Villisca Axe Murders

 

Back in fifth grade, my teacher assigned us to read stories out of the above book as part of our Iowa History section of Social Studies. I no longer remember what stories were assigned, but I do know that I was one of the few in class who just read the entire book regardless of what was assigned. Besides some more ancient history (relative to the age of Iowa anyway), it also told some tales of modern mysteries, some solved and some unsolved. One of those were the Villisca axe murders in 1912.

I forgot about the book for many years until I was into my adulthood and started getting interested in Iowa history and thought back about that book. I was able to track down a copy on eBay I think and purchased it and read it through a second time. I was as hooked then as I was in 5th grade. I put it on my bookshelf downstairs where I keep all my dearest books and it should still be there right now. I haven't checked but will just as soon as I finish typing up this post.

Flash forward today when I attended a program hosted by our local library which invites area historians to come talk about a particular aspect of history, usually relating to us locally or statewide. Today's topic were the Villisca axe murders. I got there and sat down about 15 minutes before it started and an old man approached me and asked me what I knew of the Villisca axe murders. I told him that I first heard of them in a book I read in 5th Grade and that I had been interested in them ever since, even stopping to visit the house where they happened in Villisca, Iowa several years back on a family road trip. Joy appeared on the old man's face and he said that his best friend Don Brown wrote that book entitled "Tell a Tale of Iowa" and that the book was a result of a class assignment he did along with Brown and another unnamed gentleman.

The assignment was supposed have the students research a topic and write a paper on it. They proposed to do first hand research on a topic where the answer wasn't known and present it to their teacher. Living not far from Villisca, they chose the axe murders and interviewed people with direct knowledge of the murders for their paper and got an A for their effort. 

Don Brown would go on to write the above book which so captivated me (and still does) full of stories of Iowa's history, including one about the axe murders. His friend, Edgar Epperly would continue to research the axe murders for the rest of his life. Eventually a documentary would be made, with Epperly's advice on the matter about the axe murders and as a result of that deal, he gathered up all his research material and wrote a book published a few years back called "Fiend Incarnate: Villisca Axe Murders of 1912". It was he who gave the presentation I just heard earlier this morning. Sadly, he told me his friend Don Brown died back in 2009.

I have Epperly's book sitting on the desk beside me and will soon be reading it as well as digging out Don Brown's much much condensed version written nearly 60 years ago and rereading it and the rest of the stories while I have it. I'm sure both will go back on my shelf, this time side by side, for perhaps another read in a couple decades.

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Just for the curious, an unknown individual snuck into the house of Josiah Moore and killed him, his wife, their four children, and two visiting children with an axe. Although nobody was ever found guilty, there are two or three likely suspects identified, some arrested and some unsuccessfully tried for the murders. Both Brown and Epperly both owned the axe used to commit the murders at points in their lives and I think it now resides in a historical museum in Red Oak, the county seat. If one googles, there are pictures of it available on the internet.