The 1912 Villisca Axe Murders Blog

RAGBRAI Rider's Guide to Villisca, Iowa - Finding the Axe Murder Victims in the Cemetery

Several key figures in the axe murder mystery are buried in close proximity.

RAGRBAI riders who visit Villisca, Iowa will want to make one last stop before they leave this city of history and mystery.  The town's beautifully manicured cemetery is located on the north side of the city.

From the city square turn your bike east on East 3rd Street and then turn left or north on South 5th Avenue.  5th Avenue takes you directly to the cemetery entrance.

Once inside the cemetery gate, pedal straight and turn left at the first cemetery road leading west.  The Moore family graves are on your left about three rows from the north-south road.*  Once at the distinctive Moore family grave marker, one large stone and a long low stone, the Stillinger girls' graves are slightly southeast in the first row. (see diagram above)

Almost directly east on the other side of the northbound road and under a tree is Iowa State Senator and axe murder suspect F. F. Jones' gravestone. (see diagram above)

If you have the time to walk around the cemetery, and you are familar with the Villisca axe murder mystery, you will find other names you recognize.  Several have been profiled in the Virtual Villisca Cemetery on this blog.

To exit the city, travel south on the main cemetery road back to 5th Avenue and turn right on High Street.  Pedal west until you reach Highway 71.  This intersection is your last opportunity for refreshments or Villisca: Living with a Mystery DVDs at Casey's General Store.

Thank you for visiting Villisca and have a safe and enjoyable RAGBRAI ride!

*In the diagram above, the main north-south cemetery road runs between the Stillinger graves and the Jones family graves.

RAGBRAI Rider's Guide to Villisca, Iowa - Following the Bloodhound Trail

This diagram shows the beginning of the trail taken by bloodhounds on June 10, 1912 from the Moore house.

If your RAGBRAI adventure in Villisca, Iowa has taken you to the site of Iowa's most intriguing true crime, the Josiah B. Moore house at 508 East 2nd Street, you have the option of cycling the route taken by bloodhounds as they followed the escape path of the killer.

In the diagram above you will note that the dogs lept off the porch heading east and then turned north on South 6th Avenue.  Then they turned west on East 1st Street.  Pause, as the dogs did, as you reach the intersection of East 1st Street and North 5th Avenue.  The large yellow house on the northwest corner once belonged to State Senator and axe murder mystery suspect Frank Fernando Jones.

The former Jones house is a private residence, so please do not trespass or otherwise disturb the occupants.

Detective Wilkerson claimed the dogs strained at their leashes and tried to reach the Jones house.  Eyewitnesses, however, said the dogs stopped to answer a call of nature.

Continue West on East 1st Street and turn south on South 1st Avenue and ride until you find the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks.  These tracks are active.  Do not attempt to cross them here.

In 1912 the dogs crossed the tracks and continued south until they reached the Nodaway river.  They also followed an identical trail the following morning.  A number of items were discovered near the river (many thought they were left there by transients...called hobos in those days), but the dogs were unable to pick up a trail beyond the river.

In the diagram below, note how the trail seems to deliberately avoid the center of town--two blocks north of the city square and two blocks west.

Tomorrow, in the final post in our RAGBRAI Rider's Guide to Villisca, Iowa, I'll post directions to the cemetery north of town where you can visit the graves of the eight victims of the 1912 axe murders.

The diagram above shows the entire bloodhound trail as described above.

RAGBRAI Rider's Guide to Villisca, Iowa - Finding the Axe Murder House

The Villisca axe murder house is located at 508 East 2nd Street in Villisca, Iowa.

As a RAGBRAI rider visiting Villisca, you likely want to know where you can find the Villisca axe murder house.  The home is the site of the 1912 murders of the six-member Moore family and two visiting Stillinger girls (pronounced by the family "still-ing-er"...no hard "g" as in "Dillinger").

The house was purchase by a privately-owned local museum and it has been restored to 1912 vintage.  In the beginning the house was appropriately operated as a historic site.  It is on the National Register of Historic Places.  It is now operated as a haunted house and holy grail for paranormal enthusiasts.

Unfortunately for the victims' families, the yard is festooned with a blood-drenched "Villisca Axe Murder House" sign that used to be perched on the porch.  This aside, you can still visit the house, or ride by, and appreciate the notion that on June 9, 1912 it was the tiny home of a local entrepreneur and his growing family.

Guided tours are laden with folklore focused on the relatively new notion (late 1990s) that the house is haunted by members of the murdered family and/or (depending on which ghost-hunters you talk with) the killer or killers.

The trouble with the edicts issued by some paranormal enthusiasts and "psychics" is that their rhetoric and declarations don't match the known historical record.  To be fair, a minority of visiting experts have declared the house "not haunted."

Armed with a previous viewing of Villisca: Living with a Mystery, you'll be in possession of enough facts to successfully navigate this macabre historic site.  Or, see the film after your visit for the true story of Iowa's worst mass murder.

