The True story of H.H. Holmes
I recently posted an article written by ChatGPT that put the AI to a true test, but well I was reviewing the article I noticed a lot of the information was false. This is a common enough occurrence with ChatGPT that the developer put a indicator of the AIs limitations when you first log in to the AI.
I took the liberty to put together the true account of H.H. Holmes murders, be aware that much of this information is very gruesome and horrific. There will also be some links to other articles at the end for where I gathered information from. The late 19th century was a marvel of manufacturing genius as the industrial revolution begain to shape the world. In 1893 The World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago took place. This was one of many World’s Fair’s which took place across the globe to showcase exhibits of all kinds from The Paris Exposition where the Eiffel Tower was opened for display and tours. The Eiffel Tower had taken two years of construction and although it was the largest monument at the time to exist. The number of people dying on the site during its construction consisted of only one person from the construction crew.
One of the more horrifying things to happen during these exhibitions was at the Chicago World’s Fair also known as The World’s Columbian Exposition which was held in Chicago in 1893. This event became infamous after the exposition was used as cover for a serial killer named H. H Holmes or Dr. Henry Howard Holmes who confessed to killing 27 woman.
Born Herman Webster Mudgett on May 16, 1861, his home town was Gilmanton, New Hampshire. His parents Levi Horton Mudgett and Theodate Page Price and he was the third of five children. Though there are stories of Homes torturing animals and small children as well as of his being abused these accusations seem to come from pop culture rather than eyewitness accounts.
Holmes was a known bigamist who married 4 times, never divorcing, his first wife Clara Lovering and Holmes were married in 1878 and in 1880 they had one child Robert Lovering Mudgett. Clara took their son back to New Hampshire in 1884 and accounts from housemates said that Holmes was violent with his wife. In 1886 Holmes Married Myrta Belknap without first receiving a divorce from Clara, Holmes and Myrta had a daughter in 1889 named Lucy Theodate Holmes. Then in 1893 Holmes and a woman by the name of Minnie Williams presented themselves as a married couple in order to rent an apartment in Chicago’s Lincoln Park. Minnie and Her sister Annie disappeared sometime after, last being seen alive July 5, 1893. It is believed that Homes murdered the sisters. Finally in 1894 well still married to both Clara and Myrth, Holmes married Georgiana Yoke.
Holmes went to school at the University of Vermont in Burlington in 1881 and in 1884 graduated from the University of Michigan’s Department of Medicine and Surgery. Years later when he was being investigated for murder, Holmes admitted to using cadavers to defraud life insurance companies several times in college. Including later confessing to the murder of classmate Robert Leacock, in 1886 for insurance money. This however was untrue as Leacock had left medical school without graduating sometime in 1883 and later died in Watford, Ontario, in 1889.
Holmes lived in several places across the northwest for short periods leaving when rumours and suspicion began to fallow him. The first time in Mooers Forks, New York where a rum or spread that Holmes had been seen with a small boy who later disappeared. Then again in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania after working first at Norristown State Hospital and later at a drugstore where a boy died after taking medicine purchased at the store. After this series of strange occurrences he changed his name to Henry Howard Holmes to “avoid the possibility of being exposed by victims of his previous scams”.
Moving in 1886 Holmes arrived in Chicago, Illinois where he took up residence at the Elizabeth S. Holton’s drugstore, which he would later buy. In 1887 Holmes bought the plot of land across the street from the drugstore and built a two-story mixed-use building, with apartments on the second floor and retail spaces, including a new drugstore.
After his murders local newspapers such as the yellow press claimed the building contained secret torture chambers, trap doors, gas chambers and a basement crematorium; none of which was true. The press also labelled the building “Murder Castle” though there is speculation on whether Homes used the apartments to murder anyone.
Holmes was only ever convicted of one murder of his accomplice and business partner Benjamin Pitezel. Though he did confess to 27 murders, later evidence suggests that he most likely killed anywhere between 6–9 people. Some sources suggested he might have been involved inover 200 murders and disaperances.
Victims may have included three of the Pitezel children, as well as three mistresses, the child of one of his mistresses and the sister of another.
Among the supposed murders were Julia Smythe, with whom Holmes had an affair, she supposedly died after an attempted abortion. Smythe and her daughter Pearl disappeared on Christmas Eve 1891. Emeline Cigrande disappeared in December of 1892, after her disappearance there were rumours that she too had gotten pregnant by Holmes and there is speculation that she died from a failed abortion. Reports of a young girl named Emily Van Tassel vanishing appeared in the newspaper in 1885 and it is suspected that Holmes murdered her. In 1893 Minnie and Annie Williams disappeared never arriving in Europe after leaving Chicago. In 1892 Dr Russler whose office was in the hotel and Kitty Kelly a stenographer who worked with Holmes, both disappeared. In 1893 John G. Davis was said to have been visiting the 1893 “World’s Fair” when he vanished. Henry Walker went missing in 1893 letters to his friends indicated he had been working for Holmes and in 1894 Milford Cole disappeared after receiving a telegram from Holmes telling him to visit him in Illinois. Though her body was never found, one Lucy Burbanks bank book was found in the hotel in 1895. Some sources even claim that Holmes murdered upto 200 people.
