Trespassing at Highfields

Morbid Streak is gradually going to be moving over to my new domain, hannahrtaylor.com.  That's where you can view my latest essay, "Trespassing at Highfields."  Please do not actually trespass at Highfields.  Read it here.

I am waiting to hear back on 3 publications, currently.  Upcoming articles will be on urban legends, skydiving and BASE history, and of course, Lindbergh.  Hopefully I'll have more news for you soon!

The Trial of the Century 6: The NJ State Police Archives

read this post on Reddit /r/UnresolvedMysteries

As I said on Friday, I had the privilege of rooting through the NJSP Archives last week.  It was an enjoyable, though overwhelming, experience.  I wound up leaving with a sheaf of photocopies and a minor headache.  All in a day's work!

The archives are located in the room next to the reception desk at the NJ State Police Museum. The room is filled with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and file cabinets, the vast majority of which are materials related to the Lindbergh case. The archivist handed me a manila folder to start, which contained the preliminary case report, two binders of statements (I photocopied those of the Lindbergh household and immediate reporting policemen), and when I asked, I got a binder of crime scene photographs, as well.

I’m going to start with the photographs, because, well, those are the easiest to share! Also, I haven’t really gone through the statements in detail yet... that's today's project.

So far I haven’t seen anything we didn’t already know, although since the statements were given years before the trial, they’re a bit more detailed, and give us a better idea of the household's immediate reactions to the crime.

So, on to the pictures.

IMGUR ALBUM HERE

Teasers:

Charles Lindbergh's signature

Anne Lindbergh's signature - You'll notice this isn't even in a sheet protector or anything. The papers were as thin as tissue paper, I was having a very quiet mental freakout the entire time I was touching it.

I'm going to list out all the documents I have the full text of right now. If you have questions about something in particular, ask!:

• Major Initial Report - first police report on the case, Cpl. Joseph A. Wolf, 3/1/1932
• Case report, Trooper N. DeGaetano, 3/3/1932
• Statement: Trooper DeGaetano, 3/9/1932
• Statement: Trooper Harry V. Cain, 3/16/1932
• Statement: Trooper Frank A. Kelly, 3/16/1932
• Statement: Trooper Lewis Bornman, 3/9/1932
• Statement: Cpl. Joseph Wolf, 3/15/1932
• Statement: Asst. Chief of Police of Hopewell, Charles E. Williamson, 3/9/1932
• Statement: Betty Gow, 3/10/1932 [nursemaid]
• Statement: Charles A. Lindbergh, 3/20/1932
• Statement: Charles A. Lindbergh, 3/11/1932
• Statement: Olly Whateley, 3/3/1932 [butler]
• Statement: Elsie Mary Whateley, 3/10/1932 [cook/maid]
• Statement: Anne M. Lindbergh, 3/13/1932
• Statement: Violet Sharpe, 3/10/1932
• Transcript of interview of Violet Sharpe, 3/24/1932
• Correspondence from Scotland Yard re: Violet Sharpe

My next post will probably be the Violet Sharpe stuff.

 Look I have a domain name now | Facebook | Twitcher

Guess who has two thumbs and got to visit the NJ State Police archives today?!

This girl!

I had a blast, and it was only moderately overwhelming.

Can't wait to show you more! 

The Trial of the Century 5: The Case Against Hauptmann and Other Tidbits

Tidbits and clarifications. Unless otherwise noted, this comes from Hauptmann’s Ladder by Richard T. Cahill, Jr.

On to it:

1) Origins of the rumors of Little Lindy’s supposed deformities.

The Lindberghs always strived to keep their private lives private - unsuccessfully. They were, understandably, very secretive about their first son, as they believed the constant media exposure wasn’t good for him.

Sadly, this secrecy led to rumors that little Charles was being kept from the public eye because he was deformed and the Lindberghs were embarrassed. Cahill testily notes, “It never occurred to the reporters that they were the real reason for the Lindberghs’ overprotectiveness of their child.”

At one point, the rumors were so out-of-control that Lindbergh called a press conference to address them, specifically denying five newspaper chains from attendance due to their publishing stories claiming his son was deformed. He chided the media for their constant coverage and asked that they back off.

The only “deformity” little Lindy had was overlapping toes on his right foot, which was used in the identification of the corpse. There is absolutely no evidence that there was anything else wrong with the child.

2. Lindbergh’s day before he arrived home.

“Charles spent the day in New York visiting the offices of Pan American Airways, Transcontinental Air Transport, Inc., and the Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research, as well as his dentist.” Cahill cites Kidnap by George Waller here. “Charles had been scheduled to appear at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel as a guest of honor for a dinner held by NYU. Due to a scheduling error, Lindbergh failed to attend the dinner and came home instead. This innocent error has been used by authors of a tabloid-style book to support a theory that Lindbergh actually killed his own son…” referring to Ahlgren and Monier’s Crime of the Century: the Lindbergh Kidnapping Hoax.

It seems that Charles’ day is quite well accounted-for.

3. The ladder

The ladder was actually quite ingeniously constructed. It was made of three pieces, the first two of which folded together on hinges, and the third was separate, to be connected via a wooden dowel pin, which was also left at the scene. The three pieces fit together perfectly (as I showed you in the pictures from the museum yesterday), so that it would fit in the back of a car. It was made of lightweight wood and weighed only 38lbs. The rungs were spaced so that there only exactly as many as were needed to climb the ladder, to make it lightweight. It was designed specifically for a certain person to use. However, the kidnapped underestimated the weight of the baby, and the ladder broke.

4. The kidnapper also left a chisel at the scene, probably to open locked shutters - but he didn’t wind up needing it, since the nursery shutters on the window he used were warped and would not close properly. It was a ¾ inch wood chisel. The same chisel was found missing from Hauptmann’s tools in his garage. While a ¾ inch metal chisel was found, that’s not the same thing - it has a different angle and is used for working with metal.

In total, he left behind the ladder, the wooden dowel to connect the two pieces, and the wood chisel. The thumb guard was left in the driveway of Highfields, probably when he ripped Charles' sleeping-suit off his body. At the scene of the baby's shallow grave, he left behind a burlap sack he had stuffed the baby into (traces of the baby's hair were found in the sack).

