Louis Mailahn
Biographical Information
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| Name | Louis Mailahn | |
Louis Mailahn was born in Pomerania and immigrated with his parents to the United States in about 1872. He settled as a farmer prior to his marriage to Gustie Schmidt in about 1880. Tragedy began to hit the family in 1905 with a long series of deaths to tibuerculosis. In 1912 his son, Willie Mailahn - who had previously suffered a head injury - began to act irradically and decided that the family would be better off if they took their own lives, rather than waiting for each to suffer a slow death to illness.
On the 2 Feb 1912, after ensuring that the eldest brother Edward had left to pick up the two teenage brothers from school, William called his father to the barn to do some work. William then went down to the basement of the barn and waited for his father to bring down some feed. As he descended the stairs, almost reaching the bottom, William put the barrel of a shutgun under his fathers chin and pulled the trigger. He was killed instantly, leaving only the back of the head in tact. Being in the basement, and possibly due to the added effect that show has on sound, the crack of the blast didn't carry. William then went into the house to exchange the shotgun for a razor and killed his little sister Dora and little brother John before turning the razor on himself.
Documentation
Cemetery Records
Census Records
- 1880 - Black Creek, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA
- 1900 - Black Creek, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA
- 1905 - Center, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA
- 1910 - Center, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA
Newspapers
- 3 Feb 1912 - The Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wisconsin) - Kills Father, Sister, Brother and Himself
- 5 Feb 1912 - The Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wisconsin) - Father Has Presentiment
- 8 Feb 1912 - Appleton Weekly Post (Appleton, Wisconsin) - Fiend Kills Father, Sister, Brother and Ends Own Life
- 14 Feb 1912 - The Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wisconsin) - Brother Tells of the Tragedy