Yours Truly, E. Alice Pitezel

After posting about a letter from Edwina Booth to her father, Edwin, I decided to stick with this letter theme and post about another, though much sadder, letter. A letter from Alice Pitezel to her grandparents.

At the time the letter was written, Alice and her sister, Nellie, were traveling with H.H. Holmes. Her brother, Howard, had already been killed. Being in hotel rooms for days on end, Alice passed the time by writing letters to her grandparents and to her mother, Carrie. She would then give them to Holmes to send. However, Holmes never sent them, instead keeping them in a small tin box for unknown (aka sociopathic) reasons. When he was arrested, the letters were found in his possession, confiscated, and given to the police. Because each letter had a date and place written on top, detective Frank Geyer was able to follow Holmes' twisting path across the country and find the dead bodies of Alice and her two siblings, sealing the fate of Holmes.

Many of the letters Alice wrote described her loneliness, homesickness, and sadness that her mother was not responding to her and had yet to come and visit even though Holmes had been promising to bring her. Holmes would leave the children alone for days to plot his next move. Aside from moving the three Pitezel children from city to city, he was also moving his "wife," Georgiana Yoke, and the children's mother, Carrie Pitezel, keeping up the charade that her husband, Benjamin, was still alive (Holmes had already killed him too). At one point, Carrie was staying less than a block away from her children with neither party knowing of the other. Below is a real photo of Alice and a newspaper sketch of her. She was 14 years old but some sources say she was 15.

Detroit, Michigan

Oct. 14, 1894

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,

Hope you are all well. Nell and I have both got colds and chapped hands but that is all. We have not had any nice weather at all. I guess it is coming winter now. Tell momma that I have to have a coat. I nearly freeze in that thin jacket. We have to stay in all the time, Howard is not with us now. We are right near the Detroit River. We was going a boat riding yesterday but it was too cold. All that Nell and I can do is draw and I get so tired sitting that I could get up and fly almost. I wish I could see you all. I am getting so homesick that I don't know what to do. I suppose Wharton walk by this time don't he? I would like to have him here. He would pass away the time a good deal.

Yours truly, 

E. Alice Pitezel  

Until next time.

XOXO, Kate

Benjamin and Carrie Pitezel

Dear Universe,

It's P-I-T-E-Z-E-L not P-I-E-T-Z-E-L. Please get your shit together and print one CORRECT spelling.

Signed,

Aggravated historian

Victory! I have finally memorized the correct spelling of Pitezel (and just in time for my Pitezel post).

I haven't had much time to update this blog due to having one hell of a stressful week. But now that spring break has finally arrived I can get back to posting here and on my American Civil War blog. Speaking of, you can find my Down Yonder Diary here:

http://downyonderdiary.blogspot.com/

Anyway, I am currently working on a longer post about the childhood life of H.H. Holmes in his hometown of Gilmanton, New Hampshire. But since that post is not finished at the moment and I want to get a new post up, here is a short one about some new pictures I found of Benjamin and Carrie Pitezel.

Benjamin (who has his picture featured on the header) was Holmes' assistant and one of his final victims. Holmes was eventually tried and executed for the murder of Benjamin.

One thing that you will quickly learn about me, I am a romantic. I love the relationship of Carrie and Benjamin (or Benny as he was affectionately called by his wife). The more you read about them, the more you see how dedicated and devoted they were to each other, even when times were tough. Their love story was so caring and romantic, one of the reasons their separation was so tragic and heartbreaking. Why, Holmes? Why did you destroy the beauty?

There are not many images of the Pitezel family. In those days, unless you had money (which the Pitezel family did not) you didn't take many photos because it was still very expensive. The most common image seen of Carrie is this one taken in her later years.

There are two common images of Benjamin, usually shown together to compare his features before and after he became a compulsive drinker and a worn, beat up shadow of his former self.

 

However, I stumbled upon these two images the other day. I'm not sure when Benjamin's photo was taken but the one of Carrie shows her much younger and I've never seen another that does.

I hope they have found each other again. 

Until next time.

XOXO, Kate

???