5. Hauptmann’s finances - there is no ransom money unaccounted for

From the testimony of William Frank, an investigator with the US Treasury Dept.:

On April 2, 1932, the day the ransom was paid, the Hauptmanns had $4,941.40 in total assets.

On September 19, 1934, the day Bruno Richard Hauptmann was arrested, they had $56,059.65. This includes all expenditures, income, and ransom money hidden in Bruno’s garage.

When you subtract $4,941.40 from that amount, as well as the known income the Hauptmanns received, you have $49,950.44 left unaccounted for - just .56 less than the ransom paid.

While Hauptmann did trade on the stock market, he lost more than he won, and actually lost $5,728.63 during that time period.

No ransom money was spent after Hauptmann was arrested.

6. Hauptmann’s employment records

Edward Morton testified about this, and entered the employment records of Reliance Property Management, the company that handled Majestic’s payroll, into evidence. Hauptmann started working for Majestic Apartments on March 21st - not March 1st, the day of the kidnapping - and finished on April 2, 1932, the day the ransom was paid.

7. Hauptmann’s alibi witnesses

This is a big one I had wanted to find out about.

From The Lindbergh Case by Jim Fisher

Anna claimed that Bruno had arrived at the bakery where she waitressed at 7pm on March 1st, and waited around until she finished her shift at 9:30, then drove back to their apartment. However, on cross, she was reminded that in October 1934, “when Insp. Henry Bruckman of the Bronx had asked her if she could recall what her husband had been doing on March 1, 1932, she said that she couldn’t remember what he was doing on that particular day.” Anna admitted that she had said that. Anna was also forced to admit that she could reach the top shelf of her closet where Bruno said he had placed the shoebox full of money, that she dusted and cleaned it, and had never seen the shoebox there.

The next witness was Elvert Carlstrom, who said he’d been in the bakery at 8:30pm on March 1st and had seen Hauptmann there. On cross, he was asked to describe Hauptmann. He tried to look at Hauptmann, and when his view was blocked, was unable to provide a description.

After a recess, he was asked what else he did that night. The witness eventually plead the 5th. The next day, prosecution returned with information that Carlston was a petty thief, bootlegger, and mentally unstable.

The next witness was another customer at the bakery, Louis Kiss, who said Hauptmann had come in that night accompanied by “a police dog,” which I’m assuming is a German shepherd or something. The Hauptmanns did walk a neighbor’s dog. He said he remembered the day because a week earlier his son had to go to the ER. However, that year had been a leap year so the timing was off. Cross discovered he was a bootlegger and a drunk.

The next witness gave his name as August Van Henke, who said he’d seen Hauptmann at a gas station near the bakery, and spoke with him as Hauptmann had “a police dog” and his dog, who looked similar, was missing. The dog was not his. Cross discovered that the witness went by two other names- August Wunstorf and August Markhenke - and the restaurant he owned was actually a speakeasy. He may also have run a brothel.

The next witness, Lou Harding, said he saw a blue car on March 1st in Trenton, which pulled up and asked for directions to the Lindbergh estate. He said he saw a ladder in the backseat. He said he reported the incident to Princeton police, who took him to Highfields, where he was questioned by two detectives and showed him the ladder which he identified as the one he saw.

On cross, he admitted to serving time in Rahway prison, and had also been convicted of assault and battery, and on another occasion, carnal abuse. He had also served two sentences for drunk-and-disorderly at the Mercer County Workhouse. The detective who he claimed questioned him had never worked on the Lindbergh case. He also couldn’t describe the ladder.

And that was it for Hauptmann’s alibi witnesses.

Bonus Round: Violet Sharp

This information comes from Their Fifteen Minutes by Mark Falzini. I found it very interesting and haven’t seen it mentioned elsewhere.

“According to Emily, Violet Sharp’s sister, Violet told her on a couple of occasions that she had been married years before in London, when she was just 17 years old. She said his name was George Payne. When asked about this after Violet’s suicide he denied it and there was no record of the marriage ever found. Emily said it had only been mentioned ‘in passing’ and their mother, Lucy, first told her of it… Violet allegedly kept the marriage secret from their mother, ‘...until he was supposed to be dead. My mother said, ‘I don’t believe it’ to which Violet retorted, ‘Fine, it didn’t happen then!’’

“The alleged marriage came to light in 1929 when Violet applied for her passport. Her application was delayed because she needed to have letters of recommendation from her previous employers and some of them were addressed to Violet Payne…

“After her suicide, Scotland Yard was asked to investigate the alleged marriage, but they found no record of it at Somerset House in London. They did learn that although Violet said that he had died, George Payne was very much alive and living in London. They paid him a visit at his home…

“...He married Ellen Cone in 1896 and they had one daughter, Winifred Annie who was born shortly thereafter...

“George Payne was a printer’s stock keeper and in early 1927 he met Violet when they both worked for Mr. Pearce-Leigh in Gloucester Square, Paddington. Payne was employed as a butler and Violet as a parlor maid. They worked there for six months, until the Pearce-Leighs moved to a country home.

“George stated that he and Violet were never intimate; at most they went to the movies together. After leaving the Pearce-Leighs employ they never worked together again. Violet would write him and they would meet for walks whenever she got back to London. George set up an address for the letters… because he did not want them going to his home. “

Falzini speculates that Sharpe’s record of mental instability may have exacerbated the extent of the police questioning in her mind, making them seem more intense than they actually were. She did not make things any easier for herself by lying to police (more on this later). He wonders, “Was her close friendship with George Payne just that, a friendship but one magnified and distorted by Violet to the point that she actually believed they had been married? Why would she tell her employers that she was Mrs. Payne instead of Miss Sharp?”

It's that time of year...

I apologize for the lack of updates lately.  Things have been in an upheaval.  I'm in the middle of a chaotic move as well as a change of career, and of course, the holidays came smack dab in the middle of everything!

First of all, exciting news: my article is now up on Listverse!  I'm so glad one of my favorite websites to read is just as pleasant to work with, and I look forward to contributing more to their site.

