John A. Whetten's Cousin Hattie Savage

JOHN A.'S COUSIN HATTIE
            

John A. Whetten

Harriet J. Savage

I doubt my grandfather, John A. Whetten, ever met his 2nd cousin Harriet Jane Savage (their grandfathers were brothers--David Leonard Savage and Jehiel Savage) as he grew up in Mexico and she in Utah in the day of horse and wagon. I had never heard of Hattie until she made the news recently. 

Although Hattie had the unfortunate luck to marry Joseph Henry King Loveless in 1899, she got off lucky.  She filed for divorce on grounds of desertion and failure to provide for her and their daughter, Lovina Thelma Loveless. Good move. In 1904 Hattie married Albert Orlando Leavitt in Provo, Utah, and I hope she was happy.  The couple had 6 more children.

In 1905 Joe married the unfortunate Agnes Octavia Caldwell in Bear Lake, Idaho, and 4 children were born to them.  Eleven years later, he murdered Agnes with an axe. In and out of prison for bootlegging, “at Agnes' funeral one of her children was quoted as saying, ‘Papa never stayed in jail very long and he'll soon be out.’ Several days later, a ‘Walter Cairns’ (his then alias) escaped from jail by sawing through the bars using a saw he had hidden in his shoe.” 

It is believed Joe (or Walter) was killed shortly after his jail break in May 1916, dismembered and hid in a cave near Dubois, Idaho. Body parts were discovered in 1979 and 1991. DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit organization that identifies Jane and John Does through advanced genetic genealogy techniques, became involved with the cold case and identified the man.

For more details see  https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/human-remains-found-idaho-cave-identified-outlaw-who-died-over-n1109111

Referenced by Dick Eastman, Jan. 2, 2020, Human Remains Found in Idaho Cave Identified as Outlaw Who Died Over 100 Years Ago https://blog.eogn.com/2020/01/02/human-remains-found-in-idaho-cave-identified-as-outlaw-who-died-over-100-years-ago/  Used with permission.