Now, on to the Moore house.  From the square, turn your bike north on South 3rd Avenue (west side of the city square) and pause at East 2nd Street.  The white house to your left (on East 2nd Street), the former Presbyterian manse with the tiny upstairs porch, housed murder suspect Reverend Lyn George Jacklin Kelly on the night of June 9, 1912.  By turning right onto East 2nd Street you are now following the path Kelly confessed he took when he murdered the Moores and Stillingers.

The Moore's were Presbyterian (the church on your left) and State Senator and murder suspect Frank Jones was a Methodist (the rebuilt church on your right).  Continue east until the street terminates at South 6th Avenue.  The last house on your left at 508 East 2nd Street, the one with dripping blood on the sign and the barn in the back yard, is the Josiah B. Moore family home.

Tomorrow I'll provide two posts.  One showing you how to follow the trail taken by bloodhounds from the murder scene to the Nodaway River, and another on a reverential visit to the victims' graves in the cemetery as you pedal out of town.

RAGBRAI Riders Guide to Villisca, Iowa - Murder Mystery Sites on or Near the City Square

A model of Villisca's city square circa 1942 is part of the Villisca Historical Society's display in the Armory on the southeast corner of the square.

Now that you have found your way to Villisca, and more specifically to the city square, what is there to see and do?

If food and drink is what you need, the following are located on or near the square:

D&D Bar and Grill
307 E. 4th Street

Evie's Coffee Cup
313 East 4th Street

City Lounge
414 South Third Avenue

You passed Casey's General Store on your way into town and you'll pass it again as you pedal away from the city and on to Greenfield.

If you are interested in the axe murder mystery we will offer some suggestions regarding significant sites.  Before you begin or as you move around the square, be sure to stop at the Villisca Chamber of Commerce booth on the square where you'll find cool RAGBRAI t-shirts, Villisca postcards, and Villisca: Living with a Mystery DVDs.

Then stop at the Villisca Historical Society's military history display in the Armory.  Yes, they have Villisca postcards and DVDs, too. : )

There are also several retail stores, including a Stoner Drug store, in case you need to stock up on supplies or sundries.  And, there's a restroom in City Hall (shhh...don't tell anyone) along with a display of local history items.

Historian Dr. Bruce Stillians once remarked that he wondered what townspeople did with all the horse manure generated when the 1912 murders triggered a visit by several thousand gawkers.  RAGBRAI riders are likely to generate some natural byproducts, too.

You passed Casey's General Store on your way into town and you'll pass it again as you pedal away from the city and on to Greenfield.

But first, the axe murder mystery (click on the photo below for a larger image)...

A. Former location of axe murder victim Josiah B. Moore's implement store.

B. Location of State Senator and axe murder suspect F. F. Jones' implement store (now part of the Olson Museum).

C. Jones' bank, built in 1912.

D. Current City Hall, formerly a bank.

E. Former location of 1912 City Hall and firehouse.

F. Historic Armory.  Company F was called out to keep order after the murders.

G. The approximate location in the square where a platform was built for the axe murder victims' funeral.

Tomorrow we'll leave the square for points north including the Villisca axe murder house.

Again, here's a city map that might be useful.

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Villisca&state=IA

RAGBRAI Riders Guide to Villisca - How to Get There from Here

The Villisca, Iowa water tower beckons visitors to a city of history & mystery.

After an overnight stay in Red Oak, Iowa the 2009 RAGBRAI route winds its way through Stanton and then east onto county road H46.  H46 (250th Street) terminates at highway 71 and you must either turn left toward highway 34 to continue your ride to Greenfield, or you turn right to make a stop in one of Iowa's most unique towns, Villisca.

There are many reasons to stop in Villisca, not the least of which is that it is the site of one of the nation's best known murder mysteries: the 1912 axe murders.  It is also steeped in a long tradition of military service and the location of a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo during WWII.

After turning right (south) on highway 71 you will turn left in half a mile or so onto High Street at Casey's General Store (where you can by refreshments and Villisca: Living with a Mystery DVDs).

To find the city square (yes, it's a small town but we've heard plenty of stories from people who drove aimlessly around town never finding anything they were looking for) cycle up High Street and turn right on South 3rd Avenue.  Then pedal south five blocks or so to the city square, where most of the action will be on Monday, July 20, 2009.

In the next couple of days I will suggest several different ways to "see the sights" in Villisca depending on how much time you want to spend there.  I will also provide an insider's guide to little-known murder mystery sites in town.

In the meantime, the best way to learn about America's greatest unsolved mystery before you visit Villisca, is to see Villisca: Living with a Mystery.

Click on the link below to view a map of Villisca:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=villisca,+map&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&oe=UTF-8&rlz=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&split=0&gl=us&ei=3plcSqTWEYKwNsq19b8C&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1

RAGBRAI - A Bike Rider's Guide to the Axe Murder Mystery in Villisca, Iowa

Villisca's RAGBRAI T-shirt design.

The Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) is scheduled to arrive in Villisca, Iowa on July 20, 2009.  Over the next week we will provide a guide to visiting Villisca for bike riders interested in exploring the site of the 1912 axe murders on two wheels.

As always, you can look elsewhere for true crime folklore, factlore, or fantasy.  Visit this blog, VilliscaMovie.com or view Villisca: Living with a Mystery for the true story of America's greatest unsolved mystery.

The real history requires no embellishment.