I had some free time this week, and finally made the trip over to the New Jersey State Police museum to view their Lindbergh exhibit.  For now, you can view an Imgur album here.  I've made arrangements to view the State Police archives shortly.  I also made my way to view the trial transcripts again, and plowed through a ton of research that I'll be sharing with you soon.

Thank you for your patience!  This new year will bring lots of new, exciting research!

Published: 10 Little-Known Facts About the Lindbergh Kidnapping

Read my work on Listverse.com here!

The Trial of the Century 4: Hauptmann Speaks

ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛʟʏ ʀᴇsᴇᴀʀᴄʜɪɴɢ: ɪᴛᴇᴍs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴀʀᴇ ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛʟʏ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ʀᴇsᴇᴀʀᴄʜᴇᴅ ᴍᴀʏ ʙᴇ ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴀs ᴛɪᴍᴇ ɢᴏᴇs ᴏɴ. ᴛʜɪs ɪs ᴛʜᴇ ғᴏᴜʀᴛʜ ᴘᴏsᴛ ɪɴ ᴛʜɪs sᴇʀɪᴇs.

ɴᴏᴛᴇ: ᴛʜɪs ᴛᴇsᴛɪᴍᴏɴʏ ʜᴀs ɴᴏᴛ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴄʜᴇᴄᴋᴇᴅ ᴀɢᴀɪɴsᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍɪᴄʀᴏғɪʟᴍ.

The Testimony of Bruno Richard Hauptmann

Hauptmann (who went by his middle name, Richard), was born on November 26, 1899, in Saxony, Germany.  He went to public school for 8 years, and following his graduation, attended a trade school for 2-3 years.  He studied carpentry and machinery and began working at the age of 14 in his hometown, Kamentz.

He went to fight in the first World War when he was 17 years old, and served for 1¾ yrs,  He testified that he was slightly wounded, or perhaps gassed.  He came out of the army around Christmastime in 1918.

This was a bad time to be in Germany, of course, and Hauptmann was unable to obtain work.  He was convicted of “an offense” (in this part of the testimony, unnamed; we know this to have been a burglary including the use of a ladder) in springtime of 1919, and was later paroled.

Hauptmann first tried to enter the US in the summer of 1923.  He boarded a steamer, but was discovered on the ship and returned to Germany.  He tried again in November of the same year and was successful.

He found work as a dishwasher in New York City and worked for about a month, then became a mechanic, then a dyer, and then as a machinist; finally, he gained work as a carpenter, earning $8 a day.

Hauptmann met Anna Schoeffler in 1924, they moved several times, and he began earning more.  Bruno and Anna married on October 10, 1925.

Anna and Bruno, dubious source.

Hauptmann testified that he has never been to Hopewell in his life, nor had he ever been to Highfields, and so on, and so on.

Hauptmann testifying. 

On March 1st, 1930:

He woke up around 6am and took his wife to the bakery between half past six and a quarter to seven.  He dropped his wife off, put the car in the garage, and went to the White Plains subway station, and took the subway to the Majestic Hotel, where he was to report for work.

Hauptmann went to the carpentry shop and the foreman told him to go see the superintendent.  The superintendent told Hauptmann that he could not start working, since the job was filled up, though Hauptmann claims he had a note from an agency granting him the job.

Hauptmann left his tools at the Majestic and went to the employment agency, trying to get the ten dollars back that he paid to get the position.  He couldn’t get it back and was told to come back tomorrow when there would be other positions open.

He then spent the day going around to various employment agencies and to Radio City trying to get a construction job, and then went home around 5pm.  He picked up Anna around 7pm, walked “the owner’s” police dog (I suppose the owner of their apartment?) and ate dinner at a restaurant.  They left the restaurant after 9pm, Hauptmann drove them home and went straight to bed.

On March 2nd, Hauptmann got up at 6am again and took his wife to her job at the bakery.  He then put the car in the garage and went to the Sixth Ave. subway stop, where he says he purchased a paper and read about the Lindbergh case for the first time.

Hauptmann continues to deny writing the ransom letters, meeting in the cemetery, and so on.  He continued searching for a job from the 1st to the 15th of March while working at a lumber yard near his home.  He gets a new job at the Majestic Apartment on the 15th or 16th of March, though he leaves this job on the 1st, claiming he wasn’t paid what he was promised.  (This is, of course, when the kidnapper received his ransom.)

Finally, the ladder recovered at Lindbergh’s home is brought out.  When asked if he built the ladder, Hauptmann first replies, “I am a carpenter.”  Laughter filled the courtroom.  Hauptmann was not taught English at school, and his testimony occasionally reflects his difficulty with the language.

  The question is asked again, and Hauptmann replies, “Certainly not.”

He is asked to come down from the witness stand and look at the ladder, and upon doing so, says “Looks like a music instrument.”

“Does it look like a well-made ladder?”

“To me it looks like a ladder at all, I don’t know how a man can step up.”   Your guess is as good as mine as to what Hauptmann means there; he apparently did not feel it was well-made.

