5 Research Tools to Serial Killers in the Tree

Library of Congress: The Kelly Mass Murderers

Uncover Your Killer Kin
Before the FBI, before fingerprinting, and long before anyone coined the phrase “serial killers,” which was not until the 1970's, there were mass murderers or lust murderers, or Jack the Ripper. 

Our killer - kin left trails of violence that stretched across the wild west in the late 1700's while they travelled between American territories and states. The Harpe Brothers terrorized frontier travelers from Kentucky to Tennessee. Serial Killers often vanished under new names. They just blended into the frontier. But it wasn't just the wanderer. There were early women serial killers like Delphine LaLaurie, a wealthy socialite in 1830s New Orleans who tortured and killed enslaved people in her attic. And let's not forget the first serial killer of Wyoming, before it was a state, Polly Bartlett.

The list is long and your chance of learning of one in your community, crossing the path of your ancestors, or your ancestor being guilty of being a serial killer is not far-fetched.

Why?
Because all 50 states in the United States have had at least one notorious or unidentified serial killer operate within its borders. 

Sometimes they acted alone. Sometimes it was family and friend's "pasttime" like the Bloody Benders of Kansas, who lured travelers to their inn in the 1870s. They left, the area living the grounds filled with ....hmmm "parts", "human body parts.

Newspapers.com, 1873

This was not unique to America, even though our serial killer per capita is impressive. Serial killers, some women, like Mary Ann Cotton, an English woman, was suspected of poisoning over 20 people for insurance money.

Not My Ancestor! Are you sure?
This is a topic that genealogists wish to ignore. It goes beyond that "black sheep" in the family. And, it is true. Not everyone had a bonafide serial killer in the family. But some did have murders. Let's leave that topic for later

Just because your ancestor wasn't the serial killer, were they a victim of one? Have you checked the Court Record in a community for the timeframe that these killers took action? More than once have I found ancestral connections (for clients, not mine) in court record books. Serial killers often lived in the neighborhood. They were the friendly smile at the local mart, they were the dairyman. Your ancestor may have held the clue to solve the issue of missing persons in the community!

Finding Clues in the Records
Researchers may uncover hints in the following 5 records:

1. Court Records
2. Coroner’s inquests listing unidentified bodies.
3. Penitentiary registers with aliases or “unknown origins.”
4. Court dockets describing sensational trials.
5. Newspaper reports used vivid 19th-century language like “dastardly deed.”

Where to Get Started

If you are looking for a serial killer in your ancestor's community, you probably already have folklore, newspaper articles, or a suspicious hunch that drives you to learn more on the disappearance of people in your ancestor's community.

Let's consider what resources will assist: 

Search newspaper archives for crime reports (Chronicling America, GenealogyBank).
Visit county courthouses for trial records or indictments.
Check state archives for prison or asylum rosters.
Investigate coroners’ inquests - they often name witnesses or relatives.
Review cemetery databases for unmarked graves or unknown burials.

Leads to your Killer Kin

• Victims in unmarked graves

• Ancestors who went missing

• Unknown children connected to violent offenders

• People who changed their identities after crimes

• Consider DNA testing with forensic opt-in option. GEDmatch, FTDNA are the leading tools for cold cases. Using mtDNA, Y-DNA, autosomal testing, and forensic genealogy platforms like GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA, cold cases from the 1700s - 1800s are being revisited

  Forensic genealogy allows scientists and descendants to identify remains from the 1800s.
  Using Y-DNA, mitochondrial DNA, or autosomal matches, we can:
  

  • Reunite unknown victims with their families.
  • Confirm, or refute legends of criminal ancestors.
  • Match skeletal remains to known family lines from early settlements.

5 Research Tips

1. Killer.Cloud: birth months, states, and female serial killers
   This list isn’t just trivia; it gives the family historian data to analyze. Genealogists can use birth months and timelines to track aliases, movements, and identity gaps when studying criminal ancestors.

2. Library of Congress Early American serial killers
   The Library of Congress even has a summary of early killers. This is a great resource for genealogists looking for context.

3. Online and Local Newspapers
   Newspapers.com, GenealogyBank, Chronicling America

4. Court and coroner’s inquests
   Be sure to also look at guardian records that my provide additional court data. 

5. State archives and  penitentiary registers
   Remember, women prisoners may have been placed in homes or in an adjacent county/state.

"Happy Holidays" doesn't seem right to sign off with this post. But, wishing you a happy holiday anyway!

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