Iowa Old Press
Onawa Weekly Democrat
December 19, 1895
MURDER and SUICIDE in JORDAN.
Jordan Township the Scene of the Bloodiest Tragedy Ever Committed in this County.
GEO. WOLFE THE DEMON IN THE ACT.
He Enters the Residence of Wm. Ratledge,
Kills Mrs. Ratledge, Mortally Wounds His Wife,
And Sends a Bullet Through His Own Brain.
The most shocking tragedy in the history of the county occurred in Jordan township early on Tuesday evening, in which Geo. Wolfe, a fiend in human form, shot his sister-in-law dead, mortally wounded his own wife and then ends his own life by sending a ball through his brain. The first news was brought to Onawa Tuesday (sic Wednesday) morning, early, by Wm. Hutchinson and Geo. Rouse, who came after Dr. Harmon and to call Coroner Evans, of Whiting.
A DEMOCRAT reporter was sent to the scene of the tragedy and found at about 5 o’clock on Tuesday afternoon George Wolfe, of Jordan township, shot and instantly killed his sister-in-law, Mrs. Wm. Ratledge, and then fatally wounded his wife. He then got on a horse and rode one-half mile south and killed himself near James Moore’s residence.
George Wolfe was a German Jew, about thirty-five years old, and was a rather short man, perhaps five feet eight inches high, and weighed about 150 pounds. At the time of the murder, he was smooth shaven, but usually wore a short stubby beard and mustache.
On Tuesday afternoon he went into the Turin Drug Store and asked Dr. Golding if he could borrow the doctor’s revolver to go rabbit hunting with. Dr. Golding is a recent arrival in Turin, and as he and Wolfe were both German Jews they had become slightly acquainted. The doctor told him he did not like to loan the revolver as it was a present from his father and he had owned it some years and was very fond of it. Wolfe told him he only wanted it a little while, to have a little fun hunting rabbits, as he had nothing to do that afternoon. The doctor then let him have it and Wolfe promised to bring it back that night. After he had obtained the revolver, he went to the livery stable and hired a saddle horse to ride out to see his wife’s folks.
MURDERS THE WOMEN.
It was about five o’clock when he arrived at Mr. Ratledge’s and he rode up and tied his horse. Mrs. Ratledge was sitting in a chair just north of the west door, and Mrs. Wolfe was standing up on the other side of the room. Neither of them had seen Wolfe ride up and when he knocked at the door, Mrs. Wolfe started to go to the door, but Mrs. Ratledge called out “come in,” and then said to her sister: “It’s no one but Jay Hutch anyway.” He then entered the door and without word shot Mrs. Ratledge in the breast, the ball passing through the left lung and coming out the back. She rose and started to run but fell dead in the corner of the adjoining bedroom. He then turned and shot his wife but the bullet struck the wall above her head and she jumped behind a cupboard door. Wolfe fired again and the ball went just below the safe board door and struck Mrs. Wolfe in the abdomen and ranged downward, passing through the intestines.
When he saw his wife fall, he went out and untied his horse, mounted it and rode one-half mile south and stopped at the James Moore’s farm. He led his horse up to the windmill and spoke to Nathan Rains who was standing near. He then opened the windmill which was shut off, but there was very little wind, the mill would not work, “No chance to get any water here” he said. Mr. Rains said, “No, there’s not wind enough.”
Wolfe then took out a revolver and began toying with it. Mr. Rains was afraid of him as Wolfe had made threats against both Rains and Moore, so he began to back away from him. Wolfe put two cartridges in the revolver and then made a motion as if to shoot Rains, but evidently his nerve failed him for her turned the gun and shot himself in the right temple and dropped dead.
Mr. Moore, who had remained in the house during the conversation between Wolfe and Rains on hearing the shot, came out and at once went to the Ratledge home to let Mrs. Wolfe and Ratledge know of Wolfe’s killing himself.
A PITIFUL SITE.
As he opened the door of the Ratledge residence, it was an awful sight that his eyes fell upon. Mrs. Ratledge was lying dead with the blood yet flowing from her wounds and Mrs. Wolfe was lying on the floor mortally wounded.
Mr. Ratledge at the time of the shooting was across the field about thirty rods distant with Wm. Hutchison—they heard the shots but did not think much about it until a little boy, a nephew of the dead woman, told them that his aunt was killed. Mr. Ratledge reached the house just after Mr. Moore. The two children of Mrs. Wolfe, aged 6 and 4 years old, were in the house crying when the men arrived, but say they were in the yard when the shooting was done. It is believed that this alone saved them from death at the hands of a demon father.
Word was immediately sent to Dr. Wade, of Castana, who arrived about 6:30 and pronounced Mrs. Wolfe as beyond all hope. All he could do was to relieve the pain. Mrs. Wolfe was pregnant and the shot and shock to her system resulted in a miscarriage.
Word was then sent to the Coroner, but he could not be reached as Ellis Davis, the Justice of the Peace in Jordan township, had started for Chicago. Dr. Minthorn, Justice of the Peace of Moorhead (came) in his stead. W. H. Outhouse, Perry Mann and Wm. Wilson were selected as jurors and returned the verdict as follows:
JURY VERDICTS.
