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THE TM 911 Franklin Street Weekly Newspaper Michigan City, IN 46360 Volume 29, Number 41 Thursday, October 17, 2013 Still a Mystery More Than a Century Later, The Story of Belle Gunness Continues to Lure Visitors to La Porte County by M.D. Cunningham Wanted — A woman who owns a beautifully located and valuable farm in first class condition, wants a good and reliable man as partner in the same. Some little cash is required for which will be furnished first-class security. Triflers need not apply. The lonesome, wandering- spirited Norwegian men who answered that personal ad must have thought the letter sounded like a cozy arrangement, a hap- py compromise of the American Dream ready for the taking. The woman in question, in other correspondence, was not shy when it came to boasting about her cooking, her sincerity Men, women and children fl ocked to La Porte in 1908 to glimpse history unravel. and how she would do anything Photo courtesy of the La Porte County Historical Society Museum. to see that the happiness of these men saw fruition. She painted a picture that com- of Indiana, among others. bined nostalgia for the old country with the majestic The widow, of course, is the woman most locals bounty of this new one. For an unknown number of know as Belle Gunness. With Halloween quickly men, the above ad, or some version thereof, played approaching, talk of her seems to come up more of- a pivotal role in their life. ten. Many accounts brim with juicy bits such as her But rather than launch the promise of that fanta- sword-swallowing father and her tightrope-walking sy, which brought these men to abandon their homes mother. Conspiracy theories abound, too, some of and oftentimes close-knit families in Wisconsin, which include voodoo and mysterious sightings. South Dakota, Iowa and other places, it led to their What we know is, Gunness was born Brynhild demise at the hands of a work-hardened, stoutly, but Paulsdatter Størseth into an impoverished family otherwise plain-looking widow later known across in a lakeside community in Norway called Selbu. the world through sensational headlines as the Lady Bluebeard, Ogress, Black Widow and Hog Butcher Continued on Page 2 THE Page 2 October 17, 2013 THE 911 Franklin Street • Michigan City, IN 46360 219/879-0088 • FAX 219/879-8070 In Case Of Emergency, Dial e-mail: News/Articles - [email protected] email: Classifieds - [email protected] http://www.thebeacher.com/ PRINTED WITH Published and Printed by TM Trademark of American Soybean Association THE BEACHER BUSINESS PRINTERS Delivered weekly, free of charge to Birch Tree Farms, Duneland Beach, Grand Beach, Hidden 911 Shores, Long Beach, Michiana Shores, Michiana MI and Shoreland Hills. The Beacher is also delivered to public places in Michigan City, New Buffalo, LaPorte and Sheridan Beach. Startlingly, the adult body had no head. A former Still a Mystery Continued from Page 1 handyman was immediately brought into custody. Belle had previously tried to have the man locked She arrived in Chicago as a young woman courtesy away. He was a threat to society and insane, she’d of her sister’s husband, who bought her passage. said. He would later be convicted of arson, but not She assumed the name Belle shortly thereafter. murder. The perception of everything that had Later, she opened a candy store on Grand Avenue happened changed drastically when a man from with her fi rst husband, a fellow Norwegian immi- Minnesota, believing his brother to be a victim of grant known as Mads. foul play, corralled authorities to start digging into The store was doomed to fail. It produced little the ground of the chicken coop where he had spot- money until it burned down and the insurance ted freshly laid dirt. From under the dirt, a grizzly money was collected. The family upgraded its living truth revealed itself and a timeless murder mys- by relocating to the neighborhood of Austin, where tery was unleashed. they were known for taking in orphans who seemed At The La Porte County Historical Society Muse- to often die young. The streak of misfortune later um, 2405 Indiana Ave., La Porte, curious visitors do extended to her 46-year-old husband who died from their own sleuthing at an exhibit that houses many what medical examiners called an enlarged heart. impressive original items, while also documenting He died on the same day that an old and new insur- some periphery cultural items the Gunness mys- ance policy overlapped. Belle collected on both. tery inspired: a rock album from a band called Belle Rumors mounted, but Belle evaded any lasting Gunness (the album was called “Scream Bloody accusations; however, she de- Murder”), a bottle of