Hauptmann denies transporting the ladder in his car.

~~~~~~~~~

I have been busy the past few weekends and have been unable to make it to the library to further check the microfilm.  I have located copies of the trial transcripts and FBI files online and will be ordering those, which should hopefully make this research go faster.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next up: The Notes

The Trial of the Century 3: March 1, 1932

ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʜɪʀᴅ ᴘᴏsᴛ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪɴᴅʙᴇʀɢʜ ᴛʀɪᴀʟ sᴇʀɪᴇs.

ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛʟʏ ʀᴇsᴇᴀʀᴄʜɪɴɢ: ɪᴛᴇᴍs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴀʀᴇ ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛʟʏ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ʀᴇsᴇᴀʀᴄʜᴇᴅ ᴍᴀʏ ʙᴇ ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴀs ᴛɪᴍᴇ ɢᴏᴇs ᴏɴ.

Where were you on the evening of
March 1st, 1932?

Source.

On March 1, 1932, the Lindbergh household contained: 

Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh Sr.

Mrs. Anne Morrow Lindbergh, his wife

Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., their son
Mr. Oliver Whately, manservant
Mrs. Elsie Whately, housekeeper/cook
Miss Betty Gow, nursemaid

Testimony of Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Anne Lindbergh arriving at court.
  Leslie Jones Photography.

Anne spent the day at home in Hunterdon with the baby. She had taken a walk in the afternoon, after which, upon returning, she threw a pebble up to the baby’s window, and Betty Gow held the baby up to wave hello to his mother.

At approximately 6:15pm, Anne was in the baby’s room while he had his dinner at a maple table towards the center of the room. She stayed in the nursery until the baby was put to bed. He was given medicine and rubbed with Vick’s Vapo-rub for a slight cold he’d had the past few days, dressed, and put in bed at around 7:30pm.

The baby was wearing a homemade shirt Miss Gow had made for him out of a flannel petticoat, on top of that a larger sleeveless shirt, and on top of that a wool “sleeping suit.” The baby may have had on a "thumb guard," used at the time to prevent infants from sucking their thumb. Anne could not remember specifically if he was wearing it that night.

An example of a thumb guard.

Col. Lindbergh was not home yet, at 7:30pm, when Anne left the nursery. She sat at a desk in the living room; what she was doing at the desk is not mentioned. She was there until approximately 8:25pm, when she heard Charles honk the horn of his car. He came inside and they had dinner, finishing at around 9pm, then sat in the living room by the fire shortly. The couple went upstairs to their bedroom and talked for around 15 or 20 minutes. Charles drew a bath and bathed and then went down to the library while Anne got ready for bed.

Anne rang for Mrs. Wheatley and asked her to bring a “hot lemonade” - she’d caught the cold from the baby, and this drink was just hot water with some lemons in it. After Mrs. Wheatley left to fix Anne’s drink, Miss Gow ran into Anne’s room asking if Anne had the baby. Anne sent her downstairs to speak to Charles and went into the baby’s room shortly after 10pm. She found the room empty, and went back to her bedroom, where she met Charles and Miss Gow. Charles got a rifle from the closet and they returned to the baby’s room and searched it. Anne then retreated to her bedroom with Mrs. Wheatley and got dressed and returned to search the house.

Anne was not subjected to a cross-examination.

Testimony of Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr.

Lindbergh on the witness stand in the Flemington Courthouse.
Wikipedia.

On March 1st, Charles had spent the day in New York, and arrived home at around 8:25pm. After parking, he joined his wife in the dining room, had dinner, and finished dinner at around 9pm. They left to the living room, where they sat on a sofa and talked for 10-15min.

Q.: Well, some time during that night did you hear some sort of a noise or a crash? 

A.: Yes, I did. 

Q.: About what time was it and where were you? 

A.: Sitting on the softa in the livign room during the ten or fiteen minutes after we had come into the livign room from the dining room.  At that time I haered a sound which seemd to me, at the time, the impression that entered my mind at the time vaguely was that it was like the top of -- well, say, an orange box, the top slats of an orange box falling off a chair, which I assumed to be in the kitchen. 

Q.: That is, sort of like the falling of a crate, a wooden crate? 

A.: The slats of a crate. 

Q.: At any rate, what you felt was happening was that some pieces of wood, like the slats of a crate, had fallen in the kitchen? 

A.: That is correct.  I did not pay very much attention to it at the time, but enough to remark to my wife the words, "What is that?"  

Q.: Except for that, it went unnoticed? 

A.: Yes. 

Q.: About what time was that? 

A.: That would be about 9:10 or 9:15. 

Q.: Was it the sort of a noise that would come with the falling of a ladder? 

A.: Yes, it was, if the ladder was outside. 

The couple then went upstairs to the bedroom, where they continued their conversation. He took a bath, then left down to the library where he read for a bit.

The writing-desk where Lindbergh sat in the library was apparently underneath the window of the nursery, but Charles did not see anything (as far as the darkness would permit, during the time he was in the library).

Around 10pm, Miss Gow came to Lindbergh and asked “rather excitedly” if he had the baby. He did not, and ran up to the nursery to check:

as I entered the room, of course I at first and immediately looked at the crib. The bed clothing in the crib was in such condition that I felt it was impossible for the baby to have gotten out himself. I knew that neither my wife nor Miss Gow had taken him because Miss Gow had asked me if I had him and my wife was upstairs. The clothing was standing – the bed clothing was standing stiffly enough so that the opening where the baby had been was still there, the clothing had not collapsed.

At first glance Lindbergh did not notice the note; his attention was on the crib, and it was not until he returned to the room about 5 minutes later did he see it, "unopened" on the window sill. The window was closed; "The note was in an envelope on top of the grating which forms the window sill and through which heat comes from the radiator."

Lindbergh then got his Springfield rifle and told his manservant Mr. Wheatley to call the sheriff. As soon as he determined that the call had got through (he feared the lines may be cut), he called the NJ State Police and a friend and attorney, Colonel Beckenridge. He then went outside to look around.

At this point police arrived, and with their flashlights, soon discovered the ladder underneath the nursery window. They found the footprints and marks of the ladder underneath the nursery window. The note was not opened or touched until police arrived with proper equipment (i.e. to take fingerprints).

At this point it was nearing daybreak (I presume) and mention is made of several hundred of the press showing up, and there was considerable confusion due to all the press walking around.

Testimony of Bessie Mowat Gow

Betty (listed in court documents as "Bessie") pushes baby Charles in a stroller.
Screencap from movie footage, Corbis

Bessie usually stayed at Englewood while the Lindberghs went to Hopewell on the weekends. She was called at 11am on March 1st to help Mrs. Lindbergh, and arrived at Highfields at around 1pm.

Her testimony is lively and full of character, so I'll allow her to speak to you in her own words:

Betty Gow enters the Flemington Courthouse before testifying.

Historic Images, Ebay.

About quarter of six, I should say, the baby came running into the kitchen, ran around the table several times and spoke to Elsie. I took his hand then, took him upstairs for supper. I left him in his room for, oh, one minute, not as long as it took me to get his cereal from the kitchen. Came upstairs again; gave him his supper. He hadn't quite finished when Mrs. Lindbergh came into the nursery and she stayed with me while we got the baby ready for bed. We undressed him and just as he was about ready for bed I decided to give him some physic. In taking this he spilt some over his nightclothes.

...I undressed him again and decided that I would have time to make him a proper little flannel shirt to put on next his skin. I didn't have enough sewing materials there, so I asked Mrs. Lindbergh while I went out of the room to get some from Mrs. Whately, who I thought would have some. Went down to the kitchen where she gave me scissors, and said she would look for thread and bring it to me. I went back up to the nursery. Mrs. Lindbergh played with the baby while I cut this little shirt out. Mrs. Whately came into the room with the thread and I stitched it up very hurriedly and put it on the baby after having rubbed him with Vicks.

In addition to this, the baby wore diapers and some sort of rubber pants on top, a sleeping suit, and a thumb guard on each hand.

After the baby was finally ready for bed, Betty Gow testified,

I put him in his bed, Mrs. Lindbergh and I went around the windows, closed the shutters, we closed all the shutters tight except the one at the window, the southeast window; this one we couldn't quite close, it had evidently warped, so we closed it as best we could and left it that way.

The shutter was drawn against the window but unlocked.

Miss Gow left the room once at a half-past seven, but returned, and apparently at this time she pinned up the baby's bedclothes. This was the proper way to put the baby to bed at the time, as it would keep him warm and keep him from kicking off his blankets in the night. Miss Gow finally left the baby's room at 8pm exactly - she recalls looking at her watch.

She proceeded to the West Wing and had dinner with the Wheatleys. At around half past eight they heard Mr. Lindbergh’s car come in, and she spoke with him briefly as he made his way through the kitchen about how his son was doing. She stayed in the dining room for about a half hour and was with Mrs. Whately the entire time, and Mr. Whately came and went some.

She finally left the downstairs at around 9pm, during this time the dog had been with Miss Gow in the sitting room. Miss Gow and Mrs. Whately went upstairs to look at a new dress together. Miss Gow glanced at her watch and realized it was nearly 10pm and went to check on the baby:

I didn't put any light up but let the door of the room open so that the light from the hall would come in. I crossed to the French window and closed it, plugged in the electric heater and stood for about one minute waiting for the room to lose its chill. I then crossed to the cot and bent over with my hands on the rail and discovered I couldn't hear the baby breathe. I bent down, felt all over him and discovered he wasn't there. I thought that Mrs. Lindbergh may have him. I went out of the baby's room into the hallway and into Mrs. Lindbergh's room. I met her or saw her coming out of the bathroom and asked her if she had the baby. She looked surprised and said no, she didn't. I said, "Well, where is the Colonel, he may have him."

I said, "Where is he?"

She said, "Downstairs in the library."

I turned quickly and ran downstairs to the library where I saw the Colonel sitting at his desk reading. I said, "Colonel, do you have the baby?"

He said, "No. Isn't he in his crib?"

I said, "No."

He ran past me upstairs and into the baby's room. I followed him and from there entered Mrs. Lindbergh's room. He didn't say anything. He ran into his closet, came out again with a rifle and all three of us went into the baby's room. He said, "Anne, they have stolen our baby."

Mr. Lindbergh sent Betty Gow downstairs to fetch Mr. Whately, who went up to the Colonel, then the two went downstairs to phone for help while the three women proceeded to search the house high and low for the baby. Betty recalled seeing Lindbergh run outside with his rifle.

After the officers arrived, Anne, Miss Gow and Mrs. Whately sat in the sitting room in silence, until Mrs. Lindbergh’s friends arrived. This was Mrs. Breckenridge, as well as some other of Mrs. Lindbergh's friends from New York; they arrived in about an hour.

Miss Gow was summoned back into the nursery "to secure a knife" (this isn't fully explained, but it sounds like to open the envelope with), where she noticed a smudge of “a brownish muddy color” on the child’s bedclothes. Apart from the envelope on the windowsill, she did not notice anything else amiss in the child's room.

Another mention of the media circus is made, and then, about a month after the kidnapping, Miss Gow recovered the child’s thumb guard.

I believe it was May 12th – Oh, no, it was not – about one month after the baby was stolen. 

Q.: That would be somewhere in the neighborhood of April the first? 

A.: It would be. 

Q.: And would you tell us about it, please, how you happened to find it? 

A.: It would be in the afternoon after lunch, Mrs. Whately and I were in the habit of taking walks down the driveway. 

Q. On the premises? 

A. On the premises. We walked down to the gate where the police were stationed, talked to them for a little while and on the way back I should say about one hundred yards from the gate we both noticed this object on the road. I recognized it immediately and picked it up. 

Q.: Who picked it up? 

A.: I did; went right up to the house, found Colonel Lindbergh, and gave it to him, and told him how I had found it. 

Q. Was it then in the same condition as it is today in this courtroom? 

A.: Exactly the same condition. 

Q.: Still knotted? 

A. Still knotted.

Betty Gow leaves court after a grueling cross-examination.  

The breathless caption to this photo claims she collapsed after it was taken.

Historic Images, Ebay.

Testimony of Elsie Whateley

Elsie's testimony sort of ties it all together, so I will let her speak to us in our own words as well. 

