H. H. Holmes in Irvington
Howard Pitezel: Murdered by Holmes in Irvington in 1894
Indianapolis News, August 1895 - rendering of the cottage Holmes rented in
October 1894
Photograph of the original cottage Holmes
rented in 1894. Photo circa 1895.
Drawing of Pitezel children as it
appeared in Indianapolis News
August 1895
May 7, 2012
FOR SALE! We have put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into the "Holmes cottage," but it's time to move on. The house is officially on the market. Click here for photos and particulars.
June 29, 2011
The great-great-grandson of H.H. Holmes, Jeff Mudgett, has written a book titled Bloodstains. For more information about Jeff and the book, visit his book website here.
The House Wanted Us Here
We purchased our house at 5811 Julian Avenue in Historic Irvington, Indiana in August of 2001. Not long after settling in, we began to experience inexplicable events. Lights flickered. Ink jet printers acted as though they were printing when they were turned off (sometimes both printers would begin "printing" simultaneously). We heard muffled voices and inexplicable sounds in various parts of the house. The first autumn we were here, we woke to a frigid house on several occasions. We found that the heat had been turned off or turned down during the night. But these were minor occurrences, and this was only the beginning. As time went on, things became much worse and more stressful. Kitchen cabinets and drawers would open; beds were made; clothes were folded; an entire drawer full of underwear was dumped; and poltergeist-type activity occurred frequently, especially for Wendi's ears. For a period of time we didn't feel safe in the house. Many people attempted to persuade us to sell. Despite our anxiety, we couldn't fathom selling. The house seemed to have us under its spell.
For a while we thought that perhaps the spirits wanted us to leave. As it turns out, this doesn't seem to be the case at all. In fact, it seems the house and its ghostly tenants wanted us here. The spirits became very upset if we talked about selling, and they turned the house upside down when we experienced a tumultuous period in our personal relationship. When we hired a well-known psychic to clear the house, she offered that the house had lured us here. March 2011: As we approach our tenth year living in the so-called Holmes House, we feel our time here has run its course. Now when we talk about selling, there is no related paranormal activity. The house and its otherwordly inhabitants have quietly released us.
After learning about what local historians believe, we began to conduct our own research. The Indiana State Library assisted us with locating old fire maps of the area and Indianapolis News articles from 1895, the year Howard's remains were found in Irvington. The documentary filmmaker John Borowski H.H. Holmes the Documentary helped us by sharing pictures of the original cottage rented by Holmes. We also used *John Borowski's book The Strange Case of Dr. H.H. Holmes to research the dates Holmes "lived" in Irvington and how Holmes killed Howard Pitezel. Since Mr. Borowski's book is a compilation of three books that includes Holmes' written confession and a book published by Lieutenant Geyer, we feel comfortable with its historical accuracy.
What We Now Know
On October 5, 1894, Holmes rented a cottage on the eastern edge of Irvington, a then-suberb of Indianapolis. His sole purpose in renting the cottage was to kill 10-year old Howard Pitezel. On October 7, Holmes visited an Irvington drugstore to purchase the drugs he needed to kill Howard. According to Holmes' confession, he returned to the drugstore the following evening to purchase an additional supply because he feared he did not obtain a sufficient quantity. On October 8, Holmes visited the repair shop to pick up the long knives he had left there to be sharpened. On October 10 at 6:00 p.m., Howard's trunk and a stove Holmes purchased were delivered to the cottage. Howard was outside at the time. Almost immediately after the delivery, Holmes called Howard into the house and told him to go straight to bed. First, however, he gave Howard the fatal dose of medicine. When he stopped breathing, Holmes cut his body into pieces small enough to fit into the stove. Holmes used gas and corncobs to burn parts of Howard's body. What he did not burn, he buried on and around the property. Holmes later killed Howard's sisters in Toronto.
