Yda Hillis Addis

Yda Hillis Addis was born in 1857 to Sarah Hillis Short and Alfred Shea Addis in Leavenworth, Kansas. Her father was a tailor who originally began his business in Lawrence. Alfred was proslavery and served on the territorial legislature. Alfred met Thomas Short and not only moved to Leavenworth and joined Short's photography business, he also married his daughter, Sarah. Alfred and Sarah would have two children, Yda and Charles. In 1866, Alfred abandoned Sarah and his family, marrying another woman and have twin boys and a daughter, before returning in 1868 and remarrying Sarah.

The family then moved to Chihuahua, Mexico and, for reasons unknown, went to Los Angeles, California in 1873. Alfred opened another photography business and traveled California getting pictures to sell in his shop. The first mention of Yda was in the Los Angeles Express of January 31, 1874 where her poem "Transformed" was published. She was 15 at the time.

I had a friend; and ere I left his side,

He gave a pearly casket, fair to see;

And said: “From worldly eyes its contents hide,

And they shall be an endless joy to thee,”

“But never lift its beauteous, glitt’ring lid,

To lay within it any foreign thing;

For then its treasures surely will be hid,

And bitter—bitter sorrow to thee bring.”

Thro’ many weary days of gloomy light;

I wandered from the home where dwelt my friend;

But his last gift o’er cast a lustre bright

Upon all things—and this did never end.

Until I roamed unto a distant shore,

Where shone a golden sand beneath the tide;

And ‘midst the shells that decked its beaches o’er,

A wondrous, glowing jewel I espied.

Its crimson ray rejoiced my weary eyes,

And eager to possess, I wildly cried—

“My casket merits well such noble prize!

I’ll grasp, and in it, deep, this jewel hide.”

I stopped, and lifted up the glist’ning gem,”

Unmindful of a pleading, warning voice;

And on a purple spread, with jewelled hem,

Enshrined the precious jewel of my choice.

There, day by day, I watched its beauteous gleam,

Nor favored with a glance another stone,

But laughed and tossed them to a babbling stream,

Until remained my Koh-i-noor alone.

At least, I went one stormy day, to see—

And found—a pebble in my ruby’s stead!

My own dazed eyes had caused the light so free!

And all my dreams of splendor straight were dead.

Alfred once again abandoned his family and returned to Chihuahua in 1880 as Yda was teaching in Tustin, California. She later joined her father in Mexico but when he died in 1886, she returned to Los Angeles. Yda then found herself entangled in a scandal with the governor of California, John G. Downey. You can read more about that here. When the controversy subsided, Yda moved back to Mexico. Here, she started writing about her travels in Mexico and, specifically, the rural Mexican locals. Then-editor of Harper's Weekly, Charles Dudley Warner, didn't believe Yda could write this well and sent someone down to verify the article. Authorship proved, Yda's article was published, with Warner purported to be the author. Yda then sent in numerous articles to other publications explaining how she was the author of the piece and should get all the credit. This battle of words continued until at least 1890 when mention of it stopped.

Yda then quickly married and initiated divorce Charles Storke in 1891. Claiming Storke was "cruel", Yda printed letters in newspapers detailing the abuse she suffered at the hands of Storke and his 14-year-old son. Storke would fire off his own letter claiming Yda was unstable, suicidal, and just a liar. Storke kept appealing the divorce through the courts, which Yda couldn't afford, thus prompting her to constantly get the courts to force Storke to pay her legal fees. Neither Storke or Yda looked good during these divorce proceedings. Storke came off looking petty and cruel, but Yda seemed insane, especially when it came out that bought a gun specfically for the purpose to kill Storke's son. In early 1892, a judge ruled that Yda's claim of Storke's cruelty was not true, but ruled that Yda was not insane and ordered Storke to pay more alimony and legal fees to Yda.

Yda then petitioned to be allowed to live at the poor house. She was admitted in July 1892. She was currently living in Santa Barbara. More legal trouble hit Yda in 1897 when she sued Storke's son, Thomas. Thomas counter-sued claiming that she was lying. The judge ruled in favor of Thomas and Yda was indicted and arrested. After the trial, she was sentenced to one year in jail since she had no money to pay the fine. She was then arrested again for entering the house of her former lawyer, Grant Jackson, and attempting to kill him.

She claimed that she and Jackson had been married since 1895 but all evidence of it had been gotten rid of or stolen. She plead not guilty and the grand jury ruled that no further proceedings were necessary thus clearing Yda of attempted murder. While in jail for her libelous letters, she apparently began writing additional letters and sending them to people around Santa Barbara charging them with "the filthiest things". She was then put on surveillance to keep her from writing more letters. Her jail sentence would come to an end on May 10, 1900 after ten months.

Now out of jail, her career and reputation were in tatters due to her conviction and imprisonment, her nasty divorce, and the attempted murder charge. Sometime after her release to sometime in 1901, Yda disappeared. Not just from the newspapers she used to so regularly show up in, but from society in general. One unconfirmed theory was that while still attempting to get money from Storke, he had her committed to an asylum. The theory goes she either died there or escaped. But, in 1912, a Mrs. A.H. Jackson, a former magazine writer, was hired as a secretary for the Board of Trade in Laredo, Texas. Jackson's mother, Sarah Hillis, and aunt, Mary H. Short, died in 1913 so Jackson resigned from the Board and moved back to San Antonio. Much of Jackson's life is unknown but she was admitted to the San Antonio State Hospital in 1930. Jackson would die of uterine cancer in 1941.

