H. H. Holmes
American con artist and murderer active 1891–1894.
Herman Webster Mudgett was born on May 16, 1861, in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, to Levi Horton Mudgett and Theodate Page Price, both descendants of early English settlers. He was the third of five children, with older siblings Ellen and Arthur, a younger brother Henry, and a younger sister named Mary. His father, a farmer, trader, and house painter, was also a heavy drinker who beat his children. Holmes excelled academically, graduating with honors from Gilmanton Academy at 16. Classmates bullied him for his intelligence; once, they forced him to face a human skeleton, which initially terrified him but later fascinated him, sparking an obsession with death that led him to dissect animals. In 1879, he spent a year at the University of Vermont, then transferred to the University of Michigan’s medical school in 1882, graduating in June 1884 despite mediocre grades. While there, he worked in the anatomy lab, and later admitted to using cadavers to defraud life insurance companies during college. After separating from his first wife in 1884, he moved briefly to Mooers, New York, then worked at Norristown State Hospital in Philadelphia and later at a drugstore. In August 1886, he moved to Chicago, changing his name to Henry Howard Holmes to avoid exposure from previous scams.
Holmes, also known by aliases Alexander Bond, Harry Gordon, J.A. Judson, and Robert E. Phelps, was a con artist and murderer active from 1891 to 1894. By his 1896 execution, his criminal career included insurance fraud, forgery, swindling, three or four bigamous marriages, horse theft, and murder. Dubbed the Beast of Chicago, the Devil in the White City, or the Torture Doctor, he committed his most infamous crimes in Chicago around the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. He was convicted and sentenced to death for murdering Benjamin Pitezel, an accomplice in his cons.
Quick Facts
- Birth Name
- Herman Webster Mudgett
- Birth Date
- 1861-05-16
- Birth Place
- Gilmanton, New Hampshire, U.S.
- Death Date
- 1896-05-07
- Death Place
- Moyamensing Prison, Pennsylvania, U.S.
- Sentence
- Death
- Spouse
- Clara Lovering · July 4, 1878 · Myrta Belknap · 1886 · Minnie Williams · 1893 · Georgiana Yoke · January 17, 1894
- Children
- 2
- Victims
- 9 (confirmed)
- Locations
- Illinois · Indiana · Ontario · Pennsylvania
- Beginyear
- 1891
- Endyear
- 1894 (confirmed) / 1886 – 1894 (suspected)
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Holmes was born in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, the third child of Levi Horton Mudgett and Theodate Page Price. He graduated high school with honors from Gilmanton Academy at age 16. After a year at the University of Vermont, he transferred to the University of Michigan's Department of Medicine and Surgery, graduating in June 1884. While there, he worked in the anatomy lab and later admitted to using cadavers to defraud life insurance companies. After separating from his first wife, he moved briefly to Mooers, New York, then worked at Norristown State Hospital in Philadelphia and later at a drugstore. He then moved to Chicago, where he built a hotel near the World's Columbian Exposition that became known as the 'Murder Castle.' The building was partially demolished and used as a post office from the 1920s onward; a fire occurred but was not definitively proven to be arson.
Reader's Guide
H. H. Holmes remains a figure of enduring fascination, largely due to the sensationalized lore surrounding his so-called 'Murder Castle' and the World's Columbian Exposition. However, much of this lore is considered exaggerated or fabricated by the yellow journalism of the period. Official findings suggest the W. 63rd Street property was used for business, and its irregular architecture was a product of fraud, not violent design. Holmes's own contradictory accounts—initially claiming innocence, later saying he was possessed by Satan—have made it difficult for researchers to ascertain the truth. Author Adam Selzer notes that the murders connectable to Holmes generally had clear motives, such as silencing someone who knew too much, rather than being driven by a psychological urge for bloodshed. Since the 1990s, Holmes has often been called the first serial killer in U.S. history, though this label is debated. His legacy is a cautionary tale about the intersection of crime, media sensationalism, and historical memory.
Did You Know?
- Holmes changed his name from Herman Webster Mudgett to Henry Howard Holmes to avoid exposure by victims of his previous scams.
- He confessed to twenty-seven murders, but some of those people were verifiably still alive.
- The 'Murder Castle' was gutted by a fire started by an unknown arsonist shortly after his arrest, then rebuilt and used as a post office until 1938.
- Holmes claimed to have killed a medical school classmate, Dr. Robert Leacock, in 1886, but Leacock died in 1889 in Ontario, Canada.
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