I'm returning to Lake Mills next week, and the mystery around Addie's death just gets more and more interesting.

Personally, I'm 98% certain she did not die of diphtheria, as is stated on her death certificate.

The Reader's Digest version of this story is, in 1896, my great-grandmother's sister (Addie Hoyt), married Enoch Fargo, a very VERY wealthy older gent in Lake Mills, Wisconsin. Five years later, he'd found someone that he liked better, so he poisoned Addie with arsenic. Only thing was, she didn't die. She rallied and regained her good health.

Then, on June 19, 1901, he shot her at 2:00 in the morning. The family physician was summoned (Dr. Oatway) and Oatway falsified Addie's death certificate, to make it appear that she died of diphtheria, not a gun-shot wound. Enoch (it's alleged) paid him off to falsify the death certificate and participate in the cover-up.

With the "cause of death" listed as diphtheria, this provided Enoch with the excuse to get her buried fast, and Addie was IN the ground eight hours later and "laid to rest" before 10:00 am that morning.

This was highly unusual.

It's a long and complicated story, but in the last two months, I've found evidence that Oatway *did* falsify Addie's death certificate, and recently, I found even more compelling evidence.

In late 1901, Dr. Oatway (who was also the health officer for the county) filed a report with the state board of health in Wisconsin, stating that there were ZERO deaths from diphtheria in 1901 and that there were ZERO cases of diphtheria in 1901.

In other words, the scientist in Oatway trumped the scoundrel in Oatway. Either that, or he couldn't bring himself to lie in a state report. The report - covering the time period in which Addie died - says that NO ONE died of diphtheria in Lake Mills.

The state monitored the cases of Diphtheria and other communicable disease in an effort to halt their spread. I think Oatway couldn't bring himself to perpetuate the fraud when it came time to report all known contagious diseases in his part of Wisconsin.

This is an amazing bit of evidence and is one of about a dozen pieces of evidence I've found thus far.

I'm now looking into getting her exhumed. It's a slow and laborious process, and could take some time, but I feel strongly that I owe it to her. She was 29 years old when she was murdered, and Enoch was 51.

Addie on her wedding day (1896) and five years later (1901):

Addie's death certificate:

Addie on her wedding day:

Addie all dressed up:

Here is a link that might be useful: Oatway's report to the state board of health