THE BELLE OF BEDLAM

 

I wonder what was going through the mind of lawyer M.E. Leliter, on the afternoon 27 April, 1908, when he was told Mrs. Belle Gunness was in the anteroom of his Main Street office in La Porte, Indiana (above). Her very presence made Leliter  uneasy. Still, you never think the worse, do you?  

Belle was a genial and pleasant, 48 year old church-going woman, but substantial - and at 6 feet, taller than most men.  Community gossips said that Belle had been seen carrying two 100 pound hogs, one under each arm.. Still, "M.E." thought he could detect the aura of hidden pain behind Belle's sharp blue Nordic eyes.

In Chicago, the stout young Belle (above) had buried two of her children -  not an unusual tragedy in the nineteenth century.  But then,  in 1900,  her husband Anton Sorenson, had died of heart disease. 

With the proceeds from Anton’s two life insurance policies,  Belle and her three daughters had purchased a farm (above) on the northeast outskirts of La Porte Indiana, out on McClung Road past Pine and Fish Trap lakes. 

It was there a year later, on 1 April, 1902 Belle had married widower Peter Gunness.   But tragedy seemed to have followed Belle from Chicago.  That very summer, Peter’s young daughter (above, on Belle's knee)  had died after a short illness. And then in December, Peter himself had been struck on the head by a falling sausage grinder, and killed. Well, life on a farm was hard, and dangerous.  

"M.E". forced a smile as he stepped out to greet the lumbering,  280 pound now middle aged woman.  But this day Belle was not interested in pleasantries. Someone, Belle announced,  wanted to murder her.

Her tale had a tinge of unreality to "M.E,"'s ears.  He was one of the most prominent of the 14,000 citizens of La Porte,  Indiana. Fifteen passenger trains a day passed through La Porte (above) on their way to and from Chicago, 60 miles to the northwest.  Perched atop the prairie, the town was surrounded by farms, including the one owned by "M.E.", and, of course,  Belle's.  

But it was also home to the Meinaid Rumely Factory (above), whose 2,000 employees assembled steam powered thrashers  and were rushing to manufacture one of the world’s first internal combustion farm tractors, the “Kerosene Annie”.

As befitted a prosperous middle class community, just down the street from "M.E."’s office stood the new red sandstone Romanesque Court House (above), with oak paneled court rooms and stained glass windows. But Belle's accusations seemed more fitting to the lurid crime ridden alleys of Chicago than the small, quiet, proper and hard working Victorian style, La Porte, Indiana.

The potential assassin was Ray Lamphere (above), who until recently had been Belle’s hired hand. Six weeks ago, said Belle,  she had fired Ray, and he had threatened her and her two youngest daughters. “I'm afraid he's going to kill me and burn the house,” Belle told "M.E.".   Thank goodness Belle’s eldest daughter, Jennie, was safely away at a finishing school in Los Angeles.  Yes, Belle had spoken with the police. Twice she had charged Ray with trespassing. But, explained the angry Belle,  the police had refused to grant her a protection order, and had dismissed her allegation that Ray was insane.

Now, out of an excess of caution, Belle wanted to amend her will.  She wanted to be certain that her estate would to go to her children. And, if for some reason, they were deceased,  then Belle wanted all her property to go to a Norwegian orphanage back in Chicago.  "M.E." took down the information, and made an appointment for Belle to return in a few days to sign the completed document.

Then shocking news came with the morning light. There had been a terrible fire at the Gunness farm in the early morning hours of 28 April, 1908.

Despite the noble efforts of Belle’s new hired hand, and two passing men, no one had made it out of the house alive.  Eventually the beams and the furniture had crashed into the basement.

By noon the heat had retreated enough for workers to shift the ashes. There they found the pitiful bodies of Belle’s three children, Myrtle and Lucy Sorensen, and Philip Gunness, aged 5,  as well as the blackened, headless corpse of a woman presumed to be Belle.  

And when the cops arrested Ray Lamphere (above), he blurted out, “Did widow Gunness and the kids get out all right?”  It seemed an open and shut case.  Except... when told of the bodies, and of the charges Belle had made against him the day before,  Ray was heard to ruefully say, “After all,  she wanted me killed because I knew too much..”  Was this the foundation for an insanity plea, or even self defense - from a woman?  But it did cause the police to pause for a moment.

And then there was the mystery of the woman’s body. When doctors examined the burned corpse they described it as belonging to a woman weighing no more than 150 pounds.  Neighbors who had sewn clothing for Belle were adamant that the corpse could not be Belle's   So back to the ashes went the searchers. And what they found raised even more questions; they found men’s pocket watches, rings and wallets. A lot of watches, rings and wallets.

