child: Weimann, 352. For broader discussion of daycare at the fair, see Weimann, 254–333, 349–52.
Within the fair’s buildings: Burg, 206; Gladwell, 95; Miller, 494; Muccigrosso, 93, 163; Schlereth, 174, 220; Shaw, 28, 42, 49.
A popular guide: Burg, 199.
“a fearful hideous thing: Taylor, 9.
“Every one about us: Ibid., 7.
“She takes a few: Ibid., 22–23.
“My Country ’Tis of Thee: Ibid., 23.
“In which building: Dean, 335.
One male visitor: Ibid., 378.
Over the six months: Muccigrosso, 150; The World’s Fair, 851.
Often Cody upstaged: Carter, 372–73; Downey, 168–69
“A strikingly noticeable change: Chicago Tribune, June 2, 1893.
“No other scene: Pierce, As Others See Chicago, 352.
“an inexhaustible dream: Masters, 7.
“we insisted on sending: Untitled manuscript beginning: “To him who has taken part,” Burnham Archives, Box 59, File 37.
“Our hour on the lagoon: Dora Root to Burnham, undated, Burnham Archives, Box 3, File 63.
The fair alone: Hines, 117.
“As the light was fading: Polacheck, 40.
“unspeakable debris: Ingalls, 141.
“Night,” Ingalls wrote: Ibid.
“It was a common remark: Schuyler, 574.
Modus Operandi
And so it began: Chicago Tribune, July 30, 1895, August 1, 1895. In the Tribune, July 26, 1895, Chicago’s police chief states, “There is no telling how many people this man Holmes has made away with.” See also Philadelphia Inquirer, April 12, 1896.
chemical odors: Chicago Tribune, July 30, 1895.
There were inquiries: Philadelphia Public Ledger, November 21, 1894, July 22, 1895; Franke, 106; Schechter, 233. Also see Eckert, 209–10: Eckert quotes a letter from Julia Conner’s mother, dated December 22, 1892. Eckert’s book, The Scarlet Mansion, is a novel; the letter, Eckert told me in e-mail correspondence, is real.
Holmes did not kill face to face: Chicago Tribune, July 28, 1895, where a Chicago police inspector states, “While I believe that Holmes would not dispatch a victim with an ax or other deadly weapon, I fully believe him capable of sneaking into a dark room where his victim was asleep and turning on the gas.”
The subsequent articulation: Regarding the work of the “articulator,” Charles Chappell, see Chicago Tribune, July 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 1895; New York Times, July 29, 1895; Philadelphia Public Ledger, July 23, 27, 29, 30, 1895; Boswell and Thompson, 81–86; Franke, 98–101; and Schechter, 39–44.
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.