Elsie Whateley and Betty Gow in court.
Dubious source; images of Mrs. Whateley are difficult to come by.

Well, in the afternoon, if you want to know, I went up into the nursery about four o'clock and we played with the baby and Mrs. Lindbergh came up and we all played with the baby.  ABout 4:30 I went downstairs and got some tea.  Mrs. Lindbergh came down and then Betty came down and brought the baby.  The baby went in to Mrs. Lindbergh and stayed with her while we had our tea in the sitting room.  Then the baby came in the kitchen and said, "Hello Elsie," and I talked to him and played with him and Betty came in and took him upstairs and that is the last I saw of him. 

Q.: What did the baby call you?  

A.: Elsie. 

Q.: That is your name? 

A.: Yes. 

Q.: Now, was the child a playful child?   

A.: Yes, lovely. 

Q.: Normal?  

A.: Yes. 

Q.: Ordinarily healthy except for slight cold? 

A.: Yes. 

Mr. Reilly: Oh, I object to this.  That has already been testified to by the father and the mother; it is only a repetition.  

The Court: You make no question about the health of the child? 

Mr. Reilly: It is leading and it is merely suggestive and sympathetic.  

Mr. Wilents: If counsel makes no question about it I shall be delighted to refrain from asking about it.

But Charles Jr. did have a slight cold.

Well, when Bety came down as near as I can tell you it was about a quarter of eight and the Colonel hadn't come; so my husband said that he woudl have his supper first and get it over befopre the Colonel came.  So he went in and he had supper while I was preparign theirs... Then I came out and Betty and I decided to have our supper.  While we were eating the Colonel came and I got up to attend to them and the Colonel- 

Q.: About what time was that, Mrs. Whateley? 

A.: Twenty minutes past eight.  The Colonel came in and he went through to Mrs. Lindbergh.  ABout five minutes afterwards they came down and they came into the kitchen and they stood talking to my husband and myself a few minutes. 

Q.: The Colonel and Mrs. Lindbergh? 

A.: Yes. 

Q.: Came in to the kitchen to talk to your husband? 

A.: Just to speak to us just for a little while.  Then they went in and had dinner.  We served the dinner, and Betty was still in our sitting room, she was reading; and then we cleared things up, about nine o'clock Betty and I went upstairs; I wanted to show her something. 

Q.: What was it you wanted to show her? 

A.: Well, I had bought a costume and I wanted her to see it. 

Q.: A dress, you mean? 

A.: Yes. [This was for a masquerade of some kind.] 

Q.: And you went up to your room then? 

A.: Yes.  And Mr. Whateley went into our sitting room; he said he would read and then he went in there and he sat reading.  We stayed in my room, and we had been there a long time, and Betty looked at her watch and she said, "It's ten o'clock, I must go to the baby." 

....Q.: So... you were with Miss Gow pretty nearly every minute from about a quarter to eight, when she came down from the nursery? 

A.: I was. 

Q.: Until about ten o'clock when she said she was going back to the baby's room? 

A.: Yes, sir. 

Q.: Except for very short intervals, your husband was in your presence?  

A.: Yes, he was.   

During the time between the recovery of the corpse and the trial, 

Miss Gow (L) and Mrs. Whateley (R) returned to Scotland and England, respectively.

We see them here returning to the US to testify,

heavily guarded, on the SS Aquitania.Historic Images, Ebay.  

....Q.: Now, about ten o'clock when Miss Gow left you, did you leave the room too? 

A.: Yes, I went along to Mrs. Lindbergh's room. 

Q.: What happened there? 

A.: Well, I spoke to her.  Do you want me to tell you what happened? 

Q.: Yes, please. 

A; Well, she had a slight cold and she asked me if I would get her some lemon water and take it up to her.  So I came out of the bedroom and, as I came out, I met Betty and she asked me if Mrs. Lindbergh was in there and I said yes. 

And she said, "I wonder if she wants to see the baby.   I am just going in."   

And I said, "Well," I said, "if she wants to, she is going through the other way, because she has gone through that door."  

So I went downstairs and Betty went back into the baby's nursery.  And I went downstairs and I told Mr. Whateley what I was going to do.  And he got up and he put the kettle on, and I got a lemon out... and just as I was cutting the lemon through, Betty came down... and asked Mr. Whateley if he would go up to Colonel Lindbergh, he wanted him, as the baby had gone. 

Q.: What is that?  I don't understand you.  [Remember, the courtroom was very loud.] 

A.: Betty came down and she asked Mr. Whateley if he would go up to the Colonel, as thet baby had gone and he wanted him.  So he went upstairs and I asked Betty what she meant, and she said, "Why, Elsie, the baby is gone."   

And I left her and went up and saw Colonel Lindbergh and my husband standing at the top of the stairs, and I said to the Colonel, "Where is Mrs. Lindbergh?"  

And he said, "In there," he pointed ot the baby's nursery.  And I went in and she was standing by the crib, and I stood by her.  

Q.: When Betty Gow said to you the baby was gone, in what tone of voice or manner of voice was it that she indicated it to you? 

A.: Well, she was terribly upset, of course. 

The Court: What was that? I didn't understand. 

Q.: Terribly what? 

A.: I say she was terribly upset. 

Q.: Then of course - By the way, you came down finally, I suppose, all of you.  What did the women of the household do thereafter? 

A.: Well, Mrs. Lindbergh and I went into her room and I asked her to get dressed and I helped her to dress, and then Mrs. Lindbergh and I started to search the house and the Colonel and my husband went outside and searched around there.  Then finally we came down and went into the living room and sat there... we didn't do anything, we simply sat.... 

Q.: Did you talk? 

A.: Not much. 

Q.: Quite silent? 

A.: Yes. 

Q.: Tell us something about it, you see you were there, you will have to help us.  

A.: Well, she didn't say anything in the living room.  As I was going around with her, she said, "Oh, God."  

The Whateleys and Miss Gow retired at around 4am, but Mrs. Lindbergh stayed up all night.

Q.: ...by the way, some mention or reference was made to a dog in the house.  Was there a dog in the house that night? 

A.: Yes, there was. 

Q.: What sort of a dog was it? 

A.: A terrier, an English terrier. 

Q.: An English terrier.  Was he a barking dog or a quiet dog? 

A.: Well, I always thought he was sharp, if he heard a noise, he would bark, as a rule, but the wind was so bad that night you couldn't hear anything. 

Mr. Reilly: I move to strike that out.  It is calling for her conclusion. 

The Court: The answer seems not to be responsive. Mr. Wilents may reframe his question. 

Q (Mr. Wilents).: Did the dog bark that night between the hours of 7:30 and 10 o'clock? 

A.: No, he did not. 

Q.: What was the condition of the weather? 

A.: It was very, very windy. 

Q.: Was it so windy that you could hear the wind? 

A.: Yes, you could. 

Q.: Do you know in what room the dog was during those hours between half past seven and ten o'clock? 

A.: Yes, he was in our sitting room in his basket. 

Q.: When you are talking about your sitting room, you are still referring to the dining room adjoining the kitchen? 

A.: I am, yes. 

Q.: And downstairs? 

A.: Yes, sir. 

Q.: That is, the nursery being upstairs? 

A.: Yes. 

...Q.: I think Colonel Lindbergh told us, Madam, that your husband died in May, 1933? 

A.: Yes. 

Q.: What was the cause of his death, if you know? 

A.: It was peritonitis.

Betty Gow, left, and Oliver Whateley, the Lindbergh's butler.

Fine Art America.

Morbid Mailbag: your stories about Lindbergh and Hauptmann

Since starting my research into the Lindbergh trial, I've gotten some fascinating messages.  This is very much a hometown story for me, and that's true for many people from Flemington!

Here are a couple tales for you...


A reply on my first Reddit thread:

Friday, October 16, 2015

I also grew up in NJ and went to college nearby where this occurred. I have always been infatuated with this case. My freshmen year of college, in my speech class, I presented my speech on this case.

After class, an acquaintance of mine approached me and said I should come see somersetting in her room. She showed me a photograph of a man and a letter from the state of NJ. Her great-grandfather was the truck driver that found the baby. She also shared with me that her great-grandfather knew that the baby that was found was NOT the Lindbergh baby. The story she told me is that the police kept repeating to him, "This is the Lindbergh baby, do you understand that?" But that the baby was actually a child from the nearby orphanage that they used as a decoy to make it seem as though the baby had been killed. He overheard that the baby was sent away to another family.

Heart's thoughts:

 Sadly, Lindbergh opted for cremation, so tales like these can never be put to rest. The body was badly decomposed and partly eaten by animals, though, so I doubt the truck driver or assistant would have been able to make an identification.  You can find images of the corpse online (I will refrain from posting one here at the moment).  The face was slightly recognizable, and the corpse was identified based on the undershirt hand-sewn by Bessie Gow and an overlapping toe.



Message from my "Submit a case" page:

October 26, 2015

So I saw your post on the Lindbergh Trial on Reddit. I haven't ever felt comfortable sharing this, so here goes, I guess. I've been doing genealogy for the past few years. I was compiling stories and such, and my grandmother asks me if I know about the Lindbergh baby. I'm like, of course I do.

She says, "Do you know Bruno was innocent?"

Of course I was interested in what she had to say.

My grandfather's mother's father worked with Bruno. He worked with Bruno as a carpenter and a house painter. My great-great-grandfather and Bruno put the ladder together from the slats or flooring in Bruno's attic in order to paint Highfields, since the Lindberghs hadn't been there for some time and they requested the house to have a fresh coat of paint.

By my grandmother's story, Bruno couldn't have kidnapped the baby due to the fact he had an alibi. He was with my great-great-grandfather's parents; I don't know if it was one or both. But he had an alibi and couldn't have done it. My great-great-grandfather was kind of confused why the police didn't contact him, as it was known that they were working on the house. And I have never have seen his name mentioned, ever. 

Heart's response:

That is fascinating.  I've yet to go through Bruno's testimony, but I'll be sure to check that out.  At the time of the kidnapping (this is based on part of the testimony that are available on Murderpedia) Hauptmann had been looking for work, and was supposed to work at a hotel that day but was told he wasn't needed.  So he claims he was going around New York looking for work all day.  His alibi for the time of the kidnapping was having dinner with his wife at a restaurant, so I need to see if there were any witnesses to attest to that (or if there weren't, why weren't any questioned? and so on).

Hauptmann did claim that he never made a ladder, didn't make that ladder, and didn't even sketch a ladder (there was a sketch found in his notebooks).  So I'm kind of skeptical, because if he had a legitimate reason for making that ladder, why not own up to it?  I can see him denying it if he didn't have a lawyer, but being that he did the lawyer must have pressed him like "if you can explain your way out of this, it'll save your life."

So I'm skeptical, but eager to compare this to his testimony!

Anonymous' response:

That is interesting. Their last name is [redacted]. They were from Mercer County, New Jersey. My grandmother says they weren't questioned at all which I don't quite understand.  [Great-great-grandfather] was a carpenter as well as a painter. It might have not been Bruno's, so why did he have it if it was made by [great-great-grandfather]? And deny working on the house. Did he copy it?

They could have pressed him like that and he got defensive and decided to lie, because either way he was going to look guilty like if he told the "truth."  For example,"Well you were working with someone who made the ladder --  how do we know you didn't use it to break in?"

I honestly feel like my grandfather's grandparents knew a lot more then they let on. They were adamant about the eugenics theory [i.e., that Lindbergh had his son killed because he had some sort of a disability]. Well, why? What did they know? They didn't live far from where the Lindberghs' home was. I was told they have a lot secrets or skeletons in the closet considering this it makes them all the more cryptic/ominous.

I don't like that they didn't cross-examine Mrs.Lindbergh.  That leaves so much open. It'd be nice to be able to bring everyone involved back from the dead for one afternoon and just ask, you know, since the dead can't go to prison. Haha!

Do you have a personal tale to tell about the Lindbergh case?  

Or any case, for that matter?  Let's chat!

The Trial of the Century 2: Charles and Anne

ᴛʜᴇ sᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ᴘᴏsᴛ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪɴᴅʙᴇʀɢʜ ᴛʀɪᴀʟ sᴇʀɪᴇs.

ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛʟʏ ʀᴇsᴇᴀʀᴄʜɪɴɢ: ɪᴛᴇᴍs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴀʀᴇ ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛʟʏ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ʀᴇsᴇᴀʀᴄʜᴇᴅ ᴍᴀʏ ʙᴇ ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴀs ᴛɪᴍᴇ ɢᴏᴇs ᴏɴ. ᴛʜɪs ɪs ᴛʜᴇ sᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ᴘᴏsᴛ ᴏɴ ᴛʜɪs ᴄᴀsᴇ.

When you’re a kid, you love to hate your hometown.  As I’ve grown up, I realized how much I missed being at home.  

I live in a part of New Jersey where suburban touches on rural.  Yes, I’m a two-minute drive from a strip mall, but I’m also a two-minute drive from gorgeous fields of corn and grain, or a dairy farm, or thick, deciduous woods.

Yes, this is really New Jersey. Photo © Heart 2015.

It's a small town, so it's easy to diss us. Yet Flemington clings to its label as "historic." That's not unusual for small towns, of course - but unlike most, Flemington actually has legitimacy to this claim.

You see, there was a time when Flemington was the full to the brim with press and tabloid reporters, clamboring over each other for the grasp at the biggest story in the nation. Police were sent out in droves to herd screaming crowds turning out to see the biggest celebrity in the world in court. They sat on each other's shoulders to peek in the courtroom windows and camped outside the courthouse for hours on end. Their chants were so loud that the judge had to stop the proceedings and call a recess for police to calm the tides of spectators, since the witness testimony couldn't be heard by the jury. The inns were bursting with visitors, the streets were clogged, and the town was in pandemonium. There was a time when Flemington held the Trial of the Century.

Source

The year was 1932...

And America was sinking deep into an economic depression following the stock market crash of 1929.  Employment was hard to come by in the States, and even more so in Europe, which was recovering from the end of World War One.  Germany was having a particularly rough time, with unemployment rates nearing 30%. 

Yet it was still an exciting time.  The Model T Ford had been around for only 24 years, and the Wright Brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk had taken place just 29 years ago.  The new technology of motorized travel captured the imagination of the young son of a Congressman, Charles A. Lindbergh.

Lucky Lindy

Lindbergh briefly pursued an engineering degree at University of Wisconsin, but dropped out in his sophomore year and enrolled in flight school instead, flying for the first time ever on April 9, 1922.

 Lindbergh, left, circa 1922

After gaining some civilian flight experience and making his way across the country barnstorming, wing-walking, and parachuting, Lindbergh was ordered to report for a year of military flight training with the US Army Air Service in 1924.  Not currently needing pilots, however, he returned to civilian flight after this year was over.  Lindbergh remained a reserve pilot and joined the Missouri National Guard, where he was shortly promoted to 1st Lieutenant.

Lindbergh became a Contract Air Mail pilot in 1925, and in 1927, rocketed to worldwide fame when he received the Orteig Prize.  First offered in 1919, the Prize was to be rewarded to the first allied aviator (or aviators) who flew nonstop from New York City to Paris.  At this point in time, Lindbergh was a relatively unknown pilot, and six well-known aviators had already lost their lives in pursuit of the Orteig Prize.  

On Friday, May 20, 1932, Lindbergh took off in his plane, The Spirit of St. Louis, from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York, surrounded by a crowd of spectators...

...and, after 33.5 hours of flying, Lindbergh arrived safely at Le Bouget in Paris, France...

...surrounded by a cheering crowd of 150,000 spectators, who dragged him out of the plane and carried him around on their shoulders for a half hour before his team "rescued" him.

I can't make this stuff up.

Following this, "Lucky Lindy" was, as I said, a world-wide celebrity and aviation hero.  He arrived home in America and was thrown a ticker-tape parade through the streets of New York.  Back when a ticker-tape parade was, seriously, a ticker-tape parade:

Guys?  Somebody has to clean that up.

...Guys?

The point is, Lindbergh was now A Big Deal.  The Biggest Deal.  This was the 1930s, and there wasn't much to be happy about, and Lindbergh was not just a national hero - he was the biggest celebrity in the world.

Lindbergh receiving the Orteig Prize.

Anne Morrow

portrait of Anne from the cover of McCall's, March 1937

Quiet, reserved Anne Morrow was the daughter of an intelligent, ambitious couple: Dwight Morrow, a partner in J.P. Morgan who then became the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, and the poet and teacher Elizabeth Cutter, who became acting president of Smith College.  The couple fostered these values in their four children, and Anne soon became a blossoming writer herself.  Anne attended Smith College herself, eventually graduating in 1928.  

In December of 1927, Lindbergh accepted an offer from Dwight Morrow to accompany him on a trip to Mexico.  Lindbergh, of course, flew himself, and was greeted by a screaming crowd of 150,000 people in Mexico City.

There, Lindbergh met his future wife, and was drawn to her quiet and contemplative nature.  He wrote in his autobiography, 

I had always taken for granted that someday I would marry and have a family of my own, but I had not thought much about it. In fact, I had never been enough interested in any girl to ask her to go on a date.

Anne wrote of her relationship with Lindbergh,

The man I was to marry believed in me and what I could do, and consequently I found I could do more than I realized.

Charles taught Anne to fly, and she became the first woman to receive a glider pilot's license in 1930. She would become his companion and co-pilot on his trips around the world.

  

Anne and Charles preparing to leave Roosevelt Field, 1929.  NYT

The two wed in a surprise ceremony at the Morrow residence in Englewood.

Oxnard Press-Courier, May 27, 1929

Highfields

The Lindberghs spent much time trying to avoid the spotlight of their celebrity.  After their surprise wedding, they managed to keep the location of their honeymoon secret, despite the best efforts of paparazzi to find them.  They wanted to make their home secluded as well.

...with the birth of their first son a year later, [the Lindberghs] began their search for a place away from the glare of public attention and the confines of the Morrow estate in Englewood, New Jersey to raise a family. The site later known as "Highfields" was to be the Lindbergh first permanent home. In Autobiography of Values, Lindbergh noted that he and his wife found the site of their future home on the Sourland Mountain near Hopewell after an extensive aerial and ground search for a secluded spot within commuting distance by air and car of New York. According to Lindbergh, the rural site had many things to recommend it: cheap land, stone for building, seclusion, sweeping views, and abandoned fields "long enough to make an airplane landing strip...I would be able to taxi right into a small hangar that I planned to have constructed next to our garage."  National Register of Historic Places (PDF). 

Highfields from the air.  Source, kevkon on ProBoards

Highfields today.

Sources

Biography of Charles - Wikipedia.  Images - various; due to the age, I'm ruling these too difficult to cite properly, they're all over the place.

Biography of Anne --   The second picture is from Pintrest.  Anne's Wikipedia, and PBS. 

Up Next:  March 1, 1932