Our subdivision, known as the Johnson Subdivision, was platted in 1904. In performing a title search, we know that Sylvester Johnson, one of the original founders of Irvington, took a mortgage on our property (Lot 1) for $300 in the same year. However, according to a 1908 fire map, there is still no structure standing on our property. Interestingly, the structure we believe represents the cottage Holmes rented in 1894 is still standing in 1908. Without further fire map research, we are uncertain as to the actual date our Victorian cottage was built. Unless the fire map misrepresents the structures, or lack thereof in 1908, our house was built sometime after that.
Discovering the History
When we purchased the house, it was not disclosed to us that we are a stop on the Irvington Ghost Tour. It wasn't until 2003, two years after purchasing it, that we inadvertently stumbled across this information. But the house/property was not part of the tour because of any known hauntings. Our property is thought to be the site where serial killer H.H. Holmes murdered a little boy by the name of Howard Pitezel in 1894. Holmes represents the devil in the book Devil in the White City . We were surprised to learn about this, and the folks who lead the ghost tours were surprised to find out about our hauntings.
*We met John Borowski over the summer. He came to Indianapolis/Irvington to film us and the house for his H.H.Holmes documentary special edition DVD. Not only is John an incredible independent filmmaker, he is a great guy who has a lot of integrity and respect for his art. We hope you will support him by purchasing a copy of his DVD or book if you are interested in the H.H. Holmes story. (Click on the DVD image or the book image above to be linked to the corresponding web sites.)
This is what we know about the original cottage Holmes rented in 1894: The one-and-a-half-story cottage, likely built sometime in the 1880s, sat at the intersection of Maple and Julian (Maple is now Bolton). According to an 1899 fire map we studied, there was indeed a house, barn and outbuilding sitting at the corner of what was the only Maple and Julian intersection at that time. These are the only north-facing structures on the south side of Julian in 1899. What would later become our property - a few yards to the west - was not even platted at that time. However, because the land surrounding the original cottage was open, and the property lines were somewhat liquid, we feel comfortable agreeing that Holmes was on our property, and he could have buried remains here. We also feel comfortable speculating that Howard Pitezel played on our property from the time Holmes brought him here until the night of his murder.
Many local historians believe our property, Lot 1 in Johnson's Subdivision, is where the original Holmes cottage sat. We believe they are overlooking the fact that there are now two interesections of Bolton and Julian (or Maple and Julian as it used to be known). Our house and property sit at the first intersection as you travel east on Julian. The other intersection is a few yards northeast of us. It is at the latter intersection of Bolton and Julian where we believe the original Holmes cottage sat. (The original Holmes cottage property that spanned the space between the railroad tracks and Julian Avenue was later broken up to accommodate several properties. Good Avenue now runs along the eastern edge of the original property.) **UPDATE January 24, 2008** New research reveals the cottage disappeared between 1908 and 1914. Further research is needed to determine in what year the cottage was demolished or . . . . . moved.
Updates to Web Site
We are in the process of adding more content to our site. We'd like to share some of the experiences we've had while living here. Needless to say, it has been interesting and frustrating at the same time.
We have a few reasons for putting together a web site. One of them is to share our story and our research findings. Another reason we are placing our information on the World Wide Web is to find distant relatives of Howard Pitezel. We also invite anyone who knows any history about our home/property to contact us. We would be very interested in hearing from any of Sylvester Johnson's descendants.
If you have any information you would like to share, or if you have a question or comment, please e-mail us (Pepper Partin and Wendi Garringer ) by clicking here
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Picture of Spirits
I took the picture to the right on October 12, 2006. In submitting an article to local publication Nuvo Newsweekly, they told me their photographer was unavailable and asked that I submit a digital picture of the house. Just prior to sending off the finished piece, I went outdoors and snapped several pictures. After the article was published, a reader e-mailed to ask if we had noticed a person in the upstairs window. We hadn't noticed, but the e-mail gave us chills. If you look closely, you can see what looks like a woman's torso in the window. When the photo is digitally enlarged, we can see several faces peering out - including the face of a little boy. We were definitely spooked by this. In all the years that we'd heard noises and voices and endured the spirits' pranks, we'd never actually seen any apparitions. In looking back through the other photos I took that day, not one includes spirits.
