Lawyer pens book on murderous relative

When Stephen Terrell began looking into the genealogy of his family during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he had no idea the search would lead him to a three-year investigation into the murderous actions of a man in his lineage.

That pursuit led to the publication of his latest book, “The Madness of John Terrell: Revenge and Insanity on Trial in the Heartland,” which hits the market more than 120 years after the crime.

“It involves probably the most notarized, most infamous murder in Indiana in the early 1900s,” Terrell said.

The book follows the actions and fallout of Terrell’s great-uncle, John Terrell, who murdered his former son-in-law Melvin Wolfe in 1903. Wolfe had abused John’s daughter, Lucy, with whom he had a child, and harassed the family.

“It was done in rather spectacular fashion that ended up in more than 600 newspapers across the country, including on the front page of The New York Times,” Terrell said.

“The Madness of John Terrell” is Terrell’s fourth full-length book, with the first being published in 2012.

Terrell’s books often highlight themes of criminal justice, while his assortment of short stories frequently pull from personal family tales. However, “The Madness” is the first to combine both.

And despite sharing a last name, Terrell said he’d never heard of his great-uncle’s shocking story.

It was even more of a surprise because so many family stories have been passed down over the years, but never this one,” Terrell said.

Family research

Terrell retired from his more than 40-year career in law shortly before the pandemic forced many people across the world into their homes in the spring of 2020.

With so much time on his hands, especially as a retiree, Terrell started tracing his family roots.

From his research, Terrell learned his great-grandfather was married to another woman prior to marrying his second wife, Terrell’s great-grandmother. From that first marriage came two children, including John Terrell..

John died in 1916. While searching for John’s death notice on newspapers.com, Terrell stumbled upon an article discussing both John’s death and the circumstances of his life.

What he read stunned him.

“John W. Terrell succumbs here: Wells County man who murdered son-in-law dies at home of daughter,” read a 1916 article from a Muncie newspaper.

“And you read that, and immediately you just have got to know more about this,” he said. “And it was very quickly after that I found a couple of news stories that talked about the amazing circumstances of the murder, and it was off to the races.”

The Muncie newspaper article went on to explain that in July 1903, Terrell ambushed Wolfe as the latter drove past Terrell’s residence. According to the family, Wolfe often drove past the Terrell residence, shouting taunts at Lucy and the family.

On one occasion, John retaliated, lying in wait until Wolfe showed up. Wolfe didn’t die instantly, so John showed up at the hospital and shot him again.

“Just to make sure, John put his shotgun against Melvin’s head and pulled the trigger,” Terrell said. “The dramatic nature of that is why it hit the AP, why it was on the front page of The New York Times.”

The story, however, didn’t end with Wolfe’s death. Terrell said it continued to grow more interesting during John’s trial.

While Terrell was convicted by a jury of murder, he was declared insane and taken to an asylum until 1908. Eventually, he would spend time in the Wells County Jail before going to live with daughter Lucy.

Using several local resources, like the Indiana Archives and the Wells County Historical Society, Terrell was able to pull together the threads of the true story.

Local history

While researching, Terrell said he learned not only about his family, but what life was like in Indiana in the early 20th century.

Melvin Wolfe, for example, married John’s daughter after getting her pregnant, avoiding a proceeding to be held liable for the child had the marriage not happened.

“John was adamant that either Melvin was going to get married, or he was going to end up facing charges, and so he did get married,” Terrell said.

A “bastardy” law at the time required the father of a “bastard” child to provide childcare support in instances where the child’s mother and father weren’t married, according to “Paternity Laws: Analysis and Tabular Summary of State Laws Relating to Paternity and Support of Children Born out of Wedlock,” published by the U.S. Department of Labor in 1938.

The law would’ve been in place when John Terrell killed Melvin Wolfe, according to a 2015 discussion with Kaaryn Gustafson, a professor of law at the University of California in Irvine.

Gustafson said bastardy laws were upheld through the early 20th century, and in the northern part of the country, the law acted as a civil statute, unlike the south, where it was criminal.

“In the North, bastardy laws were basically the precursor to child (support) enforcement laws we have today,” she said.

Beyond the contents of the case, Terrell also mapped out the settings of John’s trial and conviction.

The current Wells County Public Library, for example, sits on the grounds of the old Wells County Jail.

On Oct. 29, Terrell gave a presentation on his book at the library.

“A lot of the people in the community are kind of familiar with the crime, especially within the last two years, it’s been kind of talked about a little bit more,” said Emily Marshall, who works at the Wells County Library.

And later this month, Terrell will co-present a program in the Wells Circuit Court about John’s trial, which took place in that exact building.

Terrell said the research he did had a substantial impact on him, and he thinks audiences will see that when they read it. He believes the book goes beyond just history, and reads like a true, compelling story.

“I think it’s important to get a feel for the characters, for all those people, for the lawyers, for the judge, for John and his family, for Melvin Wolfe and his family,” he said.•