JORDAN TOWNSHIP, Monona County, Iowa, December 18, 1995:--We the undersigned as jurors after hearing the evidence at the inquest of George Wolfe now lying dead, do say that he came to his death by a pistol shot in the head, fired by his own hand, on the evening of December 17, 1895. ~W. H. OUTHOUSE, PERRY MANN, WM. WILSON.
JORDAN TOWNSHIP, Monona County, Iowa, December 18, 1895:--We the undersigned as jurors after hearing the evidence in the inquest of Nettie Ratledge now lying dead, do find that she came to her death by a bullet fired by George Wolfe on the 17th day of December 1895, causing death by internal hemorrhage. ~W. H. OUTHOUSE, PERRY MANN, WM. WILSON.
On Wednesday, Dr. Harmon, of Onawa, Dr. Adams, of Moorhead, Drs. Wade, of Castana, and Minthorn, of Moorhead, took the antimortem statement of Mrs. Wolfe and made a post mortem examination of Wolfe and Mrs. Ratledge.
Afterwards they held a consultation over Mrs. Wolfe and declared her case hopeless, stating that indications were that she could not live but a short time.
Wolfe and his wife had been married about six years. They were married at Chadron, Nebraska, and had lived in several different places, but for the last year have been living in Jordan township—their married life was a stormy one, and Mrs. Wolfe has been heard to say that he had threatened her life and she lived in constant fear of him. For the past three months they had not been living together, she staying with her sister and he working out at intervals for Mr. Wilson and Mr. Mann.
Mr. and Mrs. Ratledge had only been married about five or six months.
When Wolfe left Mann’s he had a small amount of corn and a pony. He sold the corn to Mr. Mann for $2 and the pony to one of the neighbors for ten dollars. He was known to have had sixty or seventy cents besides this and when searched after death, he had $10. 71, a couple of collar buttons and a scrap of paper mentioned below. When he left Mr. Mann’s he was going to Dakota, but stopped at Turin. He was a tinner by trade and he had asked Mr. Vredenburg to help him get a tin shop started. Mr. Vredenbur said he would think it over and afterwards told Wolfe he would help him out. Mr. V. had not heard of the murder and suicide and had a man in Onawa Wednesday to see about buying a tinner’s outfit.
But little is known of Wolfe’s former life. He made boasts that he was a relative of the Rothcilds and that he had an uncle in Philadelphia who was a millionaire. He never told much of his past life not even to his own family. He was well educated and spoke the English and German languages. He was a man much feared by most of the neighbors. He was rather queer in his actions and at times would be very melancholy and other times very much excited.
Mrs. Wolfe and Mrs. Ratledge were formerly Cynthia and Barnetta Payne. They were sisters of Andy Payne, who was sent up a few years ago for the murder of Moss of Turin. Their mother, Mrs. Horton, is a widow. In the summer of ’93, Mrs. Horton and her daughter, Barnetta Payne, ran a confectionary store in the old Goodrich building just west of Brandin’s furniture store in Onawa.
In the murderer’s pocketbook was found a sensational paper signed by Mrs. Wolfe’s sister, which read as follows:
“This is to certify that I, the undersigned, do hereby testify that Cynthia Angeline Wolfe is not capable of raising children in any sense of the word, and further that Mrs. Nettie Ratledge will do all she can against the husband and father, George Wolfe, out of pure malice and spite work and nothing else.
(Signed) LIZZIE OWENS.
Mrs. Horton did not know anything about the paper before and refused to believe that her daughter wrote it.
The funeral of Mrs. Ratledge was held Thursday afternoon from the desolate home and the remains will be buried in the Jordan cemetery. Both ladies were members of the Free M.E. church.
The body of Wolfe, was Thursday, sent to the dissecting rooms of the Sioux City Medical college by Dr. Wade of Castana, who holds a position in the school.
Mr. Ratledge lives on the Jordan about eight miles southeast of Turin, almost in the center of the township. His dwelling is 14x22 and a story and a half high, and contains four room. The revolver used was an old German make. The barrel was fully six inches in length and was a five shot 38-calibre gun.
MORE DEVILTRY.
Geo. Goodwin Near Maple Landing Robbed and His House With All Its Contents Destroyed by Fire.
Last night at about 9 o’clock George Good win, who resides one mile south of Maple Landing, was sitting alone in his residence reading a newspaper (his family having gone on a visit to near Albaton) was suddenly attacked by two masked men breaking in the door and demanding his money. “I have no money,” but you have, said one of the robbers; “Who told you so” said Goodwin and by this time they had tried to over power Goodwin who reached after a stick of wood; in the tussle the stove was kicked down and the last that Goodwin knew was the voice of one of the men, saying, “cut his d---- throat.”
A neighbor who resides a few rods north heard, as he thought, a pistol shot at Goodwin’s and went down. When he got near he saw a man stooping and asked what he was doing. The fellow then ran off into the field and this neighbor went on and found Mr. Goodwin was the object over which the man was stooping and robbing him of his money, $20. Goodwin was then carried to the neighbor’s house and in the meantime the house was discovered to be on fire. Parties came to Onawa and Sheriff Hawthorn went out the same night. Mr. Goodwin describes the men as one being short and the other tall.
Goodwin is a poor man and the loss of his household goods and money is a serious one and especially so just as winter is coming on. No clue as yet has developed by which the thieves can be hunted down.
[transcribed by L.Z. Dec 2019]