As the Great Depression gripped the nation, two mass murders claimed Iowa families only two months apart from each other. The details are as saddening as they are horrifying.
Sources
Mother Kills Six Children, Self. The Des Moines Register, 8/30/1937
Mother Kills Six Children, Ends Own Life. The Gazette, 8/30/1937
Mother Kills Self and Children. Picture, The Des Moine Tribune, 8/30/1937
Here a Mother and 6 Children Died. Pictures, The Des Moines Register, 8/30/1937
Pastor Voices Tribute to Mother’s Love at Rite’s for Seven. The Des Moines Tribune, 8/31/1937
2,000 Attend Rites for Mother and Children. The Des Moines Register, 9/1/1937
Albert Nollen (1901-1977) – Find a Grave Memorial
Elsie Marie Joens Nollen (1906-1937) – Find a Grave Memorial
United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.
Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Iowa Department of Public Health; Des Moines, Iowa; Series Title: Iowa Marriage Records, 1923–1937; Record Type: Marriage
Schwieder, Dorothy. Iowa: The Middle Land. Ames; Iowa State University Press, 1996.
Mother Kills 5 Children, Herself. The Des Moines Register, 10/31/1937
Grieving Father Views Bodies of 6. The Des Moines Register, 11/1/1937
Before McAninch Funeral Paster Ponders ‘Why Slaying?’ The Des Moines Tribune, 11/2/1937
500 Mourners Attend Rites. The Des Moines Register, 11/3/1937
Norwalk Mother and Five Slain Children Buried in One Huge Grave. The Des Moines Register, 11/3/1937
Father Back in Jail Here. The Des Moines Tribune, 11/4/1937
McAninch, 42, Is Indicted. The Des Moines Tribune, 11/9/1937
Pleads Guilty, Gets 6 Months. The Des Moines Register, 11/17/1937
Raye K. McAninch. The Des Moines Tribune, 5/4/1982
United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm.
The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War Ii Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) For the State of Iowa; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147; Box or Roll Number: 149
Iowa Department of Public Health; Des Moines, Iowa; Series Title: Iowa Marriage Records, 1880–1922; Record Type: Marriage
Year: 1940; Census Place: Des Moines, Polk, Iowa; Roll: m-t0627-01197; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 100-143A
Year: 1930; Census Place: Highland, Palo Alto, Iowa; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 0013; FHL microfilm: 2340406
http://www.findagrave.com/memorial/90586680/girness-roy-mcaninch
http://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27027510/alma-may-mcaninch
Gail Lavern ‘Bud’ McAninch (1926-2006) – Find a Grave Memorial