While the police were still mulling over this perplexing development, a man named Ray Helgelien arrived in town,  looking for his brother.  Andrew Helgelien (above) had responded to a notice in a South Dakota lonely hearts column. “Wanted — a woman who owns a beautifully located and valuable farm in first class condition, wants a good and reliable man as partner in the same”.  The lady needed help paying off the farm's mortgage, and offered matrimony and love in return. After exchanging several letters, Andrew had left home with $300 cash in his pocket.  

Ray had not heard from his brother for several weeks, and finally opened a final letter mailed to him, but arriving after he had left. It was post marked from La Porte (above). It read,  “My heart beats in wild rapture for you, My Andrew. I love you. Come prepared to stay forever.”  Having seen newspaper stories about the grisly finds in the burned out farm house, Ray suspected that Andrew may have done just  that.   Had Belle placed that notice?  The local post office confirmed that Belle had mailed and received 8 to 10 letters a day, for years. The searchers spread out across the farm and started digging.

First they found and disinterred the body of daughter Jennie,  who was supposed to have been away at school in Los Angeles.   Then, under the pig pen the searchers found the bodies of ten to fourteen men and women, many of whom had been last seen visiting Belle’s farm, or working  there as maids and cooks.

Included among these remains was a body identified as being that of Andrew (above). In his corpse, as is in many of the others, the medical examiner found cyanide. The police were now more than willing to think the worst. 

How many victims had been fed to Belle’s hogs, or buried in undiscovered graves elsewhere on the farm? When finally added up the list of known and suspected victims reached forty.  Belle Gunness could well have been the most prolific, and one of the most hard working serial murderess in American history.

The jury at Ray Lamphere’s trail found him not guilty of murder, but guilty of arson. The jury also issued a statement asserting that Belle’s body had been found in the ashes. That did not match what the medical examiner had to say about the body. And Ray insisted to the day he died that Belle had escaped.

For the next decade, sightings of Belle (above) were reported from all over America and Scandinavia. But the most intriguing story was that of Esther Carlson, who in 1931 was arrested in Los Angeles,  the location of Jennie's supposed finishing school.  Esther was charged with the murder of a Norwegian immigrant, which matched Belle's preferred victims.  Like Belle, Esther's motive was alleged to be theft of the victim's money.  Also like Belle, Esther's weapon of choice had been cyanide. But nothing was ever proved, and Esther died in jail while awaiting trial.

But two expatriates from La Porte identified photos of Esther Carlson (above) as Belle Gunness. The ages and time lines seemed to match,  Belle would have been 71 years old in 1931, and if Belle had lost weight,... Could they have been the same person?  Did Belle slaughter every human being close to her, pin it on a simpleton fall guy, and escape to California, where she went on making a living by killing?   If that seems a far fetched a tale, remember that it is the nature of most people, that when they hear of a tragedy,  their first thought is sympathy,  and almost never of evil - even though sometimes that is exactly what a tragedy is.

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THE ORIGINAL FAKE

I want to introduce you to Ching Ling Foo (above), “The Original Chinese Conjurer” who was the most famous magician to ever come out of China -  according to his advertising.  In 1898, when he brought his show to America, he offered $1,000 to any magician who could duplicate his act.  And that offer may have been a mistake.

Because, shortly thereafter, another magician, under the name Ching Ling Soo, began doing just that: and also billing himself as the “Original Chinese Conjurer”, and the  "Marvellous Chinese Conjurer".  Suddenly there were two originals.

In January of 1905 Foo opened his show at London's Empire Theatre (above), in Leicester Square, only to discover that for the previous month,....

...and directly across the street, at the Hippodrome Theatre (above), Soo had been running his identical show -  advertised with near identical posters.  

The two began campaigns of trash talk, accusing each other of fraud and name calling that kept the theatre critics working their pencils to the nub, and the audiences jammed into their seats at both theatres.

Eventually Foo offered Soo $2,000 for a 'trick off' in front of the press. On the appointed day Foo was there but, alas, Soo was not. The London Weekly Dispatch asked, “Did Foo fool Soo? And can Soo sue Foo?” Alas, those questions were never answered.  But the publicity kept both men headlining for most of the next decade.

Then, in March of 1918, Soo was performing on the stage of the Wood Green Empire Club (above) Theatre in London. He was performing his most famous trick, a variation on “The Bullet Catch”, he called “Condemned to Death by the Boxers”. 

In this trick audience members loaded bullets into rifles, and then watched recruited soldiers or policemen fire the guns directly at Soo’s chest.  Soo always caught the bullet in his hand to thunderous applause.