I must reiterate now that the details of this case are horrific and reading on there will be details mentioned that are gruesome and aweful to read.
In July of 1894 Holmes was being investigated on charges of fraud and the prosecution was pressing for an arson charge, when H.H Holmes left Chicago. Arriving in Fort Worth, Holmes inherited property from the Williams sisters and began trying to build another property, however as he did not pay suppliers and builders the structure was never completed. Holmes was briefly arrested in 1894 before posting bail, he later tried to commit fraud by faking his death but the insurance company never paid out.
He then concocted a plan with business partner Benjamin Pitezel where as Pitezel was to set himself up as an inventor and fake a lab explosion that was intended to disfigure whatever body that Holmes had dug up. This would pay out $10,000 three ways between Pitezel, Holmes and St. Louis attorney named Jeptha Howe who was in on the scam.
However what ended up happening is that Holmes knocked Pitezel unconscious and used Benzene to light him on fire. Forensic evidence suggested that the Chloroform had been used after Pitezel death presumably to fake a suicide and exonerate Holmes.
Holmes then went on to collect the insurance payout, and Manipulate Pretzels wife into allowing 3 of her 5 children to be put into his custody. He then travelled throughout The United States and Canada well using various aliases and lying to Ms. Pitezel about her husbands death. He claimed Pitezel was in London. For a brief period Holmes stayed in a separate location with his wife who was unaware of everything her husband was doing.
During this time Frank Geyer, police detective from Philadelphia was investigating Holmes and tasked to find the three missing children. The detective found the body’s of the girls buried in the Toronto basement as well as bones and teeth of a young boy in the chimney of the cottage in Indianapolis.
There were 50 lawsuits in Chicago alone Where Holmes made his primary residence from 1886 to apx 1894 when he fleed and was eventually captured on November 17th 1894 in Boston. Holmes chose a career of crime including insurance fraud, swindling, check forging, and three illegal marriages, as well as horse theft and murder.
In October of 1895, Holmes was found guilty and sentenced to death for the murder of Benjamin Pitezel. By then, it was evident Holmes had also murdered the three missing Pitezel children. Following his conviction, Holmes confessed to 27 murders in Chicago, Indianapolis, and Toronto.
During his time in prison several interviews that were done with Holmes, where he claimed to be possessed by the satan, was the devil and a slew of other ridiculous notions. Mainly because he was egocentric, loved the attention the press gave him and likely wanted to be remembered. This last one certainly happened as there are several books and movies about the events that transpired between 1891–1895.
On May 7, 1896 when Holmes was hanged at the Philadelphia County Prison, for the murder of Pitezel. His final words were “I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than a poet can help the inspiration to sing.”
Per his instructions his coffin was laid in cement and buried 10 feet deep, funny enough for a grave robber he was concerned about grave robbers who would steal his body and dissect it. Holmes’s body was interred in an unmarked grave at Holy Cross Cemetery in Yeadon, Pennsylvania.
After his death rumours spread that he had somehow managed to escape the noose or fake his death and persisted for 121 years until his body was exhumed for testing before being reburied. The rumour of his being the devil also persisted due to the fact that his body was so well preserved it has to be work of some evil being. Though it is much more likely that due to the coffins being contained in cement, his body was found not to have decomposed normally. “His clothes were almost perfectly preserved and his moustache was found to be intact. The body was positively identified by his teeth as being that of Holmes.”
In March of 2023 an article titled “An ‘American Monster’ in Fort Myers shows a murderer’s life” by Tom Hall surrounding Holmes great-great-grandson Jeff Mudgett a attorney in california who claimed H. H Holmes had started his killing spree in London as Jack-The-Ripper based off of Handwriting of the ‘Dear Boss’ Letter from Whitechapel and supposed matches with correspondence written by Holmes, along with two memoirs he wrote in prison in 1896. Jeff Mudgett also claimed that H.H Holmes escaped prison by bribing guards and having someone else’s body inter in his grave and escaped to South America. Well these claims have not been verified and Holmes body was tested in 2017 to prove he was in his grave it’s still a fascinating story.
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sugested reads for more articles and information on H. H Holmes:
