While there is no documented story of the “last scalping” and even though scalping was practiced through the turn of the century, I had my doubts. My first thought was this seems like a movie plot. If there had been a scalping then it certainly would have been reported in the newspapers, right?
I first started searching for Louise’s fate around 2011. And I was not able to find anything. I could not even find a death record. She had become my brick wall. I could not even trace her mother or stepfather further than what I had. Every once in a while, I would pull up her file and see if there were any new hints. I never gave up but did feel like this was the end of the story……..Until November of 2020.
I get notifications when new information is discovered about someone on my tree. And for Louise this was at the end of November. We do not know who Louise’s biological father is. We know that her mother Alice, married Benjamin Kerns in 1888. Louise was 3 years old. As stated at the beginning of the story by 1910 Ben and Alice lived on a farm in Avon Kansas. In their home lived their married son Benjamin age 21, a grandson named Jessi, aged 17 and a grandson, Lewis age 6. No Louise. But let me back up.
On June 25, 1908 it was reported in a local newspaper that Louise, who was going by Lizzie, was a housekeeper for a man named Horace Farrar. Because she had a 4 year old son living with her she was told in probate court that if she did not leave the employer then her child would be taken away and given to her divorced husband. (Harrison Keele) They tried to force her to go work for the head of the poor farm. But that is not all it said…..In fact it stated that Mr. Farrar was “a negro man”. And that is the only reason she was being told to leave. If she had been employed by a white man, then this would not have been an issue. The article first said that she was “keeping house for”, this would mean she was working as a domestic, or housekeeper. By the end of the paragraph they state that the boy is being reared by Mr. Farrar and herself implying that she was “keeping house with”. One word can change the entire picture.
Ultimately Louise did not go work at the poor farm……..A July 10, 1908 article states “Miss Louise Keele daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Kerns of Elmont will be married at the home of her parents on August 12 to Mr. H.C. Farrar of Topeka.” Mr Horace Farrar had been a student of Washburn College and a member of the football team. Just before their marriage they were seen walking arm in arm from the courthouse where they had just been granted a marriage license. It is quoted that “this is the latest development in the case that has long annoyed the Shawnnee County authorities” They were married after the 6 months limit that is required by law after a divorce and took up residents at 418 Van Buren Street in Topeka Kansas. The area is no longer residential. But in an article, it states that the house was across from the courthouse.
On December 9th at 2 O’clock in the afternoon neighbors noticed that Farrar was running up and down the sidewalk in front of the house. He was crying that his wife was dead. One article states that the Doctor felt that her dark coloring on her face was caused by being strangled, while another said she had died from poisoning. In the early stages of the investigation officers believed that her death was a violent one.
Horace gave a statement “I came home to dinner and the house was locked and my little girl (from his first marriage) was trying to get in. I broke the door in and smelled a strong odor of carbonic acid. I found a bottle about one-fourth full downstairs and told the little girl to throw it in the stove as I didn’t want the stuff with the children. Then the boy told me his mama was upstairs and I went up there at once. She lay there on the bed and was not quite dead, but she could not speak to me. I shook her four or five times and then sent the little girl out for the neighbors and I went and called the doctor. Dr. Keith came and said that she did not take carbolic acid, but he didn’t know what she had taken. He sent me to the drug store to see what she had bought, and they said she got carbolic acid and turpentine and nothing else. She left no note. We have had some troubles because she was jealous over me. They said I had been running with other women, but I had not. Once she had a moving van come to take away her trunks and clothes, but I persuaded her to stay.”
According to a second article, Horace was arrested, and even though his statements do not match the evidence they did not have enough proof that he murdered Louise. In the end, her death was ruled a suicide by unknown means. The articles revolving around both their marriage and her death give us a glimpse of the bigotry that existed. It shows “yellow journalism” at work skewing stories, twisting them into a more sensational store. Regardless of who it hurt.
