Eleanor Reindhardt and James Mills married in the year 1905, when James was 27 years old, and Eleanor was pregant, and still a teenager. After they married, they moved into 49 Carman street. They occupied a 4 room apartment on the second floor. The house's attic functioned as a bedroom shared by Eleanor and her daughter, Charlotte Mills. In 1922, Eleanor Mills was found murdered on the outskirts of town.
The brutality was awful. Her attacker shot her three times in the face, and slashed her throat from ear to ear. Months later, a tardy autopsy reported that her tongue and vocal cords may have been removed. At her feet were scraps of love letters, and at her side was the man to whom she had written them: the Reverend Edward Wheeler Hall, her parish priest and her husband's employer. Naturally, James Mills immediately became a suspect. But he pleaded his love for both the reverend and for Eleanor, and claimed he knew nothing of their affair. Eventually, the reverend's wife, the heiress Frances Noel Stevens Hall, was charged with the crime, along with her two brothers. They were aquitted before a jury of their peers.
This mini-cache contains a QR code that will unlock the next step in our exploration of the Hall-Mills tragedy. Good luck, and keep an eye out for our other Ghost Hunt geocaches.
After activating the QR code, you will hear:
Scene 1: An introduction to James Mills. James describes his work as a cobbler, then Sexton and finally the importance of trust between men.
Scene 2: Eleanor needed kidney surgery but couldn’t afford it. Reverend and Mrs. Hall make a house visit to inform the Mills that they will pay for the surgery.
Scene 3: Eleanor and James Mills fight about the amount of time she spends at the church.
Scene 4: On the afternoon of September 14th, the day of the murders, Charlotte sees Eleanor cut out a newspaper article about divorce.
Scene 5: The comings, goings, and conversations of James Mills on the night of the murders.
Scene 6: After the murders, Charlotte calls a press conference.