Harry Kendall Thaw
| Harry Kendall Thaw | |
|---|---|
Thaw circa 1905
|
|
| Born |
February 12, 1871 Allegheny City,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | February 22, 1947 (aged 76) Miami, Florida, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Resting place | Allegheny Cemetery |
| Education |
University of Pittsburgh Harvard University |
| Known for | Murder of Stanford White |
| Spouse(s) | Evelyn Florence Nesbit |
| Children | Russell William Thaw |
| Parent(s) |
William Thaw Mary Sibbet Copley |
| Relatives |
Alice Cornelia Thaw (sister) Benjamin Thaw, Sr. (brother) |
Harry Kendall Thaw (February 12, 1871 – February 22, 1947) was the son of Pittsburgh coal and railroad baron William Thaw, Sr. Heir to a multimillion-dollar mine and railroad fortune, Thaw had a history of severe mental instability and led a profligate life. His historical legacy rests on one notorious act: on June 25, 1906, on the rooftop of Madison Square Garden, Thaw murdered renowned architect Stanford White, who had sexually assaulted Thaw's wife, model/chorus girl Evelyn Nesbit.
Plagued by mental illness since childhood, Thaw spent money lavishly to fund his obsessive partying, his drug addiction, and the gratification of his sexual appetites. The Thaw family wealth allowed them to buy the silence of those individuals who threatened to make public the worst of Thaw’s reckless behavior and licentious transgressions. Throughout his life, however, he had several serious confrontations with the criminal justice system, which resulted in his incarceration in mental institutions.
Thaw shot and killed Stanford White as a result of his jealousy over the relationship between his wife, Evelyn Nesbit, and White. After one hung jury, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Years later, White's son Lawrence Grant White would write, "On the night of June 25th, 1906, while attending a performance at Madison Square Garden, Stanford White was shot from behind [by] a crazed profligate whose great wealth was used to besmirch his victim's memory during the series of notorious trials that ensued."
Thaw was born on February 12, 1871, to Pittsburgh coal and railroad baron William Thaw, Sr., and his second wife, Mary Sibbet (Copley) Thaw. The elder Thaw fathered eleven children from his two marriages. Thaw had five siblings, Margaret (born 1877), Alice Cornelia (born 1880), Edward (born 1873) and Josiah (born 1874). A brother born a year before Harry, died an accidental death in infancy, smothered by his mother’s breast while he lay in her bed. There was a history of insanity on his mother’s side of the family, and Thaw’s mother herself was known for her abuse of the servants, and episodes of ungovernable temper.
...
Wikipedia