IL IL - Lucy Burbank, 1892-1894 - Alleged murder victim?

reportably when seriel killer H.H. Holmes {active 18992/3-1894} in Chicago
a bank book of a Lucy Burbank was found among the debris of his victiums. Who was she?

wow PFF:

You really go back to the older cases!!!

1892-1894 ??

Bumping to see if anything new has popped up!

This could be something, I am not a member of ancestry.com but the first image that highlights her name after an archive search mentions a bank (First National Bank of an unidentified city) and also that she made deposits on daily basis. It sounds like they are talking about the record book that was found with HH Creeper.

The quote is "It belonged to Lucy Burbank and was the property of the First National Bank of this city" it is an Atlanta newspaper so maybe First National Bank of Atlanta? It goes on.... "It showed that....Burbank was a heavy depositor, putting money in the bank every day and sometimes (?) as high as 3000 (I think)".

Mentions also a Detective Fitzpatrick, I think it says "Detectives Fitzpatrick and Norton" but that is only a guess.

Also says something about being found in a building at 63rd and Wallace (?) streets.

This was published July 22 1895 in The Atlanta Constitution.
http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/...&gsfn=lucy&gsln=burbank&gskw=missing&uidh=000

CONFIRMATION ON ADDRESS

This is about the right Lucy Burbank. Google "63rd and Wallace Streets" and all kinds of hits about Chicago and the book "Devil in the White City" pop up!
http://www.google.com/search?q=63rd...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

I found the above article for free. I am attaching it.

It sounds like "this city" is Chicago. Also, the detective said he was confident he would find out who she is. Maybe he did? It seems like he would be able to. Hmm!

Information on the bank she may have kept her money in. What happens to money in a bank if it is not claimed??????

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Chicago_Bank

I read the book Devil in the White City. It was a very good read. I don't remember Ms. Burbank being discussed in the book by the author but I will see if our library has a copy and have a looksee as to what the author may have found out about her.

Claudette said:

Information on the bank she may have kept her money in. What happens to money in a bank if it is not claimed??????

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Chicago_Bank

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Your enthusiasm and interest in this case is intriguing Claudette.
My sleuthing skills will be a new learning experience delving into a case this old. I'm interested in following it and seeing where any research might lead.

My first question on this, and forgive my ignorance, is did women even have rights for assets in the late 1800's. I was a terrible student during my school years..... I've found even laws for cases from the 60's are so different than current laws with unsolved murder cases... this one may be challenging, but well worth the research as we'll all come out with better knowledge and skills.

I'm in the burbs of Chicago, not much of a city girl, do not go to the city often, but I can see what I can do - as time permits - as a semi local.

I almost wonder if some ancestry buffs might be of help here.... we've had a few old cases that were terribly misreported from 1940's or 30's and earlier. So we will see......

Cubby said:

Your enthusiasm and interest in this case is intriguing Claudette.
My sleuthing skills will be a new learning experience delving into a case this old. I'm interested in following it and seeing where any research might lead.

My first question on this, and forgive my ignorance, is did women even have rights for assets in the late 1800's. I was a terrible student during my school years..... I've found even laws for cases from the 60's are so different than current laws with unsolved murder cases... this one may be challenging, but well worth the research as we'll all come out with better knowledge and skills.

I'm in the burbs of Chicago, not much of a city girl, do not go to the city often, but I can see what I can do - as time permits - as a semi local.

I almost wonder if some ancestry buffs might be of help here.... we've had a few old cases that were terribly misreported from 1940's or 30's and earlier. So we will see......

Click to expand...

Bolded respectfully by me Cubby.

A thread could be started down in the genealogy section for Ms. Burbank and an outline of the who, what, when and where.

The ancestry buffs like to visit that section and help out when they can.

I found the index for Devil in the White City online at amazon.

Lucy Burbank is listed on one page : 364

I'll still drop by the library and flip to that page this weekend.

Thanks all!!!

I will go over to that forum and ask for their help. I have to imagine this was a fairly easy one to solve, even for back then. I am thinking that a lot of information was lost as time went on.

The library has been closed until tomorrow (federal holiday here on Monday) I'll see what I can find, I haven't forgotten

How could a woman make money in the 1890s which would allow her to deposit nearly every day...including sums up to $3000??

I watched this movie last night (documentary)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0358500/

If you have netflix you can either order it for viewing, or you can watch it on your computer moniter or you can attach your computer to your TV (newer model) and stream it.

That movie doesn't metion Lucy Burbank. I still have yet to go over to the small library here and see if they have a copy of the Devil in the White City.

Just an update.