A theory has come to light that A.H. Jackson--full name Adelayda Hillis Jackson--and Yda Hillis Addis Storke-Jackson was the same person. The similarities between the two women are startling. Both had fathers named Alfred Shea. Both had mothers named Sarah Hillis Short. Both had aunts named Mary Short. While we don't have definitive proof that Yda and Jackson are the same person, you can't deny their lives are very similar. We have no evidence of what happened to Yda Hillis Addis after 1901, most assuming she passed away--she was very frail and sick, according to her, the last fifteen years of her life--in 1902. Adelayda Hillis Jackson is buried in East Mount Calm Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas.

illustration of Yda Hillis Addis from 1899

William Mawhor

DID HE KILL FIVE WIVES?!

William Mawhor of Fremont County, Iowa, is either singularly unfortunate or a cold-blooded murderer, for of his five wives at least four have died suddenly and in convulsions, and he is now in jail in Avoca, Pottawatomie County, Iowa, on a charge of poisoning the last one. If he had kept still, three of his wives would not have been heard of in Iowa, as he had moved often, but in a panic he told of their deaths.

Mawhor is about 60 years of age. He had accumulated about $80,000 worth of property since he came to this county in 1858. He was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1832. The theory of the defense will be that the late Mrs. Mawhor committed suicide because she was unhappy with her husband. Mawhor says he can prove that his wife often spoke of suicide as a relief from her unhappy condition because she, a young and attractive woman of 30 years, had mistakenly married an uncongenial old man.

She had been the wife of a dissolute fellow, had secured a divorce and became Mawhor's housekeeper but a few days before they were married. Her two sons came with her to Mawhor's and he induced her to take a policy of $5,000 in the Equitable Life of New York. Mawhor is made the beneficiary to the amount of $3,000, the remaining $2,000 to be divided between Mrs. Mawhor's two children. Soon after the nearest neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Harris, were hurriedly called in at night and found her in great agony with frequent convulsions. She died, and Dr. Cowger, in attendance, promptly announced 'strychnine poisoning.'

The old man made a long and rambling statement about her taking three large quinine capsules. When pressed closely, he admitted that three of his former wives had died in a similar manner. His third wife was a widow--Mrs. Martha Cone. This woman died suddenly near Axtell, Kansas several years ago. A short time ago her brothers L.J. and A.M. Songer, went to Kansas, had her body exhumed, and a chemical analysis revealed the presence of strychnine.

He said his first wife died in California of consumption in 1865, but since his arrest the Woodland, California Mail has published this story: Mawhor and his brother ran a ranch near Knight's Landing. E.H. Eastham and Levi Adams knew the Mawhors well. One day in 1860, Mawhor's brother died suddenly, and William Mawhor told the neighbors it was a case of sun stroke and nothing more was thought of the matter. Mawhor took possession of his brother's interest in the ranch and shortly afterward came east and married an Irish woman.

This woman, whom Mawhor claimed died of consumption, died very suddenly. Levi Adams remembers the death of his first wife. Its suddenness surprised the community. Adams said he remembered that Mawhor's actions were peculiar. He would not talk of her sickness and evaded reference to it. When the neighbors extended their sympathy, Mawhor usually said, "Well, every one has to die." Adams is convinced now that Mawhor poisoned the woman.

The board of supervisors of Fremont County (Iowa) recently ordered the disinterment of the remains of Mawhor's fourth wife, who is buried near Riverton. This woman was a Miss Lamb. She was taken sick one night and died the next day. The examining physicians have not yet reported on the analysis of her stomach, and the able lawyers whom Mawhor has employed insist that the evidence will be confined exclusively to the circumstances surrounding the death of the last wife, and that testimony regarding the deaths of his former wives is inadmissible. Nevertheless it is among the possibilities that Mawhor will be indicted for the murders of his third and fourth wives.

When Mawhor was searched by Sheriff R.S. Tate, a bottle of strychnine was found in a tobacco pouch in his pocket. Mawhor told the sheriff he had abstracted the bottle from Dr. Cowger's drug store in Riverton with the intention of poisoning himself, and Dr. Cowger says that about the time Mawhor was arrested he missed a bottle of strychnine. And so the evidence continues to accumulate. Nevertheless, the old fellow has many friends who stoutly maintain his innocence and declare that he is the victim of an extraordinary series of misfortunes. In proof they cite his temperance, industry, and strict integrity in business affairs.

Of course the physicians have a "theory". It is to the effect that Mawhor is a "sex fiend" so to speak. The physician best acquainted with him declares that his nature is so fiercely lechorous that when one wife was somewhat broken in health and averse to further submission he poisoned her in order to marry another. And it is noted that, except in the case of the last wife, he could have gained nothing in money by their deaths. In short, as the case now stands the prospect looks rather dark for Mr. William Mawhor of Pottawatomie County jail.

Mawhor was deemed the Iowa Blue Beard and while in jail, kept to himself, stayed quiet, and read his Bible. Despite heavy evidence of his wives' deaths and the sudden death of his brother, on September 10, 1893, a jury acquitted Mawhor.

Acquittal article from the Goodland Republic, September
15, 1893.

Sadly, mention of the wives lost because of this man was sporadic at best, as was the style at the time. The woman were Margaret (1844-1867) buried in Marys Cemetery in Yolo, California. Martha (1842-1887) buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Axtell, Kansas. Anne (1851-1889) buried in Utterback Cemetery in Riverton, Iowa. Fannie (??-1892) buried in Utterback Cemetery in Riverton, Iowa. Sadly, I could not find any information or the name of Mawhor's second wife (between Margaret and Martha.

William Mawhor died in Excelsior Springs, Missouri on January 15, 1901. Even the obituary, if you could it that, that appeared in the Axtell Anchor and Marshall County News took a very opinionated view on Mawhor's death.

Sketch of Mawhor from the Lincoln County Tribune, 1893.

Much of the information from this post came from the Topeka Daily Press, April 6, 1893 unless noted in the text or captions.