My 3rd cousin, 6x Removed- James Aaron Moon
If you ever visit Lafayette, Indiana, make sure you visit a legendary hotel named the Lahr. AND, if you're daring, stay in room 41.
Side Note: (I really liked my beginning so I kept it, although, you cannot stay in room 41... the building that once was the Lahr hotel, is now an apartment building, sadly).
In this room, 143 years ago, 38 year old James Aaron Moon committed suicide in the most unique fashion-even by today's standards! James was a civil war veteran, a farmer, husband and a father. He also took his own life with a homemade guillotine!
This is James Moon, born on 04 Jun 1838 in Mill Creek, Indiana. He was the son of Enoch Moon (1806-1881) and Elizabeth Lewis (1807-1868). He married Mary Cox (1837-1913) on 16 Sep 1858 and they had 6 children.
1. Arthur Tellus (1860-1925)
2. Adella C. (1862-1901)
3. John Luther (1867-1920)
4. William Aaron (1869-1941)
5. Frank Marion (1871-1931)
6. James Albert (1877-1926)
On Saturday, June 10, 1876, he checked into the Lahr Hotel and then went to a hardware store to purchase a 12 inch axe head and two pieces of iron plate. He purchased cotton batting and chloroform from a drugstore and retired to his room. By midnight he was dead.
With all of these items and a soap box and a candle, he had created an auto-decapitation machine.
His head lay inside the soap box which was lined with the cotton batting soaked in chloroform. The candle was used as a "trigger"- see pictures.
It is unclear why he why he wanted to die, but his death was ruled an suicide. His body was found by a maid the next morning. Because his door was locked, she had to enter in the joining room next to his.
How I am related to Moon:
Mordecai
Mendenhall (1713-1803)
(Common
Ancestor)
Aaron Mendenhall Siblings Richard Mendenhall
Dinah Mendenhall Joseph Mendenhall
Enoch Moon Richard Mendenhall
James Aaron Mendenhall
Richard
Mendenhall
Marion
R. Mendenhall
Earl
D. Mendenhall
Harold
E. Mendenhall
My
Mother
Me-Carrie
