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Who's Who
 Names beginning with
 A B C D E F G H IJ K L M N O PQ R S T UV W XYZ
This index includes people in Alchemy of Bones, others connected with the Luetgert case and names that came up during the author's research.
Names in bold appear in the book. All addresses and ages are from 1897, and all addresses are in Chicago unless noted otherwise.
 © 2003 Robert Loerzel.

Henry Labouchere A British politician and the editor of London Truth, a newspaper that exposed a blackmail scheme involving Robert Davey.

"When Mr. Labouchere was writing at large in the early days of Truth, he made a great many people extremely angry, and some never forgave him… …Mr. Labouchere had a certain combativeness of disposition, and he was from the first bent upon using Truth for the exposure of abuses and frauds on the public. Consequently, in a certain number of cases he deliberately laid himself out to attack individuals, regardless of the penalties of the law of libel."  (Algar Labouchere Thorold, The Life of Henry Labouchere, London: Constable and Company Ltd., 1912; pages 452-453.)
George Lang A detective assigned by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office who investigated a plot at the Soldiers’ Home in Milwaukee to concoct false testimony about Mrs. Luetgert.
Albert Lange


Chicago Times-Herald, Jan. 10, 1898.

 The superintendent of the Dunning asylum and poorhouse.

Read more about the Dunning asylum and the case of the Dunning body-snatchers.
Ida Larsen An acquaintance of the Schimke sisters. 
Lattes A Cook County bailiff mentioned in coverage of the Luetgert trials.  First name unknown.
Frank Lavandowski


Chicago Daily News, Sept. 21, 1897.

 An employee at the Luetgert factory and a key witness in the trials. Nickname: "Ham Frank."
Address: 1022 N. Lincoln Street.
Occupation: At the time of the Luetgert trials, he was working as a laborer on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad near Evanston.
Variations of name: Jacob or Frank Lewandowski, Lavandofski, Lavandoski or Lowandowski. 
Louise Law A cousin of Louise Luetgert who went insane, she supposedly died in Kankakee asylum. Maiden name: Meinking.
Variations of name: Louise Lah.
Sister of Sophia Tews.
Frances Le Baron A woman alleged to have impersonated Mrs. Luetgert in Kenosha. Address: In early January 1898, she was staying at the Woman’s Model boarding house at Polk Street and Blue Island Avenue.
Age in December 1897: 20.
Mother was Mary Carter.
Variations of name: Mrs. LeBarron.
 
Edwin R. LeCount A doctor who testified for the defense in the second Luetgert trial. Occupation: Physician.
Address: Office, 1302 W. Madison.
Positions: Associated with Rush Medical College.
Variations of name: E.R. LeCompte.
August Leske A worker for a hosiery company in Kenosha who was mentioned in coverage of the supposed Mrs. Luetgert sightings in Kenosha. Variations of name: August Nessler.
Merton Lewis Lewis said he had planned to burglarize the Luetgert factory on May 1. He said he saw the Luetgerts that night. Lewis never testified, however, so his story seems questionable.  Read a newspaper article about Lewis's story. Occupation: Plumber.
Address: Somewhere on the West Side.
Rudolph Liebrecht


Chicago Journal,
Sept. 11, 1897.

 A reporter for the German-language newspaper Illinois Staats-Zeitung, who testified about grand-jury proceedings and also worked occasionally during the trials as an interpreter for German-speaking witnesses. Occupation: Reporter.
Address: 47 Clark Street.


Chicago Daily News, Sept. 11, 1897.
Louis Lingg One of the anarchists tried in the Haymarket Square bombing case, he was arrested in a dramatic scene by Herman Schuettler. He died in prison before he could be hanged, when a dynamite cap exploded. Historians have debated whether he killed himself. 
Albert Link Link married Christine Feld sometime after the Luetgert trials. The new couple moved to Indiana. 
William and Edward Lister Brothers with a glue business who testified in the Luetgert trial. 
Litel A Cook County bailiff mentioned in coverage of the Luetgert trials.  First name unknown.
John S. Lithschild A reporter for Chicago Journal, he took part the in scheme to listen in on the jury. 
Jacob A. Loeb A juror in the second Luetgert trial.

There's no immediately obvious connection between this Jacob Loeb and the family of Richard Loeb, who later became an infamous killer. Richard Loeb did have an uncle named Jacob, but that Jacob Loeb was the son of Moritz Loeb rather than Adolph.

Age: 24.
Address: 528 Dearborn Avenue.
Student in applied mechanics at Armour Institute. He had previously studied science for five years in Germany.
Single.
Religion: Jewish.
His father was banker and real-estate salesman Adolph Loeb.
John H. Long A Northwestern University professor, who testified as an expert for the Luetgert defense. 
Jacob Loewenstein A Chicago police officer who helped Herman Schuettler to arrest Louis Lingg. In 1889, he and Michael Schaack were dismissed from the police force when it was learned that Loewenstein had stolen goods in his possession. 
Cesare Lombroso Italian criminologist who pioneered the theory that physical characteristics such as the shape of ears predict a person's tendency toward criminal behavior.
John Ludes One of the suspects arrested in Dunning morgue thefts. Read more about the Dunning asylum and the case of the Dunning body-snatchers. Variations of name: John Luders.
Adolph Louis Luetgert The central figure of Alchemy of Bones.

View the Luetgert-Bicknese family tree.
Antoinette Luetgert A daughter of Heinrich Arnold Luetgert.
Arnold Luetgert Adolph's brother, his full name was Heinrich Arnold Luetgert. 
Arnold C. Luetgert Adolph Luetgert’s eldest son and his staunch defender during the trials.
Caroline Luetgert (nee Roepke) Adolph Luetgert's first wife.
Elsie Luetgert Adolph and Louise Luetgert's daughter.
Elmer Paul Luetgert Adolph and Louise Luetgert's youngest child.
Heinrich Arnold Luetgert The younger brother of Adolph Luetgert, commonly known as Arnold.
Louis A. Luetgert Adolph Luetgert's second-eldest son, and the eldest child from the marriage with Louise Bicknese.
Louise Luetgert (nee Bicknese) Adolph Luetgert's wife, who disappeared on May 1, 1897, prompting the Chicago police investigation that led to Adolph Luetgert's arrest on murder charges.
Louise Luetgert The first child of Adolph and Louise Luetgert.
Max Luetgert The first child of Adolph and Caroline Luetgert.
Moses H. Luke The deputy warden at the Illinois State Penitentiary in Joliet at the time of Luetgert's arrival.
Jake Luthart A man who appeared at Chicago City Hall on February 1, 1898, and said he had seen Mrs. Luetgert within the previous forty-eight hours. He offered to produce her for $20,000. Police dismissed him as a crank. The Tribune described him as "a wild-eyed man, wearing a two weeks' growth of beard."

Police Superintendent Joseph Kipley told the Chicago Journal:

"A man answering this one's description and giving the same name has been bothering me for some time. He has sought me at the office and has followed me on the street, saying that he has something very important to tell me. But when I would stop and ask him his business, he would go off on a rambling discourse and would disappear. He wrote me a long letter, signing himself Luthart. The missive was full of nonsense, and I tossed it into the waste basket. He is a crank of the first water and you may rest assured of that. He gets ideas into his head that he has something of great importance but when you talk with him you find he does not know what he is about. He has been dodging around these halls for days, and no doubt will appear again with some story. He pretends to know me, and greets me in an effusive manner, but until he started to bother me I never saw him before to the best of my knowledge."