Ed Gein's Childhood up to Early Adulthood
Ed was the son of George and Augusta Gein, born in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His parents had two children, both boys, the older named Henry George Gein and the younger named Edward Theodore Gein. Ed’s parents had a horrible marriage, one where Augusta loathed her husband, but refused to get divorced because of the family’s strong Lutheran beliefs. Gein’s mother ran a small grocery store and later bought a farm in Plainfield, Wisconsin. Augusta’s reason for moving the family to the outskirts of the small town was to prevent outsiders from influencing her sons.
Augusta kept her children very sheltered, and Ed was only allowed to leave the farm to go to school. Other than school, Ed mostly spent his time on the farm doing chores, which kept him from making many friends as a child. Even if Ed attempted to make friends, his mother would punish him for doing so. Ed was very shy and soon became a large target for bullies. As if this wasn't enough for the young Edward, his mom took it upon herself to influence her sons about the wickedness of the world. She told them that all women, herself not included, were prostitutes and were tools of the devil. Every afternoon, she saved time to read to Edward and Henry verses from the Old Testament that specifically dealt with death, murder, and divine retribution. Throughout the boys’ childhood, Augusta was convinced that they would grow up to be a failure like their father, and abused them frequently. The brothers really only had each other for company during their teens and the beginning of their adulthood.
After Gein’s father died of a heart attack in 1940, the two boys starting doing odd jobs to help their mother with expenses. The majority of the community believed both brothers to be very reliable and quite honest; Ed was regularly asked to babysit for neighbors. As Ed’s brother, Henry, got older, he began to worry about how attached Ed was to Augusta.
In May of 1944, Henry decided to burn a marsh off of their property, but the fire burned out of control and Ed had to go inform the fire department. Ed told them that he had lost track of his brother during the fiasco. When the fire was under control, and all the men had returned home, a search party began, and Ed led police right to where Henry was found dead, lying face down by the site of the fire. Authorities said that Henry had been dead for a lengthy period of time because of a heart attack, and his death was not a cause of the fire. Many years later, in a biography about Ed Gein by Harold Schechter, it was reported that Henry had bruises on his head. Some investigations tried to decide whether or not Ed had killed his brother, but there were never any extra charges filed against him.
Approximately a year after his brother’s death, Ed’s mother died after a series of strokes. Ed was absolutely devastated by this because he had been so attached to her. He stayed on his family’s farm and supported himself by continuing his work of odd jobs. Ed ended up closing off any rooms his mother had used which included the entire upstairs, the living room, as well as the downstairs parlor. Gein then became highly interested in reading death-cult magazines and several adventure stories.
http://www.wisconsinsickness.com/ed-gein/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gein
Image: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/8458
Augusta kept her children very sheltered, and Ed was only allowed to leave the farm to go to school. Other than school, Ed mostly spent his time on the farm doing chores, which kept him from making many friends as a child. Even if Ed attempted to make friends, his mother would punish him for doing so. Ed was very shy and soon became a large target for bullies. As if this wasn't enough for the young Edward, his mom took it upon herself to influence her sons about the wickedness of the world. She told them that all women, herself not included, were prostitutes and were tools of the devil. Every afternoon, she saved time to read to Edward and Henry verses from the Old Testament that specifically dealt with death, murder, and divine retribution. Throughout the boys’ childhood, Augusta was convinced that they would grow up to be a failure like their father, and abused them frequently. The brothers really only had each other for company during their teens and the beginning of their adulthood.
After Gein’s father died of a heart attack in 1940, the two boys starting doing odd jobs to help their mother with expenses. The majority of the community believed both brothers to be very reliable and quite honest; Ed was regularly asked to babysit for neighbors. As Ed’s brother, Henry, got older, he began to worry about how attached Ed was to Augusta.
In May of 1944, Henry decided to burn a marsh off of their property, but the fire burned out of control and Ed had to go inform the fire department. Ed told them that he had lost track of his brother during the fiasco. When the fire was under control, and all the men had returned home, a search party began, and Ed led police right to where Henry was found dead, lying face down by the site of the fire. Authorities said that Henry had been dead for a lengthy period of time because of a heart attack, and his death was not a cause of the fire. Many years later, in a biography about Ed Gein by Harold Schechter, it was reported that Henry had bruises on his head. Some investigations tried to decide whether or not Ed had killed his brother, but there were never any extra charges filed against him.
Approximately a year after his brother’s death, Ed’s mother died after a series of strokes. Ed was absolutely devastated by this because he had been so attached to her. He stayed on his family’s farm and supported himself by continuing his work of odd jobs. Ed ended up closing off any rooms his mother had used which included the entire upstairs, the living room, as well as the downstairs parlor. Gein then became highly interested in reading death-cult magazines and several adventure stories.
http://www.wisconsinsickness.com/ed-gein/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gein
Image: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/8458