It's interesting to note that just days earlier we had removed the aluminum siding and replaced it with Hardie Plank. The siding had been on the house since the 1950s. We believe the change stirred the spirits. We also believe the woman is one of two benevolent female spirits who reside here. One of them, we are told, keeps the little boy's spirit upstairs. An "evil spirit" haunts the east side of our property near the original cottage Holmes rented. The benevolent spirits keep him at bay. -- Pepper Partin
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Photo Copyright © Pepper Partin and Wendi Garringer. This image should not be reproduced in any medium without express permission.
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Our Canine Kids
All of our pets can sometimes sense others in the house. Scout seems to be most sensitive. On many occasions she watches things we can't see. She'll cock her head from left to right as she tracks movement. It seems as though they're all familiar with these spirits. There's no barking or growling. However, a dog we had when we first moved in seemed to be aware of a presence near Wendi. There were times when the dog would growl at her as though she didn't know her. We were so concerned that we had many blood workups, and the veterinarian suspected lead poisoning. Nothing was found as a cause. Gradually, over time, the growling stopped. We then began to speculate that, since there are spirits here to protect Wendi, one or more of them may have been around her, causing the dog to become upset.
The two cats here will, from time to time, become spooked. One of our mischievous spirits used to pick on them quite a bit. We found one of the cats stuffed in a kitchen towel drawer a few years ago. The poor thing had no room to move. I happened to open the drawer, and she sprang out like a Jack-in-the-Box. (There is absolutely no way she could have gotten into the drawer on her own.)
From left to right: Atticus, Lucy and Scout.
The Allens
The week we moved into the house, Roy Allen and one of his sisters came by. They had grown up in the house. The Allen family purchased the property in 1937 and were here until 1968. We obliged Mr. Allen and his sister by inviting them to come in and walk around. They provided us with a lot of information. For example, their father built the china cabinet in the dining room. Their father also had the aluminum siding put on the house after a major hail storm in the 1950s (the aluminum siding remained on the house when we purchased it in 2001).
Mr. Allen and his sister were so happy to be able to return to their family home, and Mr. Allen promised to send pictures upon his return to Washington State. Indeed he did. A year later we received copies of photos, two of which are to the right.
In researching the title history of the house, we found that the Allens were the only family to stay any length of time. Outside of the period 1937 to 1968, the house and property turned over every three or four years from the time the property was purchased by Sylvester Johnson in 1904.
June 1948. Front of house. Bill Johnston & Harvey Allen. Photo courtesy of Roy Allen.
Circa 1943. Back of house by garage. Roy Allen, Jackie Wellman, Herb White & Harvey Allen. Photo courtesy of Roy Allen.
*UPDATE: January 7, 2008*
We are delighted to report that we have been contacted by members of the Pitezel family. Brenda and Beth Pitezel from Missouri have been been very kind in sharing their family hisory. Brenda and Beth are sisters and Benjamin Pitezel's great granddaughters. Howard Pitezel is their great uncle. Brenda, Beth and the filmmaker John Borowski (see information about John under Discovering the History) are planning to visit in May of this year. We are thrilled about connecting with the Pitezel family and having John here again. Author Troy Taylor may also join us. For more information about Troy Taylor, his extensive body of work and his latest endeavor, which includes information about H.H. Holmes, visit the WhiteChapel Press site.
EVPs
In November 2007, we obliged a local paranormal investigation group, Indy Ghost Hunters, by allowing them to investigate our house and property. We've had many groups in our home in the past and all have captured at least one EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon), but Indy Ghost Hunters captured many more. Read about their findings and listen to the EVPs by clicking on the link to their web site:
This information is here because . . . . . I don't know where else to put it.
*June 18, 2008*
The Biography Channel aired the documentary on H.H. Holmes last night. We thought Jupiter Entertainment did a good job at giving a broad overview of Holmes and his story. There's certainly a lot to cover in an hour. Not the best shots of me. Found out that I was labeled an "H.H. Holmes Enthusiast" for the broadcast. (Missed that when it aired.)
I don't consider myself a Holmes enthusiast. Not sure why they couldn't have referred to me simply as an Irvington resident. - Pepper
