The only time I have ever been in Villisca Cemetery was when I was visiting the Moore family home for a paranormal investigation. My friends and I wanted to pay our respects to the family before staying in the home. As we were walking through the cemetery after, I spotted the grave of Ross Moore nearby. I recognized his name from what happened in 1912, as he was the first one in his brother’s home after the neighbors noticed something was wrong.
I took a picture of his grave with the intent to share it along with his brother’s grave and the story of what happened that June. I will write a post about Josiah’s family at a later time (while briefly mentioning it here) but I didn’t want Ross’s story to be solely about what was undoubtably the worst moment of his life.
June 5, 1877
Ross Moore is born in Page, Iowa to parents Charles and Mary.
He is their 11th child. His older siblings were:
- John B., born 1857
- Charles’s father’s name was John.
- James Grey, born 1859
- Mary’s maiden name was Gray and her father’s name was James
- Walter, 1861-1866
- He would be the only older sibling Ross wouldn’t get to meet. His cause of death isn’t known.
- Alice, born 1863
- Anna Belle, born 1865
- George Walter, born 1867
- Josiah B. aka Joe, born 1868
- Fenwick E. aka Fen, born 1870
- Charles Augustus, born 1872
- William Everett, born 1874
From 1857-1868 the Moore children were born in Hanover, Illinois. Fen was the first to be born in Iowa. At that time, the 1870 US Census has the family living in Douglas, Iowa and notes that Charles was a farmer; he’s noted as being born in Ireland while Mary was born in Illinois.
February 2, 1879
His younger sister, Minnie A., is born.
1880
The family is still living in Douglas, Iowa. Charles is working as a farmer, along with sons John (22), James (20) & George (13). Mary is listed as keeping house and Alice (16) and Anna Belle (15) are noted as being “at home.” Anna Belle, George, Joe (11), Fen (9), Charles (7) & William (5) are all noted as being in school.
February 17, 1881
His younger brother, Harry Elmer, is born.
July 12, 1883
His younger sister, Lulu M., is born.
February 2, 1884
Sadly, Lulu passes away at less than a year old. She is also buried in Villisca Cemetery.
1885
His younger brother, Raymond, is born
1886
Sadly, Raymond passes away, also at less than a year old. He is buried in Villisca Cemetery next to Lulu.
1895
His older brother, William Everett, passes away at age twenty. He’s buried with Raymond and Lulu.
1898
Ross serves in the Spanish-American War as a private.
1900
Per the US Census, Ross was living in Marshall, Iowa on Broad Street as a boarder; he was working as a clerk at a drug store.
April 30, 1902
He married Jessie B. Arnold in Villisca, Iowa.
Jessie was born in Illinois on October 12, 1878 to parents Wesley and Lyda. She would have 2 younger siblings: Howard and Florence. There is no 1890 or 1900 census records that I could find, but as of 1880 the Arnold family was still living in Illinois. The 1910 census shows her parents and sister living in Villisca.
February 15, 1903
Their first child, Charles Wesley, is born in Villisca; his first name was his paternal grandfather and his middle name was his maternal grandfather.
He married Gertrude Gamble in Cook, Illinois on August 3, 1927. They had one daughter, Eleanor, in 1929.
February 18, 1905
Their son, Robert Ross, is born in Villisca.
He married Dorothy Goldsberry in Nodaway, Missouri on February 10, 1934. They had one daughter, Nancy Jo, in 1935.
August 1, 1907
Their son, Arnold Franklin, is born in Villisca.
1910
Ross and his family were living in Villisca per the US Census. He’s listed as being the proprietor of a drug store.
November 28, 1910
His older sister, Anne Belle, passes away at age 44. She was married in 1893 to Samuel Moyer and they had five children: Fern Dee, Marie Antoinette, Juanita Florence, Harold Samuel & Helen Louise. Just a few months before in July, Helen passed away at eight months old; mother and daughter are buried in Villisca Cemetery.
June 9, 1912
In the early morning hours, Joe, his wife Sara, their four children (Herman, Katherine, Boyd & Paul) and two of their children’s friends (Lena & Ina Stillinger) were murdered by an intruder while they slept. The Moore home today is more commonly known as the Villisca Axe Murder House.
- Midnight: The approximate time of death.
- 4 am: Their next door neighbor wakes and begins her daily chores.
- 7 am: The neighbor, Mrs. Peckham, starts to worry that something is wrong at the Moore home, describing an “odd stillness.”
- Sometime before 8 am: Mary calls Ross in concern. He comes over soon after to investigate.
- Between 8:15 & 8:30 am: Ross comes running out of the house, telling Mary to call for help. He had found Lena & Ina’s bodies in the downstairs bedroom. His and Joe’s younger brother, Harry, arrives at the home as well, but is kept out to keep him from seeing.
While finding the 11 & 8 year old Stillinger girls was surely traumatic, I’m at least relieved that he didn’t venture upstairs in the home to find his brother, sister in law, nephews and niece.
The case is still unsolved today.
January 29, 1913
His father, Charles, passes away at age 80. One book I read notes that he was ill at the time of Joe’s funeral and “not fully aware.”
At the time of reading that I speculated he had dementia; no cause of death was available.
September 12, 1918
Ross is registered for the WWI draft. His occupation is listed as druggist (aka pharmacist) and he’s described as being a medium height with brown eyes and dark hair.
March 29, 1919
His mother, Mary, passes away at age 78. She and Charles are buried in Villisca cemetery.
1920
The US Census has Ross and his family still living in Villisca. They owned their home now and he was still the proprietor of the drug store.
In addition to their three boys, Ross and Jessie had their nephew living with them as well. Thomas Wesley Dodson was born to Jessie’s sister, Florence, and her husband Riley on October 1, 1912. Florence died two days later on October 3rd.
1930
Not much has changed for this census. Ross and his family are still living in Villisca and he is still running the drug store. Robert and Arnold are still living at home, but Charles (27) and Thomas (18) are not listed.
February 1, 1935
Ross passes away at age 57 at 2:30 pm per his death certificate. His death certificate notes that he hadn’t worked since September 1934. His cause of death was an ongoing heart condition.
February 3, 1935
Ross is buried in Villisca Cemetery.
February 8, 1935
His obituary is run in the Red Oak Sun.
“Ross Moore of Villisca died at his home after an illness of near a year but had been confined to bed for a week. The remains were buried at the Villisca Cemetery Sunday afternoon after a service at the Presbyterian Church by Rev. Mortensen. Ritual services of both Masonic and Spanish American War, in which he held membership, were held at the grave.
Born in Page county, his family moved to Villisca when he was a small boy. He was educated in Villisca schools and then attended a Des Moines college where he became a pharmacist. He then served in the Spanish-American War Company I, 51st in the Philippines. After the war he served as a pharmacist and later owned the Rexall Pharmacy.
Mr. Moore was married to Miss Jesse Arnold who survives him and also three sons.”
References
Villisca by Roy Marshall
Where to find Ross
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