stout beer cided to move her family to a from La Porte’s Back Road farm in La Porte with a new Brewery named Belle Gunness husband, Peter Gunness, and and, of course, a hodgepodge of his children from a previous books that tell their own ver- marriage, along with an adopt- sion of the narrative, including ed daughter. The cycle of mys- one pulp example whose color- terious death and disappear- ful cover imagines the widow ances that started in Chicago as a buxom blonde femme fa- continued on the farm. Belle tale. In reality, most reports again came under suspicion suggest Belle Gunness stood when she reported a sausage about 5 foot 8 or 9 inches and grinder fell from a shelf, struck weighed around 250 pounds. her husband and killed him. “The thing is, there are so No charges were brought. many open questions, it’s dif- Life — and death — contin- fi cult to pin it down what it is,” ued on the farm. The widow Museum Curator Susie Rich- Gunness came to be known ter says of the Belle Gunness as a woman who entertained mystery. “I’m not going to per- male visitors who never stayed petuate any myths. We’re here for long. The eccentric widow to preserve history.” also had the habit of wearing Richter provides an exam- men’s clothes when she made ple that illustrates not only her round of errands in town. how easily simple facts can be In spring 1908, the Gun- quickly contorted, but also the ness farmhouse burned to shadow cast by the Gunness the ground. Three children mystery. Richter, can’t help but and one adult female body A Belle mannequin and a handyman’s lantern from the farm laugh as she describes some of were discovered in the rubble. are part of the display. Photo courtesy of Robert Barth the inquiries she’s received. THE October 17, 2013 Page 3 “I’ve gotten phone calls before where they say, ‘Is this the Belle A BEAUTIFUL CLUB IN THE COUNTRY FOR Gunness Museum?’ I’m GOLF, SWIMMING, FUN, SOCIALIZING like no, this is the La AND UPSCALE CASUAL DINING Porte County Historical Society Museum, but we do have Belle here. Are you kidding me? The Belle Gunness Museum! But yeah, it is one of the more popular things.” What happened all those years ago, Richter says, was, indeed, hor- Curator Susie Richter. Photo courtesy of Robert Barth rible, but as a historian, the interesting part is the way the facts unfolded. In the back of the La Porte County Historical Society Museum’s conference room, a thick binder holds a GOLF ALL SUMMER LONG... collection of articles visitors are welcome to peruse. IT JUST DOESN’T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS! “I like reading those the best,” Richter says. “At the beginning, it may say such and such and it’s If you’re looking for a place for you and your family to play spelled wrong and blah blah blah, then as it unfolds afternoon, and participate in fun social activities — it becomes clear that it wasn’t like that, it was actu- Pottawattomie Country Club is the place for you! ally like this. It just keeps going. It’s fascinating.” A standout highlight to the exhibit itself, which Golf memberships include all of these ammendities. Not a golfer? You can become a social member! includes actual artifacts from the Belle Gunness farm — a wheelbarrow that may have been used to haul more then manure, a handyman’s lantern and OUR CLUB FEATURES a skull recovered from an outhouse — is a large sec- tion of an original shed from the farmhouse that’s HISTORIC, SCENIC AND CHALLENGING 18-HOLE been fi tted into the museum. When the tragedy GOLF COURSE fi rst hit headlines, thousands of people fl ocked to the area to witness the investigation unfold fi rst- BEAUTIFUL DINING AND BANQUET ROOMS WITH hand. The wooden panels of the wall are engraved OUTDOOR PATIOS OVERLOOKING THE GOLF COURSE with hundreds of names from people who visited La Porte at the height of the tumult. OUTDOOR POOL AND PLAYGROND AREA NEWLY CONSTRUCTED CLUBHOUSE WITH CASUAL AND FRIENDLY ATMOSPHERE A photo of Belle Gunness, FULL TIME GOLF PRO ON STAFF presumably taken in 1908, that COMPLIMENTARY DRIVING RANGE shows her with her chil- dren: Lucy, ASK ABOUT OUR NEW MEMBER TWO Myrtle and YEAR PROMOTIONAL PROGRAM Phillip. Photo courtesy of the La Porte County His- torical Society Museum. Along with original photos that document the 1900 Springland Ave., Michigan City, IN 46360 cast of characters involved in the sordid affair, an- (219) 872-8624 other interesting piece of the exhibit is an original [email protected] letter that Gunness wrote to Andrew Helgelien, her www.pottawattomie.com last victim. Gunness wrote more than 80 letters to Continued on Page 4 THE Page 4 October 17, 2013 Still a Mystery Continued from Page 3 him, a correspondence that lasted for 2 1/2 years.