Addie’s been in the news a few times in the last 30 days, and some of these news articles have given conflicting accounts of what will become of her remains.
Last month, after the autopsy was done, her remains were transported from Milwaukee by David Olsen (Olsen Funeral Home) to a crematory, where they were cremated.
Those remains (“cremains” actually) are now in my possession, at my home in Norfolk, Virginia. When the busyness of the holidays is behind me, Addie’s cremains will be respectfully handled and she’ll get a proper memorial service here in Norfolk.
This I can state definitively: Addie will not be returning to Lake Mills. How I wish that her footstone at the grave site could have been removed, but the city (for reasons I do not understand) did not want it removed.
Further, given what we now know about how Addie’s life ended, it would be wrong to return her to the “family plot” with Enoch, and his other two wives.
Addie’s days in a shallow grave are over.
Addie's head stone in Lake Mills is now a cenotaph.
Enoch's marker has five names: Three wives, one daughter ("Mertie" - 1878-1887) and Enoch James himself. Wife #2 has left the area and won't be returning.
Some of the nasty notes I get from anonymous trolls try to tell me that this is not a shallow grave. Given that the frost line in Wisconsin is 3-4 feet, and given that the traditional burial depth is 6-8 feet, I'd have to say that this picture is worth a whole lot of words.
Turns out, we didn't need those ladders and buckets and ropes to excavate the grave. It was about knee-deep in places.
Addie's foot stone remains at the grave site, for reasons I don't understand.
Ada ("Addie") Hoyt Fargo 1872-1901
To learn more about Addie, click here.
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Have you noticed that Addie has an angel looking over her shoulder in this photo?
Someone is honestly trying to say Addie was not buried in a shallow grave?!? We bury our pet dogs at a deeper depth here in Missouri on our rural property! I would love to know how deep Enoch and the other wives are buried on that same burial plot. My guess would be that their graves are much deeper than Addie’s grave.
@Jan Heidemann
Jan, it’s true. These “advocates of Enoch” (there are only three of them that I know of, but they’re loquacious types) proclaim that 34″ is a fine, fine grave. This is despite the fact that the frost line in Wisconsin is at 3-4 feet, and when we started this project, we were told to expect a burial depth of 6-8 feet.
I think Enoch killed Addie the night before (Tuesday night, the 18th) and then waited until the wee hours to bury her body. He probably got his hired man to dig the grave (which also explains the lack of a burial permit), and the hired man just threw Addie’s coffin into the ground and put a little bit of top soil on top of it.
It was nothing short of shameful. Utterly shameful.
Just a quick note to thank you for the incredible amount of effort that you’ve put into this blog. I’ve spent the last few days reading every blog post (oldest to newest) and I appreciate the time and energy that you’ve expended. I’ve enjoyed your wit and the reading is always interesting.
As for the story of Aunt Addie – I find it fascinating! Your indefatigable efforts to track down the truth behind her death has been amazing.
Thanks again for all you’ve done to promote interest in history.
Just wondering if perhaps you might consider reburying Addie in Lake Mills again. Instead of with the Fargo “clan” have her cremated remains buried with her mother and father so that she will be them, together again as a family. Just a thought.
It’s just so sad to read about her death…and I have to think if her death was as horrible as it sure as hell looks, her life with that S.O.B must have been a living hell! To know that there was no hope for her, no one to come to her rescue, is just as equally disturbing. Hopelessness is an awful feeling for anyone to have. The whole town must have know of what was going on in that house, but out of fear they did nothing. Enoch the narcissist, I know that bread of man all too well. My ex husband literally beat all of my front teeth out of my mouth but I’m still here, with a pretty new smile. Because I had someone to rescue me, so I suppose I should feel lucky. May Addie rest in peace, and finally get the justice that she deserves!
I just read the article about Addie Hoyt, and noticed two things about the mystery. One was that they kept bears, and another was that Addie’s skull had a dime sized hole in it. I think that would be consistent with being mauled by a bear. I believe (from what I have read) bears consistently attack the head of their prey. Perhaps she died in this manner. It would explain the unexpectedness of her death, and if her husband panicked, why she was buried so quickly.
As I recall, the bears didn’t enter the picture until after Addie was gone.
I think Enoch’s first two wives were what the public expected Enoch to marry because of their high statuses.
The third, Maddie Hoyt Fargo, does not fit the typical trophy wife status as the previous two. It makes me think his third marriage might just have been his mid (end?) life crisis.
Obviously by then Enoch realized he got away with murder, why not marry a young woman from a lower class seven months later?
It’s amazing how large this man’s ego was, so I’m really suspicious of his relationship with wife #3. Is there a possibility that Martha became pregnant when Addie was still alive? She was living in the mansion, and Enoch had no problem marrying after getting the woman pregnant (Mary Rutherford).
A seven month mourning period is scandalous, but so is a pregnant mistress. It would have been an incentive to get rid of Addie quickly and marry Mattie before Enoch’s reputation was irreversibly damaged.
How did the first wife die?
@Sears Homes
How did the first wife die?
Rose’s reply: That’s correct. The bears came into being about 1913 or so.
The first wife died of Typhoid (allegedly).