While leafing through my Holmes file to find blog inspiration, I came upon a portion of his Wikipedia profile that I printed when I first began researching him.

I circled the number of victims this editor attributed to Holmes.

Is that for real? 200 people? He really killed 200 people? In the span of, what, a few months?

I know. It's baffling when you first see it. But here is something even more baffling about the victims of HH Holmes. This is the real number: ???

Holmes actually killed an unknown number of people. History has never discovered how many died by his hands or who the first victim was. Will we ever know? Probably not. We'll just have to rely on stories and theories. Unless someone invents a time machine and we can go back to 1861 when Holmes was born and follow him through every second of his 34 year life. Just a note, I would be the first in line to sign up for that trip. I mean, have you seen that man? He's gorgeous. Of course, I would also be packing some serious heat under my corset to make sure he would always show me the real exit.

Anyway, there is little concrete proof of Holmes murdering anyone, even the nine victims history has "identified" as much as possible. Nothing that could classify as incriminating was found during the excavation of the Castle. Just a few bones (some of which turned out to be animal bones) and various scraps of fabric and clothing here and there. One reason for this, Holmes was a master at destroying evidence. He knew the fastest way to getting caught was to leave a trail behind. He designed and built the Castle in such a way so that it would be perfect for the disposal of such evidence.

In the end, Holmes was only executed for one murder, Benjamin Pitezel, his friend and business partner. Holmes was never convicted of murdering the Pitezel children or anyone in the Castle.

So where do all these numbers come from? I have no idea who came up with 200. Furthermore, the number changes constantly. One source said over 50 people who went missing from the World's Fair were traced back to the Castle. If they were, no evidence of their presence has ever been discovered. Other sources say there were dozens of police reports taken out for people who had seemingly vanished. Throughout the years, the number has climbed from there. Can all of these cases be contributed to Holmes? No. After all, Holmes, born Herman Webster Mudgett, had changed his name and begun a new life. What was to stop others from doing the same?

Aside from the insane figures, there are more rational numbers that historians across the board seem to accept.

While awaiting execution, Holmes was paid by William Randolph Hearst to write a confession. In it, he confessed to 27 murders and 6 attempts that, if successful, would have brought the total to 33. However, deceit was a trait ingrained in Holmes' nature. He lied about everything. He couldn't help it. Even when it was in his best interest to stick to the truth, he lied. His words cannot be taken as 100 percent factual. In fact, some of his confessed "victims" were still alive. Most historians believe that since Holmes knew he was going to die, he left his mark by confessing "to every crime anybody had ever suspected him of and threw in a few more for good measure."

Historians have further whittled the number down to nine. Of course, nothing can be confirmed 100 percent. However, these nine people were identified as the most likely to have been killed by Holmes (and probably were).

First were Julia and Pearl Connor. Pearl was the eight year old daughter of Julia and her ex-husband, Ned. Then there was Emeline Cigrand. Next was Minnie Williams. Some historians claim that Holmes and Minnie Williams were married. But since no record has ever been found, some say that it was just another lie. Next was Anna Williams, the younger sister of Minnie. Benjamin Pitezel was Holmes assistant. And finally Alice, Nellie, and Howard Pitezel, the children of Benjamin and his wife, Carrie. They were 14, 10, and 8.

 

(Julia Connor)

 

 

(Pearl Connor)

 

 

(Emeline Cigrand)

 

 

(Minnie Williams)

 

 

(Anna Williams)

 

 

(Benjamin Pitezel)

 

 

(Alice Pitezel)

 

(Nellie Pitezel)

 

(Howard Pitezel)

 

Until next time...

 

Kate 

Welcome to Englewood

Welcome to the World's Fair Hotel.

The infamous structure, known today as the "Murder Castle" or just "The Castle," stood at the corner of Wallace and 63rd Streets in Englewood, Chicago, Illinois. It was designed and built by Dr. Henry Howard Holmes, America's first documented serial killer.

Although it was constructed before and existed after, it is remembered most for being the mirroring, darker image of the World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago World's Fair) of 1893.

So come along with me through the twisting, mazelike corridors and discover the secrets behind the murders, the madness, and the man who changed America.