The secret behind this trick is obvious. No human reflex, not a human hand or or a mouth,  can move fast enough to catch a bullet.  So the bullet has to be transferred by hand before the gun is fired. The method of disguising the transfer varies from magician to magician, and that is what requires the skill. The trick is to distract and entertain the audience.  It was  Chung Lee Soo's most famous gag. 

Or at least it was until 23 March 23, 1918, when after the guns fired, Soo collapsed.  Was it just another dramatic stunt?  Seconds passed.  But eventually,  as horrified cast members rushed to his aid, Soo was clearly heard announcing, “Oh, my God. Something has happened. Lower the curtain”, in perfect English. The Marverlos Chinese Conjurer died the next day.

At the inquest into his death Soo’s widow, Sue Seen, (who also appeared occasionally as his male Chinese assistant) testified sans her stage makeup as Miss Olive Path,  that the rifles were real and capable of firing a real bullet, but...

...with a special hidden chamber. Cocking the rifle forced the bullet loaded by an audience member to drop out of the way, clearing space for a second bullet made out of paraffin. It would dissolve with the force of the exploding gunpowder, allowing Soo to produce a bullet he had supposedly caught. It was and still is an amazing gag, when it works.

But over time there had been a buildup of black powder residue which fouled the gun's chambers. On that terrible night the real bullet remained jammed in the chamber and blocked the safe paraffin round from entering. And so when the bullet was fired, it was really fired. And Soo was killed.

The inquest had also determined that Soo, the other “Original Chinese Conjurer” , was not actually Chinese. His real name was William Robinson (above and below).

Robinson was from Brooklyn and he had worked as a magician under the name “The Amazing Robinson”....

...with Olive (above)  as his assistant, until he had hit upon the idea of grafting onto the success of Ching Ling Foo, the actual original "Original Chinese Conjurer" -

- who by the way actually was Chinese but was actually named Chee Ling Qua. (Confused yet?) The lesson here is that the only people who trust magicians are other magicians, and their rabbits. 

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GETTYSBURG Chapter Fourteen

I would not blame Major General James Ewell Brown (J.E.B.) Stuart (above) if he fell asleep in the saddle during the 35 mile night march from Hanover to Dover, Pennsylvania. Stuart was only 30 years old and in pretty good physical shape, a man his commander, General Robert E. Lee described as "second to none in valor, in zeal, in unflinching devotion to his country…To military capacity of a high order."  But the last week had been exhausting, even for the younger troopers in his ranks.

One North Carolina boy confessed, “I thought I knew some thing of the hardships of a soldier’s life but...I did not.” As a writer noted, “...many of Stuart's troopers were now riding two to a horse because so many horses had broken down during the march...” But there was always worry to keep the normally jaunty Southern Cavalier awake.

Stuart had expected to find General Ewell's Second Corps somewhere around Hanover, Pennsylvania  on Monday, 30 June, 1863. Instead he ran into a big chunk of Yankee cavalry, and had to detour around it. Local newspapers reported General Jubal Early's division was at York, 7 miles east of the column's line of march. But Stuart couldn't find Lee's army anywhere - and hadn't heard from him in eight days, unable to even warn him that the Federal army was north of the Potomac.

The best account of that night march comes from 23 year old staff officer Major Henry Brainerd McClellan, tasked with guarding the 125 captured wagons, who reported, “The mules were starving for food and water, and often became unmanageable. Not infrequently a large part of the (wagon)train would halt in the road because a driver... had fallen asleep and allowed his team to stop. The train guard became careless through excessive fatigue, and it required the utmost exertions of every officer on Stuart’s staff to keep the train in motion.” Another member of Stuart's staff reported the horses in all 3 brigades were “broken down and in no condition to fight.” Stuart needed fresh horses and fresh men. To achieve either of those objectives would take time, which Stuart no longer had.

Just as the first shots were being fired 40 miles to the west on the McPherson farm outside of Gettysburg, Stuart's weary troopers finally struck the York Pike. Stuart immediately dispatched scouts in search of Lee's Army. Around 7:00am, Tuesday, 1 July, 1863, Stuart's 4,500 men rode into the sleepy village of Dover, Pennsylvania – population about 2,000. Stuart gave most of his men 4 hours of rest, and the men dropped prostrate where they were, many sleeping in the streets.

Brigadier General Wade Hampton had to stay awake, setting up in Dr. Ahl's 2 story brick office and home on North Main Street, where he administered and signed paroles for the 200 Federal soldiers captured since crossing the Potomac. Weary troopers swept the town, looking for horses, food and whatever else the fatigued rebels had the energy to take. They got very little liquor, as both of the town's hotels, the Dover and the North, had hidden their stocks in the basement of the church on Carlisle Road. And the exhausted rebels could not work up the energy to look there.

