The Way West

Dr. Medlicott arrived in Lawrence, Kan., in 1868.

According to the Lawrence Weekly Times of Oct. 19, 1871, John J. Medlicott, of Irish decent was raised near Marietta, Ohio. He had served in the 2nd West Virginia Cavalry during the Civil War, having reached the rank of lieutenant by the time of his discharge Oct. 8, 1864. He studied medicine in Cincinnati and in 1868 was married to Mrs. Sarah E. Doyle of Hagerstown, Md.

Sarah was described as “many years his senior.” She was described as “an estimable lady ... possessed of some fortune at the time of their marriage, most of which was expended in the purchase of property in Lawrence, and in outfitting her husband for his profession” in their home on Kentucky Street.

Dr. Medlicott was highly respected in the community, at least until he made the acquaintance of Isaac Ruth and his wife Anne, who was more familiarly known as Kitty. Both Isaac and Kitty had somewhat questionable backgrounds.

Isaac Ruth had been in Lawrence from its earliest days in the 1850s. He drove a milk wagon for several years. As captain in the Union army he reportedly served with credit. However, while stationed at Altoona, Penn., he formed “a mature attachment” with the wife of Dr. G. P. Bennett.

The pair traveled to St. Louis where Mrs. Bennett was granted a divorce and subsequently married Mr. Ruth. The couple operated a boarding house for about a year, “when the lady died.”

Meanwhile, Isaac Ruth had made the acquaintance of Mrs. Anne “Kitty” Voullaire. Mr. Voullaire was described as a brilliant St. Louis criminal lawyer. Kitty was a beautiful, well-educated woman of Southern French Creole lineage. She had mastered several languages and reportedly an able musician. Ten years of marriage was rewarded with five children, yet the union was an unhappy one. Mr. Voullaire recognized that she was determined to leave him. He was twice poisoned with arsenic during his stormy married life. During one of their separations Kitty had once tried to poison herself. Voullaire consented to the divorce.

Five days after the divorce was finalized, Mr. Voullaire met Kitty returning to her residence with Mr. Ruth. Pistols were drawn and fired almost simultaneously. Voullaire missed just as the lead ball from Ruth’s pistol ripped through his chest. Voullaire was carried into a nearby boarding house where his divorced wife tended to him for several days until he was out of danger.

Ruth was arrested but the charges were dropped when Voullaire spoke for the man who had gained the affections of his former wife. Kitty Voullaire and Isaac Ruth were married that very day. Several months afterward in early 1868, Isaac and Kitty moved to Lawrence with four of Kitty’s five children. Isaac found work as a bookkeeper in a printing office and later became business manager for the Lawrence Tribune newspaper.

Having arrived in the same year as the Ruth family, Dr. Medlicott became the family physician. Kitty suffered from an undisclosed disease for which both morphine powders and quinine were prescribed. Dr. Medlicott and Mr. Ruth developed a friendship, often playing chess in Mr. Ruth’s room.

Dr. Medlicott returned home the morning of Dec. 16, 1870, after an all-night visit with a patient. Medlicott’s wife was “in a dying condition.”

He immediately went to a neighbor’s house “requesting the attendance of the lady of the house.” Three additional physicians were called in, but Mrs. Medlicott passed away before they arrived. Dr. Medlicott believed the cause to be apoplexy, bleeding in the brain leading to stroke. However, attending physicians noticed evidence of poison in the appearance of her condition. Medlicott refused to acknowledge the possibility of poison and arranged a burial the very next day.

The following April 27, 1871, the citizens of Lawrence were startled to learn that Isaac Ruth had been found dead in his bed. Suspicion soon turned to Dr. Medlicott. Ruth had worked late at the Tribune office, returning home about 8 o’clock in the evening. His wife was away in Leavenworth. Ruth and Dr. Medlicott played a game of chess. At 9:30 p.m. Ruth knocked on the door of his step-son, Belmont de Sprague, to say good night and went to his room.

Belmont always rose early to fold the morning’s newspapers. His family took their meals at the Pike Restaurant and with the folding finished, Belmont met his brother and sister there for breakfast. When he inquired where Mr. Ruth was, they replied that they were unable to wake him and supposed he was sound asleep as the door was locked.

Returning home, Belmont pried a back window open. Pulling a pillow to one side he found Ruth “looking very pale.” Efforts to revive him were in vain. Was it suicide, accident, or ... murder most foul? Thus, began one of the most publicized murder cases of nineteenth century. The truth is sometimes what you believe ... on The Way West.

Next Week: Entangled Love

“The Cowboy,” Jim Gray is author of the book Desperate Seed: Ellsworth Kansas on the Violent Frontier, Ellsworth, KS. Contact Kansas Cowboy, 220 21st Road, Geneseo, Kan. Phone (785) 531-2058 or kansascowboy@kans.com.