by Erik Larson
“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.
“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
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: Papke, 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.
Graham had thought twice: Schechter states, “In March 1895 a fire had consumed Geyer’s home, killing his beloved wife, Martha, and their only child, a blossoming twelve-year-old girl name Esther” (202).
“Holmes is greatly given: Geyer, 54.
Holmes claimed: Ibid., 53–57. The first half of Geyer’s book (13–172) provides a richly detailed portrait of the insurance fraud and the murder of Benjamin Pitezel. For still more detail, see The Trial.
. The coroner: Geyer, 33–40.
“I wish you could see: Ibid., 353–54.
“Mamma have you: Ibid., 355.
“Property of H. H. Holmes: Ibid., 158.
“it did not look like: Ibid., 173.
Geyer reached Cincinnati: Ibid., 174. Geyer devotes pages 173–298 to a nearly day-by-day account of his search.
“There is really: Ibid., 174.
“I was not able: Ibid., 180.
“a very wealthy man: Ibid., 188.
“We are all well here: Ibid., 269–70.
“And I expect: Ibid., 271.
“It seems as though: Ibid., 272.
“evidently heartbroken: Ibid., 190.
“Holmes said that Howard: Ibid., 189.
“something seemed to tell me: Ibid., 190.
Geyer realized: Ibid., 213–14.
“Tell mama: Reprinted in Franke, 223–24.
“So when this poor child: Geyer, 258.
“Howard,” she had written: Franke, 224.
Moyamensing Prison
“The great humiliation: Mudgett, 215.
“and to keep my watch: Ibid., 216.
“Come with me: Ibid., 5.
It is one of the defining: Diagnostic, 646; Karpman, 499; Silverman, 21, 28, 32–33.
“prison diary: Mudgett, 210. His supposed diary appears on 211–21.
“I was as careful: Letter reprinted in Geyer, 163–71.
The Tenant
On Sunday, July 7, 1895: Geyer, 214.
“This seemed too good: Ibid., 230.
“Only a slight hole: Philadelphia Public Ledger, August 5, 1895.
“We lifted her: Geyer, 233.
Nellie’s feet: Schechter, 224.
“I told her: Geyer, 244.
“Where is Nellie?: Ibid., 245.
“Nothing could be more: Ibid., 250.
“one of the most satisfactory: Philadelphia Public Ledger, August 5, 1895.
“Had he been placed: Geyer, 251–52.
A Lively Corpse
In Philadelphia: Barlow’s attempt to catch Holmes by surprise is detailed in Philadelphia Public Ledger, July 17, 1895.
“and I hardly opened it: Mudgett, 226.
“genius for explanation: Philadelphia Public Ledger, July 17, 1895.
“I was in no condition: Mudgett, 227.
“My ideas are: Boswell and Thompson, 112–13.
“All the Weary Days”
“The number of mysterious persons: Geyer, 268.
“Days came and passed: Ibid., 269.
at two hundred: Boswell and Thompson, 87; Franke, 109.
Chicago detectives: The search of Holmes’s castle conducted by Chicago police was heavily reported in the nation’s newspapers. See Philadelphia Public Ledger, July 22, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 1895; Chicago Tribune, July 17, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, 29, August 18, 1895; and New York Times, July 25, 26, 29, 31, 1895.
“Do you ever see: Chicago Tribune, Ju
ly 26, 1895.
One Tribune headline: Chicago Tribune, July 20, 1895.
“all,” Geyer said: Geyer, 283.
“I must confess: Ibid., 283–84.
“The mystery: Ibid., 284.
“Holmes’ Den Burned: Chicago Tribune, August 19, 1895.
“By Monday: Geyer, 285.
“I did not have the renting: Ibid., 286.
“All the toil: Ibid., 287.
“that he did not think: Ibid., 301.
“a large charred mass: Ibid., 297.
It was Howard’s: Ibid., 300.
Malice Aforethought
On September 12, 1895: For news reports on the Philadelphia, Indianapolis, and Toronto indictments, see Philadelphia Public Ledger, September 13, 1895.
“In conclusion: Mudgett, 255–56.
“It is humiliating: Quoted in Literary Digest, vol. 11, no. 15 (1896) 429.
Chicago’s “feeling of humiliation: Ibid.
One of the most surprising: Chicago Tribune, July 30, 1895.
“He is a prodigy: Schechter, 228.
EPILOGUE: THE LAST CROSSING
The Fair
Walt Disney’s father: Mosley, 25–26; Schickel, 46.
The writer L. Frank Baum: Adams, 115; Updike, 84–85.
The Japanese temple: Miller, 549.
The fair prompted: Jahn, 22.
Even the Lincoln Memorial: The fair’s success boosted Burnham’s prestige and helped get him appointed to the federal commission charged with building the monument. His own devotion to classical styles then held sway. See page 389 and corresponding note below. Also see Hines, 154–57.
“our people out: Moore, McKim, 245.
“possibilities of social beauty: Hines, 120.
William Stead recognized: Whyte, 53.
They asked Burnham: Hines, 140, 180–83, 188–89, 190–91. See also Burnham and Bennett, Plan; Burnham and Bennett, Report; McCarthy, “Chicago Businessmen.”
While helping design: Hines, 148–49.
Other cities came to Daniel Burnham: Hines, 347.
“If I told you: Crook, 112. See Crook throughout for an excellent if dry account of Sullivan’s decline after the world’s fair—dry because the work is a doctoral thesis.
“Louis Sullivan called: Hines, 232.
“To Daniel H. Burnham: Ibid.
“contagion: Sullivan, Louis, 321, 324.
“virus: Ibid., 324
“progressive cerebral meningitis: Ibid.
“Thus Architecture died: Ibid., 325.
Both Harvard and Yale: Hines, 125.
“He needs to know: Ibid., 254, 263.