The family curse

Ahh, now this is the true family curse, as found in the Saturday, Dec. 29, 1900 edition of the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune:

 

INSANITY ALLEGED 

        IN THE HULS CASE

Mad Womanly Jealousy Said To Be The Cause Of The Trouble.

HEARING WAVED BY ACCUSED

Doctors To See If She Is Mentally Affected Before Going To Trial.

    The startling revelations expected to be brought out in the trial of Mrs. Anna E. Huls, of Logan, O., will likely remain in darkness.

        She was to be tried today on the charge of circulating letters and drawings intending to defame the character of Mrs. Capt. W. Huls, a prominent church worker and society woman of Rockbridge, O., slightly related to the accused by marriage.

    The trial was to be before United States Commissioner Johnston at Columbus, this morning, and District Attorney Bundy, Assistant District Attorney Moulinier and several postal officials were to go there to represent the Government, when the news came that the hearing was off.

    Mrs. Huls' attorney, Mr. Martin of Lancaster, gave notice that his client had decided to waive the examination, and would allow the matter to go to the grand jury if the Government decided it should be taken there.

Insanity Will Be Defense.

    The attorney intimated that if the case went to trial the defense would be insanity and consequent want of responsibility for the conduct Mrs. Huls is accused of. Mrs. Huls' attorney and friends do not think she should be put to trial, for the reason given. As matters stand, proof of some kind will have to be shown to the District Attorney that the accused is afflicted as alleged. Doctors appointed by the court will examine her. On what they find will depend whether the case will be submitted to the grand jury for indictment.

Jilting and Jealousy Alleged.

    It is said the inspiring cause of the conduct attributed to the accused woman was simple, plain, feminine jealousy, dating back to the days when both the women were in their teens, unmarried and receiving the calls of favored young men. One of these, it is said, after paying court to the accused for some time, transferred his attentions to the other, and so it became the cause of cankering animosity that has lived through the years.

    The impression appears to be that the case will not go beyond its present stage in the courts.

 

Again, the names and relationships are incorrect. I can find nothing after this. I might have to sic my lawyer brother on this investigation. I also promise to get back to more relevant topics tomorrow. 

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The United States v. Huls

These newspaper searches can be frustrating. I can type in the same thing on different days and sometimes get different results. Now I have found two more articles about this unfortunate event.

I admit it doesn't really have anything to do with uncle Charley, unless it helps illustrate how entwined the families could get in the Appalachian foothills. (But, a Family Curse!)

This should have been the first article I posted, found in the Thursday, Dec. 27, 1900 issue of the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune:

SOCIETY WOMAN 

        TO BE ARRESTED

Mrs. Huls, of Logan, Is Charged With Defaming Relative's Character.

    Family trouble is given as the cause of peculiar conduct that yesterday resulted  in the issuing of a warrant for Mrs. Anna E. Huls, wife of Joseph W. Huls, of Logan, O., on the charge of sending improper letters and drawings through the mails. The warrant for her arrest was issued at the instance of Postoffice [sic] Inspector Furness, of this city, who has been attending to the case for some weeks past. The person preferring the charge is a relative of the accused, Mrs. Captain. W. Huls, of Rockbridge, where she is prominent in society and church work. Captain Huls is a cousin of Joseph Huls, and the ill feeling and enmity is said to have been confined to the wives of the two men.

    Captain Huls about a year ago discovered that some person was circulating letters and drawings all intended to reflect on the character of his wife. They were anonymous, and the first inclination on the part of Captain Huls was to treat them with contempt. But the letters and drawings continued to appear, being found in streets, buildings and other places, and the attacks on the intended victim by inuendo [sic] and insinuation were so plain that it became finally a great and serious annoyance to Captain and Mrs. Huls. The former appealed to Postoffice [sic] Inspector Vickery, of this city, for protection, and Mr. Furness was directed to find the culprit if possible. It is on what he has been able to discover that United States Commissioner Adler yesterday issued the warrant for the arrest of Mrs. Huls, of Logan. Marshall Fagin was directed to make the arrest. The hearing in the case will take place Saturday next before United States Commissioner Johnston. Colonel Bundy and Assistant District Attorney Moulinier will conduct the government's side of the case.

