In this, the second part of the tragic story of the St. Elizabeth’s Mental Hospital Fire of 1950, people across America were shocked by the disaster that had claimed the lives of 41 people. Fire and police investigators were eager to find out what had caused the blaze. When they did, the truth was almost too shocking and bizarre to believe.
Sources
Fire Probe Opens; Toll Rises to 40. The Daily Times, 1/9/1950
Funerals Start Today for Victim’s of St. Elizabeth’s Fire. The Daily Times, 1/9/1950
Sprinkler Systems for Public Buildings Demanded by Schick. The Daily Times 1/9/1950
Kin, Nuns Reduce Number of Victims Remaining Unidentified. The Daily Times, 1/9/1950
Need for State Code Is Emphasized by Hospital Disaster. The Daily Times, 1/9/1950
County to Bury All Unidentified Dead of Hospital Blaze. The Daily Times, 1/9/1950
Jury to Investigate Hospital Fire. The Democrat and Leader, 1/9/1950
Secret Probing of Fire Continues. The Daily Times, 1/10/1950
Final Arrangements Are Made for Burial of Fire Victims. The Daily Times, 1/10/1950
Fire Probers Hear Witnesses and Inspect Ruins. The Daily Times, 1/10/1950
Operate Mental Facilities at Hospitals, Psychiatrists Urge. The Daily Times, 1/10/1950
Inspector Assures Thorough Probe of Blaze at Hospital. The Daily Times, 1/10/1950
Coroner Wildman Operates Office on Full-Time Basis After Hospital Fire. The Daily Times, 1/10/1950
Hospital Fire Death Toll Reaches 41 as First Clew is Found. The Democrat and Leader, 1/10/1950
Plan Burial Rites for Unclaimed Bodies in St. Elizabeth’s Disaster. The Democrat and Leader, 1/10/1950
Woman, Who Lived Thru Fire in St. Elizabeth’s, Dies of Shock. The Democrat and Leader, 1/10/1950
Keep Secrecy Clamp on Fire Probe. The Daily Times, 1/11/1950
Mass Committal Service Friday at Sacred Heart Cathedral. The Daily Times, 1/11/1950
Probers Balked as Heroine Unable to Testify. The Daily Times, 1/11/1950
Hospital Fire Probe Remains Secret, Safety Chief Decides. The Democrat and Leader, 1/11/1950
Nurse’s Aide, Horrified by Fire Experience in Hospital Ward, Unable to Give Story to Board. The Democrat and Leader, 1/11/1950
Report Patient Confesses She Set Hospital Fire; Faces Murder Count. The Daily Times, 1/12/1950
Probers Knew of Impending Break: Schick. The Daily Times, 1/12/1950
Mrs. Epperly’s Words Recorded as She Confesses Starting Fire. The Daily Times, 1/12/1950
Find Lighter; Woman to Face Court. The Daily Times, 1/13/1950
Find Cigaret (sic) Lighter in Fire Ruins. The Democrat and Leader, 1/13/1950
Bury Last of Fire Victims Near Hospital. The Daily Times, 1/13/1950
Set Fire to Escape, Mrs. Epperly Says. The Daily Times, 1/13/1950
Preliminary Report on Fire Probe May be Presented by Officials Next Week. The Daily Times, 1/13/1950
Mrs. Epperly Lawyer Charges ‘Somebody’s Being Shielded.’ The Democrat and Leader, 1/15/1950
Mrs. Epperly Orders ‘Cold Plate’ Lunch Including Bottle of Milk in Place of Regular Jail Fare. The Democrat and Leader, 1/15/1950
Hospital Fire Investigators Quite Certain from Start of Probe Mrs. Epperly Set Fire. The Democrat and Leader, 1/17/1950
6 Factors Blamed in Mercy Fire. The Democrat and Leader, 1/24/1950
Evidence Presented to Board of Inquiry Probing Hospital Fire Supports Mrs. Epperly’s Confession. The Democrat and Leader, 1/25/1950
Murder Charge in Mercy Fire is Weakened. The Democrat and Leader, 2/2/1950
Mrs. Epperly, judged mentally Ill at R.I. Hearing, Scheduled to Enter East Moline Hospital. The Democrat and Leader, 2/2/1950
Coroner Jury Blames Mrs. Epperly for Fire. The Democrat and Leader, 2/3/1950
Evidence in Epperly Case Stored Away. The Democrat and Leader, 2/5/1950
Former City Policeman Dies in West. The Rock Island Argus, 11/22/1967
Dr. John H. “Jack” Sunderbruch. The Des Moines Register, 3/30/2006
Year: 1940; Census Place: Davenport, Scott, Iowa; Roll: m-t0627-01202; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 82-27
Year: 1940; Census Place: Davenport, Scott, Iowa; Roll: m-t0627-01202; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 82-20
United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007; Record Group Number: 29; Residence Date: 1950; Home in 1950: Rock Island, Rock Island, Illinois; Roll: 90; Sheet Number: 20; Enumeration District: 81-163
United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007; Record Group Number: 29; Residence Date: 1950; Home in 1950: Rock Island, Rock Island, Illinois; Roll: 90; Sheet Number: 14; Enumeration District: 81-163
United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007; Record Group Number: 29; Residence Date: 1950; Home in 1950: Rock Island, Rock Island, Illinois; Roll: 4081; Sheet Number: 79; Enumeration District: 81-139
National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for Iowa, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 49
State Historical Society of Iowa; Des Moines, Iowa; Iowa Death Records, 1888-1904
Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
St. Elizabeth Hospital Fire Inquest – Microfilm 977.769 Cor . The Inquest took place on February 2 and 3, 1950.
Condon, Sister Mary Brigid. From Simplicity to Elegance: The Story of Mercy Hospital, Davenport: 1869-1994. Davenport; Genesis Health System.