Minnie R. Holmes (Williams)

Minnie was one of probably dozens of murder victims at the hands of her notorious psychopath serial killer husband, best known under his alias in Chicago as Dr. H. H. Holmes.

In 1888, Holmes bought a vacant lot on the corner of 63rd and Wallace in the later-annexed suburb of Englewood, on the South Side of Chicago. There he began to build a "hotel" which took up the whole block. Holmes later named his building the World's Fair Hotel, in his bid to capitalize on and exploit travellers to the nearby upcoming 1893 Chicago Exposiition. Holmes' massive and unconventional building became known to the neighborhood as "The Castle."

In the early 1890s, on a visit to Boston, Holmes met Minnie R. Williams, a wealthy but rather plain young woman. She was flattered by Holmes' attentions, and he was no doubt scheming after her wealth, since he had always otherwise involved himself with quite attractive women. Holmes, being a classic psychopath, was skiiled at manipulation of people around him, and his superficial charm would often win over whatever initial skepticism he faced, once people were drawin into his presence.

Minnie and her younger sister Anna Williams had been orphaned while young, and they were raised by various uncles in ther home state of Mississippi. Minnie was under the recent guardianship of Rev. Dr. W. C. Black, who then had sent her to Boston for schooling. Her sister Anna became a school teacher in Midlothian, Texas. It was apparently the connection to the wealth of Rev. Black that Holmes sought through this Boston relationship with Minnie.

In early 1893, Minnie followed Holmes to Chicago, and it is known through Minnie's letters that they became engaged that April. They quickly married soon after, when Holmes convinced Minnie to have a small ceremony, with no family members, and only a preacher present. But Holmes was still legally married to both of his prior wives, Clara and Mryta. There is no record of this marriage to Minnie in the Cook County registers, but it probably occurred in late April or early May.

Minnie had always known Holmes in Boston by his alias of "Henry Gordon." He informed her that for "business reasons" people in Chicago all knew him by an alias of H. H. Holmes, and that she should not show surprise when she was presented by the Holmes name in his affairs. And that she should not reveal his "true" name of Henry Gordon to anybody in Chicago as well.

After a short time of living with Minnie in The Castle on the South Side, Holmes found her presence there to be too close to his nefarious activities there, which were likely ramping up due to the upcoming opening of the Fair. So on June 1, 1893, Holmes and Minnie moved all the way across town, to the North Side, where they took a flat at 1220 Wrightwood Ave. Minnie remained in residence there, while Holmes conducted daily operations across town at The Castle.

Minnie had written to her sister Anna in Texas, and Anna soon joined the couple at the Wrightwood flat. During that month, they attended the newly opened Fair. On July 5, 1893, under the pretext of showing The Castle to Anna, Holmes lured her to the buiiding. It was likely at a time when the building was empty of residents, who would have been out enjoying the Fair.

Later that same day, Holmes also summoned Minnie from the Wrightwood flat to the South Side building. Neither sister was ever seen again. Holmes disposed of their travelling trunks and their belongings, sending articles off in various directions, and he complicated their trail with stories about the sisters travelling east, and relocating in Europe. Two bodies later unearthed from a pit in the basement were thought to be their remains.

On August 19, 1895, not long after the authorities began inspecting and uncovering the evidence hidden and buried inside The Castle, the massive structure was burned to the ground, in what was suspected to be an arson by persons unknown, perhaps in an attempt to hinder the investigation. No arrests for that incident were ever made.

On May 7, 1896, at Philadelphia's Moyamensing Prison, as he stood with his head in the hangman’s noose, Holmes loudly exclaimed: "As God is my witness, I was responsible for the death of only two women! I didn't kill Minnie Williams! Minnie killed-" But at that moment, the trap door sprung and Herman Webster Mudgett, a. k. a. : Harry Holmes, died.

The Holmes "crime of the century" was the subject of "The Holmes-Pitezel Case", a "True Detective" story, published in 1896 in Philadelphia "by permission of the district attorney and the mayor."

Holmes' life and crimes were most recently and thoroughly researched and documented, against the background of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, in the popular 2003 book by Erik Larson, The Devil in the White City.

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/G55H-DP3
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/152871194/wilhelmina-rayford-ho...