    Both the ladies concerned are of good social standing in their respective communities, and the surprise at yesterday's proceedings is said to be quite general among the residents both of Logan and Rockbridge.

This keeps getting weirder and weirder. The other article tomorrow.

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Family feud

I apologize for the lack of a post yesterday, but I went down several productive rabbit holes.

Firstly, I finally made contact with someone from David Puskin's family! I certainly hope to bring their perspective and experiences to this blog.

Secondly, I found another "clew" about a long-rumored family curse. (I adore that archaic spelling!) Well, it turns out to be more of a family feud that thankfully didn't go the way of the Hatfields and McCoys.

Grandpa Fred once told me that there was a family curse. Supposedly, someone cursed the men in the Huls and Troxel families to die horrible deaths. (Strychnine, anyone?)

Do you remember Joseph W. and Emma Frasure Huls? Emma was the sister of great-grandpa Gene's first wife, Mary Jennie Frasure Huls.

Joseph, who was great-grandpa Gene's first cousin, married Emma on April 13, 1884. Their one and only child died within two days in 1892. 

(Joseph is also the man who built a nearly identical version of great-grandpa Gene's house. This feud must have been awkward for these close cousins.)

A.E. (Gene) and Mary Jennie married in 1889, and Walter was born in 1890. Cousin Joseph and sister Emma raised Gene's son Walter after Jenny died, either in childbirth or shortly thereafter in 1895. Gene and Anna married in 1899.

My great-grandparents' first child, Anna Troxel Huls, was a stillbirth in Jan. 5, 1900. That's when things possibly fell apart.

My first clew was a weird, tiny newspaper article I almost skipped on page 7 of The Stark County Democrat from Canton, Ohio on Friday, Dec. 28, 1900,

Sent Improper Letters.

       A strange family feud has been disclosed through a warrant issued by United States Commissioner J.L. Adler and an arrest made by order of United States Marshal V. J. Fagin. Mrs. Anna E. Huls, wife of Joseph W. Huls a resident of Logan, O., and one of the most prominent citizens of Ohio, is charged with sending through the mails improper letters, postals and drawings to her sister-in-law, the wife of Capt. W. Huls, of Rockbridge, who is a man of wealth and prominence in social and church circles. 

    There is to be a hearing on Dec. 29, in which District Attorney Bundy and Assistant District Attorney Mouliniar will represent the government, and it is said the evidence will be of a very sensational nature.

Okay, that's weird. Especially when I could find nothing else.

Until today, when I found this in the Sunday, Dec. 30, 1900 edition of the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune:

MRS. HULS IS ARRAIGNED.

Family quarrel at Logan, O., Gets Into United States Court.

Special Despatch [sic] to Commercial Tribune 

    COLUMBUS, O., Dec. 29. -- Mrs. Anna E. Huls, of a prominent family of Logan, was arraigned before United States Commissioner Johnson today on the charge of sending obscene drawings and letters through the mails. Mrs. Huls is said to be worth $100,000. The objectionable matter reflected upon Mrs. Joseph Huls, a cousin by marriage. The defendant was a Miss Toxen [sic], and is said to have jilted by Joseph Huls.

    A.E. Huls married a sister of Mrs. Joseph Huls. This sister died, her last request being that her child was to be taken by Mrs. Joseph Huls, if A.E. Huls married Miss Toxen. He did so and a struggle for possession of the child followed.

Sadly, that didn't clarify much for me. Dates, names, and relationships are a jumbled mess. Personally, I strongly suspect that great-grandpa Gene's editor friends played with the names as a favor to him, but Miss Toxen instead of Troxel? Seriously?

The other weird thing is the first article mentions "the wife of Capt. W. Huls," my great-great-grandparents. Were they also somehow involved?

How does this relate to Charley? Well, he was the first child to live of my great-grandparents' marriage and he died a truly horrible death. I somehow doubt that 25 years later Emma Cordelia went to the O.S.U. pharmacy and spiked the quinine capsules, so that lets her off the hook as a suspect.

But I still want to know more.

 

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