FINALLY stopped by the Ancestry forum

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5432437#post5432437

Let's hope they can find something!

Cubby said:

My first question on this, and forgive my ignorance, is did women even have rights for assets in the late 1800's. I was a terrible student during my school years..... I've found even laws for cases from the 60's are so different than current laws with unsolved murder cases... this one may be challenging, but well worth the research as we'll all come out with better knowledge and skills.

Click to expand...

Before married women's property acts were passed, upon marriage a woman lost any right to control property that was hers prior to the marriage, nor did she have rights to acquire any property during marriage. A married woman could not make contracts, keep or control her own wages or any rents, transfer property, sell property or bring any lawsuit.

1857 - The Married Woman’s Property Bill passes in the U.S. Congress. Women can how sue, be sued, make contracts, inherit and bequeath property.

She may have been daughter of Tracy and Eliza(beth) Burbank of Chicago born about 1857. In limited searching I found that while eliza had 7 children, only 3 were alive in 1900. Those, I assume where Jessie, Annie and a daughter married to a Goss. I found an obit for Tracy and their only son on Ancestry.

Lucy was at 13 working as a book binder in 1880 census, then no further record I can find.

Maybe a correction or typo, at Newspaperarchive.com 1904, think it was, article said Lucy's depsoits were up to $300.00, not 3,000.00. Either way, good $$.

Thanks so much - this is really promising. I'm thrilled to have a place to start. So she would have been in her 30s or 40s in the 1890s then, depending on when she was born.

I am local - can you (or anyone else of course) recommend what I can do here? I would imagine more information can be found in the "old-fashioned" printed form, especially from that time.

Please let us know if you uncover anything more!

branwynbreeze - I was checking a LDS site and found the below information. Where did you find the "Goss" info? I found a Lucy S. Burbank that married a Charles Foss but in 1858.

Spouse: CHARLES E. FOSS
Marriage: 28 JAN 1858 , Kane, Illinois

EDIT: Found more info on branwyn's Chicago Lucy - I'll try attaching an image, they are at lines 27-34:
- In 1870, her father was 64, a carpenter and was born in New York.
- Her mother, Eliza, was 49. She was born in Ireland.
- Her sister, Anna, was 14. It looks like she was born in Michigan. I believe it says she "works in store".
- Sister Lilly, 16, Book binder. Born in I think Illinois (crazy 19th century script is really hard to read lol) looks like Lucy followed her sisters footsteps with the Book binding.
- Lucy was 13 (you had a typo in your message, she was 23 in 1880 when she was a book binder) but...I can't read what her occupation was. Dem Revend? Sevend? Help?
- Sister Jessie, 11, same occupation as Lucy.
- Sister Laura, 9, at school
- Brother Abram L, 4, occupation "at home"

Some interesting tidbits:
- It appears people other than the Burbank family lived in this house/apartment/etc as there are others listed under dwelling #345.
- I think Tracy was the owner of this dwelling, as he is the only one in the household that is listed with a "Value of Real Estate". The value is $4000 which is much much larger than his neighbors' of which are 500 and 700. This is not a typo as each page has a sum on the bottom, with this one coming up to $5800. Thoughts: either he was rich and passed on money to Lucy when she was older, or he was very frugal and she "inherited" this.
- While he has a high number on his real estate value, his personal estate value is only $100. I don't know what this means or what constitutes as "personal estate". Worth noting, this is lower than his neighbors'.
- Lucy had not attended school that year.
- This location was ward 12. Map at the time: http://chicagology.com/population/ward-map-1869/

Can anyone read what Lucy's occupation is?

Claudette said:

branwynbreeze - I was checking a LDS site and found the below information. Where did you find the "Goss" info? I found a Lucy S. Burbank that married a Charles Foss but in 1858.

Spouse: CHARLES E. FOSS
Marriage: 28 JAN 1858 , Kane, Illinois

Click to expand...

From obit on Ancestry. I cannot copy/paste from site, so will see if I can from newspaperarchive-if not, will type it out in another post. I will also look for more info on Goss.
1870 Census from Ancestry:


Name: Lucy Burbank
Birth Year: abt 1857
Age in 1870: 13
Birthplace: Illinois
Home in 1870: Chicago Ward 12, Cook, Illinois
Race: White
Gender: Female
Value of real estate: View image
Post Office: Chicago
Household Members: Name Age
Tracy Burbank 64
Eliza Burbank 49
Anna Burbank 17
Lilly Burbank 16
Lucy Burbank 13
Jessie Burbank 11
Latta Burbank 9
Abram L Burbank 4