On August 15th, 1914, while Frank Lloyd Wright was away on business, an unspeakably horrific event occurred at his home, Taliesin, in Spring Green, WI. Frank's mistress, Mamah Borthwick, her 2 children, Martha (8) and John (12) were killed, along with 4 draftsmen and laborers, in a hatchet attack by a live-in house servant, Julian Carlton. In 1903, Frank, by then a world-renowned architect and married to Catherine (Kitty) Wright, was commissioned by a neighboring couple in Oak Park, IL, a suburb of Chicago, to design their new home. The couple, Edwin and Mamah Cheney, were looking to move just over to the north side of town, and Frank accepted the commission. Soon after, Mamah and Frank began an affair which became headline news in the Windy City. Mamah was granted a divorce by Edwin. Frank, however, was not granted a divorce by Kitty, who hoped that he would recognize his mistake and return to her. The press coverage became so vicious, as Frank and Mamah were said to be living outside of the proper norms of society, that the two left their families and eloped to Europe for almost a year. Upon their return to the states, Frank and Mamah knew they could not go back to Oak Park, as they were vilified there, so Frank built them a refuge - a sprawling mansion and architecture studio he called "Taliesin," a Welsh word meaning 'shining brow.' The place he chose to build it was just outside of his mother's hometown, and where he spent much of his youth, Spring Green, WI, on what he remembered as his 'favorite hill' growing up. After moving into the home in 1911, Frank and Mamah were living as normal of lives as possible. The press continued to run scandalous, salacious stories on them, referring to the home as the "Love Bungalow," or the "Love Cottage," but the townsfolk seemed to be accepting of them more and more. Frank also began working more regularly (after his commissions took a hit from the bad press) and they seemed to have weathered the storm. In the summer of 1914, Frank was in Chicago putting the finishing touches on his current work at the time, Midway Gardens, a large indoor-outdoor concert venue that turned out to be short-lived.
August 15th, 1914 was a Saturday and Frank was due to be home the next day. Mamah's children were visiting her for the summer, which was an annual occurrence. On this particular Saturday, Mamah and her 2 children, John and Martha, were on the terrace off the main dining room of Taliesin, awaiting lunch. 4 laborers and 2 draftsmen were also in the home awaiting lunch, although they were in another dining room, approximately 80' from the terrace where Mamah and her children were. As events are believed to have occurred, Juilan Carlton, a servant who had just been hired by Frank 2 months prior, off of a recommendation, served the men their first course of lunch in their dining room. After leaving the room, the men all likely now talking and eating, Julian then went to serve lunch to Mamah, Martha and John - before killing all three with a shingling hatchet. After having done so, Julian then went back to the room the draftsmen and laborers were in, who apparently did not hear or were aware of anything that had happened outside of that room, poured gasoline under the door, and lit the room on fire. As the men fought their way through the smoke and panic out through the door, Juilan was waiting for them outside with the hatchet, killing 4 of the six men. 2 men survived and were able to run for help. When authorities and residents arrived on scene, they were horrified. Taliesin was on fire and 7 innocent people, including three children, would eventually die from the attack, as would Juilan, who was found cowering in the furnace of the home, having attempted suicide by drinking a vial of hydrochloric acid. Frank arrived home later that night after receiving a call about the news while working in Chicago. Devastated, he entered into an era of deep depression and personal turmoil. Always the creative genius, Frank Lloyd Wright eventually reinvented himself as an artist, and was able to channel his grief as motivation. He would create some of his most impressive works, in a lifetime of impressive works, after the horrific events of August 15th, 1914.
Frank and Mamah:
Onlookers surveying the carnage the day after:
The only known photograph of Julian Carlton and the murder weapon:
Main Sources:
Drennan, William R - Death in a Prairie House
Hendrickson, Paul - Plagued by Fire: The Dreams and Furies of Frank Lloyd Wright
McCrea, Ron - Building Taliesin: Frank Lloyd Wright's Home of Love and Loss
Attribution for logo design:
Red Claw Scratch Photo
Attribution for Music:
Trailer: Composer: Adam Phillip Zwirchmayr https://www.pond5.com/
Intro: https://pixabay.com/
Outro: Composer: Viacheslav Sarancha https://www.pond5.com/
Opening Trailer:
Ed Gein Sound Byte : "Hard Copy" - Paramount Domestic/CBS Televsion
Frank Lloyd Wright and Jeffery Dahmer Sound Byte - WISN 12 News - Milwaukee, WI
Jeffery Dahmer Quotes: "Inside Edition" - King World/CBS Television/CBS Media