Meanwhile Stuart, his brigade commanders and their staffs had breakfast at the Dover Hotel (above), where they discussed what to do next. The scouts could find no Confederate troops anywhere, but it seemed everywhere they encountered blue clad cavalry.  The most reliable news Stuart could obtain was in the Pennsylvania newspapers, which said General Ewell had moved from York to Carlisle. That made sense if Lee was still hoping to capture Harrisburg. And as General Lee himself had said of his cavalry commander, "It was not in Stuart's nature to abandon an attempt until it had been proven to be beyond his powers...." So exhausted and saddle sore himself, Stuart decided the best chance of contacting Lee's army was to move 40 miles to the northwest, to Carlisle. In fact he was moving in an arc around the growing battle of Gettysburg.

The 3 rebel brigades set out again just before 11:00am, on the Carlisle road. The rest in Dover had done little to reinvigorate the command. Horses were shuffling as they walked, and drained troopers were dropping from their saddles. But they kept moving. At one point their route dipped south, passing through the tiny hamlet of Dillsburg, only 23 miles from Gettysburg. In the stillness of 19^th century rural Pennsylvania the troopers should have been able to hear the dull thunder of hundreds of cannons that were already firing on Cemetery ridge. But perhaps their senses were too dulled by exhaustion to notice.

Late in the afternoon of Tuesday, 1 July, 1863, Stuart's cavalry finally approached the town of Carlisle, only to find it filled with blue clad infantry. They were 2 brigades, a battery of artillery and a 120 man company of cavalry, under command of Colonel William Brisbane. These troops had marched into Carlisle just hours earlier, following Ewel's infantry and Jenkin's cavalry's withdrawal.

Stuart desperately needed the town. The problem was, his men were in no condition to launch an assault. Virginia Lieutenant George Beale wrote his wife that the troopers were “Weak and helpless... we began to consider how we ourselves might escape... Most of us were kept in our saddles to fight till (midnight) - though neither the prospect of a melee, nor the thunder of artillery, nor the bright red glare of a burning town kept me awake that night.” 

The artillery was Stuart's own. After a bluff failed to make Colonel Brisbane surrender, General Stuart threw almost 200 artillery shells into the dark – killing 1 Federal soldier, wounding 12 but doing very little damage. The town's gasworks and a barracks were set ablaze. But to a 15 year old boy in Carlisle , “The term 'damage' might suggest exaggeration.”  There was a pause in the firing, while Stuart tried another bluff. But Colonel Brisbane had already sent for reinforcements, and he was determined to hold out at least until daylight. So the shelling resumed.

Sometime after 3:00am. - now Wednesday, 2 July - one of Stuart's scouts returned with with Lee's orders to concentrate at once on Gettysburg. And at last the 3 most important brigades in the entire Army of Northern Virginia set out to rejoin General Lee.

Stuart would report personally to Lee after midnight, 3 July, 1863. One thing the witnesses all agree is that at their first meeting in over a week, Lee flushed and came very close to striking his cavalry commander. Only after he restrained himself, did General Lee ask, “"General Stuart, where have you been? I have not heard a word from you for days and you are the eyes and ears of my army." When the muddy, exhausted Stuart attempted to defend himself. Lee waived him off. Stuart stammered that he had brought in 125 wagons filled with provisions. Lee responded, “They are an impediment to me now.” And before Stuart could respond to that rebuke, Lee ended the discussion by saying, “We will speak no more of this.” And this being Lee, that ended the matter – for the time being.

Nothing was said publicly about Lee's vague orders of 23 June, or his passive endorsement of Stuart's plan to ride through the Federal army rather than to screen it.  A private in the 4^th Virginia Cavalry noted in his diary, “This makes the fifth night without sleep...Only some 20 men with Company "D" out of 56 who started.” Those men were lost not to combat but to excessive demands placed upon them by their officers. The three brigades did not arrive with the Army of Northern Virginia until well after dawn, on 3 July. Horse artillery gunner Henry Matthews said the all 3 brigades felt a sense of relief “...which words cannot express.” They could not know that by late afternoon Lee and Stuart would be calling on them to meet the Federal cavalry on the open fields outside of Gettysburg, in a clash of sabers that offered the Army of Northern Virginia a lost chance to turn the tide of the war.

But on day 3 of the Battle of Gettysburg, the Federal Cavalry would be outnumbered and out-maneuvered and still fight the exhausted rebel troopers to a stand still.

                                         - 30 -